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00:00It is our good friend Tom Withers and you know we always say it's not news until Tom Withers says
00:06so
00:06and of course Tom spent all those years with the Associated Press and Tom is now set to join us
00:13on the Wisehart Wright We Make It Right. Call Kyle Wright. Hotline! Hey Tom, how are you?
00:20Hey, hang on a second. LeBron's about to putt.
00:22Okay, hang on a second. Did he?
00:26Draymond, pull the flag. Pull the flag.
00:28Who are you telling to pull the flag?
00:30I'll give you that one, Bron. That's a four. Okay, I'm sorry. Go ahead.
00:37Are they both coming here? What do you think?
00:39Oh my gosh. You know, wouldn't that, by the way, let's take a step back for a second.
00:46Wouldn't that be something, right? Oh my God.
00:50Talk about a 180, about thinking LeBron was going to Golden State if both those guys ended up here.
00:57We can relive the Game 5 moment. Maybe they can put that on that court across the street
01:02from the Rocket Arena now. By the way, I don't know if I mentioned that last time I was on.
01:07They did a great job with that down there. I really think people should go.
01:10It does look cool.
01:11It really is. I hope people go down and check it out and bring your ball with you and get
01:15a couple shots up.
01:16Yeah, really nice.
01:18Jeff was doing a free throw clinic there last time I walked by. It was pretty cool.
01:21Is that right?
01:22Oh yeah. He was doing Rick Barry's and overhand.
01:25Sure.
01:26He loves Rick Barry. You know what? I used to tell my girls when I was coaching that the greatest
01:31free throw shooter of all time shot him underhanded, so don't be afraid.
01:35I met Rick Barry once.
01:36But anyway, here we are.
01:37Nice guy. Not really.
01:38Great guy.
01:39Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I cannot let that go.
01:44Jeff, what do you mean not really?
01:47There have been stories, Tom, about his sons, right? They might not have had the...
01:51Yeah.
01:52Yeah.
01:53Patience? Didn't they have patience?
01:55Rick was a complicated man.
01:58He's been on our show before.
02:00Irassable. Like there's some, yeah, there's some good adjectives to describe Rick Barry.
02:04He's your good player.
02:05You're a good player.
02:06Yeah, no question. So yeah, here we are 16 years later on the watch again, right?
02:12Is this something else?
02:13Yeah, 4.0.
02:13Um, I was just thinking the other day, uh, in 2010, when life was a little bit different,
02:20I mean, you know, we're so consumed with social media now and connections and our jobs and what
02:24have you with the AP then, like we were so afraid of it happening that I had to hunker down
02:30at home,
02:31you know, even though I had a laptop and you could, you could go other places to do your job.
02:36But it was, it was the same week that my son went to Cooperstown and it is one of the
02:41regrets of my life
02:42and career that when PJ went and played in Cooperstown with his Westlake team, I was back at home on
02:49LeBron watch.
02:50So I haven't let, uh, I haven't let number 23 forget that either.
02:54So, um, but all is good, you know, here we are.
02:57Uh, and yeah, I'm sure you guys have been talking about it all morning or all week and all month.
03:02Um, you know, the signs are pointing very positively towards Cleveland, but I'm, I'm just not quite
03:07there yet.
03:07I'm not quite at the point where I can say, you know, matter of factly that he's coming
03:12here because I, I still, while I think he has probably made his decision, I'm not sure he's
03:17really told too many people.
03:18So, um, closely guarded secret and, uh, and we wait again, Tom, if, if he can play like he
03:25played last year for the Lakers, yeah, you take him, wouldn't you?
03:28Well, yeah, he'd definitely help.
03:30And he was really good last year.
03:33I, but I, I, I wonder, are, would people expect too much from a 42 year old player?
03:40That's a great question, Jeff.
03:42And I, and I, I think yes, because he's LeBron also, he's not just the 42 year old player.
03:47He's also King James.
03:48And there are always, you know, outrageous expectations that come along with him.
03:52So, you know, I, I think the variables that I don't think are getting discussed enough,
03:58Jeff and Andy are, you know, how, how does he fit in from a, from the standpoint of the
04:03egos and can he, you know, can he take on the role that Dwayne Wade took on when LeBron
04:09went to Miami, right?
04:10Kind of the, you know, the second soldier, if you will.
04:13Right.
04:14This is Donovan Mitchell's team.
04:15I think, you know, what happened earlier this week, I don't think, you know, it kind
04:19of came and went pretty quickly.
04:21And we had all known the news from about a week earlier or whatever.
04:24But I think Donovan, you know, committing once again to Cleveland, first of all, said
04:28a lot about him and his character and the fact that he's kept his word every time he's
04:32talked about Cleveland.
04:33Um, but it also shows that this team is still committed to building around Donovan Mitchell
04:38for the foreseeable future.
04:39And so then you start to factor in LeBron James and all that comes with him.
04:44And then if you want, if you want to add Draymond Green into that, anyway, you've all, you've
04:48just come off a season in which you've had a hard time kind of integrating James Harden
04:53into a new system, right?
04:55Now you're going to have to do that all over again.
04:56Not to say that you can't do it, but it's just that, um, it's going to, it's going to
05:01take some, it's going to take a little time and you're going to have to figure it out
05:04from the basketball standpoint, nevermind the financial standpoint.
05:06And I'm not sure the Cavs are currently in position to offer the kind of contract that
05:11LeBron James would be willing to take.
05:13So, um, I think there's still going to be some other moves that will be telltale signs
05:18before this does happen.
05:20If it does happen.
05:25Uh, there are things that go along with LeBron.
05:27When you take LeBron, you get the benefits of being able to.
05:31I have a chance of winning a championship every year.
05:33He's on your team.
05:34Although, you know, Lakers will say they looked at one, but you know, one of the things that
05:39Tom, that is interesting, cause we see it with Shadur too, is having a film crew around
05:45the guy all the time while they're playing.
05:48And it sounds like wherever LeBron's going next year, there's probably a film crew, uh,
05:53that's going to be with them and a team would have to sign off on that probably before they
05:56would ever want to bring him in at this point.
05:57But what do you, how does that, how does that, how does that affect things?
06:01Yeah.
06:02I don't think it really matters as much these days, to be honest with you, Andy and Jeff.
06:06I mean, you guys have been in clubhouses and locker rooms and press boxes and on the field.
06:11There's camera crews everywhere now.
06:12I mean, every team has their own in-house social media team that is like constantly, you know,
06:18fluttering around these guys like butterflies.
06:20It's just, um, it's, it's nonstop.
06:23And so I don't think it would be necessarily, you know, invasive to the point of being a
06:27distraction.
06:28Andy, I think it's, um, it's something that I think you're right.
06:31I think the team has to be willing to kind of go along with it.
06:34But in, in this case with this player, uh, you know, once in a generation type player,
06:40we all know what he has meant to Northeast Ohio and Cleveland in particular.
06:43I, you know, I think, I think any, anything that comes along with him is going to be welcomed
06:48that, you know, whether that's a camera crew or everything else that's going on.
06:51It is interesting to, to watch this stuff play out.
06:53Like, and I was thinking about this driving in like, okay, if LeBron comes back and part
06:58of the deal is a documentary crew being around him, like, I didn't think it was a big deal
07:03at all because he's LeBron James.
07:05It's, you know, it's the same reason why when Kobe's last year, he would do a press conference
07:09before and he did a, you know, like a retirement tour thing.
07:11But like when Shadour has it and like, they're holding up the press so that Shadour's team
07:18can get into a room, it's irritating.
07:21And it's like, oh, we don't, we need to worry about being, you know, a champion before we
07:26start documenting, you know what I'm saying?
07:28I was just going to say that Andy.
07:30Yeah.
07:30The other two guys that you mentioned had more than earned the right to have those kinds
07:35of perks, right?
07:35Yeah.
07:36We're, um, obviously not to this point.
07:38And, um, you know, that, that was more of a, you know, that's all the social media and
07:42the younger generation driven kind of, you know, tick tock, look at me type of stuff.
07:47Whereas the other two guys you mentioned are essentially chronicling, you know, two of
07:51the greatest careers that we've ever seen in the NBA.
07:53So very different cases.
07:55And again, I don't think it would be a distraction necessarily.
07:58Um, Andy, but I, you know, and the one thing I did want to mention as well, um, and I,
08:03I posted this on social media a couple of weeks ago, you know, LeBron and his family
08:08were, and I heard this from a person very close to him.
08:12They were genuinely moved by, you know, what happened in January when he came back with
08:16Bronny and, um, the ovation that he got, and you saw how emotional he was down at the
08:21scorer's table.
08:22And, you know, it was just a reminder of what home means to him and vice versa.
08:27And so I think that plays into this as well.
08:30You know, I think there's still that, you know, that bond and that, that, that pull
08:33of coming home.
08:34And if you saw the social media videos that he did over the holiday weekend with, you
08:38know, the whole crew from St.
08:39V and, uh, it's amazing seeing those, those kids now that, you know, I started covering
08:44back when they were sophomores in high school, you know, grown men with families and careers.
08:48And, um, it's wonderful.
08:50And it's great to see how, how all of them have turned out.
08:52Um, it's, uh, it's a real credit to LeBron and the loyalty that he has with his friends
08:57and, and that entire community, the way they, they raised those kids.
09:01You know, what was interesting too, about that game in January, cause I, I was thinking
09:04about this too, that the way the crowd reacted to Bronny.
09:09Yeah.
09:10I mean, if that was my kid and I, and Bronny has nothing to do with it, with the basketball
09:15part of this whole thing, but you know, the, the Cavs were up by like 30 and Bronny ended
09:20up and ended up with eight points, had a dunk in that game.
09:23And it was like, yeah, the crowd wasn't, didn't care that he was wearing a Laker uniform.
09:27It was okay.
09:28Yeah.
09:28I guess they're, they're rooting for LeBron son to do.
09:32I mean, again, this is a Laker player that the, the hometown crowds, it was like they
09:36were rooting for a kid from old trail that, that was the same thing.
09:39It was the same thing the year before Andy, the first time they came back.
09:43Cause I, um, I went down to the shoot around before that game and only because I've known
09:48Bronny since he was born, uh, he was sitting, he was sitting over on the bench and after
09:52we had, and his dad, sure enough, his dad, his dad didn't show up for shoot around.
09:56Imagine that.
09:57And so Bronny was there and they kind of, and they kept him off the, you know, the media
10:01relations group for the Lakers was like, you know, Bronny's off, off limits or whatever.
10:04I was like, yeah, except I know him.
10:06So I went over and I said to Bronny, I go, I go, man, I go, it's unbelievable.
10:09You're back in here.
10:10I could remember you riding up and down the elevators in this building while your dad was playing.
10:14And we had kind of a laugh, we had a laugh about it, but, but you're right.
10:18I think, and you know, from a basketball standpoint, I do think that means a lot though, Andy, I
10:22think, I think LeBron looks at that.
10:24And now that I think we've, we've figured out that that Bronny is, I think he is a rotational
10:29player in the NBA.
10:30I think he's going to, he can play a part on somebody's bench, whether it's Cleveland's
10:34or LA's or whoever's.
10:35And I think LeBron looks at that and feels like, God, how cool would it be if I came back
10:39with my son and then launched his career here in Cleveland.
10:42So I think that's a part of it as well.
10:45Tom, how would dad fit on this team next to Harden, Mitchell?
10:51Yeah.
10:52Yeah.
10:53From, from a straight basketball standpoint, how do you think Kenny makes that work?
10:58Yeah.
10:59That's the interesting thing too, Jeff.
11:00And as I mentioned to you guys a couple of weeks ago, I still think a lot of this hinges
11:04on, you know, James Harden and what they want to do with him and whether or not James
11:09Harden can kind of morph into a different kind of player for the Cavs.
11:13I think we've seen, and especially those of us that have watched LeBron his entire career,
11:18he can be whatever you want him to be out there, right?
11:21Point guard?
11:22Sure.
11:22Got it.
11:23Center?
11:23Need me for a little bit there?
11:25Got it.
11:25Yeah.
11:26He'll do whatever needs to be done.
11:27So I'm not worried about LeBron and his ability to, to fit into whatever Kenny designs.
11:33I think it's more incumbent on the other players figuring out how they would fit around LeBron.
11:39And then tangentially to that is how do we then fit around Donovan and how do we make
11:44sure Donovan, you know, gets lifted the way we need to lift him?
11:48How does Evan fit into that?
11:50Is Jarrett Allen a part of this future going forward?
11:53So I'm not as concerned, Jeff, about how LeBron fits in as how everyone else fits around LeBron
11:58and then those other key pieces that are already in place there.
12:01All right.
12:02So what are we looking for then to watch this happen?
12:06And I think obviously, you know, Schroeder and Struess being moved are going to have to
12:12be a part of this.
12:13And then, you know, Allen is the other part of it.
12:15So what, what are we kind of looking at here?
12:17I think just what you said, Andy, I think it, I think it is those other smaller moves.
12:22Right.
12:22And then, you know, the only thing I worry about, and I know Jeff, I've heard you talk
12:25about this before as well.
12:27You know, Jared Allen is a guy who played exceptionally well this year in the playoffs.
12:30Right.
12:31Sure.
12:31And can we, just one second, can we stop saying that, that I'm not saying you say it, but
12:36like, I heard this again last night.
12:38So you play that these guys play soft.
12:40Like, I didn't think he played soft at all during the playoffs.
12:44That's nonsense.
12:45It is absolute garbage.
12:46Okay, good.
12:47All right.
12:47I'm glad you're here.
12:48Unfortunately for Jared, you know, the comment about the bright lights a few years ago has
12:52trailed him.
12:53Some people have not, you know, been very forgiving with that.
12:56I thought he, I thought he played his butt off.
12:57I think they just ran into a monster in these playoffs in the New York Knicks who were on
13:01a heater run like we've ever, maybe like we've ever seen other than it's funny at the,
13:05at the unveiling of the court downtown.
13:08I even mentioned that to a couple of cabs, you know, front office people.
13:13It was like, you know, the only thing that I can remember being on a heater, like the
13:16Knicks was the 2016 team that we had here.
13:18Right.
13:19I mean, it's just, they, they did the impossible.
13:21Right.
13:21And so my point is though, if you move Jared Allen, then like, who's going to rebound.
13:25Right.
13:26And you're still up against the Knicks and the Celtics and the Sixers and the magic and
13:31that young Hawks team.
13:32And Oh, by the way, the Pacers are going to be healthy.
13:34I mean, the East is formidable.
13:36And so, you know, if you're going to move a key piece like that, you better have a backup
13:40plan in place.
13:41I thought it was interesting, Jeff.
13:42And I think you've mentioned this guy before, and I've, I've liked him throughout his career
13:46and I know he's a little bit older, but Valanchunas got released the other day by the
13:49Nuggets.
13:50Yeah.
13:50And while he's 34, that's still a big body.
13:53So there are those smaller little things like you mentioned, Andy, there's.
13:56There's a smaller, other roster moves that I think are going to have to take place for
13:59this to happen.
14:00And then, and then some, subsequently, there's going to have to be some other moves that then
14:04you use to fortify the roster, assuming that LeBron is coming.
14:10I want to skip baseball question.
14:13They just keep floating along.
14:15Here they go.
14:16Tom, the platooning and the pinch hitting drives me nuts.
14:20Does Steven vote have an alternative or is he trying to milk everything he can out of
14:23this lineup?
14:24You know, he is.
14:26Jeff, that's exactly what he's doing.
14:28It's kind of the survive in advance type of mentality here, you know, while you're missing
14:33two of the best offensive players you have and, and, you know, and the face of the franchise,
14:37right?
14:37So I've been, I, I see where you're coming from.
14:41I know it's tough to not see the same lineup every day.
14:43I think, I think this is what he needs to do until he gets to the all-star break.
14:47They get Hosey back, you know, they take a deep breath, kind of see where they're at.
14:51I, you know, I think it's a credit to them that they're still hanging where they are.
14:55And I know that's also got something to do with the AL central and it being wide open
14:58and the Tigers underachieving.
15:00And, you know, now then the White Sox overachieving or whatever you want to say about them.
15:04And after seeing them last weekend, guys, I think, I think they're going to be hanging
15:08around all year.
15:08And maybe beyond that, that's a pretty good team.
15:11They got some good young pieces.
15:12So, you know, Jeff, I, I see where you're coming from.
15:15I mean, you know, Bazzana hits first one day, seventh the next year, moving Manzardo up
15:19and down.
15:19I do think it's interesting that, that Steven Kwan has come on the last few weeks.
15:24You know, this is a guy that, yeah, you know, he's, he, he looks much better in the box
15:28and Chris, I covered the game last Sunday and Chris Antonetti went to some lengths to kind
15:33of defend Steve in terms of, you know, some of the analytics that people bring up in terms
15:37of, you know, the velocity off the bat and, and, and velocity speed of bad and those kinds
15:42of things.
15:43And just pointed out that the Kwan has just been getting himself into bad hitting counts,
15:47but you've seen him pushing the ball a little bit to left field here and there, right?
15:50Gets on base now.
15:52And again, you know, the other night he hit three ropes and they all were, they were all
15:55caught the next night.
15:56He walks and hits a bloop single gets on base.
15:59So they're doing what they need to do, Jeff.
16:01I'm with you though.
16:02They, they still need that big bat in the lineup.
16:05I mean, Reese Hoskins has not really delivered, but then again, he's hit a couple home runs
16:09the last couple of days, but, you know, getting chased a lot or back and he's been great in
16:13July.
16:14He's also hitting left-handed pitching, which, you know, was kind of a little bit of a knock.
16:18Yeah.
16:19And was a little bit of a knock on him.
16:20Right.
16:20So having him back in.
16:22And I think once you get Martinez and Ramirez back in there, you're actually going to really
16:25be able to make a run and hopefully put some wins together and, and stretch it out here
16:30a little bit in the division.
16:31You know, you bring up Chris, Jeff has talked about this last couple of days when you're pinch
16:34hitting for your number four hitter, you're pinch hitting for your number two hitter and
16:39you have to ask yourself, you know, who's making the, who's making the call.
16:44Is it vote in the moment or is it premeditated or is it coming from Chris or is it like,
16:50or
16:50is this all in the moment?
16:52No, it's vote in the moment.
16:53And it's, and I think it's interesting that he does have the kinds of options that he does
16:57have.
16:57Right.
16:57I mean, David Fry is a real, you know, Swiss army knife that you can plug into a lot of
17:02spots.
17:02Right.
17:03And we've also seen nights where he's batted, he's batted lead off.
17:06There's some nights where he's hit cleanup.
17:07And so, you know, they've got those kinds of players.
17:10Schneeman's also the same kind of guy, right?
17:11You can do a lot of things with them and those are indispensable players.
17:15And let's be honest, guys, those are the players that have gotten you through here over
17:18the last few weeks.
17:19Right.
17:20I, I still can't get over that in one game in five innings, you lost the number one,
17:26two, and three batters in your lineup, including, you know, a multi-time all-star at third base
17:31and the best player in franchise history.
17:34So, you know, again, they've survived.
17:37They've managed to salvage, you know, the finales of some of these series in recent weeks
17:41and they're hanging in.
17:43And I think that's about all you can ask for at this point.
17:45And we'll see what the trade deadline brings or doesn't bring.
17:48As always, you know, we love talking to you.
17:49It's not news until Tom Withers says so.
17:51And Tom, it is now news.
17:53We appreciate you.
17:54Thanks, Thomas.
17:55Anytime, guys.
17:56We'll talk to you soon.
17:56All right.
17:56We'll talk to you soon.
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