- 4 minutes ago
Marc Hochman, Alejandro Solana, and Zach Gelb react to LeBron making his "final decision" and choosing the Philadelphia 76ers over a handful of other teams, including the Miami Heat.
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00:00All right, so we're going to talk about it today, obviously, because this affects the Heat, the East, it affects
00:06the entire NBA, but I wonder, do Heat fans, and I don't know what's going on on Cleveland radio, and
00:15I would imagine Cleveland really feels like they got the rug pulled out from under them a second time by
00:21LeBron, and I'll read you LeBron's tweet as we move forward here.
00:25Do Heat fans, do you think Solana, feel like the rug got pulled out from under them?
00:30The rug got pulled out from under us? No, the Heat won the offseason. I mean, look, a 41-year
00:36-old coming to your team, how good could that really be? It would have been a cute little move, I
00:40guess, but no, I don't think any Heat fan is really upset by this. Honestly, this is probably better.
00:48Feeling like he let us on. Feeling like he let us run away with our thoughts, because you know what
00:57you could do? You could take a step back. I mean, I could see LeBron doing an interview six months
01:01from now going, why did anyone think I was going back to Miami?
01:04When have I ever shown any interest in going back and playing for Miami? I've told you I did my
01:10four years. It was college. I learned how to be a man and a winner and a champion, and I've
01:15moved on with my career. You think, Kelby, that Heat fans feel like they were let on?
01:20This came down to he went to a place where he thought was best to go win a championship, and
01:26you can make a case. Miami's in a better situation than Philly, or vice versa. You could even make the
01:31case for Cleveland.
01:32That was the final three, in my estimation. He went to Philadelphia, and I will say this. Yes, you can
01:38make the case. Sixers got a better chance in the Miami Heat if you want to.
01:42I think this bullcrap that we were fed the last two, three weeks, and you hit Pat Riley, oh, the
01:49keys under the mat, all that stuff. They're great.
01:52Pat was making the cookies. He was ready to go. The cookies got burnt. LeBron, at the end of the
01:58day, I think this is petty by him, and I think this is him once again saying,
02:02Pat, I'll reel you back in. Remember, we didn't have a good relationship at the end, and I'm going to
02:07leave you at the altar, and I'll take my cookies and run to Philadelphia and mix them in with a
02:12cheesesteak.
02:13And he can't take that side hawk of, why did anybody think I was going to Miami, when in his
02:18own Twitter post or X post, where he talks about this decision, at the end, he thanks LA, he says
02:26Northeast Ohio will always home.
02:28I think he meant always be home. Way to go. And Miami.
02:31He also misspelled decision. He did.
02:34He did. If you look at the way he spelled decision, he spelled the decision incorrectly.
02:37Yeah, yeah. And Miami, I'll forever love. So to me, he was kind of paying homage to the teams he's
02:45played for, sure, but also referencing two other teams that we all knew were in the mix here.
02:51That's Miami. That's Cleveland. And ultimately, he decided Philadelphia.
02:55And I think Miami fans should be pissed off today. And I know Solana, right, he's going to play it
03:00up like he doesn't really care.
03:01If the Heat got LeBron James, you frauds, I'm the greatest thing of all time.
03:06I told you this was going to happen. Oh, you doubted me.
03:08Like, I know what we would have been getting from Solana today.
03:11And you got to speak to the Heat fan and you got to, you know, compartmentalize this and deal with
03:16your emotions.
03:17But I do think that he misled Miami Heat fans. There is no doubt about it.
03:22And there was a greater need for LeBron in Miami than LeBron in Philadelphia.
03:27But also, I think this decision in Philadelphia, the two other parts, Tyrese Maxey is a clutch client.
03:33And then also Mike Gansey, who runs the show there in Philadelphia, was the runner up to Mr.
03:40You know, for Mr. Basketball in Ohio, who was the guy that won the award that year?
03:44LeBron James. So they have a connection going back to when they were kids.
03:47Yeah, I find the whole thing very interesting.
03:49And reading LeBron's statement, he wants to compete for a championship.
03:54We didn't know that that was the most important parameter.
03:57We guessed for the last few weeks, what are the most important parameters?
04:01Is it happiness? We were told it's all about happiness.
04:04It's not about championships.
04:06But ultimately, it came down to him saying, not only did I not even know if I was going to
04:12play again after the Lakers,
04:13but I decided I wanted to compete at the highest level and I wanted to compete for a championship.
04:18And if those were the parameters, Philadelphia does make a lot of sense.
04:23I get that.
04:24I would ask you, though, if he wins a ring in a fourth location, does that bolster his legacy versus
04:35MJ?
04:37Versus do you consider this ring chasing and unbecoming of a superstar of this status late in his career?
04:48I wonder which side you fall closer to.
04:51It doesn't have to be an either or, but I'm wondering which side you fall closer to.
04:56He is ring chasing.
04:57He said he's ring chasing.
04:58He's going to try to win a championship.
05:01And there's nothing wrong with that because at this stage of his career, he should be trying to win a
05:05championship.
05:06I just don't know if there's anything LeBron could do that will get him to surpass Michael Jordan.
05:12If he wins a championship, well, OK, it's five, not six.
05:17Even if he gets a six, I know what people are going to say, like you being a huge MJ
05:22fan.
05:23Well, Michael Jordan was a perfect six and oh, LeBron lost all these NBA finals.
05:27So the only way I guess you could ever get to the argument where people could then say LeBron's better
05:32than Jordan
05:32is if he gets to seven and this late of his career, he's not playing another three more years.
05:38And then he would have to win three more in a row.
05:39I was just about to say that actually might be the only thing that could move me off the MJ
05:44is the all time goat,
05:45which is if LeBron does this another five seasons at a high level and actually eclipses MJ's title number.
05:55So he has to do it until he's 46 for you to realize that the longevity is just 10 times
06:01better than what Michael Jordan did.
06:03Like, I don't know what you're doing there.
06:05I understand the rings debate.
06:06Well, the longevity is better, but that's not what I'm using to determine who's the goat.
06:11Yeah, I mean, that's fine.
06:13But to me, like you can say, oh, MJ has six rings.
06:16LeBron has four or five if he gets to five.
06:19And I'll always give the nod to MJ because of that.
06:22That's that's fine.
06:22That's your prerogative.
06:23But to suggest that if he got to seven, you know, doing it another five years, I weigh I weigh
06:31leading a team to a championship more than just number of seasons played.
06:35But I don't think that's unfair in the parameters of how I'm choosing the goat.
06:39Like you're going to give more credence to just how many years you played.
06:43Yeah, if you're playing them at the highest level possible and you're 41 years old, you're doing something that nobody's
06:49ever done.
06:50Absolutely.
06:51It counts.
06:51It counts.
06:52But compared to the player you're referencing who we saw at 38, 39 and 40 years old in Washington and
06:58was a shell of what LeBron James has accomplished.
07:01So that but that to you is the determining factor for who's the greatest of all time.
07:05And for me, and it's close again, because we're splitting hairs here.
07:09But for me, I would do what Gelb just said I was going to revert to, which is six titles
07:15in six attempts.
07:16That's impressive.
07:18Yeah, but I prefer the guy and I'm losing my own narrative here because I was coming in hot with
07:22MJ's the goat today.
07:23But I'm losing my own narrative because to me, simply getting to six finals is not as impressive as getting
07:31to 10 or 12 NBA finals.
07:33That to me is more impressive outside of the amount of rings you win.
07:38And LeBron James has done that.
07:39Yeah.
07:40Ben Volan, who I know is a friend of the show, once wrote an idiotic article.
07:45Impossible.
07:46And it was when Tom Brady lost the Super Bowl to the Eagles.
07:49He was like, oh, Brady would just be better off losing earlier rather than losing in the Super Bowl.
07:55And I remember saying I'd much still rather get to the Super Bowl than lose because at least you have
07:59a chance to win it than lose in, let's say, the divisional round or the conference championship round.
08:04And he thought that was going to ding his status up against Montana.
08:08Now, eventually, Brady to go on to win seven and Montana only has four.
08:11So it didn't really matter.
08:12But I would still rather get there and lose than not get there at all.
08:16But I think the bigger conversation here is not the LeBron-MJ thing because I think in most people's minds,
08:22at this rate, if you're Team MJ, there's nothing LeBron could do.
08:26If you're Team LeBron, there's really nothing that can happen.
08:27Well, I think it's age-related as well.
08:30Older guys like me are always going to side with MJ.
08:33Younger guys like Solana are always going to side with LeBron because it's who you watched.
08:37And personally, I think it's MJ.
08:39But, like, they're splitting hairs.
08:40It's extremely close.
08:42It's not crazy to say it's MJ.
08:43It's not crazy to say it's LeBron.
08:44But I'm curious with you guys, what does this do for the legacy of LeBron in just Miami?
08:49Like, is Miami Heat fandom legacy, you know, with Heat fans?
08:53Because, yes, he was here for four years, won two championships, went back to Cleveland.
08:57Okay, you got it.
08:58He's going home.
08:59But the fact that he kind of played with you guys and there was so much momentum being pushed this
09:04week where it's going to be Miami.
09:06It's going to be Miami.
09:07Miami, whatever happened with the press conference and the scheduling of the YouTube, but there was a great belief that
09:12it was going to be Miami.
09:13For him to pull the rug out here in the 11th hour and not go to Cleveland.
09:17Like, if he went to Cleveland, I think a lot of people understand it.
09:19But for him to go to Philadelphia and say Philadelphia is a better destination to win a championship than Miami,
09:24I do wonder how Heat fans look at LeBron moving forward with his legacy here in Miami.
09:29LeBron was already who he was in Miami, and I don't think this changes who it is.
09:34Those of us who appreciate the four seasons that he was here are in that camp.
09:39Those of us who turned their backs on him the moment that he left back for Cleveland, that's that camp.
09:45I don't think this move necessarily does that.
09:48I think we all would have loved to have seen and relived another season.
09:51But the four seasons that we got, we got the best four years of LeBron that was out there.
09:57Like, we got the most compelling, the most energetic, and the most talented LeBron.
10:03We got the best team.
10:05Like, I'll never, that could never be ruined for me.
10:10Even with him basically preventing you guys from winning a championship this year.
10:16Because there's a need for LeBron.
10:18And just going out there and pivoting to DeMar DeRozan, I don't think is going to do that.
10:22But there was a great need for LeBron in Miami.
10:25And right now, the Knicks are better.
10:27Right now, the Sixers are better.
10:29I would say the Heat, in my estimation, are the third best team in the Eastern Conference.
10:33So they're still in contention.
10:34But other people could argue that maybe, like, the Heat without LeBron are, like, fourth and fifth in the conference.
10:39I've seen Giannis run through a final single-handedly.
10:43You get Giannis to the postseason.
10:45Like, what I'm not allowing LeBron going to Philly to do is to change the way that I feel about
10:52what happened with the Miami Heat this offseason.
10:55Because, in my opinion, the Miami Heat this offseason got the most talented, available free agent.
11:02Yeah.
11:03Right?
11:03I mean, you could make the argument for Jalen Brown.
11:06But I think Giannis is better.
11:08Yeah.
11:09Oh, no.
11:09It's not even close.
11:10Giannis is better than Jalen Brown.
11:11Now, Jalen Brown's playing on the better team.
11:14But Giannis has to do a creep.
11:15I'm just...
11:16Pat did his job this offseason.
11:18Pat needed to go get the big star.
11:20He got the big star.
11:21That's my point.
11:22It's unfortunate he didn't get LeBron.
11:24It is unfortunate.
11:25And it dings him for this season.
11:27But this is still a successful offseason for the Miami Heat.
11:30I mean, beyond successful.
11:32Beyond your wildest imagination.
11:34So, for me, again, get to the postseason.
11:37And you've got a healthy Bam.
11:38And you've got a healthy Giannis.
11:40You're going to have shooters.
11:41This is the part that I'm getting caught up on.
11:44Because I saw a tweet from Kevin O'Connor from Yahoo.
11:46He says, LeBron made the right choice of the East options.
11:50The Cavaliers stink.
11:51And the Heat are a clunky fit with no shooting.
11:54The Sixers have top-end talent with Jalen Brown joining Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid.
11:59Plus, upside young players like Vijay Edgecombe and LeBaron.
12:03What's his name?
12:04LeBaron.
12:05LeBaron?
12:06LeBaron?
12:07Like a Buick LeBaron?
12:09From Alabama.
12:10They picked him in the draft.
12:12Embiid's health is obviously a concern.
12:15But they don't need Prime Embiid to contend.
12:18And the roster is certainly far better than what Cleveland and Miami could offer.
12:22And I don't understand that take.
12:25Because I don't think it's far better than Miami.
12:28And I don't think Miami has no shooters.
12:32I think that is the most overblown narrative of this entire two- or three-week period where people were
12:38opining where he should end up.
12:40Because the notion that they have no shooters.
12:43I mean, Solana was talking about it yesterday.
12:45Andrew Wiggins.
12:46I mean, I don't want to bring up Pella Larson, but I will.
12:48Davion Mitchell.
12:49The immortal Pella Larson.
12:50But they do have statistically good shooters.
12:54They do.
12:55They do.
12:56And it honestly isn't as bad of a fit as people are suggesting.
12:59The big question, which, Gelb, you brought up, is how is Spoh going to make Bam and Giannis coexist and
13:06actually flourish in year one?
13:08And I think those are fair concerns.
13:09But the idea that this Heat team wouldn't have been a great option for LeBaron James is just absurd.
13:14And the fact that people continue to harp on, well, they have no spacing, they have no shooting, is just
13:20ridiculous.
13:21Do they have the best shooters in the NBA?
13:23No.
13:23But they have statistically quality three-point shooters who, by the way, are only going to be more open and
13:31likely have better shooting percentages playing alongside the greatest rim threat in the NBA, in Giannis Antetokounmpo.
13:38But, Hawk, we have to also note that Kevin O'Connor from Yahoo Sports is a notorious Heat troll.
13:45Notorious Heat troll.
13:46Totally understand.
13:47He's a Heat hater.
13:48I like his work, but he's a Heat hater.
13:50Bill Simmons.
13:50But I don't think he's saying anything that's not being said by others.
13:54It's the reason that I pointed out his tweet.
13:56It's not like that one outlier of someone who says, oh, I don't think Giannis is a top 20 player
14:02in the NBA.
14:02And you go, okay, well, I'm not going to waste my time with that.
14:04Kevin O'Connor is parroting a lot of people talking about the Heat's lack of shooting.
14:10And, by the way, they do need, like, if they added DeMar DeRozan or Klay Thompson or Bradley Beal, I'd
14:17be happy.
14:18The Heat are the biggest losers, though, in the LeBron sweepstakes because they needed him the most.
14:22It doesn't mean that they can't have a successful season.
14:24It doesn't mean that they could contend.
14:26But the need for LeBron out of all these teams, Cleveland, Philadelphia, wherever you go, I thought the Heat needed
14:34LeBron the most.
14:35That's why I ultimately thought that he was going to go there.
14:37So, yes, they still had a successful offseason because they got Giannis.
14:40But it doesn't mean that you can't look and criticize them for not getting LeBron because I think they're the
14:46team that gets dinged by this the most.
14:48And it was a foregone conclusion that he was coming here for the last week.
14:51That's another part that adds to that take.
14:53The press conference was scheduled.
14:54I'm sure Len Weiner had imaging ready to go.
14:57Like, there was a lot of stuff here for you guys to get your king back.
15:01I don't think Miami's the biggest loser.
15:03And the team that needed him the most to have a successful season or, at the very least, try to
15:08have a successful season was Golden State,
15:10who very clearly I don't ever think was in the mix once AD wasn't going there.
15:14But, Gelb, there's no way Miami needed LeBron more than Golden State needed LeBron.
15:19And to me, Cleveland is the big loser because Cleveland, at the very least, can hang their hat always on.
15:26He'll always end up coming back home.
15:28He'll always end up retiring in Northeast Ohio.
15:30So, that team, with LeBron James, he will retire in Northeast Ohio.
15:36He just won't be playing basketball.
15:38I mean, he's just literally going to retire there.
15:40He's going to go enjoy avocado toast and cappuccino.
15:43But out of the realistic options, if he was going for a championship, it made no sense to go to
15:49the West.
15:50So, like, after that two days of Golden State, that ship kind of sailed in my mind.
15:55I thought it was going to be the East.
15:57Like, the Cavs, if they get LeBron, I don't think they're winning a championship.
16:01If the Heat got LeBron, I thought they could have won a championship where, if you look at the East
16:06right now,
16:07everyone's chasing the Knicks.
16:08And then it's like, who's that two-team after all the moves this offseason?
16:11The Sixers are now the number two team, and everybody else is playing for third.
16:15And can you get to the three spot and end up playing the two in the second round?
16:20You end up beating them?
16:21Sure.
16:22And the Heat are going to be in contention to get out of the East this year.
16:25But you don't start them in the conversation now without LeBron.
16:29One or two, you start them in at the number three spot.
16:32Let's do a real quick look at the headlines.
16:34There are no other headlines as far as I'm concerned.
16:36I'm not even supposed to be working today because there were no headlines.
16:39But I want to...
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