The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 Points With Chris Mannix - The most interesting team in the NBA

Episode Date: October 7, 2023

Chris is joined by The Athletic's Lakers reporter Jovan Buha for the latest 3 Points. On paper, are the Lakers better heading into 2023-2024, What does LA need from Anthony Davis, and could this be Lebron's final season. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me.

Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes,

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Get the app on Apple's app store and make sure you to follow me at Chris Mannix to get notified when I go live. Well, the NFL season is going strong and Drafting Sportsbook is hooking new customers up with an offer that's even stronger. Bet five bucks on any game this week to score $200 instantly in bonus bet. And Draft Kings isn't stopping there. All customers can take advantage of a sweetener offer every game day this October. My game this week is the New England Patriots. Took a bad loss against Dallas last week. They're giving a point in half over the Saints. I'm buying it to Bill Belichick. I'm buying into Mac Jones having a bounce back week this week against the Saints. So get in on the game day greatness. Download the Draft King Sportsbook app now.

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21 plus age varies by jurisdiction, void in Ontario, bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance. See sportsbook.draftkings.com slash football terms for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources. All right, this is three points with Chris Mannix, part of the Volume Sports Podcast Network. We are live on AMP.

As always, you can make sure to get the first listen of all the volume podcast on AMP. Subscribe to the volume feed there. Subscribe to my feed there at Chris Mannix as well. So the most interesting team in the league is more often than not going to be the Lakers. Even when they're good, they're bad, it's always a good.

But this year, I think, could be especially interesting because the Lakers had themselves what most believe is a pretty good offseason and have put around a soon-to-be-year-old LeBron James, a team that should compete at a high level. The highest level, let's get into that. Bring in Yova Buha. Does a great job covering the Lakers over at the athletic. And Yoban, let's start right at the top with the offseason. I guess first let's run through what the Lakers did this offseason, the offseason moves that they've made. They've got Anthony Davis re-signed to a contract extension.

Austin Reeves resigned, DeAngelo Russell reigned, Rihamora reigned. They signed Gabe Vincent as a free agent. They picked up Tori and Prince, Jackson Hayes, Cam Reddish. So they fleshed out their roster with a few different guys. They lost Dennis Schroeder, Lonnie Walker the 4th, Malik Beasley, and Troy Brown. So I guess my first question to you is, did the Lakers have a good offseason? Are they a better team on paper now than they were at the end of last season? Yes, I think so.

I'm with the consensus here. We recently just did grades for the athletic, and I gave the Lakers an A-minus. I think if you look at what general manager and vice president of basketball operations, Rob Polinka, has continually said over the past few months, this team's goal was to establish some baseline level of continuity. And I think you saw that with the resignings of Austin Reeves, Rehachamora, DeAngelo Russell, them extending Anthony Davis, and then them upgrading along the fringes of the rotation, where for me, Gabe Vincent and Dennis Schroeder are probably similar types of players

in the aggregate. But I like Gabe's pull-up shooting ability, his ability to run, pick, and roll, and just is catching shoot as a weak side threat. So I look at Gabe as at least an offensive upgrade over Dennis with what the Lakers need. I think Torian Prince is an upgrade over that Troy Brown, Malik Beasley, Lonnie Walker spot. I think he gives them some more size and versatility as that kind of swing guy in the front court. And then I look at Christian Wood as comparing him to a Wenian Gabriel or Tristan Thompson. I think you're going to get a lot more consistency from that backup center spot.

And if Anthony Davis goes down, which we know he probably will at some point, you can have a Christian Wood step in and get you 20 and 10 for like a 10 to 15 game stretch while AD is out, similar to what Thomas Bryant did for the Lakers last year, when AD went down. So I think overall this is a better roster. This is a deeper roster. They have continuity, which they have not had in the LeBron and AD era. I think if you look year over year, it's always a new roster. They're sometimes returning two or three guys.

This year, they are returning most of that. core that helped them during the playoffs. Now, to your point about, you know, where are they in the contender sphere, obviously there's the big deal today with Damian Lillard. And I already had Milwaukee and Phoenix ahead of the Lakers. I think they'll still be ahead of the Lakers. So for me right now, I have them third in the west behind Denver and Phoenix and fifth overall behind those two teams and Milwaukee and Boston.

You mentioned continuity. And it still is a little baffling to me that after winning a chance, championship in 2020, the Lakers proceeded to slowly deconstruct that roster. It's like they had a thing that worked and they did everything they could to dismantle it and break it apart. I think bringing the band back, so to speak, was the right move. And, you know, when I was putting together part of the SI preview issue, I had some coaches kind of pushing back on the Laker offseason. They were like, look, it's not that good. They had some lateral moves there. You know, Christian Wood, deeply flawed defensively, as well.

we well know. But I think continuity does matter with this team. And I like some of the guys that they signed them with you on Gabe Vincent. That was a starting point guard on a finals team. That's not nothing. That's a guy that can play that position in big games. Torin Prince, three and D guy. That's it's an upgrade, I think, over Monty Walker, despite the fact Lonnie had some great moments of the Lakers in the playoffs. And look, Jackson Hayes, Cam Reddish, they haven't shown much at this point in their career, but their former lottery picks. that are going to get an opportunity to play off two of the greatest players in the game. That can only benefit them.

I think they've made all the right moves. And this really is a continuation of what Rob Plank has been consistently saying over the last four or five months that we value our guys. We're not looking to shake things up. We're not looking to change things up. I mean, that, you know, do you get the same sense that like, regardless of what they could do, continuity and making sure they had, you know, developing chemistry with these guys seems to have taken. on a greater importance for the Lakers in the last five, six months that it has at any point time over the last couple of seasons. Definitely. And that's why I think you have to, I don't want

to say grade their offseason on a curve, but in comparison to previous off seasons, when as you pointed out, they have torn down the roster. They have chased the shiny object of after the championship season, trying to get Dennis Schrooter to be their starting point guard and sort of changing the makeup of that team. Then the next off season, they go off to Russell Westbrook and a bunch of aging veterans. Then this past off season, I thought it made a little bit more sense, but ultimately, that was a lot of vet minimum guys. And they had to wait until the trade deadline until they could ship out Russ and get back multiple rotation pieces. We should also mention extended Jared Vanderbilt, who was a key defensive piece for them as the number two defense after the trade deadline.

So I think overall, if you look at, again, the principal moves were retaining that core, extending, Like now you have a window of, you know, whatever happens with LeBron in the future, whether he retires next summer, the following summer, whenever, you have a core now with Anthony Davis, Austin Reeves, Rue Hachamora, Gabe Vincent, you know, potentially DeAngel Russel and Jared Vanderbill of you've got guys who have been in a team that's made a deep playoff run. You've got guys that now have some continuity and chemistry together. And I think you just kind of can slot in a star there.

And it all makes sense. So to me, they are set up really well for the short term and the long term with their potential cap flexibility down the road. So I think Rob Polinka, really the bulk of the work was at the trade deadline. And I think you're just seeing a continuation of that. But for them to preach continuity and actually back it up, I think that's a win for them. And again, I think they're on that short list with Denver and Phoenix as legitimate threats to come out of the West right now. Let's look at the half-empty side of all this, the other side of the coin. Where are the weaknesses in your mind?

I mean, they don't have much size up front. To get through the Western conference, presumably you're going to have to go through Denver and Nicole Yokic once again. Christian Wood, very good offensive player, but as we said, deeply flawed defensive player to the point where I'm not sure you can keep them on the floor in any kind of meaningful minutes in a postseason game. Where are the weaknesses right now with this Lakers team to you? To me, it's on the defensive side, which is interesting for a group that was number two after the trade deadline and really built their identity around their defense.

And just offensively, they've kind of been able to always get by with, we have LeBron, we have AD, they're going to figure it out offensively. And we kind of saw that in the Memphis and Golden State series. But for me, it's the perimeter defense to the extent that Jared Vanderbill, I think, you know, we saw in the playoffs. He really struggled offensively when teams started to ignore him and playoff. off of him. And until he becomes at least a competent corner three point shooter, I think there are some limitations to how much he can play on a contending offense. And then I also look at, I think Gabe is a solid defender, but it's still a bit of a downgrade going from Dennis Schroeder to Gabe Vincent. I thought Dennis hit his ball pressure, you know, ball hawking guys,

94 feet and really setting the tone for them defensively, especially in crunch time. He was a key defender for them. I think they're going to miss some of that and just some of the energy that he brought. And then you mentioned it. Like for me, it's still the interior where I look at how this team matches up with Denver. And I think they're better in part because of the shooting. So I think Denver really packed the pain against them and just said, you know, we're not, we're not going to guard any of your shooters at the three point line. And, you know, if Troy Brown or Lonnie Walker or whoever beats us, like so be it. So I think they have some more weapons there to make a team like Denver pay for that strategy. But defensively, Christian Wood and Jackson Hayes are not reliable defenders. I mean,

Christian Wood, part of the reason why this is a guy who just averaged 16 points, 8 rebounds on a block, shot almost 40% on threes, and he's a vet minimum guy. Jackson Hayes has bounced around and talking to some people in New Orleans, like he was basically their fourth string center at times last year and was not a consistent guy in the rotation. So looking at those two guys, if Anthony Davis goes down for an extended period of time, like they can probably get by. offensively with Christian Wood, but defensively, I don't know how they survive in a playoff setting for even eight to ten minutes without AD out there. So that's really the big one for me is the interior defense, you know, the rim protection and the defensive rebounding.

I think Denver slaughtered them on the glass and that was a big concern that I don't think they've yet resolved. Yeah, Christian Wood has been jettisoned by several bad teams already. whether it's Detroit, Houston, he was on Charlotte for a minute. Dallas didn't have room for him, didn't want him back this year. There's obviously a reason for that. It's his defensive limitations that have kept him off the floor, see if he can fit into a role with the Lakers. But when you talk about the interior,

we are talking about Anthony Davis and what he's going to be able to do and what he needs to do with this team. I thought Anthony Davis in the games that LeBron was out was just excellent, especially that stretch in March when LeBron went down with that foot injury. 20 games that AD played without LeBron average, almost 28 points, 14 rebounds, 2 plus assists. You know, really strong numbers. And in March when he was when LeBron was sidelined, yeah, I wouldn't call it a changing of the gar, but he started to see signs, I'm like, look, maybe AD can be the guy that, you know,

can ascend to the number one role in this team as LeBron descends into a number two role. does that have to happen with this Lakers team? LeBron's going to be 39 at end of December. Does Anthony Davis this year have to ascend to a role where he is the number one option? He's the number one guy and LeBron can take something of a backseat with this group. I think so. I think even if you go back to November and December, I remember writing a couple stories on this, you know, quote unquote,

changing out of the guard where it was like for the first time it felt in the LeBron 80 era, AD was the guy leading the offense. If you looked at that stretch, AD was averaging more field goal attempts than LeBron, and he was more of that focal point that he has never really been in the L.A. era, of course, in the bubble, he shot the ball really well, and he was a monster.

And he's still really, really good in that top 10 conversation. But I think it had always been LeBron's team. The offense had always been LeBron. And with LeBron, you're always going to play a certain style. And I think that's just kind of how it goes. But for me,

I think Anthony Davis, now we were talking about the defense. Like that's the one sort of gray area for me of he just has such a burden on that end that it's really tough to have him put out all these fires and, you know, guard one through five on certain possessions defensively. And then, okay, go be the focal point. And like, you know, I look at a guy like Yokic and, of course, you know, to me, he's the best player in the league right now. But he doesn't have the same defensive, you know, burden that Anthony Davis has.

So I think maybe him playing at the fore alleviate some of that and they just have a little bit more collective size where they can get away with him not having to do as much defensively and maybe taking on more offensive responsibility. But I think when people look at some of the offensive inconsistency, I think defensively, he's been an ace and he's been amazing. So that's just not the side of the ball that gets talked about as much. But for him, I think for the Lakers, like, it's got to be about keeping those guys healthy. They both are, you know, you kind of pencil them in for missing 20 plus games with the way the last few years have gone. So, you know, for me, part of that with LeBron is how do I take some of the, you know, how do I take the ball out of his hands? Well, you give it more to Austin Reeves. You give it more to DeAngelo Russell.

How do I take some of the shot creation off his plate? Okay. Well, more of that to Austin Reeves, more of that to Anthony Davis. So I think it's a cumulative thing with taking the load off of LeBron. But first and foremost, it should be Anthony Davis. He has shown in the past, I mean, go back to New Orleans. Like he was a legit number one option in the playoffs and in the regular season. And I think he didn't have to maybe do as much defensively with some of the limitations the Lakers have had recently.

But I think if they can find that sweet spot of getting him more involved offensively, I think that's where you unlock this team's championship ceiling. Did Dady show you something different last year? Because, you know, look, he's always got, he's going to have this reputation being fragile, you know, forever, it seems like. And it's well earned in a way. It seems like he's always battling some kind of injury. But especially in the second half after the All Star break, I thought I saw a guy that played through a lot, you know, whether it's an ankle sprain, foot injuries, you know, bumps and bruises. He seemed to be more willing to play through pain, more able, I guess, to play through pain than I've seen him. over the last couple of years with the Lakers. What did you see from Aide? Did you see maybe a tougher version from him last season? 100%. That I believe he played 29 consecutive games, which was the longest stretch.

And the only games he took off, I think, were just kind of those mandated games, right? Where it was like a first end of a back to back or second and back to back. Exactly. So he wasn't playing back to backs for large portions of last season. But he had a stretch there of about 29 consecutive games. That was his longest stretch of consecutive games. games since 2017, 18 back in New Orleans. So longer than any stretch he had in L.A. prior to that point. So I think Anthony Davis is well aware of his reputation. It drives him

crazy. Obviously, he's not load managing just to sit games out or to take the easy, like he's had legitimate knee, ankle, foot injuries over the past few years. And I think it's taken a bit of a whole on him mentally where, you know, every time he comes back from an injury, we talk to him about what was the rehab process like, you know, what was it like sitting out as your team is struggling and clearly needs you out there on the floor. And he's just talked about how hard that's been for him to deal with. So, you know, he's heard the street close nickname. He doesn't like it. It bothers him. But I think he showed last year the way to push through, you know, push back on that narrative is to just play and play through injury. And to me, he wasn't 100.

He didn't look 100% at times. He was still dealing with that bone spur in his foot that cost him a bit a month and a half or so last year. And he pushed through that and was for my money, the best defender in the playoffs last year. And the, you know, the key reason the Lakers made the conference finals was because how dominant their defense was and how Memphis and Golden State couldn't solve how great Anthony Davis was on that end of the floor.

So I thought, again, you know, you want to see more offensive. consistency from him. You want to see the jump shot come back. That's been gone basically for three years now. But even that aside, he's so special on the defensive end. And I think he finally showed, like, you know, screw the narrative, screw all the outside noise. I'm just going to play through this. And again, when LeBron and AD are reasonably healthy and you give them a competent supporting cast, I think we've seen now, they're likely going to make a deep playoff run. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment.

And the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream,

this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack.

I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really?

Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. So let's talk about LeBron. And let's start in the context of Anthony Davis. Let's say Davis is the guy we saw at the end of last season for most of this year, where he's giving you 25 to 28 points per game, double-digit rebounds, defending,

playing with the guy we saw in a bunch. So I think at this stage, Anthony Davis is still capable of doing that. He's not as young as he used to be, but he's still in the prime of his career. With the talent around them, like what's an ideal role for? for LeBron with this group and at this point in his career. Like I said, going to turn 39 years old end of December. Still one of the greatest players in the game. Still one of the top, whatever you want to say.

10, 15, 20 players in the game right now, still able to dial it up in the last three or four minutes and become arguably the best player in the game. But what do you think the Lakers want to do with LeBron this year? What's an ideal role for him with this group? I think it's continuing to take the load off his plate using. they want to run more of the offense through Austin Reeves. That's something that I spoke with Austin about earlier in the offseason when I went out to Vegas for the same.

Who would have thought that, by the way? Who would have thought that like three years ago? We're having a conversation about we're going to take the load off LeBron James by running our offense through Austin Reeves. He would have thought that would be a topic for discussion in 2023. It's insane. It's absolutely insane. But it just shows the meteoric rise that he's had over,

really over the last few months going back to the trade deadline. He was, I think, the biggest. beneficiary of the Russell Westbrook trade was and then LeBron goes down shortly after and Austin ascends. But I think you're going to see the ball more in his hands. You're going to continue to see it in DeAngelo Russell's hands as I think DeAngelo, of course, there are playoff limitations. And I think that's something that this organization is going to have to potentially resolve in the trade market. But in the regular season, he's a great innings eater for just, you know, he can get you 18 and 6 any given night. And

And he's shown, at least in the regular season, he's a pretty consistent guy. And then as we just mentioned, making AD more of the focal point. So I think last year, you saw LeBron really transition more off the ball, a lot more playing on the weak side, a lot more back cuts. Like, I think one of the most underrated parts of his game is his cutting ability. And that was something Miami really unlocked when they were kind of figuring out, you know, how do we make him and Dwayne Wade work as co-ball handlers? And part of that was when LeBron puts his head.

down, he's bigger, faster and stronger than most of the guys guarding him. And he can find a way to get to the rim. And then once he's there, he's statistically one of the best finishers ever. And that's where you see, you know, you get LeBron on a back cut, head of steam going to the rim. He's going to get fouled. He's going to finish. And it's a high percentage play. So for me, it's finding more ways to do that stuff. And then, of course, in the playoffs, in fourth quarters in crunch time, you still want the ball going through him a healthy amount and him and AD playing a two-man game. But during the regular season, first quarters, second quarters, third quarter, like,

you want to find ways to get him some rest and not have him have to feel like he has to do everything, which has sort of been some of the past issues with this Lakers team has been why they wanted a dentist shooter, why they wanted a Russell Westbrook, why they wanted a Kyrie Irving was because LeBron has felt like he's had to carry the offense himself to such a large extent. So I think getting Austin and unlocking him, unleashing some of the stuff we saw in the second half of last year, Dilo having a full training camp and being able to fully grasp Darwin's offense and what the Lakers want from him. And then Anthony Davis again kind of continuing to pass the baton to him.

I think those are the ways you kind of save LeBron's legs. One way I'll say not to do it is to play two big lineups with LeBron at the three and then go ask him to defend a Kevin Durant, a Jason Tatum, a Kauai Leonard. So that's maybe a topic for another podcast, but to me, the two big thing just doesn't really make a lot of sense, especially with LeBron out there. He still plays a staggering amount of minutes, right?

Like only played 55 games last year, but average 35 and a half minutes per game. That's what a couple of minutes more than he averaged two years ago, a minute more than he averaged the year before that. Like, he still plays a lot of minutes with this team. I feel like that's got to be the priority. I mean, you want to reduce the number of games when he's out there. Like under 30 would be ideal.

And I'm sure he'll fight it. You know, the guy wants to play when he's out there on the floor. But especially in the first half, don't you have to keep his minutes down? You've got enough talent in this roster to be able to do that. If everybody's healthy, you can go eight or nine guys deep. I mean, to me it's about, yeah, it's about the number of games that he plays. But when he's out there in the floor, I don't want to see 35 and a half minutes per game from LeBron James.

I'm Darvinham. And I'm Rob Polank. I want to see between 29 and 31. And I'd be pretty happy with that. Oh, I totally agree with you. I think, I mean, that's, I was thinking more like on the court, how you can reduce his workload. But it starts with the minutes and maybe even the games of, you know, again, the load management and the resting stuff is, you know, it's very polarizing right now. And, uh, but LeBron fits the, the criteria of a guy who can rest technically based on his age and how many minutes he's played.

And I think you have to look long and hard of. maybe not every back to back, but there should be certain back to backs that he just doesn't play because of his age. And again, I think going back to that playoff run, LeBron came back after four weeks after suffering that foot injury. And to me, was never the same offensively. He had some moments, I think, of game four against Denver,

near 40 point triple double. But aside from a few games here and there, was never quite the same player offensively. And to me, again, you don't want to put him in bubble wrap. Because then you're going to be a six or seven seed. But if you can find the balance of, you know, can he rest against a Houston or a San Antonio or whoever on it back to back? And we can just go out.

And this is the night that DeAngel Russell is more involved offensively or Christian Wood is more involved offensively. And we have these guys who can step up. That to me is the formula for the Lakers being a 50 plus win team, having home court advantage in the playoffs, yet also having LeBron. and AD to a lesser extent, healthy come playoff time, where you can rely on those guys to then put the offense and the defense on their back.

And that's how you make a deep playoff run. You think that should be prioritized, the home court advantage, you know, getting inside that top four. We did see the Lakers last year go from the seven seat all the way to the conference finals. How much of a priority think that's going to be? Like, you know, winning the regular season,

getting into that top four. I think it's a priority for them. I think if you ask them, Would they rather have those guys healthy and not have homeguard advantage? Of course, they're going to take the health. But I think on the one hand, it was impressive what they did, winning those first two series on the road, going in in game one in both instances and punching the,

you know, punching first Memphis in the mouth and then punching Golden State in the mouth. But I also think you saw in that Denver series, like it would have been nice to have had those first couple of games in L.A. And I think it ultimately caught up to them. It's just hard. Like there's a reason why we don't. see six, seven and eight seeds, you know, win the finals, make a finals run. Like, it's very hard to do.

I think eventually it catches up to you on a playoff run. So for me, just all the travel playing in those environments, like I think all that stuff ultimately worked against them at some point. So I think for them it's going to be let's get out. Like, I mean, look at the year they won the championship. They were the one seed. They were dominant from start to finish. And I think that for them made things a little bit easier having home court

throughout the whole playoffs. Yeah, I agree. It definitely hurt them in that Denver series. No question about that. If they had a couple of games first at home, who knows? I mean, Denver was really good, but that was certainly got them off on the wrong foot. The other thing I want to hit you on is LeBron's career now at this point. You were sitting there, end of the Denver series when LeBron kind of just dropped that grenade in the media room

where he said, I've got to think about my future, suggesting perhaps he might not come back. I think we all kind of believe he would. It just seemed unlikely he was going to walk. away at sitting in a position like that. But now as we sit here, kind of with him approaching 39, and with the uncertainty around Brony, I think that has taken into account as well. You know, Brani, we hope, is going to be fully healthy to play for the USC this season, you know, that he can pick up right where he left off before that near tragedy. But, you know, for LeBron, you think there's any chance we could be looking at the final year of, I personally

think that he's going to go out the way Dwayne Wade went out where he's going to announce it is going to say I'm going to get my farewell tour. Like Kobe Bryant ultimately went out as well. So I think it's unlikely. But you think there's any chance that with a player option on his contract for next year, that we could see seeing LeBron's last year? I think there's a chance, but I'm with you and that I think he's going to announce it. And it's going to be a farewell tour situation.

A big camera crews following him around. For sure. There'll be a whole night. I mean, he's got a biographer with them. It's like, yeah. Yeah, he's got his documentary crew, you know, following him around at all times. It's been really one of the more interesting dynamics since we were let back in the locker

room last year was any conversation you have with LeBron on or off the record is being filmed. So all that stuff is going to be part of his future documentary. So I think he's going to announce it. I'm sure that that retirement contemplation will be also a story plot, you know, a plot point in his documentary. but I think it comes down to a couple of factors. I think one is going to be how competitive the Lakers are. I think part of him saying that was in the moment. I mean, again, I said it earlier, like he had a 40 point near triple double and they

still got swept. They still couldn't win one game in that series. And I think there was part of him that was facing his basketball mortality. And just like, LeBron James has that performance in previous seasons. The Lakers win that game. and the LeBron James of old, like the Lakers find a way to beat Denver anyway, despite maybe not having as good of a roster.

And like that was just how singularly great he was, you know, up until maybe last season. But again, year 20, age 38, like, you know,

what are realistic expectations for him? So I think for him, if the Lakers fall short again or, or fall embarrassingly short, despite having a better roster on paper, despite being contenders, that's where I think, he contemplates his future again.

And then there's the Brani situation with just, you know, how does he bounce back? Is he able to return to USC this season? Is he able to return next season? What does his NBA future look like? Because as we know, one of the things keeping LeBron energized and going right now is, of course, winning more championships, but it was the thought of potentially playing with Brani either on the same team or at least sharing the same floor with him. And if that, you know, it ends up not being a realistic scenario, then I think for him, it might

just be another year or two of let me see if I could win another ring, go out on a high note. And then, you know, that's it. So I think he's going to play at least two more years. But I think that the brawny factor right now is the situation that I think is really going to swing things of. If he can, you know, if he's able to return and of course, his health comes first. and return to being a first round prospect and eventually make the NBA, I think LeBron tries to wait it out until Brani's eligible to play.

If not, and he can't return or his career is never the same, then I think it's probably a shorter two to three year window for LeBron. Could you really see LeBron playing in Detroit? Let's say the Pistons draft Ronnie with like the ninth pick in the 2024 NBA draft. I mean, could you really see LeBron following through on some of the stuff he's suggested in the past and going wherever he has to go to play with his son? It's a great question. I'm not sure. I think, you know, my kind of read on the situation has been he softened his stance on specifically playing with Brani.

I think if you look at his comments. Yeah, if you look at his comments throughout the season, for years now, it's really been I want to play with Brony. I want to play with Brani. But then throughout the season, it progressively became more of, like, he got asked after Brony committed to USC, it was in the Golden State series, you know, a couple questions about it. And he was basically like, you know, that's my dream to play on the same team as him. But I don't know if it's my son's dream and I have to honor his dream and his wishes. So that to me was a little bit of him softening it of like, I would love to share the floor with him. And it would be great. You know, maybe I'm on the Lakers. He's on another team and we play each other. And, you know, it's going to be a spectacle. But I don't know if it necessarily means he's going to go to Detroit or Orlando or OKC. And, you know, I mean, it would be something. It would be weird. It'd be weird.

But I think he's going to stay in L.A. And ultimately, it's just going to be them sharing the floor. And that's going to be a really cool moment. Be weird seeing him like in Portland, finishes his career with the Blazers and Brody James. Be something. But I don't see that happen either. Lakers, never boring.

Going to be a great season to watch them and to cover him. Yovan Bua with the Athletic. Follow him there. Follow him on social media all season long. Yovan, good to catch up, man. I appreciate the time and I'll see you soon. Appreciate it, Chris. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy,

not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman helped make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes.

Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all,

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I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifford Show. This is a place for

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