# LeBron STILL deciding as Miami Heat slip up on Youtube + Lakers add Thybulle in polarizing offseason

An episode of [Hoops Tonight with Jason Timpf](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1536277916), 22 Jul 2026, 25 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pscrb.fm/rss/p/clrtpod.com/m/arttrk.com/p/D5CA5/prfx.byspotify.com/e/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/90447913-4e20-4e90-aa1e-ae510011dd1d/94d46295-1a67-4bf4-bdff-b48f0102c87c/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=9e36bb2c-2512-48e1-92f8-ae510011dd2b

Jason reacts to the latest in the LeBron James saga, including him being undecided and the Miami Heat's YouTube channel possibly letting something slip. Then he breaks down how the Los Angeles Lakers look in a post-LeBron world, their addition of former Portland Trail Blazers wing Matisse Thybulle to pair next to Luka Doncic, and why he wishes the two sides were able to move forward together. All lines presented by Hard Rock Bet. #Volume See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: The volume. All right, Well, good to Hoops tonight. You're
[0:16] Speaker 1: at the volume.
[0:17] Speaker 2: Happy Wednesday, everybody hopeful if you guys are having a
[0:19] Speaker 2: great week. Well, we thought Lebron would get decide his
[0:23] Speaker 2: team yesterday.
[0:24] Speaker 1: He did not.
[0:24] Speaker 2: I want to talk a little bit about that at
[0:26] Speaker 2: the tail end of the show. I want to talk
[0:27] Speaker 2: about the Lebron James relationship with the Lakers, which soured
[0:31] Speaker 2: at some point over the course of the last several years.
[0:33] Speaker 2: And I just think it's really unfortunate, especially in light
[0:35] Speaker 2: of the obvious trouble Lebron's having making his decision. At
[0:39] Speaker 2: this point, you guys are the job before we started.
[0:41] Speaker 2: Subscribe to Hoops and not YouTube channels. You don't miss
[0:43] Speaker 2: any more of our videos. We still have a goal
[0:45] Speaker 2: to get to one hundred and fifty thousand subs. We
[0:47] Speaker 2: need about eight thousand more. If you guys don't mind
[0:49] Speaker 2: hitting that subscribe button would help.
[0:51] Speaker 1: Us a lot.
[0:51] Speaker 2: If you're already subscribed like this video, sign up for
[0:53] Speaker 2: post notifications, that helps us a lot. All right, let's
[0:55] Speaker 2: talk some basketball, so just real quickly in terms of
[0:59] Speaker 2: the plan and how this is all gonna go. Obviously,
[1:02] Speaker 2: whenever Lebron signs will react to it. At this point,
[1:05] Speaker 2: your guess is as good as mine. We'll dig into
[1:07] Speaker 2: that a little bit more in a second. Still plan
[1:10] Speaker 2: on doing a mailbag on Friday, but it'll probably be
[1:13] Speaker 2: around the entire league, so keep dropping questions in this video.
[1:16] Speaker 2: Are other full episodes on YouTube. We'll do a mail
[1:20] Speaker 2: bag on Friday. I did say we were gonna start player
[1:22] Speaker 2: rankings on Monday, but I forgot something with my travel schedule.
[1:25] Speaker 2: So I'm leaving on Thursday this week to go to
[1:29] Speaker 2: Houston for my little brother's wedding, the last one of
[1:31] Speaker 2: my siblings that needs to get married, So one last
[1:34] Speaker 2: timpf wedding, heading out to Houston. I don't get back
[1:37] Speaker 2: till Monday, like in the middle of the day, so
[1:39] Speaker 2: obviously I'll have something pre recorded to run on Monday.
[1:43] Speaker 2: I don't know what it'll be yet. I'm coming up
[1:45] Speaker 2: with some ideas, but we won't actually start our player
[1:48] Speaker 2: ranking sequence until a week from today, this coming next Wednesday,
[1:53] Speaker 2: because of the travel day on Monday. So just give
[1:56] Speaker 2: you guys a quick scheduling update, and again we'll react
[1:58] Speaker 2: to the Lebron news whenever it happens. A couple other
[2:00] Speaker 2: things too, like, I'm sure there will be a follow
[2:02] Speaker 2: up Lebron episode after we all sleep on it and
[2:04] Speaker 2: kind of think about all the ramifications, not just for him,
[2:06] Speaker 2: but for the other teams that didn't get him. There's
[2:08] Speaker 2: also like, I want to do another contender rankings. I'd
[2:11] Speaker 2: love to do it like a post Lebron signing. Okay,
[2:14] Speaker 2: now we have a general idea of what the field
[2:16] Speaker 2: looks like. Obviously we could change our mind as we
[2:18] Speaker 2: get closer to the season, but what are my initial
[2:21] Speaker 2: impressions on contender rankings? So we might have breaks in
[2:24] Speaker 2: our player rankings series as we kind of drop in
[2:27] Speaker 2: for the Lebron news and drop in for contender rankings
[2:29] Speaker 2: things along those lines. So there's your little scheduling update.
[2:32] Speaker 2: But the Lebron sacket continues. I really did think it
[2:34] Speaker 2: would happen yesterday. Again, like I said, I figured there
[2:37] Speaker 2: was a little chart going around yesterday on Twitter that
[2:39] Speaker 2: kind of showed the different number of days that Lebron
[2:42] Speaker 2: had taken to make his decision and each of his
[2:44] Speaker 2: previous three free agent experiences, and this one is just
[2:49] Speaker 2: way longer. So it's taking it way longer to make
[2:51] Speaker 2: up his mind. And so what I figured is like, Okay,
[2:54] Speaker 2: he's enjoying the taking his time, he's enjoying the attention.
[2:58] Speaker 2: Like he's just going to patiently wait until after the
[3:02] Speaker 2: World Cup and after Summer League, and then he'll have
[3:06] Speaker 2: his moment in the sun when nothing else is going
[3:09] Speaker 2: on other than baseball, and that's when he'll make his decision.
[3:11] Speaker 2: And that's why I thought most likely Tuesday, but maybe
[3:14] Speaker 2: Monday afternoon, meaning like he'll let the networks have their
[3:17] Speaker 2: reaction to the World Cup on Monday, and then he'll
[3:20] Speaker 2: jump into the to the front of the stage on Tuesday.
[3:23] Speaker 2: And then Monday afternoon came and went, and then Tuesday
[3:26] Speaker 2: came and went. And it's like, you have these reports
[3:29] Speaker 2: from David Benaman and from Rich Paul that are like
[3:34] Speaker 2: he's not ready to make his decision. So the only
[3:37] Speaker 2: logical explanation for him at this point having not made
[3:40] Speaker 2: a decision is that he doesn't know where he wants
[3:42] Speaker 2: to go. And it's no secret that every one of
[3:45] Speaker 2: these possible destinations is flawed, like Cleveland, no matter what
[3:49] Speaker 2: moves they end up making you and if they move
[3:51] Speaker 2: Jared Allen and James Harden and attached draft picks and
[3:54] Speaker 2: swap guys out and try to make a more coherent roster.
[3:57] Speaker 2: Their two best players are Lebron James and Donovan Mitchell.
[4:00] Speaker 2: That's probably just not good enough in a league that
[4:02] Speaker 2: has really high end, top end talent at the top
[4:05] Speaker 2: of the league. Right Miami, They're starting five is super talented,
[4:09] Speaker 2: but it's kind of a clunky offensive fit, and they
[4:11] Speaker 2: have no depth once you get off of that starting lineup.
[4:13] Speaker 2: It's just that the roster is really weak. Philly probably
[4:16] Speaker 2: the worst basketball fit of the entire bunch in terms
[4:18] Speaker 2: of trying to make him work alongside a Tyrese Max,
[4:21] Speaker 2: Jylen Brown, Joel embiid ball handling situation right, and then
[4:25] Speaker 2: Golden State, even assuming they get ad the entire situation
[4:28] Speaker 2: depends on a thirty nine year old, a forty two
[4:30] Speaker 2: year old, and a famously injured Anthony Davis staying healthy.
[4:35] Speaker 2: You know, like it's totally normal to get second thoughts, right,
[4:39] Speaker 2: Like if you're if you're in a situation where you're
[4:42] Speaker 2: making a tough decision and the decisions aren't necessarily you know,
[4:47] Speaker 2: super super clear.
[4:48] Speaker 1: It's hard.
[4:48] Speaker 2: Like I remember when my wife and I decided to
[4:50] Speaker 2: move to Denver. You know, there were multiple nights in
[4:54] Speaker 2: that first couple of weeks where I'm like laying down
[4:57] Speaker 2: in bed or I'm sitting down watching TV at the
[4:59] Speaker 2: end of the night and I'm like, holy shit, like
[5:01] Speaker 2: this is gonna be expensive. I have friends and family
[5:06] Speaker 2: and Tucson that I'm gonna miss dearly, and like you
[5:09] Speaker 2: do something like I'd go have a beer with my
[5:11] Speaker 2: buddy Luke, and I'd be like, fuck, man, I'm gonna
[5:13] Speaker 2: miss this, Like I'm gonna miss you know, having coffee
[5:16] Speaker 2: with my mom, and like.
[5:17] Speaker 1: Those sorts of things. You just you get scared of
[5:20] Speaker 1: those things.
[5:21] Speaker 2: Like I legitimately had moments where I was like, oh shit, man,
[5:24] Speaker 2: this is scary, right, you know. And I actually have
[5:26] Speaker 2: a buddy of mine who also lives in Tucson who
[5:28] Speaker 2: just recently made the decision to move, and he similarly
[5:31] Speaker 2: is experiencing those emotions, and I was talking to him
[5:33] Speaker 2: about I'm like, listen, man, this is just kind of
[5:34] Speaker 2: part of the deal, right. Second thoughts are part of
[5:37] Speaker 2: the deal when you make any sort of gigantic decision
[5:40] Speaker 2: in your life. My wife and I are going through
[5:43] Speaker 2: the IVF process, and we have complicated decisions to make
[5:46] Speaker 2: during that process. It's just anytime you have a hard decision,
[5:49] Speaker 2: it's just it's not as simple as like this this
[5:52] Speaker 2: way is the easy way to go, and this way
[5:54] Speaker 2: is the hard way to go, and you just pick
[5:56] Speaker 2: the easy way. No, Like it's it's a lot more
[5:58] Speaker 2: complicated than that. And imagine being Lebron and you have
[6:01] Speaker 2: a team in mind, but you're like, I'm asleep on
[6:04] Speaker 2: it for a day or two. Like all those thoughts,
[6:06] Speaker 2: all those flaws that we talked about, they're gonna rise
[6:09] Speaker 2: to the surface. And because it's such a big decision,
[6:12] Speaker 2: it's literally the final basketball decision he will make in
[6:14] Speaker 2: his career. Because it's such a big decision and there
[6:18] Speaker 2: are such big ramifications. It could be the difference between
[6:21] Speaker 2: him having a Wizard's Jordan tenure or you know, one
[6:25] Speaker 2: of these weird, you know, famous old vets that we've
[6:28] Speaker 2: grown up loving as basketball players playing for some random
[6:32] Speaker 2: team at the tail end of their career where it
[6:34] Speaker 2: just is unremarkable or downright embarrassing at times, like it
[6:38] Speaker 2: could either be that or it could be a brilliant
[6:41] Speaker 2: final chapter. And that's why it's such an important decision.
[6:45] Speaker 2: And I can totally understand why Lebron's struggling with it. Now,
[6:50] Speaker 2: there was this report that came out yesterday Kendrick Perkins,
[6:53] Speaker 2: who essentially repeated a conversation that he had had with
[6:57] Speaker 2: Rich Paul. So we're playing a little bit of a
[6:58] Speaker 2: game of telephone here, so like it could have been
[7:01] Speaker 2: lost in translation a little bit. He basically said that
[7:04] Speaker 2: that Rich Paul said that Lebron had actually made up
[7:07] Speaker 2: his mind at one point and then he changed his
[7:10] Speaker 2: mind and now he's quote unquote back to the drawing board.
[7:12] Speaker 2: And like, I don't know how true that is necessarily
[7:16] Speaker 2: again because it's being passed along through multiple tellers of
[7:19] Speaker 2: the story there. But I'm not shocked at the idea
[7:23] Speaker 2: that Lebron could be struggling with this decision, even as
[7:25] Speaker 2: I like, as a basketball fan, I really want Golden State.
[7:28] Speaker 1: But like, I get why.
[7:31] Speaker 2: I let That's like, I get why if you like
[7:33] Speaker 2: selected Golden State and then you saw a video of
[7:35] Speaker 2: like Yiannis and Davion Mitchell doing a workout in Greece
[7:39] Speaker 2: and you're like, man, like those dudes are just younger
[7:41] Speaker 2: and more athletic, and our starting lineup probably be more talented.
[7:45] Speaker 2: Like shit, am I making the wrong decision here or
[7:47] Speaker 2: if you decided Miami, same sort of thing right, Like
[7:50] Speaker 2: it just is it just as complicated, And so I'm
[7:52] Speaker 2: not surprised by that.
[7:53] Speaker 1: Now, we did have a little bit of buzz yesterday.
[7:55] Speaker 2: Because the Miami Heat ended up on their YouTube channel
[7:58] Speaker 2: posting like an unlisted link for a live stream on
[8:01] Speaker 2: July twenty seventh, so almost a week from now to
[8:04] Speaker 2: basically announce Lebron James's return to the Miami Heat, and
[8:07] Speaker 2: now of course through a ton of buzz and affected
[8:10] Speaker 2: the prediction markets and all sorts of crazy stuff like that.
[8:13] Speaker 2: I was immediately skeptical for several reasons. One like, I
[8:17] Speaker 2: just don't understand why you to be passing that type
[8:20] Speaker 2: of sensitive information to a to a like a YouTube
[8:26] Speaker 2: producer of some kind or some sort of person working
[8:29] Speaker 2: in your like in your content creation team that far
[8:33] Speaker 2: in advance, like if it literally is five days away,
[8:37] Speaker 2: Like we had live streams every single night during the postseason,
[8:40] Speaker 2: and you know, like Jackson would post them like the
[8:43] Speaker 2: morning of you know, like there's just there's no incentive
[8:47] Speaker 2: to put that link up six days in advance. So
[8:50] Speaker 2: when I saw that the Miami Heat came out with
[8:52] Speaker 2: that explanation essentially that it was like a test, that
[8:56] Speaker 2: they were running a test. I bought that immediately because
[8:58] Speaker 2: it just it makes sense to me. There's no reason
[9:00] Speaker 2: why you would do that unless it's a little suspicious.
[9:03] Speaker 2: It's a little weird, but there's just there's way more
[9:06] Speaker 2: for me kind of indicating that that is not what's
[9:09] Speaker 2: taking place here, rather than some sort of smoking gun
[9:12] Speaker 2: that Lebron's going to Miami. Like I could see them
[9:15] Speaker 2: being like, Okay, in our schedule, assuming Lebron makes this
[9:18] Speaker 2: decision in the next couple of days, when would we
[9:20] Speaker 2: have our stream what it would be on this day?
[9:22] Speaker 1: Well, like where would we have it?
[9:23] Speaker 2: Well, we need to make sure that we have arena
[9:24] Speaker 2: space because we're doing it in the arena, or we
[9:26] Speaker 2: need to make sure we're using our press conference room.
[9:28] Speaker 2: And you know, I just see that there would be
[9:29] Speaker 2: a certain amount of planning and maybe they're just getting
[9:32] Speaker 2: in front of it. But I didn't take that as
[9:34] Speaker 2: any sort of like smoking gun that Lebron was going
[9:37] Speaker 2: to Miami. Now there is one team that I haven't
[9:39] Speaker 2: mentioned at all this morning. Today's show is brought to
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[11:31] Speaker 2: I just still think it's really sad that Lebron isn't
[11:35] Speaker 2: going to be a Laker this season. Now again, does
[11:38] Speaker 2: the basketball fan in me want to see Lebron and
[11:41] Speaker 2: Steph play together?
[11:42] Speaker 1: Yeah?
[11:44] Speaker 2: Does the idea of Lebron playing for any other team,
[11:46] Speaker 2: like even Cleveland to a certain extent, but especially like
[11:49] Speaker 2: a Miami or you know, does the idea of Lebron
[11:52] Speaker 2: playing for another team? Is it exciting and interesting?
[11:55] Speaker 1: Like?
[11:55] Speaker 2: Of course, like how cool would that be for yet
[11:57] Speaker 2: another kind of new chapter in a career where like
[12:00] Speaker 2: every single chapter has had major exciting moments and he's
[12:04] Speaker 2: won a championship and every single one of his previous
[12:06] Speaker 2: destinations right, Like, of course, us as basketball fans are
[12:09] Speaker 2: down to see Lebron move, But the reality is, just
[12:13] Speaker 2: like it was at the start of the summer, the
[12:15] Speaker 2: Lakers were the best possible situation for Lebron to end
[12:19] Speaker 2: his career. The Lakers offseason has been getting a lot
[12:22] Speaker 2: of buzz in the last few days, and for good reason.
[12:24] Speaker 2: I really like designing a Matisse stible. Matisa has had
[12:28] Speaker 2: health issues over the last couple of years, a thumb
[12:30] Speaker 2: surgery last year and then some low lower body injuries
[12:34] Speaker 2: the year before, but he's only played in forty five
[12:36] Speaker 2: games over the last two years. That's why obviously he's
[12:39] Speaker 2: available at the veteran minimum contract, right. But Matisa is
[12:42] Speaker 2: a guy that has been basically a forty percent three
[12:44] Speaker 2: point shooter over the last couple of years. Again over
[12:46] Speaker 2: a somewhat small sample, but he's your stereotypical three and
[12:49] Speaker 2: D guy, very gifted, lengthy off ball defender that could
[12:52] Speaker 2: play passing lanes, deny high post catches, can make some
[12:56] Speaker 2: plays off the bounce. He's got a little bit more
[12:58] Speaker 2: of an ability to drive a close out that I
[13:01] Speaker 2: think he gets credit for. But like, I just think
[13:03] Speaker 2: he's a good, useful basketball player, like a really nice
[13:05] Speaker 2: addition to their bench in Summer League. Arthur Khaluma, what
[13:09] Speaker 2: an incredible show that he put on. Is like this
[13:11] Speaker 2: big forward that can shoot and can dribble and is
[13:14] Speaker 2: competitive defensively. Like I watched film of Arthur Khaluma, and
[13:18] Speaker 2: I think that's an NBA player. Like, I think that
[13:21] Speaker 2: would be just an absolute win for the Lakers, especially
[13:23] Speaker 2: at a position group where they're thin at that you know,
[13:27] Speaker 2: kind of forward hybrid forward spot, Like, I think Arthur
[13:31] Speaker 2: could be a guy that like legitimately could step in
[13:33] Speaker 2: and play for the Lakers in a pinch this year.
[13:35] Speaker 2: Like that's an awesome kind of like development for the
[13:38] Speaker 2: Lakers is especially with how well he shot the basketball,
[13:40] Speaker 2: and when I look at his form, he looks like
[13:42] Speaker 2: a guy who really can shoot. Like I'm buying the
[13:44] Speaker 2: Arthur Caluma tape. I don't think it's just some sort
[13:47] Speaker 2: of flash in a Pan summer league thing. Does that
[13:50] Speaker 2: mean I think you could start at the four for them? Like, no,
[13:52] Speaker 2: of course, we need a lot more information for that.
[13:54] Speaker 2: But do I think he could be a guy that's
[13:56] Speaker 2: in the in a two way contract spot, which, by
[13:58] Speaker 2: the way, the Lakers did just sign him a two way.
[14:00] Speaker 2: Do I think he can help them as a two
[14:02] Speaker 2: way guy? Absolutely? Do I think there's a chance that
[14:03] Speaker 2: he gets converted. Absolutely, Like that's a nice little development.
[14:06] Speaker 2: Zira Williams, Like Zia Williams is to me just athletic
[14:11] Speaker 2: and you know, obviously the three point shot leaves some questions,
[14:13] Speaker 2: but he can play some on ball defense, and he's
[14:16] Speaker 2: athletic and for a team that like desperately needs athleticism
[14:19] Speaker 2: to get him at a veteran minimum. Like I didn't
[14:22] Speaker 2: hate that move. I wasn't as excited about Zaire as
[14:24] Speaker 2: I was about Matisse. But there's there's some real buzz
[14:28] Speaker 2: gaining for the Lakers, right. I like some of their
[14:30] Speaker 2: other moves, like I've talked about it, Like the Kessler
[14:32] Speaker 2: trade to me is defensible as long as he becomes
[14:34] Speaker 2: a top ten center in the league, which I certainly
[14:35] Speaker 2: think is possible. It's an overpay, but it's a reasonably
[14:39] Speaker 2: well informed gamble as long as Kessler develops into the
[14:42] Speaker 2: player that we all think he can be. I think
[14:44] Speaker 2: Sandra mamou Kalosveil is just a better basketball player than
[14:47] Speaker 2: ruy Hachamura.
[14:48] Speaker 1: So I like that move.
[14:49] Speaker 2: But for me, any discussion of the Lakers offseason overlooks
[14:55] Speaker 2: the gaping holes at the starting three and the starting four,
[14:57] Speaker 2: now more so at the four. Like at the three
[14:59] Speaker 2: they have got that can like be facsimiles of a
[15:03] Speaker 2: of an NBA starter, right Like I think Quinton Grimes
[15:05] Speaker 2: could be like kind of a de facto temporary starting
[15:08] Speaker 2: three until you find a long term solution. Matist Thaibel,
[15:11] Speaker 2: if he's healthy, I think could start games at the three.
[15:13] Speaker 2: Jake Laavia obviously can start games at the three. I
[15:15] Speaker 2: think you could go smaller and you know, have another
[15:20] Speaker 2: guard like a Collin Sexton out there. Like, there's different
[15:22] Speaker 2: things that the Lakers can do with their starting three
[15:24] Speaker 2: spot that are at least like temporary solutions. The starting
[15:28] Speaker 2: four now, they just straight up don't have anybody good enough.
[15:31] Speaker 2: And bottom line is at the starting three and the
[15:33] Speaker 2: starting four, they're gonna be at a dramatic talent disadvantage
[15:37] Speaker 2: at those two starting spots compared to their peers around
[15:41] Speaker 2: the league. In other words, Rob has done a nice
[15:44] Speaker 2: job filling out the back end of the Lakers roster.
[15:47] Speaker 2: The bench actually looks really nice now with some of
[15:49] Speaker 2: these additions that he's made, but there are big holes
[15:52] Speaker 2: at very key spots, and even in the bench, I
[15:54] Speaker 2: think they kind of have a hole in that backup
[15:57] Speaker 2: center spot.
[15:58] Speaker 1: I like Kevon Looney.
[15:59] Speaker 2: I've always had respect for him as a basketball player,
[16:01] Speaker 2: but I just think he's a little bit of a
[16:02] Speaker 2: clunky fit with Luka Dancic, and they don't really have
[16:05] Speaker 2: like a stereotypical lob threat at the five spot right.
[16:09] Speaker 2: So again, it is shaping up to be a nice offseason.
[16:13] Speaker 2: I just think it would make a lot more sense
[16:15] Speaker 2: if they had Lebron James. That's why this whole situation
[16:19] Speaker 2: is unfortunate, because the basketball fit isn't.
[16:22] Speaker 1: Perfect, but it's really good.
[16:24] Speaker 2: Like Lebron would have to play off ball in a
[16:26] Speaker 2: similar way to what he would have to do in
[16:27] Speaker 2: Philly or in Cleveland, but with Luca and Austin, they're
[16:30] Speaker 2: just better basketball players than the guards in those other situations,
[16:34] Speaker 2: and Lebron has already built chemistry with them over a
[16:36] Speaker 2: year and a half.
[16:38] Speaker 1: The Lakers, like.
[16:39] Speaker 2: We said, desperately need a legit starting caliber power forward.
[16:43] Speaker 2: Lebron is one of the very best power forwards in
[16:45] Speaker 2: the league right now. Lebron is a wife and a
[16:49] Speaker 2: daughter that live in LA, a son who plays for
[16:52] Speaker 2: the Lakers, another son who plays in Tucson, Arizona. His
[16:55] Speaker 2: entire life is in LA. And yeah, Golden State's close
[16:58] Speaker 2: to LA and it's a short private jet, but nothing
[17:00] Speaker 2: would beat him actually staying in LA in terms of
[17:04] Speaker 2: convenience for his lifestyle to be one hundred percent. Frank,
[17:09] Speaker 2: I'm not sure that any of those other teams plus
[17:13] Speaker 2: Lebron is better than this Lakers team plus Lebron, I'd
[17:18] Speaker 2: argue he'd have as good of a chance to win
[17:20] Speaker 2: the title or better alongside Luca and Austin, with Walker
[17:24] Speaker 2: Kessler and some of the depth pieces that they've added
[17:28] Speaker 2: compared to any of those other situations if Lebron were
[17:31] Speaker 2: to go there. And so it's just sad that the
[17:34] Speaker 2: relationship is deteriorated to this point. I'm not gonna blame
[17:39] Speaker 2: any one side, because I do think both sides are
[17:42] Speaker 2: to blame. Like I do think Lebron's camp became difficult,
[17:45] Speaker 2: not so much Lebron, and that's kind of the way
[17:47] Speaker 2: he kind of gave himself plausible deniability. Like I think
[17:50] Speaker 2: Lebron in the locker room was friendly and a good
[17:53] Speaker 2: teammate and a good leader and set the example every
[17:56] Speaker 2: day with his work ethic and clearly showed selflessness embracing
[18:00] Speaker 2: that smaller role last year.
[18:02] Speaker 1: I don't think it's.
[18:02] Speaker 2: A Lebron individual issue. I think it's a Lebron enablement issue.
[18:07] Speaker 2: The way that he allowed and enabled his camp to
[18:11] Speaker 2: kind of like passive aggressively either act on his behalf
[18:14] Speaker 2: or to passive aggressively act without him checking them, you
[18:18] Speaker 2: know what I mean, Like you can't have your agent
[18:20] Speaker 2: going on a popular podcast and saying weird shit about
[18:23] Speaker 2: Austin Reege's contract or trading him and things like that
[18:27] Speaker 2: and not expect that to have, you know, kind of
[18:29] Speaker 2: trickle down effects with your relationship with the team. And
[18:33] Speaker 2: so I do blame Lebron for that because it's your agent, Lebron,
[18:38] Speaker 2: Like you can go to him and be like, hey, man,
[18:40] Speaker 2: I'd prefer it if you weren't discussing my teammates in
[18:44] Speaker 2: their pocket watching them on a podcast, like it's affecting
[18:49] Speaker 2: my ability to lead this team or to have a
[18:51] Speaker 2: relationship with this team. Like I'm sure just in general,
[18:54] Speaker 2: over the years, the whole experience of working with Clutch
[18:57] Speaker 2: war On Robin Jeanie and soured to real relationship, and
[19:01] Speaker 2: so at the very least, Lebron is partially responsible for that.
[19:05] Speaker 2: And then I think on the Lakers side, I think
[19:06] Speaker 2: their camp just dramatically undervalued Lebron as a basketball player
[19:11] Speaker 2: in two primary ways, one not believing in Lebron and
[19:14] Speaker 2: ad It became abundantly clear after the year that they
[19:18] Speaker 2: lost in the Western Conference Finals and they got off
[19:20] Speaker 2: to a mediocre start in the regular season. In the
[19:22] Speaker 2: twenty twenty four campaign that they were just like, Nah,
[19:24] Speaker 2: these dudes aren't good enough, and so they started to
[19:27] Speaker 2: look to the future.
[19:30] Speaker 1: And I think that that's.
[19:31] Speaker 2: Really frustrating on a couple of different levels, because on
[19:33] Speaker 2: the first piece of this is like, I think it's
[19:38] Speaker 2: very convenient to blame Lebron and Ad for the twenty
[19:43] Speaker 2: twenty three to twenty twenty four Lakers not being good
[19:45] Speaker 2: enough when it was a roster issue, not a top
[19:49] Speaker 2: end talent issue. The issue there was the roster was
[19:54] Speaker 2: not good enough. I watched Lebron and Ad go toe
[19:58] Speaker 2: to toe with Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokich in the
[20:00] Speaker 2: twenty twenty four series, and it be an issue down
[20:04] Speaker 2: the roster that Denver was better, more contributions from Michael
[20:08] Speaker 2: Porter Junior, more contributions from Aaron Gordon, more contributions from
[20:12] Speaker 2: the depth of talent, not Lebron and AD's ability to
[20:15] Speaker 2: go toe to toe with the best player in the world. So,
[20:20] Speaker 2: like I thought, it was really convenient to blame Lebron
[20:24] Speaker 2: and Ad for the struggles that they were having in
[20:26] Speaker 2: twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four and to basically
[20:31] Speaker 2: use them as an excuse for you to hold out,
[20:34] Speaker 2: and it's especially convenient now to be like, oh, well,
[20:37] Speaker 2: here we are. We made the right decision. Now we
[20:39] Speaker 2: have Luca. We're building towards the future as if you
[20:41] Speaker 2: didn't benefit from a trade that is universally referred to
[20:45] Speaker 2: as the craziest, wildest, most lopsided trade in the history
[20:49] Speaker 2: of the NBA.
[20:52] Speaker 1: Getting Luka Doncicic.
[20:55] Speaker 2: So like, it's very like hindsight twenty twenty to be like, well,
[20:57] Speaker 2: we made the right decision deciding to punch done the
[21:00] Speaker 2: Lebron James Anthony Davis era because we got Luka Doncic. Now, yeah,
[21:04] Speaker 2: your lucky asses got Luka doncic Congratulations. But I thought
[21:09] Speaker 2: that that was the kind of first breaking point on
[21:12] Speaker 2: the Lakers side of the Lebron relationship is in that
[21:15] Speaker 2: twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four campaign. They didn't
[21:18] Speaker 2: believe in those two campaigns. They didn't believe in the
[21:24] Speaker 2: Lebron James Anthony Davis pairing, and so they basically were like,
[21:27] Speaker 2: you guys, do your best to try to win, but
[21:29] Speaker 2: we're not gonna spend any sort of future asset for you.
[21:32] Speaker 2: I do think that that offended Lebron especially that you
[21:35] Speaker 2: turn around and then do it for Luca, which again
[21:37] Speaker 2: makes sense. It made sense to do for Luca. It
[21:39] Speaker 2: also made sense to do it for Lebron, especially when
[21:42] Speaker 2: you don't know that the craziest trade in NBA history
[21:44] Speaker 2: is coming down the pike, right, which it did eventually
[21:46] Speaker 2: come down, but that I don't believe using that as
[21:49] Speaker 2: like some sort of informative piece here is fair because
[21:52] Speaker 2: it's such an outlier in NBA history. The second piece
[21:55] Speaker 2: of it is not thinking Lebron brought positive impact last year. Basically,
[22:02] Speaker 2: I thought it was abundantly clear that in March, when
[22:05] Speaker 2: Lebron was as the third option alongside Lebron and Austin
[22:09] Speaker 2: or Luca and Austin, that was the best version of
[22:11] Speaker 2: the Lakers last year. I thought it was abundantly clear
[22:13] Speaker 2: that there were a lot of things that Lebron did
[22:14] Speaker 2: to help the basketball team, and they were clearly better
[22:16] Speaker 2: with him. The Lakers and their decision makers did not
[22:23] Speaker 2: value Lebron in that role and legitimately thought they'd be
[22:26] Speaker 2: fine without him, which is also offensive to Lebron, which
[22:31] Speaker 2: also leads to their predicament where they don't have a
[22:33] Speaker 2: starting caliber four. So yeah, Lebron and his camp were difficult,
[22:37] Speaker 2: and the Lakers have this basketball blind spot, the same
[22:40] Speaker 2: kind of basketball blind spot that has played the Lakers
[22:42] Speaker 2: for well over a decade now, and as a result,
[22:45] Speaker 2: we have these two camps that desperately need each other
[22:49] Speaker 2: and yet willingly walked away from each other. Lakers are
[22:52] Speaker 2: the best spot for Lebron, and this Lakers roster plus
[22:56] Speaker 2: Lebron would be the third best team in the West
[22:58] Speaker 2: in my opinion, probably the third best team in the league.
[23:01] Speaker 1: But without Lebron, I.
[23:02] Speaker 2: Think they're extremely vulnerable in a Western conference that's packed
[23:06] Speaker 2: it with talent at the top. The whole thing is
[23:08] Speaker 2: just sad. And like, again, we'll see where Lebron ends
[23:12] Speaker 2: up going. But man, like, as I've watched this all develop,
[23:13] Speaker 2: I'm like, I keep saying this. I said this on
[23:15] Speaker 2: the show several times. I would just love to see
[23:18] Speaker 2: the team from March, the team from March March that
[23:21] Speaker 2: went like sixteen to two or whatever it was and
[23:24] Speaker 2: was beaten good team after good team on the road
[23:27] Speaker 2: and was just on a crazy heater, and just imagine
[23:33] Speaker 2: that team without Deandreyton, but with Walker, Kessler and Lebron
[23:38] Speaker 2: typically responds well from his bad jump shooting seasons. Lebron
[23:41] Speaker 2: would have a good jump shooting season. Austin gets way
[23:44] Speaker 2: better every year. Luca's literally due for a revenge campaign.
[23:48] Speaker 2: I just would love to see it. The depth of
[23:50] Speaker 2: defensive talent on the bench, having a reliable backup guard
[23:56] Speaker 2: in Colin Sexton. I don't know which guy you end
[23:58] Speaker 2: up swapping out if you get Lebron. Maybe it ends
[24:00] Speaker 2: up being a Quentin Grimes. Whoever, it is, obviously somebody's
[24:02] Speaker 2: gotta step out if Lebron's gonna come back. But like
[24:06] Speaker 2: I just I wish it would.
[24:07] Speaker 1: Have been like this.
[24:08] Speaker 2: I wish Lebron would have managed to side of the
[24:09] Speaker 2: relationship better and not done some of the weird stuff
[24:12] Speaker 2: that he did during this relationship. And I wish the
[24:15] Speaker 2: Lakers would have approached Lebron this summer and been like, hey, listen, man,
[24:18] Speaker 2: like we need to start building for the future. Here's
[24:21] Speaker 2: our plan, here's the guy we want to trade for,
[24:23] Speaker 2: here's the dudes we want to sign. We really need
[24:26] Speaker 2: you to take a discount. But don't please don't interpret
[24:28] Speaker 2: that as if we don't value you. We need you,
[24:32] Speaker 2: We think we can win with you. We just need
[24:35] Speaker 2: you to take a discount, and we need you to
[24:37] Speaker 2: be in this role. And I think if they would
[24:39] Speaker 2: have done that, I think this could have come together.
[24:42] Speaker 2: And then I think both sides would be in a
[24:44] Speaker 2: better position today than they were in yesterday. All right, guys,
[24:47] Speaker 2: it's all have for today is always a sincerely appreciate
[24:49] Speaker 2: you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. We
[24:50] Speaker 2: will see you on Friday for our Mailbag

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