00:00Will today be the day?
00:01I would be surprised if it is.
00:03At this point, you're looking, I think, at Monday of next week, Tuesday.
00:06Whenever it is, he's going to announce it.
00:08And I personally hope it's Cleveland.
00:10Love to see him come back.
00:12Love to see what this team could do in that situation.
00:14It would be wildly entertaining to watch LeBron and the rest of these Cavaliers.
00:20If they have to make major changes to this team to make that happen,
00:25like Jared Allen or Evan Mobley, I'll have to be convinced of that.
00:30I wouldn't care for that.
00:32But if you can put LeBron in with these other guys and if you could do that
00:41and put him in with the four guys that we think are going to be here,
00:44then I would do that.
00:45Fearless Leader says LeBron did the I'm Coming Home drop on a Friday.
00:49All right, well.
00:50At noon.
00:51That was his mistake.
00:52At noon.
00:53No, he didn't do it.
00:54But it's the later in the day on Friday, the deader the story becomes.
00:58Yeah, well, if you get it close to 5 o'clock, you're doomed.
01:01It's just that he gets buried.
01:02Here's a Friday at noon coming up when he's doing his TV show, so maybe he does that.
01:08He was on this podcast yesterday.
01:10And apparently on the Rich Eisen show, and Rich was with the NFL Network
01:15that got brought out by ESPN, so he's kind of back with ESPN
01:18and doing their whole thing.
01:19But his producer and contributor predicted team wins,
01:26whichever team wins LeBron sweepstakes will be a non-factor this season.
01:31And this guy, his name's Chris Brockman.
01:34Chris said, LeBron's going to be a non-factor.
01:37I think everyone needs to ready themselves for that.
01:39If he goes to Miami, enjoy the play-in tournament.
01:44Well, LeBron heard that, apparently.
01:47You might not be aware, but LeBron pays a lot of attention to this stuff.
01:53He knows what's going on.
01:55He knows what's being said about him.
01:57And he said, I'll quote, and I'll leave out the nasty word.
02:02I seen something on social media the other day that wherever I go,
02:06we'd be in the play-in tournament or some like that.
02:09And I'm not a factor anymore, so I get that as well, too.
02:14That's just a little motivation.
02:16Here's the thing.
02:17If LeBron can play at 42 like he played at 41, he's a huge factor.
02:23Huge factor.
02:24He was very good last year.
02:27Very good.
02:28Just under 21 points, just over six rebounds,
02:31and just over seven assists per game.
02:34I'll take that.
02:35That's an all-around basketball game.
02:37The only thing missing was defense.
02:39His defense isn't what it used to be.
02:42Okay.
02:44I think he'd be a great addition to this team next year.
02:47I just don't think he is.
02:49He needs to be an important part of the team.
02:52I just don't think he's the end-all, be-all on this team winning a championship.
02:55And I don't think the team is built to be that way.
03:00The more you read about what's a better fit for him moving down the road,
03:06it does seem like Miami might be a better fit for him.
03:09It does seem like Philly might be a better fit for him as far as winning a championship.
03:14If he's looking to win, yeah.
03:15If he's looking to play a huge role, Golden State's a better situation.
03:18It probably is.
03:19Yeah.
03:20I do think, though, there is a level of comfort.
03:26There is a level of chance of being able to win a championship here in Cleveland.
03:31Absolutely, I believe that.
03:35Part of it is coming home because you're coming home.
03:38And I think that that is what I think motivates this whole thing.
03:43I'm also watching to see, and Jeff and I were talking about this before the show,
03:47what happens with these guys on the roster before the action actually takes place.
03:54And so what do I mean by that?
03:56I mean that, you know, they're going to have to make peripheral moves to bring him in.
04:02You would think.
04:03I can't imagine they would just bring him in.
04:05Unless he takes the minimum.
04:07And that would truly be him sticking to his words that this is about happiness.
04:13Right?
04:13If I were him, I'm not taking the minimum.
04:15There's got to be a little bit more there.
04:18I'd be stunned if he took the minimum.
04:19So, like, I'm watching to see what happens to Max Struis.
04:23Like, that to me is, like, it's an indicator.
04:26Right?
04:26What happens to Max Struis?
04:31What happens to the rest of the roster, these little pieces that happen along the way
04:38before a move actually happens?
04:40Right?
04:41What happens to Schroeder?
04:43And, like, I kind of think that this thing's going to go down.
04:46Like, if he comes to the Cavs, that the move will be, internally they will know that LeBron's
04:54coming back to Cleveland.
04:56Internally.
04:56So then they know they've got to move pieces if they're going to try to give him more money
05:00or they're going to try to make this thing a little bit more different.
05:03So if you're Schroeder, you know, or Struis, you know now you're on the move.
05:10And I kind of think that we're going to hear about Schroeder or Struis first, before we
05:17hear about LeBron, with LeBron probably being a done deal in the background, but waiting
05:22to announce.
05:22So those two guys, I think, are the indicator on if LeBron's coming back.
05:27If those two guys don't move, then what LeBron does next probably won't involve Cleveland.
05:34That's the way I'm kind of looking at it.
05:36And the reason I think that we'll hear about them before we hear about LeBron is because
05:42if they're getting moved, their camps really aren't going to care.
05:45And an agent's going to say something, or someone close to the family, or those guys
05:50are going to be like, hey, I got traded to the Lakers.
05:52I got traded to Golden State.
05:55I got traded to one of these other places.
05:57And they're going to be like, well, wait a minute.
05:58If those guys are gone, what's happening?
05:59And then boom.
06:00Then I think you're going to hear about LeBron.
06:02So I'm looking for the indicator lights to come on before things change.
06:06If those lights don't come on, I don't think LeBron's coming back.
06:11He spent eight years in Los Angeles.
06:15In his eight years in Los Angeles, the Lakers missed the playoffs twice.
06:21They were knocked out in the first round three times.
06:27They lost in the conference semis this year.
06:30They lost in the conference finals in 2023.
06:35And they won the NBA championship in the COVID year of 2019-2020 when it was in the bubble
06:42under Frank Vogel.
06:44And for whatever that's, so that's not the playoff record that the Lakers were hoping for,
06:50I'm sure.
06:51They missed the playoffs twice and knocked out in the first round three times
06:54out of LeBron's eight years there.
06:57And in the regular season, they won 50 or more games in three of the eight seasons.
07:04That was it.
07:07So it wasn't an overwhelming, rousing success.
07:11John Ireland was with us a week ago today.
07:13And John said one of the big mysteries of his career is why LeBron really wasn't embraced
07:18by the Laker fan base.
07:20But you see that, don't you?
07:21I see why.
07:21I see it.
07:22You can't be the...
07:23But John understands too, though.
07:24Yeah.
07:24But when you think of the Lakers, I'm looking at something here at Basketball Reference,
07:31looking at the Lakers' past performances.
07:33They always list the top 12 players, and they show pictures of guys.
07:38And maybe it's just not updated, but LeBron's not on the list here of the top players in
07:44Laker history.
07:45And, you know, of course he is.
07:47But it's Kobe, Jerry West, Kareem, Magic, George Mikan, Elgin Baylor, Shaq, Vern Mickelson
07:57going back to the Minnesota days, James Worthy, Byron, A.C. Green, Will Chamberlain.
08:02And Zen LeBron?
08:04LeBron's not there.
08:06They have all-time top 12 players, and they run pictures for every team.
08:13And LeBron's not in that group right now for the Lakers.
08:15But these other guys are iconic Los Angeles Lakers.
08:19And that's part of the reason why maybe he wasn't embraced there as everybody thought
08:26he would be or should be.
08:27And maybe the fact that in five of the eight years you didn't either make the playoffs or
08:33get out of the first round.
08:35And that said, that's proof that you can't do it by yourself and why he needs to pick
08:41the right spot to win.
08:44Because he's not the same guy.
08:47The same guy was one of the best two or three players in NBA history.
08:52You know, arguably top seven.
08:54Charles Barkley picks him seventh.
08:56I'd say he's in the top five, depending on what you're going to use as your criteria.
09:00He could be the best ever, depending on what you use for your criteria.
09:03Right.
09:05But at this point in his career, Andy, it would be foolish to think that a 42-year-old guy
09:10is going to lead you to an NBA championship.
09:12He needs, depending on what he wants.
09:15You know, if it's about winning, Cavs have a chance.
09:20I would think that they might be the second or third choice.
09:22Right.
09:23If it's about winning.
09:24Right.
09:24First choice would be Philly, I would think, right now.
09:28If it's about making the most money, it might be Golden State.
09:33If it's about playing with your buddies, it's not Cleveland.
09:37He doesn't have buddies on this team.
09:40Now, he could bring some in.
09:42If it's about buddies, he's going to Golden State.
09:44Let me throw this at you really quick.
09:47Would you rather, you personally, would you rather walk away from a game that you've been
09:52unbelievably successful at as on top by winning a championship or by just playing until they
10:03tell you you can't play anymore?
10:04I think you've got pretty much two choices there, right?
10:07Walk out on top or walk out when they tell you goodbye.
10:10Yeah.
10:11Um, if I'm, if I'm trying to think of, if I'm, um, if I'm Tyler Zeller, okay, I'm not
10:27walking out until they tell me to go home.
10:29Okay.
10:30If I'm LeBron James, I'm walking out when I want to walk out and that would be on top
10:36or pretty darn close to it.
10:39I don't want to be.
10:40I mean, Jordan walked out when they basically said, okay, we're done.
10:44Right.
10:44I mean, no, could he have kept playing maybe, but he kind of realized that it wasn't the
10:49bulls anymore.
10:50Right.
10:50I mean, Jordan at the age of 40 scored 20 points a game for Washington.
10:55Um, he probably could have played a little bit more, but he'll never, ever like be remembered
10:59for anything glorious in Washington.
11:01No, but he, but he wanted to play.
11:03If you want to play, go play.
11:05Okay.
11:05Then that's what I'm asking.
11:06You know, and I hate, I hate to do this because he's one of my favorite athletes of all time.
11:12Everybody says, you know, I don't want to be Willie Mays falling down.
11:16Right.
11:17Willie Mays was so stunningly good, but Willie played a long time.
11:21And you know, one time he fell down in the outfield, I believe it was, or was it going
11:25to first base?
11:26Anyhow, that's, that's what everybody says.
11:29Now I don't want to be Willie Mays falling down.
11:31Okay.
11:32LeBron will never let that happen.
11:35If he's coming back, it's because he knows he can play.
11:39And I, I think that's real clear, real clear.
11:43I always, to me, and maybe this is just the hockey background.
11:46I mean, I just always think about Gordie Howell.
11:48I mean, Gordie Howell played from 1946 to 1980.
11:53Think about that.
11:55That's pretty unbelievable.
11:56I mean, and he was okay, wasn't he?
11:59Yeah.
11:59I mean, he played till he was 52.
12:02He was 52.
12:04I mean, it just, I, I, you know, and the, he had the chance to play with his sons too.
12:10And I kind of feel like there's a little bit of Gordie Howell in LeBron James to want
12:16to have the opportunity to play with both of his sons.
12:19Does it happen today?
12:20Well, we'll, we'll keep an eye on it.
12:22But as Fearless Leader points out, the S-I-I'm coming home thing happened on July 11th in 2014 on
12:29a Friday.
12:32But that was, that was a different time.
12:34It was at noon.
12:35So it'd be 25 minutes from now if he wants to do it today.
12:37Right.
12:37Well, that was, it was a noon update.
12:39I think it was.
12:40I say it was a different time because of this as we go to break.
12:43Like, this is 2026.
12:45That was 2014.
12:47LeBron was 30 years old.
12:5029 at the time when he said he's coming home.
12:53It's a very, it's a different decision.
12:55Yeah, it is.
12:56Right now.
12:56It's, it's a different decision.
12:58You're getting a different player.
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