Welcome in. We'll driving the Great episode four eighteen, and this episode, as always, is presented to you by our great friends at boost Mobile. Demand's a good morning. Great to see you. I'm a little upset with you. I'm just gonna get this out of the way here.
Like I might notice all maybe I don't.
Well, now I'm interested because I'm certain you don't know what it's about. So now I'm a little curious what you thought it was about. But we can save that maybe for off the air. Because what I am because this is after all year long, you embarrass me by crushing your teasers while I just scuttle along as a five hundred picker of games. You then come the playoffs, decide you're gonna start picking games too, and you're crushing me. It's just a total a bockle on my end, what's happened?
And so yeah, I mean that's not I'm certain, Well that's what I think. I think maybe next year we each do five picks, you know, unrelated to each other, and maybe I also start doing a teaser. Maybe I drink your milkshake a little bit, and so so there's that. Oh, I mean, it's a line from my favorite movie of all time, and so the I drink your milkshake. So here's the deal. Yeah, there you go. Tomorrow's show is
our gambling show and our pick show. There are only two games, so that would be a very very short show. So we are what we would typically do here. We're previewing this weekend's games on Thursday. We're gonna save most of the preview of the two conference championship games four tomorrow wrap it into our pick show. So that is
why the docket is what the docket is today. So today, you know, there's still plenty of news to get to and we will get to all of it, including some really interesting Lakers reporting that we will get to later in the show, and the NFL Awards ballots, the awards finalists, I should say, coming out all of that. But we're going to start the show with the Bills press conference disaster class room yesterday. But before we do that, let's go straight to voicemail, brought to you by our friends
at boost Mobile. Warriors General Ander Mike Dunlevy with listen, I just got to say it a good legit bar when talking about Jonathan Kaminga's trade demand quote in terms of demand. When you make a demand, there needs to be a demand on the market.
Dam Now, I feel bad for Johnathan kaming on on over there with him in the Warriors.
I mean it's they. I mean, this is like the seventh different iteration of them being unhappy with each other. I as good as that line is. I do wonder if dun Levy had he known Jimmy Butler was gonna go down with a torn acl if he would have maybe kept that in his holster a bit. The Knicks have a player's only meeting and then beat the Nets by fifty four points, and Baker Mayfield welcomes Kevin Stefanski to the NFC South by saying he's still waiting on a call and text from him after he got shipped
off like a piece of garbage. Can't wait to see it twice a year, coach, Very quickly important, this very succinct tweet. There's some real wisdom that can be learned from it, and that is always make the uncomfortable effort, because if you don't, it will sit with you and with the other person like that is. I'm not going to trying to be too deep. I'm not, but the the everyone you always end up. Let me rephrase it.
You never regret the final chapter phone call, text, note, email, whatever, and you almost always do regret if you can never get the stomach up to do it. And I've done I've had both sides of that coin, where I have or I haven't. Now people might be thinking, I'm like
giving relationship advice here. This isn't like romantic relationship advice, because that's something that I don't have experience in like I've been I've been in one relationship for basically the entirety of my twenties and all of my thirties, and
I'm now in my forties. But I have had people that I worked with very closely for years that then left and I no longer worked with them, And I know the sick feeling I'm sure Kevin Stefanski had of man, do I this is not going to be a fun conversation with Baker Mayfield, But years later, I'm sure he wishes he had done it, and you the since and I have been in the spot where there's a couple people that I never made that phone caller text, and I to this day I'm like, well, I mean, it's
obviously too late now and you just feel badly about it, and you always feel better on the other side of it having done it, even if the actual experience of it is uncomfortable. So you know, I know that this is maybe a little deeper than we thought we'd started the show with. But I saw that and I was like, man, that's a that is that there's a life lesson in there, and you know it was to me, it's one worth
spending a moment on. All right. Reminder everybody like rate subscribe review to the show because not only do you get I mean, just the greatest sports takes around, but occasionally you get like, wow, maybe that actually will improve my life a little bit of I wouldn't call it life advice, but just you know, wisdom from someone that's made a lot of mistakes on things like that and wants people to do better, and so subscribe to the pod.
It helps us out. We really do appreciate it. Demanse, the Bills owner and New Grand Pooba CEO of Everything Brandon Bean, had a press conference. It was interesting, I could talk about this for six hours. Yeah, I'll try to limit it to like twenty minutes. Let's get into it.
The Bills have given you some more fire, some more stuff to talk about. So the Bill season ended last week and the owner came out and threw McDermott in the second year Keon coleman ar receiver under the bus, saying that that was McDermott's guy, that was his thing. As a former Bills hater, this has got to make you pretty happy. Huh.
Well, no, I mean no, I'm not gonna say it makes me happy. It was a window into I had been saying that I think the Bill's job is better than the Raven's job.
Yeah.
And the reason I am focused on, by the way, on these job openings is and I do not think this can be reiterated enough, these types of jobs demonse never come open. MVP quarterback who's not yet thirty that job being open. In the last fifty five years of the NFL, there has been one other MVP quarterback in his thirties who had a head coach opening. Is Brett Farv. And Farv's job came open for very different reasons. Mike Holmgren was the coach of the Packers. They won a
Super Bowl with far they went to another one. He then wanted more power he wanted to be the GM and head coach. The Packers wouldn't give him that job, so he resigned, and so that created the opening. He went to Seattle to go do it there and they hired a guy named Ray Rhodes. Ray Rhodes lasted one year.
They then fired him and they hired Mike Sherman. So the prior to two weeks ago, the only MVP quarterback in their prime in their thirties who had ever dealt with a head coach vacancy was Brett fav and had happened twice, but under very different circumstances. They didn't want to move on from the initial coach, and then they hired the wrong guy they felt in Ray Rhodes. We have two of them right now, Lamar and Josh Allen, and so it is Aaron Rodgers having a head coach opening.
When they moved on from Mike McCarthy to Matt Lafleur when he's in his mid late thirties was surprising, if not shocking. Hayton Manning in Denver and you might be like, wait, did they changed coaches in Indie with Peyton? But he hadn't won an MVP yet like that was when he was very young. So this is stunning that this exists. And I just it is a seismic event in the NFL for one of these jobs to be open, much
less two of the jobs to be open. To get back to what I was saying, I had been saying, the Bill's job is a better job than the Ravens job. But man, Steve Bushatti gave a press conference and you're like, oh, I can see why that guy is so successful. Matter of fact, seems to you know, own the room, very
assured of himself, knows what he's doing. And I watched Terry Pagoula and I was like, oh boy, it's not great, and so that I don't know if it's enough to jump the Raven's job in my mind ahead the Bill's job,
but it is instructive. The other thing that was very instructive, and I want to be again, I don't know if Terry Pegoula is telling the truth or not telling the truth, but you got to take him at his word on at least some of this stuff, or let me rephrase it, you have to at least be open to the possibility that he's telling the truth. And Terry Pegoola confirmed something that I hypothesized on TV and on this pod earlier this week, that he determined they had to fire Sean
McDermott essentially because of how devastated Josh Allen was. And that's why I hammered and focused on Alan crying and I was I knew it was. I was running the risk of either sounding like a Neanderthal guy like men don't cry. I've cried on this pod multiple times, like that's not what That's not what I was trying to communicate. And I'm certainly as a guy uh that wears makeup and talks for a living, wasn't at trying to act like I'm mister tough guy compared to Josh freaking Allen.
The reason I was hammering on he's that distraught that he is sobbing in the locker room reportedly and teary eyed at the press conference is that is a massive signal that that team might be broken. And Terry Bagoula comes out on Wednesday and says when he walks in the locker room and Josh Allen, Allen doesn't even acknowledge him because he's quote sobbing, That's when he knew they had to change the coach, which also, again, this is
why it's a tough press conference de Monse. That's even if that's true, that's a shitty thing to put on Josh Allen's shoulders.
Oh yeah, and also but he was Josh Allen played poorly in the game. He was crying, but it's probably because of something that he did though, I mean also the game. But I mean you have to fire McDermott because the result was so bad. But the result was so bad directly related to Josh.
Allen, right, Like, I guess I'll put a fine point on what you're saying. I believe it would be more damning for the you know, kind of trajectory of the team had that been Josh Allen's reaction after that lost in a game he played awesome, where where it would have just felt I think, I like what you What I think you're getting at is Josh Allen was that emotional because he felt like he let his team down that not not necessarily that we're never gonna get over
the hump. Yeah, but I'm you know this on for these three hours, I wasn't myself, I wasn't good. I let the guys down and that, and so I think that's the listen. That makes a lot of sense there. There's that the and Pagoula was you know, said he did not going into that game. He did not think he was gonna end up firing the coach even if they lost. But then after the game, when he saw
the reactions, that's when he knew it. But he also seemed very clearly to believe they lost because they got robbed like that, So that lot it doesn't really he said at the press conference, we lost because of a bad call, and he said to Josh Allen, I thought it was a catch.
So those things are yeah.
And so if you're Sean McDermott, you're like, what the hell, So you're saying, we thought you thought what I thought that we won, but I'm fired because of it. And so the whole thing seems let's call it haphazard. And I say all that, but while acknowledging I do think the Bills need to shake the snow globe. I do think there is too much scar tissue from the sequence of five years so they and I'm not gonna rehash this fully, but I do think it informs why even
if the process was idiotic. Even if the press conference wasn't embarrassed, that potentially changing the head coach had to be done. Because in twenty twenty, you reach the AFC Championship game ahead of schedule, Josh Allen explodes onto the scene and his first real superstar year. The Chiefs clock you, but that was peak peak early Chiefs defending Super Bowl
champs that year. They lost one game where Mahomes started that, you know, trying to go back to back, and in the offseason you say your GM, Brandon Bean says, we are obsessed with Kansas City. We are building a team with them in mind. That's so twenty twenty is not a Even though you lose in the AFC title game, you feel great about the year. And then after that your season's end as follows the thirteen Seconds game, which they're still not over. Clearly still not over. That was
five years ago, still not over. The next year, you have the Damar Hamlin situation late in the year, and then go into the playoffs and Cincinnati comes into your building and just clocks you. And it does kind of feel like that if because that Bill's performance in that particular playoff game was so desparate from how we'd seen
them in playoff games before that. You wonder if having a teammate die in front of you on the field against the Bengals in the regular season and then playing the Bengals in the playoffs if it was just too much. Then the next year, you finally have the Chiefs in your building for the first time in the playoffs, and you miss a field goal to tie the game. And then the next year you're back in the AFC Championship game for the first time since twenty twenty against the
Chiefs and you come up short. And then the next year the Chiefs finally aren't in the playoffs, you're playing a Broncos team, you have the lead in the fourth quarter, and you lose in overtime and feel like, even though you're incorrect on this, you got screwed. So I do think there's just too much scar tissue. You probably needed
to move on. But the messaging was so clunky. And here's where the Keon Coleman thing I think is most interesting, because obviously demons like they torched the kid, and the owner torch the team, and all that he's still on the team at a position you have no depth, he has cost controlled, he's young, he's still obviously has potential and maybe and you would have wanted in theory demanse the next head coach to evaluate him and make a decision.
Do you think you know you can he's basically playing for free as a second round pick on a rookie deal, or should we cut bait? But now because of what was said about him at the press conference where people are like, no, the guy who's still here didn't want him, and the guy who's not here did want him. So that's obviously clunky and bad for all involved. And Brandon Bean tried to clean it up after. But here is
what to me is instructive about that. Forget the fact that there is plenty of the Bills that have you seen any of on Twitter? Demansey, the the clips of the Bills draft documentary from the Keon Coleman Draft.
No, but it is it seems like it contradicts what the owner was.
Well, Brandon Bean certainly seems excited about being able to draft Keon Coleman like that, and so and it again, maybe he's putting on a good, brave face. Do I believe that maybe there was a player available at thirty three that Bean had slightly higher than Keon Coleman. But sure, but it doesn't at no point does it seem like being is you know, exactly right, and it is his his decision. The other piece of the and I'm gonna get back to the Keon Coleman thing, but this is important.
The other piece of the press conference that was noteworthy was Brandon be getting very animated talking about how devastated he, his wife, his family have been by some of the commentary that he stabbed Sean McDermott in the back and questioning his character and son, who he is, any of those things. And I'm not alludging he stabbing anybody in
the back. I am saying this. Somebody told the owner of the team at some point this year, the front office, meaning Brandon Bean, did not want Kean Coleman, the coaching staff did. Somebody told him that, And the most obvious answer as to who would have told him that is Brandon Bean. Now at the press conference, Brandon Bean then tried to clean it up, and he's like, they're all my picks, like it's my responsibility and blah blah blah.
But I don't I'm not saying I'm not saying that qualifies as stabbing anyone in the back, but there was a level of that wasn't my pick. That was the coaching staff's pick. But here Demond's is where And this is the piece that I think people have skipped over. It makes it even more dysfunctional. Sean McDermott is a head coach, obviously, but he's a defensive head coach. He calls the defense, he's that's his side of the ball.
So if the coaching staff really liked Keon Coleman, the loudest voice about which receiver we should take in the draft of the coaching staff likely would not be McDermott. What would be the offensive coordinator Joe Brady, who is still on the staff and interviewing to be the head coach.
So when the owners, like the GM didn't want the player the coaches did, in all likely the coach who wanted the player that you're so out on, you're flaming at this press conference you are interviewing to maybe be the next head coach.
It ain't all over the place.
I mean it really, it ain't great, and.
I honestly think it'll be good for Coleman in a weird way like here in this because I do think he's a little, a little childish in his production obviously wasn't what it needed to be this year, and I think that I think that that might work out in a more positive way than negative. He maybe ends up leaving the team or they end up getting rid of him, but I think if he's on the Bills next year, have more production.
Wherever he is next year, whether it's Bills or elsewhere, this right now is a fork in the road moment
for that young man's career. And work in the road doesn't always mean good, don't the four You take the fork in the road kaderas Tony took after the Chiefs gave him chance after chance after chance, and you're no longer Kadarious Tony NFL wide receiver, you're young Djoka, failing rapper, and like that's the uh, you know, it's like but the and sometimes the fork in the road moment or yeah, or I mean, I we even outside of sports, a
lot of us in our early twenties. Both people on this pod in our early twenties had moments of immense failure and embarrassment, and it was all right. Is that enough for me to be like grow up?
Yeah?
And you know what I mean, like for real and that is like and so I the for Keon Coleman again, the the half half full is I can prove all. I can prove everyone wrong, whether it's with Buffalo or wherever I am. I am going to the I've become a punchline, and I am young enough and healthy enough that it wouldn't be. I want to make sure. I keep saying he's twenty two. I want to make sure and I don't want to spend it. Yeah, I mean Keon Coleman is he's played two years in the league,
but he came I was right about this. He came in super young. He's twenty two. He turns twenty three in May, so like he's younger than some receivers that will be drafted this year. And so he just has the opportunity to be like, I've got ten years of NFL football ahead of me to make this be you know a sidebar of my story. And the other fork in the road is he can watch that press conference
be like, man, f those guys. I'm going back to bed and I don't know, like you know, what I'm saying, but I'm not gonna and so that's but it does make everything about this Bill's job is so interesting to me. And here's the other piece of it, demanse that as as I'm talking to you, Brandon Cooks is on Good Morning Football saying at the end of the day was a catch, Yeah, got you gotta get over it. You can't. That doesn't that doesn't move you forward.
He didn't even really act. It just does a catch during the game.
Well, that's the other thing. That's the other thing. He did not respond like someone who thought they had caught the balls responded like someone correct one correct, And we can't. I don't think we have the rights to show and I know we don't have the rights to show like old NFL footage on here, but it's worth a it's
worth a Google or thrown into YouTube for folks. During the game where the nineties playoffs Packers Niners, the game where Terrell Owens made the you know, one of the greatest catches, Young too catches it in the end zone and gets annihilated to win a playoff game against Brett
Farbes Packers. Steve Young throws in the past on that drive, or certainly in that game, Jerry Rice catches the ball, has it stripped, like when he's upright, the ball is stripped and the ball basically rolls right down his leg. I'm doing this from memory, but I know I'm right, and he just kind of nonchalantly grabs the ball, signals first down and jogs to the huddle. And his lack of reaction is why nobody realized it was a fumble
like his. He was so like it. He didn't like it was no panic, no even quick move like anything, and so like the bot now.
And just kept running to the.
No, no, no, no, he was down, but I'm saying he fumbled before he was down, but did not react like a player who thought there was a fumble, And so the refs didn't even stop to look like, wait, was there a fumble? The now to get get us back on track quickly. The most interesting piece of this left is we haven't heard from Josh Allen yet, and I don't know when we will, but the fact that we haven't means maybe we won't at least, you know,
obviously at some point he'll talk. But I find all that interesting, and I find the Bills head coach search very interesting, but this, to me is one of the best jobs. Yea. Two of the ten best job openings that the NFL has had in my life are open
right now. And if Brian Dable goes from being fired by the Giants to the head coach of the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen, I don't know what the comp for that is in like my business, but I feel like it's like being fired from being one of the hosts on the Beast Games to all of a sudden, you're the lead anchor of sixty minutes. It's like, oh shit, this worked out really great for.
Me, but check me out.
But I don't know. I don't think hiring Davis Webb, who claims he's Josh Allen's best friend, is the way to go. I don't think running it back with your offensive coordinator Joe Brady or your former offensive coordinator Brian Dable is the way to go. Lou Ana Roumo, first time head coach, would be the former decordinator for the Bengals is interesting, but it's you know, I said Belichick. Everyone in the world hates that idea except me. Tomlin's not coming, so I don't know. Where you are somewhere
that would be a disaster. You can't hire Antonio Piers, so I don't know what they do, but I'm super interested in it, all right. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, hard Rock Bet, Florida's sportsbook. Folks, these playoffs have been unbelievable and I hope you've been cashing in on the unexpected moments on hard Rock Bet. Two teams are gonna punch their tickets to the big game this week. And when it comes to these standalone matchups,
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with it. Gambling problem, Call one eight hundred gambler Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. All right, Demons, I threw out a trade on TV yesterday. I don't think it's dumb. Seems like I'm in the minority and not thinking my own trade idea is dumb. Go ahead, and let's talk it through.
All right. So we're on games to talk about. So it's rumor slash trade talk time of the year. People are throwing around trades and rumors. A trader rumor that you co signed was Lamar for Max Crosby and the number one pick, which are probably Bendoza to the Raiders.
Yeah so lit No, well, you might just become a Raider fan. You can just you can just follow Lamar.
But yeah, Lamar and genty would be pretty cool.
So here's the deal. I I don't I'm not saying this and I didn't just create this out of thin air. The ESPN did like bold predictions for the offseason, and one of them was, could Tom Brady and the Raiders make a play for Lamar Jackson. I don't know that. I think the Raiders, after watching them and believing in them this year, are you know, close enough to make
a move even for Lamar Jackson. However, I am more interested in this from the Ravens side of it, and I don't know who the next Ravens head coach is going to be, but whomever it is, I think in the universe where this was available, you get the equivalent, I believe of demand's a five first round picks, the equivalent of five first round picks for Lamar and by that I mean Max Crosby on the open market is
worth two firsts. And we know the number one pick, given the Bryce Young trade, it's equivalent the equivalent that it's worth is a little more than three, you know, middle average first round picks. I know number one pick is literally one first round pick, but it's in order to get it you would have to trade like the fifteenth pick and to future first to move up that far.
So this is the equivalent of you know, call it five first round picks, and you would not be like, all right, well now we're in the quarterback wilderness, because now you might end up being if Mendoza is not the guy. But you're not trading for the number one overall pick blind saying you know, or trading for a future year pick when you don't know who the players are that you'd be taking. You would know you are
taking Fernando Mendoza. And the point that the reason I find this interesting from the Ravens perspective, this theoretical fake trade that ESPN alluded to it. And then I put a fine tooth comb on, or a finer point on I should say, I do think that it is a
legitimate discussion. What is a better path to winning a championship young quarterback on a rookie scale plus Max Crosby plus the extra forty some million dollars of cap space to build out the rest of the roster, or Lamar Jackson, who will enter next year undoubtedly as the highest paid player in the league on a sixty plus million dollar a year contract. And it is worth noting the two Super Bowls the Ravens have won, they won with cheap
quarterbacks and stacked rosters. The Denver Broncos are attempting this right now. I know bo Nix is now out, but young quarterback, all this talent around them. The Patriots, I, you know, don't think they actually have all that much talent around them. I think what the job May and Vrabil have done's unbelievable. But they spent money this offseason. They have more money to spend this next offseason. You know,
I'm not breaking news. That good young, cheap quarterback who gives you franchise quarterback play on rookie quarterback salary at a bunch of pieces has been a very successful model. And then when you add to it what I think could be some squeamishness for the Ravens of a brand new contract for Lamar after at the very least we can call it an injury riddled year. I think it's worth a real discussion, and it is. I also want
to make this part clear. This is not an insult to Lamar, because if I were the Raiders, I would not like. Let let me again, this is we're playing in double hypothetical worlds here. But let's say the Raiders offered this to the Ravens, Max Crosby and the number one pick for Lamar and the rape, and the Ravens said no, thank you, And then the Bengals heard it had been offered and they called the Raiders and they said, we'll take it for Joe Burrow. If I'm the Raiders,
I wouldn't do that deal. I don't think Joe Burrow is worth the number one overall pick plus Max Crosby, because even with Lamar uh having an injury riddled year, Joe, to me is is an even bigger injury risk than Lamar, and Joe has not shown consistent regular season, first team All Pro level play the way Joe has one year like that in his career, the way Lamar has. So it is there are only three veteran quarterbacks in the league that if I were the Raiders, I would offer
this package up for Lamar, Josh and Patrick. Obviously the Chiefs and the Bills. There's nothing you could offer those teams to get them to trade Josh or Patrick. The Ravens, given how this last year went, the new head coach Lamar's pending contract situation, I just wonder if the door is creaked open to the point of if the Ravens derive considering this, why would they have fired Harball again?
Now we're in like quadruple hypotheticals. What I will tell you is this they if they wanted the Hardball Lamar relationship, that partnership could not continue, and had they kept Harball, then Lamar really has a hammer because he also does have a no trade clause in his deal. So you might say, Nick, you're talking about the trade, he has no trade clause. Players again can wave those and can make it, can decide, you know, kind of steer where
they want to go potentially because of it. I just think it is not I think the lam contract is going to be a big enough story this offseason that this is of all the fake trades that exist to monse this is not total whole cloth like that. I do think that there will be some of that discussion over the offseason. So you're I'm not predicting it's going to happen.
Crosby, Mendoza and no more picks or like that's it for no.
What I'm saying first.
Round picks, right, No.
No, no, no, what I'm I'm what I'm saying is the number one overall pick. To acquire that by itself usually takes three first round picks, and to acquire Max Crosby would take two first round picks. So I'm saying this is the equivalent in value of five first round picks. But the trade would be essentially Fernando Mendoza and Max Crosby for Lamar Jackson and and so you're out on it most people.
Yeah no, I mean if it were multiple, I thought it was going to be multiple. I see what you're saying in it being multiple first to equal the number one pick of the draft. But yeah, but yeah, no, that's not enough. I need some more retooling if we're getting rid of Lamar.
But so, well, that's the thing is this, I don't think And by the way.
Get all the money off of Lamar's contract.
Right, and it wouldn't just be here's the other thing. You wouldn't be doing this being like all right, we're rebuilding. You'd be doing it saying.
We have we saw the windows right now.
The Commanders, the Patriots, the Bears, and the Broncos in the last two years have all made the divisional rounder further with a quarterback that was either a rookie or in his second year, like we are we are going for this right now?
All right.
I want to just gus this Baxter Holmes, Lakers, Genie bus lebron story. You guys tell me the I don't mind demand's background being off. We can fix that later. There, Oh it's back, look at that. Go ahead.
So yesterday Baxter Holmes of ESPN dropped a story about the sale of the Lakers and the piece they also discussed how Genie buss grew frustrated with Lebron and didn't even want to sign him to a new contract in twenty twenty four, even talked about shipping them off to the Clippers. Uh, what do you make of all this?
Okay, so a couple and Genie Busses today came out and you know, basically refuted some of this. Let me say this on the front end. The thrust of this story is not about Lebron and everyone should read the story. It is superb reporting by a superb reporter in Baxter Holmes, who does great work, really great work for ESPN, And you know, it is very long and very good about
the Bus family and the sale of the Lakers. Okay that if I were doing Los Angeles talk radio, that would be one of them, the major topic of the day on this platform. I don't know how many people care about the palace intrigue of the Bus family sale of the Lakers. So I'm going to focus on the Lebron piece of it because I am interested in that. But I again, I just want to give credit to the story and a Baxter for and say on the front end, this is not the general plot point of
the story. But I'm going to read you the Lebron section and then I'm going to briefly explain why it enrages me from Baxterme's story, team sources told ESPN she even began to turn against the Lakers star player Lebron James. Jeanie privately grumbled, people close to the team say about what she felt was James's outsized ego and the overt control that he and Clutch Sports, which represents both James
and Davis, exerted over the organization. She didn't like that James was considered a savior for a floundering franchise when he arrived in twenty eighteen, and that it was he who chose the Lakers rather than the team's leadership, receiving praise for landing him. More on that in a moment. Team sources have been adamant for years that James's camp and four in the Lakers early as twenty seventeen that he was coming to join them when he became a
free agent the following year. The distance between Genie and James widened after the Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook in July of twenty twenty one. The team had made the trade an effort to appease James, but the acquisition backfired in catastrophic fashion. LA went thirty three and forty nine, missed the playoffs, and James seemed to wash his hands
of his role in the acquisition. Geenie privately bristled about what she felt was his lack of accountability and the way James would shift blame onto others after the Westbrook trade, people said in twenty twenty two, in the aftermath of the Westbrook trade, multiple people said Genie privately mused about not giving James a contract extension, even about trading James
with the Clippers floated as a possibility. This was before James received a contract extension with a no trade clause for two years, one hundred and four million dollars, and when the Lakers drafted James's son, Bronnie with a fifty to fifth pick, Genie privately remarked that James should be grateful for such a gesture, but she felt he wasn't.
That summer she discussed new contract for James, Genie seemed Moore resigned to the fact that they'd have to do it, almost begrudgingly accepting they'd take a massive pr hit by not doing so. Okay, the reason this, that's the that's the piece, and now this is me not reading the pieces talking. The reason Lebron James considered himself a savior for a floundering franchise was simply because he was a savior for a floundering franchise. It's not complicated, it's not weird,
it's not hard to fucking parse. The reason Lebron considered the Lakers a floundering franchise is because before he got there, they were a floundering franchise. And the reason he considered himself a savior was because within two years of getting there, they won the championship. The Los Angeles Lakers had never been bad back to Minneapolis Demanse their second year in existence in the league. Actually, no, pardon me, their first year in existence, when they went from the Detroit gyms
who were bad to the Minneapolis Lakers. With George Mikeen they won the championship. They then won a bunch more championships in the fifties. Then in the sixties they went to the finals almost every year, lost to the Celtics a bunch. Then in the seventies they got Kareem Abdul Jabbar and then in the eighties were the most successful
team in the NBA. Then in the nineties they had had their one tiny downturn, which was a thirty three win team that missed the playoffs, and shortly thereafter they got Shaquille O'Neal and drafted Kobe Bryan or traded for him, and they were awesome again, the Los Angeles Lakers. I'm giving the full context here prior to the twenty tens demonse. Here is the full list of years they were not
in the playoffs, either Minneapolis or Los Angeles. Nineteen fifty eight, Okay, nineteen seventy five and seventy six, that's when they traded for Kareem, nineteen ninety four and two thousand and five. That's the list. From the fifties until the twenty tens, they had always been excellent Florishi and then in the five years before Lebron got there, they missed the playoffs five times and won the following number of games twenty seven,
twenty one, seventeen, twenty six, thirty five. So all of Lakers history five years missed the playoffs from Minneapolis to La across Damn near sixty five years. And then the five years before Lebron got there, they missed the playoffs five times. Their finishes in the Western Conference again, fifteen teams in the Western Conference the five years before Lebron got there fourteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, fourteenth, eleventh, they were arguably
the worst team in basketball for a half decade. That is a floundering franchise that was saved one. Some people think that if you save something or someone, you might consider yourself a savior by Lebron James wanting to move to Los Angeles, not by Rob Bolenka or Jeanie Buss's fancy PowerPoint presentation. So that is what happened. Now, does Lebron have an outsized ego? I've heard that does Clutch sports exhibit a lot of influence over the Lakers? Seems
to be did Lebron James want Russell Westbrook? Yes? Did that work out? No? Well, Lebron James wanted a bunch of things. Lebron James wanted Tylo to be his coach. They said no to that. Lebron James wanted Paul George on the Lakers. That didn't happen. Lebron. There's plenty of things Lebron wanted they didn't do, and plenty of things
Lebron wanted they did do. The Lakers choosing to say yes to the request for Russell Westbrook because the Lakers brand is Stars when they had said no to other things and yes to other things, and then acting like Lebron is the one who called it into the league office and washing their hands of it entirely, but then also whining about Lebron helping them get Anthony Davis, which then allowed them to get Luke ad Ancic and win
a championship is laughable. And complaining to people a year after the guy wins Finals MVP for you and you win a championship that you don't want to give him a contract extension and you might actually trade him only to give him a two year max contract extension with a no trade clause is laughable. Doctor Jerry Buss was one of the greatest owners in the history of pro basketball. Genie Buss, by all accounts, is an incredibly nice person
who has a lot of friends in the media. The new owners of the Lakers are going to get the team back on the track it had been for doctor Jerry Buss's entire tenure, and the track that it had fallen off of entirely until Lebron James came to Los Angeles and saved the damn team. Are you thinking about upgrading the all new iPhone seventeen pro design to be the most powerful iPhone ever, but you're also thinking about the traffic on your way to the store transferring all
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Terms do apply, all right, DEMONSI let's go down to the NFL Awards piece of this, because we're not gonna have enough time to do everything that I want to do, so let's do that here.
So list of finalists drop for NFL Awards. You still do not have a vote, so you have to make your picks here. So what would your picks be for these?
Okay, so listen MVP the finalists are literally and this makes me happy. The five finalists I would have had Stafford May, Allen, Christian McCaffrey, who I'm very glad to see was a finalist, and Trevor Lawrence, and so all of that is. I maybe would have flipped in Miles Garrett for Josh, but I probably not. These were in my finalists. My ballot of these five would be Stafford won, Drake May two, Christian McCaffery three, Trevor Lawrence four, Josh
Allen five. And I'm so happy for Trevor that he's an MVP finalist. That is sick. All right, Next one, de Monse, tell me the category and the nominee.
So we got Coach of the Year. We got Ben Johnson, Liam Cohen, Mike McDonald, Kyle Shanahan, and Mike.
Raywell, my vote for this would be Kyle Shanahan.
Yeah.
I thought the fact that that team was playing for the one seed the final week of the year. I know the playoffs don't count in this, but they ended up going to Philly and winning a playoff game, dealing with all those injuries there. I mean the other four candidate, all five of these guys, Demonse have an unbelievable case. Yeah yeah, Ben Johnson, Liam Gohen and Mike Rabele all taking four five win teams from last year and getting them they all won their division. They all, you know,
were two or three seeds like that was remarkable. Mike McDonald getting to the fourteen wins with Seattle, but my vote would be for Shanahan.
Next. Next we got Assistant Coach of the Year Brian Flores, Clint Kubiak of Vic Fangio, Josh McDaniels, and Vance Joseph.
I want to say this on the front end. I am surprised Robert Salah was not nominate. It was not one of the finalists.
Yep.
I thought that he had done an amazing job in the league. Agrees he got a head coaching job out of it. My vote here, So if people don't know, Brian Flores, decordinator for the Vikings, Clint Kubiak, offensive coordinator for the Seahawks, Vick Fangio de coordinator for the Eagles, Josh McDaniels, offensive coordinator for the Patriots, Vance Joseph defensive coordinator for the Broncos. My vote here would be Josh McDaniels.
I think that when you have a second year quarterback in Drake May and you cater an offense so beautifully to his exact strengths. I don't think they have great receivers or great running backs. They scored a ton of point like they were just an elders all year long, h offensively, So I would say Josh McDaniels.
There next Offensive Player of the Year Pooka Nakula Vjhon Robinson, Christian McCaffrey, Jackson Smith and Jigula and Drake May gotta be Pooker. Guy's unbelievable.
M Pooker. It's tough for me. It would come down to Pooker or CMC js N third, b Jon fourth, and I like I Also, by the way, this is the first real signal we have demons other than first team All Pro that Matt Stafford won MVP.
Oh, that is Offensive Player of the Year as well.
I think that is a signal that people who voted Stafford.
MVP, like, we've got to get me something.
Gave Offensive Player of the Year and so like, I don't know what the betting odds are right now for MVP, but this piece of news to me would put Stafford at minus five hundred. I think Stafford, like I am, I wait for a lot of money the part it's probably not no, But I don't think Listen, I don't think Drake ma is gonna win Offensive Player of the Year. Offnsive Player of the Year typically is another way to say best non quarterback, and so Pooka or CMC would
be good with me. I would give it to c mc uh just because I thought he was the Niners offense this year.
All right, next, defensive Player of the Year, we got Miles Garrett, Micah Parsons, Will Anderson, Junior, Aiden Hutchinson, and Nick Benito. Micah Parsons is eligible.
Well, I mean he played thirteen games, you.
Know what I mean?
Like, uh no, there's no there's no minimal there's in the NFL, there's no they just it's whoever you know where people got votes. But I mean, Miles Garrett's gonna win it unanimously, so it doesn't matter. Like Miles Garrett's obviously the answer. Here, go ahead.
We got comeback Player of the Year, Dak Prescott, Christian McCaffrey, is Christian McCaffrey, Stefan Diggs, Trevor Lawrence, and Aiden Hutchinson.
I'm gonna say Aiden because I think Aiden came back from the worst injury of all these guys. Like remember in the offseason you saw his two legs and one looked way skinnier than the other, and like, and he was excellent. So I'm gonna say Aiden.
Next next week, got offensive Rookie of the Year.
I'll go through the Sorry, I'll just because I didn't realize how late we were. My offensive Rookie of the Year would have been Teed McMillan, and my defensive Rookie of the year, uh would have been uh probably Schwsinger schwushing. Here, I'm gonna say it wrong from the Browns. And also they're supposed to be Protector of the Year, the Auvinsive Lineman of the Year, and I haven't seen those finalists. I don't know where they are. All right, let's get to the listener questions quick.
Mathemagical says, seriously, there will be Blood, the worst movie I've ever seen, phenomenal acting, gorgeous cinematography, all for the story that wasn't worth telling. Damn the.
That's Can I just say something mathemagical. You wrote a comment that said a movie had phenomenal acting and gorgeous cinematography and was the worst movie you've ever seen. That does seem to be a little in conflict. I mean, aside from the acting and the images, that movie sucked. What I love that movie? I mean, I think it's the I think it is arguably, with respect to The Godfather one and two, I think it's arguably the greatest movie ever made.
All Right, Davi asked if the Chargers don't have a top five offense under the new OC, do they start thinking about moving on from Herbert.
No, Herbert is not the type of quarterback you move on from. But we are no, so these are different Herbert. You wouldn't get I would certainly trade Herbert for the number one pick and Max Crossby, Like, you know what I mean, To be clear, that's a fair point. My point is like, so let me let me tweak what I was saying. Herbert is not the type of quarterback you move on from because it's like, ah, he's not quite good enough, like the and Lamar. You wouldn't be moving on from Lamar like that, I'm.
Not the because he would go somewhere else.
Yeah, yeah he would, and he was so right the when you're like, okay, this guy tua Is Kyler are the guys, it's like they got paid, they don't have it. We got to turn the page. My point is Herbert is in a class above that. Lamar is in a class wholly above that, where it's not so much about like nobody's ever like we need to move on from Lamar Jackson. It's oh my god, look at the offer we just got for Lamar Jackson, so to be I'm glad you made that clarificate to that point. But it
doesn't really matter what the Sorry Chargers. It doesn't really matter if they have top five offense or not. The only thing people are gonna give If the Chargers offense is stinks all year long and Herbert finally looks halfway decent, let alone good in a playoff game, people will feel great.
And if the Chargers have a top five offense and Herbert looks the way he's looked in all his other playoff games again, then people will feel like he's just never gonna get it, and so the you know, that's just where it is, all right.
Next and JJ asked how much how come Lamar always ends up in trade rumors when Dak hurts Joe make more sense.
He's the only one of those guys that's ever demanded a trade. Lamar Jackson demanded a trade three years ago when.
When they weren't given him a contract.
Excision correct, Yeah, that's what. Yeah, But I mean that's why like that, those other guys and Dak. By the way, there absolutely were Dak trade rumors around the time he was negotiating a contract. Like Hurts and Burrow, they they've been on smooth sailing. So that's why, like the Lamar contract, stuff has been tricky in the past, and I'm not making stuff up. Reminder everybody like rate Subscribe Review Gambling Show with our full AFC and MC Championship game previews
tomorrow right here. So that's why you gotta subscribe to the shows. Thank you to boost an hard Rock bet volume and Blue Duck. Talk to you guys tomorrow. What's right