00:00There's a quote from Mark Stein, who for me is one of, I don't know, what would you say?
00:06To me, there are five to seven NBA reporters out there who I kind of elevate up there.
00:11I wouldn't get by five without using Mark Stein's name.
00:15Right. Stein, Shams, Wendy, Ramona, you know what I mean?
00:20And I think that that probably is the Rushmore.
00:23And it used to be Adrian Wojnowski, but now he's at St. Bonnie's.
00:27So I don't think you get past that for Nick Friedel.
00:33Well done.
00:34But yeah, he's right in there.
00:36And so when Mark Stein says something, you have to take it, you know, not as total truth, but you
00:41have to believe it.
00:42So how's that quote make you feel?
00:44The Warriors, most of all, owner Joe Lacob, appear determined to stay in it until the end.
00:52And it obviously is the LeBron chase.
00:54Right. It is not a surprise to me because Joe Lacob, I don't know Joe very well.
00:59I've talked to him a small handful of times, but he doesn't, he doesn't like taking L's.
01:05Joe Lacob is about that W.
01:07I think that he would want to change his name to Joe Wacob because, you know, his last name starts
01:13with an L.
01:14He doesn't take L's.
01:15It's not what he does.
01:16He buys the team.
01:17He goes out on the Mullen retirement ceremony and talks about hanging banners like, how dare you?
01:23And then he started hanging banners.
01:25And Joe Lacob went from a not completely nothing as a kid, although I do believe it was hard scrabble.
01:32And he's become a billionaire.
01:33So when you're used to getting wins, you're not going to come out and just bow out of the LeBron
01:39chase.
01:39Of course.
01:40I don't know.
01:40It's funny because I take it differently.
01:43I sort of look at it and I'm like, well, right.
01:47Who's not determined to stay it until the end?
01:49When is the end?
01:50What do we even, what does that mean?
01:52Right.
01:54Again, what are you hosting a press conference?
01:56And you're like, we're here to announce that we're out.
01:59Okay.
02:00In order to do what?
02:01Where are you going?
02:02Who else are you signing?
02:04Why do you even need to say that?
02:06If this is not a financially driven decision and we've been told that it's not, then like,
02:12what does that even mean?
02:14Stay in it or bow.
02:15There's nothing.
02:16It's just, we're here.
02:17And then at a certain point, he's going to let everybody know what jersey he wears next year.
02:21So for me, A, a piece of it was kind of obvious already.
02:26But B, I would, if I'm Joe Lacob or Lacob, I'm not terribly thrilled with this quote because it is,
02:37it's painting him as the guy who wants it more than others.
02:41And I don't believe that to be true.
02:43And if it is, that's not good.
02:47That's not good.
02:48Joe Lacob cannot want this more than Mike Dunleavy, Steve Kerr, Steph Curry, and Draymond Green.
02:55I don't think that's good.
02:56Well, he owns the team, so he can.
02:58Of course he can.
02:59He can do whatever he wants.
03:01That's kind of not what I'm getting at.
03:02What I'm getting at is, why was it written this way?
03:07Why is Mark Stein getting that impression?
03:10Is Mike Dunleavy on the phone with Mark Stein going, like, we're in.
03:14We want LeBron.
03:16You should see Joe.
03:17He super duper wants LeBron.
03:19Man, he can't stop calling me about LeBron.
03:22Me?
03:23I mean, I'm in.
03:24But whatever.
03:26I don't believe that that's the way it's going.
03:28But that's kind of the way the quote plays, in my opinion.
03:32It makes it sound like Joe's really in on this.
03:36And the rest of the crew is in because Joe told them they had to be.
03:40And again, I'll state very clearly, I don't believe that that's fact.
03:44But that's the way the quote reads.
03:45Yeah.
03:46And, I mean, the quote reads the way it reads based on, you know,
03:50Mark Stein getting a sourced report, I'm sure,
03:52or talking to somebody who is either inside that building or somebody who knows.
03:57And, yeah, Joe Lacob, I would imagine, if he wants LeBron,
04:01and let's just hypothetically say that Dunleavy doesn't and Kerr doesn't,
04:05and nobody else does in the building other than Joe Lacob,
04:08you're still going to be all in because Joe Lacob runs the team.
04:12And so.
04:13But don't you believe, I mean, I think they all want him.
04:15I don't know why at this point they wouldn't.
04:18Right.
04:18What's the downside?
04:20It depends on what you have to do to get him.
04:22Okay.
04:22And if it means four picks for Anthony Davis or, you know,
04:25the other piece of it, the other shoe that it would have to drop, then yeah.
04:28But if it's just, hey, LeBron, come here and we'll do nothing else,
04:32but you come be a warrior, of course.
04:34I mean, sure.
04:35That's a fair sort of way to put it.
04:37But at the same time, I mean, let's just take LeBron on the surface
04:42and think about it that way because that's the way it's written.
04:46The Warriors, most of all, owner Joe Lacob,
04:48appear determined to stay in it until the end.
04:51And, like, that's not about picks.
04:56That's not about Anthony Davis.
04:58That's just we want him.
05:00We're in it.
05:01We're in it to win it.
05:02We're in it to the end.
05:04We're not pivoting to DeMar DeRozan.
05:07Not yet.
05:08Or anything else.
05:09We're in it, and we're going to see this whole thing through,
05:12which I think in general is actually a very good quality in people.
05:15Like, yeah, you lay the card, play the card.
05:19This is what you want to do?
05:20Then go for it.
05:22But, again, I don't see a downside to this.
05:26I know some do just because they don't like LeBron.
05:29But other than that, LeBron on the surface, don't worry about picks or AD.
05:35I don't see any downside.
05:37I don't.
05:39Yeah, me either.
05:40You might.
05:40I don't.
05:41I mean, I don't know what the downside would be.
05:44Some people would think that the downside is you are capitulating toward a guy
05:49who's been the villain.
05:49He's been the enemy for so many years.
05:52I don't really see it that way.
05:53I see it more from an entertainment standpoint and how entertaining it would be to see Horford
05:59and Porzingis and Steph and Dre and LeBron and, like, that team.
06:04When they're all out there together, all these guys over 37 at Lee or 36, Draymond Green.
06:10And, for me, then you get Jimmy Butler back.
06:13Like, I don't know if it wins or if it even advances in the playoffs, but it would be interesting.
06:17Yeah.
06:18For sure.
06:19Very interesting.
06:20Right.
06:21Right.
06:22To the point where, by the way, I don't even know.
06:26It's not like there's some other option that puts you in the Final Four or guarantees you anything.
06:33So, yeah, I'm in big why not mode.
06:36Why not?
06:37I think it'd be great.
06:38I think it'd be great.
06:38And, by the way, the AD thing, like, I'm like you, I'm out, but I'm out depending on what the
06:46price is.
06:47I don't think I'm all the way in on any price, but I do think that the price affects the
06:53opinion.
06:54You know what I mean?
06:55Somewhat, yeah.
06:55You mentioned four picks.
06:57Yeah, I'm out.
06:58Three picks?
06:59I'm out.
07:00Two picks?
07:00Maybe.
07:02Maybe.
07:02Two picks and pods?
07:03What if it's two picks and one of them is next year's pick?
07:05Like, now I'm kind of starting to, like, okay, I could wrap my head around that probably.
07:12I'm not, I don't like, like, great.
07:14Right.
07:14But I'm not offended by that idea.
07:17That, to me, would be probably the point where I would actually think about it if it was two picks,
07:23next year's and a future pick, whatever.
07:25But Steini had an interesting point he made about, like, Washington, and does Washington even want to engage in any
07:33of this?
07:33Because they've been so bad for three years, and now you've got a young core, and you have a couple
07:38of vets, and so now might be the time to go out and try and win.
07:41They may not want to engage in this.
07:43Guess what they also might not want?
07:44They might not want anything to do with Anthony Davis.
07:47Because I don't think he wants to be there.
07:48Yep.
07:49So, smart of them to keep their cards close to the vest.
07:53That's how you negotiate.
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