Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Score callers liked what they heard from new Bulls leader Bryson Graham (Hour 4)

Episode Date: May 6, 2026

There's a kid out there that's just like me that can be inspired by this organization and keep climbing, you know, and that's what we're going to do. That's what we're going to do. We're going to pull our sleeves up. We're going to get to work and we're going to get out the mud. And I'm not afraid of the work. And, you know, we're going to get started here pretty soon. That is the voice of Bryson Graham, your new Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on one.

4-3 the score. And we've given some of our thoughts. There's been a lot of feedback on our text line on our Twitch chat. 312-644-67-67 is our phone number. Before we get to the calls, Marshall, what did you want to say? I felt like you had more on your mind about it all. Well, no, the coach thing is like the most interesting thing because that's the next step in this process as far as when we get past the draft combine and the draft lottery. I thought it was very interesting that he said they will not be competing for a championship next year and that they are squarely honestly in a rebuilding phase and that there is no untouchable player on the roster. Tank, tank, tank, tank.

No, tank because you don't know what the tanking rules are going to be, Leila. We can't get behind a tank just yet because we don't know the rules of tanking yet. When we know the rules of tanking, then we can make a declaration. You know what else? I noticed that he, his attitude toward the point guard position was interesting too. When he brought up Boston, he's like, who's bringing up the point in a tank? Me! You!

The tank in your heart! Better yet. Ray! Slap. Slap. All that. Who's the current point guard for the Chicago Bulls? Well, I mean, we had Yuki do it for a bit. Oh, no, but the starting point guard.

Well, oh, Trey Jones. No, Josh Gitty. Oh, yeah, giddy. You see how you see? Here's my issue about, I was just thinking of movable guards. I'm sorry. Oh, he's movable. But he got paid about $5 million more than the market thought he was going to get paid.

I don't even know that's... When he didn't have another team to go to, does that matter? Do you try to move him? It may matter a little bit, but what I'm saying is on a championship team... I definitely was thinking about tank point guard and not real point guard. The way he talked about defensive intensity and the way Josh Giddy's game works, I don't know that those two things are compatible. He said it in a way.

Bryson Graham, and again, we'll take your calls. 312, 64, 64, 67, is our number. We got a couple guys on hold. We do want to get to your calls. But he said it in a way where, I think he was asked, is anybody safe or you play? It was the way it was asked to discuss possible moving people, and he did want to reiterate he wasn't trying to strike fear into the hearts of any players on the roster,

but that he was going to listen on every player, which is what you should do. And he's right, the guys who you don't think are movable, and the NBA are always movable. See Kevin Durant. Yes. Yeah, Luca, obviously. That one didn't actually pass the trade machine, though.

You know that. Like, they did the trade simulation with the trade machine multiple times, and it didn't. That surprised me, though, because Anthony Davis is a Hall of Fame. Yes, that didn't balance. Probably because there weren't enough first-round picks. Are we doing this again? No, we're not doing this.

He said they have a ton of second-round picks. He didn't mention that as a positive. He did. Let's go to Pat and Cedar Lake. Pat, you're on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Oh, did Pat drop off? Poor Pat. We hardly knew ye.

Maybe he'll call back. Let's go to Willie on the north side. Willie, you're on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Thank you. I appreciated that press conference. I really liked it. It reminded me a little bit of Ben Johnson's press conference for one simple reason. I think this guy chose Chicago.

he had a job. He wasn't somebody who was out of work. He wasn't looking for work. He doesn't just want to be somebody, run somebody's team. Sounds like to me he wanted to run the Chicago basketball team because of his admiration for this team. That's what we need. Ben Johnson wanted to be in Chicago. He could have had any team he wanted. I think this guy could have gone through a lot of different teams. There's all this discussions about there were better guys with more experience. Sounds like to me, Mike Reinsdorf, somebody who wanted to be in Chicago. That's what we're looking for. That's what we need it. That's what I liked. Thanks for your call, Willie. I think he also said it himself, Rice and Graham.

There's only so many jobs in the league, and it's the Bulls. 30 jobs. It is the Bulls. He talked about being a Michael Jordan fan. He said, look, I grew up in San Antonio. And, yeah, Spurs, love for them, but the Bulls. In the 90s, the Bulls.

I tried to explain this. to people. They didn't believe me. Who didn't believe you? Our listeners. You know how far me. You don't know. No. Chicago was the center of the sports world. You knew about Chicago sports for many years. Definitely know about the Bulls. Yeah.

It's the Bulls. It's hard to explain. Rock Stars, the Bulls. Yeah. Like, the Michaels. Our Taurus was in Lithuania knew about the Bulls. When you said Michael as a child, it was which Michael you were referring to, Jordan or Jackson, because that's what it was. Yes. Those are the first two

that came to mine. If we're already talking about sports, you obviously know it's Jordan. If you're just talking about Michael, just in general, oh, which Mike? Jackson. Let's go back to our phone. 312, 644, 67, 77. Pat and Cedar Lake, do we have you now? Are you here? Yes, I'm here. Sorry. I had a diaper situation with one of my twins. I hear it. I'm hung up on you guys. So, they don't sound very happy about the higher. Yeah. Yeah, I think he's just more upset. that he had an explosive diaper. But really quick, I just wanted to chime in and say I was happy with what Reinsorff said.

Just because it sounded like he finally gets it. I mean, you guys said he's making a joke about Donovan making the calls. But when he cut him off and was like, no, I hired you. I want this is your decision. Like, you don't need to run this by me. It was just like, thank God. Like that it just seems like, yeah, we don't need the answer from you. This is why you're hiring a 39-year-old young guy that you want to make the shots and make the calls.

So just to me, it was what he had said. It just seems like he finally gets it. And when he said he was starting the beginning, it seemed kind of corny at first on the surface. But now, like, after him, cutting him off and saying, hey, this is your call to do this. Like, it just seems like he, I think he finally gets it. Sorry about the babies in the background. But I love the score. I call the score no matter what.

We appreciate it. We've got to get those baby bulls ready for their run. Yeah, you know what else? You know all those people out there? You know, you and me and Ray and Tyler. Everybody you know, you know what we once were? Babies. Babies.

Yep. Babies cry. Babies have explosive diapers. Babies defecate. All these things happen. But good on you for teaching your kids about the score young. Unfortunately, we did not help them ease their pain at all. But I think he's got a point, Pat does,

Michael Reinsdorf. I didn't think he was awkward. I didn't think he rambled. And I thought he made some jokes. And to his credit, he tried to clarify Drew Stevens's question because he said, he goes, no, we were asked about these things in the initial press conference. So that was nice that he gave Drew the benefit of the doubt on explaining it further. No, no. I think Michael Rinesdorf, to the caller's point, he does get it. He does understand. He does, I'm sure he's talked to people since that press conference he held and like, hey, this is what you said. It's It's interesting because he wasn't asked directly about tanking, and I think that's because we don't know what the tanking rules were.

But I would love to hear Michael Rinesdorf on, you said OKC, but OKC had these two years. What are both of your thoughts on the rebuilding process? Because they both have admitted they are rebuilding. Oh, they said it without saying it. Like when they said, take our time and maybe not immediately, I think there was, I think there were a couple of possible tank references. And that's why I'll be shocked if it is a veteran experienced coach who comes because this is a draft and developed situation.

Although he did leave the door open, Leila, for the options. And I love optionality of, hey, we could spend money on a player to help us right now. We could take on other people's contracts to get more draft picks in the future. That's the route I would like them to take. or we could, you know, trade some stuff and get some stuff right now. They have different options, but it sounds like they're leaning towards the future and not trying to do something right now this season. They also have $58 million in NBA cap space, which is a league high.

Let's go to Rick and Knoxville. Rick, you're on Rahimi Harrison Grotie. Hey, first time caller. Really, really love listening to you guys. You do a phenomenal job, Leila. You're missed in sports media. So I'm grateful that you have this time. Hey, I wanted to call. I listened to the press conference, most of it.

But one thing that I want to be very clear on, if we get Monty Williams in here as the coach, great guy, okay, I will literally lose it. Monti Williams is not what we need. And I just hope and pray, even though he's a good guy, I just hope and pray that we get a coach that can demand accountability and actually run this team. I hope that he surrounds himself too with wise people and tries to bring in a savvy veteran, somebody that's been around the league as well to kind of be his assistant.

Well, Rick, thank you for your call, and thanks for the kind words. We appreciate it. What is your, and Rick just dropped off, but I was going to ask, I don't have the same passionate vitriol about Monty Williams necessarily. And I think there were a couple of people after that press conference. when we heard Bryson Graham speak so highly of him. He was a mentor to him. Wonder if possibly he's part of this picture.

I think his opinion might be based on the last time we saw Monty Williams. Do you remember him as a head coach where he coached last? The Detroit Pistons, a 14-win team, getting paid a whole lot of money, and they did a whole lot of nothing. That was with Kate Cunningham and the gang. And that was just back in the 23-24 season. And that's probably what people are looking at. They're not necessarily looking at the 2020. one team that went to the finals and lost to Janus.

So I understand the trepidation surrounding Monty Williams specifically, but would Monty even want, well, I guess it depends on what kind of paycheck you're looking at, but to come to a situation where it is clearly in a rebuild situation where they're probably at minimum two years away. Well, and I think that's why it was asked, and I forget which reporter posed the question. It might have been Jamal Collier, talking about head coaching candidates and whether or not those candidates would grow with the team.

like we had seen in San Antonio and in Oklahoma City. But coaches who are willing to be part of that. And, you know, Monty Williams, I remember thinking to myself, when that losing streak was going on, didn't you think also that Detroit had too much talent to make sense of why that was happening? Yes, myself and everyone else observing basketball at the time. It's like, why is this team this bad?

The year the Cade Cunningham got drafted, the Pistons made a ton of very savvy moves, both in trades and free agency. And I remember having that impression and trying to figure out what had gone wrong. But, you know, similarly, J.B. Biggerstaff was really, really highly touted as an assistant coach, ends up getting a head coaching job,

then ends up getting another one now, as we've seen, and then gets an extension. Sometimes it's a fit issue. Sometimes it's a fit with your players. Sometimes it's a fit with your ownership. I'm not trying to say this is me caping for Monty Williams necessarily. but these are examples of how something can be right and then it's not necessarily right

and then it's right with another team or another setup. I think the fit thing is very important for him specifically because he has described the type of player they likes. We know from talking to people who have observed him that he has a certain style he wants to play. It is defensive first. He wants two-way players, but he talks about the intensity that being defense,

first brings in the game period. And he referenced, recent C bias, these current playoffs taking place right now about how important defense is. I know he's right about that. And then I laughed because you laughed when he talked about developing players

on both sides of the ball. You immediately started laughing and thought that Tibbs is not coming through the door. I mean, look, you can have a defensive-minded coach, but he can't just, and I don't want to say ignore offense, but it can't be that secondary.

And I think a hallmark, because you just told me that Tom Thibodeau, you know who he is, right? You know that it's defense first and then we'll figure it out on offense. Additionally, one of the things that I felt was important to make note of was Michael Reinsdorf reiterating how this process is going to work. And him saying that essentially Bryce and Graham is in charge of the money. And that I believe the quote was, tell us where you want to spend the money. say here's what I need. And then he asked, do we need somebody below that as far as helping out with the front office and the infrastructure?

There was heavy pushback there, Layla, on this idea that they're cheap or they don't want to spend money when he talked about having the first private practice facility and that you just have to tell them how to do things, which also calls into question some of the decisions that the previous regime was making. Well, yeah, because whenever you don't hear what you think is the whole story, then you're going, okay, well, you have a boss? How much is ownership a part of this? When you've got your search for the nine or ten good players and we hear guys like Bryson Graham say, you need a star, that I thought that may be, okay, well, is that a monetary issue? Is that ownership? Like, how much

did ownership factor into these things? And I think what we're hearing now, full transparency from both the owner and the new lead executive is that they're not going to speak. bare expenses when it comes to making this team viable as a championship contender in the future. 6-30 says you both calling out how big the Bulls were makes it even more egregious that this organization slipped due complete irrelevance. I feel like they had a bounce back though in the Derek Rose years. They absolutely did. So I don't think it's been like. And there wasn't a person who observed ball in the NBA who at the time didn't understand what happened to that team. I remember where I was when I heard the news about Derek Rose tearing his ACL.

Yeah. I was in Austin, and I was working in the sports office, and the news came down and we were all sad. Because that was a loss for the league. That was a loss if you love watching basketball. Can I pose a question to you? Yes. Slap. Now that we know what that is.

Guys that have slap. Size, length, athleticism, physicality. Several people on these text lines have indicated there's a player that exists that will be a free agent that you may be familiar with that fits that description. Is it Dio de Dengbo? It is a... The combination... I-O-D-Dang-Bow. Who are you talking about there, sir?

I-O-D-Bang-Bow. It is Ayo, a motivated I-O who's playing very motivated, by the way. The guy with a 1-0 series lead on Victor Wimbunyama and the Spurs. DOSUUUU. So I had DOSUUUU... I was in my head and I couldn't stop. Do you think... Do you think, one, it's a possibility, two, that it would be a wise decision to get him back in

house in a different type of role? You know how I talked to the people earlier and was like, guys, if you fight it across town, just be responsible about it. Okay. I have a chance to win a title right now. I don't know if it's happening here at home. Why can't it happen here? Immediately.

Not immediately, but... He's got a chance to win one right now. Yes. Bring him home. He's taken on a lot of responsibility. Whether it was being part of the first local class and local players in the set again, you know, in the new regime of Illinois basketball to go and be in a line eye. And then he ends up getting drafted by the Bulls and he represented.

And now I feel like he finally gets to appreciate the fruits of his labor with an actual championship possibility. I just don't know. Okay. Okay. I don't know. He's taken on a lot of responsibility in his young years. If you fight it, cross town, just fight responsibly. I don't even know what that means.

This segment is brought to you by almost free teeth.com, save on dental implant today. Julia Poe was part of the regime who was asking questions in the press corps of Bryson Graham and Michael Reinsdorf. Is Julia still on time, we think? I know there's a lot of side sessions and stuff like that that happened. All right, awesome. Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune was there, and we'll talk to her about more of it next. Rahimi Harris and Grody.

That sounds so crazy. 104.3, the score. Wow, I like that. Middays 10 to 2 on 1043, the score. We've got a lot, you know, obviously ahead of us. There are very, very good people and talented people in the building. already. So as I hit the ground, you know, we're not, we're not starting from, obviously, ground zero. I want to, you know, obviously bolster, you know, our staff. I want to add to,

you know, our strategy space. I want to add to our personnel space. I think that's necessary. But look, like, you know, we've got a long way, obviously, you know, to go and there's a lot of, you know, decisions that are going to be made. But I think right now where we're, where we're at, I think we're in a good place, and I'll get started on that here pretty soon. That is a voice of Bryson Graham. The question was asked by our guest. She joins us on the hotline. She was at the press conference.

Julia Poe, the Bulls and Sky Beat writer for the Chicago Tribune. Julia, thanks for joining us. Yeah, thanks for having me on. What were your big takeaways from just hearing Bryson Graham and Michael Reinsdorf address the media? Yeah, I mean, I think the first kind of impression that I had was just this feels like a very fresh start. And it feels that way for a lot of reasons.

Bryson is young. He is someone who is still really looking to prove himself in the NBA as a front office executive. And I think all of those factors kind of brought this very fresh energy, this very different feel, just kind of compared to what we've felt around the team and around the front office in past years. Julia, I know that there's no timetable that has been declared. I think a lot of things depend on what kind of reform we do when it comes to the draft in the draft lottery, but it was very clear that everyone knows they're in a rebuild and it's going to take time because he was very much emphasizing that it's going to be a while before

this team is, I guess, competitive. I mean, how did you feel about the way he laid things out from that standpoint? Yeah, I appreciated a few different aspects of how he approached that. First, something that I think is very frustrating for any of us in the media space and for fans as well is when executives refused to say the word rebuild. And that was a word that he was happy to say today. And I think that that is really helpful because it lets us get the semantic debate out of the way and just actually talk planning nuts and bolts what the future is going to look like. Bryson was very clear that he does not expect the team to be in a place where a few

good draft picks, a few good acquisitions mean that this team will be competing for, you know, playoffs championship in 26-27. And I think that all of that very realistic, very pragmatic, and it's helpful because it allows fans to adjust their expectations and to just understand what is happening in this initial year. You don't want someone to come in and set one standard and then not be able to meet it. And I think the bowls are kind of setting just a very realistic idea of the layering approach they're going to have to take here. Julia, I'm glad you brought that up too because I think that the first time Michael Reinsdorf addressed the media after he fired Arturis Karnas Chavez and Mark Eversley was that we didn't necessarily know how much of the direction

of this team or possible lack thereof during the AKME period was from Michael Reinsdorf in the owner's chair or if it was from the front office. Did you over time, either with that availability he had or anything future that was said today, get clear direction for yourself or just understanding upon that as well. Well, there's always kind of this dichotomy between what people say at a press conference and what they actually do when, you know, the going gets tough and you get into it. So I think there's always that dynamic. I will say there was a point in the press conference today where Bryson kind of said,

you know, what Michael and I want in a head coach. He starts a sentence that way. And Michael Rinesdorf puts his hand on his shoulder, cuts him off and goes, no, I hired you, you're going and hiring the head coach. This is your team now. This is your decision-making from here on out. And I thought that was really telling at least in the signaling and kind of the front-facing facade at least that the bulls want to put on.

Only time will tell if that is actually accurate to how the team is being run. But I really do feel that what Michael Reinsworth was trying to say today is that he feels very confident in the hire that he made here. and from there he wants Bryson Graham to go out and make this team his own. There was a lot of emphasis on the resourcing that he is willing to provide, that the Bulls are willing to provide to this new front office. But I do think that ownership is at least trying to signal early that they want their decision maker to feel like he is kind of operating with a lot of agency in that way.

Julia, I got to ask a follow up on that. Did you feel like I felt that that was a direct response to the reaction that he got when he basically said Billy Donovan can coach here as long as he wants. And if an executive has a problem with that, then he's probably not the right executive for us. Because I felt like he was trying to quell that before it could even get started. Like, yo, this is my guy. I won't be having the influence in the way that I was describing if Billy Donovan wants to stay here.

Absolutely. And I think it's a hard needle to thread. The thing that I will always say to anyone in a front office or ownership position is that the more that you talk to the media, the easier it is to kind of thread this needle because we can ask follow-up questions. We can turn this into more of a dialogue rather than just having to have, you know, a press conference once a year where you try to explain many, many diverse decisions that you've made over time. I definitely think that in that press conference that you're referencing right after the firing, Michael Reinsdorf hit really heavy

and hard on a couple of concepts, the idea that he was going to be a little bit more hands-on, kind of how hard he went on backing Billy Donovan when they were trying to get him to stay. I think that there was a certain amount of maybe overshooting in either the way that those concepts were articulated or just how fans interpreted them. Sometimes you say what you think is the perfect thing and then people read it and they go, I'm going to interpret it this way or, oh, that sounds bad to me. You know, it's a difficult thing to kind of accomplish and I do understand that. But yes, to answer, that's a long answer to a short question. Yes, I do feel like that was reactionary to kind of what you're describing. Well, and I feel like that's what we're doing is trying to answer questions the best way we know how

and trying to have as much background as we can to know what other questions to ask next. Is there anything still on your mind question-wise that maybe wasn't addressed, you know, in the past two press conferences that we've just mentioned? Well, I think there's so many questions that we have at this point in time. It was hard, you know, in this press conference you could even see both men kind of struggling with trying to answer questions because we're asking, okay, how are you hiring a coach? What is your timeline going to look like? How are XYZ things going to go? And they simply don't know. He's still figuring out, you know, how to get from one office to another, very new to Chicago,

has a lot of work ahead of him. So I think I have a lot of kind of those more minutia questions, a lot of those more detail-oriented questions that hopefully will get answered in the coming weeks. I think my big picture thing that I kind of worry about with the Bulls is that what we saw with the last kind of regime was that hire was strong at the start. Arturis came in with a really good resume. People felt very highly about him throughout the NBA. And his first moves were bold. He took some big swings. He tried some interesting things. I really think that those first, like six months, that first year, were very interesting from that perspective. And then it just kind of died on the vine. And I think the big question for the Bulls is how do you,

you pivot? How do you become a team that is adaptable? How do you fail and then learn from that failure and get better? Because there's going to be a lot of failing in the next year and the next five years. And the only way that this team gets better is that you don't hit on a draft pick and you figure out how to learn from it and move on. You don't hit on a trade and you figure out how to learn from it and move on. And I just don't think that it has been proven in a very, very long time that this team and this franchise can do that. So that's kind of my biggest picture question. and it is that part of it. She is Julia Poe.

She covers both the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Sky for the Chicago Tribune, and she is with us here on Rahimi, Harrison Grotie, and Julia, I love what you just said, because my whole thing, whether the AK era or not, is can you have the optionality? Can you pivot and be nimble and be ready to adjust? What I liked about his answer was the fact that he talked about, they had different paths. They could take this off season because of the cap space,

because of the availability of all their future first-round picks. And I know they're going to take a slower road to competing, but it seems like he's a guy who would be able to pivot quickly. Did you get that sense from the way he was talking about having different options from a front office standpoint? I definitely did. I think that's always my biggest. I always wonder if a young executive versus an older executive with more experience,

I always wonder which is better at pivoting because someone with more experience will maybe just have more of a sense of, okay, here's how we do, XYZ. Here's how, you know, I've messed up before. Here's how I handled this in the past. Here's how I'm going to handle it again in the future. But it can also be difficult for a more veteran executive to pivot. Like, that's just something that gets harder, the longer that you've been in a role or been doing something. So I think that the exciting thing with having, you know, a 39-year-old executive come in, who's really at the start of everything,

is he's going to have a lot of ideas and not be, you would expect, not be, as set in his ways. And so I think that a lot of what he was articulating today was that willingness to try things, you know, to maybe do something that you look back on and you go, man, that looks stupid. But I stand by it because I felt good about the decision. I think the big test for him is still going to be, okay, all of that is great in theory. How do you handle things when something actually goes wrong? How do you handle a really devastating injury or a draft pick that just does not pan out?

How do you react from those things? And so I think, again, this is not the most helpful answer, but I think time will tell. He's definitely saying all the right things. It's just really difficult to kind of analyze how that's going to look on basically his first day on the job. Julia, I think you and Marshall are both spot on here. I mean, if we look back at what happened, Arturis Karas Chavez was most aggressive in the beginning of his tenure, as you mentioned.

And then we saw him just, I think at times get frozen, when it came to transactions. The NBA saw three years where the Bulls didn't make a trade at the deadline. They were the only team, as you know, over that span to do so. Then I saw, I think, a retreat to similar scouting processes or scouting banks, you know,

or markets that he knows when it came to the draft. Then doubling down on players like Patrick Williams in the contracts. I even wonder about how the extra money given to Josh Giddy affects this new office moving forward, and if that makes him not as movable? You know, these are things that I think about, because that lack of action is going to lead to a slower process now that he's not here. Definitely, definitely.

And I think that something that actually really impressed me over the course of this press conference is Modest DeZellis was sitting in the back of the press conference for the entire thing. He actually made everyone clap when Bryson Graham walked in, which was very on brand for that young man. And I thought it was really interesting. In that setting, you've got your young star in eyesight while you're being asked this question. Bryson was asked if any players on this roster are untouchable.

And he did a really good job articulating the answer, which is no. Like there really aren't untouchable players anywhere in the NBA. And he talked through his mindset of why and how you hear out offers and you have conversations about and you remain flexible on players so that you can always be making a team better, also realizing that that never means that you don't value or care about a player as an individual and as a person. And I just thought that that specific answer was really deaf.

That is an awkward thing, quite frankly, to be asked when you have, you know, one of those star players in the room with you. It's a great question, but it puts an executive in an uncomfortable spot. And I just think that having that mentality, of knowing clearly no one on this team is talented enough to be untouchable or this team would be competing in the playoffs. You know what I mean? And so he gets that and he seems to understand the level of flexibility that's going to be

required to, as he described it, get the team out of the mud. And I think that all of that is a really positive sign, at least at the beginning of something. Last one for you here. He said he was trying not to strike fear on the players in the roster. I am curious, though, the size-linked athleticism, physicality, moniker they use, the acronym, excuse me, slap. Does that fit Josh Giddy? Because I don't think it does, but I could be wrong as far as defense-first guys that he was describing. Right. He really, really emphasized the importance of two-way players. And I think that there is a version of a team

where you surround Josh Giddy with two-way players, which includes maybe a modest Bezellis, maybe a Noah Sange, those types of guys who do fit the majority of that slap. acronym. I think that there is a version of that that could make sense. This has always been the question, though, for kind of Josh's future, not just with the Bulls, but in the league, is how he fits his version of kind of that one-way, all-offense play into a team that actually wins basketball games. So no, I don't necessarily know how that fits with it. I also don't know what the Bulls do in terms of whether they feel that they can or should anchor themselves to Josh when they're going through a rebuild like this.

There are other plays on the roster who absolutely fit that mold. I just don't know if Josh Giddy is really going to be able. He's certainly not going to be able to change his game to fit into it. So he would need to become the type of player who can make all of those slap players, as they're kind of calling them, can make them look good. If it makes you feel any better, Julia, when Marshall asked me this question about point guard, I immediately thought of Yuki and Trey Jones, who were 5-8 and 6-1, respectively. So I thought he was trying to point out the shorter point guards.

No offense to them. Absolutely. Absolutely. Hey, Yuki's got size, you know, in terms of the way that he passes the ball. He's got a lot of, you know, he makes himself bigger, right? That's what they kept telling themselves last season. Wow. Julia, this has been great.

Also, I'm really looking forward to talking to you about the very new look Chicago Sky Team soon. Keep up the great work on the courts, plural in town. Thanks, Julia. Definitely. Thank you, guys. That is Julia Poe, who asked a lot of questions in the press conference today, and yeah, always offers really good insight whenever she is on. She's great.

She is. We love Julia. Highly valued. Highly valued. Yes. Yeah. I don't know that we have a non-value, I just think we need to tell people they're valued more. I'll work on that.

We all need to work on that. LeBron James is also struggling with value, but it's not in the same way. I think he's reached peak dad. You'll know it when you hear it next. Rahimi Harrison Grody. I'm not a fan of any team. I'm just a fan of being right. Midday's 10 to 2 on 1043, the score.

LeBron James. This is Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 the score. And somewhere around Taco Tuesday, I realized LeBron James is, he makes a lot of dad jokes. He leans in to being a dad and making the dad jokes. He is a father. Yes.

But he's a cool dad. At least I thought. That's the thing about dad jokes. That doesn't make you a cool dad. That just makes you a dad. Like dad jokes are by interpretation viewed as corny, correct? Yes. And I think I overestimated LeBron's cool dad side and needed to understand his

obvious dad's side. Okay. So, because I, I think LeBron is cool as far as dads go, right? Yeah.

But I didn't realize how many dad jokes he's out here making until Taco Tuesday. And then... It's like a waterfall. Just... Yeah, I just kept going

after that. Yeah. And then I realized he has reached peak dad because who among us hasn't heard a father say that's another dollar you owe me or just put it on your tab

or something along those lines. lines. After you present this, I'm going to tell you why he's not as dad as you think. Go ahead. Well, this is hilarious. So LeBron is out here saying he's not a billionaire, which, you know, we can get into the semantics. But then he lays it on real thick to an interview on the complex. A quick Google search says that your net worth is $1.2 billion. Now, y'all want me to start a line? Be you? Google search is a lie. That is a lie. That's wrong. Yeah, it's more.

Is it more? Oh, it's way less. Yeah, it's way less. Okay. It's way less. It's a couple like thousand in my bank. That's it. I got a couple thousand.

That's my room key. I am free for me. Everything. Everything I got on free. Everything. I heard you, with the young king, Chris is his name. How much for the shirt? Free.

Free. How much for the pants? Yeah, I'm telling you. The richer wasn't free. No way. This is free. This is LeBron Edition, Richard Mill.

Is this actually a LeBron edition? Yes. It probably was free. Listen, you see my wedding band? Let's say, my queen, free. Hat, wave cap, Dewey, free. Listen, Forever King. It's free forever King me.

I ain't got no money, man. I'm broke, baby. My kids got all the money now. NILs. They got all the money. They take care of Dad now. I ain't got nothing. I'm broke.

See? The most dad-sounding. No, no, here's why it's not dad sounding They take care of me I'm broke is the most dad sounding thing I've heard in a while

Because what real dads do is They'll let you know How much money you don't have Living in their house That's my money Not your money You gotta go out there And get some money on your own

No actual search is a lie Yeah well I do believe that There's some website That says I'm worth several million dollars And I'm six one AI is a lie I'm like who wrote this They have not figured out AI guys

They have not figured out AI That's what I know. At the time when you Google something that's top explanation is an AI explanation, but that's not correct. At all. And like I said, there's no bigger tell than when the White Sox play the Cubs and you read the AI-generated preview. And then none of the stats line up, but it's hilarious.

In the meantime, I did laugh at the everything is free. There's a difference between the wealth you have accumulated and the money you earn. And then the billion versus million, the best is ill. illustration is always like the grains of sand versus the seconds versus everything else. There is a difference, a significant difference. A millionaire is closer to us than they are a billionaire. If you don't understand the difference between millionaires and billionaires, just look up billionaire rice.

And as Layla mentioned, they will show you the grains of rice and how many for a million versus 100 million, 10 million, a billion. And you'll be like, oh. But here's the thing. I don't know that LeBron is too far away. I think LeBron James may not have a million liquid, but he's worth over a billion dollars. I think he has enough assets and stakes and, look, investments in sports teams, things that own sports teams that he has a billion dollars in value. I ain't got no money, man.

We don't believe you, LeBron. As far as the free for me or whatever he said, look. I am free for me. My favorite price is free $9. Oh, yeah, I were free stuff all the time. If it's free, but the difference is my free stuff is like a shirt. It's not a Richard Mill watch. I mean, to be fair, it's a Leila Rahimi addition, anything, you'd have a free version of it.

Ridiculous, though. Like, everything he does, like, yeah, of course, you're at the point where you're so wealthy that you do get this stuff for free. The irony is you always get it for free when you no longer need it to be free. Charles Barkley has a whole monologue on this. And it's good. And it's fair. And people want you, when you are famous or you have money, they want you to. Met Gala is a perfect example, right?

Companies buy the tables of Meggala and the people who go didn't buy their own ticket. They're given a ticket by whoever owns the table. Did you guys see Justin Jefferson and Joe Burrow took a picture together at the Met Gala? And I'm like, I know you two want to play football together. Who was it that? I know how I feel about this. Save Justin Jefferson. Was it JJ who said named his top five NFL receivers and didn't include Justin Jefferson?

Is that what it was? Oh, no. I think that's... While you look at that, let me remind you of this programming note. I know you want another Cubs game. Tonight, the Cubs continue their series at home against the Reds. Pre-game coverage begins at 605 with first pitch at 640 in crystal clear FM quality on 1043, the score, and the Northwestern Medicine Cubs Radio Network.

Yeah, I believe it was number one It was Amon Ross St. Brown. Number two was Jamar Chase. Number three was D.K. Metcalf. Number four was Paca Nukua. And number five was Zay Flowers. Who put this together? This was J.J. McCarthy.

J.J. McCarthy put this list together and didn't... And that's why Kyloor is a starting quarterback. Save Justin Jeff. I'm looking for the video of it. And I'm not saying save him in this division again. But like save him to a team that doesn't play the Bears this year. this man deserves to play football. Or maybe it's somebody else.

It might not be J.J. McCarthy. I want to get this right when I say it. Yeah, I was going to say, let's give benefit of doubt here. Justin Jefferson and Joe Burrow together is a scary combination, given the receivers already on the Bengals. That would be insane.

You mean like LSU when they won a national title insane? Oh, yeah, that's the exact same team, wouldn't it be? Yeah. Yeah, they were awesome. Break out the cigar. far as Jebara. Go Tigers. Go Tigers. I do love the Ed Orgeron accent. Maybe don't do all the things he did. A lesson for us all. We have a show for you. Next is Mark Grady and Russ Dorsey on the score.