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00:00and welcome on of the athletic of 92.3 the fan Jason Lloyd joins us now hi Jason can't go
00:07an
00:07hour without talking about LeBron hey I guess you can three o'clock you made it an hour
00:11Nick actually brought a story in his quick hits at 240 so we actually didn't get it done wait I
00:16did I didn't even oh well that was a Bill Simmons story it was Bill Simmons talking about how he
00:21doesn't want LeBron to go to the heat that's a LeBron story that's fair I just thought it was
00:25Boston on Miami he thinks Miami media sucks do you agree Jason I think Miami sports in general
00:32sucks just the whole the landscape is just terrible of you know just the market I should say that the
00:39market is just it's a bad market there's some excellent uh journalists in Miami this is a bad
00:45market in general uh there's a lot of transplants not a lot of authentic fans down there um it's
00:52just I know you know speaking from as the athletic when we first launched the site we really struggled
00:58just getting any sort of traction at all in Miami we had beat writers on every team and there's just
01:02there was no readership on the teams so yeah it's just a bad market and you think that's because they
01:06can't read down there or do you think it's just because there's a bad sports town it's just a bad
01:12sports town yeah like you know I mean how many my brother actually lived down there for a while he
01:17was a
01:17big Miami sports family lived down there um but there's not that many of them that are true die
01:23hard Dolphins Marlins Heat fans it's just it's just not a great sports market all right so I guess we
01:32have to ask you the most obvious question first and then we'll ask you the fun ones maybe after this
01:37do you get the sense of a front runner in the LeBron services I have no idea I I know
01:44enough to know
01:45that I know nothing and I'm kind of enjoyed being I mean I certainly you know my thoughts have kind
01:51of swung over the last few weeks where I didn't think he was coming and then I kind of thought
01:56okay I think this might be real um and then it kind of wavers back and forth but you know
02:02I was on
02:03the front lines of this stuff in 2010 and 2014 and 2018 and I'm kind of enjoying just sitting back
02:08like everybody else and you know of course everybody I know blows up my phone and asks me what do
02:12you
02:12think he's doing like man I got no idea but here's the here's the thing that I would say
02:17I've said this before but you know all these things with like the heat leak on the YouTube stuff and
02:22some of the other things that I don't remember now there's been all these other like little tips
02:26right these little these uh Steve Kerr on the highway saying oh yeah we got clearly he was joking
02:32the thing that I know is how this has gone in the past and I have no reason to believe
02:38it'd be
02:38this time Cavs didn't find out for sure until LeBron was walking onto the stage for the decision
02:45that he was not coming back Rich called them in 2010 like as the show was starting now they had
02:50a
02:50pretty good sense because they had sort of lost contact with his side of things for that entire
02:56day so they kind of knew where this was headed but they didn't know for sure he was leaving
03:00until that program was starting and then in 2018 when he came back uh our 14 sorry in 2014 when
03:08he
03:08came back again they got a call Nate Forbes the old the previous uh one of Dan's old partners
03:16called I'm sorry Rich called Nate uh like 10 or 15 minutes before Lee Jenkins letter dropped so none
03:23of these teams have any idea because that's just how they operate now the team will find out however
03:28they decide to announce it the team where he's going will probably find out same thing if I had to
03:33guess it'd be 10 or 15 minutes before everybody else and that's it so that's why I kind of laugh
03:39at all this stuff about like the Miami Heat are setting up the like they already know like Pat
03:43Riley knows and he got the Miami Heat social team on it but yet nobody else is going to leak
03:47it out
03:48like come on no nobody has any idea where he's going and nobody will know until they're good and
03:53ready to tell him all right so that sounds very similar then to when you were on the front lines
03:57to
03:57what it is right now because it seems like nobody knows anything at the current moment uh give me some
04:01of
04:01the similarities or some of the differences that you've seen uh from you being on the front lines
04:07to now where you're kind of you're you're involved but sitting a little bit further back for this time
04:13um it it's like in the grand scheme of things when when they set out when last before last season
04:20started they sent out some sort of statement about LeBron will have to reevaluate his time with the
04:27Lakers or something like that when he becomes a free agent I don't know if you guys remember I'm
04:31sort of butchering what that was but it was like a year ago at the start of the season
04:35and I remember thinking like all right he's gone like I that this is right out of playbooks like
04:40they're telling you he's leaving and and then yet as the season you know once you get into the season
04:46the twists and turns and you start to look at uh at the logic of it and it's like well
04:51who else is
04:52going to pay him like LA will so he'll probably go back because nobody else is going to give him
04:57that
04:57amount of money and then because I never in a million years thought LeBron would take the type
05:03of contract that it seems that he's willing to take like I and especially from Cleveland I just
05:08never thought he would take a minimum deal or a mid-level deal or anything like that I thought
05:13it was going to have to be a pretty substantial chunk of money so that part is different certainly
05:17um than than the way LeBron has operated in the past but just sort of the the the secrecy
05:24he is exactly the same all of the the stories swirling in the wind about you know so and so
05:32told so and so and and all that is the same um but the process and obviously the biggest difference
05:39in the process is we're at now the end of July and he still hasn't decided and I wrote that
05:43this week
05:44for the athletic that it's it's pretty remarkable that at 41 years of age he has this type of juice
05:50still he has this type of power that he could literally bring the NBA to a halt and you know
05:55you heard Adam Silver's comment I think Adam's comment was probably pretty flippant in nature
05:59Adam Silver is pretty transparent on a lot of things I think I think he's pretty honest actually for the
06:05most part in press conference settings or in official settings and he was just having an honest moment
06:10of like yeah I want to decide so you finish the schedule because obviously that dictates Christmas
06:14games wherever LeBron plays that's going to dictate the Christmas schedule and then well that's also
06:19going to dictate road trips and sort of the logistics of you know if he comes here is it Cavs
06:25Lakers on
06:25Christmas and is it in LA well then that means a West Coast trip for Cleveland unless you're going to
06:29throw them all the way out there for one game and drag them all the way back which doesn't make
06:33a whole
06:33lot of sense so that's sort of the logistics it's not just one game on Christmas it's the road trips
06:38that you have to build into it and that's sort of what the league I think is waiting on um
06:42so that part
06:43it's just it's just kind of funny like I've enjoyed not having to stress and sweat over every
06:48moment of of the day and um try and you know chase down the same people and talk to them
06:5410 times in
06:54the day to see if anything changed or anything like that I've enjoyed uh just golfing and being in the
06:59sun and coaching my son's baseball team all right so I I think you might enjoy this speaking of
07:04enjoyment uh so yesterday and the day before our show had to maybe challenge some of the opinions on
07:12the station and they're within within basically 12 hours of each other three three hosts at this
07:18station shared the exact same opinion on how the duration of LeBron's process here is impacting their
07:28eventual enjoyment of the answer you're ready for this audio Jason all right go ahead I am not waiting
07:34on pins and needles the way I was I am not sitting here just wanting that type of information needing
07:40that type of information it's like I'm going to be less excited about LeBron being here because of
07:44this I'm running out of steam on the caring about where he's going to play we got football practices
07:51coming up here we got baseball that's back in full swing after the all-star break like let's go you
07:56can
07:56only care about these things for so long before you go okay either make your decision or you don't
08:01like I do think there is a law of diminishing returns here and he's flirting with not striking while the
08:06iron's hot so to sum up the opinion there Jason it's because LeBron has now taken almost four weeks
08:12to make his decision all of these gentlemen say they will be less excited if he announces he's
08:18coming to Cleveland do you believe any one of them no I think if he decided to come back the
08:24excitement
08:25level would return I mean there's frustration now certainly and I get it like I get it especially when
08:31you're trying to fill content you got there's nothing new and you're trying to say the same thing every
08:35day and put a new spin on it like yeah it can be exhausting but if if it does come
08:40down to its
08:41Cleveland I don't know what has changed between July 10th and July what is it 22nd 23rd whatever
08:47today's date is that would make it what why would it make it any different so I think the excitement
08:52level would return relatively quickly I just think it's sort of the the frustration that the league
09:00is feeling right now and probably the teams involved in this are feeling if you think you're
09:04frustrated and aggravated or or exhausted from it imagine being one of the teams involved waiting on
09:10him um so you know I I just think I just think it's natural given our job and our role
09:19in all of this
09:20but if he does come back I think the excitement level would be just as high as it was as
09:24if he chose on
09:26just July 10th I don't know what two weeks difference makes not enough personal shots there
09:30at Jake Ken or Jeff I I feel like you could have really thrown gave me the avenue there like
09:35really
09:35the runway if you really wanted to I mean John Fanta said a child please in reaction to that I'm
09:41just saying you could you could you could upscale it if you wanted to well believe me I love taking
09:45shots at Ken I'll take a shot at Ken any chance I get Jason what do you think the holdup
09:49is
09:51I don't know I I don't know I don't know it's like I thought Channing Frye made a great point
09:58where Channing's like man every time I see this guy he's out playing golf like he's just out living
10:02his best life and he's you know everyone's eagerly anticipating his decision and he's just out living
10:08vacation and I do think you know this is a little bit different of a LeBron what we've seen in
10:13the past
10:13where it's it's in the gym 18 hours a day I'm exaggerating but you know in the gym 18 hours
10:19a day
10:19in the offseason and working out constantly and I think he's enjoying this sort of part of life
10:25where he's at that he's never really had before and I think he has you know moved shifted into a
10:31different sort of lane in his career doesn't mean he didn't want to win or any of that it's just
10:36he
10:36sees that the end is near and he's taking time to enjoy the roses I guess to use a really
10:41bad cliche
10:43you know this stuff about he's waiting to see if a team will go get Kyrie or Anthony Davis
10:50I don't know I don't know that at 41 you you start tearing apart your team to bring in a
10:56guy
10:56who's only going to be there for a year or two you know I don't know that that really makes
11:00a ton of
11:00sense and I think that's sort of what the league is telling them first of all I don't know that
11:03they're necessarily available the Wizards are trying to win this year how successful they'll be
11:09you know I don't know but they just give Trey Young a bag of money and they're trying to compete
11:13and
11:13they're trying to get better and they're trying to win so I don't know that necessarily those guys
11:18are even available and if they are I think teams are having a hard conversation of why should we
11:22uproot our entire roster for this guy who's not quite at the powers that he was 10 years ago
11:30obviously this isn't 2016-2018 LeBron anymore and he's only going to be here for a year or two
11:35so if a move like that makes sense for your team outside of LeBron excuse me outside of LeBron
11:41then go ahead and investigate it but if you're just doing this to appease or acquiesce to a 41
11:46year old you know I don't know that that makes a ton of sense which circles all the way back
11:51to
11:51you know as we talked about early on when we were talking about the chances of him going to come
11:56back to the Cavs that's why throughout the twists and turns of this I wasn't sure how realistic it was
12:01because I didn't know if the Cavs are really going to say okay we're going to trade Jared Allen or
12:06whatever to clear the cap space to bring LeBron here knowing he's only going to be here for a
12:11year or two and he's not quite the same player he was and once he declared or once he sort
12:15of
12:15signaled I'm willing to take less I think that changed the conversation for a lot of teams because
12:20I just don't think he's in that category anymore all right Jason rookies reporting to Berea today
12:26the the vets report early next week we want to start this one on more of a fun positive one
12:32uh you know a year ago I don't think any one of one of us would have seen Carson Swessinger
12:37being
12:37the clear breakout rookie and then the other three rookies kind of being behind him who do you think
12:43of the of this rookie class who do you think will have the best rookie season
12:49uh I probably just based on what we saw in the mini camps probably Denzel Boston I would I just
12:58think
12:58if I got to pick one guy I mean it's hard to pick a lineman right with Spencer Fano you
13:04just
13:04it's like it's sort of like with Mason Graham it's hard to it's hard to pick um but certainly you'll
13:11know if Fano's playing well or not pretty pretty easily pretty quickly and pretty easily you'll be
13:15able to tell but in terms of guys that you're going to be talking about a year from now uh
13:20Denzel
13:20Boston for me certainly seem to have the best mini camp of all of them um and certainly there's a
13:26there's a hole to fill in the receiver room so I would I would take him for now until proven
13:31otherwise all right what are your big overwhelming arching thoughts on the quarterback spot
13:38oh god oh it's too early for that Jason we haven't got any of the second week of camp for
13:44you to be
13:45that exasperated you've had it a million you've had the convo a million times I know you have
13:49it's been a it's been a year it's not it's it's been a year of this um you know listen
13:55I've been
13:56I've been pretty I've been pretty consistent on this if you're telling me I have to pick between
14:01Deshaun and Shador it's not much of a conversation Shador should be the starter because I don't think
14:05that this team has lost the aspirations of reaching the playoffs and making a deep playoff run
14:12if they did they wouldn't have traded Myles Garrett and I just it Deshaun is a sunk cost to me
14:18and I
14:19don't buy this notion that you couldn't have gotten rid of him before now I believe they could
14:23have would have hurt yes but if Denver can move the dead cap money that Russell Wilson had don't
14:28tell me there's no way why didn't they then why didn't they I don't know I don't know because they're
14:34and I've said this before like I when this when this news about like Deshaun could start first
14:41emerged I sort of took it as it was a carrot and a stick situation sort of to make sure
14:50that
14:50Shador stays on point and you want to make sure that he's focused and and doing all the right things
14:55in the offseason and you don't want him to think that he's just being handed the job and then around
15:00the owners meetings I realized oh no like they're they're serious about this like I there I really do
15:07think that there's a chance Deshaun could start and I still think there's a very good chance Deshaun
15:12could start the season I just don't see the path there I I don't see the point in doing that
15:17it
15:17doesn't make any sense to me so if you make me pick I mean clearly you know I'm not I
15:22have not been a
15:23very vocal Shador supporter at all for most of this but if you're going to make me pick between those
15:28two there's no comparison yeah I I just don't see any any sort of hope or reason why you would
15:34start
15:34Deshaun Jason how far does a vibe change at head coach take the Browns this year I mean it's fun
15:43to
15:43talk about now and you know early on in training camp you'll probably notice a difference stuff like
15:51that but once you get into the season you win with talent and and and you know I don't think
15:57the vibes are going to help very much um when you're playing the Ravens um you know it's it's
16:05the talent on the field so uh listen I I am not of the mindset that Munkin's going to be
16:11a failure
16:12you know I think we've kind of swung it it's kind of amusing to me that when Todd first got
16:17the job
16:17everyone's like oh my god are you serious and then within a month or two I think people have
16:22talked themselves into the fact that he was going to be you know the next NFL coach of the year
16:26in
16:26this great story I'm like guys let's can we just let him coach a game first before we set any
16:31sort
16:31of expectations on him I I still think this roster is a year away I don't think they're terrible I
16:37think
16:37that there's talent here but I don't think that they're ready to win at a high level I don't think
16:40that they're ready to compete for a playoff spot at all I think this is a probably going to be
16:46another rough season and I think for me 27 is when you can start to have some legitimate optimism about
16:53uh where this thing is headed they've done a nice job of adding some young pieces who look like they
16:58can play obviously we need to see what this rookie class can do but no I'm not sold on these
17:03on these
17:03quarterbacks at all as the long-term answer and until that position is solidified I don't have a lot
17:08of hope that they'll that they're going to be a very good football team and I you know I mean
17:13they
17:13had no talent last year very little and they've got a little bit more now but you know Todd can
17:19only do with what you put ingredients you give them and I still think they're missing some pretty
17:23big pretty big base ingredients here on this roster Jason great stuff buddy appreciate your time I know
17:29it's a couple days past now but once again happy birthday appreciate you buddy thanks guys
17:35you
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