PTI - LeBron’s Historic Night Sparks Reaction Amid Rising NBA Tanking Debate

Episode Date: February 14, 2026

Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon react to LeBron James' historic performance and the NBA's tanking problem. Plus, the hosts analyze college football's eligibility rules. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. Part of the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. It's Friday the 13th, Tony. Anything freaky happened to you today?

I'm Tony Cornheiser now. I haven't gotten freaky in years. I got a bad hit. They got stuff for that. It's called replacement. Is that right? Hip replacement. Replacement.

That's not a hard one. You walk out. It's not like a knee. We'll say the pain is gone. A knee replacement is much more difficult. Much more difficult. Welcome to PTI, boys and girls. In today's episode, O.M.

It's quarterback for another season. The NBA Cracketons. down on the jazz and Jay Billis joins us for five good minutes. But we begin today with the Winter Olympics. In a stunner, Ilya Malin and the Quad God fell twice and fell short of the podium in the men's figure skating final. In other events, the USA women upset Canada and curling. Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klebo won his record tying eighth gold

and the International Skating Union stood by the French ice dancing judge that Americans Madison Chalk and Evan Bates felt favored the first French pair that won the goal. Wilbon, which of these intrigues you the most? French ice dancing judge conjures up everything I think is wrong with figure skating anyway. Like you, you sort of kidnapped me and made me watch the quad god. Worth it. You know, it was, except Tony, I don't root against anybody ever in the Olympics.

It's too emotional. It takes too much of one's life, not to mention your own, but your parents and your family members and your teachers and your coaches. It just is so emotional. And you're scared to see a kid fall. I know he's 21 years old. Looks like he's 17. Looks like he could live in one of the bedrooms in my house as a kid. And so when he went down, and then he falls the second time with an easier jump,

and you just go, okay, now I can't watch anymore. Did you watch it standing up or sitting down? Sitting. I had to walk around to watch it. I was very nervous because what I like most about this kid is he embraces the notion of being called quad. God. And he wants to show it. And in the team competition, he totally showed it and he brought the Americans into the gold situation. He is out there knowing that his main rival from Japan has fallen. And he, he is in silver position. So he, he, if he's upright, he wins the thing.

And he falls twice. And your heart, yes, your heart goes out to him because you don't expect that to happen at all. And you watch, he didn't, he, what did he finish? He finished off the podium. Eighth? Something like that. Yes. I'm going to go back of ways years and years and years. You might have been there writing about this for the Washington Post. When Debbie Thomas fell. Yeah, I remember that. I wasn't writing, but I remember.

Okay. I remember just thinking, I'm done. I'm not watching any more of this. There's too much of an emotional investment, even as a spectator at the Olympics was something that delicate. If he stands upright, if he stands upright, he's going to win. But he went out. No, he didn't. No, he didn't. didn't. And I was rooting for him.

And I feel terrible. You know who's going to stand up right? Just a quick transition. The hockey players are going to stand up right. All right. Canada over Sweden, Finland, I'm sorry, Canada over Switzerland, Finland beats Sweden, and Finland needed to win to sort of climb back into play. Slovakia is 2-0, and ahead of Phelan in Sweden in the standings.

So you don't want to talk about the French judge, who replaces the fragile French judge? You know, you made fun of me for this for years. attack this, the French judge going back to the 90s. This is awful. Well, you know what? What? I mean, there's, there were reports about how this particular French judge wanted the French

team to win so much, and it was a pattern of behavior in other competitions, in other competitions, and she would downgrade the Americans to make that happen. Have I exonerated now? But I remember, Mike, I remember when the highest score and the lowest score were tossed. And that would make this not viable, not viable at all what she hit. 2002, the last conference. I was there for that. That was Salt Lake City. I'm exonerated, declaring it myself.

Let's turn to college football, where Ole Miss just picked up his first win of the season. In court, quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, last season's SEC passing leader, was granted an injunction by a Mississippi state judge that allows him to play a sixth season this coming fall. So what does this mean for Chamblis? What does it mean for Ole Miss? Wait this, a sixth year? Yeah. You get a sixth year.

And if I understand correctly, the judge who ordered the injunction is from Oxford, which is the home of the University of Mississippi. And he went to Ole Miss Law School. And that sort of seems unfair like the French judge doing what she did. Well, suppose he had gone to Mississippi State. Then what? Okay. But he didn't.

But he didn't. Don't be exonerated and get carried away. All right? Here we go. This is clearly good for Ole Miss, no matter who the coach ends up being. because they get back, the quarterback that led them to the finals of the college football players. And made himself a star. Right.

And it is good for the kid. Because I understand he's getting $5 million in NIL. Not getting the NFL. Not this year. And he's got another prep year for the NFL. Which is a good thing to do. And to be fair, if I understand this correctly, Chamblis has played games in three seasons. So to me, if you get what is in essence a fourth season, that's within the parameters to me.

But do you know about the Montana kid? Yeah. Is he the eight or the nine year kid? Nine. There's an eight and there's a nine. He's a linebacker. He's getting a second year at Montana after he had seven, seven at USC. He's going to be 26 years old this month.

You know who he was with in the recruiting class when he was in high school? Micah Parsons. And now he's still in college. He's going to be in the Hall of Fame. And this kid is going to be just coming out of college. It's amazing. He is Mike. He is a professional.

college football player. When he fills out of form and they say occupation, it's professional college football player. I'm conflicted here because the reasons you point out are reasons to sort of make fun of this whole thing. But I feel guilty making fun of people, anybody, for going to school. I don't want to do it. He doesn't actually go to school. No, you don't know that. Their kids will come out now, and I know this, because I'm a trustee at a university, where kids may spend a fifth year. I don't think we had a six year. And they come out with graduate degrees.

Okay, how about a ninth year? They do. It seems like a lot. Multiple degrees. How many degrees could you and I have a nine years? This is the softest will bar that I have ever encountered. You have been changed by the Olympics and by college athletes. Yeah, I feel bad watching those people fall on the ground. Yeah.

That's why I don't go to the skating and you know this. And yet you kidnapped me and made me watch. Because he made me watch this. Look, it's a terrible ending. That kid was worth it. He was worth it. He does something that nobody has ever done. The quad axle, is that what it is?

Now, nobody's ever done it. Now, he doesn't do it. Well, he didn't do it this stuff. You know what? Drake May had a great year and a bad end. Yep. Let's go to the NBA. Not speaking of Drake May, because he's not in the NBA.

Last night, the league fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 in the Indiana pays just $100,000 for the crime of sitting healthy players during games. Adam Silver said, quote, overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft positions over winning, undermines the foundation of NBA competition, and we will respond accordingly, unquote. These fines grow from Utah sitting their starters in multiple fourth quarters and from Indiana not playing players who the league has deemed could have played under the NBA's medical policy. Wilbon, do you think fines like this will be an effective deterrent to tanking? Now, I'm really going to annoy you. I'm going to go. I'm going to go through a place. You can't imagine I'm going.

Go ahead. I don't give a damn about tanking. You know what I care about? Load management. Because you know what? Only two or three teams are tanking. Let's say you say five. I would say six or eight.

Six rate. How many load manage? 10 to 12 to 14. No, 30. You think so? All 30 at some point. Golden State has said to Steph Curry, no, you're not playing because we got three games in the next five. No, no, no.

So you have a league. You think that's a worst crime. It's a much larger crime to spend money in all summer. People spend money to get tickets to go to certain games. They want to see these guys. And they can't see them. All 30. Load management.

And they're not going to do jack about load management. So let me get to this. These fines are a joke. Adam Silver is laughing when he announces these fines. What is $500,000 to a team like Utah with a payroll of $154 million? They sat their three most highly paid players, sat them in fourth quarters. Those players make $100 million. $500,000, you can find it in a couch in the NBA.

And a $100,000 fine is even more ridiculous. You want to have a deterrent with a fine, start at $10 million. Okay. And even then, if the guy at the end of the rainbow is when Banjama, somebody's going to pay the $10 million. Yes, they are. They are. It's worth more than $10 million. Mike, I would not fine anyone.

I would take away the draft pick. I would say after the lottery, you go down 10 spots and see how that takes. Lawsuits galore. But why is it more important to find to identify those three to six teams as opposed to all 30 who load manage, who take people for the whole game, not at least if I paid the damn money and the kid played for three quarters, I get to watch the star play for three quarters. I will answer this. All right.

Because load management does not affect all the games on the schedule. It affects them randomly. If you're trying to lose, like the local NBA team, the Washington Wins is trying to lose, it affect, you're selling season tickets, really, to a team that is trying to lose? Here's their record in the last three years, 47 and 170. The coach and general manager, the director of basketball operation, should be fired, and none were fired. Because the owner is tacitly saying or actively saying, all I'm saying is that affects far fewer teams and therefore the product of the league

than all 30 sitting somebody some nights. Let's take a break. When we come back, as Kansas gets set to face fifth ranked Iowa State, what should we expect from Darren Peterson? We're going to ask Jay Billis. We'll also ask him where he slots, Arizona, among the best teams in college youth.

I'm so proud of you that you watch the skating. I watch that after you. And that's good for you. 40 players in the NBA in 1985 played all 82. How many do you think last year? Two. 11. All right.

So I underbid. Time to check in on the college basketball season, which apparently is already in progress. We welcome in our great friend, the dashing ESPN basketball analyst Jay Billis, and we start with this. You're at number one Arizona for tomorrow's game with number 16 Texas Tech. Arizona just lost for the first time this season. Where do you have the wildcats among the top three or four teams in the country? I have Arizona right with Michigan as the best team, and I don't think there's a lot of separation between those two, but I think there is a little bit of separation between Michigan, Arizona, and everybody

else. That's not to say they can't be beaten. Heck, if Kansas could play every game at Allen Fieldhouse, if the NCAA tournament were played at Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas would win the national championship, but they don't get to play all their games there. But Arizona and Michigan are the two biggest teams. They're the two best paint scoring teams. They're the two best paint protecting teams. Michigan probably shoots more threes. They definitely shoot more and make more threes than Arizona does. But Arizona's legit. They just have three guys in their starting lineup that are freshmen.

Now, they're outstanding freshmen. Two of their top scorers are freshmen. And that's one difference between them and Michigan. Michigan's more experienced throughout their roster. Jay referenced Kansas. Kansas, of course, beat Arizona Monday. And they did it without star freshman Darren Peterson. He's missed quite a few games, injury, illness.

Bill self-causes a string of bad luck. But how do you see the whole Peterson situation? You know, Michael, it's a little bit of a curious case. You don't see this very often. He missed. Peterson did a few games with a hamstring and then with cramping. And then the last game that they played against Arizona, he had the flu. And the doctors told him better that you don't play and better than you don't sit on the bench

and infect everybody else on the team with the flu or flu-like symptoms, whatever they called it. Darren Peterson is legit. Like, he's the real deal. Anybody who's seen in play knows that. He's the most effortless score. I mean, I think he scores it easier than any player I've seen since Kevin Durant played in Texas. But he hasn't been available.

And I think he doesn't talk much. It's not that he doesn't talk at all, but he doesn't talk much. And as a result, I think a lot of people are talking for him and making judgments as to why he's playing, why he's not. I personally don't do that. I tend to trust doctors when they say don't play. And if he's hurt, he's hurt. But there's no argument when he plays.

There's no one more talented, especially on the offensive end. And I think he's the frontrunner to be the number one pick in the NBA draft. But it's going to be a close call. Yesterday we learned that Caleb Wilson suffered a broken hand. And it's going to be out. I think the word indefinitely has been used. I mean, this is a huge blow, obviously, to the Tar Hill. Speaking of top of NBA draft, even though he's only a freshman.

It is not yet March, Jay. What do you expect as we sort of navigate this ground between now and then? It's going to be difficult for North Carolina without Caleb Wilson. He's their leading score, leading rebounder. I mean, he's had more 20-point games than any freshman they've had in program history to this point in the season. So without him, it's not like, any other player, whether it's Henry Vessar or Seth Trimble or you name it, has to put a cape on and all of a sudden become Superman to try to replace him. That's not how that's going to work. But I think everybody has to expand their roles a little bit and it's got to be a collective thing. It's not necessarily a next man up. It's every man has to do more. Just because Caleb Wilson is not going to be in the lineup, doesn't mean Carolina can't win. They can still win. They're going to have to do it a little bit differently. It's certainly a blow. You'd rather have one of the five best players college basketball, which I think Caleb Wilson is in your lineup.

But they lost Seth Trimble earlier in the year. He's back. It's something that they can deal with. I don't know that they're necessarily going to be as good, but they can still win. And if he's able to come back, I think the hope is he comes back to a better, more confident team where guys are capable. Look at the NBA. Who thought the Boston Celtics were going to do this without Jason Tatum?

Good point. And it's the same kind of dynamic. We will get you out of here on this. A judge this week denied Charles Berriaco, an injunction that would have let him continue playing at Alabama. You are a lawyer. Where do you think we will end up on players putting their pro pursuits on hold to return to college? I think, Tony, we've got an issue where the NCAA doesn't have eligibility rules that are based on any principle. There's no age limit in college sports.

I'm not saying there should be, but people are complaining about that. And we have similarly situated players that are treated differently. You have international players that never matriculated to college but played pro basketball and made a lot of money. And they're eligible. And you've got players that international in nature didn't go to college, went through the draft, and the NCAA deems them eligible. I don't see a major difference between Charles Betiaco and those players, except for the fact that he went to school.

and I have a little bit of a problem with the way this has been handled, certainly the way it's been criticized. Like Charles Betiaco didn't do anything wrong. He just wants to go to school and play ball. And I'm not sure Alabama did anything wrong either, honestly. He got a court ruling. They let him play while the court said he was eligible. They're not playing him when the court ruled that he's not.

But in my view, if the NCAA wants to make this about players of a certain age, then say that college sports is for undergraduate students only and you have a six-year window after your high school class graduates. Problem solved. At least that would be based on some kind of principle. But there's so many exceptions out there and the NCAA is making those exceptions that to single out Charles Betiaco of Alabama

as some sort of villain in this, I think, has been wrong on the part of those that have done that. Thank you for being with us, Jay. Hope you're with us a lot more this year. Thank you. See you soon. Thank you. Get more of Jay on college game day starting at 10 a.m. Eastern.

We will take one last break, but still to come. Could the college football playoff jump straight to 24? Do it. Do it. No. 24? And a few thoughts on my man, Chris Paul, and his decision to call it.

24? Come on. 16, I can live with. Speaking of 24? Who needs a commissioner more? College basketball or college football? I think college football. I think so.

I do. It brings in more money and there's more moving parts. There's more moving parts. Yeah, it brings it more money. Happy 36th birthday, Nathan Evaldi. The right-handed starter is back with Texas this season and apparently healthy after hernia surgery. He threw a bullpen session this week. Evaldi was shut down last August with a record of 11 and 3 and a 173 ERA.

The Rangers are Evaldi's 16. He entered the majors with the Dodgers and Tehrie. 2011, then went to Miami, the Yankees, Tampa Bay, and Boston before Texas. Evaldi was on World Series winners with the Red Sox in 2018, where he did inspirational work out of the bullpen in that series, and with the Rangers in 2023, where he started and threw six scoreless innings in the series clinching game. Evaldi's career record is 102 and 84. His ERA is 389. He's a two-time All-Star. I'm having a nice career, but if starters can move around like this, does it mean baseball

Paul has simply made them irrelevant? I don't think. I think a great starter is not irrelevant at all. Not irrelevant at all. I hope you're right. Happy anniversary Cooper Cup. On this day, four years ago, the former third round pick from Eastern Washington was named Super Bowl MVP after making eight catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams 23 to 20 victory over Cincinnati. Cups 33 receptions in four playoff games that year set an NFL record for a single postseason.

When the Rams released Cup in 2025, he went to Seattle, where he just had six catches for 61 yards in the Super Bowl, and that made Cup the first player to lead two different teams in receiving yards in a Super Bowl win. Cup changed his route on the fourth quarter touchdown pass to A.J. Barner, so as not to run into him. Quote, we almost had a complete disaster, but we got it done, Cup said. I'll take Cooper Cup on any roster at any time, but he's not pooking the cool. He's not. That's amazing to have those two thoughts. I'll have him for this other guy.

Happy Trails, Chris Paul. Paul announced his retirement today just after the Raptors waived him. This was not unexpected, as Paul had previously announced plans to retire at the end of the season. The point guard started this one with the Clippers, but that ended horrendously when he had head coach Ty Lou not even on speaking terms. While Paul never won an NBA title during his 21 seasons, he made 12 All-Star teams, 11 all-N-B-B-B-B-B-B-1. teams, nine all defense teams, won two Olympic gold medals, made the NBA's 75th anniversary team,

and is a lock for the Hall of Fame. One of my favorite athletes of all time, Tony, and people talk about making folks better, and it's overused. Chris Paul went places that people didn't think they could be nearly that good and made guys better on that team.

I think he can still do it to some degree this year in the playoffs, if you want. Quick to the big finish. Let's do it. A court rule that Brian Flores his suit against the NFL. NFL is not bound by arbitration and can move to open court. Is that a big deal?

It could be. We don't know for certain, but it could be. An arbitrator ruled the NFLPA's annual ownership report cards violate the collective bargaining agreement and can no longer be published. Your thoughts. I feel bad because I used to like when they said certain teams had bad food. The Big Ten is reportedly circulating a 2014 college football playoff proposal. Please.

No. No. Stop it. In women's hoops, Texas lost advantage. And Longhorns coach, Vic Schaefer said, quote, We have no heart. We're not tough. It's probably the softest team I've had in years, close quote.

Then he added it was his fault. What? What's with these coaches lately? This guy and Tang and Tennessee women's coaching. Stop me. Last one, NBA Oil Star Weekend is upon us. What element most intrigues you? The three-point shot is all they got left from me.

Got right? Yeah. There's a lot more programming than that. We're out of time. Try to do better the next time. I'm Tony Corny. I'm Mike Wilbon. Have a great weekend.

Anybody got the stones to bench band Bunny like I did? No. I doubt it. You're the king. PTII.