Let's get to the NBA, please, where Lebron James is playing in this twenty second season and is about to turn forty in just a few weeks.
The Lakers superstar already has four rings.
But my friend and colleague Michae Wilburn from ESBN thinks he's got the perfect place for Lebron to end his career.
Take a listen. Is Golden State just one player away though from doing that? Yeah?
Okay, yeah, the player plays right across the street, around the corner, right here.
Lebron James.
Let us cut to the chase with this. All those assets are great. If Steph and Draymond were thirty one and thirty two years old, you could sort of wait on them, and I love Kamena, But they're not thirty one and thirty two years old. The Warriors, you said it, Malika, you're talking about maximizing now tonight. They're not catching Oklahoma City. They're not catching his Perko sockets some cinemiam PTI two days ago.
They're not catching Dallas.
They're not with the personnel they have currently a symbol. I'm not sure they can catch those two teams with the person I'm saying either but if you tell me, if anybody watched the Olympics Brian Windhors this summer and you saw Lebron James and Steph Curry play together, how can you not want to see that.
I'm not saying it's easy.
Wendy will tell us how possible, if it is at all, But you tell me at this point the Lakers stink. All right, let's just the Lakers are not gonna do anything.
The Lakers are not any good.
You have Ad and Lebron playing ninety percent of the games and there are seventh and eighth seed at best in the West.
Is Lebron gonna ride out another season like that? Why would he? Why does he need to?
If Lebron James decides he wants to contend this season? You know what Wilt once did? He lived not once he lived in la but he played in Philly.
So Lebron, how fantas is it? How long ta get G six to get from San Francisco?
You'd probably know you can't play in San Francisco and live in Los Angeles if you want to.
This is Taylor made for.
Those two guys to play together and finish your careers.
Okay, No, disagreement there.
It would be nice to see Lebron James.
With Steph Curry.
It would be nice to see one of the top three players in the history of basketball playing with unquestionably the greatest shooter God has ever created. And it was nice to see them during the Olympics. Lebron James was the best player for Team USA from start to finish, and Steph Curry was clearly the best player for the semi finals and the finals when he hit seventeen to three pointers in two games. It was absolutely sensational to see.
I get all of that, but allow me to say this, Lebron doesn't deserve it.
Now.
I know that's sacrilegious to say, I don't give a damn.
I'm gonna call it like I see it.
He doesn't deserve it because of the mess that exists in LA and it's primarily because of him. Now, when you look at Lebron James, clearly I'm not talking about his game, because the dude is still all world approaching forty. It's phenomenal to watch. But they want a chip. During the bubble, they had Kyle Kuzma, they had Alex Caruso, they had a Kentavious Calwell, Pope. They had those cats, okay, and you traded a few of them along with a
pick to get yourself. Russell Westbrook. Now, not the Russell Westbrook we saw with the Clippers. Not that Russell Westbrook we're seeing with the Denver Nuggets.
I'm talking about the worst version of Russell.
Westbrook that ever existed was when he was wearing a Los Angeles Lakers' uniform. He was better in Houston. He was damn suore better in Oklahoma City. Those are the two places where he was a Hall of Famer. Clearly, we looking him with the Clippers and the Denver Nuggets, and we know there's still a role for him in the NBA, but as a Los Angeles Laker, we won't repeat.
What they were calling him.
I was just at a Lakers game against the Denver Nuggets, and even them with him in a Nuggets uniform, where he helped slay the Lakers that night. By the way, they were begging for him to shoot. I'm talking about the crowd because that's how bad it was for Russell.
Westbrook when he was a Los Angeles Laker. Why was he there? Lebron got him there? Lebron got him there.
Now, Lebron isn't responsible for every decision, every bad decision that has perplexed Laker fans all over the place. Rob Polinka owns that, I understand that Chavino, you know, bringing along Austin Reeves and this clear fetish with him and all of this.
I got that.
But we can't ignore what role Lebron played in as well. Because when you just want to check and then you come off of that and you get to the playoffs, even though you lost the first round to the Phoenix Suns, the fact of the matter is you didn't have to just throw everything aside. You needed additional bodies for additional mobility, so you could acquire the assets needed in order for him to continue to compete.
And that's not what happened. Then let's take let's not forget Darvin Ham.
Darvin Ham, in his first year as the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, got them to the guided them to the Way Conference fidos, where they got swept by the Denver Nuggets.
The following year, they losing five games to the Denver Nuggets.
But what precipitated that Lebron, James and folks hinting that Darvingham needed to go thereafter starting a podcast with JJ Reddick and ultimately JJ Reddick becoming the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. I don't want to hear shit about Lebron James and the Los Angeles Lakers or offering the job to Danny Hurley. When you offered them the job at eleven million per it was still about six or seven coaches that were going to be paid more than a two time national champion who would be giving
up everything to come and coach the Lakers. If you're wanted them bad enough, you could have made a better offer. So since you didn't make the better offer, that means you didn't want him bad enough. Is it possible that you didn't want him bad enough because you really wanted JJ Reddick all the law and you just wanted to create and manipulate a narrative where that's not what it is or that's not how it looked. And I'm not throwing any shade on JJ. I'm rooting for the brother
used to work with me at ESPN. I'm not rooting against him. I'm not rooting against him at all.
And it ain't as fault for taking the job.
Dann Wrighty should have took the job, and it's fought for having a podcast with Lebron James. Damn right, he should have had a podcast with Lebron James. If I had a basketball podcast.
Who would I want more than Lebron James. I got it. But in the end, you're Lebron James and you want to walk around.
Like you the modern day basketball version of Gandhi, acting like you had nothing to do with it. All the things that happened, we were born at night, not last night. Of course you had something to do with this. So why should you get to leave to go join Steph Covey and Golden State?
Why should you do that? Oh, by the way, just as an aside to end this all.
I know people like rich Paul want to swear up and down that nobody gives a damn about the goat conversation. That's a damn lie. Ignore Chris rich Paul's ass.
On that one.
I love my man Ridgeport, very proud of him in clutch sports and what he's done with clutchports. But that's nonsense. Yeah, people care about that goat conversation and young Whipper snappers with their breath smelling like Sema lack.
Wet behind the ear is don't know a damn thing about Michael Jordan. Will let me tell you soning.
Michael Jordan got drafted by the Chicago Bulls with a third overall pick in nineteen eighty four.
He retired as a Chicago bull.
In nineteen ninety eight, and the only reason why he went to Washington, the nation's capitol, was because he was trying to become an owner, and the owner at the time a Poland.
Insisted that he'd be a participant on the.
Basketball court, somewhat like the New York Knicks should have insisted about Phil Jackson being the head coach of the Knicks instead of allowing them to be the president of the basketball operations. See, Washington was smarter. They said, Michael Jordan, get your ass on the court, and that's what he did. But be very very very very clear, Michael Jordan wasn't all over the place. Michael Jordan played and starred on
one team in his Hall of Fame career. Lebron been in Cleveland, Miami, back to Cleveland, then to La Okay, won the championship.
D wayde Bosh pat.
Riley ray Allen won the title again, same crewe of dudes. Then after that goes back to Cleveland, you got Kyrie and Kevin Love, and then you go to LA and you.
Get a d.
Yes, Scottie Pippen is an All world player, but Scottie Pippen was groomed and nurtured and elevated by the presence, the push and the constant tutelage of Michael Jordan.
Lebron James had some finished products. Just start. I throw that out there in case y'all in no. So, Yeah, it would be great for basketball to see.
Him with Steph Curry. It would be very entertaining andre Mond Green. Let's not forget that, because even with Lebron and Steph, you ain't winning without Draymond Green.
Yes, that's true.
It would be great to see, but does he deserve it? Would LA looking the way that they looking, Nah? If LA made these decisions all by their loansome, that would be different. But you're gonna get them to make decisions. They stick up to join and then you skip town.
Nah. I ain't down for that. I ain't down for that.