00:00Let's go ahead and welcome on the great John Fanta. John, welcome to the show, buddy.
00:04John.
00:05Hello, fellas. I'm looking forward to coming back to Cleveland in two weeks, and I hope
00:11before those two weeks comes that someone else comes back home.
00:15Who's that?
00:16Francisco Wendor?
00:18The king. The king. Come on now. The king. No, not Francisco Wendor.
00:24The king of what?
00:25We just celebrated the 250th anniversary. We don't need the king to come back, friend.
00:30That was all about getting rid of kings.
00:32No King's Day.
00:33Yes, we do need you two. You always get me in trouble. King James.
00:40Oh, that king.
00:42I heard something about that. Hey, John, I have put a stoppage on the decision for today.
00:48I think there's zero chance it happens today because of the Donovan Mitchell news.
00:54Well, it wasn't going to happen last week. Wilson was out gallivanting around. I couldn't find him.
00:59I was on this show. It was a very enjoyable experience.
01:04It won't be today. I don't think so. Today's Donovan Day. Today's Donovan Mitchell Day.
01:10And, you know, I thought that Bobby Marks brought some interesting perspective to it.
01:15But at the end of the day, with the Donovan Mitchell news, my instant reaction to that was just thinking
01:20about how many people,
01:22because I live in New Jersey now, and how many people the moment that Donovan Mitchell became a Cavalier reached
01:29out to me
01:29and said, well, he won't be a Cavalier for long and, you know, he'll be with us.
01:33And, look, the Knicks are doing just fine, and they won a championship, and good for them.
01:37But it has been good to see that a superstar, you know, a top-end star in the NBA,
01:47a guy who I know hasn't won a championship, but a guy who's represented the city and busted his tail
01:53and is one of the best pure-scoring guards in the NBA, that he's decided to call this place his
01:59long-term home.
02:00I think that's a positive.
02:01All right. I do want to get into the Donovan stuff.
02:04Obviously, the La Watch continues.
02:06Obviously, some Gardo stuff.
02:08Maybe a little bit of Browns here or there.
02:11We put out a Twitter poll earlier, it was last hour, on which former Cleveland athlete would you want a
02:18reunion with the most?
02:20Rank these three guys, LeBron, Francisco Lindor, and Baker Mayfield.
02:27LeBron one, Baker Mayfield two, and Francisco Lindor three.
02:33Is it close?
02:38Two and three, I guess, are close, but one's pretty clear to me.
02:43One's pretty clear to me.
02:45John, I can't figure out.
02:47I'm taking all sorts of heat for wanting Francisco Lindor back on this team.
02:50If we can get him not $34 million a year, let's say you cut that in half because the Mets
02:54take some of that money.
02:55I don't understand it.
02:56There's so much backlash.
02:58People are so anti-Lindor.
03:00The man was 10th in MVP voting last year.
03:02He was second two years ago.
03:04He had a rough 35 games this year.
03:06I don't get it.
03:09I think his best baseball days are in the past, and I think the clubhouse scuttle has not been encouraging
03:19from Flushing.
03:20I mean, it's clear that there's a mix-up with the Mets between teammates.
03:26To what degree that is, we don't know the full extent, but their clubhouse vibes are not great.
03:31And, you know, Lindor, I agree with you on the second MVP, and you can get a guy that when
03:39he's playing his best baseball is one of the most valuable players in the league.
03:43But to me, the Guardians are entering a new day with new faces and new guys that can take the
03:51steering wheel.
03:52That's why I put him at three because I think we've seen his best baseball already in Cleveland.
03:58And I don't love a lot of the talks and chats and things that have come out of the Mets
04:06organization where, like, I just—I think the Guardians, they were okay with his departure.
04:12And it didn't seem like there were a whole lot of broken hearts and teary-eyed.
04:18And that speaks volumes to me, guys.
04:20Well, there's nothing they could do.
04:21They knew they couldn't pay him $350 million.
04:24There's nothing they can do.
04:25They weren't upset by it, and they didn't act upset by it because the reality was they were too poor
04:29for Francisco Lindor.
04:32And that's fine.
04:34But I also think that when you lose a guy like that, there's still a real part of you that's
04:40going to naturally feel bad about it and feel upset about it.
04:44And I don't know if I got that vibe from his teammates in Cleveland.
04:49I've sensed some weird vibes ever since he became a Met.
04:52You know, there was a spat that he had with Pete Alonso early on in his tenure where they got
04:58into it in the dugout.
05:00Like, that stuff, that matters to me.
05:04I know you're judging the wrong balance.
05:06Wouldn't you make an argument this is the one place he could go to where we know that wouldn't be
05:09a problem?
05:10Because he'd be entering a clubhouse with J-Ram, and the two of them got along not only swimmingly, but
05:14in a fantastic way when they were here.
05:18That's, yes.
05:19I agree with that counterpoint.
05:23I do agree that Ramirez could get along with anybody.
05:26It's close.
05:27It is close.
05:29But to me, LeBron James can give the Cavaliers, of the three teams here and the three players you'd be
05:36adding,
05:37the player in situation that gives you the best chance at a championship is LeBron James becoming a Cavalier on
05:43this team.
05:44Baker Mayfield ain't winning a Super Bowl in Cleveland.
05:46And Francisco Lindor in a World Series in Cleveland, I still think the Guardians need a lot of pitching help
05:51for that to happen.
05:53John Fanto and the Wiseheart Wright.
05:55You son of a...
05:56Wiseheart Wright, we make it right.
05:58Call Kyle Wright Hotline.
06:00All right, John, let's get to the Donovan side of things.
06:03One of the reaction to Donovan signing this extension is that maybe Cleveland fans haven't given him enough respect yet
06:12or enough love yet.
06:13Do you think Clevelanders are taking Donovan Mitchell for granted thus far in his Cavs run?
06:22I'm not taking him for granted.
06:24I don't think Clevelanders are taking him for granted.
06:28They make that place one of the better atmospheres in all the NBA.
06:32And I think Donovan is appreciated.
06:34But the standard change to 2016, guys, that's why people are starved for LeBron James.
06:40They want him back.
06:41They know what his vision is.
06:43They know the edge that he plays with.
06:45Look, is Donovan...
06:47Is the lack of full love that's perceived for Donovan Mitchell, does that have something to do with just the
06:55fact that LeBron James once held the throne in this town and once was the man?
07:00And when you set a standard like that, you know, I mean, nobody's even come remotely close in Chicago since
07:07Michael Jordan.
07:08I mean, I guess Derrick Rose had a cup of tea, but that's insulting to Jordan.
07:11So the fact is, like, is the viewpoint skewed because we experienced one of the greatest three or four people
07:18to touch a basketball ever in our town?
07:21And so then we don't give Donovan the degree of love that maybe he got in Utah?
07:28Okay, that's fine.
07:30But do I think he gets taken for granted in Cleveland, Ohio?
07:33That's not the type of town that Cleveland is.
07:35All right, where are you at with the LeBron stuff?
07:37Is he coming home, John?
07:39Do you really believe in your heart of hearts he's coming home?
07:42It's meant to be.
07:43It's written in the stars.
07:44Where else should he go?
07:47You tell me he's going to spend a year in Minneapolis or Denver?
07:50I mean, Philadelphia, I mean, I don't see it.
07:54I don't see it.
07:55He can go out a champion in Cleveland.
07:58It can happen.
07:59It is within the spectrum of reality that he can come back home and go out a champion with Donovan
08:06Mitchell, with Evan Mobley, with James Harden, with Jared Allen.
08:11It's within the realm of possibility.
08:14Why not?
08:15You're not going to be loved anywhere else more than you're loved in Northeast Ohio, and you can close out
08:22your career where you started it.
08:24You can close out your career in the area that you started your life.
08:27You've built your life here.
08:29You've built an empire in the town.
08:31They're going to build a statue for it.
08:33Ended in Cleveland, Ohio.
08:34It's where it's meant to be.
08:36I believe he's coming home.
08:37I think he's going to have a draw.
08:40And I think he'll say, I'm taking my talents to Lake Erie.
08:43All right.
08:44Which place that he could land that isn't Cleveland would upset you the most?
08:51Well, it would have been Golden State, but I think they're out of the running.
08:55I would be upset by Philadelphia.
08:59Philadelphia, I'd be upset by Philadelphia.
09:03I just, to me, you know, they go and get Jalen Brown, who was just on Twitch as the season
09:10ended, talking bad about Jason Tatum.
09:13They've got Joel Embiid, who, you know, he's been more hurt than he's been healthy.
09:18They've got some young guards.
09:20But, you know, that town's had a lot of good in it, okay?
09:23They've had a lot of good.
09:24They've had, the Eagles have been rolling.
09:27They've had their baseball team be constantly in it.
09:31You know, the Sixers, they have the process and the process and this.
09:34It doesn't fit for me.
09:36So, if he were a Sixer in a state, in an area that's not too far from Cleveland, Ohio, yeah,
09:42I'd be disappointed by it.
09:43I would be upset by that.
09:45What city do you guys vote?
09:47Oh, it would be Golden State.
09:48It would have infuriated me.
09:49Oh, yeah, big time.
09:50Big time Golden State.
09:51Yeah, not even close.
09:52They're out of the running.
09:53I don't think they're getting him.
09:54I think if they were getting him, it would have happened already.
09:56Are we sleeping on Miami a little bit too much here?
09:59I mean, there's Giannis.
10:01Him and Giannis and that friendship, that's different.
10:04Like, he flies to Greece to train with Giannis.
10:07Like, LeBron's getting on planes going to Greece to see his hometown.
10:11Like, there's a real friendship between Spoh, obviously, and everything that's there already with heat culture.
10:16Like, there's, I think there's more to it than people are letting on.
10:20I agree with that.
10:21And it was a special couple chapters of his career.
10:25I don't know what his and Pat Riley's, you know, I'm not sure what their updated status is.
10:30We know that Pat's trying to go for it.
10:32And Pat Riley can be awfully convincing behind closed doors.
10:35And it's well known around the league that Riley's doing whatever he can to chase one more championship.
10:40So, I agree.
10:41Miami's getting undersold in this.
10:43Like, I put Miami at the second-best chances of landing in.
10:46I don't think, I think if Golden State was happening, it would have happened by now.
10:51Miami, I agree.
10:52It's being underplayed in the sweepstakes.
10:55And it would upset me, but at least there'd be a little, like, Miami's not a sports town.
11:00And I still don't think their championship-caliber team, even if they have LeBron James, I think they still need
11:05a lot of perimeter help.
11:06The Cavs, I thought Bobby said it in the interview, and I'm going to echo it.
11:11There's no better situation for him than Cleveland, Ohio.
11:15Tell me why it's not.
11:18You can't.
11:21Well, too many people like Kevin O'Connor and Bill Simmons want to tell you that this is a bad
11:25fit for LeBron.
11:26Yeah, the NBA nerds.
11:28Bad fit.
11:29That's what they said.
11:30Yeah, that's what Kevin O'Connor and Bill Simmons both said.
11:33And I think a lot of that, John, I think that's people trying to figure out how it would all
11:38work.
11:39Because, you know, Harden needs the ball.
11:41Donovan needs the ball.
11:42I just, LeBron can fit anywhere, in my opinion.
11:45That's how I look at it.
11:46LeBron can fit anywhere.
11:48LeBron James is the ultimate one-to-five-type positional basketball player.
11:54And guess what?
11:55He dictates the plan.
11:57He always is dictating the plans in Cleveland.
12:00He'll never have more control than he does in Cleveland, Ohio.
12:02And guess what?
12:03That's part of LeBron's, part of the experience.
12:05The guy is in control.
12:08Like, in L.A., he was in control to a degree.
12:10And it ended because it's like, hey, it's best for us to just all move on from one another.
12:14We don't see eye-to-eye on things.
12:16And it was best for the Lakers to move on, too.
12:18Honestly, the last couple of years, they've made some poor decisions themselves.
12:22But the two sides are holding each other back.
12:24I don't agree with the take from guys I respect.
12:28I respect Bill and Kevin.
12:30But LeBron James is the ultimate fit-in-anywhere guy.
12:33Like, oh, James Harden needs the ball.
12:35Donovan Mitchell needs the ball.
12:36No.
12:37If LeBron's having one last dance at this thing, he'll tell people how they need to play.
12:41And one of the great things about Donovan Mitchell is he listens.
12:45Donovan's a consummate professional.
12:47Donovan, you know, can Harden go off on his merry way?
12:50Sure, he can.
12:52But if there's any guy who could get James Harden to be a little under control, it's LeBron James.
12:58Let me read you what Kevin O'Connor was trying to make the case with.
13:01He says, James Mitchell and Harden's an awful fit.
13:03Not enough defense.
13:04Not enough off-ball movement.
13:06Not enough spacing with Allen and Mobley, either.
13:08A flawed bench.
13:09Their coach just blundered big time.
13:11I just don't get it.
13:13Their coach just blundered big time.
13:15I mean, here's the thing.
13:19The bench situation, guys, the stars win.
13:24LeBron James has only elevated people throughout his entire career, okay?
13:29Yeah, he gave Kyrie Irving the best basketball of his career.
13:32Hell, he gave Kevin Love the best basketball of his career.
13:36He comes into Cleveland, he will fit with Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley and James Harden and Jared Allen.
13:44And guess what?
13:45If it's not fitting, he'll find someone who gets it to fit.
13:48He'll find a coach who gets it to fit.
13:50And that's not me trying to threaten Kenny Atkinson.
13:52It's just the reality of how things work with LeBron James in the NBA.
13:56I don't understand the take that the pieces don't fit.
13:59The Cavs bench, it is what it is.
14:01But the fact is, you stack up those people at the top of your lineup, and if they're healthy for
14:08postseason basketball, that is one scary, scary team.
14:12And you're underselling the defender that Mobley is when you say that things don't fit.
14:17Because you could say the Cavs aren't going to be good enough defensively.
14:20They've got one of the best defensive players in the league.
14:23And a hungry LeBron James out for a championship, they could supplement their roster with some cheaper bench pieces, too,
14:29that know how to play some defense.
14:30So I am not sitting here worried about the fit idea.
14:35There's no better place for him to end his career in, whether he wins a championship or not.
14:40And this team is still, they're still a top six or seven team in the NBA.
14:46You know, the Cavaliers are still in a good position.
14:50With LeBron James, he could get them over the top.
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