Come on, come on, come on, come on.
On this episode of the heat Chet, We're going to spend time, just a little bit of time breaking down
All Star weekend. But the one thing that we could take away from the weekend, from the festivities, from all of the gravi toss that this particular event held, given the fact that it was top seventy five players of all time, given that it was Lebron James back in his pseudo hometown where he played for multiple different eras in the Cleveland Cavaliers history, all the shade thrown at GM Rob Polinka, the tension, the bombshell reporting this statement
about his son and him playing with Bronnie James, to winning the All Star Game on the last second double team fade away jumper, Oh my god, we must get into Lebron James him of course dominating every single highlight, every single headline of any so drop that.
I'm perfect right my last night, like do.
You think mother reread likes that gets excited still by chains And I'm certain, right, I'm certain, it's just certain and a current like an occurrent, as my grandma would have said, Welcome.
To the heat Check.
It is happy Chris Middleton Day two to twenty two. Just like the All Star Game, this episode of the Heat Check has been hijacked by Lebron James. Lebron James the All Star Game both shockingly good while unbelievably bad at the exact same time. So let's talk about the good because we're pushing Pe. Apparently everyone's pushing p at the All Star weekend too. That thing went viral as well. I'm not saying that I made it viral, but it
did get played acoustically at the halftime show. I think I was watching that at the same time I was watching Daredevil Confession.
My interests were split.
Marvel has Marvel has dominated my brain.
A new format of the Rising Stars Challenge.
That we talked about was, as I foretold, absolutely delicious. Dope needs to be how it is moving forward seeing young guns out there dazzling one another, the best of the best. Thank god we got to see some extra guys brought into the Rising Stars Challenge after the fact, right, it was musty TV. Musty TV, and if you haven't seen it, go back watch it. Skills Challenge shockingly fun.
I went from hating that event to being like, well, isn't this just a little delight seeing Evan Mobley like have to win on a half court shot, Evan Mobley seven footer half court shot to win it against the Giannis Antetukompo brothers like, who are just somehow in this event because of their relationship to Giannis, which is shockingly eerily similar to where we're going with the rest of this show, Nepatiz, as my mom would call it Nepatiz.
Of course, the game itself, with the elm ending that has to stay that everyone put shade on for many months after the first time we saw it amazing, like a blast mega wattstar power to the level that even a MVP like Nikola Jokic did not get a minute of time in the fourth quarter.
That's how good that was.
Steph set a record of threes set in an All Star game, and of course the game was won by Lebron James on his we'll call it pseudo home floor which used to be called the Q which is now the Rocket Mortgage Field House, and he won on a turnaround fade away covered like slathered by two defenders.
More of that later. The bad the weather.
Like Cleveland should never host an All Star Game, ever, no cold weather city, including New York City, should host an All Star Game for the NBA. We cannot be having these games in these shitty cities in the middle of winter. We need a respite. Like let me just say this, do you want to keep like big time players in your city and not just have them legitimately sprinting to their pjs forty five minutes after the All
Star Game is over? You host it in a warm weather city like Miami, which is where they all are probably right this very second. Do not lost it in cold weather towns. We are talking Boston twenty twenty five. Fuck that for so many reasons. You're talking about a cold weather city which has also been like low key known for being racist, hosting an exhibition game where definitely that will come up. I am certain, Bill Russell, excuse me,
Marcus Smart, excuse me. People will come out from the rafters. Kyrie Irving might be vaccinated by then, folks, who knows, or he might be retired one of the two. No, folks, we do not need Boston in twenty twenty five. We need Miami, We need Los Angeles, we need Phoenix, we need anything below the frost line.
That's what we need.
We do not need to be worried about rocking our new Jordan Ones and getting them fucked up because there's salt on the ground and you have to literally sell them on mrcary used and used Jordan Ones fresh from the All Star Game. Anything must go mrcary dot com. Like that's where we're at on this. And the worst of all, you guys already know what.
Time it is. It's the Dunk Contest. This thing needs to change.
This probably needs to just get put down to sleep while like night Night sleep mask like ethanize the Dunk Contest.
The Dunk Contest is that.
Dog that you loved and you've been with, You've had him your entire life, and like you either take him to the vet or he runs away to die, like and you know you'll never see him again. But it's time. It needs you need a new puppy and there needs to be a new event. And the Dunk Contest is
not that. Because when the best part of the Dunk Contest is a regular dunk in Tim's in Timberland boots, which the most impress the thing is that he decided to bring out the most iconic color that everyone hates to get scuffed, and it's like, oh, how could you be so brave Cole Anthony, multimillionaire that you would wear a pair of one hundred and fifty dollars Timberland boots ah and dunking in them.
Excuse me, excuse me.
We have legends in the building, and you guys knew for months legends were going to be in the building, all of them in one place watching you. I get terrified of failure when no one's watching, when I don't even know who's watching. If there was Bill Russell, or how about all of them, just Kareem abdulje Bar, Michael Jordan Shack, and you know there's gonna be commentary on
what you've done. They're sitting front row, some of them like doctor Dre actual or doctor Dre Doctor j that was an invisiline flub, a doctor j holding up signs of your score. And your best move is putting on a New York knickt jersey because your father played there in Timberland boots to give homage to the New York market, which you don't even play for because you play for Orlando.
And then literally you're pandering to the greats. And you've got doctor Jay with the sign up watching you and all you can do is a regular little dunk and Tim's excuse me, we've jumped the shark. This is we've got legends of the game. Kareem Abduljabar legitimately grabbing his coat and dip setting in the middle of the dunk contest that went viral.
Excuse me?
What are you should be embarrassed? Like you should be embarrassed, NBA embarrassed. There should have been a new bar set for this event, which is you cannot compete unless you're in the All Star Game. That's the only way you can compete is if you're actually an Austar one Toscano Anderson nice kid, loved the little Mexican flag. Kobe Bryant shoes love that, love his story.
He's a fucking G.
League player on a two way contract who got a full contract this year. Like he was a nice story. And we can't even get Gary Payton the second up in the year. Are you kidding me? If we're gonna get random like this isn't the Rising Stars dunk contest. If we want to do that, that's cute, and that would be a Rising Stars contest. We need real stars in the Dunk contest. Michael Jordan competed in this thing.
Dominique Wilkins competed in this thing. I've gotta watch Anthony Simons a year away last year from anywhere near what we would call like mediocre stardom or like Jupiter em like he's not even a star, He's just like some random thing.
We've got one Toscano.
Anderson, We've got Cole Anthony, We've got Opie topping for the second time, literally just trying to get minutes as much like cam time is possible because Tis hasn't hidden in a closet somewhere. This is not the Dunk Contest I grew up loving.
We are all like burning this thing down to the ground.
It's like shame, shame, shame. That's where we're at, Jesus Christ. But what stole every headline after that long side road of a rant that I did not even anticipate going on, the main topic of our Star weekend was everything about Lebron James.
It was drama, all encapsulating.
Of leverage and posturing and subtle remarks designed to send warning shots and then responses from agencies and front offices and the media the world trying to dissect, deconstruct and make sense of what the fuck is going on with Lebron James and the Lakers right now because it feels
like things have gotten kind of awkward really fast. We are going to be dealing with this aftermath until Lebron James is at a point where he can sign his extension in August, and it'll get really loud if he doesn't.
That's where we're at.
There's going to be pieces written about this from now until free agency.
The magnitude of.
What Braun is saying, not only directly, but indirectly in so many ways because he said so many things during the course of.
The All Star Game.
He gave a one on one to Athletic The dropped in the middle of All Star weekend when he has absolutely zero relevance in terms of his team right now, and that is what he is known for. It all began during that interview with Jason Lloyd where he was asked in a joking manner. It was a total throataway comment about Lebron James, who played for the Cleveland Calves twice. They're a fun young team, huh ever think.
About coming back to Cleveland. Ha ha ha, right, ha ha ha.
And the answer sent ripples around the league. Oh yeah, doors not closed on that. I don't know what my future holds. Pause excuse me, hold on? Did he just say he was open to coming back to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a third time. Isn't he under contract for the next two years? What are we talking about here? As it turns out, that was the first of a number of shots at Rob Polinka, multiple even Rich Paul, the leader of Clutch Sports, which represents Lebron James cod
Stras just for no reason. Bron then went on to talk about the current Calves in a way that also seemed like shade thrown at Rob Polinka.
This is what he said. I think Kobe and those guys.
Have done an unbelievable job at drafting and making trades. I think the big fella, Jared Allen the acquisition for it was amazing for them to make that trade. Obviously, Darius Garland is a big time player. I think the role that Kevin Love is playing right now has also uplifted those young guys. Seeing a veteran that could sacrifice a champion that has won a championship. Pause, any champion has won a championship. I just want to say, you
don't need to say that. It's like ATM machine, you know what I mean, all the things that he's done to come off the bench and play his role. I'm not surprised by anything they're doing right now, and that's a lie.
We all are.
Everyone is not only surprised, we're shocked. They have shocked the fuck out of us to the point where we are now questioning our own reality. Because there is a scenario where the Cleveland Calvin are the one seed in the East. Without Lebron James on that team, that is banana Land. No one could foresee that, not even Lebron James. So shady, so shady he is, and I fucking love it. The next day, things went into overdrive when Lebron unprompted completely out of the clouds dropped this.
Just as it for no reason.
Nobody's asking about his son, nobody's asking about Lebron James Final tour, farewell tour, no one, not one person. Maybe he's just reflective in that moment, but I don't think so. I think everything Lebron James does is extremely calculated. This is what he said, because he did this. He's been doing this since he was sixteen years old. He's been in the limelight of the media, knowing exactly what little buttons to push and how to a little like Pinocchio, a marionette of the Meatia.
This is what he said.
My last year will be played with my son. Wherever Bronni is at, That's where I'll be. I would do whatever it takes to play with my son for one year. It's not about money at that point. Whoa We all know, Yeah, Washington Go go, g league ignites anyone, uh, Shanghai Sharks, anyone, yo, that would be crazy.
We know how much lebron James loves China. We do know he's a fan of China. We knew exactly.
What this would do. He knew exactly what this would do. Chaos, mass fucking chaos.
Chaos.
That has the random fan of the NBA with no affiliation to lebron James legitimately googling YouTube highlights of Bronnie James, people creating new mock drafts about where Bronnie James would go. I'm talking about pushing buttons to the point where the entire landscape has shifted, like a seismic shift in the landscape. Who we're all thinking about matching Lebron James Junior, Lebron James Senior, Jerseys shoes, content, series of Father Like Father,
Like Son, A Tale of two Bronnis. You know what I mean, all of this money, money, money, to the point where even I think this motherfucker might go number one overall.
I'm pretty sure he will.
For no reason other than the fact that Lebron James contributes to more wins at this age in half a season than most top eight picks in the lottery contribute in the course of their entire first cart in a half of a season, contributes to sixty five million dollars in additional revenue just for that team alone, let alone for the community that he ends up affecting from the people who go to restaurants and bars, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
He knows exactly what he's.
Doing, absolutely unreal and again warning shot to Rob Polenka. He's saying, you think, just because I love La, I won't leave La. You think I'm just gonna stay here for no reason at all, just because of some sunshine. I lived in Cleveland, Ohio. You think I'm not willing to do what it takes.
You think I'm done moving.
I've moved a million times in my NBA career. I went from Cleveland to Miami, to Cleveland again.
To la You think I wouldn't do this shit again? Sheesh.
I left my best friends d Wade and Chris Bosh and Miami, where I drove my bike to work every day on the beach, and I went back to that shithole where an owner told the world to burn my jersey.
You think I won't leave the Lakers, You.
Think get me a winner? Right fucking now, I'm out. I am the Golden Goose, and I will be taking my talents to whatever place I deem it important.
Not sure you could.
Say anything bigger than this to hijack the news, And of course a dozen stories end up dropping after that about how unhappy Lebron James was with the trade deadline, about how he was definitely not co signing the lack of moves with Rob Polinka. As Rob Pulinka tried to pedal to the world, pieces that don't just get written overnight, pieces that have been held for a moment when it makes sense to drop them, which is right on the heels of Lebron James sending warning shot after warning shot.
He followed that up Lebron.
With effusive praise for another GM not named Rob Plinka, Sam Presty. Yeah, this MVP over here is Sam Presty.
He's the MVP. Josh Giddy is great, Sam Presty.
I don't understand this guy's eye for talent. He drafted KD. Russ, Jeff Green, Serge ibaka, Reggie Jackson. I mean the fact that he has this roster of names just in his head boom boom boom, boom boom, is like he scripted this. This guy is pretty damn good. Bron, says rot Row Rob Polinka. You know who has a shitload of draft picks that they could trade and a lot of cap space for a guy just sitting there waiting in the wings.
That's the Oklahoma City thunder Folks. They could very easily trade for Lebron James with no issues immediately, with ready made stars willing to pass Lebron James the ball in angles that the mind has never even conceived. Lebron is not listing your draft pick since you got put in
charge in twenty nineteen. Because there's only one and it's Taylor Horton Tucker, a guy that you miscalculated in terms of his value to the marketplace when he wanted Kyle Lowry, and you decided not to trade for Kyle Lowry because of your little golden goosher, one little measley ass, dusty ass draft pick in Taylor Horton Tucker that you took, I believe, either in the late first round.
Or the second.
And that is when the think pieces started to come out, folks. Then Tom Ziller, Mark Stein, Jason Lloyd in the most damning piece of all, the guy who's been following Lebron James since he was in high school, my guy, Brian Windhorse, Wendy mckwinderson, knowing where the winds are going.
Tom Ziller summed this up pretty nicely. He said, the short version of all of this.
Through all of the fog, Lebron James made a push to trade for Russell Westbrook in the offseason. That acquisition has not helped the Lakers at all. The Lakers are again at risk of missing the playoffs. Lebron is mad about that and mad the team made no moves at the deadline to shore up the roster.
Here's my thing, the Lakers aren't that interesting.
Lebron's position in all of this is completely unflattering, and this is deep on the undercart of what's actually fun about the NBA right now. And trust me, no one finds Laker dysfunction more fun than me.
Nope, that's a lie I do.
I find Laker dysfunction to be an unfillable well of joy, joy upon joy upon joy. And that's with me trying to push P as hard as I possibly can for my own mental welfare and appreciation of the world around me. Gratitude like only Aaron Rodgers could find after a thirteen day cleanse of just a butter diet and force vomiting. That's the level of gratitude I'm trying to be on.
And yet nothing makes me happier than Laker dysfunction as a Portland Trailblazer fan, I mean, basically, this is how the second act of Cleveland went, coming off of a championship loss and trying to get to the Caves to go all in one more time, even if it might put the franchise in a deep hole.
Mortgaging the future.
That they couldn't get out of for a very long period of time, that would take them maybe a decade to get out of, to crawl out of. So they did the unthinkable. You've already got your chip, they told Lebron. No, Nope, not gonna do that. We've got plenty of picks. We're not trading them for you.
Uh.
This is the quote.
The Cavaliers did not trade future picks that became Darius Garland twenty nineteen, Isaacacorro twenty twenty, and Evan Mobley twenty twenty one. I'd say that was pretty smart for a franchise known for making pretty dumb moves.
They didn't trade their twenty twenty two pick to appease Lebron.
Instead, they traded it in the first James Harden deal to land Jared Allen, four of their five best players.
That Lebron James is basically slathering praise on about how good this franchise has been doing since his absence, and yet that the only reason they had the opportunities to make those moves is because they told Lebron James absolutely fucking not, we are not doing what you want us to do because you are going to leave anyway, and you might even have us make moves that we end up not even getting pieces that put us over the
hump anyway. So now, against the all odds, the Calves found themselves all the way back before the Lakers were back after they won it all. So now the Lakers are finding out something that Cleveland found out a long time ago, that Broun as a GM. Bron as a GM cripples your franchise for a very long time. And if you give him what he wants, that might actually expedite the process of him leaving because he doesn't make
good decisions. And now not only have you made decisions that end up forcing him to leave, now you have nothing to build your franchise after he leaves in the wake of him piecing out for some other desirable location that he on a whim decides to go to. There are risks for not only allowing Lebron to get his way, but there are risks for not allowing Lebron to get his way, And you have to decide you can't be
half a gangster. You have to either go all in in the Lebron James business or, like pat Riley decided, from the very beginning. You have to say him no every single say no to him every single time, because if you give him what he wants and then he decides, well, I know, I said I wanted Russ, but now I'm deciding I don't want Russ. And then you say no the second time. Now it's like, well, you said a precedent.
You're giving the kid candy every time he asks for candy, every time he cries for candy, and now the last time you think you can just say no, the tantrum gets even more absurd.
And now the consequences of that chaos.
Wendy wrote this, the Lakers have a flawed roster, Yes, but Lebron played a large role in putting it together.
But that doesn't mean he isn't ready to divorce it.
Oh, but they have options Russell Westbrook if he picks up his own player option, it will be on a forty seven million dollar expiring contract.
After only being able to trade their twenty.
Twenty seven first round pick, which the Lakers decided not to trade it the deadline, in part because they still owe to future first from their Anthony Davis deal, which, by the way, which isn't in the quote Lebron James forced them to do as well, another clutch client as well.
Rules will then allow the.
Lakers to trade their twenty twenty nine pick as well, being aggressive and further mortgaging the future will be painful and risky, but James is making his feelings clear. I don't care. I want to win now, like Verruka Salt and Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory. Like just throwing an absolute temper tantrum. He says, do it, and they get more than new players. They will keep James deeply invested. That's something no team has ever been able to say no to.
Which is a lie La Heat did.
In the wake of the news that Braun is getting tired of the Lakers, new stories came out that the Lakers actually are just getting tired of Braun. More posturing, more teams trying to get leverage. You got the bron side trying to get leverage. You got the Lakers being like, we don't care if you leave with a purple and gold. This is what mark Stein wrote tremendous article. It's equally fair to wonder how much Lebron James is alien alienating the Lakers in the process.
Hmmm, Polanka has.
The unwavering support of Lakers owner Genie Buss, and it's fairmly entrenched as a pillar in the club's four prong brain trust, alongside Bus and the power couple of Kurt and Linda Rambis.
That is a sentence, isn't it? Wow? For all of the just I mean, what so, it's so the brain trust?
Really quick before we keep going back to this quote, the brain trust is as follows, Rob Polinka, Genie Buss, Kurt Rambus, and his wife Linda Rambus. And we're calling that a brain trust. Jesus Christ, is that not one of the most overestimated I don't even know. That could be a whole other, separate comment another time. That's more than we need to dig into right now, because I'm just processing this in real time. Put a pin in that we'll go back to that, we will return back to that.
Linda.
I didn't even know Linda Rambus was in the picture for her to be a part of the brain This is just so much of a departure from the episode.
Got to keep going for.
All of the justified credit James deserves for hauling the Lakers out of the worst period in franchise history, Linda Rambis stealing them through the tragedy of Kobe Bryant's death and delivering a championship after a hard to believe six straight seasons out of the playoffs. Continued shots at Polinka might not be so swiftly forgotten.
Remember this is important.
Remember this is an organization that cut ties completely with Lakers icon Jerry West, who has a legit claim to greatest Laker ever status.
He has a fucking statue.
Outside of Staple Center Crypto dot Com Arena, and they wouldn't even give him season tickets. They stole his season tickets away, and they're saying, Yo, you think we know you don't think we know how to.
Be gangsters over here? The greatest Laker in Laker.
History hates our fucking guts player GM has a statue outside like one of the greatest human beings to ever walk in purple.
And grow like the fucking logo.
We have turned our backs on him. If you don't think we will turn our backs on you, you're crazier than Crack. Holl me like crazier than Crack, they said, if West can be if you want to fuck with Linnarels.
That's where we draw the line. Excuse me.
We mentioned strays and Rich Paul got caught in one. Amidst all of the Lebron James drama, News broke that Rich Paul was very upset with the Lakers for not pulling the trigger on Russ and the Lakers' only first round pick for.
Clutch client John Wall.
I mean, it just gets weirder and weirder, doesn't it in a desperate effort to bowl salvage anything from the season, but also salvage is a client, his client's career, because John Wall is sitting on ice where the Houston Rockets are saying, we are not playing you, We're playing all
young guys, and John Wall is just disintegrating into over there. Typically, things did not, as you might imagine, go well for Rich Paul after that story came out, given the fact that probably Lebron James is looking around saying, this is a whole lot of shit stom I'm involved in, and now more news that puts me in a bad light when my legacy is very clearly on the line because Lebron at the All Star Game is trying to get into that rare fight air of Michael Jordan, which he
will probably never ever get into. But it was so bad that Rich Paul had to get to the point where he had to back channel to guys like Steven A. Smith Yes, to try to force the narrative that listen, none of that is true. I didn't want us to get John Wall because he's my client.
I want us to get John Wall.
Because, well, excuse me, it's not us.
I don't work for the Lakers. I don't know what you mean.
I wanted the Lakers to get John Wall not because he was my client, but because the best thing for.
The organization and for my clients.
As the Athletic noted, the marriage between the Lakers and James is in a precarious spot. You fucking think, I mean, this is so bad. The relationship between Clutch Sports, led by James's agent Rich Paul, and the franchise is at its lowest point. Decisions made in July August and the head of the February tenth trade deadline have led to a dysfunctional situation, and it's becoming increasingly clear that the Lakers need to come to terms early with James August fourth, specifically,
or part ways oh my god. That is when James is eligible for a two year extension that could max out at ninety seven point one million dollars through the twenty twenty four twenty twenty five season.
All of this, folks, just think about all of this news.
That took me thirty minutes to give you, all of this to process, all of this happening in the middle of the All Star weekend, all of it on not just the All Star weekend, though, the seventy fifth anniversary of the NBA, where we are celebrating the seventy five greatest players of all time and the seventy five best individual performances. And Lebron James says, you know, I get all that, as Steven nismanth and I get all that, but this shit's about me. No one was more aware
of the moment. If you're thinking, well, maybe Braun was just like not really thinking about all that. You know, he's answering questions on the fly. I mean, that's a lie, but he's answering questions on the fly. But no, no one more aware of this than Braun, who said more things about himself as you might imagine. I've held the title of ambassador for the NBA for a long time. Nobody told me to do it.
Pause. Actually, no one asked you to do it either. No one asked you to do it.
It's just like he's just like you walk into someone's house, you start cleaning it. No one told me to do it, but who else was gonna do it? He says, no one told me to do it, but I felt like if I wasn't gonna do it, who was. So I took that responsibility and I'll continue to do it till I'm done playing the game. Sam, We'll move on. There's so much here it's exasperating. And it was a huge weekend for Braun personally. First, he got the chance to
settle rumored beef with Michael Jordan. I don't actually know if it was settled, but he thinks it is. Quote Braun says this, I did not want to lose the opportunity to shake the man's hand that inspired me throughout my childhood. I haven't had much dialogue with him in my twenty years or nineteen years in this business, but part of me wouldn't be here without MJ's inspiration. I
wanted to be like him growing up. I didn't want to waste this opportunity just because we're not in and he wanted to say in a great place, but he said not in the same building. Literally, there was an ellipses just because we're not in Hash. We're not in the same building a lot, and haven't been in the same building a lot throughout my career. But it meant something to me that paragraph right there. Also we could put a pin in and dissect and explore another time.
I mean, people forget like there was no relationship between the two of those guys because one Lebron James was anointed the next Michael Jordan from the time he was probably just dropping his balls. And two they never played together. They never played against one another or on an All Star team together in the NBA. As soon as Michael Jordan retired was the next year, three months later Lebron's
rookie year. And people forget that because there was like such a small crossover where that time that era they were both around the league.
So what did all of this?
Uh oh yeah, By the way, Broun did hit the game winning shot in the All Star Game, which I mentioned earlier in the show, a turnaround jumper fade away against the double team all Lah Michael Jordan fashion, and then said that after his fade away was inspired by Michael Jordan, to which I reply, if you were to say that to Michael Jordan's face, Michael Jordan would say, everything you've ever done in your entire life is inspired by me. Like so this All Star Game fade away,
thank you very much. But your movie career, your shoe career, you're twenty three plastered on your jersey for almost your entire everything you've ever thought about doing around the game of basketball, globally, locally with Nike, all of that was inspired by me.
And that would be the fucking truth.
So nice try Lebron, But like n tell you say that you're not going anywhere with Michael Jordan. So anyway, what did this Braun drama do this weekend? One, it solidified the fact that the problem the Lakers are not going to make the playoffs. Probably the Lakers are in disarray. And as much as we want to let this moment and all these quotes and all these headlines go to the wayside, I think we all sort of in the
heart of hearts, know that this relationship is irreparable. There is too much smoke, too much further to not be anything.
And even if Lebron stays.
In LA, who knows there's a certain head coach that he wanted to coach the Lakers that is over in LAS as well for the Clippers, and the Clippers with Jerry West, who would love to fuck the Lakers in every way possible. They've got picks, yeah, picks, but they have Paul George, they have Kawhi Leonard, who knows if Lebron James decides he wants to go to the Clippers, he will be in a Clipper uniform. So I think that is going to be an interesting storyline to watch
going forward. And as much as it's like over now, it's really not over now. It's just bubbling underneath the surface. And second, yeah, it's just now beginning. And second, I think it's the first time that we can all be philosophers about what it means to be in the Lebron
James business. I don't think any of us thought there were until now, because there's been multiple times, in multiple teams and multiple situations that he's done this with coaches, with drafts, with picks, with trades, all of that, him forcing and exerting his will after he left Cleveland the first time, because he didn't do a lot then until he went to Miami. That getting into the Lebron James
business comes at a cost. It does, and we're starting to see what that cost is is you might be a contender for two to four years, and when he leaves, you are completely rebuilding your franchise potentially for the next decade.
If you allow him to do everything he wants you to do, he will empty empty out every single bit of your cupboards and coughers for him, which is why he tweeted a fusive praise for GM less Sneed, who drated every single thing under the sun for von Miller and OBJ and Matt Stafford and so on and so on to win right now. And he showed a photo of less Sneed at the parade that said fuck draft, Fuck your draft picks, and he said, legend, that's the
kind of man. I like, Holy shit, that's what it means to be in the Lebron James business.
Is it worth it?
Is? The amount of money that you make from him being with your franchise, is the amount of drama that comes along with him, is the amount of contention and time in the playoffs. Is it all worth it well, now that he's on the wrong side of thirty and almost to forty, I think that the answer probably is no. And we see how perilous it is to give him what he wants, and we also see how perilous it is to not.
Give him what he wants. The drama now has shifted West. It's done.
Harden, Simmons, Kyrie done everything. Now, all of the drama, all of the strife, all of the question marks surround Lebron James and his extension and relationship with the LA Lakers, and I promise you there will be peace after peace after peace, written created for video, et cetera, et cetera.
Around Lebron it is not even close to over and third, since he says he wants to play with Bronnie and he'll do anything that he wants that he will do anything that he can to play with Bronnie, regardless of how much money he ends up making, which will probably be a veteran minimum, a Lebron James on a veteran minimum to play with his son, who is probably not a caliber of talent that will be taking very taken,
very highly without Braun in the picture. I think we're all started thinking, starting to think about a world old post Lebron James and a world where he bullies another team again in his final act. Nobody more than Adam Silver has been thinking about this more than him, I guess, he says this.
I want to be absolutely clear.
This is like one of those no One colon situations where it's like no One and then you see something it's like no One, and then Adam Silver.
I want to be absolutely clear.
I am not prepared to talk about the post Lebron James era. No. I mean, we didn't ask you if you were, And I don't think it's because I'm in denial, he says.
He said this.
I don't think the reason I'm not prepared to talk about it is because I'm in denial. He won a championship less than a year and a half ago. From my standpoint, Lebron James is still playing at the very highest level in the league. At some point, a new player or players will emerge, I think to take that leadership mantle in the league. It seems that they always do. But I'm just not prepared, even in the slightest to
start thinking about the league without Braun. Actually, Adam Silver, I think that's pretty much the textbook definition of denial. Like I know, you know, as soon as someone says it's not because I'm in denial, they are actually because in denial. Bronnie James though, for anybody who's looking for the shred of good news, Bronnie James will not be in the NBA before the twenty twenty four twenty twenty
five seasons. So we know we have at least three more years of the Lebron James era and the Lebron James trauma.
That's all the time that we have for the Heat Check.
We'll be back Friday with a new episode. Please do not forget to download, subscribe, tell all your friends and follow us on social at this heat Check and Trister Cook on TikTok.
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