LeBron Is a Sixer! | Real Ones

It was poppin' real ones, Logan Murdock here, Howard Motherfuckin' back there, Roger Bell there, LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er. He signed a two year eight million dollar deal with the team with a player option in the second year. My favorite part of this show, I'm just tweet, Clutch Sports Group and Clutch CEO and game over show host Rich Paul tells ESPN when he broke the news this morning. Man, there's a lot of different ways we can go with this. I mean, LeBron James, I feel like personally this is probably the best case scenario in terms for him in terms of wanting to win, wanting some sort of institutional control over a team and also just the perfect fit for him at this stage of his career with Tyrese Maxie, with Jalen Brown, with Joellen Beade if he continues to be healthy VJ Edgecomb as well. I personally love the fit, I'm going to go with Roger first and then go to Howard after that. Roger, LeBron James, Philadelphia 76er. What does that mean to you and how does that steal to you? Yeah, it feels exciting for me, for NBA fans, for Sixers fans. Listen, I'd be remiss if I didn't take another shot at the result that you fucked up. You fucked up. You fucked up. Yeah, because like you plug Jalen Brown into that, which was already looking pretty promising from a core perspective and it becomes a destination that I think you plug in a LeBron James, what he does on the court clearly, I mean he was making that transition last year playing off the ball more, doing some of the more grunt work type of plays, not that it not to diminish anything that he still is as a player, but like just diving into some of those roles in a way that were more complimentary than you've seen him do in the past. And I think that experience is going to both really well for him moving over to the Sixers, but I mean, you talk about just leadership, understanding of what it takes to get to the mountaintop, the articulation of falling in love with the process and showing one how to do that. I watched that first hand when I sat in front offices in Cleveland and I saw him kind of introduce different players to that mantra and they lived those reps. Like I just think it's great for Philadelphia, I love it for LeBron because it gives him another real shot at a title. So I was kind of surprised, in the back of my mind, I was telling my wife when the news dropped, I sneakily kind of thought, like that was the move. Just when you look at all of them on paper and I couldn't imagine him going to somewhere just for vibes. I just didn't see that for a while. I know what they were saying, but I didn't see that. I thought he wants to win. It's always been about winning. It will always be about winning for as long as he's in the league. And I think this gives him a real, real opportunity at that. That's why I love this and there's so many ways we're going to take it during throughout this podcast from a legacy standpoint, from a power standpoint, from a league standpoint, how he fits in the Western Conference and the Sixers as a whole. But that was the biggest thing though, Raja, that you pointed to that I was thinking about which is the fit. And when you talk about the fit, people were talking about it and we're going to get into the actual teams of one of the teams that is in my backyard as a goal to stay worse. And I think this is the prime example of me thinking that vibes were not going to be enough for him, right? You think about the warriors in that sense, providing, oh yeah, we're going to give you golf courses. We're going to give you all these things. You get to play with staff and just have like a basketball in Irvana. And I'm like, actually, do you know what LeBron has been for the last, I don't know, 20, however many years as long as he's been on the scene since high school. This dude wants to win. Now he does have a lot of hubris involved in some weird decision making at some points in his career. But ultimately, he is going to put himself in a best position to win. And he's always been that way from Cleveland the first and why he chose Miami, right? When he saw Miami, ultimately didn't have the legs to continue his championship passion. He went to go do a younger team that he deemed fit. Obviously, it was Cleveland and all this, but Cleveland had to build a team sufficient enough for him to think, Oh, I can take this team to a title. Then goes to the Lakers is a bit more of a legacy play, but he still picks Anthony Davis and saying, Hey, you trade him eventually, we're going to go compete for titles, right? And then this one, when he has a chance through LA and there's all the things that we have talked about in the past that happened in LA, why ultimately didn't work out in the way that I think everybody wanted it to. But then he goes to the sixers, I'm like, yeah, dude, he can compete in the Eastern Conference, right? He can also play as a role where he doesn't have to carry all the time. But then also he gets to be in a conference where it's there for the taking for this team, right? And he can actually going to compete not only for the Eastern Conference, but like, you know, we've seen what the next day last year can compete for a title. That's what was the big thing for me is like, Oh, yeah, there are vibes, other places, but he wants to win. And by the way, you want to talk about vibes, Roger and Howard, Philadelphia is going to be fucking a fire. Philadelphia is going to be insane. Roger real quick. Can you explain like what this is going to be like for Philadelphia because I don't feel like Philadelphia has been in the center of the basketball universe in this way since you were on the sixers. What is Philly like and what do you foresee Philly being like with the Eagles being good? Philly's might have an extended playoff run at some this fall. What is Philly going to be like at this particular point? Yeah. I mean, look, when Philly is good, when when when they suffer no fool's so like when you're not good, it's the complete antithesis. But when Philly is good and you've got multiple opportunities for teams to be good, I don't think there's a better sports town in America. I really don't, you know, I know Boston has this stuff in New York's great, but like when Philly is good, I got to keep qualifying that, but you know, because like when it's bad, it's bad. But when they are good, it's on like, it's on like anything that I've ever seen before. Now granted, I didn't, I didn't play in every market that was supposed to be a fantastic sports market. I do just want to add like before Howard goes, if you will, you know, he, Lebron, this decision was always going to be really interesting to me because for all that, for all that everyone talked about the role on the court being to some degree, the motivating factor in decision-making and the vibes, I always felt that it was equally important for Lebron and his camp. And I don't even mean this in the like organizational control way that he gets kind of depicted in a lot of the time. But it was equally important for him to be able to fill the leadership role and, and, and assume that in the way that he's been accustomed to. Not necessarily the leadership role on the court having the ball, conducting offense, making the plays. I think he kind of understands that, you know, dog like, you know, I'm much better at this point in my career, kind of supporting people in that regard. But like he is still a dude that wants to be the pulse of that locker room, the leadership. He wants to have it, you know, kind of a roster look to him for those things. And, and I, I always believed that that was going to be super important in the process. And quite frankly, you know, I think other teams kind of miss on that, like, you know, you got decisions to make financially and whether or not he can be the face of your franchise moving forward. But, you know, people don't put enough stock in, in a guy who knows how to do something and gets it done and has a blueprint and has executed that blueprint over and over again. And they swing a talent that, that, that hasn't always produced championships, right? You know, and, and that's understood. But I always thought that was going to be a big part of his decision. Can I walk into a locker room and have my voice be the one that is, that is, look to for, for the answers? Yeah. And I don't think he would have had that necessarily in Miami because that's, that's Pat Riley's domain, right? And he wasn't going to nest. Yeah. He could have had it in Cleveland. But they didn't have the talent. Yeah. And I don't think that they had the, that's certainly the talent. He wasn't, we'll, we'll talk about the teams that were involved. But like the Minnesota, I don't think that would have worked out. He would have the leadership back, had the leadership vacuum. But I don't think he would have, I think that would have made it given him an aneurysm. But, um, I want to read a, I want to read a passage, um, or not a passage, a tweet before I get to Howard and, uh, it'll illustrate my question. The tweet from LeBron James, um, I thought I was done when the season ended. I wasn't ready to announce it. I knew I needed some time to really decide, but I was sure that I played my last game. I was honest at that last press conference when I seated, when I said I needed to look at myself and decide if I still love this game, I truly love this game. I have more to give in the last few weeks have been really special. I've never been able to have no clue what to do and take real time just to think. I've had an incredible few months with all the people I love trying to figure it all out. This is my last decision, I'm not going for money, I'm not going for family, damn, what am I really playing for at this point? I still want to sacrifice, I still want to work, I still want to grind, I still want to compete to win and to have a chance at the feeling of winning another championship. I believe that I can help to fill it out for you 77. the sixers make them a championship team. And I'm so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time. Thank you L.A. Miami. I'll forever love you. And Northeast Ohio will always be home. When you hear that, Beck, what does that tell you about LeBron's mindset at this particular point going into this decision? - He wants to win another championship. That's it. It's really clear. And I don't know that the Philadelphia 76ers are necessarily the best route to that championship. He clearly thinks so though, because if he wanted to just play with guys who he's known and respected and would play great and play at a high level and maybe even have a chance to win, he could have gone to Golden State. But if you're in the Western conference, you still got to deal with the spars and thunder. - They weren't gonna get far and go to state, man. That wasn't happening. Go ahead. - But everything is a you just don't know. Everything. First of all, he believes that wherever he goes has a chance because he's there. Secondly, the playoffs, especially in today's NBA, have a way of getting weird. But is it very, very clear to anybody who's watched us leave him for five minutes in the last year that the Western conference is far harder to get through than the East? Yeah, I think that's pretty darn clear. So he's taking, I don't wanna say root of least resistance, but it was gonna put it this way. I think it was gonna take a lot to extract him from some quick flight in and out of LA where his family is, right? He's not moving them again. But his kids are older now. It's not as critical as when he was younger to maybe try to stay close. Like, I think once you decide you're leaving LA and leaving all the advantages there and then leaving California or leaving anything close to there, then everything is on the table. Miami, I never thought made a whole lot of sense. Cleveland, it's made a lot of sense we've talked about this, right? Like Cleveland and Golden State were the ones that had I think the most emotional residents, narrative residents, personal ties, whether to players or city. And so, Philly to me always felt, we talked about this weeks ago. I didn't really buy that he was seriously considering them. So, you know, count me wrong in that one, but I didn't think he was gonna be as much of a mercenary in his final stages as he's clearly being. He wants the ring and the reason to go to Philly is that even before he gets there, they look better on paper than Cleveland. They're definitely better on paper than Miami. So, of the options he was considering, you know, and especially once you decide I gotta get out of the West 'cause I don't really wanna deal with San Antonio and Oklahoma. Then yeah, I mean, that looks like a clear choice. Whether it's gonna work as a whole other issue, by the way. Like, do they have the most talent on paper? Sure. Do they have anything resembling role players there? And are some of their stars going to start being role players because you can't have five stars. It doesn't really work that way in the NBA. So, I mean, they got some shit to figure out, but on paper looks awesome. LeBron is still a top 20 players, as far as I'm concerned. We know what Jaylen Brown can do. We know what Tyree's Maxi and Vijay Edgecomb can do. We know what Joel and Bd Wen healthy can do. They gotta get him through a full season, but we'll see. But this is the place where if LeBron thought, I want a shot at a fifth ring. I don't know if I'm gonna get it, but what's the best path to a fifth ring or the most viable? Then yeah, the 76ers are the choice. Let's look at the sixers off season. They traded for Jaylen Brown and got Paul George out of the paint for that. They've got Anthony Simons. Anthony Simons, excuse me. They got Deon Wade, Caleb Love, and Ariel Huck-Porty. So, the biggest thing that's gonna be hard on them, they do have the wings, but they don't have the front court death. And LeBron can play five, but I don't think you want him to play five in this particular setting for even 48 games. It's like maybe five games a year, if that, and they have to be like maybe four of them be playoff games. How do you see this roster jelling? Because I mean, how have put up a great point, Roger, in that this team has to jail. There's a lot of egos in there. We gotta see what Jaylen Brown does. Embed has even spoke about any thing that has happened all off season. And we kind of forget about him in the Philadelphia landscape at this point. But how does this come together? What is the best case scenario here and what is the worst case scenario that you see coming forward? I mean, best case scenario there in the finals, right? And then we'll roll the dice. Worst case scenario, it just does not click. And it's another Philadelphia 76ers team that just you couldn't get it right. And it didn't live up to your expectations. Like it could flame out. I don't see that being a very viable option for this team though. Look, Joellen Beade is critical to whether or not this succeeds or not. You do not want LeBron banging at the five for any extended period of time. As a four, love it. You need Joellen Beade to be healthy and to be on the floor when it matters. I do think they have role players though. I think LeBron last year was a role player. And I don't want to get clipped or anything like that. I'm not saying that to diminish what he was doing. But that's the role that they asked him to play for large chunks of the season last year. And we've been on the pod over and over again, at least I have just applauding the way he transitioned into that. So I wouldn't for any moment of time I think that he was delusional about what he's going to be when he comes to the Sixers on the court. I think Joellen Beade, he popped into old Joellen Beade and the playoffs for a minute, but his role is not to carry all game every game like it used to be. He'll carry for stretches, matchups will dictate. You give him the ball, let him go to work. Like certainly that's a part of the equation there. But I think he understands that he is more of a complimentary piece. And I'm we're talking, if these dudes do understand these things, two of the highest level role dudes you can ask for or find in the league, so is Vijay Edgecomb. Like Vijay Edgecomb at this point in his ascension as a player and his maturation process. Like you are an athletic bucket, getting rim, rim to rim defending. Like those are the things we're asking you to do. This is going to be Maxi and Jalen Brown with the ball in their hands and we're going to support that. So I do think that yes, if we're going to go back 10 years, you might have said, hey, dude, who's you have the ball? Like what are we doing here? How's this going to work? But at this point in these dudes careers, the two older ones, being where they are and then Vijay not coming into his prime yet, I don't think you're going to have as big an issue as you think. And we often get on here and I've done it with you guys before. And I've been the guy who said, yeah, I don't know how that's going to work. And the pushback I get from you guys and media is, oh man, you put a bunch of smart basketball players on the court who are skilled. They're going to figure it out. This is no fucking different. Yo, you know what I do like about this, right? And as you were talking, it made me think about watching the Sixers last year. And what was the biggest gripe that we had about the Sixers last year? They couldn't pick a side of what they wanted to be. I believe that because they were stuck at the past and in the future, right? And whenever the future was playing, it was awesome. It was Vijay has come getting dunks. It was him creating his own offense. It was Maxi playing off of that, right? And what I think here, the best case scenario is, and I think that LeBron, me and Cliff is talking about this earlier, by the way, Cliff is fucking a static right now. Jesus, he's, I've never seen him so happy. Good for you, Cliff. Good for you, yeah. I have it up for Cliff, but no, the thing that we were talking about last, last year, and this morning was like, man, LeBron is like the best plug for this team, right? Like from a leadership standpoint, he's not, he's on a two year, eight million dollar contract. Like he's here to, he's not going to be a six man, necessarily, because he's going to start every game. But I think if he is, he knows that he needs to have the mentality of that. I'm going to go lead the second unit. I'm going to get Anthony Simons of all. I'm going to plug and play. And then I'm going to, you know, if he plays like 25, 32 minutes a game, and he's playing with that second unit, and he is kind of taking a step back and the way that he did last year, I think this is going to be a good thing. And you let these young guys figure out, let them carry you. If I'm still on the beat, I don't know, ego about this shit. Yo, I'm going to let VJ Edge comb. You go get 31 on a night. Yo, Jalen Brown, you want to get 51? And Maxi, you get 51? Cool. Like LeBron can have a lot of, he doesn't have to have 25, 8 and 8 games. He can also on some nights have a 8, 11 and 5 game. That's great. And that's going to be just as effective for this team. And I'm really excited to see that dynamic because I think if the OG, OG step back a little bit, it will let the youngins blossom. And I think that is a big reason why LeBron took this time. I think him's like not taking as much money and not doing all this, sent a real good message. I like, hey, man, I'm here to win a title in the way that I can do it, right? I think it's really, it's not a great comparison, but I think it's, you guys are going to film me on this. I think it's late stage Will Chamberlain, man. I think that it's like, yo, we, whatever you need me to do, I am going to pass the ball to Jerry West. I am going to get it to this person. I'm going to get it to this person. I don't have to be the score that I was in gold when I was at the San Francisco Warriors or when I was with the Sixers. I can be what you need me to be. And I think that that's going to both help the leadership aspect, the bench scoring. I think that this ultimately going to help figure itself out. I think that is the best case scenario. I think it's also the most plausible scenario at this point, also caught up in the moment Howard and you were going to bring me down. I need to, but I think that that is might be the the best, best case scenario is if we have like a super role player and then the young guys can flourish in the way they need to. Yeah. I mean, looks, and to Raj's point about LeBron, and yes, we did. I did praise him for the way he meshed his game around Luca and don't shit. Luca and don't just Luca and Austin Reeves. And that was one situation, right? And because there were three of them, there were all kind of primary ball handler types. And also they had a lot of stretches last season where one one or more were hurt. I do think it allowed LeBron to have a lot of opportunities to also be a primary guy, right? Sometimes he's playing off them. Sometimes he's driving it himself. But there were only three of them. And everybody else was a role player, not even very high level role players. And certainly nobody else who was going to really handle the ball. Vijay Edgecomb is most effective with the ball in his hands and so is Tyrie's Maxi and so is Jalen Brown and so is LeBron and Joel and Beade likes to kind of ISO a lot. So it's not so much about, you know, like this is not an apples to apples comparison. It's five dudes at Barry stage of the career in Russia. Look, I can't disagree with you, Roger on this. Obviously, if you're looking for the way it would work, it would be exactly as you laid out, right? Vijay Edgecomb is young enough that he's like, okay, I can defer for a little bit. I've got plenty of years left to be a star, or for me, a Maxi to be split and up and we'll be the driving engine of this thing in a couple of years. I buy that. I buy that Joel and Beade, I think I don't think in Beade's given enough credit for being flexible at times. But he's also, he resorts to kind of some, you know, I hate using the word selfish, but like you can see it in Beade. You saw it in that last playoff series against the Nix. You saw it at times against Celtics like he's going to dominate the ball sometimes in ways that aren't always healthy for his team. And he's not as mobile as he once was. And they don't have another, they don't have a great option when he's not on the court at center. And they don't have anybody for when he's out. So like they do have a depth issue, I think. And I do think they have a five guys who are all best with the ball in their hands issue. And everybody's going to need to sacrifice concern. It doesn't mean it can't be worked out. Like there's, there's a best case scenario here is Logan was saying where the guys all I'll do it, especially when you know this is a short term thing. LeBron's going to play. Well, he played even both years of this contract. The second year is his option, right? So maybe just one year. And it's just like, let's just see what we can do if everybody just falls into place and does exactly right. Like that could be super potent. They could be super scary. That is on the table too. But even before LeBron got there, we were already wondering about like the Jalen Brown fit fairly. And especially after Jalen Brown spent once again, a little bit of time on Twitch, dumping on Joil and beat for being a flopper. Now I always remember the first to say like NBA beefs are all pretty bullshit in the end. Guys can sit that stuff aside when they become teammates. I never think like, oh, these guys had words or oh, these guys even like, you know, you know, flagrant at each other. It's not a bill. They got to talk shit to each other. It's how they're going to be. Yeah, they're going to be teammates. It works out. It works like they always figure it out, right? So I'm not overly concerned about it, but I'm not dismissing that either, right? And they've got some like Jalen Brown's a big personality and so is Joil and beat certainly LeBron. Maxine has come I'm less concerned about on that level, but like not for nothing, the coach isn't the easiest dude either, by the way. It's fair point. It's a fair point. Okay, I question for you don't worry about it because I was thinking about this as he was talking. If you're LeBron James right now and you're going into that locker room, how do you feel like he is? What should he do in terms of like I'm going to each star and like, you know, maybe not hat in hand, he's fucking LeBron James, but like what is his message to each star and what do you what should he say and what do you think he's going to how you think he's going to approach this? Yeah, I don't I really don't think you have to say anything. I think, you know, most people who who are in those locker rooms, whatever sport, they respond to your actions more than your words. So you go in there and you you get to work, you get to work and prove into people that their voices are valued that you're not coming in there and and my way or the highway approach, I'm LeBron James, we're changing culturally everything we do. While I think ultimately what I said before is going to be true, he wants the responsibility and the leadership voice. You don't go in there just projecting it on everyone from the start. You earn trust like you have dialogue. You let dudes lead. You try to figure out in what spaces they lead the best, right? And then you figure out how you can accentuate that and how you can work around the edges of that to provide just the icing on the cake, if you will. Like Jalen Brown has to be afforded opportunity to breathe as a personality. You go in trying to stifle him from the jump. We got no action, boss. Like, do you know what I mean? I don't see it the same way for Maxi or Edgecomb, but like certainly Joel is an interest in personality, right? Like you're not going in there trying to teach these dudes to reinvent themselves or to turn them into something else. You watch, you listen, you go about that incredible work ethic that I witnessed and he's always had. You leave by example in that regard and then you pick your moments when necessary to chime in, to add, to highlight. And when those efforts are successful, you are an equity with people. They start to trust you in that way. They know that you're not trying to change them and turn them into something different. Like you're there to help them. And I think that's the message she has to get across in his actions is yo don't I'm here to help. Like I'm not here. I'm here to help. You know, and I really do believe that a lot of what Howard said, because some of that's fair. But look, man, teams got to pick where they're at. And you get an opportunity. You bring Jalen Brown in there. I was not one of the people that was worried about how Jalen Brown fit with the sixers. Personally, but you're you're in with now mode. So like all of that, hey, we got to give young stars. We're like, we're done with that. Like we're trying to we're trying to play ball. We're trying to win games. And if you get a shot at a LeBron to add to that, listen, you're in big boy basketball. Now, my boy, like I'm gonna fuck what you want necessarily. Like this is what we trying to do. And we need people to get on board with that. And and I think LeBron in the space of of just helping the day-to-day dynamics in a locker room. And what fractions might have existed with younger players or more volatile personalities or just bigger personalities in general. I think he eases that. I think he's like WD 40 for that shit. I think he just kind of goes in there and he greases the wheels. At least that's what I'm hoping he does. That's what I saw him do. You know, when I was around him. Another thing I wanted to add to that and ask you this question, Roger. There's LeBron James the person that needs to, you know, figure out his leadership. But there's also the LeBron James the business coming to Philadelphia, right? We all know about, you know, how Rich Paul does business, right? We all know about how the clutch is. And a lot of this also was like an organization. One of they already have a relationship with that Clutch does. And then also an organization that is a little bit more minimal to be like, hey, come on in. Like you are, you know, our partner in this. How does with the clutch element, how do they figure their way through this? What's the best way that they should do it? Because we've seen how that has affected other teams in the past, right? Just them being in the building. Yeah. It's a good question, man. And, you know, I haven't been around them for a long time. So I don't know how they kind of, quote, unquote, move around an organization. It's been years and years and years on people, you know, mature and styles change and like you learn, you live and you learn. So I, what I would say though, so I can't really speak to how they do it and how that's going to fit. What I would say is if it's going to work, I think LeBron needs to, and this is just my personal opinion, take it for its work. You need to invest yourself from that. Like you need that, you need to make it clear that there's a line, a clear one between yourself and the business entities that exist and that you are here for the team. Let the, let the business be the business, but it's independent of me right now. Like these next two years are me as a Philadelphia 76er trying to win a championship. And to whatever degree you can, because you're never going to like, you know, for it's your business, dude, like obviously your career is coming to an end sooner than later. Like it's unrealistic to think you're just going to let go of the rope on those things, but you, I think you have to keep it really, really, really clean. So everyone there knows what, what the priority is and quite frankly, it's them. Yeah, right? And, and I just think that that's a, that's the way they should approach that. I don't think, I don't think I'll say this. And I want to get your opinion on this up here. I say this. Roger, I think that the shit that he was pulling in LA and not really ingratiating himself in Los Angeles, he can't pull out in a city like Philly, bro. He cannot do that. He needs to fully submit himself to that fan base and organization because they could see right through that. Am I, am I on one or you know the city better? No, but that is a feeling that I am getting. Like you cannot play with the emotions like that. It's not going to work out for you. Let this serve as a warning for for LeBron. Like you are beloved, homie. Like, you know, you've been in some fan bases, King and all of that. I'm a more fucking fan. But don't get this shit twisted. If you go into Philly and are on some bullshit and are not what they want you to be, you don't always have to win there. You just have to be on what they respect. Yeah. Like you got to be on that kind of time. And if they fuck with you like that, you're good. If they don't fuck with freeway, we need some pictures with freeway. We need you to like it. We need some pictures with beans. We need you to go on the podcast, we're wallowing them. We need you to really lock in. Yeah. But if you're not, yes, if you're not, whatever that means to you, but if you're not living those raps, right? And you're talking out of both sides of your neck and, you know, that fan base really does sift through that shit really well. And my focus never thought Santa would get booed. Do you understand what I'm saying to you? Like people I think destiny's child was going to get booed. Like you, they will that fan base. I don't think Miami's got the heart to do that. Like I live in Miami. Like Miami's fan base don't have a heart to turn on you like that. And just and be like, you're going to stand in there and I want to do all that. They don't have that energy. Philly does not care. So like, how would just be my little thing? Don't step in correctly. No, Howard, what do you think that that just even that dynamic that we're speaking about? How do you think that that is going to adjust how LeBron moves or how he should boo because I'm wit Roger. Like he cannot go with that bullshit in a place like Philly. It's not going to work, bro. They see right through that shit. And then they're going to tell it to you to your face. I think the unfortunate part of this is that you're analyzing this through. We are viewing this collectively through the lens of what happened the last several years in LA. He walked into LA as a champion, four time champion in his late prime to Kobe Bryant's old team. Kobe Bryant passes, too. Kobe Bryant passes a weight during the stretch, which makes a whole another dynamic. But for sure, but when he got there, it was still LeBron had outshined or overshadowed Kobe for the ladder stages of their overlapping careers. There were big debates about who was better for the longest time. It was harder for LA to embrace him. And so like that was a two way street. You can talk about what the bronze conduct should be or should have been. But part of that was just like almost an impossible situation where LA was never going to embrace him in the same way that same Miami did the day he walked through the door there with no championships. And nobody to really overshadowed because it would have been Dwayne Wade, but Dwayne Wade is the one who invited him in. That was his buddy. It was just different in LA because because of the Kobe thing. And so in this, this last move, this last stage, this last chapter going to Philly effectively as a mercenary with no ties whatsoever to the city, to the franchise, to any of these players necessarily. Is there even a clutch client? Is Maxi a clutch client? Maxi's the clutch client. So there's at least, all right. So there's one flimsy. And I go with the GM too. They're good with the GM as well. All right. Cool. Whatever. Who's that, Gancy? I'm like, Gancy. My Gancy. Yeah. Gancy is Ohio. Yes. But those are those are fairly flimsy ties compared to what he did when he went to Miami or went back to Cleveland or what he would have had if he went to Golden State. Like, so it like it, it really I'm going to challenge you a little bit on this though. I'm going to challenge you this on this way because you're saying like, he also came to LA as an outsider, right? And the fact is he did, you know, you ain't got no stories. A LeBron, other than the Drew League stuff, which was kind of stage, you didn't really get no stories out of LA. Like, yo, Bronn and Watts kicking it. You know what I'm saying? Or Bronn is is is in such a not like not in that environment, necessarily, you didn't get like, yo, he isn't really ingratiating himself in the Los Angeles like that. You really didn't get that. And I don't think you're going to get that in Philly. He's a billionaire. He's a billionaire who's playing the last year or two. But it's always been it's always been I'm LeBron everywhere he's been. And you guys are here. That can't that just cannot work in Philly, right? Like, and I'm not saying that he needs to be like outside Smolga Huka and just being like in the streets. What I'm saying now is he just needs to Philly needs to know that he's one of us. And in the Lakers, he never did that in LA. He never he he kind of did it in Miami. But like, he never he hasn't only done that in Cleveland. That's only place he's done and I get it. That's close to home. But like the market of Philly, he has to I'm telling you he has to do it. Part of his big theme and going back to Cleveland and or as he framed it Northeast Ohio, so that he could encompass Cleveland and Akron and everywhere else was to say because I want to be uplifting, right? That was the the essay that he had in sports illustrated as told to Lee Jenkins. He wanted to like lift up the community. And, you know, I think it was during the second tour there that he that he launched the school, right? Maybe he did a bunch of stuff, but he did do, you know, things in the community there that were meaningful in part because he had roots there. And he had he felt an obligation to do so. So to your point, there are various ways of showing what you're talking about. And one of them would be to maybe invest a little bit in Philly. However, that may manifest, right? And so I don't know that you do that when you're only there on a two-year deal that could only that might not even only end up being one year. It's it's it's so temporary. It's so mercenary that in a way, maybe, maybe your arguments negated by the idea that everybody everybody on all sides understands, right? Philly doesn't have to buy into him or him buy into them in any meaningful, deep way because it's like, we're just all alone for the ride. Welcome here. We can't wait to see what you do with Joel and Jalen and Tyrex and VJ Cool. Let's go win a championship, but this is going to be purely transactional between him and the fans there. I like I it's we it's temporary. The temporaryness is built in the lack of depth of the bond between LeBron and this market is built in because of how old he is and because I short the contract is and it's obvious what he's therefore when he went to LA, it was like he's going to be there for the long haul. We thought it might be his last chapter. Yeah. And to your point, if he never really invested emotionally, I think there's a LeBron though. It's always it's all business, right? It doesn't he don't let nobody or no fan base other than North East Ohio just love him like that. And I just feel like that's that's just a debt. We're going to say Roger. I don't yeah, I don't think I kind of agree with how I don't think that he has to do anything to ingratiate himself to the city of Philadelphia to be accepted. Like just don't fuck it up. Okay. Just just just yeah, just don't fuck it up. Just don't go in there like forgive the Hollywood, but just don't go in there with any Hollywood vibes and and have them feel like this didn't work because of those Hollywood vibes. And I think there's a very, very, very slim chance that that happens. Like I'm not I don't think he's built like that. And I don't think that's what he's going to be on. But like as long as you don't do that to them in this like a year or two, I think you're fine. You just go in there and what they want to feel is that you're present. Yeah. They know you ain't got to be out like on South Street or like I mean present. You just yeah, like they want to know that you're there. They won't they don't I don't think Philly wants to see you like on any off day. Like you know, all the time. Yeah, I don't yeah, dog. They want to know that you're there. And I mean this like and the time you you ain't lied. Howard like the that little bit of time potentially is not going to give them enough of a runway for maybe that stuff to wear on them in the way that it would hypothetically if it was a three year thing. But the point is those would be the things that would like they want to know that that you are in this with them. And if you were putting forth the genuine effort all the time with them like they respect that dog. Like there's there they are. There are a city that respects that shit. Like you ain't like they would prefer you to win. But but if they can feel your fight. I mean, this is corny as fuck, but like Rocky. Like if they can feel the fight. If they can feel the spirit, like you're safe. And it can't be saying shit neither, right? It can't just be staged shit all the time. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. But again, we don't want him like eating a cheese steak next to the Rocky statue. And that'll be like, that's exactly right. But you know, we just you know, like it can't be staged. I feel like Philly just sees right. This is not, look, Miami is that market for sure. Like, you know, LA is LA. So like those cities respond to different things like North, North East Ohio isn't necessarily like that. But like, but Philly is certainly not like that. So, but I think it goes hand in hand with what you asked me about how he should approach. Hey, bro, just just go in there and and and start leading by example, you know, like if you do that, which I expect him to fully expect him to do, you're going to be fine with them. And then you know, you let the kids fall where they may in terms of how you guys, you know, develop as a team and the chemistry and the depth, which is a, which is a valid point. Like all of those things, TBD. But if you go in there on the on that type of time with them, I think you're good. There is an analogy here on multiple levels, including the one that Logan was just highlighting. In 2003, when Karl Malone and Gary Payton decided to join the Lakers, there were all the concerns about, are there enough balls to go around? Is it too many stars? Too many egos? All of this stuff. tough. And Karl Malone had been a hated rival. Karl Malone and John Stockton had swept the Lakers and knocked them out a couple of times in the postseason earlier in the Shack and Kobe era. So it's not like L.A. was like ready to hug Karl Malone or Gary Peyton and Peyton had been a rival to all the years in Seattle. Um, and not the cuddliest of guys like good dude, but like not as a as a player, right? A lot, you know, trash talk. If you talk too much about Gary Peyton, like that, I'm going to go Roger when you talk about Westbrook, just like I'm just saying. No, I'm slightly brother to settle down and settle down. Gary Peyton was like the guy who wouldn't use your opponent. You're kind of like, eh, so Peyton and Malone come to the Lakers. Laker fans embrace them to the extent that they thought they could help Shack and Kobe win a championship again after losing in 2003, right? And man, if Karl Malone, I've always said, if Karl Malone doesn't go down in early December of that season on a freak accident, um, who knows how that would have gone? The fact that he missed a big chunk of the season with a knee injury that never really healed really kind of sunk them, but they were just kicking the shit out of everybody for the first like six, seven weeks of that season. Like 18 and two or something like that. Something crazy. It worked incredibly well until it didn't, but a large part because Karl Malone was kind of the fulcrum there, like without him, Shack and Kobe started going at each other again. Gary Peyton was like in and out of, of, of, of the whole thing because he didn't like playing the triangle. So he and Phil clashed, but LA didn't need to really embrace Karl Malone for them to appreciate what he brought to the table and Karl Malone like humbled himself in that, in the context of that team usage rate way down, right? Feel Google attempts way down, um, was the, was the perfect guy between Shack and Kobe in part to keep them from killing each other, but in part also as, as just a complimentary guy, he made himself a role player at that last stage of his career. So it's, it's not impossible, but it still does like even when I look back on that, I still, I still think of it as more transactional than anything, uh, in terms of how the fans in the city and the, and the player in this case Malone like, you know, interact with each other, right? The bonds aren't going to be, be that deep. They were never going to be that deep because Karl was going to be there for a year or two at most and say, and say with Peyton, and as it turned out, neither of them was there more than a year. Uh, but I think that's the best analogy on all levels here for how the LeBron Philly thing could go. Yeah, for sure. Um, say a quick break. I want to talk really quickly just about a number of things, but, um, the other teams involved and what it means, um, that LeBron didn't go there for each team. So on the other side of the break, okay, we're back. I want to go over the teams that didn't get LeBron. We're just going to throw them out there. We'll just talk it through and then we'll go from there. The Minnesota Timberwolves. What does this say about their operation right now that LeBron didn't go there? Roger Bell. Um, yeah, I never saw him going to minute. I don't, I think, I think I said it out loud, but I never saw him going to like Minnesota, no disrespect to Minnesota. But I never saw that as a market that I would see LeBron playing in. Um, I, I, I, I just think it says probably what it says about most of these teams is like he didn't see their roster build as one that got him to where he wanted to be in terms of competing for a championship in the next year, maybe two, um, the Western conference certainly has something to do with that. But, um, yeah, I, I think the workload that, that he would have been asked, uh, you know, to undertake there might have been, might have been maybe too high at times. Uh, but I think he's smart enough to know what level he's got to be asked to play at every night to be sustainable in the playoffs. And I think maybe there it was going to be a little too high. So, um, yeah, I think that's what it says. Backwards relatively young, um, maybe some harder pieces to, to lead. I, you know, so he wasn't trying to deal, he wasn't trying to deal with all that stuff. Yeah. Yeah. I'm putting words in his mouth. Like, I don't know, but I'm just like, you know, that, that's what I would say Howard. Minnesota seemed such like such a weird far fetched possibility the whole time. If it was a possibility at all, again, my, my first reaction is that they still need a power forward, right? Like they salary dumped Julius Randall, they swept a swap, not as read for Lamello ball because they, they thought, you know, we need another ball handler, creator, score type in the back court. Um, and they did all that banking on the idea that they were going to somehow backfill a power forward with a cheaper option. And right now, they still don't have one. So, uh, LeBron could have filled that. I never really thought that was going to happen. But yeah, uh, the gym will still have some work to do. Go to say warriors Roger Bell. Um, too old, dude, like, I don't, I don't, yeah. You know, Western, what? I mean, look, it would have been dope. I would have liked to see that. But, but, uh, you're, again, you're in the Western conference. You're dealing with teams that are youthful, that are energetic, athletic, long, rangey. Um, and, and then quite frankly, I'm going to be honest with you, like, LeBron's never played in a system that is someone else centric. And I, and I know what you're going to say to me. Well, you just said he was complimentary to Luca, like he was. He was. But, but that's a, what Stefan them do is, is a very, very unique, like, very, very unique style of play in terms of, you know, we're doing everything we can to spring him for shots. And then everyone else is eating off of that. Luca and them are like playing a lot of pick and roll, you know, like you're standing around. It's more conventional. I don't think he's ever played anything like that. And I'm not saying it, it stopped him from going there. But I think if you're looking at a place that you're going to try to flourish for the last couple of years, that had to go into the thought process. So between that, you know, not really seeing a real viable path in the Eastern conference. I mean, in the Western conference, sorry, uh, with, with the, with the roster, the age of it, uh, I think those were probably things to stuck out the most. Nothing, man. You didn't do shit. You didn't do anything this off season. You did nothing. We always talked about, uh, Charms just reported that this, this six or something only became a possibility because they traded for Jalen Brown. You have to try. Like you, you can't just say, yo, man, we'll just, you know, we got Dreymon. Did we got, you know, Steph is, is, is here. He's 38 years old. But we got these guys, huh? What are in it? Like, LeBron is like, okay, well, what else? Right? Like, I, there's that component of it. Also, I believe this to be true. And I've said this on this podcast before. I've lived here my whole life. He would not be able to be LeBron James here under this, under, under the team aspect, under this region, it just would not have worked out. And I know there were a lot of people that, that, that, you know, within the front office, that wanted him, but also to add to that point, them pursuing LeBron and the way that they did with nothing that they had, would not, with their, with their roster baron is really indicative of the last few years for them, right? The fact that they're in this desperate position to be like, Hey, we're just going to lay, I guess we're just going to go try to pick up LeBron James. And we have nothing to like offer him other than like great weather and golf courses. Bro, he wants to win. He wants to win, bro. Like you guys used to want to win too. I don't know what the fuck is going on anymore, but you guys used to want to win. But there was all that combination, I feel like led to LeBron ultimately not picking the warriors, because they didn't fucking actually try. Can't believe you're disrespecting Yaxel Lundborg, uh, Linda Borg. I can't even pronounce his last name. How does there you disrespect Yaxel? Good dude. Good dude. Uh, I, I've interacted with him because after, after you just wrote a whole story based on him out of summer league. Yeah, good dude. But he ain't, he ain't, you know, come on, come on Howard. I, I'm just going to say, I'm just going to say, I got two things to say about the warriors thing. Um, one, it's, people pretend like they didn't go out and get Jimmy Butler. Like I know they got him for cheap and then he got hurt, but they were really good with Jimmy Butler when he was healthy and then he got hurt. If Jimmy Butler's healthy going in the next season, if he never blows out, uh, his weight Achilles knee, what was it? Knee. Um, if Jimmy Butler's healthy, does LeBron assess them differently? I don't know. Maybe he still goes. I mean, Howard, it was a fifth me and Roger, you would be faded right now. I'm just saying there's other teams that have actually just that may even with injuries that have made moves here. I'm just saying we know how hard it is to make moves in the NBA. I'm not trying to let them off the hook, but like it's super freaking hard right now, especially when you still have guys like the, uh, Steph and Dremon making what they're making in a second apron era. Like everybody's kind of locked up. Like there's a reason like we're talking about Minnesota is like, oh, they made this big bold move, but we still don't know if they're actually better for it because they ended up having like part of it was financial. They dumped two power forwards and got one point guard back. Like they're, they're fundamentally different. And it's an example of how difficult it is to maneuver once you have maxed out. Look, the next start even was celebrating a championship right now. If not for the second apron, that's how they got Carl Anthony towns. Well, I don't, but what I, what I think though, like I feel what you're saying, but when I say that the Lebron pursuit and the way they pursue them is a symptom of a bigger problem, they don't, they actually aren't willing and dealing. This is the will and deal. Who are they going to really deal? In your nose? They need to, they need to figure that out. Who are they trading? Like this big upgrade, but I was part of the discussion though. This is what I'm saying though, about Golden State. Like this is like the overall like symptom of it. What I'm saying though is like you had years and years. Okay, like another team in this current apron era, they're gonna trade right. They're going to get some real assets. They're going to actually be a little bit more savvy. They're actually going to do certain things. before, in order to entice LeBron James to get there, right? Like that's kind of what Philly did, right? That's what I'm more of what I'm saying is that it was a little too late to will and deal at this particular point, but years and years, they need to figure some stuff out. And even with the Jimmy Butler thing, like this is when you have to be creative and just be like, because you have Steph Curry only for a finite amount of time, you can't just be like, oh man, well, we tried, I guess, like you actually have to do in this particular era. And I don't think that they did a lot of doing. Look, I said it in real time at the time and you guys know this, although a lot of this was before we were doing this podcast together. I said from the beginning, they should have never used the draft picks that became Weisman, Moody and Kuminga. They should have been trading all those picks to get immediate help. And had they done that then, if those were at least, you know, a youngest or mid-career guys, they would have been in better shape along the way. They held onto the picks. They used the picks. The picks didn't work out. Here we are. But as it stands the last couple of years, now it's really hard because of who they have and the salaries that they're making. They committed, it seems to not trading an injured Jimmy Butler as some sort of kind of like, you know, courtesy to him or honoring his, his wishes. Who knows? The bottom line is this, like they get LeBron, they become a lot more interesting than they already were. And who knows, Puncher's Chance, everybody's healthy next April. May, yada, yada, yada, cool. Without LeBron, they're back where they've been this whole time. Hope that Jimmy Butler gets healthy quickly. Hope that Moses Moody gets back quickly. And let's see if they can make any other moves around the margins. But like, there's just not a lot of maneuverability there. They do have picks to deal. They've got some young guys, but like, there's not a lot there that's going to entice other teams to like give up a really significant player. And they got Jimmy Butler for a song at the time. So, you know, they're just kind of stuck, but this is what happens with aging dynasties as, as, you know, Steve Kerr has called them, like, but this is what happens with them. You, you still have guys making superstar money who are not as effective late in their careers. And it makes it hard to maneuver. And those guys aren't easy to deal either. What do you think they were going to get for Dremon Green if they traded him a couple of seconds? Like, they weren't going to get something significant. They might have gotten some cat, some cap relief to your point. But yeah, I don't know. But, but like, when you got stuff on the roster, man, you have, like, I know, I've said this. I've said that a million times about Steph about LeBron, whatever you were obligated to be all in all the time. And I do think there are questions about that at times. But as they are right now at the tail end, I think this is a less of a significant argument that it was maybe five years ago when they were using draft picks that they should have swapped their shit fair point. What about the Miami Heat, Roger Bell, our interpret our interpret South Florida reporter? I'm just not, I mean, not enough, not enough. Like, if you're going to go to the Eastern Conference, first of all, I think you're, you know, you'd be a little naive if you didn't think there were feelings at least at some level that remained from the last time he was here. Like, I'm sure, you know, time heals all wounds and whatnot. But like, hey, hey, come on, man, we forgive when we never forget, right? So, like, they're a little bit of that. But like, just as a roster, like completely on the basketball front, like, I think there's a much clearer path in the same conference in Philadelphia than there was here in Miami. You're, you're big. And I like, I mean, I like the start of it. You're, you know, but like, that's a lot of people in the paint. You know, you'd have to play a certain style. Yeah, I think when he looked at that, he saw a much clearer picture in, in Philly. And then you add to just the history of it. And I think it was, it was in retrospect, probably going to be Philly or, or Cleveland more so than Miami. Howard, do you believe Pat Riley when he says everything is patched up with him in LeBron James, when he doesn't interview in the middle of free agency, as he's trying to actively recruit LeBron James? I'm not sure it matters. LeBron's going to make it to whatever's decisions best for him, regardless. You don't play for the team president. He's not in the locker room every day. He's not the coach. I think we overestimate the importance of a player slash GM relationship or player team president. I, it doesn't really matter that much. If LeBron wanted to play Miami badly enough, wanted to play with the honest one to play for spulster again, wanted to play with BAM out of bio and whoever the heck is still on that roster. Then you would have, it's then, it's then right now. And the relationship with Riley wouldn't have mattered. And, and maybe they have patched it up. Like, listen, Dan Gilbert said some of the like the most petty ass shit we've ever seen come from a team owner, not the president, but the freaking owner of the team. The guy who writes the, writes the checks. Dan Gilbert was, was way out of line back in 2010. And LeBron went back four years later. So I don't again, NBA beefs, whether it's player player, player, player owner, player GM, whatever. Like everything could be patched up if everybody wants the same thing. So I don't care about that part of it. I do think Raj already hit it. Like, you got, you got, you got BAM and even that's an awkward fit. What else you got? And how are you going to fill out the rest of that roster if LeBron's there? So that, that one never felt that viable to me either. And yeah, there are a really tough spot right now. Like, where do they go from here? Right? This is another version of like a couple of years ago, Milwaukee Bucks, right? Like, it's just an odd fit of a roster. They're, I think a little bit more well coached, but it's pretty much the same situation for Ghanis. So it would have better. They're better big alongside them. They are, but they're better at identifying, I think, and finding those, those kind of margin distance players in the picks. Yeah, they're, you know, they're the player development. Like, I think, I think I would trust them more if this wasn't a finished product. If you were like, Hey, you picked a place, neither one of them's a finished product and you trust them to get you there. If you said Milwaukee or Miami, I think I'm taking Miami. Yeah. Yeah. Um, okay. So we get out of here. What does it say about Cleveland Howard? Well, he couldn't even say it with a straight face. That's cool. That's cool. That's what's up. I think. Yeah. Listen, man, uh, I think after seeing and granted, the nicks were on like the heater of all heaters. So maybe unfair to judge any of the teams that they just beat the living snot out of in that playoff run. But like after watching the last vestiges of whatever it is that the Cavaliers are just get smoked and humiliated in that series, it's hard to believe in anything they're doing. Maybe LeBron watched and saw the same thing and went like, wait, you want me to sign up with, yeah. So no, I, I, I don't know, man. I've never had much faith in James Hardin. He's only gonna, he's just another year older now. You got Donovan Mitchell. You got Evan Mobile who's who seemingly has plateaued Jared Allen still there. What are they, you know, what have they done? What can they do? I don't know. Um, I'm looking at these standings and just thinking like the pistons are still going to be really, really good. The Celtics for whatever we want to might want to say about the Jalen Brown Paul George Swapper still going to be really, really good as long as Jason Tatum is back to 100%. The nicks are defending champs and are going to be great. And all the loss was Mitchell Robinson. Like where the, where the Cavs fitting into all of this. I did that really before I get to the next season. Like where's Philly in the Eastern commentary? Well, I'm penciling them in as a top four team right off the bat. That's, that's at minimum, right? So Detroit, Boston, New York, and Philly are probably the top four. And Cleveland, Atlanta, or Lando, Charlotte, Miami are all in the chase and Toronto. Um, but like, these are these are conferences kind of live right now, man. If the quiet thing goes through and they go to the Raptors, it's a, it's a, it's a lot of great four. It starts on the west coast. Right. Before, before the entire nation of Canada gets pissed off that I didn't put Toronto in there. Like, let's see what happens with the Kawaii deal. And if Kawaii is a Toronto Raptor, when we're potting in October and doing our season preview stuff, or, uh, yeah. Like, at that, at that point, we'll reassess. But as of right now, I think Detroit, Boston, New York, and Philly is probably the class of the East. Okay. Yeah. Okay. What do you think about the, what does it say about Cleveland, like, Brown didn't go and where do you see the sixers in the eastern conference? Um, yeah, I, I think the sixers are a top three team in the Eastern conference. Um, and I'm doing that out of respect for, for, for a few things that happened in the regular season last year. But like, I, I really think they're going to be really strong in the Eastern conference. Um, what it says about Cleveland to me, I mean, first of all, I think if you look at their roster, you plug him in a lot of times, like, naturally kind of more at the three than you do at the four. And, and, you know, the four, I think, especially now in his career is where, where he's going to make most of his impact. Um, I think they needed more offense. Um, then maybe Philly does on paper out of him, like more production. And again, if, if I was telling you about Minnesota, and I think, you know, these are conversations you're having is like, how much do I have to produce on a nightly basis for us to be the type of team we want to be? And then, you know, does that fit with me being able to be viable in the playoffs? Um, I think Cleveland was going to ask more out of him. And then I said before, you know, there, there's, it's a lot when he's in Cleveland. It's a lot. There's a lot going on. There's a lot pulling at you that isn't, and I don't mean like family and friends. I mean, just, you know, you see the general everything. And there's an amount of bandwidth with that that that extracts from you. You know, that you can't really quantify, but you have to think about it when you're deciding whether or not you go back. I think that was a part of it. And then lastly, I'd just say, you left there bringing them a championship. And it was a beautiful, like, Abro, you came back, did what you said you were gonna do. And then everybody was like, cool. And, you know, there's a part of me that likes it like that. You know, I don't know that he felt that sentiment, but like, there's a part of me like, don't, you know, go back and who knows how it ends. You know, like, yeah, you left that doing and telling them you were gonna get something done and you got it done. And so, you know, I don't know, but like, that's kind of the way my mind wraps around it. - And where are the sixers in these? Or you said, you said a top three. - Oh, yeah, top three. - Top three, like, I'd say top two. I mean, I honestly, I think they're a top two team in the Eastern Conference right now. - Okay. - I want to be in New York to be clear, Roger. - Yeah, yes, yeah, correct. - All right, Chris, speaking of New York, I want to be an asshole to hell before I get out of here. With the New York Knicks, you know, Rich Ball said that if they didn't win the title, he would be going to New York. What do you take that with a grain of salt, who knows, right? But if I'm a humor him, if he were to go to New York this summer and they didn't win the championship, like, what do you think that would have looked like? And I'm gonna obviously get it, Roger's response, but I want to get yours first. - The hypothetical is the next don't win the championship in June and LeBron has just decided to join them now. - Yep, 'cause that's what he said. That's what Rich Ball said he was gonna do. - Yeah, it would have been interesting, because a lot of Nick's fans felt pretty burned by him in 2010 because he spent an entire season teasing New York. He wore Yankees hat. He had a quote about like, you know, some of 2010s gonna be really big for New York or whatever. Like he was, he was dropping all these hints. And then when he, when, when word leaked that he was doing the decision at the Boys and Girls Club in Connecticut, like just an hour outside of the city, or less, and then it was like, oh, that means he's coming to New York. He's setting up outside of New York for a reason. And so, yeah. So Nick's fans felt pretty burned back then. And so like the idea of like making a run at him then, and there must have been another run at him at some point during his free agencies after that. And then to have him come in at the end at age 41 and a half at a time when, let's say they didn't make the finals, but it was back-to-back conference finals, or maybe they lost to the spurs in the finals. And it's like, now you're, oh, you didn't want us when you were in your prime. You didn't want to come here when we really needed you and play with them Ari Stautamire or whatever, but now you're gonna come here all these years later after we've already built it back up kind of organically. Like, I don't know. Like, I don't want to speak for Nick's fans 'cause I'm not an ex-fant, it's, I don't know. I have not pulled my friends into the group chat, but I could ask. I don't think it would have been like a full, you're the one who's talked a lot on this show today about whether the fans are embracing you and the relationship with the city and the connection or lack thereof and how that's gonna feel. I think it would have felt really, really weird if they like, lose to the spurs in six. And then LeBron's like, I'm joining the Nick's. Like, I don't know. It would have been strange, but basketball-wise, he'd have been a great fit, no question. And he'd play for Mike Brown, who he's played for before. - What do you think, Marajan? - Yeah, I mean, I think Howard said the best. Could be weird, could be weird. But he would have been a fit. We covered that on the, on the, on the show. I don't know how far back, but he would have been, he would have been certainly a fit. Yeah, I, you know, market, I think. - Yeah, I don't know. - He would have been in, you saw him at the JZ show. You saw him at the MjZ shows. He was bidding right into New York. - They haven't established culture though. You know, like, they haven't established. Like, there's some things about them that I don't see the, I don't see the same, I don't, I don't mean to say there's a void in Philly at all, but there's more room in Philly, if that makes sense, for, for, for oxygen for him. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So like, what, yeah, he'd be great on the court and I'm not saying he wouldn't fit, but, but I think it's a better fit in a place for him. - Also, we could see him. - Now that he's in Philly, he can be in the garden maybe 15 times this season, which would be fucking awesome. - Now that he's back in the East, you know what I mean? - Yeah, Howard, yeah, Howard, get ready to go to the garden. But it's gonna be, it's gonna be great, man. And this pod was great. This was just so unexpected. This is actually our season finale, ladies and gentlemen. What a hell of a season finale. - Do we have to read everything? - The entire Reelies now? Do we need a new Reelies? - Post the-- No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. We don't know. We don't know because also the good thing know about the really real quick, go listen to the release. You got all summer to listen to them. But the good thing about that is Roger hedged all of his takes within the release. If you actually listen to it, right? Like he already shitted on the self. No, remember you talked shit about the Celtics. You were like, Oh, okay. Yeah, they fucked up, right? They still fucked up, right? LeBron, we, you know, we talked a little about it. He's still OG of the year. So I don't see what what would necessarily change. And then we updated it the next day. You, we have for the weekend, our real ones are fed. The streets are fed. They get the release and then or they get this and they go back and get the release. Oh, we got it for the summer. Got it on lock. On lock. That's what another edition of real one summer edition 2026. We out. Oh, oh, the sits. Bye. you