00:00It's one of the most memorable unveilings of any free agent.
00:04Yeah, it's memorable, and it's memorable mainly for you because you were the guy that broke it, right?
00:08Like, you got to say it on the air.
00:10Oh, that's right.
00:11Honestly...
00:11But that wasn't an unveiling?
00:13It's an unveiling, but it's muted compared to what he did in 2010.
00:18How are you saying it was muted?
00:19It's everybody remembers where they were.
00:22I said compared to 2010.
00:24Sure, so they're two of the biggest of any free agents.
00:27I think the entire world knows where they were in 2010.
00:29I don't think the entire world knew where they were in 2014.
00:33Every Cavs fan knew where they were.
00:34I bet you Miami fans know.
00:35Okay, that's two fan bases, but he changed basketball forever in 2010.
00:40See, there's a bit of a difference there, and when you really break it down to going on national television
00:45and making your decision in prime time as opposed to putting an article out,
00:51no, it doesn't compare to 2010.
00:54You're remembering all the people coming downtown just kind of looking for something to do
00:58because they wanted to celebrate LeBron, and then the whole thing at InfoCision Stadium afterwards
01:02and all the other party that came after it.
01:05But the decision itself, Owen is right, was, I'm coming home.
01:09Here's my picture.
01:10Yeah, I think...
01:11And then everything else took off.
01:13I think anybody...
01:14It was in the morning.
01:15It was midday.
01:16It was like noon.
01:16I did the morning show that morning with Kylie and Booms and went home thinking,
01:20okay, we got nothing going on here.
01:22And the follow-up story surrounding it and the 24-7 coverage...
01:27I think somebody's a little close to it because they broke the story on the air,
01:29and you're making that moment...
01:33That moment was big.
01:35The article itself was just like, boop, there it is.
01:39And everybody else went nuts.
01:41Although I do agree, he's not doing it on this live fanatics thing.
01:44Like, there's no way that's happening.
01:47So what is he going to talk about during those two days?
01:50Yeah.
01:51If it's unsettled, he's not going to be able...
01:55I have many questions.
01:56He is not a PR...
01:57He's a savvy...
01:58He's a savvy...
02:00But he's not a PR professional.
02:01There's no chance...
02:03But he has PR professionals up there that will probably steer the conversation.
02:07There is no chance, especially with the way that...
02:12Like, if this thing's been weighing on him the way it is...
02:15And, like, we apparently have Chris Haynes...
02:17Yeah, so I want to get to this.
02:19I think it makes a little...
02:20It'll help maybe shed some light on this question that you have.
02:24This is Chris Haynes last night on Amazon Prime during the Summer League stuff.
02:29Here's what he says he has heard about LeBron and his decision.
02:33I talked to LeBron James agent Rich Paul, and he said LeBron James has all the information needed.
02:39So now it's all up to LeBron James to make his decision.
02:42So as of right now, he is in deliberation phase.
02:45And so we can expect...
02:47Well, we hope to expect, I should say, that he will make a decision at some point soon.
02:53But definitely the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, they're in the mix, along with Golden State Warriors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves,
02:59and the Philadelphia 76ers.
03:01So everybody, we've always been talking about it still in the mix.
03:03Wait, we can't send any more...
03:05No executives can send any more voice texts, voice messages.
03:08Oh, they've shut it down.
03:09We can't.
03:10There were none in the 11th hour or 4 in the morning.
03:13A couple drinks at the bar.
03:15You can't do anything with that?
03:16Come on now.
03:17It's not like he has a coming-in hotline that they could just go click on an app for LeBron
03:20and leave him 30 seconds.
03:22What would be your pitch then?
03:24Well, I mean, the whole thing is...
03:25If you were going to leave it coming in hot on the free Odyssey app.
03:28If you truly wanted LeBron James, yeah, we should invite people to...
03:32We haven't done that in a while.
03:34We'll create some more work for everybody here, but...
03:36We should do that.
03:36That would be fun.
03:38But it is kind of funny.
03:40Like, yeah, did Chris Haynes have any...
03:41He just basically said, it's been shut off.
03:44Guys, LeBron has known.
03:46LeBron has known for how long?
03:48How long do you think he's known?
03:49The whole time.
03:49Where he was going.
03:50Probably since before the season ended.
03:51Well, I think he was open.
03:53I think if somebody was able to, you know, plot out an entire runway that made the most sense for
04:02him for everything he wants.
04:03Like, the things that he is chasing.
04:06Yeah.
04:06Would he have liked to sign a max deal with the Lakers?
04:09Yeah.
04:09But that was not available to him.
04:11Certainly.
04:12Okay.
04:12What about the teammates that he would play with?
04:14What about the city that he would have to live in?
04:16And we forget about this all the time because athletes, you know, now even in high school, they switch academies
04:21and just move across the country.
04:23But LeBron James, at this stage of his life, you know, we've had some fun talking about all the golf.
04:28You know, the golfing opportunities he would have.
04:31The reality is he has to go live somewhere.
04:35Does it sound like LeBron's ready to pack up and move to Philly?
04:38No.
04:39Or Minnesota, for that matter.
04:40Or Minnesota?
04:40It doesn't seem like it.
04:41No.
04:41And no.
04:42Would he walk Cleveland in a million years if he wasn't from here and hadn't won a championship here?
04:46He had two stints here.
04:47Well, he's from here.
04:48That's the way he goes.
04:48Cleveland would not be on the list.
04:49And when he retires, we're going to be going after Darren Peterson.
04:52Yeah.
04:53I think it's pretty obvious that, you know, where his living situation probably is going to matter.
04:59And if you add up everything together, it's, to me, I don't know if you feel the same way, Ken.
05:07It's harder and harder after the week and a half with his former teammates reminiscing about the championship.
05:13Then it comes to his reuniting with his high school buddies that he played with and became famous with.
05:21And we've had this rags-to-riches story for him and for Maverick and for Rich Paul.
05:28And then Brandon Weems was there.
05:30Where's Brandon Weems now?
05:31Oh, he's with the Cavs.
05:33Romeo Travis is now helping the Cavs.
05:36And Brandon Weems has a chance to become the GM.
05:40Now he's going to go do this pit stop in New York to do a couple of podcasts.
05:46And all the rumors, of course, here in Northeast Ohio.
05:49It's at the end of the week.
05:51Thursday's a dead day in sports.
05:53Like, today's the All-Star Game.
05:54Wednesday, Thursday are the two dead days in sports.
05:57Makes sense.
05:58We're waiting on the James Harden contract renegotiating and finagling to do what?
06:04To allow for them to actually sign a LeBron James, maybe a sign-and-trade to make sure that you
06:13are bringing reinforcements that make sense on the floor.
06:18Kenny, I will be stunned at this point if it's not LeBron to Cleveland.
06:22I will be stunned.
06:23Give me 20 seconds.
06:24Can I ask a real proprietary question here?
06:26Does he have an ownership stake at all in Fanatics?
06:30Any sort of a thing?
06:32Other than whatever contract he might have with them.
06:34Yeah, what I'm saying.
06:35Not just a speaking engagement because it would make sense if you had a piece of it.
06:39You're like, all right, I'll announce it on Thursday and then we can do a big interview.
06:43Why?
06:43And all that stuff on Friday.
06:44When you go to look at the people that are going to be there, it's four pages of everyone you've
06:49ever thought of in football or wrestling.
06:52I mean, Joe Hayden's got...
06:53Lime is right.
06:54There is just so many people.
06:55He's doing it at that FanFest because he's going to upstage everybody.
06:59There's no doubt about it.
07:00He's going to upstage every major star there and show everybody why he is who he is one last time
07:06before it's all said and done.
07:08Because this is the last decision that anybody's going to care about that he makes.
07:12You used the term, you said you'd be, quote, devastated if LeBron didn't choose the Cleveland Cavaliers.
07:20One, you said it late in the show.
07:22We didn't bring it up.
07:24We didn't throw it out there as a thing for the fans.
07:27So yesterday, I didn't see these.
07:29Maybe I just ended up muting the conversation by accident.
07:31I didn't know.
07:32Apparently, there was ridicule, scorn, everything because you used the word devastated if LeBron didn't come back to Cleveland.
07:41Either by Cavs fans who feel that or Cleveland fans who feel that you're just sniffing his jock, just loving
07:49LeBron too much.
07:51Which I am.
07:51Yeah, I'm guilty.
07:52Or, oh, I mean, I'm right there with you having sniffs.
07:54I can't imagine a player who's earned that more than LeBron James.
08:00Like, we have fans that are obsessed with players that are so much like the Colin Sexton and Darius Garland
08:06stuff.
08:07Like, yeah, pardon me.
08:08I'm actually going to really be in awe of one of the greatest to ever play any sport.
08:13We've also had an inordinate amount of weirdo Miami Heat fans who have gotten in on the conversation as well.
08:18So they're paying very close attention.
08:20They're in a couple other cities.
08:22Devastated is a word that bothered a lot of people.
08:23Well, devastated is a strong word.
08:25Oh, yeah.
08:26Why would you be devastated?
08:28It's 23 years of, you know, just such an extraordinary career.
08:33Followed him since his fifth game in high school because that's the one I actually had my athletic director,
08:39Wes G.
08:40Tomers, in shout-out, told me, go see this kid.
08:43Went to Walsh Jesuit to go watch him in the Dome over there.
08:46And I followed him from that day forward.
08:49Was posting about him.
08:51I was a high school senior at that point.
08:53And went and watched him in Columbus.
08:56Traveled.
08:56I went wherever he went.
08:58And obviously hated him when he went to Miami.
09:01So that even adds to it.
09:03That even adds to the just complicated relationship that we've had.
09:08But then he came back and won a championship.
09:10And then I was annoyed that he went to the Lakers.
09:12But I understood it.
09:13And the writing was on the wall.
09:15And we had our own stuff to worry about.
09:17But now to have the opportunity to have it come full circle, truly full circle, and have him end his
09:24career here,
09:25and do that last dance only LeBron's way, and have it all be documented.
09:29Like, yeah, I'd be devastated if it wasn't Cleveland.
09:30So you want the story more than the championship possibilities?
09:34Well, I don't see why I have to choose one.
09:35Like, I think he's still so good.
09:37And the Cavs are so good.
09:38That I think them together only adds to how awesome this would be.
09:43Can you imagine the storybook ending of him winning a championship this year?
09:47It's a great story.
09:47And because of the way the league is structured, like, there's definitely a chance that you could win a championship
09:51with him.
09:52I don't think they'd have the best odds if they were to get LeBron.
09:55But I just saw the Knicks win a championship, and nobody thought they could win a championship.
09:58And that's kind of, you know, this is kind of where it goes in the same conversation we have about
10:01the Guardians.
10:01It's like, well, why can't the Guardians do it?
10:03I mean, everybody says baseball's unpredictable.
10:05Well, here we are with the NBA.
10:06Which has become unpredictable.
10:08It's become unpredictable.
10:08Eight champions in eight years.
10:10We've had some crazy, crazy runs.
10:12The Kawhi Leonard, Toronto Raptors, nobody saw.
10:15Fit matters more than it ever has, and we don't even know what fit is going to be year to
10:19year to year.
10:20So it's become more unpredictable.
10:21So you're kind of making the same argument.
10:23I'm not even ripping you for this, by the way.
10:25The term devastated, though.
10:27I don't think I'm devastated if he doesn't join the Cavs.
10:31And I can't put my thumb on it.
10:33I want him to come back.
10:34I think it would be a great story, a cool story.
10:37Everybody could enjoy it.
10:39If he only comes back for a year, it might be a little bizarro here and there, depending on what,
10:44you know, because we are going to be analyzing gift baskets and tchotchkes and all these other places that he
10:49goes to.
10:49And, you know, when he goes to Miami for the last time and goes to L.A. for the last
10:53time, there's going to be a lot there.
10:57But I don't think I'm going to be devastated if he goes, yeah, I'm going to go to the Miami
11:00Heat.
11:01I'm disappointed.
11:02Yes.
11:04Devastated?
11:04I'll pick up the pieces and go, well, we're still a really good basketball team.
11:07I just don't want to deal with the whole who cares of a really good basketball team that has a
11:13chance to still win a championship with or without LeBron.
11:16Yes, they still have that chance.
11:18There's moves that they still have to make.
11:19And I don't know what moves they can make if they didn't get LeBron.
11:22But, damn it, they would still be a really good team that could compete to go to the Eastern Conference
11:26Finals and then we'll see what happens.
11:27If they have LeBron, yes, I think they could compete to go to the NBA Finals.
11:30It's still a good team.
11:31And it puts us in this weird spot where when we got him in 2014, we were getting ready to
11:37compete.
11:37And then it took us to a different level because you had to make trades.
11:40But in the two times he's left, you know, we had clear rebuilds ahead of us.
11:44And it was like, all right, we can learn to love these new kids.
11:47We'll go through the rebuild.
11:49Here we go.
11:50This, we're still close.
11:52But we're not close enough for a lot of fans.
11:55Devastated is not the word I'll use, though.
11:57Disappointed, yeah.
11:58Yeah, I just think the poetry and the just amazing, think about what a story LeBron has been.
12:05And I know there's fatigue of any story.
12:07I mean, even Tom Brady by year 20 or whatever, there was fatigue.
12:11We're two weeks into this.
12:12It's just he was still playing at a high level.
12:13Well, that's the thing with LeBron.
12:15He's still playing at such a high level.
12:17This isn't Aaron Rodgers who was not playing at a high level.
12:20And the Steeler fans know it.
12:21And so they're not really all that excited.
12:23They're chanting Will Howard.
12:24You know, any chance they get over there.
12:26Here in Cleveland, like, this is a massive upgrade at the position that we have so desperately
12:33needed, especially come playoff time.
12:35And I can't even imagine the emotions of the playoffs in April and LeBron James, if he's
12:42healthy, trotting out there and dusted it off one last time.
12:47And maybe it's a disaster.
12:48Maybe he's horrible.
12:49Come that time.
12:51You know what?
12:51Kobe Bryant was horrible in his last year with the Lakers.
12:54And then that last game, he scored 60 points, shot it every time.
12:57And it was amazing.
12:58And everyone agreed.
12:59This is a circus, but it's amazing.
13:01We get a whole season of this with LeBron still able to play at a very high level.
13:05Like, how cool is that?
13:07And that is why.
13:08I know how special it would be.
13:09Even for the people that say it wouldn't be special, they're tired of LeBron.
13:13I know for a fact, those people, if they're Cavs fans, they will pay money.
13:18They will go watch him one last time.
13:20And it'll be a pinch me moment.
13:23It is hard.
13:24Like, with their kids and their grandkids to say, we have watched this.
13:26This guy has been such a massive part of our life.
13:29You know, think about that last Masters victory for Tiger Woods.
13:33How special that was.
13:35Even people that had washed their hands with him, tired of Tiger, the people that had jumped off the Tiger
13:40bandwagon for all the personal stuff.
13:42That had been rooting for him that day.
13:43Everybody came around and thought this was special.
13:46How many times do you have a chance for that to be the case this year if LeBron James comes
13:50back?
13:51It would be amazing.
13:51It's very difficult to do.
13:522-1-6-4-7-4-0-0-92.
13:54Reminding you, all Cavs conversations brought to you by the fine folks at Surfside Hard Iced Tea,
13:57who ask you to please enjoy that Surfside Hard Iced Tea responsibly.
