 You come out you pay your hard-earned money of the fan to actually watch your product You want to watch that product go out there and you want to see it and whether you cheer you boo? Whatever you want to do in the lines of respect you want to see that product That's why you spent your money and that's what LeBron said. I'm gonna make the best of this hand I'm not happy, but I can promise you one thing. Hmm. There'll be last time I will be in the West Garden playoff if Ray Allen misses that shot LeBron doesn't have a chance to go 37 and 12 in game 7 and the heat blueprint is considered a failure Chris Broussard here and welcome to the brand-new hoops on Fox podcast This podcast will give you your daily dose of all things NBA from Fox Sports Including the best content from Skip and Shannon Nick Wright plus special guests fresh NBA content from myself post game interviews from NBA stars around the league and much much more a First Chris Broussard sits with Skip and Shannon to discuss what went wrong in LA for LeBron Chris Broussard is back with us for this one, but Shannon To defend your guy, how do you interpret those comments from LeBron? I interpret it you heard what he said Yeah, we all heard it the car one car that I was dead of me missing 18 games And then another car that was the other's rondo being in and out of missing game And then zoe being shut down missing game for them being shut down. You don't like zoe hold on scale, baby And then bi so it until the dealer shuffle the car the redial which is next year Hey, this is what we dealt But you know what skip sometimes you get a 10 do soft suit or seven do soft suit play and you got you make the best of it And that's what LeBron said. I'm gonna make the best of this hand. I'm not happy, but I can promise you one thing There'll be last time I won't be in the West Coast player That's for sure take that to the bank take that to your bank skip baby I know because deep down inside you kind of this slam the door you cannot be a goat and miss the player I know that what he oh, he loves it. That's but that's okay. I don't need to say that everybody Everybody you you you are the president of the LeBron hate club. No, but anyway, you know what I get it He's frustrated The injuries took a toll on this foot this basketball team and everybody has injury But I don't know if they've had them this year to this extent especially to a guy that they could ill afford to miss really any time And even when he's come back, they hadn't played up to what we thought they would play once he got back But here's the thing Brian you did choose to play this hand. Yeah, you went to this table now LeBron did try to throw somebody card back You know, he had a bad he tried to throw something like I don't want this Hey, I ain't playing this one. It's like when you play in spades and you don't get no space Yeah, I thought I ain't I gotta help you gave me some face cards, but mm-hmm It ain't face card. It's face. So he tried to throw some of them in and what he's saying next year. We're gonna reshuffle Get us a new hand And we're gonna be any way so easy. Yeah We're gonna add worst case scenario. I'll put in two cases doing it right now We're gonna be the second or the third seed in the Western Conference next year two kids to do right now skill Well, I gotta see who they get I don't care who they I don't care. We don't get nobody. Well, if you get nobody, I'm I'll bet 20 Gotta be honest I'm agreeing with Shannon Don't see look I was critical of LeBron with two weeks ago and he had the me and them quote Yeah, I thought he was separating himself from the team throwing guys under the bus talking about you know When he wasn't playing defense, right? But I what I've heard the last week or so I don't think it's nearly as bad as what he was saying two three four weeks ago when he was separating the team He says first of all, he doesn't throw in the towel on the playoffs. He says if we're not there He says we don't have it in our quote But he said we're going to for these young guys and I know bi and lines were out But kuzma Reggie Bullock Josh Hart These are like playoff games and it's the closest they're gonna get if they do make up in their mind Hey, let's at least keep going strong until we're mathematically eliminated then for these young guys These are the closest they can get to playoff games and they do need this then when he says the hand I was dealt. It's a I mean you mentioned all the entries that this is where LeBron's been at fault this year As you said he picked this team so that that's true But he never should have entertained the Anthony Davis trade talk like when David Miniman first asked him about that was the first We heard of it and LeBron was like, of course I'd love to play with a D like don't even answer it. No comment You know, I can't talk about other players, right? Don't joke about it on the all-star draft team like just keep out of that Secondly his poor defense and thirdly like I said some of the quotes where he separated himself from the players But outside of that and again, he's not blameless in the ad situation There's two things that derailed their season the injuries To him and others and the ad trade saga and here's the deal with the ad trade saga There were people telling ad or wanting him to make that trade demand at the beginning of the season Right and he was like nah I want to wait and play it out, you know and see, you know, we made the playoffs We got to the second round He had gone behind the scenes and made it but they wanted him to be his vocal in the beginning of the year Like he was in the middle like I'm outright and he waited until right before the deadline. That's not look I mean as much as obviously LeBron and Rich Paul are best friends. That's his agent But we got to give rich Paul some credit as a professional, right? He's got players on our team. He just signed Drey mind green. Drey mind ain't gonna play with LeBron I mean, it wouldn't even be a good fit Ben Simmons. He signed a you know big LeBron didn't go to we can't say Every player with rich Paul is gonna end up playing with LeBron and LeBron is pulling all these strings That's just not how it works. There were other factors and that let the ad thing get way out of Control that were beyond the brothers in info del dimps leaking info But also I've been told the Lakers were leaking info. I'm not saying it was magic or polinka necessarily But I've I've been told there were leaks coming out of the Lakers Here's why because they caught flak for not the perception that they didn't go after Paul George as Hard as they should have right and there was everybody's like well They're gonna wait till they can get him as a free agent even though I'm told magic was talking with bird about it Not that but the perception is that they didn't go after Paul George, right? And then they didn't go after Kawhi Leonard right wait for him in free agency So the Lakers wanted it out there. We're all in on getting Anthony Davis don't we don't want our fan base telling us Oh, you didn't get aggressive again So these are leaks that turn this thing completely upside down and those are things outside of LeBron's control As much as he did was blameless or was to blame for other things. I want to hear what Skip thinks So once again Somebody at this table is not going to be a LeBron Apologist somebody is going to tell the truth and it's going to be mean The message once again sent by LeBron James to the billions of blind witnesses out there was I just don't have enough help I didn't have enough this year and I can't do anything about it Give me some help next year and we'll be better. That was the message He just sent because you got to the point and you finally got to the point of this Which is your last point which is he dealt himself this hand from the start He was the dealer and then he was the player right because he could have chosen to join forces with those Young stars in Philadelphia. He could have chosen to go to Houston and join forces. He could have they wanted him He could have he could have stayed in Cleveland and stayed in the east I know the east is much tougher than it seemed to be a year ago But he could have stayed there and he would have been a little better off I think in the standings with with what he had to work with in Houston, but he chose Hollywood I'm gonna say it one more time. He chose to chase Michael B. Jordan as well as continue to chasing Michael Jordan That's what happened. You know it and I know it. He chose to come here with no proven star No costar no sidekick. There was nobody yet that we could say aha. I was dumbfounded. I Sat here in this chair saying what are you doing really you're gonna do this this year I kept waiting for the other sneaker to drop like is there somebody what is it? No, there's nobody So he chose to go forward and and he also chose to tell magic from the start. I don't want three-point snipers I want veteran playmakers and magic went out and got him a rondo and a Michael Beasley and Javail and then they finally got Tyson Chandler and they had KC P. Who am I forgetting Lance Lance Lance, okay? And and LeBron seem before the year ecstatic to have that group around him. What was he not? He's that's what he came across to me and then he chose I I'm sorry He chose to want to trade all those potential young star kids for Anthony Davis You you can't tell me he wasn't behind that that that wasn't his choice from the start was let's go Him well again, he's the CEO of clutch sports. Well, he just is Okay, but he is who's the brains behind the operation on marriage the brains, but rich, okay? Rich is the point man. Rich is the point man. No rich has clutch sports. Maverick has his own I got it. I got it. I think it's not a puppet though. I Okay, I won out of there. Okay, I got it, but it backfired in it backfired But yet Kuzma and Brandon Ingram came out of that trade deadline on a tear both of them did seriously on a tear and LeBron was not Able to capitalize on the tear of both of them before both of them got hurt Right, but there was a period in there Would it look like they were poised for takeoff because on trade deadline night? Rondo hit a miraculous walk-off shot at Boston It was we came in here the next day saying he just saved the season Didn't they seem poised for takeoff Okay, and yet was LeBron engaged on defense not not a hundred percent engaged, okay? I'm trying to be nice because he would pick his spots occasionally Was he fully engaged in attack mode on offense the way I kept saying just just go just attack No, he was not he wanted to be more of the playmaking point guard, which I love him But at some point when you're struggling you just got to say it's my turn I'm gonna take this over because he's capable Next Dante Jones joins Wiley and Whitlock to break down the incident between Russell Westbrook and NBA fan What if anything should the NBA do about Russell Westbrook? They should slap him on the wrist in terms of punishment because there's a greater gain in this moment than just a punishment and a fine What we are right now is two worlds colliding in an ideal world Russell Westbrook can tune out the noise of the fans an ideal world fans Don't say ignorant disrespectful stuff to the players, but we're not there in the reality We know that these worlds are colliding and more frequently than ever And so here's the real if you're the NBA you have to side with Russell Westbrook, and I'll tell you why One you want to protect the workplace And protecting the workplace is where the guys actually perform where you come out You pay your hard earned money of the fan to actually watch a product You want to watch that product go out there and you want to see it and whether you cheer you boo Whatever you want to do in the lines of respect you want to see that product That's why you spent your money But that's not even a priority or what you're trying to protect if you're an NBA You need to protect the fan experience and I made this transition from being on the field To actually being in the stands and let me tell you it is not a fan friendly play for me My son now my daughter to go to with my wife because as soon as I sit down I don't check my section for my viewing in my seating arrangement and to see how well I can see the field or the court I'm checking to see how many knuckleheads in my section and where the yellowjack is at because I know Once I'm sitting around one of these guys Our gals all of a sudden there goes my fan experience NBA has to know like all major corporations know If it's a family friendly product Protected at all costs because that's the most lucrative and profitable So you slap russell westbrook say hey, man, you can't threaten fans slash a woman But more importantly fans get in alignment because you're messing up the experience for everyone else who's paying their hard Complaining, uh, I'm gonna get where they're utah Oh my god Oh, you know what most communications non-verbal you want to see the eye rolls You want to see the non-verbal you want to see how many times I've sat there be like now should I call security? You tall last I wasn't there you weren't either I know so so the point is you don't know how many people are sitting there Actually been compromising their experience because the one who's having a mob mentality off the sauce is doing too much If you're the NBA, there are only a few fans like this Handle them like they did in new england. Sure suspend them get them out of there and then you'll solve this problem But westbrook went over the line You have security people in place to handle this. I 100 agree with you some of my wife tells me all the time Some of the stuff that these fans say you can't bring your kids to the game And you're not gonna check that guy sitting three rows down from you But westbrook shouldn't have to check them either that his job is to go out there and hoop and to win game Security there are people in place to go up there and check fans and I agree They should not be at the games, but that's not westbrook's job to kick them out What's the worst has been ever said to you? I'm like I need that Dispersive perspective from you because I can give you what the worst has been done to me on my family Sure, what's the worst man said to you before not sure because I'm not really sensitive like that I'm not sensitive. I'm not triggered by words. I'm not triggered by racer slurs I think they're all words and it just is what it is But sometimes fans can go too far should rustle west should rustle westbrook be fine. Yes Should the fan be dealt with yes, I think rust was willing to take the fine to speak out for himself But he should no no, but 25 50 thousand dollars to rustle westbrook is nothing But we all do have different triggers. We all have we have different vices and we have different triggers Some words mean different things to different people in my life The fan experience sometimes by by the actions on the court and how how well you compete and what you may have done Even on accident. I've had to deal with death threats I've had to have security at my hotel for a month straight At my house for a month straight because of an action on the court because of a fan His interaction at the game thought it was my life and my children and my wife's life Should be affected because of a basketball game. Yeah, but you should not have to deal with that Someone else should be in place for that. What you're gonna do now go to him and say That was started at the game agreed It was it was a revolt started at the game because they thought something happened that they should have never happened So what i'm saying is russ should he should be he should be fine for the words that he used So but sometimes these fans are taking this way too far. Oh, yeah, what's going on in our world in our country right now We don't disagree. They think they have different rights to some degree in terms of the fans are just not Do whatever they want to know here's what I just wanted to argue the facts And russell westbrook said the facts are the guys said get on your knees like you're used to The guys argument is no, I said you got ice or heat on your knees But if you check the guy's timeline, he is a You gotta check the timeline you check you check his twitter timeline. No listen to his word He's saying he suddenly went some word that was not good for work. Guess what he didn't even the dialogue ceased He started to go to a different place But again, because for I don't want to argue with this about his twitter page I'm not one russell westbrook has no knowledge of that and no one at the game I'm what i'm saying is he's lying the fact. No, no, no Russell westbrook could be lying too. We can call people lying We can we can do that But all we got to do is argue the facts if russell westbrook's facts are right There's still no provocation there to threaten this man or his wife and to drop them f bombs period Based on what russell westbrook said happened that is based on what this guy said happened The facts are still the same. There's no provocation for what westbrook did if we're going to create a society Where all it takes is for some white man to say anything to us And it justifies us going flying off the handle and making a fool out of ourselves Then we are creating a sorry society for ourselves as black people that russell westbrook This is not about that one you show yes You show the montage where a kid touched them another one were a woman another one were an asian man This is not about just no white man walking all all those videos were of different ethnicities different age groups This is about somebody who even in their own words was incomplete and what occurred He got to the point he said and he was dropping f bombs and I said something about the niece and then everything else is not suitable for work Guess what what is that because that's what russell westbrook, but james dolan james dolan band of fan for work for less I got it. He band of fans and he's a pampered elite Just like russell westbrook and this whole mentality that now fans are so out of line. They're screaming things out of That's not what he's saying. That's over exaggeration. Are you kidding me? I watch raymond's health over humans And they're just saying anything to us. Are you kidding me? It's what are you and again respect again? I'm just I've worked too and have throughout my entire journalistic career have dealt with death threats Real and some bs It doesn't provoke me to go off and lose and lose my mind Sometimes I've had people drunk people confront me All over my world go off and lose his mind if he stayed in that place It said do not make that threat again. But but but wait man me and the society got filmed We're in a society where he's completely out of bounds talking anything about this man's wife And so is the fan. He should be protected. No a fan can't yell sit down. I don't know what that's what he said Forget can't say get on your knees forget what he did to westbrook forget what he did to westbrook Like the NBA should not be having that right. Yeah, like in that section Thank you. You asked you asked 20 people in that section 18 of them you like that was weak Right, we don't want that before you go again and I love arguing with professional athletes Do y'all know why y'all made so much money not because of that fan because of fans Not that fan go fan. Do you there's a fanaticism? Oh, yeah among fans That have elevated athletes to the point where they can make millions of dollars The root cause of all of this is fanaticism. Yeah We have a fanatical love affair you take that fat a fanaticalism out You taking a lot of the money out ain't nobody buying jerks. No one cares Because the fanatic is not it's not it's not giving off racist slurs or or giving off That nature you said well adjusted adult. Yes, okay You want what you pay for is competition. What comes with competition is emotions, right? So you have two you have sets of people who are emotional in your competition And that's what makes the sport amazing because their emotions in it is their competitive But then you can't expect him to be a well adjusted Well adjusted adult. He's he's competitive at this point. He his emotions are high And then things like that are coming at him. He can't you can't you can't be above that He has to be you You have to in the NBA has to allow The fans to act like a fan but not act like a Racist or a bigot or like you cannot do these things in the in the course of our people in America right now Once again, what'd you say yellow jackets? Yeah, there are yellow jackets. Oh, I find every For security guys. You don't have to go there Brian And there were a bunch of them standing around monitoring this situation They took this fan out of his seat Interviewing for a couple of minutes brought him back and had a bunch of security people there Now nick and cc discuss how the Lakers season changed after LeBron's injury All right, let's play a little hindsight cc. You think the Lakers would have made the playoffs if it weren't for LeBron's injury? Absolutely, absolutely. I think they would have made the playoff. I think it's fair to say I don't think it's it's an excuse, but it's it's not only LeBron, but the rondo thing You can't have both of those guys out of the organization Because there are a lot of things that not on the stat sheet But the overall leadership and what these younger players need someone to stabilize this ship You can't have both of them injured because the effect from a leadership standpoint when you get injured in sports You lose a lot of your leadership Like Kevin Durant, he couldn't lead last night Professional athletes do not listen to guys that are hurt like you lose that feel we saw that with nick foals Man, what was carcin winds doing cheering? Like you lose your leadership because you're not here to help us and it's amazing It's like you're on a different team when you're hurt compared to when you're in the floor thing even if you're injured and still playing So yes, I think it's fair to say Christmas night, they beat golden state. I mean tremendous wind LeBron goes down No, and nobody started to interrupt just real quick on Christmas night That was when the Lakers were still if you fall down stay down till your teammates get there to pick you up Nobody thought the the veterans and the young players were disconnected like LeBron said it there He said now, maybe he is maybe it's a little revisionist history But he said I thought I was connecting with the young guys I thought and then he was gone They lost the anthin davis thing happened He I think then failed to reconnect with the young guys and it all went a skew But on Christmas night nobody thought they'll even chrismanix had come around Where were they they were in fourth place in the west? Fourth place in the west and I know it was it was it was real tight fourth But they were there but they were right there and they were whooping the warriors But then after that and I like the fact too LeBron. He's starting to get a little more insight He slipped a couple of times. I'm gonna say slip because he didn't say I got injured. He said I tore my groin Steph strained his groin miss levin games LeBron tore his groin. He hadn't been saying that he said he heard his groin But when you tear your groin you could see when he came back He was not at the weight that we saw him on Christmas night You could see he didn't have the cardio didn't have the wind Didn't have the stamina when he went to the button to push it jenna you would like oh man He doesn't have he didn't he didn't have lebron activation mode. So all those things are accurate But if lebron james is healthy the lost lancers lakers are going to be in the playoffs Now if he just has his normal season, we're gonna give him five or six games where he can take off But for load management all those types of thing But if he doesn't miss those 18 games the lakers are going to be in the playoffs and listen the All of that's true And of course that was the key moment now was it salvageable when he came back Maybe if anthony avis never demands a trade and the team stays more connected. Is it salvageable despite the injury? Yeah, probably if luke walton does a better job while lebron's out. Is it salvageable? Yeah, I think it is if they don't have you have a list in front of you of awful losses Off during the injury and post injury. Yeah, it's probably but yeah, of course the key moment's the injury But here's the thing you guys know this about me sports or otherwise. I'm a history buff This is how the mba works. It is moments in time That are fork in the road for lebron How do you skip brings up all the time and he's not wrong in some regard the ray allen shot if ray allen misses that shot Lebron doesn't have a chance to go 37 and 12 in game 7 And the heat blueprint is considered a failure on the flip side the game We were at after the calves won their first title if kyle corber hits his shot Zach loge has wrote a whole story about this the great mba finals We missed out on because kairu is playing at his best level lebron's like what would the narrative have been If corber makes that shot if the calves beat the warriors with the ramp and you're on my side on the My guy mj. I was there for a bunch of them. There was a bunch of times he passed to guys Wide open and they knocked down shots that that being steve kerr that being john paxton bj armstrong Hodges man, they knocked down shots. So those were shots too that changed the narrative We're in new york city How differently do people remember patrick ewing if john stark shot in game six isn't blocked by akeem And they win that title how differently do we remember chris weber and those kings teams if pagia Doesn't air ball the three in the corner in game seven of the o2 western cup its finals like this is what basketball is it is moments in time that We build narratives around one I don't want to say random but one incident and the bronze incident was he slipped on the floor and tore his groin And now it's wow you missed the playoffs in your prime. Are you going to get a free agent? How how good of a leader are you or should the lakers trade you that hey listen? It's not unfair right that is how basketball works That's how by the way football like how many what is the narrative on those bills teams if norwood Makes the first field the field going the first super like this is just how sports are so existential of you this Well, no, but i mean that's just how it is like i don't know nobody should pity lebron or the lakers like that's what happens Narratives are created by small tiny things or decisions or moments and last last point We never think about the things that didn't happen. How many times in lebron's career did he avoid the wet spot? How many times could he have torn his groin where those have been championship seasons? This one's going to be a championship season either way. So like that's just what happens now next year Don't slip on the damn wet spot make the playoffs see what happens Following chris prisard is back with skip and chan to explain why the warriors will run through the west So chris, what was your takeaway from the game last night? Well, I think like most people Seeing boogie and the impact that he had and i've been you know, I've pointed out how the analytical numbers show that they're better offensively and defensively without boogie But last night he showed that the warriors with him have a dimension that not only Cannot houston deal with But I don't think anybody in the league outside of maybe philadelphia can deal with that And that's a low post scorer a center who will punish you down there We just don't have many of those anymore in the mba. They all shoot three right right And boogie did hit a three hit a mid-range jumper So he's got the whole package and then he can pass so well Yes, and that was one thing they used to love about andrew bogan even though You know, he wasn't passing as much out of the post But they loved that he could pass and he got back they got back door layups off of his passes They got open threes off of him drawing double teams. So boogie was huge But here's the thing I think houston would tell you If we had our druthers we want boogie out there because they want to try to exploit him defensively And the thing you saw last night was They were able to have boogie do that. Why? Because kevin durant wasn't there right when you have all four of the offensive stars One of it it can be diminishing returns and that's what the numbers show Right because one of them has to step at least one of them has to step back And then kind of do the things a role player does the little things and stars don't typically do that So that's why even though you can have four great offensive players out there the results aren't the same So that's why I thought and I said Kerr maybe should have had boogie coming off the bench Giving him that second unit and then you know stagger the minutes more and maybe he'll he'll try to do that going forward So you can get more of this out of boogie When a kd or a stef or somebody's not on the floor with them, but overall it looked good It's just a matter of how they're gonna work the minutes Going forward to get the most out of all four of them. Yeah, I just felt I agree with you chris I thought this was a important win for the warriors to aboard this week. Now, houston I don't think houston lost any confidence. We beat you three one Yeah, so what we four oh golden stage gonna say well look it doesn't matter if you beat us four in the regular season You have yet to beat us in the playoffs Boogie is capable more than capable of putting up these type numbers He's he's a dominant big man as we have when healthy Now I still believe he's still a couple of months away from being fully recovered from that achilles injury But when you go 20, you know what you go 27 8 and 7 their big three Minus kd outplayed the rockets big three of harden cp3 and gordon simple as that That's what it came down to but what surprised me most about this game Was how golden state killed him on the glass Golden state is not a great rebounding team They punished them plus 13. Well, you keep giving golden state that many second chances at you Boogie is going to get you down low or eventually clay and steph is going to hit a three and that's what happened so The warriors have to feel good Boogie played the second most minutes of the season The first most minutes also came when katie wasn't in line And that's the dilemma that steve kerr has to have Because katie going to get his minutes. He's going to get his touches. So is stephan clay the odd man out of boogie How much he punished capela last night. He punished him down there on the block. He was unbelievable, but That's my only takeaway skip is that boogie was unbelievable But you know, we expect to see boogie play like this get these kind of minutes with katie in the game It's not gonna happen I'm gonna go much deeper than you two just went. Okay. I think last night was all about kevin dorant Or lack of kevin dorant and i'm gonna hark back to what chris hanes yahu reported when Draemon kevin got into it on the bench during the clipper game And reiterate what draemon said to kevin dorant He according to chris hanes multiple times called him the b word said you know, you're a b to his face And then he said according to yahu We don't need you. We won without you leave Well, what's been the recurring? Subplot to the golden state season is that kevin dorant has one foot out the door, right? Kyrie and kevin are going new york la wherever they're going And you don't think that sticks in the craw of this basketball team a very proud team that has won a bunch of championships And looks like they're positioned to win another one with or without kevin Or so they think and so last night they had an opportunity at their nemesis in houston With no kevin to make a statement and it was clear to me from opening tip That golden state wanted that game a lot more than houston did it Manifested itself in the rebound stats 44 to 31. It's just about want to it's just desire, right? Yeah, we just want the basketball more than you do and they inverted their offense last night and they ran it through De marcus cousins it looked completely different to me than when kevin is on the floor Okay, and and it worked. Maybe it won't work going forward. I don't know but it was different And he's kicking it out. Listen de marcus can really pass the basketball. He is gifted He made a feed early in that game Just a like a slight a hand bounce pass on a back door cut by step and just just hit him right in the hands for Unguarded layup, you know, like it was sweet. It's like wow de marcus cousins at seven feet did that Okay, so in in the big picture It They made the statement of okay. If this is what we're going to be next year Let's say they keep playing keep de marcus next year, which is possible and they lose kevin Well last night you saw what they might be next year And I think they're thinking in the back of their minds. This might be who we are going forward, right? Well, the rocking say you know what we ought to keep bug out there, but we're gonna keep his big button to pick and roll Okay, well, I got it. Yeah, we're gonna see how you find and you know what it did help that for one night James Harden went two for 12 from three when he goes two for 12 You got a shot and with this team we've seen it before we saw last year in the playoffs the achilles there They live and die by the three. Yeah, they live and now look skip. I think you made great points One thing I disagree with I don't think the warriors were out there I think they wanted the game because like steve said it's a statement game. They beaten us 3-0 I don't think they were thinking let's kind of show kevin now Possibly, but I don't think that was a factor. I really think They're all in in terms of just winning this championship with kevin He's probably out the door and let's move on but it's interesting because I was thinking the same thing Could they bring boogie back? Financially, he would still have to take that haircut. Yeah, he was I think they could still only offer him maybe an upgrade on the mid level Or what like it won't be the big money the clay won't like Yeah, and he's he got to get max if kd leaves. Okay, I think they'll max clay They'll max stef's obviously max and then draymines got his money And then you can pay boogie something I think it makes sense for boogie because they'll still be great. They could win another championship There's no doubt without kd and with boogie that they could win the championship even without boogie They'll still be a really good team and have a shot But for boogie you could look at it as this year and I've talked to people around the league about this No matter how like well he plays and his attitude People are going to look at it like of course. You're in golden state Right, you're trying to get the max you are you going to be that way when it's your team somewhere else? But if you stay in golden state next year When a championship or go deep into playoffs kd's not there Then I think your stock rises assuming you play your typical game So it might make sense for boogie in the long run. Well, that would be something kevin kairi joined lebron Then those guys are left up there. Would that not be a battle? The only reason you want kevin and kd with lebron It's so you can say lebron's the third option third wheel You'd be the third wheel To win one more championship one more right, right? You he wouldn't say he the third wheel He'd say lebron the doughnut that little old tie that you put on You know what's going on roll would you write off golden state with demarcus in the middle? And playing stef and draymond. I don't care. I don't care who they got If kd and kairi joined lebron go to state and not see in the leaker. No, I agree But that's not happening. That's not happen. Would that be the end of lebron post game saying I don't have enough help Well, he might he might figure out how to do it I a lot later. He said that. Yes. I didn't hear that yesterday. We're going to talk about that later Just a lot of eyes. You know what jenny? It's been tough for me. I'm gonna have to ban you from going to leaker's game Well, you don't even go to the game. So I don't know if you have Well, I'm gonna have to ban you too I banned myself this year Finally brian scalabrini joins wily and witlock to examine jeff van gundy's comments on the leaker's trading lebron That was in the first quarter. He said this before the game wasn't out of hand and to me that Lends some credibility to what he's saying that he's not just out tossing this out on his own That that's the conversation is being considered and and I think it's a fair conversation. They should consider Potentially trading lebron jack. Yeah, I don't think it was earth shattering when he said it Uh, it wasn't profound because I think a lot of people have started to come around to that that side of thinking Think about it. If ad was able to command the entire leaker's roster outside of lebron Basically, what would lebron command if he were ever tempted or are thrown out there? As a potential trade candidate think about what teams would offer the leaker's in respect And I think that would really put magic johnson in a different place than he's been as the team president If magic johnson is the team president by title By execution by how he actually approaches his job or is he a former player? Who is working as a team president is a big difference because this means you got to do the work Even if it bruises the egos even if it really damages the ego of your franchise player Who went on record when the youngsters were being Trade candidates that's saying it's just a business. Hey man. Don't worry about this This is just how the game goes So if lebron puts himself in that same position if i'm at the johnson I have to find out I have to see what that price tag looks like even if i'm not going to make that purchase And here's the thing I think it does depend on when the lottery ball is bounced around where the lakers finish up It does depend on where a team like the nicks finish up obviously everyone wants zion williamson right now But if you're lebron and let's just say some crazy thing happens and the lakers win the lottery Do you want a 20 year old zion williamson with a 35 year old lebron? And what jeff was basically describing is you got to look at the timeline to win and the lakers clearly See him about winning championships. You got to get guys in their prime at the same time lebron is out of his prime zion williamson is away from his prime So then you have to have the conversation about maybe you can maneuver that for anthony davis But if you can't then I think you have to explore the possibilities of maybe saying going younger I think that's an approach from the clippers could have and they did Execute that approach with blake griffin But see what the problem the clipper is going to have in free agency is the fact that Star players are going to look at them and says what makes me different And why won't you trade me and you're one of my contract if things don't shake out the way you think they should And that perception is not going to leave that's a conversation that they're going to have whoever they interview Whoever they try and woo because you wooed blake griffin to come back You wooed him with a jersey and a rafters you're we're going to retire here You've done so much for our organization You could be here for your your entire career and you trade them in year one So people are going to hear going to have to answer those questions About the Lakers no the clippers are going to have to answer those questions And if the Lakers do the same thing It's going to be a little bit of a stain not a huge thing But a little stain of questions you're going to have to ask if there any loyalty in your organization Boston has to answer that same question as well coming up because you had isiah thomas there and he gave you All he had he had a career year. He was third in mvp votes He played hurt for you and you got rid of him the next year But Ron hasn't done you do not that's it's a juvenile ideal to be able to do that You know why because you had a rough time you made a couple mistakes You didn't put the roster together the way you were supposed to you you internalize that And you do something different and you learn you just don't give up in year one You don't go recruit the the best player in the game and if it doesn't work out because the equation is not all You I just get the best player in the game. We just automatically win No, it shows you that it's harder than just getting the best player or getting a top five player You have to put a roster out there that can compete a roster in line with your stars He almost gave up halfway through the season and won the trade half 13 when it wasn't working out for ad That's not a give up when you try to trade for ad you try to take a generational talent and use your assets to get him It wasn't we're going to trade y'all for anybody. They said But they didn't want to trade LeBron for anybody either. You got to see what that price tag looks like I mean, what's the price lottery picks that you're looking at two lottery picks puts you three more years away from getting to the playoffs I mean you sometimes see the clippers can do that operate under the radar because there are no expectations on the franchise One more clipper shot one This is a 35 win team without LeBron best player in the league. How many wins they're gonna get this year He did not bless. This is not about LeBron James. Don't get a twist. It's not about the the player I'm talking about star x if you sign star x in year one and you just abandon him in year one You have a small stain the what I was saying What I was saying about the clippers is the clippers can operate under the radar Your fans are not saying we need a championship or we need to go to playoffs now They don't they don't have that much pressure They're building a fan base and they're building what they're going to have is a History of winning they're trying to build that history So you're saying you would never even try and figure out what LeBron would command they wouldn't take a call You wouldn't even take a call you wouldn't even find out what that tag looks like No, what jeff and gunny wanted said oh, you could trade them to the clippers and get cap space But they've had cap space before and that's not enough Cap space is not enough guys are not just coming to the Lakers just because we can we have cap space You needed one guy to come once you got the one You you could build off the one but if you don't get the one you're going to have cap space for a long period of time We heard a whole bunch of young guys. So we know that like we've heard that quiet Leonard We don't know we heard quiet Leonard doesn't want to play with LeBron We know paul jors didn't and kd and kd already said kd already said I don't want to go play with LeBron So by sticking it to the clippers won't they want to come to la and play with LeBron We don't know we don't know that paul jors didn't want to we don't know that we know no As a matter of la as a matter of fact, I know that paul jors thought about playing with LeBron Of course he did no no and and didn't have a problem playing with LeBron But what paul jors knew inside of his own head is that he could not operate in la the same way He could operate in a market like indiana. He understood how he got to be paul jorja Oh, yeah, he had full he had full focus on basketball la as a city Is tough to be in and if you do not if you know yourself like I moved I moved out of the city because I have a family I have kids the distraction of the city would have me maybe doing some other things than taking care of my responsibilities So what I do is not dance around there's not a reality that some guys don't want to play with LeBron james That has to factor in the fact that I want to see what LeBron james can command as well Okay, but there's not a star in the NBA that everybody wants to play with There's not there's not so so I don't that doesn't put LeBron james against step curry Some guys don't want to play with step curry somebody. Oh, why somebody don't want to play with kawai They may not like kawai as a person somebody might not want to play with now. We're getting I know It's not a one-size-fit-all for all stars people want to play with Do you take a call? Do you take a call? Do you explore that's why I say we have to do his job You have to be not just be the former player If magic johnson, I figure it out with with who I signed up with I don't want that stigma on my organization I don't want to you had three number two And here's my point here's my point though Dante I don't think the stigma is going to be on the Lakers. I think the stigma right now is on LeBron I think why the the narrative is he's not all in and at this point He's not all in that he's more about his hollywood projects. He's more into wine He's just he's just not all in and so the stigma I think the the media narrative is going to be Man LeBron wasn't all in so I respect and I respect that point of view and let's say if that is the narrative That's what you believe and that's what you think is your answer Then you go to LeBron James and say you know what we need to adjust You need to adjust as a player and I needed to just in performing this roster We we signed up for this and we adjust accordingly Okay, in year two if it doesn't work the way you think it does and LeBron doesn't make the necessary choices And decisions you think should be as your the lead of your team Yeah, you have that conversation But in year one of the of a partnership to try and bring the Lakers organization back I do not believe the same organization that got rid of their number two all Overall picking D'Angelo Russell They've had three number twos in a row and they were going to trade the other two number two overall Where's julius randall right now like this situation right now You they had anxiety before LeBron James came here Do we blossom with the young core golden state warrior style or do we just bring in a cherry on top of things Going to be better they brought in a cherry on top and things are worse They're not they're probably won't have a better record They brought the cherry on top and they had more injuries as an organization that amongst their amongst their core players than anybody in the league He's not 28. No, no, but but but let's take let's take that in consideration People that you count on the play have been hurt all year rondo lanzo LeBron for 18 games. Let me just say the key contributors have been hurt the Celtics traded away Pierce and Garnett and they're still reaping the rewards of those trades forever Jason Tatum brown Kyrie are there because of that trade You're not making that call like what are you going to give me for LeBron James and LeBron's going to get old And one day retire and that pick could be a number one pick in the draft. You're not taking that call You have to take that you cannot you cannot put what paul pierce And and and kevin garnett. We're doing at that point in time Yeah, LeBron James is doing like LeBron James. He's going to get more He's going to get more but that's that's not the answer to this equation if you get more assets That's true. No, no, what i'm saying is you forgot. I forgot How the song and the white hour can leave for nothing. Oh, I forgot Kevin Durant can leave for nothing You know what LeBron just retired if we're better or not. So what is youth equal? What is youth equal in the NBA? Youth equals the championship hope Hope still hope it's only hope We're going to trade LeBron James for all you want. It's hope and for love young players for potential But you know what we brought in LeBron for reality and now they stuck with hope again Not better Thank you for listening to the hoops on fox podcast Don't forget to subscribe and leave a five star review letting us know what you think of the show