00:00I think there's a lot we need to really focus on and chew on and examine on today's show
00:05after the season ended last night for LeBron James and the LA Lakers swept out of the second
00:11round against a juggernaut OKC team. And this could be the final time LeBron James played
00:17basketball in his legendary majestic career. LeBron James to me is the second best ball
00:24player in the history of the NBA. Sometimes people view that like it's some kind of criticism
00:30when I have Michael Jordan draw a line LeBron James. I mean that is the ultimate compliment.
00:35And in terms of longevity and being a dominant legendary all-time ball player, nobody comes
00:43close to LeBron and what he's doing at the age of 41 years old. So I think when you watch
00:50the game,
00:50you listen to LeBron, you listen to the comments after, it's worthy of talking about and fleshing
00:57out a few different topics and a few different takes. Will LeBron call it a career? Will LeBron,
01:04if he wants to play again, resign with the Lakers? If it's not with the Lakers, will he go elsewhere?
01:11And I think it's a loaded one here, but we have to examine it today. Do the Lakers want LeBron
01:18James
01:19back. So let's start at the beginning. I think LeBron is absolutely going to play next year.
01:26And I thought he was pretty thoughtful after the game. He's going to recalibrate. He's going to
01:30talk with his family, talk with his friends. I honestly think, and if you watch the game,
01:34LeBron was magnificent and majestic yet again last night. Over 40 minutes of pure gold at the age of
01:4141. And the fact that the Lakers had the lead last night going into the fourth quarter,
01:48first time OKC hasn't had a lead going into the fourth quarter of a playoff game this entire year,
01:54that's all because of the genius and the greatness of LeBron and what he left on the floor.
01:59I think LeBron absolutely can still play and still play at a high legendary level. I also think if
02:08we're being honest, and we always are, LeBron James is one of those athletes who wants to have a
02:14retirement tour. LeBron wants you to look at him. LeBron wants to go to Sacramento and go to Detroit
02:22and go to Brooklyn. He wants the fans to be there. He wants to celebrate. He wants every arena to
02:29have a video
02:30tribute to him. I don't believe it's even in the realm of possibility for LeBron, if you have followed his
02:37career, he's not going to retire after a season quietly on social media. That's not LeBron. That's not what he
02:44does.
02:45There is a major look at me quotient when it comes to LeBron James. He will have a retirement tour.
02:53So I would be surprised. Now, I do think what James said about getting to the arena five to eight
03:00hours
03:00in advance, and he's going to be 42 next year. And think about this, and it's a credit to LeBron.
03:06In his years on the planet, he has spent more time in the NBA than not. Think about that for
03:13a second.
03:13He joined the NBA, joined the Cavs as a kid out of Akron, out of high school. He has spent
03:18more time
03:19on planet Earth as an NBA player than not. That's kind of crazy. And that's a credit to LeBron James.
03:27Still can play at a high level. And I think that he absolutely, once he takes a breath,
03:33you know, he obviously can play with his son. He's got a great family in the area. He has a
03:39great
03:39rapport with J.J. Redick. You know, he's got Hollywood right there. I think it makes too much
03:45sense for him to play another year and, frankly, to play for the Lakers. And you look at what LeBron
03:52has done as a Laker. Of all the boards we could run today on Shine Time, this, to me, is
03:58my favorite
03:59because I always and forever think of LeBron as a Cav. I think of LeBron James and what he did
04:06when he
04:07took his talents to South Beach. It was four years of gold. Anyone who says otherwise, that dopey
04:13dance off with Bosh and Wade was cringe-inducing, not one, not two, not three, in terms of the
04:18championships. He played in Miami for four years, won two titles. The other two years, he
04:24made the NBA Finals. By any description, that is a monster success. Goes to Cleveland, delivers
04:31Cleveland the championship, and then goes to the Lakers. And look at this. This is worthy
04:36of celebration. This is worthy of jubilation and appreciation. And LeBron James is not only
04:43an all-time great, he's an all-time great Laker and deserves. Now, again, you start talking
04:49about where he ranks as an all-time great Laker or how fans think of him. I mean, we could
04:54talk about Magic. We could talk about Kobe. We could talk about Kareem. Even Shaq, to a certain
04:59extent, right? You know, there are different guys, Jerry West, who obviously have that pull
05:06when it comes to the heartstrings for the fans of the L.A. Lakers. But, look, I think the Lakers
05:12should absolutely want LeBron back. I don't see LeBron retiring, and I also don't see him
05:19picking his talents elsewhere. Think about it from a few different perspectives, right?
05:24Here are some of the usual suspects, and tell me if you can see it. Golden State Warrior LeBron James.
05:33He's pretty close to his home in L.A., obviously. Steve Kerr's coming back. You still have Steph.
05:39They can't fully ever break it down to build it back up because Kerr's staying. Curry's
05:43staying. And I get that from a business perspective. I just don't see that benefiting LeBron. Is he
05:50going to go to the Knicks after they make the NBA Finals? Is he going to take a pay cut
05:54to do that?
05:55Is he going to sign with the Clippers? Is he going back to Cleveland? Like, I'm struggling here
06:01trying to find another NBA team that for basketball or beyond would make sense. Again, he plays with
06:09Bronny. It just checks a lot of boxes. Great relationship with J.J. I think that LeBron
06:14absolutely should. First of all, he wants to. He's going to want to play again and should want to play
06:20again with the L.A. Lakers. Then it comes down to do the Lakers want him back? Will they want
06:27to run it
06:28back? And I love the fact that we played that Luka Doncic soundbite. Because make no mistake here,
06:36the Lakers are now Luka's team. The Lakers are no longer LeBron's team. And LeBron knows that.
06:45And he's going to have to realize that if he won't. And I think he does based upon how he
06:51played in
06:52March, after he came back, remember that road trip where they started 3-0 and Doncic was
06:56unbelievable and Reeves was unbelievable. And then James came back and fit in and was that third
07:01option. And all throughout the month of March, you had people like me saying Lakers are
07:06unbelievable. Lakers are the team that can compete with OKC. And then Doncic and Reeves get hurt on
07:11April 2nd. And poof, that concept went up in smoke. I think the Lakers are without question
07:18Doncic's team. I think that Luka, and The Athletic reported this today, wants Austin Reeves,
07:26who's also a free agent, wants him back. And I would give Austin Reeves a bag. No question about
07:31that. I don't want to hear about the playoffs with Austin Reeves. He's not even close to being 100%.
07:36And he played hard and he played beautifully. Had an opportunity to tie that game on that three,
07:42that missed last night. Reeves poured in the points. And he's clearly not 100%. He rushed
07:48to be back out there for himself, for LeBron, for JJ, for Lakers fans everywhere. So I can do
07:55nothing here but give credit to Austin Reeves. And I think LeBron knows the deal in terms of
08:00fitting in with that structure. And look, Luka was going to be damned if he answered that question
08:07by saying, of course, I'm going to recruit LeBron because that wouldn't sound great. Now,
08:13Luka, who I love, had kind of a smug, arrogant expression on his face and, you know, obviously
08:20kind of came across in a not positive way. But he didn't say anything incriminating there.
08:26So I'll tell you what I would do, right? And I know Lakers fans, you know, I interact with them
08:31on
08:32my sports talk radio show, Shine on Sports on Mad Dog Sports Radio and Sirius XM. I get all the
08:37feedback on X and on Instagram from you guys. And right now, as you're watching live on YouTube,
08:43on the chat, we're reading all the comments. I know Lakers fans are torn on this and I know that
08:49it's loaded, right? I think you have to run it back. I think you have to remember what March was.
08:57And it was going to be a march to the playoffs, literally and figuratively, where I thought
09:03the Lakers would hold on to that three seed. And I thought the Lakers would be the biggest
09:07challenger. They'd beat the Spurs in the second round and be the biggest challenger to OKC.
09:11And they would have an opportunity to beat them. Look, if Doncic was healthy,
09:15this series is still going on. If Doncic was healthy, the Lakers hold on to that three and
09:21they're playing San Antonio in the second round. Let's not forget about this. So I think that they
09:26have to add more in terms of depth and more in terms of scoring off the bench. Listen,
09:32I don't think DeAndre Ayton needs to be thrown out. I could understand why a Laker fan is kind
09:37of fed up. JJ Reddick's kind of fed up. If you get rid of Ayton, great. Just tell me who
09:43replaces him.
09:44And here's the other thing that I think really needs to be discussed, right? We're doing 10 minutes
09:49to start the show on this topic with LeBron coming back. If the Lakers find a way to trade for
09:55Giannis Antetokounmpo, we will strike this from the record and you'll never find it again on YouTube.
10:00Because if you can get Giannis, great. I just don't think that's possible. I want Jennifer
10:04Aniston to return my telephone calls. It's just not happening. Maybe I'm missing something unless
10:10Giannis forces his way to the Lakers. But, you know, they don't have enough in terms of players
10:16and draft picks and you have to get a second team, a third team in. And I don't think that
10:20anyone really wants to help out the Lakers when it comes to this. So, I also think, and
10:27Lakers fans have been split on this all day long with me, I think this Lakers season was
10:34a success. And I know when you start talking about history of the Lakers, expectation of the Lakers,
10:42where LeBron is, you make the Luka trade so you have a window to win. Listen, the start of the
10:48season
10:49was chaotic and frenzied and a bit of a mess. But it was in route to being one for the
10:56ages and one to
10:57remember. And the fact that James was the reason why they beat the Houston Rockets, even without
11:04Durant playing, this was all on LeBron. And he deserves so much credit. Historically, in-moment,
11:11big picture, whether or not you bring him back. LeBron deserves all the credit in the world for what
11:17he did after the injury, what he did at the end of the regular season, galvanizing the team,
11:22getting everyone together, and then having the ability to play like he did and lead this team
11:29against Houston. And if you're watching the games, you're not a box score warrior. You know that,
11:38I understand the Lakers got swept. These games are as competitive as you can have against OKC,
11:44which is a juggernaut. And the Lakers and LeBron deserve credit for that. So, I don't think James is
11:51going to retire. I would be stunned. No one loves LeBron quite like LeBron. I don't think he's
11:56leaving without a retirement tour. I think LeBron should go back and play. He should go back to
12:02the Lakers. And the Lakers should want him back. They should want him and Luka and Austin Reeves
12:10together. And look, LeBron at 42 is not going to be LeBron at 22 or 32 or even 37 years
12:18old. But if you
12:20can get this, what you just saw from LeBron James, and you get those surrounding parts and pieces,
12:27and I think Lakers fans have now realized, I know I have this year, J.J. Redick knows what he's
12:34doing. That hire at the time always seemed like you are hiring LeBron's podcast partner and buddy.
12:41And that's always seemed weird. I was wrong. J.J. Redick can coach. He can absolutely coach.
12:48So, I am fascinated to see how this plays out. And remember, and this is also interesting,
12:54LeBron's a free agent, unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.
12:58There's always been some kind of option attached to LeBron James, his option, team's option.
13:04He's free, so he can do whatever he wants. He's also not the biggest fish. This is the summer of
13:11Giannis. Now, Antetokounmpo is not a free agent, but everyone's waiting to see where he gets traded.
13:17And I think Giannis is going to get traded before the NBA draft. I mean, if I'm Milwaukee,
13:22that makes sense. It's not an absolute. You could trade him before free agency,
13:26but why wouldn't you do it before the draft so you can help stockpile picks to help your team
13:31ultimately compete and win for the great fans of Milwaukee? So, this all relates here. It's all
13:38part of the puzzle, all part of the equation. I just can't see LeBron playing for the Warriors or
13:44the Clippers or the Cavs or the Knicks next year. It just always comes back to the Lakers. I think
13:50LeBron should be celebrating as an all-time Laker great. In addition to being a top two all-time NBA
13:57player, we're talking about next year, and I think this is important to stress, season 24.
14:0724th season for LeBron James next year at age 42. So, I can appreciate why he will take some time
14:15to
14:15think about everything. But man, LeBron James, the way he played this postseason at age 41,
14:24I thought this was absolutely remarkable, and it should be celebrated at every single turn.
14:29And if I'm the Lakers or Lakers fans, I would never kick LeBron James to the curb.
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