00:00I actually want to give Baskin and Phelps a little bit of credit here.
00:02They have created a lot of content today, by the way.
00:05And so thank you to the content gods.
00:06They put on their content hats and they were doing some work today.
00:08And so, obviously, we've been talking about lay decision and whenever the hell it's going to happen
00:13and how it's going to happen and why it's going to happen.
00:16And we had both posited this before as like, could this be?
00:20But it was mostly joking.
00:22And so I thought it was interesting that Andy Baskin talked about what he's hearing
00:25on why it's taking LeBron so long to announce his decision.
00:31Last week, LeBron's crew was probably ready to make an announcement,
00:34especially because they were in New York.
00:36This is what you heard.
00:37Yeah.
00:38They were in New York.
00:41That FanFest thing, right?
00:42Yeah.
00:42And the world had their eyes on New York because of the World Cup as well.
00:46And so they were probably comfortable making an announcement as early as last week.
00:51And then people were like telling them what to do.
00:54There's a little bit of irritation, irritated by the commissioner, pushing them to say...
00:59The commissioner irritating LeBron James.
01:01Because we want to get this stuff out there.
01:03We want to get the schedule finished.
01:05Yeah.
01:05And it may not just be LeBron, but it's more about LeBron's group together.
01:10So that the irritation got to the point they were like, well, you know what?
01:13We'll decide when LeBron is going to tell everyone where he's going.
01:17So if you pair that with what Andy's hearing, with what Rich Paul said about no one's going to make
01:22us,
01:22you know, force our decision, it's totally plausible that something irked LeBron's camp.
01:30And that's why this is taking longer than it really should.
01:33Totally plausible.
01:34I don't know if I necessarily believe it, but it's totally plausible.
01:37I'm still of the belief that LeBron hasn't made up his mind yet.
01:40I think he's waiting for...
01:41I think Chris, when we had Fedor on yesterday, I think he's closer than anyone in this.
01:45The idea that LeBron is waiting for somebody to wow him.
01:49He's waiting for somebody to do something and then make this an easy decision for him
01:54because it just isn't right now.
01:55I don't think he loves any of the four destinations,
01:57and he's trying to find one that speaks to him more than the others,
02:01and he hasn't been able to get there.
02:02I don't think anything's changed with any of the potential figures.
02:06I don't think anything will change.
02:07I think this whole process has been about two things for LeBron.
02:12One, feeling the love, and that includes from his NBA brethren,
02:16that includes from NBA teams, that includes from fans, right?
02:21Yeah.
02:21And then the other thing is revenge.
02:23I think LeBron remembers a lot of the things that have been said the last 18 months,
02:29and so by withholding information and making people look stupid,
02:32whether it's former players, media members, teams, Adam Silver,
02:37I think he's enjoying that.
02:39So if that last part is true, that this is about love and revenge,
02:43it makes all the sense in the world that they got mad about Adam Silver
02:50saying something that was a nothing burger.
02:52So this isn't going to be provable is the hard part about this convo
02:56is we're never going to be able to find out what's true and what isn't true
02:58because LeBron's camp isn't going to come out three months from now
03:01and be like, yeah, we actually came up with a decision back in early June.
03:04Oh, I could see this being leaked.
03:06That's not going to happen.
03:06I could see this being leaked at some point.
03:08Again, it won't be LeBron's camp attaching their name to it,
03:11but could I see it anonymously?
03:13There's been too many insiders and too many people that are actually close to Rich Paul
03:17and Clutch that have said that when they've spoken to them,
03:20they've told them absolutely nothing, and they refuse to tell them anything.
03:24But didn't Rich Paul already admit to it?
03:27Rich Paul was weirdly defensive about, you know,
03:30no one's going to tell us when we need to make a decision.
03:34No one's going to pressure us into a decision.
03:36Oh, and that definitely is a part of it.
03:36Like, if at the end of the day, this is just coinciding with, like, the added bonus is
03:40I get to remind everybody how great I am, and I get to piss off Adam Silver in the process,
03:44then all right, fine.
03:45I'm just, I'm not buying that's what the hang-up is.
03:47And it's a theory I posited yesterday for a reason,
03:50because I think there is some legs to it if you sit back and look at it.
03:53But I really don't think that's what the hang-up is right now.
03:55I'm just convinced the hang-up is LeBron doesn't know what he wants to do at this current moment.
04:00I think somebody as decisive and convicted as LeBron has been in his career,
04:05I don't buy it takes a full month to make this decision.
04:08It shouldn't take you a full month to make any decision in life, if we're being honest about it.
04:11But I think there's four places, and they all offer completely different things.
04:15And I think he's waffled on it.
04:17I think he's gone back and forth on it.
04:18And I just remain, again, maybe we'll find out in the next couple days.
04:21Maybe we'll find out in the next couple hours.
04:23But as recently as yesterday, I don't think that he had made up his mind yet.
04:27I think Rich Paul going out of his way twice.
04:30First saying, you know, no one's going to pressure us to make this decision.
04:33But then making sure everyone knew he talked to Adam Silver about this in New York.
04:40It tells you they're not happy with it.
04:42And here's the thing.
04:43Why do you care?
04:45Like, Adam Silver.
04:46That's the part I can't understand.
04:48I don't know.
04:48Because they must be thin-skinned.
04:50I understand.
04:50Adam Silver is the biggest puppet there's ever been as an NBA commissioner.
04:53And so I understand getting mad at people that think that LeBron can't command this type of attention and showing
04:59them.
04:59I don't know what this revenge tour on Adam Silver is all about.
05:03Because he made one, like, cheeky comment at Fanatics Fest?
05:07Yes.
05:08Yes.
05:08Which we both have acknowledged.
05:10That was just kind of more of a joking way of saying it than anything else.
05:13If you believe that LeBron is egotistical, and if you believe that LeBron or people in his camp are thin
05:19-skinned, which I think if you're that egotistical makes sense you would be, I don't think it's that much of
05:23a stretch to be like, Adam Silver saying anything about it is going to piss somebody off over there.
05:27I just think he's looking at all the options, and I think he's done it for so long now.
05:31I think he's been able to poke too many holes in too many places, and he's waiting for something to
05:36just magically appear and speak to him and be like, this is the answer, and it just hasn't come.
05:42And in the meanwhile, he's golfing every single day, so he's not even worried about it.
05:45I think there's a big part of that.
05:47I thought it was interesting that the first time I heard that the Heat might have leaked, or no, the
05:52Heat did leak, that this YouTube livestream titled LeBron's Introductory Press Conference was after the fact when people were like,
06:02the Heat have admitted to it, they've said it was a mistake, it's all part of preparation for if he
06:06does come back, so I didn't have the agita that everyone else had.
06:09It felt like a monumentous moment in life, I was awake, we were awake, and I was a real, where
06:14were you when moment, Nick, but the instant reaction was not one of panic, so I need to make that
06:19clear for you.
06:20It was like 20 minutes of people being like, did they actually screenshot it?
06:24Can we make sure that it was actually screenshotted?
06:26And then everyone jumping over to Reddit to see what happened and what was going on, and then yeah, like
06:3015, 20 minutes before people are like, oh, okay, we got a handle on this.
06:34Someone that is 23 years old, that is in charge of social media with the Heat, was probably just testing
06:40things out and everything can return to normal.
06:43It was all the people that don't do anything in media that were falling for it left and right.
06:47They were the problems last night.
06:48We've gotten on media people a lot in the past couple weeks.
06:51It was the non-media people that don't understand that they create this for everyone with every team.
06:57That was the problem.
06:58Yeah, and the funny thing is, because there's a lot of speculation, I can't remember if it's Indeed or it's
07:05LinkedIn, that there are positions open about YouTube coordinators and stuff like that.
07:11If this actually cost anyone their jobs, the Heat are a much worse organization than I thought.
07:18I don't think people realize how easy it is to accidentally publish something like a listing for something that's going
07:24to happen.
07:25It's like you're doing the same steps and you click one button differently.
07:29And if you make that mistake, you're not really necessarily going to know unless you're looking at the interface right
07:34away.
07:35So, like, the thing that I ended up getting...
07:37Yeah, but what if they think this cost them LeBron?
07:39LeBron doesn't like the commotion.
07:40LeBron doesn't like the chaos.
07:41That's actually, to me, the best possible part of this.
07:44If, like, if, let's say, LeBron saw this, he was going to make the announcement today, I'm going back to
07:50Miami, unfinished business, give me my cookies, B, like, all that stuff.
07:55And then, you know, two weeks from now, he comes home to Cleveland, and then there's a report that's like,
07:59LeBron was set to go to Miami, and then they pulled that YouTube shenanigan.
08:04I've got to be honest with you.
08:06Then could you fire the guy?
08:07I would judge.
08:08No, I wouldn't.
08:09Oh, come on.
08:10I would not.
08:11Come on.
08:11Have it cost you LeBron?
08:13No.
08:13Like, no.
08:15This is somebody learning the business.
08:17I don't care if you're learning the business.
08:18You cost me LeBron, you can learn a different business.
08:21But you're not costing you LeBron in 2014.
08:23You can, you can, it's still a top 20 player in the game.
08:27I think my point is, like, it's not going to ruin the heat season.
08:30You still have Giannis.
08:31You still have Bam.
08:32You're going to be okay.
08:33Don't ruin the Yankees social media account or something.
08:35All of a sudden, you'll be in baseball.
08:36No, no NBA for you.
08:38No, I mean, it matters.
08:39I mean, if you're tasked with that responsibility.
08:41Now, what we need to, as a society, is get a better understanding of how these people running
08:46these social media teams have no say and have no opinion and have no actual insight
08:52into anything that's going on with these teams.
08:54Like, maybe that's the lesson out of all this, that we need to get across.
08:57Like, we need to stop taking these social media accounts as if they are directly from
09:01the desk of Pat Riley.
09:02Maybe that is what we need to have taken away.
09:04But until we do, you're going to have incidents like you had last night.
09:07I will tell you, I thought at some point we would have, like, a slowdown in people tweeting
09:13things about where, like, Markeith Morris today was like, LeBron to Cleveland.
09:17He also said Jalen Green to Cleveland and Harden to Phoenix, which, okay.
09:21But, like, you know, Markeith Morris, LeBron to Cleveland.
09:24Sonny Johnson, LeBron's coming home.
09:26It's a matter of time.
09:27Yeah, yeah.
09:28Like, it's funny to me.
09:29I keep thinking, like, oh, we've run out of people to say where they think LeBron is.
09:32No, people are, they're ramping it up.
09:34They really are.
09:35And it's funny because, like, the one established thing out of all this is that Rich Paul is
09:38not speaking and LeBron obviously is not speaking.
09:40So the people that are going to know this decision aren't speaking.
09:44Why do people want to combat that?
09:45Why do they want to go against that?
09:46Why do they think they are the one guys?
09:48And I'm going to say that while also acknowledging that Andy Baskin was reporting things earlier
09:53today.
09:54And if I asked Baskin who his sources was, he would probably tell us, oh, no, this guy's
09:57never missed.
09:58This guy, this guy.
09:59I can't tell you who it is.
10:01I can hear it right now.
10:02I can't tell you who it is, but this guy never has missed.
10:05So you just, you take it to the bank.
10:07It's not a very good Baskin, I don't think.
10:09That's what he would say.
10:10I'm not an impression guy.
10:11I'm not an impression guy.
10:12I didn't know if you were trying to impersonate him.
10:13No, no, I'm not an impression guy.
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