Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - The Speculation Around LeBron James Isn't Stopping Soon... Plus, Where are the New Player Rivalries?

Episode Date: August 25, 2025

Apparently, the Golden State Warriors are not entirely out of the LeBron James business. Jake Fischer, who works for the outstanding Stein Line Substack, noted over the weekend how the interest in LeBron James from the Golden State Warriors—which was certainly has been a low hum in the NBA discourse for a long time, getting louder periodically—hasn't gone away. Golden State will apparently be kicking the tires on LBJ for a while longer. It's a reminder that the speculation around LeBron, which is a constant anyway, is only going to get louder. Now it's not a forgone conclusion that James leaves LA after this season, for reasons explored in the episode. And it's highly unlikely, short of a catastrophic turn of events for the Lakers, that he's traded during the season (again, for reasons explained on the show). And even as a free agent, James might find that, depending on how his priorities truly shake out, the best spot for him is still the Lakers (for... wait for it... reasons explained in the episode).That news may not excite a certain section of the fanbase, no question. Meanwhile, it was a big Kobe Bryant weekend, with his birthday (8.23) followed by Kobe Day (8.24). Which got us thinking, in the spirit of the LeBron vs. Kobe rivalry the NBA could never quite make happen on the floor, but that certainly gained traction off it, where are the next great player rivalries? Is the league not as well-constructed for that type of thing now? Could the Lakers now be in a new "Rivalry Era" with Luka in the fold and the potential to generate more repeat playoff matchups with the same stars in competition with each other?  HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky SEGMENT 1: LBJ rumors aren't going to stop.  SEGMENT 2: Where is LeBron going to be able to go?  SEGMENT 3: Rivalries!  Listener SurveyWe’ve put together a survey to learn more about our listeners and make your favorite podcasts even better. Go tohttps://lockedonpodcasts.com/survey/ to get started. Everyone who completes a survey will be entered for a chance to win one of ten $100 Amazon gift cards.  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!OpenPhoneStreamline and scale your customer communications with OpenPhone. Get 20% off your first 6 months at www.openphone.com/lockedonnbaMonarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com/lockedonnba for 50% off your first yearGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Football season is around the corner, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everyone, welcome to Locked on Lakers for Monday. Brian Komenesky, Andy Kaminetsky, the speculation around LeBron James will never stop. Plus, a weekend celebrating Kobe Bryant. That's all next. You are Locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks to everybody for making Locked on Lakers.

First listen to every day Monday through Friday, no matter how or where you get your podcast, this one's always going to, to be free for you, never behind a paywall. Locked on Lickers on YouTube is where over 36,000 subscribers to the channel. Andy, we're all taking in a big weekend for Kobe Bryant's celebrating, of course, his birthday on 823, Kobe Day on 824. For those of you without a calendar, today is 825. And a lot of this news, Andy, possible Kobe Bryant movie,

something we will talk about over the course of this episode. Rivalries, which brings up ideas and thoughts of Kobe. But we do want to start here with LeBron James and the never-ending speculation that is basically, I have decided just going to be a thing that is with us all season. If you thought as a Lakers fan that the what's going to happen with LeBron's speculation, was, you know, always turned up to a 10 or a 12, Andy, before now with an actual end to his potential time with the Lakers,

it's only going to get bigger. If we're all being honest about this, it's pretty clear that LeBron wants the speculation. I think he wants people discussing and wondering and trying to figure out what exactly he wants from both the Lakers and the rest of his career. But the latest bit of speculation, I guess, catalyst, was a report from Jake Fisher.

He works with Mark Stein, part of the Stein line substack. Great NBA reporter, you all should be subscribing to Mark Stein's substack. But from this piece, quote, as long as LeBron James' future in Los Angeles remains uncertain, Golden State will undoubtedly be mentioned as a potential James Souter. I'm told the warriors have called the Lakers on, multiple occasions over the last 18 months to see if there's any trade pathway to pairing James and Steph Curry, who roughly a year ago at this time was team with LeBron for the United States

Senior Men's National Team on its run to a gold medal at the Paris Olympics. After all of the NBA final clashes, James and Curry were said to greatly enjoy their experience as teammates on the international stage with Golden State Steve Kerr, of course, serving as their coach. The Warriors, furthermore, are known for their pension to go big game hunting, starting with their original pursuit of Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016 and carrying through to their February acquisition of Jimmy Butler. I also love to, even though that this is the formal name of the team, no matter who is on it,

the fact that LeBron and Steph and Kevin Durant were all part of the U.S. senior men's national team sounds perfect, even though, again, that's the name of the team. Remember when it was like, young LeBron, young Mello, young Wade, Lamar Odom, Bosch. The world was, the United States was disappointed, but that was still the senior team, even though those guys were all in their 20s. It's, yeah, we don't even take in swipe, Sandy, of people's age.

But what we should be telling people, actually, is that today's episode is brought to you by Fandual. Football seasons around the corner, visit Fandual. Visit the app today. The Fandual app today gets to start planning your futures bets now. I look, I think there's a very actually better chance that I've decided a better chance than a lot of people do, that LeBron actually is back in L.A. next year. I do not think it is a foregone conclusion that this is the last season that LeBron plays with the Lakers. I think he will play another season beyond. And I think there's a chance he's still here, which I'm sure will annoy certain fans. But if he does, I've described at times the relationship, because, between LeBron and the Lakers, which has been fraught at times with tension. I think we are in one of those tension-filled periods.

And also the relationship, I think between LeBron and the Lakers at times, has felt like on both sides, it's run its course, but they don't have, neither really has a better option than the other. It's a lot like that scene in What About Bob? When the family's upset at Richard Dreyfus's character, the shrink, Dr. Marvin, because he kicked out Bob, Bill Murray's character, who came all the way

up to the countryside house while they're on vacation because he's going through his neuroses. And Richard Dreyfus says, he's not gone. He's never gone. He opens the door in Bill Murray standing there. That's kind of LeBron and the Lakers at this point. He's not gone. He's never gone. It's the thing that people have. Just like what about Bob? It's true. The thing LeBron is sailing. He's sailing. The thing about it is, it's like so much depends on what happens this year. If the Lakers are really, you know, play really well. And things work well between LeBron and Luca and AR and, you know, Aitin is a good fill in.

And they've got all this flex, you know, we've got some more flexibility next year and they can trade more draft picks. Like if you take at face value what LeBron's priorities are, which is playing competitively, I think he wants to be on a team that can realistically say, we have got a chance to be in the conversation. I don't think he needs to be on the favorite. That's really kind of hard to engineer. And that is the Lakers. They're not going to be the favorite,

but they can make a credible case. And if this year goes, well, he might look at the offseason and go, this is still my best chance to do it. The mechanics of getting paid. Particularly if he wants to keep making. making a salary even remotely in the range that he currently is. I'm like, I don't know if he can make, you know, I haven't broken down like what the flexibility means and what the Lakers do and how cap holds and this and that.

But I do know that he can make a significant amount of money with the Lakers and other teams that he would want to play for may not be able to do that same thing. So if LeBron wants to get paid, maybe not $55 million, but, you know, 30, 35. five, I don't know, pick a number. And be on a good team. The Lakers could very well be. It is not necessarily burning money, Andy, to resign. No, it's not burning money.

It's he's so rich. He's lighting cigarettes with burning bills. He can afford to do it. That's what I do that now. It's rich people. Fair enough. We are in a situation, though, then, okay, set all of that aside. where can he go?

I don't mean just where can he go money wise. Where can he go legacy wise? Because if you don't think LeBron cares about that sort of thing, you're wrong. And is he going to go join a team that's fully made and essentially do the thing that Kevin Durant was throttled for when he won his title. in Golden State. Does he want to go somewhere where he will be like the guy that adds on the little stuff at the end? Not that Katie didn't do good work in Golden's not my point.

But the perception is he joined a finished product and kind of stole a ring. Like does LeBron want to be the guy? No, no, no. Two rings. It's true. Fair. Does LeBron want to be the guy who hops to some super random city? there's no connection to in order to win a ring.

I feel like there's a very narrow range of teams that fit all the criteria from both a competitive standpoint, a financial standpoint, a role standpoint, a perception standpoint. And I'm not criticizing them for being thoughtful about any of these things. but when you start to put all of those criteria together, there aren't that many places he can go. I think it's L.A., Cleveland, maybe the Knicks, and I don't know, maybe Golden State, but that one's a little dice here to me. Well, the reasons that you mentioned insofar as the perception,

like LeBron would be jumping into Steph Curry's turf. Like there's no question about that. Like if for people who believe LeBron is on, happy because he feels like his situation with the Lakers, he is no longer the center of the universe of the most important prioritized player, then he's got no business going to Golden State because he's never going to dislodge Steph from that status. And I think LeBron's smart enough to realize that. We've discussed multiple, multiple, multiple times why it's so complicated to trade LeBron, his salary. LeBron's no trade clause. It's essentially a three-team deal because you have to

make three teams satisfied. But even if you go through the mechanics of trying to get LeBron to Golden State, like it is essentially either Jimmy Butler for LeBron and Brony. And by the way, I'm not including Brony because it's a package deal, father and son, wherever LeBron go, Brony goes. I'm including, yes, I'm including Brony because you need a little bit of extra money to make it work on the Lakers end. And Brony is the only salary in that.

that range that the Lakers can trade before December 15th. So I'm not making this a cutesy family thing. It has to be LeBron and Brani or else the trade won't work. From the Lakers perspective, moving from LeBron to Jimmy Butler is a downgrade. And I also would be a little bit concerned about taking on Jimmy Butler if this is not where he wants to be. We've seen that doesn't necessarily go well. From there, Jonathan Cominga and some sort of shine in trade with other people.

people, I don't picture him as a JJ Redick type player. And then like Moses, Moody, Buddy Heald and Draymond Green. Ramon, again, another guy that if he's not happy to be where he is, I don't want any part of it. I'll do you one better here. It's not even just the mechanics of trading. Let's say you get into the off season next year and LeBron is free to sign where he wants to go. LeBron signs for a mid-level in Golden State. You can answer my question after the break.

In the Western Conference, is a team of LeBron, Steph, and Jimmy Butler going to win a Western Conference title? Talk about that coming up next. Lockdown Lakers is brought to you by Fandil. August 26 is officially FanDul Futures Day, a brand new holiday for football fans who live for bold predictions of preseason.

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Start planning your futures bets now because Futures Day is one day, one day only. FanDuel play your game. You know, we like Andy to mock like the Clippers because they rely on rickety people like Kauai Leonard. And for a while,

of Kauai and Paul George and, you know, to figure that, like, make this work. And this is going to be the year that. So you're going to go into like your swan song season potential, your last couple seasons if you're LeBron James, sign with with Golden State. And now you're pairing with two guys in their mid to slightly more than mid 30s and going to try to win a title. Three guys. Dremont's there.

I'm sorry. Oh, oh, you're right. I forgot about Dremont. Right. So, you know, I mean. it's like, I mean, they're all still very good, but we're talking about like a basketball equivalent of the expendables here. Like it is not, that is a dicey, dicey way to kind of roll the dice. Now, it could be sort of fun, like, and that team would be very intriguing and people would certainly watch.

But I am not 100% convinced that that becomes, you know, the best avenue for LeBron to go win a title or any better than what. he would have in LA, that just is a question of, I'd rather finish, I want to play with Steph before I'm done. And okay, but that, where, you know, what are your priorities? It's, I want to play with Steph. I want to, if it's like, I want to make more money or have a better chance to win a title, I don't think that, that move, I would say is lateral. What I think is really interesting too about this is whether or not Golden State is making these inquiries, you know, as Jake Fisher said, over the last 18 months, there have been periodic ones. I assume there have been recent ones.

Otherwise, there would be really nothing for Jake Fisher to report. And I think he's too responsible to just stir the pot for the sake of it. So whether or not Golden State is doing this because they are just kicking the tires on any possibility to try to squeeze one more title run out of the Steph era, do the best player. in franchise history right before he retires, or because there is a general perception around the league, like a lingering perception, that LeBron really does want to be somewhere else. And in some point in the not very distant future, he's going to ask out. So you might as well start trying to figure out if you can get ahead of it. Maybe he really could be available.

so you want to be the team that at least start making inroads early. Like that's what I find really, because like I said before, the machinations for getting him to Golden State are very, very complicated. And I think from the Lakers perspective, likely unappealing in terms of a trade. I think you can remove the likely. Right. But just the idea of whether or not teams around the league, league are anticipating at all that LeBron may decide that he wants to leave.

And they just, for the teams that think that he would actually okay a trade to them, they're just trying to get ahead of it. That's the part of it that I find really interesting. I, what's interesting to me, too, is that like I have, in comparing kind of how we're looking at this and approaching, like, this question of asking out that I'm not even, I have, I'm not even considering that because I am looking purely at next off season. because I think unless the season goes in, and we'll have plenty of opportunities to talk about this,

but I think unless the season just completely goes into the tank in just ways that nobody wants, he's going to be here all year. If the Lakers are competitive in the ways that we believe that they ought to be and will be, the Lakers aren't going to trade LeBron James, and LeBron's not going to ask out, because there's nowhere he's going to be able to go

that, you know, give, you know, that it's just not going to work. And so I'm already thinking of that, of that off season, not even considering the notion that he'd be on the move during the year unless there's just a catastrophe. It was an interesting story. And it really got me thinking about, you know, Kobe Bryant, the big Kobe Bryant weekend.

Brian Winhorst on Friday, I believe it was, had a really interesting story about the sort of nearly 20-year rivalry between LeBron James and Kevin Duran, where they've been in the league for playing against each other for that much time. Now, direct rivalry can argue that, but... No, I think it's a direct rivalry. They have both beaten each other four titles.

It doesn't get much more direct than that. And, you know, and especially it's a rivalry in terms of... They play the same position. They guard each other. This is where I'm going. Like it's a rivalry in terms of like, who do you got, particularly as a score, you know, which who's the better score, the better player, the more dominant player, this, that, and whatever. And so I think two things about, we can talk about LeBron versus KD, but what it really got me thinking about was just the nature of NBA rivalries.

Because so much of LeBron's perception in L.A. is center around this sort of didn't quite happen on the court, but definitely was something that happened in the discourse rivalry with Kobe. You know, Nike was trying desperately to get them to have to face each other in a moment that was important. And it never happened. But at the very least, off the court, that, you know, King versus Kobe thing was a big deal and had a huge impact on how the, you know,

the, the, the, the, the, the Lakers, Lakers fans viewed LeBron in those years. I, I, when you start to think about it, Andy, like magic and bird and, you know, they tried Kobe and LeBron, there's like, there are these little things, like, the league feels different to me now with these sort of player to player rivalries. Am I, I'm, I'm wondering. if I'm missing. So it's like the league, like the league scheduled LeBron and Steph for opening night. They scheduled LeBron and KD for Christmas.

Like that's, these are old guy rivalries. And I'm wondering if the nature of the game has changed to the point where like, who are the new guy rivalries? Who is like is Luca going to be able to have something like that year after? Oh, he definitely has. Just ask Devin Booker. I think he would say Lucas got some right.

But that's not a real. But you know what I'm saying? But like that one's not going to be super relevant because the suns are a train wreck. Right. But it was building when the sun was. No, you're right. You're right.

But that's kind of what I'm getting at. Like the league to me feels like it's getting harder. Like Yokic could, you know, Denver and OK. And the Lakers was becoming a thing. Yeah. Denver and the Lakers was. But like now the sort of the cast is turned over. I'm not saying it hasn't happened.

I'm legitimately asking because I'm wondering where those things are coming from. They may be there and I'm kind of missing it. But like Luca had started, you know, I think with Dallas to start to develop certain things. But now he's changed to another team, to those rivalries, trains. Like I, where is the next version of these things, especially even, you know, for the Lakers and the teams that they're going to play? It's just something that I, you know, that got me thinking, especially in the context of the, you know, Kobe and LeBron back in the day. We can talk about more of that coming up next.

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Open Phone is offering our listeners 20% off their first six months at openphone.com slash locked on MBA. That's O-P-E-N-P-H-O-N-E.com slash locked-on MBA. And if you are switching from another phone service, open phone will even port your existing numbers at no extra charge. Open phone, no missed calls, no missed customers. Some of these rivalries just take time for the younger players to put themselves in a position to actually play for stakes. Like there's definitely going to be some budding rivalries, I think, the way the thunder are set up with some teams around the league, maybe the Timberwolves, because they've gone back and forth in some big series. I think we are at least setting up to see a really good rivalry between Victor Wehman Yama and

Chath Holmgren. Like, they have really enjoyed and relished going back and forth against each other since the moment they were both in the league. and I actually think maybe even a little bit before that because they had played for, I don't know if they're like junior Olympic teams or something like that, but they had gone against each other. I know before they were in the NBA. So that was real.

I think Tyrese Halliburton, and it's a shame that he's going to miss a season, but he is somebody that I think has, if nothing else, gotten some teams to dislike him because he is known as one of the, I guess, better modern bleep talkers, in the league. If Trey Young were playing for a better team, a more consistently

good Hawks team. A team anybody gave a bleep about it. Maybe that would start to flourish more because he does love being the villain. Luca has made some enemies over the years, but I think a lot of this has to come from players

going up against each other for stakes and to this point with LeBron, Steph, KD, between 2011 and 2022. There was only one finals, 2021,

that did not involve one, two, or all three of those guys. Again, between 2011 and 2012, other than the 2021 series between the Sons and the Bucks, one, two, or

three of them, all three, the year that the Katie, Steph, went up against LeBron and those calves, one, two or three of them were in the finals. That is where true stuff of rivalries begin. And those three guys have dominated so much of that space. That's really what I'm getting. But it's now been three years since any of them have been in the finals. LeBron's

2003 Lakers, you know, the post-Rust trade with Delo and Beasley and Vando and that group getting the Western Conference finals, that's the furthest any of those three have been in three years.

Right. So the runway is at least clearing for some new rivalry. And I agree with you. And I think that's what's, what I think is interesting is that runway has cleared because what you're,

talking about is exactly right. You know, it seemed like every, you and I grew up in St. Louis. We did not watch a lot of NBA basketball. It was only available on like, you know, like the CBS game or whatever it was. I think it was CBS that broadcast it. And in my brain, every week was Lakers Celtics. It seemed like the Lakers and Celtics were on every week. And so, you know, and those were like the only two teams I ever remember seeing.

And so, and yeah, they were also in the finals, like all the time. They were always on TV. they were always in the finals. It was the same guy, same cast of characters. That kind of carried into the night as you don't have, it is much harder now to have those dynastic teams by design, because the NBA and Adam Silver have worked very, very, very hard to build much more parity into the league.

And I'm wondering if one of the casualties... I'd argue they've worked too hard. Maybe. But I'm wondering if one of the casualties of that are, is that runway? to build this type of thing. Are the Lakers, now the Luca's a Laker? Are we going to have series and stuff like?

Like he's obviously going to have a rival with Dallas, like the team, but like these one-on-one matchups that sort of frame how we talk about basketball. Because it always has been like a team sport where we talk about individuals. Like we frame things around individuals, even though it is really a team sport. Are we going to get two or three seasons where it's Luca versus Shea, Luca versus Ants.

We got one, but are we going to get two or three more? That's what I'm kind of wondering, like, where does the new stuff come from? Like, I'm rooting for another series where Yokic and the Thunder play and might be rooting. If you're rooting for rivalries,

you want Yokic to win this one. And Denver to come back and knock off the champions next year. And then the year following, they meet again. Like, you need these sustained runs. And the NBA has made the regular season more interesting for more cities by, you know, with this sort of, with this parody, with the play in with stuff like that. But it's just made these things hard. I don't know if it's a bad or a good tradeoff. That's not even when I'm getting at. I'm just wondering, where do they come from next? Because you do need these young players to play each other.

Wemby's never even been in the playoffs. And we're sort of trying to give him one of these rivalries. But as we saw with Kobe versus LeBron, it doesn't work unless they play meaningful games against each other. Kobe said, you know, I mean, he Kobe was basically a

basketball historian. And growing up, he was a massive fan of the Showtime Lakers. His grandfather used to send him video cassettes that he would watch in Italy, keeping up with the Lakers. obviously that meant he knew everything about Lakers Celtics. He admitted until they played in the finals in 2008,

that rivalry didn't really mean a lot to him other than just knowing the history, but like in his bones, in his blood, you know, it didn't bring anything out in him because when he entered the league for several years, the Celtics weren't very good. And, you know, the teams that he felt a rivalry with were the kings and the Blazers and the spurs and the Sons, actually. Like it took until 2008, and then it came out in a fierce way with 2008, 2010, seasons in between.

Like all of that stuff fueled Kobe hard, but he admitted it took until you actually played for stakes, even for somebody like Kobe, who knew basketball history backwards and forwards and is in the eyes of many people, the ultimate Laker. Yeah. And I think you can, you know, the finals rivalries are obviously like those would be great. Like you see the same teams, you know, same stars, you know, whatever you in two out of three years, three out of five or something, some kind of run like that.

I understand like you want to see different teams. But if those teams are good enough and entertaining enough and the stars are cool enough, like that's pretty good theater as well. But like you mentioned the last three teams that have like been in the final. You know, the Bucks, like, not get back there anytime soon. Like I just, I don't see the Bucks getting back. And then it was Boston. They could, I'm assuming guys get back.

I mean, like they've got a chance to bounce back pretty quickly and make something of it. Are the Pacers going back to another finals? Not this year, but like, I mean, if you believe, I think if you believe in Boston's chances of getting back, you should believe in the Pacers because Tatum and Halliburton are dealing with the same thing. Sure. I just think that Boston, at least for the time being, might be able to have, might have a stronger roster. But you're right. I mean, so I just, which of these teams in the Western Conference, obviously you have the Thunder who are poised to have a long run as long a run as you can get in the modern NBA. Because they've got the picks and the assets to replenish guys that fill in the rest of the roster as they keep their stars. The three most important players are locked up. Right.

And then they can just kind of rotate the rest of the guys through. It won't always work as well. Certain guys will go and they'll miss them. They'll be able to pick up. Like it'll, but they'll see how well it works, but they're set up as well as anybody. Denver's obviously got Yokic.

He's not going anywhere. I'm sorry, 2027 fans. It's just that's not going to be a thing. The Lakers were like, this is one of the things that I love most about the Luka. deal is it grants the Lakers an opportunity to kind of get back into this derby where you have this headliner star who can build these like a new generation of rivalries in the Western

conference with a new generation of players again maybe it's aunt maybe it's someone else maybe this year the Lakers get a chance to get some revenge on the on the on the timber wolves and they can take it or not but um that wasn't going to happen with LeBron and AD there just wasn't enough stability there. There wasn't enough time left for really either one of those guys. So it's one of the things I'm really excited about, Lucas, this opportunity for the Lakers to kind of get

back into a rivalry building stance with other teams and stars around the West. Well, if that happens, it likely means the Lakers have been making some pretty good playoff runs. So everybody wins along those lines. We did not get to this Kobe Bryant movie, which is an interesting concept for how the writers and producers and powers that be are going to approach it.

So we will potentially get to that this week. Locked on Lakers on YouTube is we can go hang out with over 36,000 subscribers to the channel. Please subscribe via iTunes or Spotify wherever you like to get your podcast. Make sure get in the audio version delivered to you every day as well. See everyone tomorrow.