Latest / NY's Sports Loud Mouth (VIDEO) / Is LEBRON JAMES done with the LOS ANGELES LAKERS?

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Is LEBRON JAMES done with the LOS ANGELES LAKERS? · NY's Sports Loud Mouth (VIDEO)

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They're going to have a ton of money to spend.
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Why not put it in one of the top three offensive players in the
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league? We're going to be looking at
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Aaron Judge and saying that he can't win the big game, Michael
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Jordan said. I played 82 games.
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You don't see the fun doing that.
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A game where you got to go before I told you.
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Giant feet. Saquon Barkley this.
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Listening to Jabba and the Mouth Mouth. 631-672-3108 is that I'm
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going to call you're listening to Jabba and the Mouth.
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My name is Errol Marx and my Co hosts.
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He should be joining us in just a few moments.
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Jabba Chamberlain and Speedy PD executive producer Mr. Aaron
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Fish Fishman on the board. Tommy poops in the back end of
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the rooms are NRPR personality himself, Mr. Nathan.
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Go to our website at www.worldwidesportsradio.com.
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A lot to get into tonight. No more football.
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We have the combine, which is right around the corner.
2:34
And then we have open season as free agency market opens up for
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the NFL and we have the Olympics going on as we speak.
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We're watching, I guess you could say this, this is skating
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or speed skating. That's what they call it.
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So we have speed skating, racing right now.
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You have the women's Olympic hockey team absolutely
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dominating against Team Canada over the weekend, which was fun
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to watch. So a lot actually wasn't over
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the weekend. It was early this week, but it
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was fun to watch. Something that we haven't seen
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usually the Canadian, Canadian team over the last couple years
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has been dominant against Team USA and maybe it's a different
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year, maybe we see a completely different Team USA women's
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hockey team and obviously the men's hockey team started today.
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I didn't get a chance to watch the game.
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I'll watch the replay after the show.
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If I'm not mistaken, they played Slovakia.
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I'm not, I'm not positive on that, but they played Slovakia
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today. So it's it's crazy.
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This is my favorite time of the year because you have March
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Madness right around the corner. Football is over.
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We have basketball really picking up after the All Star
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break. The trade deadline obviously
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just ended for the NBA and then there's the NHL, which the N the
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NHL trade trade deadline I think is what right around the corner,
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right? Speeding March 1st week of
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March. Yeah, so the NHL trade deadline
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and then we're going to find out how hockey starts to pick up
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because after the All Star break, everything starts to fall
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into place. And we'll see how the Islanders,
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you know, where the Islanders are.
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And then the Rangers choking, New Jersey choking.
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And we're going to go into the playoffs with maybe just two New
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York teams, yes, possibly the Buffalo Sabres and the New York
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Islanders. Who would have thought that the
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New York Rangers, the new New Jersey Devils were expected to
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be playoff contending teams? But it seems like it's gone the
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other path. It's Buffalo and the Islanders
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moving on possibly into a playoff run.
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So a lot to get into with that a little bit as the season
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progressively moves forward. But like I said, I love this
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time because at all hours of the night, the Olympics are on.
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You get to watch. You get to watch curling and all
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the different, different Olympic sports.
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I love skating. Me and Brittany, when the
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Olympics started, we got to see the team skating.
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Yeah, you got a chance to see the men's a short programs.
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I think the long programs are tonight.
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I'm not, I'm not fully positive on that, but and then there's
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the women's program and and all that other stuff.
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Ice dancing is fun to watch as well.
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This is a it's fun. And you get to root on Team USA
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and you back up, you know, your, your colors, the red, white and
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blue and and you get a chance to see some of the more hotter.
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And I say hot because these skaters, some of these women
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skaters are like supermodels. I, I, I'm serious from all
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different parts of the world, from Switzerland to Sweden, if
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they're like absolutely stunning women and I, I, I love looking
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at that. I'm a man.
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What can I say? I'm a man that enjoys looking at
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beautiful women. So I, I know Nathan loves that,
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that's for damn sure. I want to get into the LeBron
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James story because LeBron, whenever LeBron is a lead story,
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it's definitely something that's going to draw fans and
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interesting content. After Monday's 119 to 110 loss
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to the Thunder, LeBron James told the media after the game
6:11
that the Lakers are not a championship team.
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James said the Lakers were not giving effort for the full 48
6:18
minutes compared to the Thunder and other younger teams they
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have competed against in the Western Conference.
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The Lakers kept in within kept it within 10 without Luka Doncic
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in the game who is still dealing with hamstring hamstring injury.
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Without Luca, LeBron put up 22 points, 10 assists and six
6:41
rebounds, but it was not enough to top the Oklahoma City Thunder
6:47
without SGA who missed the game with an abdominal injury.
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Outside of LeBron, who is averaging almost 22 points, 7
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assists and six rebounds a game in his 23rd NBA season, the
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Lakers are being powered by Austin Reeves and is tied for
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13th in the NBA averaging 25.7 points per game but missed 19
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straight games until returning to the lineup last week.
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Luca is leading the NBA averaging 32.3 points per game
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and is also third in MVP odds right now, only behind Jokic and
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SGA. The Lakers are the 6th, yes, the
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six team in the Western Conference will succeed in the
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Western Conference right now at 32 and 21.
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All right, so LeBron James has his own thoughts to the the Los
7:47
Angeles Lakers and maybe this is his last hurrah or I don't know
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what LeBron James is trying to do to disappoint some of the
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youngsters on this Laker team. They don't have enough talent to
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win a championship as far as the where where the teams are.
8:04
And at the trade deadline, you would have thought that the
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Lakers were going to make significant moves if they
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thought they were a contending team.
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And I think that's why LeBron James doesn't believe that the
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Lakers are contending because they didn't really make any
8:17
moves at the trade deadline. They didn't make a substantial
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move where they could have made a move for Giannis or Joel
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Embiid or any one of these guys that we we're speaking about
8:28
possibly in the trade market. And again, LeBron James is at
8:33
the tail end. He's at he's at the 18th hole
8:36
right now of his career. Now where LeBron James could be
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or what LeBron James is as a player, it to me still is going
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to prove his worth all the way through the play, all the way
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through the season to the playoffs.
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I think this team is a playoff team.
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Can they win around in the first in the first round of the
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playoffs, especially if they're if they win their play in
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because right now there are six seats.
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So they be a playing team. So if they get through the
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playing game, I think they can win a first round playoff
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playoff game depending on who they match up against.
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Now the NBA is very interesting because depending on match ups
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and remember it becomes a half court game, LeBron James is not
9:21
the same player he once was. LeBron James still averages 23
9:24
points and seven assists and six rebounds.
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He's an elite player still and you could say whatever you want.
9:29
He's still a top 20 player in the NBA.
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Well, LeBron James can't play the defense he used to play.
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He can't dominate on the perimeter like he used to be
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able to dominate. Even his shooting percentage
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just went down over the last couple of years.
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So he's not that dominant force that we could remember when
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LeBron James was the best player, the go to guy, the face
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of the NBA. Now you see guys like Luka
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Tanczyk and Yokich and SGA. And by the way, all three guys
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that we just mentioned are foreigners, guys that are not
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from the United States. It's been dominating.
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American basketball has been dominated by Americans for a
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very, very long time. When you think about the elite
10:09
of elite players, when Kobe Bryant was here, he was the best
10:13
player in the NBA. When Kobe Bryant was starting to
10:16
transform into the player he was, you had guys like Tim
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Duncan who are still an elite player.
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When Kobe Bryant took over the league and obviously Shaquille
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O'Neal, it was always run by American players.
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Now, as we've moved forward in the last 2025 years, the
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foreigners, the international players, and it really started
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off with guys like Dirk Nowinski, who came into the
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league from Germany and has was a dominant force, big man who
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can shoot threes, transition the game of basketball.
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And now you have guys like Yokich and SGA and Luka Doncic,
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all international players that have built the name for
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themselves here in the NBA. LeBron James looks at this team.
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Even with Yokich, I mean I'm sorry, even with Luka Doncic,
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can they compete against the elite teams?
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Even with Austin Reeves and himself and Luka Tonchik, I
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think they're starting fathers is as good as anybody in the
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Western Conference except possibly the size and and they
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have DeAndre Ayton. DeAndre Ayton was a first round
11:20
talent, the number one pick of the first round years ago and he
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really didn't develop into the player he was when he came out
11:27
of college. But DeAndre Ayton is still a
11:29
pretty good player at the position.
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He plays at the power forward slash center, center position.
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Now, you look at the Lakers right now, they don't have the
11:40
bench to win. And as we've watched the NBA
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over the last couple of years, it's all about the depth of your
11:45
bench is what's going to take you to that next level.
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When the Nuggets won the championship, they had one of
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the best benches in the league. Last year, Indiana, as they
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knocked out the New York Knicks, they had one of the best benches
11:57
in the Eastern Conference. Even with Tyrese Halliburton
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playing as well as he was throughout the playoffs and
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making these clutch shots as well as he was.
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And then you look at the the Western Conference, even when
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the Golden State Warriors were at the top of their game, look
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at the depth they had coming off their bench.
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Look at the defensive side of the ball.
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I think that obviously when you look at what the Lakers are
12:20
today, they don't have that kind of depth.
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Could you, speedy, could you tell me the best bench player
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the Lakers have? Hotchamora probably.
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Hotchamora OK, that's that's their best player.
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In the past, they had guys like Derek Fisher and and guys of
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that magnitude, Robert Horry coming off the bench when they
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were a championship contending team, guys that have won, guys
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that understood what their roles were.
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I don't know if the Lakers understand their roles and they
12:48
have a a coach that's been here for a couple of years.
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And I'm not saying he's not a good one, but I questioned the
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Lakers when they hired him because he had no coaching
12:57
experience and he was doing a podcast with LeBron James.
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I, I think that obviously where the Lakers are today and what
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they have not been over the last couple of years, maybe had
13:09
something to do with the bus family selling the team and
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selling their their profits away to, you know, to another owner.
13:16
And and I think that the Lakers are not that that same thing
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family of dominance over the years where they built around
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talent and superstars coming here to want to play for the
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Lakers and their colors. It's not like that anymore.
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The Lakers are not that dominant force they once were.
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As a matter of fact, if you look at the Western Conference right
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now, especially over the last couple of years, would you
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consider the Lakers a top four team in the NBA?
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And the answer would be no, because you got young teams and
13:46
even when the Golden State Warriors were at the top level,
13:48
LeBron James wasn't quite there. I mean, he was in Miami before
13:53
he went to the Lakers. And the Lakers only won a
13:55
championship with Anthony Davis. I think it was COVID time, the
14:00
bubble year. That was the last time that that
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the Lakers were a contending team.
14:04
And that might have had something to do with the short
14:06
season and all the the different rule changes that they had to
14:10
implicate because of COVID. I think that you look at the
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Lakers now, I, I question where ownership is and really where
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the the executives are or what this team is when LeBron James
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decides to step, step down. I, I know they had a Luka Doncic
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and I know you have a superstar player with the LA Lakers.
14:31
And the Lakers always have superstars, always have one guy
14:34
that is the face of the organization.
14:36
And I think Luca is a great ambassador for Los Angeles
14:41
basketball. But my problem here is, is there
14:44
anybody that's going to want to play there anymore?
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I mean, the Lakers have always been a destination that you want
14:49
to play for. Now you look at guys like
14:51
Giannis. Do you think Giannis wants to go
14:52
over there and play for the Lakers or even some of these
14:55
free agents that are going to become available in the next
14:57
couple of years when LeBron James steps down?
14:59
Is is Luca Doncic a place, a person that you want to play
15:03
with? Because if we seen where Luca
15:05
was with the Dallas Mavericks, did they ever win a
15:07
championship? No, they had Kyrie Irving over
15:10
there. They did not win.
15:11
Jaylen Bronson was there. They did not win.
15:14
And I'm not saying that Luka Doncic is not a great player and
15:17
he's not one of the ambassadors of the game of basketball, but
15:20
is he a winning player? LeBron James proved that he was
15:23
a winning player. Luka Doncic in two years in a
15:26
row went to a Western Conference and A championship and couldn't
15:30
get over the hump. And again, you look at the
15:33
specifics and and understanding where the Lakers are and they
15:37
have never been in a drought like this.
15:39
Think about this. They haven't won a championship
15:41
in six years now. The last time they won, I think
15:44
it was a 2020 speedy. It's been 6 years.
15:48
I don't know if the Lakers have been in.
15:50
And this goes back to like teams like the Yankees.
15:53
But besides 2009, when when the Yankees were pushing, it took
15:58
that was the law. This is the longest drought.
16:00
The Yankees have not won a championship.
16:02
It usually is 10 to 11 years the Yankees won a championship.
16:05
It's been what, 16 years since the Yankees won 1116 or 17 years
16:10
since the last time the Yankees won?
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And you talk about dominance, you talk about strategic places
16:17
where teams are contenders every single year.
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And I'm not saying the Lakers aren't a playoff team.
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And I think LeBron James never said that the Lakers aren't a
16:25
playoff team. But championship bound.
16:27
I think you need other aspects. Things need to fall together
16:30
with these with with the Lakers and championship organizations
16:34
for it to work. And you can see it right now,
16:37
even awful waivers are players coming off waivers and wanting
16:41
to go to the Lakers. No, they want to go to the
16:43
Knicks. They want to to go to the
16:44
contending teams in the Eastern and Western Conference, OK C or,
16:50
or one of those teams, because if they're they're crossing
16:52
waivers, they want to go to the the team that they have the best
16:55
chance to win. And usually over the years, if,
16:58
if one of those top end players or those veteran players come
17:01
off a waivers, they usually want to go to the Lakers or they want
17:05
to go to those elite teams, the San Antonio Spurs.
17:08
It's not like that anymore. And I think the league has
17:10
changed. I obviously the contending
17:13
championship teams have have changed and now you look at the
17:17
up. Now I'll say this, the NBA is a
17:20
young man's sport. If you look at when these teams
17:23
really become the elite teams in the NBA, if you look at the
17:27
Western Conference right now, Speedy, who are the top three
17:30
teams in Western Conference? OKC, Denver, and I believe it's
17:33
San Antonio, right? Now, and who's the 4th team?
17:35
Houston. Houston.
17:36
Now, if you look at all four of those teams, most of those teams
17:40
are young, right? They have veteran players, but
17:43
they have a lot of youth on their rosters.
17:46
The Nuggets have one of the most dominant centers, one of the
17:49
most dominant players the NBA has ever seen.
17:51
GSA is is probably the best point guard in the NBA and was
17:56
it last year's league MVP with all the talent that they have
17:59
over there. And then you go up and down
18:01
Houston, besides KD, that team is fairly young with a young
18:08
roster. And again, you look at the
18:10
Lakers, besides some of the young players, they they've
18:13
built their team around players that nobody wants.
18:17
Nobody wants DeAndre Ayton. Did anybody want him after you
18:21
left Phoenix? He was traded for one place and
18:23
then he went to the Lakers. Nobody wanted him.
18:27
Austin Reeves is a guy that is going to be a free agent this
18:30
coming year. I don't think the Lakers are
18:32
going to be able to afford them. Now if LeBron James steps down
18:34
or leaves, maybe they could afford them.
18:36
But Austin Reeves is transitioning into a star
18:39
player. But does Austin Reeves want to
18:41
stay with the Lakers knowing that he's not the go to man or
18:44
he's not the the guy over there with the the Los Angeles Lakers
18:48
and he's he's a draft pick of the Los Angeles Lakers.
18:51
And if you look at the drafts the Lakers have had in the past,
18:55
even when Magic Johnson was running the organization, Julius
18:58
Randall was a draft pick. Is he there anymore?
19:01
If we go up and down the rosters and and all the draft stock
19:04
Lonzo Ball, another top three pick, is he still with them
19:08
anymore? No, he's been a journeyman in
19:11
the NBA. They have struck out on all
19:14
these top picks that they've had over the years.
19:17
And that has a lot to do with ownership.
19:19
That has a lot to do with the executives there.
19:21
There's no more Phil Jackson. There is no more team leadership
19:25
over the years that has has made the Lakers as dominant as they
19:29
were and you can see the difference on the way they play.
19:32
Yeah, I think the Lakers are kind of stuck in a weird in
19:34
between where they want to be still a team that doesn't want
19:38
to operate on the way that all right, we're just going to bring
19:40
in these flashy trades and all the stars all at once.
19:42
I think Pelinka still has done enough to build enough where
19:46
they don't have to purge things like the Suns had to.
19:48
They don't have to purge things like the Nets had to.
19:50
And now you're seeing the Clippers will probably have to
19:52
to. They didn't build like that.
19:53
The Lakers were saying, OK, we're not going to be the LeBron
19:56
Miami Heat where they had the big three and then they had Mike
19:59
Miller and Shane Battier came coming off the bench that were
20:02
absolutely just, they had their roles, but they weren't anything
20:04
special. Like I think the Lakers did well
20:07
at not having to do that. At the same time you mentioned
20:09
it, they are kind of stuck where they should be the destination
20:12
to go to. And yet, they're kind of like
20:15
the Cowboys in the NFL, where teams will use their flashy name
20:17
as leverage and go somewhere else.
20:20
They're not the Jerry West Lakers.
20:22
When Jerry West was there, everybody wanted to come over
20:25
there and Jerry West would spin the and Jerry West was so very
20:29
good at finding talent in the draft.
20:31
I remember when he he decided to trade Vladi Divock for a young
20:36
Kobe Bryant, a high school player.
20:38
And they they moved. They he was a guy that worked
20:41
Kobe Bryant out, got a chance to see Kobe Bryant before the draft
20:45
came around when the Charlotte Hornets was going to, well, did
20:48
eventually draft Kobe and trade him, trade his rights to the Los
20:52
Angeles Lakers. They they don't have that that
20:55
guy that is looking for that up and coming talent.
20:58
And again over over the last couple of years even look at the
21:01
Clippers and what the Clippers did.
21:03
The Clippers drafted GSA and then they traded him over there
21:07
to the Oklahoma City Thunder. I I think the Clippers have
21:10
drafted better than the Lakers over the years.
21:12
Yeah, the Clippers actually finding these random young
21:15
talent that's made them not even when they, even when they were
21:18
get rid of getting rid of their live city corps, they were not
21:20
like awful for long stretch of time like the Lakers when Kobe
21:24
at the end of his career were really a bad team.
21:26
That's how they ended up with so many early draft picks.
21:28
They were #2 they drafted Brandon Ingram 2016, Lonzo the
21:30
next year, number 22017. Yeah, you could say lottery
21:34
stuff all you want. They were still one of the worst
21:35
records in the NBA. The Clippers were not like that.
21:37
Now the Clippers, that terrible trade, they're going to regret
21:40
for a while, trading all the draft picks, trading also Jalen
21:43
Williams in that deal too. And then SGA, who is the top
21:45
three player, top 4 player in the league right now, just one
21:48
MVP. That being said, the Lakers are
21:50
still kind of stuck in between where because LeBron is there,
21:53
they want to go after after him. LeBron is not going to be want
21:56
to be part of a young team. That's why obviously they made
21:58
the Anthony Davis trade, they traded Lonzo, they traded Ingram
22:00
and etcetera. And now you're seeing the team,
22:04
the league trying to transition the other way where I would say
22:07
obviously OKC built a lot on those on that trade, those those
22:10
draft picks and stuff like that. You're seeing a core with the
22:13
Spurs that obviously they got Wemby and they've signed some
22:16
free agents, but they knew when to trade them and they built a
22:18
core that way. Houston and the Nuggets are
22:22
building around. Houston kind of built like OK C
22:24
The Nuggets built around 1 star. They've been pretty steady for a
22:26
while. I guess they were the only one
22:27
the meeting ends had to make a drastic trade in order to
22:29
rebuild. They just needed Nicola Yokich
22:31
and Jamal Murray and they were able to build a pretty steady
22:34
core after that. It took him a while to win a
22:35
title, but they're doing it in the new model where I think the
22:39
Lakers, they tried to shy away from the fact that we're not
22:41
going to be the Brooklyn Nets. But at the same time, they still
22:44
wanted to cater LeBron. And I think Pelinka and the rest
22:47
of those egos got in the way. LeBron got in the way where you
22:50
got your one title fine, but it's not the sustained success
22:53
that they want. Even this past year they had a
22:55
second round pick. They didn't even have a first
22:57
round pick. And the year before that had
22:59
Dalton connect. And is he still part of the
23:02
organization? Brawny James.
23:04
I mean, look at the players that they've drafted, Max Christie,
23:07
this is not Isaiah Jackson. None of these guys have a really
23:12
even a part of the organization anymore and it you could go back
23:15
ten years. I'm looking at this some of the
23:17
draft picks that they've had over the years, none of a panned
23:21
out. The last guy that panned out,
23:22
not for the Lakers is Julius Randall.
23:25
Think about it, Julius Randall that has jumped ship to many
23:29
different teams and he really didn't get developed until he
23:32
went to play for Tom Thibodeau in the the New York Knicks.
23:35
So just think about that. They have had so many mistakes
23:39
in the draft. And I think that when you look
23:41
at LeBron James and and what LeBron James is saying, he's
23:45
being honest. This team is not a championship
23:47
contending team. They didn't make enough moves at
23:50
the trade deadline. That gives you a reason to think
23:52
that they are. And again, you look at the
23:55
Knicks and what the Knicks did, they edit Jose Alvarado.
23:59
Alvarado's a guy that's going to give them defense.
24:01
He's going to give them some offense off the bench, gives
24:04
them that type of talent, fast-paced offense that Mike
24:07
Brown's going to run. If you look at all the moves
24:09
that were made by contending teams at the trade deadline, you
24:12
can see there was a reason why they did it.
24:15
The Lakers stay put because obviously fighting injury with
24:18
Luka Dodgek, who, by the way, has not been healthy for the
24:21
last two or three seasons, even with the Dallas Mavericks and
24:25
and Austin Reeves, who looks like he's going to be a great
24:28
player in this league. I don't know if the Lakers are
24:30
going to be able to keep him next year because the cap
24:33
situation. So you, you wonder if you look
24:36
at what LeBron James is saying and maybe because of ownership,
24:39
LeBron James took shots at the bus family with his son and
24:43
Bronie James and saying and brought and and, and then bus
24:47
Jeannie Jeannie bus. She was on a podcast recently
24:51
and she said that LeBron James kind of forced the Lakers his
24:55
hand to draft his son. And then he denies it.
24:59
But of course, LeBron James is at the tail end of his career
25:03
and obviously controversy. He has a platform and he's doing
25:07
this because he has the power to do it, because he's been the
25:10
face of the NBA for so many years.
25:12
Yeah, and Luka Dantic, the trade they made last year, too, was
25:15
kind of essentially gifted luck because of the dumbass of Nico
25:19
Harrison. So it's not like Rob Pelinka
25:20
and. LeBron or maybe the NBA just
25:22
giving the Lakers an opportunity to get another superstar.
25:25
And that kind of maybe conspiracy with Adam Silver and
25:28
all that we talked about last year, yeah, who knows.
25:30
But again, they shouldn't be rewarded as an organization for
25:32
saying, OK, this is actually this well built Lakers team.
25:35
Like with Jerry West there even even the previous regimes too
25:38
with the 70s and the 80s and those Showtime Lakers, like
25:41
those were a lot of besides cream of Al Jabar.
25:43
Those were a lot of homegrown guys that were building a team
25:46
together that built that dynasty in the 80s too.
25:48
So it's a weird just in between that they're stuck in right now.
25:51
Now you're seeing a league in the NBA.
25:53
Now that. The Lakers are the Knicks now.
25:56
This is exactly what happened to the Knicks.
25:58
They fell in a 25 years spent span where, yeah, they have some
26:03
talents. They added Carmelo Anthony, they
26:05
added this player, they added that player Mari Stoudemire and
26:08
free agency. But they didn't have enough.
26:10
They didn't have enough talent around him and they didn't have
26:13
the right GM in place that was going to put him in the right
26:16
position until Leon Rules came there.
26:18
They had Donnie Walsh. Donnie Walsh was obviously let
26:21
go. He went back to the Indiana
26:23
Pacers and they they brought in stupid guys like you, you all
26:27
know Mr. Triangle man himself, Phil Jackson, and they went on
26:32
and on and on bringing different guys in and it just didn't work.
26:35
And they tried to build rosters because of money.
26:37
You have to build the roster the right way and you have to have a
26:40
plan. I don't think the Lakers had a
26:42
plan after they brought LeBron James there and and made a trade
26:46
for Anthony Davis. They haven't done the right
26:48
thing for this organization. And I think the bus family saw
26:51
that and that's why after after a while they were like, I don't
26:54
want to deal with the fighting of the family.
26:55
I just, let's just sell the team for $10 billion and walk away
26:59
from this debacle of an organization that's falling
27:02
apart since dad died. Speedy, I was going to say, you
27:04
said it earlier, Jerry Jones, this is like this is like the
27:08
Jerry Jones roster construction for the Lakers.
27:12
If I'm going to make a cross cross sport comparison, it's not
27:14
the Yankees. I mean, we can comment about the
27:17
Yankees later. Yeah, but the Yankees?
27:18
Still sign a good amount like how many times do you see the
27:21
the Yankees maybe besides Manny Machado like not get the big
27:24
name. Like they still have gotten
27:25
enough big names. Like the Lakers are like the
27:27
king of the almost big names. It's like flashy piece.
27:31
It's like the Cowboys, let's get the flashy piece.
27:33
Let's let's go trade for George Pickens because we'll make our
27:36
offense great, but we still can't defend.
27:39
So we're still not going to win enough games.
27:41
And that was that. Those are the kind of moves that
27:43
they made, you know, and I I think that getting LeBron and
27:48
Luca together along with Reeves is great, except none of them
27:52
really defend not at this point in Lebron's career.
27:55
He missed enough games already Errol, that he's not eligible
27:57
for all NBA for the first. Time I wrote a story about that
28:00
so. Yeah.
28:01
And so that's already going on. And then on top of it, so like
28:04
they sold the team, Meryl Jeannie kept the job as
28:07
president and then as soon as they sold it, she fired her
28:10
brothers, got them out of the building because they're toxic
28:14
and then ranted about how she didn't like how the brothers
28:17
cater to LeBron. And I would say that shit is
28:22
hanging all over this season more than anything is a big
28:25
hangover. There's clearly it just doesn't
28:28
make sense. The roster construction is dumb.
28:30
No one can like they can shoot and they can't defend or you
28:33
have a guy like Marcus Smart who they bring in and can't shoot at
28:37
all, but he's the one guy who's going to defend.
28:40
It's not like a logical roster construction.
28:43
It's just flashy piece, flashy piece like like the Cowboys have
28:46
done for a number of years. So I see that exactly what
28:50
you're saying. And it's just he can't carry a
28:51
team anymore. It's sad to watch LeBron.
28:55
I mean, I'm old enough to remember those Heat teams like
28:58
that. That was just the sickest thing
29:00
I think I've ever seen. Like it was that and the Golden
29:02
State Warriors back-to-back dynasties and, and it was like
29:06
very different styles. But I would say that the the
29:09
heat one, it was just so impressive how high flying and.
29:12
They damaging they were, they catered to LeBron James.
29:16
They brought in JJ Redick, who was LeBron James's podcast
29:19
advocate and advocate. And, and everything about LeBron
29:24
James is, is if LeBron James gets what he wants, he's happy.
29:28
And, and I'm not saying LeBron James is not a face of
29:31
basketball and he hasn't been a big name for basketball.
29:34
He's used his, his connections and his, his ability to build
29:39
businesses around his super stardom and, and he's done it
29:42
very, very well. Nobody's going to attack LeBron
29:44
James on his way of making money and, and understanding how to
29:47
build a brand through what he was as a basketball player, what
29:51
he is as a basketball player. What bothers me about LeBron
29:53
James is now that LeBron James is at the tail end of his career
29:57
and he doesn't like what the Lakers are doing or haven't done
30:00
enough for him to win his fifth championship, to tie the
30:04
championships up with Kobe Bryant or even being compared to
30:07
Kobe Bryant, it's pissing him off.
30:09
So what is he doing? He's using the media.
30:11
He's using, obviously the platforms he's on to deteriorate
30:17
the, the, the, the, the Lakers and their organization and what
30:21
the organization has done over the last couple years.
30:23
And here's another thing that I've noticed about LeBron James
30:26
that we've never real recognized.
30:28
LeBron James over the years has found ways to call out players
30:34
and not only teammates, but players in the NBA.
30:37
Now, LeBron James is not calling out other players in the NBA.
30:41
He's just calling out his own teammates and and now it's
30:44
starting. If I was a young player like
30:46
Austin Reeves or any of the young players playing on a
30:49
basketball team and knowing that his son is still on this team
30:53
because of who he who he is or what his last name is, it would
30:56
bother me as a Laker player. Why would I want to play for
30:59
this Laker team if LeBron James is still there?
31:01
LeBron James, I will say, looks a little bit slower, looks a
31:04
little bit older and also a guy that can't do the things
31:08
athletically as he has in the past.
31:11
Is he putting up numbers? Yes, because because he's he's
31:14
right now their go to guy because there's no Luka Dodgic
31:17
and Austin Reeves has not played healthy all season long.
31:20
So yeah, he's going to put up enough points because he's the
31:22
best player on that roster. But that's not saying much when
31:25
you look at the roster from top to bottom on any.
31:28
If you look at the roster with just LeBron James right now,
31:31
they're their second and third best players.
31:33
Would probably not even be on a bench of other teams or would be
31:37
the 7th or 8th guy, 8th, 8th guy on the Oklahoma City Thunder or
31:42
the New York Knicks or any of these top teams right now in
31:45
East and the West. That's how bad the Lakers are
31:47
when you look at their rosters in the way they're positioned.
31:50
Yeah, I want to read one of the comments from a pitch grid pod
31:52
and then the comment section kind of saying what you and I
31:55
were saying, Fish about Jerry Jones and the Cowboys.
31:57
The Lakers are obsessed with only narratives and headlines.
32:00
And yeah, that seems to be the case.
32:01
I don't believe that. I don't believe that because the
32:04
Lakers, All right, What are the narratives for the Lakers?
32:06
What is the headlines for the Lakers?
32:08
LeBron James is making the headlines, Not the Lakers, not
32:11
the organization. And the only headline that I I
32:13
could see is how does JJ Reddick still have a job?
32:17
Basically because he's a puppet of LeBron James and.
32:20
And I'm telling you right now, when LeBron James steps away and
32:22
he retires or he decides to leave, he goes to the Cavaliers
32:26
for one more year. Maybe that happens.
32:29
I could see JJ Reddick getting fired right after that because
32:31
JJ Reddick is not good. Yeah, and we're, again, we're
32:34
never going to know like what type of coach, like he really
32:36
wants to be in his own style because he's going to cater
32:38
LeBron, too. I think we said it at the time
32:40
like a younger team probably would have been a better start
32:42
for JJ Reddick to see who he really is as a basketball coach
32:45
compared to somebody like Lebron's puppet.
32:46
Now, obviously it doesn't work for Tyron Lou with the Clippers
32:49
because he hasn't been a very good coach since he's left the
32:51
the the Cavs and being their puppet.
32:53
But how many other coaches that LeBron got fired?
32:55
Really only Spoelstra has had the success since Lebron's left.
32:58
But again, they've been stuck in cap hell, so they're on the
33:01
downtrends now too. So it's kind of a weird.
33:03
Prediction. Well, they're stuck in.
33:04
They're stuck in cap hell because of LeBron James.
33:07
They decided to extend LeBron for two years and what did they
33:10
pay him, $100 million for two years?
33:12
I think it was 52 a year. So they're in Capell.
33:16
But look at this roster. Do you want to play for a roster
33:18
with DeAndre Ayton, Kobe, Bulkin?
33:20
Who the hell is that? What is this?
33:24
Jackson Hayes, Ronnie James, Luke Canard?
33:29
I mean, Maxi Keeper? Who the hell are these guys?
33:32
I mean. They got they got Vanderbilt,
33:36
don't they? Oh, that's Jeff's boy.
33:38
That's right, Jeff thinks he's a *.
33:40
I mean, if you look at the roster, yeah, Vanderbilt, Jared
33:43
Vanderbilt. But if you look at this roster,
33:45
this roster is not good. This is not a championship
33:48
contending roster. Lebron's not lying.
33:50
But here's the thing. If LeBron James wanted to win
33:53
another championship, I wouldn't have taken.
33:55
I wouldn't. If I'm extending my contract for
33:58
two years and I've made all the money, I'm a multi billionaire.
34:00
Why do I need the money I would have taken?
34:03
I would have taken the LeBron, I'm sorry, the Tom Brady
34:05
treatment. I would have taken $20 million a
34:09
year for the next two years. That's $40 million and take that
34:12
money and invest it into players that's going to help us win a
34:15
championship or give us an opportunity to win another
34:18
championship. But it's all about greed for
34:20
LeBron James. It's never enough.
34:22
These superstar players are making millions and millions of
34:25
dollars. I mean, besides baseball, I
34:27
think basketball players are making more guaranteed money
34:30
than any other sport. Think about it.
34:32
Errol in the playoffs, they they started today, they would,
34:36
they're the sixth seed. They'd face the three seed.
34:39
That's Nicola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
34:42
If we started today, if they don't play defense and they
34:45
haven't played defense, Jokic is going to eviscerate them.
34:49
It won't even be close. It could be a four-game sweep,
34:53
that's all, if they don't play defense because that's what
34:56
we've seen. I think you need a healthy
34:58
Austin Reeves and a Luka Doncic. I I mean, obviously it's going
35:01
to be an offensive side side side game, but I would I would
35:06
say that the Lakers do not know how to play defense.
35:08
They don't really have defensive even DeAndre Ayton, he is not a
35:12
defensive type of player at all. Yeah, so.
35:14
That's why he got cut because he couldn't play any defense.
35:17
He was getting beat every time they pulled him out to the
35:19
three-point line. He couldn't find his way back
35:22
into the shell of the defense. He was it was a high draft pick.
35:25
He was supposed to be like the second guy on that Suns team and
35:29
he ended up getting cut. Let me.
35:31
Ask you guys a question if you were playing with LeBron James
35:34
and after the game he speaks to the media and he throws you guys
35:37
under the bus. Do you want to play with LeBron
35:39
James? I mean, honestly, I don't care
35:41
if it's the great LeBron James, one of the greatest basketball
35:44
players ever play the game. Some people say top three.
35:46
I think he's a top three player right behind Michael Jordan
35:50
because of all the great things that he has done for the game of
35:52
basketball. But the fact here is, did you
35:55
ever hear Michael Jordan go to the media and throw players
35:58
under the bus, teammates under the bus?
36:00
He never did. He would speak to the players
36:02
away from the media. He didn't go to the media and
36:04
say, ah, Dennis Rodman's got to play better.
36:07
Oh, Scottie Pippen or Luke or Tony Cuco just got to play
36:11
better. Or BJ Armstrong or Horace Grant.
36:13
You never. When he was at practice, he
36:16
would viscerate them by talking down to them or punching in the
36:19
face. Go ask Steve Kerr.
36:21
Steve Kerr knows the whole story.
36:24
Steve Kerr has been on the documentary the the last.
36:28
Steve Kerr got punched by Michael Jordan and Steve Kerr
36:32
didn't attack. He didn't he didn't speak back
36:34
to Michael Jordan. He showed Michael Jordan he took
36:37
it and Michael Jordan learned how to respect Steve Kerr and
36:40
became very friendly with Steve Kerr.
36:42
I Michael Michael Jordan never took shots of his own players or
36:45
the organization. Michael Jordan spoke to very
36:49
close people after the organization didn't do them
36:52
right. The GM over there with the Bulls
36:54
didn't want want to bring Scottie Pippen back.
36:57
They wanted to trade Scottie Pippen to the Portland Trail
36:59
Blazers. And Michael Jordan said, you
37:01
know what, you trade Scottie Pippen, I'm walking away from
37:02
the game of basketball. And that's what he did.
37:05
He he spoke. He spoke when he needed to
37:08
speak. LeBron James now uses this
37:11
platform to not only speak what he thinks is the truth about
37:15
this team in this organization, but now he's throwing players
37:18
under the bus. He used to throw other players
37:20
that he played against under the bus.
37:22
He doesn't do that anymore because he's not as good as
37:24
them. I would say that LeBron James is
37:26
James Harden right now. That's what he is.
37:29
He is. He's that type of player.
37:31
Now, I'm not saying that he he's not better than James Harden.
37:33
I think he does a lot of things better than James Harden, but
37:36
he's that type of player. What is James Harden averaging
37:38
right now? What is the average?
37:40
2324. That's what LeBron James is
37:42
averaging. How many rebounds is each?
37:44
Is he averaging a game? I would imagine like 5 at.
37:47
Most and and insist. Sex.
37:48
Something. Same as LeBron James, they're
37:51
the same type of player and but I I'll tell you this right now,
37:55
I would take. 25, eight and five.
37:58
I'll take, I take James Harden right now.
38:01
I, I, I, I understand I'll take LeBron James because of his
38:05
winning ways. And if I'm going to bet on
38:07
somebody in, in a playoff game, I'm betting on LeBron James cuz
38:10
he's proven to be a playoff player and James Harden isn't.
38:13
But if you look at their talents right now, I'd like an older
38:17
James Harden over an older LeBron James.
38:20
I would. And that's why Cleveland made
38:21
that move and and trading for him because they think they have
38:25
a better chance of winning with him than LeBron James.
38:28
And watch, if LeBron James goes to the goes to Cleveland next
38:31
year and has to be James Harden and and Mitchell's counter
38:36
partner, is that going to work? Because what's going to happen
38:39
over there? If he goes over there and these
38:41
guys aren't playing at a top level, he's going to throw them
38:44
under the bus. How is that going to work?
38:45
James Harden didn't like the fact that Kevin Durant and Kyrie
38:49
Irving were talking about him over there with the Brooklyn
38:51
Nets. And that's why he was no longer
38:54
there. He didn't want to stay there
38:55
anymore. And those were his two buddies
38:58
and Mitchell. He wasn't getting along with
39:00
players, including the player that they traded away for James
39:03
Harden. And Mitchell is one of those
39:05
guys that can't handle the the media and the junction of people
39:10
talking about him. So how is that going to work is
39:13
that? And they have a competing coach
39:15
that actually knows what he's doing.
39:17
So I, I don't know how this is going to work.
39:20
And again, I'm not blaming the Lakers organization and making
39:23
the move and giving LeBron James the money.
39:25
I, I blame LeBron James. If LeBron James thought that
39:28
this team had an opportunity to win, he should have taken less
39:32
money and re sign with the Lakers for two years and giving
39:35
them enough opportunity to go out there and bring in another
39:39
one or two free agents that can help them win.
39:41
Am I wrong or right? Yeah.
39:43
The other problem too, I think with LeBron, this situation now,
39:46
you're seeing a lot of these types of his generation type of
39:48
players try to think they could still dictate everything.
39:51
And I think other GM's now, not all of them, obviously not the
39:54
Nets, not the Clippers and teams like that, but GM's have started
39:57
to cater to that, say we're going to have you as the
39:59
finishing piece, not as the. Main piece to build around. the
40:03
Rockets did that with Kevin Durant just recently.
40:05
They traded for him and they didn't think about much in the
40:07
offseason outside of Dylan Brooks, who's played well, but
40:09
they didn't think of much besides that.
40:11
Same kind of thing with James Harden just now.
40:12
Now I love it for Garland one for one.
40:15
No, I actually think a player like Reeves would have been a
40:17
really good fit with the Cavs if he was healthy.
40:19
Like maybe that's the trade piece they go after.
40:20
Maybe not James Harden, but Even so, like the Cavs have viewed
40:23
that as a missing. Piece.
40:24
Don't you think that if LeBron James decides to not play for
40:29
it, because I think he has one more year left on his contract,
40:31
the Lakers decide to trade him, trade him to the Cleveland
40:35
Cavalier? I don't know what the Lakers
40:36
get. Maybe draft stock, draft picks
40:39
and he goes to I, I mean, you keep Austin Reeves, you build
40:42
around Austin Reeves and Luka Tonchik and you try to build
40:45
around the draft or maybe you add a Giannis in the long run
40:48
because you might be able to get that, get that move done or
40:52
something like that. Now again, Austin Reeves is
40:54
because of the year he's having right now, he's going to ask for
40:58
I, I wouldn't say a super Max, but a Max contract.
41:00
He's going to get a Max. Contract he's going to get a
41:02
about 180 to $200 million a year.
41:04
Austin Reeves was a great pick up for them.
41:06
But if you like I said going back to their past and and what
41:09
they've done in the last 10 to 12 years when it comes to draft
41:11
picks, they have an apps they've absolutely bombed and is again,
41:15
this goes back to the Knicks. If you think about all the years
41:18
all the top draft picks the Knicks have had when they had a
41:22
chance to go after guys like Stephen Curry who didn't fall to
41:26
them they he fell one once one pick ahead of them.
41:30
Where if, if Steph Curry goes to the New York Knicks at six, that
41:36
trajectory would have probably changed the New York Knicks
41:39
organization. Because if Steph Curry goes to
41:41
the Knicks, maybe they, they're the Golden State Warriors.
41:44
So I, I mean, I'm, I'm just throwing spitballs and hopefully
41:48
it sticks. But instead, we drafted Jordan
41:51
Hill. Jordan Hill.
41:52
See how it worked out for us. Yes, Jordan Hill was a Knick for
41:55
probably three years and eventually gone as every other
41:59
Knick. I remember the time the Knicks
42:00
had three first round draft picks.
42:02
It was Wallace. There was a kid from Kentucky,
42:05
they had three first round draft picks.
42:07
It it just never panned out. And and again, it's just the way
42:11
the lottery works. And maybe the NBA didn't want
42:13
the Knicks to have top end picks.
42:15
The best pick the Knicks have had in the last, I would say in
42:17
the next last 15 years, RJ Barrett and poor Zingis.
42:21
Poor Zingis eventually wins a championship with the Celtics
42:24
and RJ Barrett is no longer with the Knicks.
42:26
They traded him for OG and Anobi, which is a great move for
42:28
the Knicks. But again, a guy that really
42:30
didn't develop with the New York Knicks the way the Knicks wanted
42:33
him to. So I, I'm just speaking what I I
42:36
see the Knicks are the Lakers are turning into what the Knicks
42:40
organization was after the 90s. An organization that reaches
42:45
brings in coaches, brings in GMs or has AGM that absolutely
42:49
doesn't know what he's doing. And now you're slowly remember
42:52
the GM of the Lakers is is Kobe Bryant's agents.
42:58
Think about that. Kobe Bryant is the one that told
43:01
the Lakers to hire him as the GM of the organization.
43:03
He's been there ever since blank has been there for a while and
43:06
and has he achieved has he achieved anything since he's
43:09
taken over for the team? He won a championship.
43:11
He made he made the move for Anthony Davis, which eventually
43:15
made them win a championship during COVID, the bubble years.
43:19
But again, the lake the Lakers have not been good.
43:22
They have not drafted rights and that goes for the executive.
43:25
Go look at what the New York the New York Knicks have done over
43:29
the last couple of years. And and this is how you know
43:31
they're competent. They find guys like Emmanuel
43:34
quickly at the at the end of the first round, who was a part of
43:38
that RJ Barrett trade that brought in OG and Anobi.
43:41
How about the second round? You look at the second round
43:43
picks that they've had a Kolik and all these other McBride, all
43:46
these other guys that they brought in from the
43:49
organization. You have to understand how to
43:51
draft players or find players in the later rounds of the draft.
43:55
And the Lakers have not done that.
43:57
What they did was they brought in Brownie James because it made
43:59
LeBron James happy. So it that's that I think has
44:03
been a big problem for the Lakers is they haven't been put,
44:06
they haven't put their organization and the
44:08
organization hasn't put themselves in the position to
44:11
succeed. Thank you to all the fans on
44:13
Spotify and Apple. We were ranked today at 115th in
44:17
the whole country on on football shows podcast around the
44:21
country. So thank you to the Spotify and
44:23
apple video and audio fans on obviously X job in the mouth and
44:29
my my XI. I'd like to appreciate I, I want
44:32
to thank everybody for joining and, and following us on all the
44:35
platforms, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, all the platforms job
44:39
in the mouth. We're going to have a new
44:41
YouTube channel that's going to be up very, very soon.
44:44
Job in the mouth New York. What is it going to be, Speedy?
44:47
Jabba in the mouth. New York Sports.
44:49
New York sports. So you're going to be anybody
44:51
that's a New York sport fan. You can check out all our New
44:54
York sports takes on Jabba in the mouth on that platform.
44:58
So we're very excited for that. And again, thank you to all the
45:01
fans that tune into US, support us, love us, give us all the the
45:07
gratitude and and graciousness of, you know, just what we do
45:11
behind the scenes, all the work that we put into this.
45:13
This is this is not easy. This is not a normal podcast.
45:16
There's a lot of work that gets put on the back end of this.
45:19
We should have Jabba on next Monday.
45:22
Jabba is travelling so hopefully everything is well with him and
45:27
again, have a good weekend. Enjoy this horrible basketball
45:31
weekend, this All Star break of garbage, the slam dunk contest,
45:36
the three-point contest and whatever Adam Silver or whatever
45:40
we want to call them. The ugly duckling has in stored
45:43
for you fans. So it is horrible, but it it's
45:47
and enjoy the the Olympics. the United States woman's and men's
45:50
hockey team, I think they played today.
45:52
The men's team, I don't know if they won or lost.
45:54
I got to check it out. But I enjoy the rest of the
45:57
Olympics. And we will see you on Monday.
46:00
Goodnight. It is the worldwide sports radio
46:03
network.