Nick Wright shares his best takes on the Los Angeles Lakers heading into the 2025 NBA season including why LeBron James is not done winning NBA championships as well as why Luka Doncic is primed for an MVP season. #Volume
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the best of the Week for What's Right
with Nick Right the best takes and moments from this
week on the show. Enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
So the West is as dangerous as ever. Obviously, Katie
just went to the Rockets. It's gonna be the Lakers
first full season with LUCA, and teams like Spurs and
the MAVs could take the leap.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Who are the best players? Who are the real players
in the list?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yeah? So listen. I did this a bit on I
think there is a it's clearly Oklahoma City at the top,
but I think the next best two teams of the
Rockets and the Lakers, and I the LUCA over correction.
(00:42):
Negativity has gone too far. And I did this on
the TV show yesterday. I just want to reiterate it.
Luca five best players in the league. Okay. Joker is thirty,
he won his title at twenty eight. Giannis is thirty.
He won his title at twenty six. Tatum is twenty seven.
(01:05):
He won his title at twenty six. Shae is twenty six,
turned twenty seven in two weeks. He just won the title.
Luca the youngest of all of them, twenty six. Will
be twenty six during the first couple months of next season,
the idea that he is behind scheduler off schedule is incorrect.
(01:26):
Right now, Shae understandably his star could not be shining brighter.
I get that, and he deserves it. However, and we
also can't compare Luca and Shae career numbers because Luca
was good instantly and Shae grew into it. So if
(01:46):
we simply just take the last two years for Shay,
which are far and away the best two years of
his career, and compare them to the last two years
for Luca, which includes far and away the worst year
of his career this past year, the numbers are identical.
Playoffs and regular season identical, except for Luca beats him
(02:09):
in assists considerably and rebounds by a bit, but the
scoring and efficiencies are nearly identical. One guy made the
finals demanse and lost to a team some people thought
was going to turn into a dynasty in Boston. The
other guy made the finals and went seven with a
team people thought was the most unlikely finalist in modern
(02:34):
NBA history. So to add like, I don't think it's
fair to be like, well, you can win with one guy,
you can't win with the other. Now, Shay is coming
off his best year, Lucas coming off his worst. That's undeniable,
but it is there's too big of a discussion gap
amongst the two. So that's one of the reasons that
(02:56):
I am a believer in the Lakers, and I'm gonna
do this in reverse ord of three. One second reason
I'm a believer in the Lakers is I do think
they are going to make a substantial move in the
next week. I think they are going to address some
of their roster holes, and I think they have the
(03:17):
assets to do it. And the last reason I'm a
believer in the Lakers is, let me call it a
informed opinion that people that think Lebron is resigned to
(03:43):
the idea that he's not like that making the finals
and competing for championships, that that phase of his career
is over, are unabashedly, unequivocally wrong. Now, maybe if your
(04:03):
opinion is whatever he thinks is going on, you know,
doesn't matter, you know that phase is over, that's an
opinion and you're allowed to have. But if you think
Lebron is like, Okay, at this point, it's just about
playing with my son, you know, at some point having
a farewell tour. I love the game. You can dead
(04:25):
that right now. And I think these finals and watching
Oklahoma City struggle with Indiana and watching what these finals
looked like, only Surge emboldened Lebron to feel like I
(04:53):
can get back there. And so if you have Chip
on his shoulder, Luca wants one last dance at some
point deep in the postseason, Lebron and some slight roster tweaking,
that to me makes the Lakers a contender.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
You think Austin Reeves is there next year?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Probably not, maybe at the beginning, probably not through the year.
I just think Austin Reeves he's your most valuable, tradable asset,
and because of Luca, he's a little redundant. When you
have Anthony Davis there, Austin Reeves is critical because without
(05:37):
Austin Reeves, your only creators the oldest guy in the
league and Lebron. But with Luca there, he becomes And
I really like Austin, you know what I mean. The
I was the first person tell you Austin Reves better
than Bradley Beal. Everybody, everybody called me crazy, But I
just think sometimes he is right now a luxury and
(06:02):
the Lakers have some necessities, so I would put if
I were stacking it, I should have started. I think
the Nuggets, I should have said included them. I think
they are a real player based off the strength of
Jokich alone, and I think they will, you know, manicure
around the edges, and maybe they were over Michael Malone
(06:25):
and maybe what we saw them do in the playoffs
under Adelman is something sustainable. And then we see Michael
Porter Junior come back healthy and Aaron Gordon come back healthy.
So I'd have them for Lakers three. The Rockets, to me,
are they can win the championship. And I say this
with no disrespect to Oklahoma City at all, but man
(06:52):
a Lakers Rockets Western Conference Finals, which I think check
me on this, producers. I think we got that once
in league history, and it was nineteen eighty six, a
team second year when everyone thought we were gonna get
(07:12):
Lakers Celtics in the finals. Again. I know the Lakers.
The Rockets beat the Lakers in the playoffs in nineteen
eighty six. I think it was the conference finals and
the the Rockets beat the Lakers. Okay, the hold on
(07:37):
the Lakers won the series. Hold on a second that
that's wrong. I'm just telling you right now.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
The the you asked the producer fact.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
I'm telling you right now, I'm telling you right now
that reads to me. I'm about to be This is
a good lesson for everybody. Pause, pause the show, but
stay on the air. What they just put in the
doc reads like it was some AI bot wrote it
one thousand percent. It's what it reads like. And I'm
here telling you that AI bot doesn't know what the
(08:11):
hell it's talking about. I'm telling you right now you
cannot trust the AI chat bots when it comes to
uh sports history. So I'm just the I'm gonna do
my own thing here. Am I going to get cook?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Here? You might get Oh wait, no, it says nineteen
City versus Houston.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Okay, everybody stop? Does everybody stop for a second? Okay?
The the in nineteen eighty six the NBA Finals, without
a shadow of a doubt, guys, were the eighty six
Celtics maybe the greatest team ever against the chem Olajuan
(09:02):
Ralph Sampson Rockets. That is not up for debate. So
the I my question was, was the conference finals Lakers Rockets?
All look that up? The Rockets beat the Lakers in
the conference finals. For one, guys, audience, AI chatbots don't
(09:29):
fucking know sports. I'm telling you right now, ask like
when you're done with the done with the show, ask
an AI chatbot like very basic things like tell me
the top ten running backs in the NFL right now,
and they're gonna spit at you. Adrian Peterson like the
(09:54):
So it's just maybe they're good for some term papers,
but they're not good with sports. So the Rockets have
played the Lakers in the conference finals. I believe that's
the only time. I believe it's nineteen eighty six. I
(10:15):
know they I am looking at it now. I know
they played in nineteen eighty six, but I think that's
the only time. Sorry for the sidebar point I was
trying to make is with no respect to Oklahoma City.
A Durant Lebron conference finals, which we've never gotten by
the way, we got it, and a Durant Lebron playoff
(10:41):
series that felt like a fair fight, which we've only
gotten once ever, in the twenty twelve NBA Finals, which
I know listen, Bron won in five, But that was
a great series until Game five. Like those first four
games all were in the balance in the fourth quarter,
(11:03):
and you can say that wasn't a fair fight because
the Heat were veterans and the Thunder were young. A
fun fact that no one believes, but it is true.
Twenty the Heat over the MAVs when they lost in
(11:25):
twenty eleven. The Heat were the same size favorite over
the MAVs in twenty eleven, minus won seventy five as
the Thunder were over the Heat. When the Heat won
their first title with Lebron and Wade in twenty twelve,
the Thunder were minus won seventy five favorites going into
(11:47):
those finals because the Heat, remember they had lost the
year before, and they had damn near lost to Boston,
and the Thunder had just like exploded onto the scene
and become this seemingly unstoppable force of nature. Again, this
is off top of my head, but the that Thunder
team in the conference finals played the Spurs, who the
(12:11):
Spurs had won demanse the final ten games of the
regular season, and then we're ten to zero in the playoffs,
up two to zero in the conference finals on a
twenty game winning streak, and then the Thunder one four
straight and made the finals like that thunder team was
like holy shit, say yeah, and so it was really
(12:37):
a remarkable thing. But okay, sorry, we're way off topic.
The point I'm trying to make is I think the
Rockets have all the pieces you need if Durant stays healthy. Yeah,
I like Shingoon as the fulcrum of the offense. I
like that Durant ads scoring. I think they're gonna get
(12:59):
more from shit Eperd. I think Udok is excellent. I
like all of it. And then there's Oklahoma City that
has everyone coming back and everyone but Crusoe is super
young and should only get better. But it's a lot
(13:24):
of plates to balance there one hundred and five game season.
Are you satisfied after a championship? You know, does the
Oklahoma City got lucky? I'll putting quotes that the injury
bug hit them early instead of late, Like it's not
(13:46):
right to say Oklahoma City, you know, had great injury
luck this year. They you know, key players missed real time,
but they suffered it early in the year instead of
going into the postseason. So I would stay management the
way for Katie with the Rockets.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
You know, the Rockets already being a nice team, them
trying to mitigate his injuries.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Yeah, yes, and no I would. I think you've got
to be careful with a guy who's thirty seven. I
don't think that they're going to put him on like
a sixty game plan. And I also think for a
lot of these legends, they want to be eligible for
(14:33):
the awards, and that sixty five game marker isn't like
they they want KD I'm sure is. I bet Katie
is pissed that he was not eligible for all NBA
this year. It's like I played sixty two games, I
was all NBA caliber and so yeah, you know what
I mean. So that's what I think they'll do all
(14:54):
right dog days summer, which means it's time for the
boys this summer to kick it into gear. And the
best way to cast on your baseball IQ is with
DraftKings Sports Book. As the stretch drive begins, Draftings Sportsbook
has you covered with live betting, home run props, odds, boosts,
and more. Whether you're chasing dingers or jumping in mid game,
(15:16):
there's always action to be had. Never bet on baseball
before simple pick. You gotta go yard, hammer some live
odds mid game, or just ride with your squad and
hope for the best. No spreadsheets, just vibes and mines
and odds subject to change. Something special for first timers.
New DraftKings customers bet five bucks, get two hundred dollars
(15:36):
in bonus bets instantly, download Draftings sportsbook gap and use
code right. That's code right for new customers to get
two hundred dollars in bonus best bets instantly when you
bet just five bucks only on DraftKings. The crown is yours.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler in New York
called eight seven seven eight opeen WI or text hope
and wy at four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut,
help is available for a problem gambling called eight eight
eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit
CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothilka
cinemin Resorting, Kansas twenty one on over agent Eligibility varies
by jurisdiction Voyd and Ontario. Bet must win to receive
(16:11):
reward minimum minus five hundred odds required. Bonus bets expire
one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuins. Four additional
terms and responsible gaming resources see DKNG dot co slash audio.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Luca was on the cover of Men's Health magazine, looking
very slender. He came out with a quote saying, just visually,
I would say that my whole body looks better. How
are you feeling about Lucas transitions?
Speaker 1 (16:35):
So a couple things. One is, first, sorry to I
pointed this out on TV, and I'm not trying to
pick on anybody, but this, to me is one of
the main takeaways from the article. Remember I told you
guys Ai doesn't know sports and that Ai hallucinates sports.
This article got marred a bit by the fact that
(16:58):
the author included in it an anecdote about how Luka
when he came into the league had a forty two
inch vertical that was measured at the NBA Combine. The
problem with that is twofold. One is anyone that's watched
(17:18):
ten minutes of Lukadanic at any moment of his career
knows he never had a forty two inch vertical. The
other problem is Lukdanciic did not go to the combine,
so there is no place to measure his vertical, So
what happened there? The most obvious answer is figured out
(17:41):
by some Internet Sleuths was if you googled Lukdancij vertical,
the top AI result was that Lukodanciic had a forty
two inch vertical measured at the NBA Combine, which then
links you to an article about Dante Divincenzo's forty two
(18:02):
in vertical at the NBA Combine. But AI hallucinated it.
I guess they saw the chu in both names, white guys,
the same draft class, and they just made it up.
So again, I'm not saying AI can't be used for things.
I'm not saying it's not you know, the next, the future,
all of that. I am saying, for some reason, AI
(18:25):
does not know sports and can't figure it out. That's
first thing. Second thing is this my other takeaway from
that article demand I'm going to read you a line
in it which I found fascinating. The facility which is
located in the town where Doncic is vacationed every summer
(18:47):
since he was a teen. That's important. The facility, which
is it located in the town where Doncic has vacationed
every summer since he was a teen, didn't have weights
until earlier this month, when he had dumbbells, barbells, weight
plates and med balls trucked in. So here's why that's
(19:07):
noteworthy to me. Luke every summer goes back to this
town in Slovenia and trains. But his training has always
just included hoop it, you know what I mean. He
plays ball and does drills, all of it. Weight draining
was never a big part of it for him. And
so now you guys know, I feel like the go ahead.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Oh it's so cool just being able to get a
bus of uh weights.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Oh yeah, yeah, of course. But the the I felt
that the whiplash effect of you know, Luca's fat, out
of shape drinking problem was far too strong, considering that
(19:59):
with out ever being in peak physical condition, he had
one of the greatest opening six year stretches of a career.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Ever.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
This is where I am contractually obligated to remind the
audience that Luka Doncic already has made more first team
All nbas than either Steph Curry or Chris Paul and
only has one less than Kevin freaking Durant. He's twenty
six years old, that's how great he's been. Now, he
(20:30):
did have a down year, and part of it was,
he was a little out of shape. He was also sad,
he also got hurt, he also got traded, and all,
you know, all of those things. So I think that
is I think that is important. It's not giving him
(20:51):
an excuse. But I just thought twelve months ago today,
before Luca got hurt, before Luca got traded, when Luca
was coming off a fine finals appearance, nobody thought and
he had beaten in round two Shay and in round
three Anthony Edwards, and had averaged thirty four to nine
and ten in the regular season. Nobody thought Shay or
(21:12):
Anthony Edwards was better than him. Now I think it's
like conventional wisdom that those guys are better than him,
and Shaye certainly has earned it. I guess Anthony I
don't think quite has. But whatever the point I'm making
is this, Luca, in non tip top physical condition was
already well on his way to being one of the
(21:33):
greatest players ever. Luca, like this should be the early
favorite for League MVP.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Well you don't, and you don't think with his play
style that him being a little bit thinner might affect it.
Like I don't know, he's like get you on his head.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yeah, but I think I think that if he is,
I don't think he's going to be skinny. I think
he's going to be lean, you know what I mean.
I think if you just replace some of what was
fat the Lakers, Yeah, you know what I mean. Like,
I would bet he weighs about the same but looks,
if not more, Yeah, I mean, muscle weighs more than fat, right,
(22:13):
I mean, so he looks a lot thinner than he was.
He looks a lot thinner, you know what I mean.
So I just, yeah, I don't think you want actually
skinny Luca, but thinner Luca. I think what is helpful?
And I think that he has taken this. You know
(22:33):
what happened last year at a heart And this was
the thing that I warned the MAVs about after the
trade that even if they were going to be right,
they're going to be wrong. Even if they were right,
that if they didn't trade him and they signed him
to an extension, he was just gonna get fat and
out of shape and all these things. He By trading
(22:58):
him and motivating him and insulting him, they then put
this extra chip on his shoulder. Now people can say,
why didn't he do it during the year. I don't
think you can do this type of thing during a season,
you know what I mean? I think you have to this,
you need an offseason. And he's about to be playing
(23:18):
a ton of ball at euro Basket at for Slovenia
and I right now he would be my early season
pick to win League MVP next year.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And if he just torched Dallas every single time they
play and it just doesn't even matter.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
God, I just can't wait if that were to happen. Also,
by the way, shout out to Marco in the chat
watching from Slovenia.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Yes, shout out Marco. Very cool.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Let's do Matt Stafford here and then we get to
the listeners.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Yeah, so Matt st Everett has been dealing with some
backstress and is set to miss another week of camp.
You've been high on the rams. Does this affect it
at all? I think the guy just doesn't want to
go to training camp. He's old. Oh old.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
I hope that's it. That would be great, That would
be an awesome result here. If it's just an old
guy doesn't want to practice, so here is Before training camp,
there was one story of potential contender that hit my
(24:31):
radar and that was the CJ. Stroud's shoulder soreness. I
was like, ooh, that's something to watch CJ Stroud, you know,
like that he wasn't able to do full throwing practice
or whatever, like that's something watch that seems to have subsided. Okay,
but it was it hit my radar. In training camp.
(24:52):
We've been lucky so far, fingers crossed. There hasn't been
the like devastating superstar injury, and there hasn't been the
contender that has just been hit with a bunch of
you know, contributor injuries, at least not yet. So there
have been to me two major stories out of training
(25:15):
camp so far for contenders. One is a positive one.
One is a worrisome one. The positive one and people
can say this is you know, Chiefs colored glasses, but
I'm not wrong about this. The Chiefs rookie first round
pick Get who was considered a top ten talent, who
(25:38):
fell because people thought his knee was not right and
he might not be healthy for a good portion of
his rookie year. Not only being healthy the first day
of camp, but being slotted as the starting left tackle,
not competing with Jalen Moore, who they signed to be
the left tackle for that spot. Just being their left
(26:01):
tackle from day one of camp today to right now
is one of the biggest positive stories for any true
contender this training camp because if they have that spot
locked down, and then you have Jaalen Moore, the guy
they signed from San Francisco, and Juwan Taylor, the right
tackle who's been a bit of a disappointment with Kansas
City since they signed him from Jacksonville, competing on the
(26:22):
right side, then all of a sudden, the Chiefs offensive
line is totally different. So and there was everyone agreed
that Josh Simmons had the talent to potentially be the
number one tackle in his draft class, but the injury
was so worried some he slid. If the knee is
really right, then the Chiefs dealing at taking care of
(26:45):
one of the most important and one of the most
expensive spots in football by drafting a guy at thirty
two is a game changer that's in the positive direction
for a contender, in a negative direction for a content.
It's this Stafford story because aside from confidence for your
(27:10):
team's secondary, there is nothing positive that comes out of
Jimmy g practicing and playing in draf camp and you
need desperately healthy Matt Stafford in order to contend, and
I think the Rams can contend. I liked now for
Devonte Adams. I was just like, you gotta be kidding me.
(27:33):
Got massive, I got Jimmy g throwing me the wall again.
I love Puka, I really like their d line. I
obviously love McVeigh. I think DeVante is good as a
number two with the Rams, but it all comes undone
without Stafford. And Stafford is thirty seven. He got the
shit kicked out of him for a decade in Detroit.
(27:55):
He has been banged up at times with the Rams.
I am it's not the biggest story, but I am
not going to ignore it as a potential big story.
So it's just something to watch. Hey guys, talk to
you about my friends at boost Mobile. Ever sign up
for a phone plan, thinking wow, great price, and then
(28:16):
a few months later it's like surprise, bill's even higher.
Boost Mobile. You pay twenty five dollars a month forever.
That's unlimited talk, text and data starting at just twenty
five dollars a month, no price hikes, no contract forever. Plus,
boost Mobile is now a legit nationwide five G network.
They've invested billions building five G towers across the country.
(28:39):
Visit boostmobile dot com or head to your local Boost
store today and get unlimited talk, text, and data for
twenty five dollars a month forever. Five G speeds not
available in all areas. After thirty gigabytes, customers may experience
slower speeds. Customers will pay twenty five dollars a month
as long as they remain active on the Boost Unlimited plan.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
A Selucas signed his three year, one hundred and sixty
five million extension with the Lakers over the weekend. We've
all been waiting on that. So now that's finally happened,
do you think that it's time for Elied to really
press the gas on trying to succeed in the now?
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Well, listen, I got it. I said after they didn't
re sign Dorian Finney Smith that I thought there was
a chance I put Lucas signing the extension. Was it
ninety percent? I had it. I dropped it to like
seventy five percent. So I do think this is good, important,
real news. I also think that because he signed the extension,
(29:40):
they are able to slow walk this a bit. If
they want to because Luca is not going anywhere over
the next three years. And by the way, the next
deal he'll sign Demons will be the league's first million
dollar a game deal super Max. Yeah, well it was that.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
What he was supposed to was that what he was
coming up on in Dallas.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
No, No, he could have signed.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
No, the.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
He would have gotten the biggest deal ever in Dallas,
but it wouldn't. We wouldn't have gotten that threshold yet.
But three years from now his contract will average more
than eighty two million a year and there's eighty two games.
It's a really remarkable thing here is though my general
Lakers take that. No One, even the biggest anti Lebron folks,
(30:33):
haven't been able to explain to me where I'm wrong
on this. I think it is overwhelmingly likely that over
the lifetime of this extension, these next three years, Luca
never has a teammate better than Lebron is right now. Now, listen,
(30:56):
maybe they're gonna get Yannis and I'll be wrong. Maybe
they're you know, they have their eyes on Joker, and
I'll be wrong. But Shay ain't going anywhere, and Tatum's
not going anywhere, and now we're like running out of
people who are better than Lebron right now. Okay, so
(31:21):
I would if I were the Lakers, prioritize trying to
win right now, because if they think this is their
last year with Lebron, I do not know that Luca
is going to have a better running mate than Lebron
over these next three years. Now. Again, if they have
real intel that if they keep the cap sheet clean
(31:45):
in two years, Yannis plans on just coming there in
free agency, then so be it. Then you know what
if they like then see you know, it's not like
they're drawing dead this season, like they've got a nice
roster and then keep it flexible. But that's a hell
(32:05):
of a gamble to take, like a hell of a
gamble to take.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Do you are you worried at all that there's like
a riff potentially formed between Luca and Lebron or do
you think that Luca knows that it's I don't think.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Yeah, I don't think it's between Luca and Lebron at all.
Lebron was Luca's all time favorite player. Luca is the
guy Lebron tried to sign to his shoe line. Luca like,
I don't think there is anything between them at all.
I think there is some obvious frustration for Lebron, fair
(32:40):
or not that the Lakers are not pressing the gas
even more on this season. Now you can say that's unfair,
that they shouldn't whatever, but that is to me, the
entirety of the frustration is that right there.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Oh yeah, So Baker Mayfield came into that number fifty
in the NFL Top one list. He answers this year
as the eighth best odds for MVP in Tampa. Bay
also just drafted Amika Agbuka and they're getting got one
back from his injury. What are your expectations for Baker
this year?
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Expectations already has another really good season. Ceiling is he
is a frontline MVP candidate and they are a true
contender in the NFC. Like I think that's on the board.
And here's the thing. In order for them to be
a contender, he has to be an MVP candidate because
(33:34):
that defense is not going to be great. They are
gonna have to outscore people. But Baker had forty touchdowns
last year. He was a badass man. Yeah, I mean
he was a badass last year. I'm so and he
right now, has I want to make sure I'm right
about this, that I didn't miss it yet. He's on
the best non rookie contract in the NFL. Three years,
(34:00):
one hundred million bucks for Baker Mayfield. He is one
more good season away from getting a two hundred and
fifty million dollar deal. He's been that level of player,
and I'm just happy for him, man, because this shit
went so sideways on him. Yeah, and his teammates love him.
(34:27):
He is true to himself. He's tough. He is a
legit awesome playoff performer. Like this is the thing that
people I think underrate with Baker. He has played i
think five career playoff games. I'm gonna tell you what
he did. First playoff game ever, the Cleveland Browns go
(34:50):
into Pittsburgh, hang forty eight on him. Baker throws for
two sixty three touchdowns a one fifteen rating. Second playoff
game ever, his only ever bad playoff game. He's against
the two time defending AFC champion. Oh I'm sorry, he's
against the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, and he's twenty
(35:13):
three to thirty seven for two hundred yards, one touchdown,
one pick, seventy five rating but he's in arrowhead in
round two against the twenty twenty Chiefs, like, no shame
in that. He then makes the playoffs with Tampa. His
first playoff game ever against Philly, and again it's so crazy,
this is Philly. This game was in January of twenty
(35:36):
twenty four. Yeah, exactly, thirty two to nine, three touchdowns,
no picks, a one to twenty rating. The next game
against Detroit three hundred and fifty yards, three touchdowns, two picks,
a ninety five rating, they lose by eight. And in
the game against Washington last year, a wild one where
(35:58):
he only throws eighteen times, but he's fifteen of eighteen
for a buck eighty five, two touchdowns and a one
forty seven rating. In his playoff career, he's got a
one zero six rating, twelve touchdowns, three picks. Like he's
just been awesome to say, gets better? Yeah so, I yeah, so,
(36:19):
I'm a Baker believer through and through. All right, Uh,
let's do these last two real quick.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
James Cook is holding in as he looks for his
contract extension. After a few years a big dollar running
backs paying off, it seemed like the debate was put
to rest, but that conversation opens back up again. Or
do you think Cook is just not that guy?
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Well? No, I just I think Cook's really good. But
I the Bills have no cap space. He's under contract
for five million bucks. They know they can franchise tag
him for not much. And even if you think he's awesome,
do you think he's going to be awesome four years
from now?
Speaker 2 (36:57):
So, like, go ask me a huge part of their
offense last year, like huge, it's the last two years.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
I just think they think he's gonna blink. Bro. I
don't think it's that they you know what I mean.
I think that they think we'll give him a little
more money, but not long term, you know what I mean?
Nothing long term and then or maybe a one year extension.
But the report is he wants you know, I don't
know if it's what he wants. I don't want to
get this wrong, but I saw four years forty million
(37:27):
bouncing around, which is only ten million a year. But
I just think they think at that position, his style,
in two years he could be done, and they just
it's just such a tough business for running backs. Man,
It's just such a tough business for running backs.
Welcome to the best of the Week for What's Right
with Nick Right the best takes and moments from this
week on the show. Enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
So the West is as dangerous as ever. Obviously, Katie
just went to the Rockets. It's gonna be the Lakers
first full season with LUCA, and teams like Spurs and
the MAVs could take the leap.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Who are the best players? Who are the real players
in the list?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Yeah? So listen. I did this a bit on I
think there is a it's clearly Oklahoma City at the top,
but I think the next best two teams of the
Rockets and the Lakers, and I the LUCA over correction.
(00:42):
Negativity has gone too far. And I did this on
the TV show yesterday. I just want to reiterate it.
Luca five best players in the league. Okay. Joker is thirty,
he won his title at twenty eight. Giannis is thirty.
He won his title at twenty six. Tatum is twenty seven.
(01:05):
He won his title at twenty six. Shae is twenty six,
turned twenty seven in two weeks. He just won the title.
Luca the youngest of all of them, twenty six. Will
be twenty six during the first couple months of next season,
the idea that he is behind scheduler off schedule is incorrect.
(01:26):
Right now, Shae understandably his star could not be shining brighter.
I get that, and he deserves it. However, and we
also can't compare Luca and Shae career numbers because Luca
was good instantly and Shae grew into it. So if
(01:46):
we simply just take the last two years for Shay,
which are far and away the best two years of
his career, and compare them to the last two years
for Luca, which includes far and away the worst year
of his career this past year, the numbers are identical.
Playoffs and regular season identical, except for Luca beats him
(02:09):
in assists considerably and rebounds by a bit, but the
scoring and efficiencies are nearly identical. One guy made the
finals demanse and lost to a team some people thought
was going to turn into a dynasty in Boston. The
other guy made the finals and went seven with a
team people thought was the most unlikely finalist in modern
(02:34):
NBA history. So to add like, I don't think it's
fair to be like, well, you can win with one guy,
you can't win with the other. Now, Shay is coming
off his best year, Lucas coming off his worst. That's undeniable,
but it is there's too big of a discussion gap
amongst the two. So that's one of the reasons that
(02:56):
I am a believer in the Lakers, and I'm gonna
do this in reverse ord of three. One second reason
I'm a believer in the Lakers is I do think
they are going to make a substantial move in the
next week. I think they are going to address some
of their roster holes, and I think they have the
(03:17):
assets to do it. And the last reason I'm a
believer in the Lakers is, let me call it a
informed opinion that people that think Lebron is resigned to
(03:43):
the idea that he's not like that making the finals
and competing for championships, that that phase of his career
is over, are unabashedly, unequivocally wrong. Now, maybe if your
(04:03):
opinion is whatever he thinks is going on, you know,
doesn't matter, you know that phase is over, that's an
opinion and you're allowed to have. But if you think
Lebron is like, Okay, at this point, it's just about
playing with my son, you know, at some point having
a farewell tour. I love the game. You can dead
(04:25):
that right now. And I think these finals and watching
Oklahoma City struggle with Indiana and watching what these finals
looked like, only Surge emboldened Lebron to feel like I
(04:53):
can get back there. And so if you have Chip
on his shoulder, Luca wants one last dance at some
point deep in the postseason, Lebron and some slight roster tweaking,
that to me makes the Lakers a contender.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
You think Austin Reeves is there next year?
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Probably not, maybe at the beginning, probably not through the year.
I just think Austin Reeves he's your most valuable, tradable asset,
and because of Luca, he's a little redundant. When you
have Anthony Davis there, Austin Reeves is critical because without
(05:37):
Austin Reeves, your only creators the oldest guy in the
league and Lebron. But with Luca there, he becomes And
I really like Austin, you know what I mean. The
I was the first person tell you Austin Reves better
than Bradley Beal. Everybody, everybody called me crazy, But I
just think sometimes he is right now a luxury and
(06:02):
the Lakers have some necessities, so I would put if
I were stacking it, I should have started. I think
the Nuggets, I should have said included them. I think
they are a real player based off the strength of
Jokich alone, and I think they will, you know, manicure
around the edges, and maybe they were over Michael Malone
(06:25):
and maybe what we saw them do in the playoffs
under Adelman is something sustainable. And then we see Michael
Porter Junior come back healthy and Aaron Gordon come back healthy.
So I'd have them for Lakers three. The Rockets, to me,
are they can win the championship. And I say this
with no disrespect to Oklahoma City at all, but man
(06:52):
a Lakers Rockets Western Conference Finals, which I think check
me on this, producers. I think we got that once
in league history, and it was nineteen eighty six, a
team second year when everyone thought we were gonna get
(07:12):
Lakers Celtics in the finals. Again. I know the Lakers.
The Rockets beat the Lakers in the playoffs in nineteen
eighty six. I think it was the conference finals and
the the Rockets beat the Lakers. Okay, the hold on
(07:37):
the Lakers won the series. Hold on a second that
that's wrong. I'm just telling you right now.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
The the you asked the producer fact.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
I'm telling you right now, I'm telling you right now
that reads to me. I'm about to be This is
a good lesson for everybody. Pause, pause the show, but
stay on the air. What they just put in the
doc reads like it was some AI bot wrote it
one thousand percent. It's what it reads like. And I'm
here telling you that AI bot doesn't know what the
(08:11):
hell it's talking about. I'm telling you right now you
cannot trust the AI chat bots when it comes to
uh sports history. So I'm just the I'm gonna do
my own thing here. Am I going to get cook?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Here? You might get Oh wait, no, it says nineteen
City versus Houston.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Okay, everybody stop? Does everybody stop for a second? Okay?
The the in nineteen eighty six the NBA Finals, without
a shadow of a doubt, guys, were the eighty six
Celtics maybe the greatest team ever against the chem Olajuan
(09:02):
Ralph Sampson Rockets. That is not up for debate. So
the I my question was, was the conference finals Lakers Rockets?
All look that up? The Rockets beat the Lakers in
the conference finals. For one, guys, audience, AI chatbots don't
(09:29):
fucking know sports. I'm telling you right now, ask like
when you're done with the done with the show, ask
an AI chatbot like very basic things like tell me
the top ten running backs in the NFL right now,
and they're gonna spit at you. Adrian Peterson like the
(09:54):
So it's just maybe they're good for some term papers,
but they're not good with sports. So the Rockets have
played the Lakers in the conference finals. I believe that's
the only time. I believe it's nineteen eighty six. I
(10:15):
know they I am looking at it now. I know
they played in nineteen eighty six, but I think that's
the only time. Sorry for the sidebar point I was
trying to make is with no respect to Oklahoma City.
A Durant Lebron conference finals, which we've never gotten by
the way, we got it, and a Durant Lebron playoff
(10:41):
series that felt like a fair fight, which we've only
gotten once ever, in the twenty twelve NBA Finals, which
I know listen, Bron won in five, But that was
a great series until Game five. Like those first four
games all were in the balance in the fourth quarter,
(11:03):
and you can say that wasn't a fair fight because
the Heat were veterans and the Thunder were young. A
fun fact that no one believes, but it is true.
Twenty the Heat over the MAVs when they lost in
(11:25):
twenty eleven. The Heat were the same size favorite over
the MAVs in twenty eleven, minus won seventy five as
the Thunder were over the Heat. When the Heat won
their first title with Lebron and Wade in twenty twelve,
the Thunder were minus won seventy five favorites going into
(11:47):
those finals because the Heat, remember they had lost the
year before, and they had damn near lost to Boston,
and the Thunder had just like exploded onto the scene
and become this seemingly unstoppable force of nature. Again, this
is off top of my head, but the that Thunder
team in the conference finals played the Spurs, who the
(12:11):
Spurs had won demanse the final ten games of the
regular season, and then we're ten to zero in the playoffs,
up two to zero in the conference finals on a
twenty game winning streak, and then the Thunder one four
straight and made the finals like that thunder team was
like holy shit, say yeah, and so it was really
(12:37):
a remarkable thing. But okay, sorry, we're way off topic.
The point I'm trying to make is I think the
Rockets have all the pieces you need if Durant stays healthy. Yeah,
I like Shingoon as the fulcrum of the offense. I
like that Durant ads scoring. I think they're gonna get
(12:59):
more from shit Eperd. I think Udok is excellent. I
like all of it. And then there's Oklahoma City that
has everyone coming back and everyone but Crusoe is super
young and should only get better. But it's a lot
(13:24):
of plates to balance there one hundred and five game season.
Are you satisfied after a championship? You know, does the
Oklahoma City got lucky? I'll putting quotes that the injury
bug hit them early instead of late, Like it's not
(13:46):
right to say Oklahoma City, you know, had great injury
luck this year. They you know, key players missed real time,
but they suffered it early in the year instead of
going into the postseason. So I would stay management the
way for Katie with the Rockets.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
You know, the Rockets already being a nice team, them
trying to mitigate his injuries.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Yeah, yes, and no I would. I think you've got
to be careful with a guy who's thirty seven. I
don't think that they're going to put him on like
a sixty game plan. And I also think for a
lot of these legends, they want to be eligible for
(14:33):
the awards, and that sixty five game marker isn't like
they they want KD I'm sure is. I bet Katie
is pissed that he was not eligible for all NBA
this year. It's like I played sixty two games, I
was all NBA caliber and so yeah, you know what
I mean. So that's what I think they'll do all
(14:54):
right dog days summer, which means it's time for the
boys this summer to kick it into gear. And the
best way to cast on your baseball IQ is with
DraftKings Sports Book. As the stretch drive begins, Draftings Sportsbook
has you covered with live betting, home run props, odds, boosts,
and more. Whether you're chasing dingers or jumping in mid game,
(15:16):
there's always action to be had. Never bet on baseball
before simple pick. You gotta go yard, hammer some live
odds mid game, or just ride with your squad and
hope for the best. No spreadsheets, just vibes and mines
and odds subject to change. Something special for first timers.
New DraftKings customers bet five bucks, get two hundred dollars
(15:36):
in bonus bets instantly, download Draftings sportsbook gap and use
code right. That's code right for new customers to get
two hundred dollars in bonus best bets instantly when you
bet just five bucks only on DraftKings. The crown is yours.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler in New York
called eight seven seven eight opeen WI or text hope
and wy at four six seven three six nine. In Connecticut,
help is available for a problem gambling called eight eight
eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit
CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothilka
cinemin Resorting, Kansas twenty one on over agent Eligibility varies
by jurisdiction Voyd and Ontario. Bet must win to receive
(16:11):
reward minimum minus five hundred odds required. Bonus bets expire
one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuins. Four additional
terms and responsible gaming resources see DKNG dot co slash audio.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Luca was on the cover of Men's Health magazine, looking
very slender. He came out with a quote saying, just visually,
I would say that my whole body looks better. How
are you feeling about Lucas transitions?
Speaker 1 (16:35):
So a couple things. One is, first, sorry to I
pointed this out on TV, and I'm not trying to
pick on anybody, but this, to me is one of
the main takeaways from the article. Remember I told you
guys Ai doesn't know sports and that Ai hallucinates sports.
This article got marred a bit by the fact that
(16:58):
the author included in it an anecdote about how Luka
when he came into the league had a forty two
inch vertical that was measured at the NBA Combine. The
problem with that is twofold. One is anyone that's watched
(17:18):
ten minutes of Lukadanic at any moment of his career
knows he never had a forty two inch vertical. The
other problem is Lukdanciic did not go to the combine,
so there is no place to measure his vertical, So
what happened there? The most obvious answer is figured out
(17:41):
by some Internet Sleuths was if you googled Lukdancij vertical,
the top AI result was that Lukodanciic had a forty
two inch vertical measured at the NBA Combine, which then
links you to an article about Dante Divincenzo's forty two
(18:02):
in vertical at the NBA Combine. But AI hallucinated it.
I guess they saw the chu in both names, white guys,
the same draft class, and they just made it up.
So again, I'm not saying AI can't be used for things.
I'm not saying it's not you know, the next, the future,
all of that. I am saying, for some reason, AI
(18:25):
does not know sports and can't figure it out. That's
first thing. Second thing is this my other takeaway from
that article demand I'm going to read you a line
in it which I found fascinating. The facility which is
located in the town where Doncic is vacationed every summer
(18:47):
since he was a teen. That's important. The facility, which
is it located in the town where Doncic has vacationed
every summer since he was a teen, didn't have weights
until earlier this month, when he had dumbbells, barbells, weight
plates and med balls trucked in. So here's why that's
(19:07):
noteworthy to me. Luke every summer goes back to this
town in Slovenia and trains. But his training has always
just included hoop it, you know what I mean. He
plays ball and does drills, all of it. Weight draining
was never a big part of it for him. And
so now you guys know, I feel like the go ahead.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Oh it's so cool just being able to get a
bus of uh weights.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Oh yeah, yeah, of course. But the the I felt
that the whiplash effect of you know, Luca's fat, out
of shape drinking problem was far too strong, considering that
(19:59):
with out ever being in peak physical condition, he had
one of the greatest opening six year stretches of a career.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Ever.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
This is where I am contractually obligated to remind the
audience that Luka Doncic already has made more first team
All nbas than either Steph Curry or Chris Paul and
only has one less than Kevin freaking Durant. He's twenty
six years old, that's how great he's been. Now, he
(20:30):
did have a down year, and part of it was,
he was a little out of shape. He was also sad,
he also got hurt, he also got traded, and all,
you know, all of those things. So I think that
is I think that is important. It's not giving him
(20:51):
an excuse. But I just thought twelve months ago today,
before Luca got hurt, before Luca got traded, when Luca
was coming off a fine finals appearance, nobody thought and
he had beaten in round two Shay and in round
three Anthony Edwards, and had averaged thirty four to nine
and ten in the regular season. Nobody thought Shay or
(21:12):
Anthony Edwards was better than him. Now I think it's
like conventional wisdom that those guys are better than him,
and Shaye certainly has earned it. I guess Anthony I
don't think quite has. But whatever the point I'm making
is this, Luca, in non tip top physical condition was
already well on his way to being one of the
(21:33):
greatest players ever. Luca, like this should be the early
favorite for League MVP.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
Well you don't, and you don't think with his play
style that him being a little bit thinner might affect it.
Like I don't know, he's like get you on his head.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Yeah, but I think I think that if he is,
I don't think he's going to be skinny. I think
he's going to be lean, you know what I mean.
I think if you just replace some of what was
fat the Lakers, Yeah, you know what I mean. Like,
I would bet he weighs about the same but looks,
if not more, Yeah, I mean, muscle weighs more than fat, right,
(22:13):
I mean, so he looks a lot thinner than he was.
He looks a lot thinner, you know what I mean.
So I just, yeah, I don't think you want actually
skinny Luca, but thinner Luca. I think what is helpful?
And I think that he has taken this. You know
(22:33):
what happened last year at a heart And this was
the thing that I warned the MAVs about after the
trade that even if they were going to be right,
they're going to be wrong. Even if they were right,
that if they didn't trade him and they signed him
to an extension, he was just gonna get fat and
out of shape and all these things. He By trading
(22:58):
him and motivating him and insulting him, they then put
this extra chip on his shoulder. Now people can say,
why didn't he do it during the year. I don't
think you can do this type of thing during a season,
you know what I mean? I think you have to this,
you need an offseason. And he's about to be playing
(23:18):
a ton of ball at euro Basket at for Slovenia
and I right now he would be my early season
pick to win League MVP next year.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And if he just torched Dallas every single time they
play and it just doesn't even matter.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
God, I just can't wait if that were to happen. Also,
by the way, shout out to Marco in the chat
watching from Slovenia.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
Yes, shout out Marco. Very cool.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Let's do Matt Stafford here and then we get to
the listeners.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Yeah, so Matt st Everett has been dealing with some
backstress and is set to miss another week of camp.
You've been high on the rams. Does this affect it
at all? I think the guy just doesn't want to
go to training camp. He's old. Oh old.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
I hope that's it. That would be great, That would
be an awesome result here. If it's just an old
guy doesn't want to practice, so here is Before training camp,
there was one story of potential contender that hit my
(24:31):
radar and that was the CJ. Stroud's shoulder soreness. I
was like, ooh, that's something to watch CJ Stroud, you know,
like that he wasn't able to do full throwing practice
or whatever, like that's something watch that seems to have subsided. Okay,
but it was it hit my radar. In training camp.
(24:52):
We've been lucky so far, fingers crossed. There hasn't been
the like devastating superstar injury, and there hasn't been the
contender that has just been hit with a bunch of
you know, contributor injuries, at least not yet. So there
have been to me two major stories out of training
(25:15):
camp so far for contenders. One is a positive one.
One is a worrisome one. The positive one and people
can say this is you know, Chiefs colored glasses, but
I'm not wrong about this. The Chiefs rookie first round
pick Get who was considered a top ten talent, who
(25:38):
fell because people thought his knee was not right and
he might not be healthy for a good portion of
his rookie year. Not only being healthy the first day
of camp, but being slotted as the starting left tackle,
not competing with Jalen Moore, who they signed to be
the left tackle for that spot. Just being their left
(26:01):
tackle from day one of camp today to right now
is one of the biggest positive stories for any true
contender this training camp because if they have that spot
locked down, and then you have Jaalen Moore, the guy
they signed from San Francisco, and Juwan Taylor, the right
tackle who's been a bit of a disappointment with Kansas
City since they signed him from Jacksonville, competing on the
(26:22):
right side, then all of a sudden, the Chiefs offensive
line is totally different. So and there was everyone agreed
that Josh Simmons had the talent to potentially be the
number one tackle in his draft class, but the injury
was so worried some he slid. If the knee is
really right, then the Chiefs dealing at taking care of
(26:45):
one of the most important and one of the most
expensive spots in football by drafting a guy at thirty
two is a game changer that's in the positive direction
for a contender, in a negative direction for a content.
It's this Stafford story because aside from confidence for your
(27:10):
team's secondary, there is nothing positive that comes out of
Jimmy g practicing and playing in draf camp and you
need desperately healthy Matt Stafford in order to contend, and
I think the Rams can contend. I liked now for
Devonte Adams. I was just like, you gotta be kidding me.
(27:33):
Got massive, I got Jimmy g throwing me the wall again.
I love Puka, I really like their d line. I
obviously love McVeigh. I think DeVante is good as a
number two with the Rams, but it all comes undone
without Stafford. And Stafford is thirty seven. He got the
shit kicked out of him for a decade in Detroit.
(27:55):
He has been banged up at times with the Rams.
I am it's not the biggest story, but I am
not going to ignore it as a potential big story.
So it's just something to watch. Hey guys, talk to
you about my friends at boost Mobile. Ever sign up
for a phone plan, thinking wow, great price, and then
(28:16):
a few months later it's like surprise, bill's even higher.
Boost Mobile. You pay twenty five dollars a month forever.
That's unlimited talk, text and data starting at just twenty
five dollars a month, no price hikes, no contract forever. Plus,
boost Mobile is now a legit nationwide five G network.
They've invested billions building five G towers across the country.
(28:39):
Visit boostmobile dot com or head to your local Boost
store today and get unlimited talk, text, and data for
twenty five dollars a month forever. Five G speeds not
available in all areas. After thirty gigabytes, customers may experience
slower speeds. Customers will pay twenty five dollars a month
as long as they remain active on the Boost Unlimited plan.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
A Selucas signed his three year, one hundred and sixty
five million extension with the Lakers over the weekend. We've
all been waiting on that. So now that's finally happened,
do you think that it's time for Elied to really
press the gas on trying to succeed in the now?
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Well, listen, I got it. I said after they didn't
re sign Dorian Finney Smith that I thought there was
a chance I put Lucas signing the extension. Was it
ninety percent? I had it. I dropped it to like
seventy five percent. So I do think this is good, important,
real news. I also think that because he signed the extension,
(29:40):
they are able to slow walk this a bit. If
they want to because Luca is not going anywhere over
the next three years. And by the way, the next
deal he'll sign Demons will be the league's first million
dollar a game deal super Max. Yeah, well it was that.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
What he was supposed to was that what he was
coming up on in Dallas.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
No, No, he could have signed.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
No, the.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
He would have gotten the biggest deal ever in Dallas,
but it wouldn't. We wouldn't have gotten that threshold yet.
But three years from now his contract will average more
than eighty two million a year and there's eighty two games.
It's a really remarkable thing here is though my general
Lakers take that. No One, even the biggest anti Lebron folks,
(30:33):
haven't been able to explain to me where I'm wrong
on this. I think it is overwhelmingly likely that over
the lifetime of this extension, these next three years, Luca
never has a teammate better than Lebron is right now. Now, listen,
(30:56):
maybe they're gonna get Yannis and I'll be wrong. Maybe
they're you know, they have their eyes on Joker, and
I'll be wrong. But Shay ain't going anywhere, and Tatum's
not going anywhere, and now we're like running out of
people who are better than Lebron right now. Okay, so
(31:21):
I would if I were the Lakers, prioritize trying to
win right now, because if they think this is their
last year with Lebron, I do not know that Luca
is going to have a better running mate than Lebron
over these next three years. Now. Again, if they have
real intel that if they keep the cap sheet clean
(31:45):
in two years, Yannis plans on just coming there in
free agency, then so be it. Then you know what
if they like then see you know, it's not like
they're drawing dead this season, like they've got a nice
roster and then keep it flexible. But that's a hell
(32:05):
of a gamble to take, like a hell of a
gamble to take.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Do you are you worried at all that there's like
a riff potentially formed between Luca and Lebron or do
you think that Luca knows that it's I don't think.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Yeah, I don't think it's between Luca and Lebron at all.
Lebron was Luca's all time favorite player. Luca is the
guy Lebron tried to sign to his shoe line. Luca like,
I don't think there is anything between them at all.
I think there is some obvious frustration for Lebron, fair
(32:40):
or not that the Lakers are not pressing the gas
even more on this season. Now you can say that's unfair,
that they shouldn't whatever, but that is to me, the
entirety of the frustration is that right there.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Oh yeah, So Baker Mayfield came into that number fifty
in the NFL Top one list. He answers this year
as the eighth best odds for MVP in Tampa. Bay
also just drafted Amika Agbuka and they're getting got one
back from his injury. What are your expectations for Baker
this year?
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Expectations already has another really good season. Ceiling is he
is a frontline MVP candidate and they are a true
contender in the NFC. Like I think that's on the board.
And here's the thing. In order for them to be
a contender, he has to be an MVP candidate because
(33:34):
that defense is not going to be great. They are
gonna have to outscore people. But Baker had forty touchdowns
last year. He was a badass man. Yeah, I mean
he was a badass last year. I'm so and he
right now, has I want to make sure I'm right
about this, that I didn't miss it yet. He's on
the best non rookie contract in the NFL. Three years,
(34:00):
one hundred million bucks for Baker Mayfield. He is one
more good season away from getting a two hundred and
fifty million dollar deal. He's been that level of player,
and I'm just happy for him, man, because this shit
went so sideways on him. Yeah, and his teammates love him.
(34:27):
He is true to himself. He's tough. He is a
legit awesome playoff performer. Like this is the thing that
people I think underrate with Baker. He has played i
think five career playoff games. I'm gonna tell you what
he did. First playoff game ever, the Cleveland Browns go
(34:50):
into Pittsburgh, hang forty eight on him. Baker throws for
two sixty three touchdowns a one fifteen rating. Second playoff
game ever, his only ever bad playoff game. He's against
the two time defending AFC champion. Oh I'm sorry, he's
against the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, and he's twenty
(35:13):
three to thirty seven for two hundred yards, one touchdown,
one pick, seventy five rating but he's in arrowhead in
round two against the twenty twenty Chiefs, like, no shame
in that. He then makes the playoffs with Tampa. His
first playoff game ever against Philly, and again it's so crazy,
this is Philly. This game was in January of twenty
(35:36):
twenty four. Yeah, exactly, thirty two to nine, three touchdowns,
no picks, a one to twenty rating. The next game
against Detroit three hundred and fifty yards, three touchdowns, two picks,
a ninety five rating, they lose by eight. And in
the game against Washington last year, a wild one where
(35:58):
he only throws eighteen times, but he's fifteen of eighteen
for a buck eighty five, two touchdowns and a one
forty seven rating. In his playoff career, he's got a
one zero six rating, twelve touchdowns, three picks. Like he's
just been awesome to say, gets better? Yeah so, I yeah, so,
(36:19):
I'm a Baker believer through and through. All right, Uh,
let's do these last two real quick.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
James Cook is holding in as he looks for his
contract extension. After a few years a big dollar running
backs paying off, it seemed like the debate was put
to rest, but that conversation opens back up again. Or
do you think Cook is just not that guy?
Speaker 1 (36:40):
Well? No, I just I think Cook's really good. But
I the Bills have no cap space. He's under contract
for five million bucks. They know they can franchise tag
him for not much. And even if you think he's awesome,
do you think he's going to be awesome four years
from now?
Speaker 2 (36:57):
So, like, go ask me a huge part of their
offense last year, like huge, it's the last two years.
Speaker 1 (37:05):
I just think they think he's gonna blink. Bro. I
don't think it's that they you know what I mean.
I think that they think we'll give him a little
more money, but not long term, you know what I mean?
Nothing long term and then or maybe a one year extension.
But the report is he wants you know, I don't
know if it's what he wants. I don't want to
get this wrong, but I saw four years forty million
(37:27):
bouncing around, which is only ten million a year. But
I just think they think at that position, his style,
in two years he could be done, and they just
it's just such a tough business for running backs. Man,
It's just such a tough business for running backs.
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.