The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Best of The Herd: 07/27/2018

Episode Date: July 27, 2018

Colin puts to rest the debate over multiple suitors for LeBron, stating he already had plans on moving to LA considering his recent business ventures within the first sixteen days of living in LA.��Johnny Manziel shows his true colors yet again trying to defend Jimmy Garoppolo. And Tom Brady is the entire backbone of the New England Patriots and they have no identity without him.  Plus FSR weekend host and NBA analyst Chris Mannix stops by. Presented by Perky Jerky. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Good morning, Joy. You look weekend-y already. You've got the floral thing going on. I'm bright today. Bright today. I feel great today. And I want to start with this. So I'm watching yesterday.

And there's all sorts of news out. LeBron has the new HBO show. and they've already got episodes of it. They got, you know, staff's already set up. Got episodes. The editing's already been done. I've done five, six shows in my life, TV shows. They take a while to hire a staff, get the production facilities, pay the people, get payroll set up.

LeBron's already got stuff done. He's editing stuff. They're talking stuff. That comes on the heels of him announcing 10 days ago. that he's already got a TV deal. He's already had dinner with Al Pacino and Leonardo DiCaprio. So let's think about this for a second. LeBron announces he's a Laker on July 1st.

It is July 27th. That's 26 days, of which 10, he was gone. He was in Europe. LeBron's been in Los Angeles 16 days. That's it. He already has a production deal for a movie, dinner with stars, and HBO shows all lined up, but he had a pizza promotion.

In 16 days. Folks, it takes six months to put TV shows together. It takes 15 meetings to get TV deals. The Sixers were never a contender. The Cavs were never a contender. Houston was never in the running. San Antonio was never in the running. This thing was decided a year ago.

I don't think Miami. I don't think going back home. to Cleveland was decided a year in advance when LeBron James and Magic meant on July 1st. That wasn't a recruiting pitch. That was a strategy meeting. This is why Magic Johnson was teasing Jerry West six months ago. We got him. We got him because they did.

It's why Magic Johnson said before the signing, give me two years. If I don't have it done, fire me. because he knew he had LeBron. LeBron did wait to the very end in Miami, did wait a long time before making a decision to go back to Cleveland. A year ago in September, Peter Vessie reported. A year ago, it's done.

Peter Vessie, though, is no longer mainstream. He's retired. He used to be the guy in America that broke the stories in the NBA. He was woege pre-woge. He said a year ago, it's over. It's done. decided. I'm watching all this stuff about his new HBO show,

and I'm watching clips, and I'm watching all the stuff. Folks, I've been in TV 20 years. 16 days, you got TV deals? 16 days, you got movie deals? Folks, I agreed to a new contract with this company a month ago. I still haven't signed the contract. It takes forever. There's agents, there's meetings, there's staff, there's HR, there's people.

16 days. I got a TV deal. I got a TV show. I've got staffs hired. I've got, are you kidding me? He's had a pizza promotion. He's had dinner with stars. His baby was done.

This is why Magic was goading people. When they sat down in LeBron's home for three hours, we all thought it was a recruiting pitch. Magic sold it as a recruiting pitch the guys like me. No, it wasn't. They sat down with a board a strategy. He goes, Rondo's available. Do you want him?

And LeBron said, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I like Ronneau. He's tough. He competes. I competed against him. I like Ronno. He's super smart. He'll make Lonzo ball tougher. Get him. They did. He said, Lance Stevenson's available. We can get him. Do you like him? LeBron? And LeBron said, oh, I played against him. He competes his ass off. I like him. He's crazy. He's not intimidated by anybody. He won't be intimidated by the warriors. Get him. They did. Magic said, what do you think about Boogie Cousins? LeBron said pass. Not interested. By the way, there were rumors last year. Palinkin' Magic like Boogie. Funny. Never made an offer.

Everybody was surprised. Why? Because that three-hour meeting was not a recruiting pitch. It was a strategy meeting. He said, Javail McGee, you like him? And LeBron said, yeah, let's take him off the Warriors. He looked pretty good in the finals. Go get him.

They did. Michael Beasley. This was all strategy. I'm looking at that thing yesterday about the HBO show, the dinner with Al Pacino and Leonardo DiCaprio, the pizza promotion. Sixers were never in this thing. Cleveland was never in this thing

Houston was never in this thing. Do you remember a year ago? A year ago Rob Polinka had a press conference after they acquired a player. Who do you think he's talking about here? When Rich texted me and said, hey, let's talk. It was like, you know,

a lightning bolt hit us and we said, gosh, this has to be our focus. We've got to find a way. the stories in the book of Genesis where there was a time when the Israelites were wandering in the desert and all of a sudden bread came down from heaven that's kind of what today feels like for us

oh no he's not announcing LeBron he's announcing KCP who played for awful Detroit who couldn't make the playoffs and you never watched play if you didn't live in Michigan bread from the heavens Who's KCP represented by? LeBron's guys a year ago.

All right, let's shift to this. You got to make a choice in life and they're opposite choices. You want to be cool, bro? Or do you want to be a worker? Because if you want to be cool, take off work early. Meet you for margaritas at five. Bro, drinks on me.

You, no rules. Push back on me. management. That's one lane in life. The other lane is, now I'll pass. I got to stay late tonight again. And I got to go home and do work. You want to be cool, bro, or you want to be worker. In comedy, Dane Cook and Dice Clay want to be cool. Eddie Murphy was the funniest guy in the world. Got less funny, the cooler he got. I just watched Chris Rock special. He used to be funnier when he was less cool. Jim Carrey used to be funny too. Now he's political. He's cool. He's an artist. He's cool.

Jerry Seinfeld's never been cool. Jerry Seinfeld's a worker. He's never been cool. Jay Leno was never cool. Same with quarterbacks. Tom Brady does a documentary. He's married to a supermodel. He's in his pajamas watching film all day.

Jay Cutler, too cool to care. Mark Sanchez, I'm cool. Cam Newton got wardrobe picked out before I look at game film. Johnny Mansell broke into this league, and I said at the very time, he's not wired to be a franchise quarterback. He's a cool bro. Johnny Mansell tanked. Then on the last six months, Johnny Mansell has been telling us, I am a new man. I am a worker.

No more that cool bro hang out with guy stuff. No more margaritas at four. I am a worker. I am strident, I believe, in working. I'm in a new lane now. I'm not in the Dane Cook lane. And I'm in the Jerry Seinfeld lane. I'm not in the Jay Cutler Too Cool condescending lane.

I'm in the Brady lane. Matt Ryan. Andrew Luck's not cool. By the way, Russell Wilson's got the most beautiful wife in the world. He's still not cool. Johnny Manzo told you I'm in that lane. That's what he told us. And what do you know?

A little bait this week was thrown out. Just a little bait. Jimmy Garoppolo dated a porn star Mansell talked about it, asked about it on his podcast and changed man worker answered this way What's wrong with it? What's wrong with it?

All these soft NFL reporters saying, oh man, he's going on a day with him. Dude, let the guy live his life. He's going on a day. So what? Anything that's going to make him play better on a Sunday? anything he's going to play better on a Sunday or a Monday. Jimmy G.

Live your life. Whatever you want. Whatever you want. He's backing it up on the field. He hasn't lost a game. Nothing. Guys doing everything he's needed to join life. So be it.

And with that, Johnny Mansell and the NFL will never be mentioned in a sentence again. Because he had fooled all those NFL GMs. I am no longer cool, bro. I am committed, bro. A little tiny bit of bait. And he went back to who he is. Here's the real Johnny Mansell. The cool, bro.

Being a comedian and a rock star is not cool. It's spending all day writing jokes, going to bed thinking about jokes, waking up, sitting there with a yellow pad like Seinfeld, who's worth $750 million, writing jokes all day. Good to have you in today. So I find Kevin Durant to be fascinating. I find Kevin Durant to be endlessly fascinating. And yesterday he did it again. He fired back at the media about social media.

I am loving Kevin Durant. He is giving me more topics than I deserve. And he talked about it again. And I've got a theory behind why Kevin Durant has become insatiable. He can't stop the social media. stuff and he reacted to it again yesterday. Hi everybody, it's Colin. You know I love perky jerky.

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Try a different flavor. Every game, special offer, 40% off all multi-packs. Please use the code. Code heard. It's the best tasting jerky on earth guarantee. Get it at perkyjurkey.com. Code heard. A scout in the AFC was talking about the New England Patriots. And the story that broke today by Matt Miller, Bleacher Report, is that a lot of people in the NFL think Brady's closer to retirement than, you know, there's a lot of different speculation. I don't have any idea. I get tired of talking about it. So I don't know. I think he's got one or two years left.

But there was a quote in the story that's interesting. Said a scout, take. Brady off that roster. They don't beat the Browns. I'm not joking. That is one of the worst rosters in the entire NFL. But you never hear about it because Brady's so effing good. Well, first of all, he's right. This is what I said two days ago and got pushback.

Aaron Rogers gets hurt. They go 3 and 7, shot out at home twice. That's what Green Bay's roster is without Aaron Rogers, which is why I've criticized Green Bay. You take Tom Brady off that roster. He rolls an ankle week two and Brian Hoyer fills in. What are they?

What are they? They have one elite player, and an elite is marginal in their front seven defensively. Like Carolina's got five, they've got one, Dante Hightower, who's been to one pro bowl. So he's not exactly Vaughn Miller. He's not Khalil Mack. They have no pro bowlers in their offensive line unit, their wide receiving core, their running back unit, or their defensive line. If you look at their best players, we all know that Brady is, is brave. But take Brady out. They're two best players.

One is a tight end, which you rarely see more than one drafted in the first round. It's not a crucial NFL position. It's a position where you have a handful of stars, but Travis Kelsey didn't win in a bunch of playoff games. Gronk wouldn't win him without Brady. How many playoff games was Antonio Gates winning? Tight end is their best player, five Pro Bowls. Their second best player is a safety.

Devin McCordy, who by the way, safeties are now over the last five years because of the spread offense been marginalized. That is, again, a position. You don't get a lot of first round safeties. It's not a crucial position in the NFL, and it's less so than ever. Then they have Dante High Tower, who's been to one Pro Bowl. Stefan Gilmore is a nice corner. He's a good corner.

He's been to a Pro Bowl. That's it. You go look right now at the Rams, Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Houston, Texans. You start looking at these rosters around the NFL, and they're not close to that. They are not close to that. Their best player outside of Brady is a tight end, and the second best is a safety. And I think one of the things that saves them is that the reason Green Bay went into the tank without Aaron is because the NFC is also really good. If you look at the Patriot's schedule, they got about six games that appear loseable.

Texans, Chiefs, Packers, Jets, Vikings, Steelers, they'll be heavy favorites and the rest. And what really gives New England a break, and it masquerades a lot of their issues is their division, they either go six and oh or five and one every year. I'll give you a test. Think about this. In the last decade, when is the last great year by a quarterback not named Brady in the AFC East that he plays? So the AFC East, named the last time a quarterback, had in the elite year.

You've got to think about it, don't you? And you can't count Ronnie Brown the running back in Miami during the Wildcat year. That doesn't count. He's a running back. Why? That was such a great year. It was. And he had a great year. He tripped everybody. But that may be number two and he's a running back.

The last great year by an opposing quarterback. And this is really what masquerades a lot of New England's issues. On a week-to-week basis, they don't face elite throwers. It's Chad Pennington 10 years ago. Who, by the way, didn't have much of a suitbook. for an arm, smart as hell, worked his tail off. It's a good year, though.

That's 19 touchdown seven picks. So, listen, I love Brady. But when you know, you can roll through your division and you never have a losing streak because every other week you're facing essentially a backup quarterback, you know, you go in the NFC right now,

you lose your star quarterback, oh, here comes Carson Wenton to town, and Aaron Rogers, and Kirk Cousins, and Deck Prescott and Jimmy Garoppolo and Cam Newton, Andrew Breeze, and Matt Ryan. I believe the scout. I don't love New England's personnel. They have two elite players. Philadelphia's got seven.

Rams 9. Chargers 6. Chief 7. Eagles, how many ever? A lot. I think you like the Giants roster better. Giants have six elite players. OBJ's elite.

Nate Solders, one of the best tackle. in football. I'm sorry, but Alec Ogletree is going to be a borderline pro bowl linebacker, Landon Collins, Janoris Jenkins, Max Harrison. He's a really good players. One front seven guys a pro bowler. One-border, Dante Hightower. That's it. The head Chandler Jones, let him go. What's up, everybody? This is John Middlecock from the three-and-out podcast on Colin Coward's podcast network. This week, I talk college football playoffs, who I think the top four teams will be. I also have special guest, Fox, NFL play-by-play man. Annie, you can also see him on the whip around on FS1, Kevin Burkhart on all things NFL. If you like Collins Show,

you'll like mine. Find me wherever you listen to podcast, three and out with John Middlecombe. So last year, a lot of discussion last year. NFL ratings dipped. NFL ratings dipped. Well, first of all, all of linear television is going down. of your television, thanks to Netflix and, you know, Amazon Prime is, you know, everything's going down. So the NFL, by comparison, wasn't down much. And then people say it's the anthem controversy, and maybe that's a little bit. But what nobody is just admitting about the NFL is we watch great offenses. I've always said this for years.

Everybody says they love defense. No, you don't. You love if your team has a great defense. But if I told you there's a football game, tomorrow, this year's national champion. championship game. Whoever's in it's going to be six to three, a defensive struggle. You'd be like, no, thanks. If I said it's going to be 28, 27, a firework show.

Ooh, I can't wait to watch. You don't love defense. You don't love defense. Top 30 jersey sellers in the NFL, 25 are offensive guys. Fantasy football has only amplified this. You like offensive guys. And so last year, everybody talks about the ratings are down. Number one, TV ratings are down everywhere for everything.

They're down for everything. except political shows. Why would that be? Because our president's divisive. But here's the other problem last year. Points per game down. Completion percentage down. Passer rating down.

Totally yards per game. Down. Down. Everything was down offensively. That's going to change this year. The reason football was down last year, some of it was. It wasn't very much fun to watch. Think about 30% of the NFL this year.

30% a third will be more interesting just because a quarterback play. Okay, let's start. I'll give you just the 10 teams that will be more captivating simply because of quarterbacks, and it's a quarterback league. Number one's Aaron Rogers in Green Bay, obviously. He got hurt first quarter of a game against Minnesota. Counting that game, they went three and seven without him, and they were unwatchable.

They were shut out twice at home without him. Shut out at home. They hadn't been shut out at home in over a decade. They were shut out twice without him. By the way, three wins. Two of them were overtime over bad teams. Aaron Rogers is back. Packer ratings up.

Carson Wentz. On track to be the MVP. Got hurt last month, didn't play. Nothing against Nick Foles. I know everybody in Philly likes him, but if I gave you a choice today, who would you rather watch? Wentz or Foles?

Who would you rather watch? Wentz over Foles. Carson Wentz is back. To me, the next great superstar quarterback in this NFL wasn't around counting the playoffs for the last six weeks of it. Deshawn Watson, Houston. Did you watch what happened to Houston last year when Deshawn Watson got hurt? They were a grease fire. I think they lost their last six games. I mean, they were using like CFL guys, AAU guys. It were awful. Meanwhile, Deshawn Watson had the most touchdowns for any player through seven games ever. I don't know. I think he's kind of exciting. Houston's a major market.

I picked him to win their division. So is everybody else. He's back. Andrew Luck. I don't know. Have you seen the Colts with him? They win 11 games. They score 30 with him.

Have you seen the Colts without him? That may be the worst team in the league. They were last in yards per play without Andrew Luck. I'm going to roll the dice and say they'll be top 10 in yards per play with Andrew Luck. He didn't play a down last year. He was before Carson Wentz, the next great generational quarterback. He returns. How about Jimmy Garoppolo?

Beginning of last year, he was a backup. Now he's 7 and 0 as a starter and dating an adult film star. I don't like the choice, but he's interesting. He made a very interesting personnel decision, an adult film star. San Francisco, unwatchable for the last two and a half years. Now you've got Tom Brady with more interesting partner choices. You think that's going to be interesting in the third biggest city in the country, fourth biggest city?

Now to guys we don't know about that are really exciting, though. Patrick Mahomes, loaded roster in Kansas City, one of the great play callers in Andy Reed. They've traded up, moved up to get him in the draft. People are saying he has the strongest NFL arm ever, like farve-like, better than cams. They've got all sorts of amazing skill people. Tyreek Hill. Yeah.

Travis Kelsey. You don't think that's going to be more interesting? I think they're going to be interesting. Then there's Baker Mayfield. I don't know, semi-controversial. Play, not play? I got to say this. I wouldn't have picked him number one.

But if he's on television this year, I'm watching the Browns. Were you watching the Browns last year at 0-16? Not if you lived anywhere outside of Ohio. Their ratings are going to go up. There's Lamar Jackson, an exhilarating talent, a great college player, and I believe has a Tebow quality. He is going to create a firestorm in Baltimore.

Because much like Tebow, profoundly popular and successful in college, first round picks so fans want to see him play. And Denver's fans and now Baltimore's fans aren't happy. with the current situation at quarterback, you don't think Joe Flacco, Lamar Jackson's going to be a fascinating story this year. That is going to be a fireworks show. And I guarantee you,

the media is going to want to see Lamar Jackson. He hasn't had anything more than like an OTA, and I'm already reading Lamar Jackson stories. He's the East Coast version of Tebow. They're going to be demanding he play very early. How about Josh Rosen, the most political outspoken quarterback in this year's draft in Arizona,

a team that desperately needs a quarterback? I mean, he's already kind of. controversial. He was controversial in college. Hot tub, dorm room. You don't think Arizona's going to be more watchable this year? Sam Bradford, Josh Rosen. And then finally, Sam Darnold. Maybe you've heard of New York City. It's a big place with tall buildings. They have, in my opinion, along with Carson Wentz, the next transcendent quarterback in the league. Listen, a third of the league is significantly more interesting at the most compelling position. Unless Donald Trump gets, you know, impeached or something, which good God, it's possible.

And that would obviously move a lot of eyeballs to political shows and off, you know, sports on Sunday shows, meet the press and such. Unless that happens, I think your ratings are going to move up. A third of the league is simply more compelling. A lot of what was hurt in the NFL last year, points down, pass a rating down, touchdowns down, interceptions up, yards per game down, completion percentage down. nobody wants to watch crappy football. And like you said, major injuries to superstars.

Superstars. O'Dell, JJ, Y. By the way, I can't. I mean, I got to be honest with you. The Garoppolo 49er story to me, fascinating. I mean, there's not a team in the league I was less interested in watching last year than San Francisco. I'm not sure there's a team in the league I'm more interested in watching this year than San Francisco. So I, and by the way, now I also say this.

We got John Gruden in the league. Gruden's going to be a firework show. We got a coaching story that's going to be a massively interesting show. So I think it's going to be a great year in the NFL. All three hours of the Heard are always streaming on the Heard channel on the IHeart Radio app.

Senior writer Yahoo Sports, former senior writer Sports Illustrated podcast Chris Mannix on iTunes covered the NBA for 15 years. Chris Mannix, who threw a crazy thing out yesterday on Speak for Yourself and you just kind of threw it out there and we went to commercial. I'm like, what was

that. We were talking about Lee Jenkins came on this show once and that Kevin Durant is a little bit of a wanderer and he's very comfortable. A lot of Americans, most Americans on average, never leave more than 18 miles from their mother. That's a stat. 40% of

Americans never leave their area code. I've been in eight states. I'm comfortable. I didn't have a traditional family. Kevin Durant's moved all over the country. Three different high schools. High school, college, Texas, Seattle, Oklahoma, Golden State, very comfortable with moving. And we now live in the mobility era.

And you believe he's not finishing in Golden State. I don't think he finishes in Golden State. Look, after next season, he's going to have $80 million in his pocket from the last three years and probably three championships. So at 30 years old, Kevin Durant is basically going to have a blank canvas. He can do whatever he wants, knowing his legacy. secured. And no question, there'll be a lot of teams out there trying to recruit him. I think Kevin Durant wants to hear those recruitments. I think Kevin Durant will be open-minded next summer when it comes to where he wants to go. But I keep going back to Oklahoma City.

And I keep going back to the fact that everything we know about Kevin Durant, the sensitivities, how much he hates the fact that people say jumped on Steph Curry's bandwagon and the fact that there has been no bridge burned with Oklahoma City. The relationship with Russell Westbrook seems to be the best it's been since he left Oklahoma City. I know, Colin, that there's some financial gymnastics you have to do to get a Kevin Durant on the roster, but I really believe that come the end of the year, he's going to take a long look at Oklahoma City. You know, Chris, we have history here, and I'm a big believer in just looking what's happened. All right, what's happened in the NBA? Dynasties never last as long as we think. That is just a fact.

They just don't. And they last shorter. Now, people always say, what about the Celtics? And What about magic? Didn't have social media then. Egos are amplified. Tension is amplified. Players now have 150 million net worth. They're American royalty. The NBA stars are our royal family.

I mean, even outside of like an Aaron Rogers, top five NBA stars are the biggest stars in American sports. Easily. Mike Trout can walk through a mall in America. Hat on, don't know him. Six-nine, LeBron, Kevin Durant, they are Beyonce. They're Jay-Z. I think the thing that I keep noticing is players have been empowered in the NBA

and they want to control their narrative. And what has Kevin Durant got to prove if they win again? There's nothing there. No. And by the way, I'm not sure Steph loves him quite as much. I don't know that that relationship is bad. I do think when David West at the end of that year, one of the things he said was like, you guys don't know, I think that meant the tensions in that locker room were much higher

than they ever have been before. Now that doesn't mean that they hate each other, but it does mean they went through some stuff during the year. And look, you've got a guy like Draymond, who I'm sure off the court they all like, but at the same time, how often do you have to kind of play hall monitor with Draymond and kind of rein him back in?

How tired must an Andre Bada be and having to be that veteran locker room presence? I think that there's a good chance at the end of this year that that relationship may not have sour, but maybe Rand's course. I mean, Kevin Durant in every way was a mercenary going out there. He signed on to win championships, and he accomplished that. In Oklahoma City is the only place he can go to where he can kind of complete his narrative,

where he can get everybody off his back. That's why I just keep thinking. I mean, does he want to go to New York? Well, maybe, I mean, but he doesn't like being near his family on the East Coast. He never considered the Wizards a few years back for that reason. Does he want to go to L.A.? No, no. A guy like Kevin Durant with three championships, you don't get to that point and say,

I want to help LeBron win a championship. You get to that point and say, I want to win more championships than, LeBron. I think that's the biggest reason that a Kevin Durant wouldn't go to L.A. So I keep going back to Oklahoma City, a franchise that won't have a championship next year, but would be well positioned to win one if Kevin Durant came back in the mix. Carmelo Anthony is now a Houston rocket. I said this earlier. The great players in the NBA are not only talented, but they have self-awareness. Dwayne Wade, LeBron, Steph, Jerry West, Magic Bird. The great players understand.

on a macro level, I need help, pass more. These guys could all drop 40 a game, okay? But at some point, Kobe needed Powell Gasol and went to the organization. I'm leaving here if you don't get me. Mello, to me, is, oh, that's been a hole with Mello. He had Mike Dantone, who's good for every offensive player, who doesn't care about defense. He ran him out of town. He's in Denver.

He forces the Knicks to give up a draft pick in players instead of waiting three months, going and using all those to get another player. He lacks self-awareness. I look at Houston and Carmelo and I think he's a bench player now, right? Like, isn't he a bench player? He laughed at that suggestion. I don't know how it's going to work.

Do you? No, I don't think that, look, the Rockets didn't get better in all this. Once he eventually signs, you can't look at them and say they're a better team than they were last year. You might be able to say that if Carmelo did say he was sixth man. I mean, look, I think Carmelo could play until he's 40. I think as a sixth man, he can still cook those second unit defenders. He can still give you 15 points per game playing 25 minutes per game against second unit guys, but he just won't accept that not playing the first six minutes of the game is okay.

I mean, look, Con, he doesn't play at the end of the Oklahoma City season. Who was on the floor in the fourth quarter of big games at Carmelo's position? It was Jeremy Grant. He was playing a lot of those minutes because he defends better. He's more athletic. He fits in what the team wants to do around. Westbrook and Paul George. If Carmelo really believes that it's starter or bust,

this could be his last season in the league. Because I don't know a team out there, at least a contender, that would say, I want to take Carmelo Anthony on, put him in the starting lineup, and I think I can win. It's either sixth man and play for a winner or starter and maybe out of the league.

Everybody, myself included micro-analyzed Westbrook, Paul George. They actually worked okay together. Yeah. They were fine. They weren't great. They were fine. It was the first year. Wade and LeBron were close.

clunky in the first year. But Westbrook, Paul, George, and Mello, Mello was a disaster. Like, we have, again, I go back to something I always do on this show in the morning when I prep for the show. What's precedent? Like, I think the Mellow Houston thing could be a mess. Now, I said this to start my show today. LeBron, July 1st, I'm a Laker. It's July 27th. He's been here 27 days. Oh, wait. He left for Europe for 10. He's been in L.A. 16 days. He's going to a TV show on HBO. He's got a movie deal. Dinner with stars and a pizza promotion. A year ago, September, Peter Vessie said, it's done. He's going to the Lakers. And he was adamant about it. Now, Peter was pre-woche for about 20 years. When I watched this HBO thing

and the promo I got for it, and I watched it, I thought, come on. You can't just get deals done. Well, let me just correct. I would say this because, you know, from my boxing background, I know a lot of the HBO guys. that's been in the works for a while. Like Maverick Carter, as, you know, spends a lot of his days inundating showtime and HBO with ideas. I mean, they have...

That's LeBron's best friend. That's his best friend. Yeah, it's business manager, the guy that does the entertainment side of LeBron James, Inc., so to speak. So that part of, I think, doesn't have much to do with L.A. It's the next level stuff that has everything to do with L.A.

That's where I kind of agree with you that, look, I don't know that it was a foregone conclusion back in September because we've seen a lot changed during seasons. Would things have changed if, say, the calves of one of the, a championship. If they'd been able to make a midseason deal to acquire a player that LeBron really wants to play with. A lot can change in that period of time. But once it went the way it

went, the other stuff started to come into play a lot more, the being kind of a media mogul and thinking about the next chapter of his life. I mean, he's been here. He's been in town 16 days. It's just a thing after a thing, after a business thing. It'll keep being that way because everybody will take a meeting with this guy. Everyone will sit down with him and discuss whatever project he wants to do next. So, Kauai Leonard, I keep hearing he doesn't want a shoe deal. And I said earlier, if I would have told people five years ago, there's going to be a hip-hop version of a founding father, the guy on the $10 bill, and it's going to take over Broadway. You'd have been like, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.

It's called Hamilton. If I'd have told you, there's going to be a business where random strangers come to your house, pick you and your kids up and go places. Who are they? No idea. It's Uber. A lot of things sound crazy. I can't believe that a finals MVP at 22, best two-way player in the league, maybe one of the best defensive players in a long time, can't get a shoe deal.

So I created a shoe. I said, what do you think of when you think of Kauai Leonard? Do you think of defense under the radar, covert, private, black gray jersey? We created the stealth. Now, I'm going to show the commercial we also created for it. Here's one of our commercials. I think it works. he's the most secretive player in the NBA.

He flies so under the radar that even his own coach couldn't figure out where he went for the last three months of the season. Stealth by Kauai Leonard, a shoe so under the radar, maybe it'll be at the shoe store. Maybe it won't. We just don't know.

So my thing is, can you get a massive shoe deal in Toronto? Of course you can. I mean, we're well past the days where market is the most valuable thing out there. I mean, think about what Durant was in his last year in Oklahoma City. I believe he was one of, if not the, most endorsed player on the planet. LeBron James forever has been one of if not the most endorsed player on the planet.

If Kauai Leonard is successful and goes back to being the top three player in the league, he absolutely would get a shoe deal. And I think we have to remember, Toronto's not basketball Siberia. I mean, Toronto's one of the best cities in North America, one of the best cities in the world. It's a tremendous city to be in. If Kauai is the same player, he is not only going to get a shoe deal, it might be one of the largest shoe deals of anybody in the league. Really? I believe it. Look, I just... He doesn't talk. That's a bigger problem, though, than market. I mean, look, I have had so many bizarre experiences with Kauai Leonard. When he was coming off that

final's MVP season, I went down to San Antonio with basically a promise of being on the cover of Sports Illustrated. All I wanted was like 15 minutes. He whittled it down to like 35 seconds. That's all he would give me and we're walking around the practice facility. He doesn't want attention. He doesn't want to talk to the media. He doesn't see any value in talking to the media. That's a bigger issue when it comes to shoe endorsements than wherever he's playing. So you, because the way it works for our audience, players will do interviews, stars if they get the cover of a magazine.

It's a nice hook to have you. You go to Kevin Durant. We'll give you the cover of SI if you give us 35 minutes. Yeah. And Kauai gave you 35 seconds. 35 seconds. It was one of the most surreal experiences I've ever been a part of. Bad guy or just all?

No, good guy. Good guy. And just not interested at all. He's got people around him. His uncle Dennis has been a prominent figure in a lot of stories about Kauai. He's got people around him that speak a lot and are great at giving anecdotes and telling stories. But Kauai himself, he just doesn't see the upside in having those conversations.

In a way, he's a lot like Russell Westbrook. Russell Westbrook also doesn't see the upside in letting people into that side of his life. Kauai doesn't see it, and that's what would stop him from getting a good shoe deal. By the way, a Celtic Jason Tatum, love that. Is in Los Angeles with a Laker, Kobe Bryant, and they're training together. What do you make of it? I love it.

I don't know that you get, I don't know if a player who works out with another star, former star, for a couple of weeks, gets a lot out of them in terms of the game. Like, I don't think Jason Tatum's going to come back to Boston and all of a sudden start playing with Kobe Bryant-like moves. I think for a guy like Tatum, who's only 20 years old, he's going to, learn more about the way to approach a practice, the way to approach a game, just the mental side of it, being around Kobe for a couple of weeks. I felt the same way when we saw Akeem Elijah want out there working with other players. Kareem did it for a little while.

You don't necessarily learn their moves, but you learn their approach, but I think it's just as valuable. By the way, I have on my sheet here, this is interesting. Rich Paul wanted LeBron to go to Philly. I think, well, look, I think the meeting with Philadelphia was far more Rich Paul and LeBron's team inspired than LeBron himself. I mean, Rich Paul represents Ben Simmons. Ben Simmons is a major client for that agency, the next potential big star in this league. So LeBron's dudes, one of them was heavy Philly.

I mean, look, I think L.A. was probably the favorite for everybody, but I think the meeting with Philly took place at the behest of Rich Paul, who was more interested in that side and going to the East Coast and being with Philly than LeBron was. I think LeBron was already pretty locked in at that point in L.A. Yeah. I do think LeBron and Ben Simmons would be unbelievable. Oh, I don't know. How does that work? I don't know. I don't have a...

I'm not one of those people that says it's never going to work. Like, it's stupid, but... But, I mean, if you go back to Dwayne Wade and LeBron, they really weren't ideal. They never fit perfectly. Neither one was, at the time, great perimeter shooters. Duane always felt like a smaller LeBron. He liked to finish at the room. Yeah. I mean, Ben Simmons, though, like, is the point guard, and LeBron, for most of his career, has been the de facto point guard. But this is why the LA stuff continues to be wild to me.

I mean, this is going to be such a carnival out there with the style of play that they're going to play, with the characters they have in that locker room. And this call, not to change the subject, but this is one of those issues that I think will affect LA in the summer of 2019. Star players want functionality from their franchise. As you sit here today, do you think the Lakers at end of June next year are going to look back on the 1819 season say, boy, what a functional season? Like how great was that year? Like the Knicks are going to be terrible.

But they look like a functional franchise. They will look like a functional franchise this year with their coach, their front office, everything kind of running smoothly from that end. Very exciting. Good stuff. Chris Mannix. What's your podcast again? The Yahoo Sports NBA podcast. It's up right now.

Cool stuff. Good seeing you, bud. You too. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise,

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