March 7, 2019 • 32 mins
It's the best of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker! LeBron James passed Michael Jordan for fourth in career points last night; and his teammates were less than impressed. The guys debate whether he is underappreciated by Lakers fans, the likelihood that LeBron will ever pass MJ as the GOAT, and what will happen if LeBron passes Kobe Bryant in front of Lakers fans.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:21):
s R. You're listening to the Best of the Odd
Couple with Chris Brush and Rod Harker. It was all
about Lebron James last night. He goes out, needs thirteen
points to pass Michael Jordan and moved to fourth on
the all time scoring list for NBA players, and he
(00:43):
does it midway through the second quarter, gets his thirteen points,
ended up with what thirty one point seven rebounds, seven assists,
something like that. I mean, Lebron just puts up those
numbers in his sleep. Is amazing that in a year
that has no doubt been a down year for him
and certainly for his team. That's that's an understatement. He's
(01:03):
still putting up numbers that rival his career that that
actually are right there with his career numbers. But the number,
but the numbers just this year just feel empty because
you're not winning right. Well, yeah, when you don't win,
they are somewhat empty. But he's still able to go
out in his sixteenth year give you twenty seven, eight
(01:25):
and eight, so that that's a big accomplishment. But here's
what I want to say, Rob, and I think this
is an angle that a lot of people have missed.
When you look at the top five scores of all time,
Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Carl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and
(01:45):
Michael Jordan in that order, only two of them were
hyped as prodigies from a very young age, early in
their high school careers, and that was Kareem Abdul Jabbar
and Lebron James. Now, of course Kobe came straight out
of high school to the NBA, but you know, and
he had some degree of hype, but nothing compared to
(02:07):
what Lebron got. Kobe was drafted thirteenth. Lebron was drafted first,
of course, so that was different. Michael Jordan was somewhat
of a late bloomer. We all know the legendary story
about him not making his varsity team when he was
a sophomore. We know Karl Malone went to Louisiana Tech.
(02:27):
You know, so he wasn't any blue chip recruit coming
out of high school. And so I wanted to just
say that for Lebron James, and obviously Kareem did it
as well, but for Lebron James to live up to
the hype and maybe even go further than the hype,
(02:49):
it's very impressive. We've seen a lot of guys who
at a young age are viewed is the next best,
biggest thing. Sebastian Telfair was viewed as the next great
point guard. Obviously that didn't work out. Demetrius Walker at
fourteen was put on the cover of Sports Illustrated as
the next big thing in basketball. He never even got
(03:12):
to the NBA. You Oj Mayo was the next Lebron,
you know, Derek Character. I mean, I can go on
and on, and a lot of guys that were the
next guy did at least make the NBA but never
panned out. They were role players. You remember a guy
Marcus Liberty, rob you know, went to Illinois, was supposed
to be the next Magic Johnson and Sawing and so forth.
(03:35):
So I do want to give credit to Lebron James
for having that hype as a fifteen year old kid,
if not a little bit earlier, and living up to it,
if not surpassing it. That's not easy to do, especially
in this day and age with social media, with the
(03:55):
extensive coverage the debate shows, where he had people killing
him every day, picking things apart Michael Jordan's magic. They
never had to deal with things like that. So while
I know there he has his detractors out there, and
certainly this is a year that hasn't been great for him,
but Lebron James did live up to the hype, and
(04:18):
that's odd, that's unusual. So I think last night was
just the latest reminder that this is one of the
few guys that was hyped as a prodigy from a
young age and actually lived up to the hype. That's
all good and well, and it was well stated by
you for a historical law standpoint, Chris, But you would agree.
(04:40):
I mean, you're not You're gonna You're not at least
gonna give a paragraph of love to him for that.
It's unbelievable. You you already ready to go. I could
just yeah, that's fine, but but but but but but no,
at least give him that. That's in you know, Rob
you and not you've best. I just said that you
just you. You nailed it on the historical reference on
(05:03):
how it fits in. I get that. If I if
it was Kyrie or Bryce Hard or any any of them. No,
I don't know how any of them. No, No, Moni monie.
Issue with it is as much of you just put
into all of that and the historical standpoint and the love.
(05:24):
Where was the love last night when the moment happened,
Chris Bussard? Where were his teammates? Where were his Laker
fans in Los Angeles? He didn't do this in Denver,
or did this in Brooklyn? He did it at home
with the Lakers, and and go we'd Bill Plaski's column
in the La Times. If you didn't want if you
(05:45):
didn't watch it yourself, that's the part that I can't
get over. I can't get over about a guy who's
done all that he's done, accomplishes, accomplished all that he's done,
kept his nose clean, did all these other things. Chris,
and people on this day act like it was just
any other day. It was so disappointing as I watched,
(06:06):
and supposedly the NBA told him not to stop the game.
The hell strip the hell with the NBA. What's the
fine you're gonna give me? Give me a fine, I'm
stopping the game. I just don't even understand that. I
don't buy that for one second. They didn't stop the game.
The NBA told him. I'm telling you that the Lakers
could have still stopped the game. I don't care what
(06:27):
the NBA aig. He's fed so many people in this
league over the last sixteen years. Chris am I right,
no question, no question. So why in the world are
they gonna do him like that and cheat him? And
where were the fans? I just don't even understand that
these are I guess these are the people who are
who covered up his mural twice. I mean, this is
(06:48):
amazing on the non love, and I know that people
are not happy that they're not gonna make the playoffs. Chris,
I got it. But there's a time to take a
moment and pause and give credit with credit is due.
And nobody did it last night for Lebron, not his teammates,
not the opponents, not the fans in LA. What does
that say about Lebron sixteen years old and passing Michael Jordan,
(07:13):
all the numbers, all the points, all the assists, three championships,
all the finals appearance. It said something about him when
people won't even stop to give you, give you the
honor he had to go hug Caruso. Nobody even came
over when you saw the video. The thing when I
was watching it, am I wrong? No? I'm asking you, well,
(07:35):
I think you make a good point. I'm gonna address it. Firstly,
watching it, I was surprised that none of his teammates,
Like I was expecting them to surround me and hugging
and you know, all the fives all around something. I mean,
he first he caught up with Rondo, and I mean here, Rondo.
(07:56):
You know, we've seen him out with it at the
Duke game or a football game. They've hung out together,
so they must have a decent relationship. But the hug
was a little lukewarm. It was lukewarm. It was like
the huge all did it my man? You know? And
then like you said, he found his way to Caruso
and he hugged Caruso right like he was like. And
(08:18):
then after he hugged him, he said, what's your name?
Who are you? I mean that it was like it
was like that the high school. You really don't know,
he didn't know. I was surprised. Now I will say this,
it is possible. I'm just I think this is a
realistic possibility that the other players didn't know. I don't
buy that for one second, Chris. Don't you think they're
(08:39):
keeping track of Lebron James points in there? It was
everywhere all over espnywhere. I know they knew that he
was gonna break the record that night, but they might
not have known that that point, that's when he hit
his thirteenth point. That's even when they made the announcement,
was keeping it in his head thence it still was lukewarm.
The whole thing, even the crowd reaction when they made
(09:02):
the announcement. Well, let me ask you answer you on that.
I was waiting. I look, I get it, I get it.
I wish they had given him more love. But look,
let's face it, Lebron James is not yet a Laker
in that you know, in the sense that I mean,
he's not viewed as a laker. He's If he had
(09:24):
done that in Cleveland, it would have been major love.
If he had done that in Miami, it would have
been major love. He's not viewed as a Laker yet
he doesn't need to be viewed as a laker. He's
an all time great player. Break the record yet he passed,
But that was only got to number four. It was
a big enough deal for him. It was a no.
(09:46):
But but it was a big enough deal on all
everything it was covered. It wasn't like it wasn't covered.
Wait a minute, and we know, but he would have
been officially break a record. To him, it was a
huge deal. The media is always looking for an angle,
you know that. But at the end of the day,
he didn't breaks players all time and it's not a
big deal. We gonna do that every time he passes.
(10:08):
Somebody's gonna pass a few more we're gonna have. We
didn't do anything when he got the assists mark, we
got broke into the top ten. This is passing Michael Jordan.
We have though, we do have the audio of the
crowd last night at the Staples Center. That's so nice.
I think that's you, Rob No, But that's what I'm saying. Look,
(10:33):
his first year when he came here, he obviously it
wasn't really a full fledged rivalry because he and Kobe
obviously never met in the finals. There's a little bit
of gap in their ages, but in terms of who
was that best player of that era on the perimeter,
there was a real rivalry between Lebron and Kobe and
(10:53):
still is in the fans eyes. And so when Lebron
comes to the Lakers, Kobe fans ur I rate. We
saw that with the defacing of the Murrles. Then Lebron
gets here and the season has been a disaster. But
when Kobe a large part because of things he's done,
and now I'm telling you to me, it does make sense,
(11:14):
as unfortunate as it is, because if this season we're
going great, if they were the fourth seed, then I
think the fans would have been all up into it, Chris,
and so with his teammates. But the way it's gone,
they don't view him yet as a full fledged Laker
like Kobe Magic, Kareem Shock, any of those guys. I
(11:35):
think you're giving him a benefit of the doubt that
he doesn't deserve. From this standpoint that when Kobe broke
the record to pass Michael Jordan, he was in Minnesota
and go, Chris, go look at the YouTube of the
crowd reaction to a visiting player. When he did it,
it was unbelievable in Minnesota. So don't tell me that
because he ain't a Laker, that they didn't do that.
(11:56):
They're supposed to relate. The gains are salty. They're salty.
They were polite. They gave him a polite applause because
they're upset. That's it. That's what it is. It's gotta
be You gotta be bigger than that in the moment.
You gotta be bigger than that in the moment you do.
Who wouldn't be robbed you? You'd feel you do the
same thing. I'm not I'm not a fan, I'm a reporter.
(12:20):
Whatever you do the same thing. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and
Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern four pm Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeart Radio app. We
started off the show talking about Lebron james historic achievement
last night. He surpassed Michael Jordans, in many people's eyes,
(12:44):
the greatest player of all time, to become the fourth
leading scorer in NBA history. Great achievement for Lebron was
not received and celebrated the way both Rob and I
think it should have been by fans at the Staples Center. Obviously,
these fans have not truly embraced Lebron as a full
time pure Laker, and it showed last night. But one
(13:09):
thing that this achievement by Lebron has sparked, Rob, is
a discussion of the goat. And we have this. You know,
this talk is always out there, who is better Lebron
James or Michael Jordan? Who is the greatest player of
all time? And obviously there are some people that think
it's somebody else, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Oscar Robertson,
(13:31):
Wilt Chamberlain. There are many names you could throw into it,
but the two most I would say most prominent today
are Michael Jordan and Lebron James. Would you agree with that, Rob, yep,
I would agree with that. And you and I both
have Lebron his second greatest player of all time behind
Michael Jordan. And I was right now, right now, right,
(13:55):
I was on First Things First this morning. And Nick
Wright are our colleague. We had him on the show
last week. He of course thinks Lebron is the greatest
player of all time, and so that even now can
he admit or he can't even admit that anything's going
on here or no, well no, I mean he has
(14:17):
admitted that Lebron has not had the greatest year. I
believe he's admitted it. As a leader, he certainly has
questioned Lebron's ability as a gem to your point that
he's ified great talent to put on a team. But
he makes a statistical, like an analytical argument for Lebron.
(14:40):
And he actually tweeted something earlier saying that when it's
all said and done, it won't even be a debate,
which I agree, it's not a debate. I think Jordan
is clearly the better player. Uh, and look Lebron, like
I said, I believe he's number two. But I want
to throw it out there for our listeners, Rob, I
belie leave there's a clear cut case, an airtight case
(15:05):
from Michael Jordan as the goat ahead of Lebron James,
and I want to make it today, and I want
to get your response and your reaction, and of course
get the callers and the listeners reaction. But I've talked
about some of this on First Things first today. But
I don't base the Jordans over Lebron argument solely on
(15:28):
the championships. And some people get locked into that, oh
it's just about the rings, or you just because Jordan
has six championships and Lebron has three, you know that's
the only advantage he has. No, Oh, no, that right,
championships is a part of it. Whenever, whenever you hear that,
that drives me crazy because they act like like Michael
didn't do anything else right. I just don't even get that,
(15:50):
like he was Robert Ory or something. Yes, he who
got when I think as seven rings and when you
give him the ten straight scoring titles and some of
the other stuff, it's it's it's like it never happened. Well,
that's that's a good point. Like one thing I think
for the Goat, and I think this is criteria that
anybody would agree on, is that you have to be
(16:11):
individually dominant not only an impact on the game, but
also statistically. Because all these sports, baseball, football, basketball, statistics
are important and if your statistics correlate with winning, then
they're really substantial statistics. So you have to be individually
dominant from a statistical and impact standpoint, and then also winning,
(16:36):
you have to be dominant from a team winning standpoint.
That's why Bill Russell, in my view and most people's,
i'd say, is not in the gold conversation. He's got
eleven rings. He was the lynchpin on every single one
of those championship teams, but he only average fifteen points
for his career. He shot forty four percent from the floor.
(16:58):
He was not the best in the visual player. It
was clearly Will Chamberlain. So while Russell was team rise
in terms of winning incredibly dominant, he didn't have the
individual statistical dominance in my view, to wreck to be
considered the goal. And again, let me say this, Rob,
we gotta tell this to people. You nitpick when you
(17:22):
differentiate between the all time greats, because they're fantastic, right,
they were all great players in their own rights. So
you have to go and you gotta look, and you
gotta wonder about the era. Who did he play? Who
did he be? You start nitpicking about everything done. Yes,
he had a better teammate, he had better coaches, he
(17:42):
had better this he played in that kind of ballpark,
do you know what I mean? Right like that, that's
what you do right. So here's my case for Jordan
as the goat over Lebron number one. Michael Jordan had
no weaknesses, no week. There was not one part of
his game that you would point to and say was
a weakness. Now, some people might say, well, he wasn't
(18:05):
a great three point shooter in his day. That was
not a weakness, No, because the right, nobody shot threes
that much, and you had a Reggie Miller, Ray Allen
here or there. But it wasn't right. There wasn't a
huge part of the game. And I would contend, and
I think most people would understand this. If Michael Jordan
played today, he would be a better three point shooter.
(18:27):
And Chris, here's the evidence why you know this. When
he came into the league, he was known as a dunker,
right right. He developed, Yes, he developed being a shooter range,
Yes that that was developed, and became a pretty good
three point shooter, you know, serviceable for that time for sure.
(18:47):
I mean we all remember the finals, I mean the
NBA Finals what he hit seven in the first half
against Portland, so he you know, I don't consider that
a weakness at all. Lebrin does have a glaring weakness
and it's the file shooting, and that is a weakness
in his era. That's not something you can just say, oh,
(19:08):
it's not a big part of the game. No, that
that's a weakness, all right. I also think while Lebron
certainly is a better passer, there's no question about it,
Jordan was a great passer. I think Jordan was a
better finisher at the rim. I think Jordan was a
better defender. Even though both are really good defenders, Jordan
(19:28):
was more of a tenacious defender, and he was the
Defensive Player of the Year one time and a nine
time All Defensive Player All NBA Defense, whereas Lebron was
six time All NBA Defense. Jordan, even though he was shorter,
had a better post game than Lebron. Lebron has not
(19:53):
exposed people in the post like he should, and you
can't stop him at the realm. We've been talking about
this for years. If Lebron would have ever decided I'm
gonna do this and just right post up, yeah, he
can't be stopped. He could, especially in today's day and
age where you can't touch Nkim Elijahwana, David Robinson of
(20:15):
The Lions Old Morning of Patrick Eweing. Jordan was finishing
at the rim and play having a post game with
guys like that in the league. Now, I'm not saying
he was posting Patrick Eweing, but when he posted a
guard Ewin, it's still around there. You win't still around
the rim and can help and and and I also
think Jordans fit into a system better. Jordan was not
(20:40):
ball dominant, but it wasn't dribble dribble dribble, dribble dribble.
Go look at some of the old youtubees of Michael Jordan.
He did not over dribble. It's not just a knock
on Lebron, but a lot of players of this nowadays. Right,
that's more common, but that that makes it tougher on
your team. Who's the best team in the league. Golden State,
(21:01):
they don't have anybody that over dribbles. You know, look
at San Antonio when they won their championships, they didn't
have anybody that over dribbled. Team basketball, you don't need
a guy dribbling for fifteen seconds of the shot clock
twenty seconds. And Michael Jordan, even though he shot a lot,
he didn't over dribble like Lebron has done. Throughout his career,
(21:24):
and that makes it easier to play team basketball, which
does lead to more winning on the championship level. So
I don't I think just from a an eye test
basketball game standpoint, and look, Lebron, I guess you'd have
to give him a better rebounder. He's averaged seven and
a half for his career. Jordan average six close to
(21:46):
six and a half. So Lebron's averaged one more rebound
per game than Jordan. But he's three inches taller than
what sixty pounds more? Right, So I could I mean,
Lebron's the size of Carl Malone. I could argue that
Jordan is a better rebounder for its size. But if
you want to give that to Lebron, you know, if
you did it pound for pound, you know what I mean?
(22:07):
Did it like that inch for inch, pound for pound,
whatever you want to calling the resume, of course, you know, look,
we all recognize how Lebron James put the Eastern Conference
on lock to the point where other teams in the East,
other great players were shook. They just knew they couldn't
beat him. They were almost defeated before the series began.
(22:29):
But Michael Jordan did that to the entire league. That's
the difference. He didn't just do it to the East,
he did it to the whole league. And finally, Michael
Jordan never had that Dallas moment like Lebron. And I
know Lebron's overcome it, but it never happened. It never
happened when you melt out in that situation. And I
(22:52):
always say, for all thee whenever I'll argue with you know,
the Lebron's people about about stuff. The other thing too, Chris,
is just make the list of all the guys who
didn't eat in the Michael Jordan era and look at
the guys who ate during the Lebron era. It's just
those are facts. No, No, everybody who didn't get stopped
or didn't get a championship during the Lebron era. No,
(23:14):
Jordan kept Patrick ewing, Hakim Elijahwan until he was you know,
Jordan retired, yes, you know the first time. David Robinson,
uh Shaquille O'Neill, Reggie Miller, Reggie Millard, Gary Peyton, Sean Kim.
I mean we could go on and on her a. Nope,
they didn't win in Malone, right, he kept them from
(23:37):
getting a ring, and you're right. As great as Lebron
has been. Everybody's eating everybody, even some more than him. Yes,
that's the part that's shocking, right, Durant is eating Steph
is eating Duncan, an old Duncan eight during Levinsky ad Yes,
Jason Kid got his No, there's no And even when
(23:57):
Jordan got beat before he started winning his championships, he
was giving them business, the business, you know. He and
Lebrin's not the only one Magic had the tragic Johnson series. Yes,
Larry Bird scored eight points twice in his first finals appearance,
so it happens, but it didn't happen to Jordan's That's
why he's the goat. When he lost, he was averaging
(24:20):
forty something. Larry Bird, the Great Larry Bird. Larry Bird
is arguably one of the top five players of all time.
I got him in the top ten, so you could
argue he's in the top five. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Brussard and
Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern four pm Pacific.
(24:41):
Here's what I'm fearing now, considering what we just saw
last night, which I thought was disgraceful. I think it
only gets worse. And when he passes Kolbe, who's next
on the list, I would be shocked, or I should say,
I wouldn't be surprised if they boo Lebron like like
(25:01):
they would take it out, especially if things don't go
the way that they want them, say that they don't
get that second star and it's just okay, and it
doesn't look like they're gonna be winning the championship or something.
And I think that they would take it out on
Lebron again, picking Kobe over Lebron and not giving him
his due when he when he's ready to pass Kobe. Well,
(25:23):
first of all, if he stays healthy, he's going to
pass Kobe. Right, He's about thirteen hundred a little under
thirteen hundred points away, so he'll pass him some point,
you know, maybe midway through next season or something like that. Look,
if they I mean, I guess it's not out of
the realm of possibility, that would be horrible. It would
(25:46):
be ugly, not only for the Lakers fans, not only
for Lebron, but for the entire NBA. It would be terrible.
And I don't know that happening I can't imagine that
they booed him twice. It's already this year. Uh. The
other game, they would they were chatting, uh for we
want we want Kobe. He shouldn't be. He shouldn't be
(26:09):
dealing with that with Dave. Dave just uh uh painted
up and and his his murals twice. He faced them twice.
There's just so much that has gone on. Lebron doesn't
faced this before. Now he just hasn't. Well, this is different.
I don't think now would there be maybe a smattering
of booze possible? Yeah, I guess, but I don't even
(26:34):
foresee that bottom line. I think it's gonna depend on
this now. Again, I don't see them just full fledged
booing him. But what I do see, I think you
would hear some booze because especially now, if they were
in the number one seed in the Western things, you know,
you you it might. I guess you can't do this.
Maybe it's something that if things were going bad, because
(26:55):
I think Rob is gonna depend on this. How things
are going well? Last night he got boot on that
big night, he got boom when he missed those two
free throws. Did you hear the bulls? No? That. But
that's a that's a you know what I mean. But
I'm just saying, but they but they're willing to boom him,
is what I'm saying. No, of course they're willing to
boo him. I think it depends on how things go
(27:18):
next season. If it's as bad as this year, then
I guess nothing is out of the realm, apologis. And
to be honest, if something like that were to happen. Now,
if I'm the Lakers, Let's say the next season's going Poortland.
Let's say they don't get Anthony Davis and you're playing badly,
(27:39):
maybe about at the time that Lebron is gonna pass Kobe,
you're maybe in the ninth seed and just struggling, and
you know, it's just it's similar to this year. If
I were the Lakers in that situation, I would ignore
it him passing Kobe because it's not the record. I
(27:59):
would just just let the game play out. Now, the
other media is gonna drum it up, make it a
huge deal. But if I were the Lakers and and
things are that bad, I would just let the game
just go on like a normal game. Wowcause because I
wouldn't and not out of disrespect for Lebron, but out
(28:21):
of protection for Lebron, because the last thing you want
is for your home fans, the Laker fans, to boo
Lebron James when he passes Kobe Bryant. You don't even
want half cheers at half booze. So if if you
(28:41):
get the sense, and I'm throwing out a big hypothetical,
if you get the sense that that is going to
be the case, then I think you just gotta play
because again, Rob, it's not the record. I mean, are
we gonna what are we gonna do every time he
passes somebody on the points the assist list? Are we gonna,
(29:02):
you know, make it a huge deal. No, the next
the next thing for him to do is to get
the number one, to get Kareem. No. I get all
of that, but I think you know people are saying
he's not a Laker yet you know that you've said
that that that that's the way that No, I say,
that's how that precepts the perception of the only thing
(29:25):
I can think of for last night and I and
I get it. Yeah, I don't. I don't know if
you go forward, uh, I mean when you talk about
this year though, Chris, I think you're right. Everything went bad.
There's a lot of things to remember. The whole pizza
thing when he's gonna go to Blaze Man, that's another part,
because he didn't have a press conference, right, Remember he
(29:45):
didn't have a press conference with the fans. He put
out that thing just like, hey, I haven't been to
a pizza part. He didn't say it was gonna go
but but it, but it did come off as that
he was gonna be at this one closest to his
house here right in Brentwood. I've been to that one,
you know where it is. So so that was the feeling.
And then fans waited up. Remember how hot it was
(30:06):
here and fans waited all day and he never showed up.
So that was another thing. There's just been a couple
of things where he hasn't played right with with the
La fans. And I don't know if he's misread them
or just thought that he's Lebron And it doesn't matter.
This isn't Cleveland. It's just as I'm not saying that
as if Cleveland is. They're not just happy to have him.
(30:30):
They've had superstars, plenty of superstars on Lebron's level before. Yes,
I mean that's that's almost like a birth right. And
think about this in LA right now, you have a team,
a team that went to the super Bowl. In LA.
You got a baseball team that went to back to
back World Series, right, that's what they Chargers made the playoffs,
(30:50):
they were good. They won twelve regular season games. You
just started looking at all that stuff people aren't trying
to be and the Lakers or what. And the Clippers
are going to the playoffs and the Lakers or what. No,
not in this town. Yeah, I'm telling you if if
it's bad next year, I would just keep the game going,
keep the game going. Look, MJ, as great as Kobe
(31:12):
is and was, MJ was different. First of all, he
was Lebron's idol. Secondly, he's widely recognized as the goat.
That is a different thing. But we can't you know,
when he passes Kobe, when he passes Carl Malone. You know,
I just think that would be better than him getting
booed and hopefully he doesn't. Hopefully, look he can make it,
(31:36):
like next year will be great for him. I mean
I think it'd be great for the NBA. If Anthony
Davis does join the Lakers, and if Kevin I've said
it before, if Kevin Durant leaves Golden State, because Golden
State is still gonna be a contender, you know, go
and Durant goes either the Clippers or I think even
better than Knicks. And now they're legit. Like you've always
(31:58):
complained about it, it's one team. We all know Golden
State's gonna win it. If these guys move around, especially
going to big markets, flagship franchises, it's better for the
NBA because then you might have six or seven teams
that can legitimately get to the final. That's always better
for a league when it just mixes up and it's
just not as predictable. We all believe that Golden State
(32:22):
will win. That's what we believe, and we would have
to be proven wrong.
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Odd Couple podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd
Couple at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching f
(00:21):
s R. You're listening to the Best of the Odd
Couple with Chris Brush and Rod Harker. It was all
about Lebron James last night. He goes out, needs thirteen
points to pass Michael Jordan and moved to fourth on
the all time scoring list for NBA players, and he
(00:43):
does it midway through the second quarter, gets his thirteen points,
ended up with what thirty one point seven rebounds, seven assists,
something like that. I mean, Lebron just puts up those
numbers in his sleep. Is amazing that in a year
that has no doubt been a down year for him
and certainly for his team. That's that's an understatement. He's
(01:03):
still putting up numbers that rival his career that that
actually are right there with his career numbers. But the number,
but the numbers just this year just feel empty because
you're not winning right. Well, yeah, when you don't win,
they are somewhat empty. But he's still able to go
out in his sixteenth year give you twenty seven, eight
(01:25):
and eight, so that that's a big accomplishment. But here's
what I want to say, Rob, and I think this
is an angle that a lot of people have missed.
When you look at the top five scores of all time,
Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Carl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and
(01:45):
Michael Jordan in that order, only two of them were
hyped as prodigies from a very young age, early in
their high school careers, and that was Kareem Abdul Jabbar
and Lebron James. Now, of course Kobe came straight out
of high school to the NBA, but you know, and
he had some degree of hype, but nothing compared to
(02:07):
what Lebron got. Kobe was drafted thirteenth. Lebron was drafted first,
of course, so that was different. Michael Jordan was somewhat
of a late bloomer. We all know the legendary story
about him not making his varsity team when he was
a sophomore. We know Karl Malone went to Louisiana Tech.
(02:27):
You know, so he wasn't any blue chip recruit coming
out of high school. And so I wanted to just
say that for Lebron James, and obviously Kareem did it
as well, but for Lebron James to live up to
the hype and maybe even go further than the hype,
(02:49):
it's very impressive. We've seen a lot of guys who
at a young age are viewed is the next best,
biggest thing. Sebastian Telfair was viewed as the next great
point guard. Obviously that didn't work out. Demetrius Walker at
fourteen was put on the cover of Sports Illustrated as
the next big thing in basketball. He never even got
(03:12):
to the NBA. You Oj Mayo was the next Lebron,
you know, Derek Character. I mean, I can go on
and on, and a lot of guys that were the
next guy did at least make the NBA but never
panned out. They were role players. You remember a guy
Marcus Liberty, rob you know, went to Illinois, was supposed
to be the next Magic Johnson and Sawing and so forth.
(03:35):
So I do want to give credit to Lebron James
for having that hype as a fifteen year old kid,
if not a little bit earlier, and living up to it,
if not surpassing it. That's not easy to do, especially
in this day and age with social media, with the
(03:55):
extensive coverage the debate shows, where he had people killing
him every day, picking things apart Michael Jordan's magic. They
never had to deal with things like that. So while
I know there he has his detractors out there, and
certainly this is a year that hasn't been great for him,
but Lebron James did live up to the hype, and
(04:18):
that's odd, that's unusual. So I think last night was
just the latest reminder that this is one of the
few guys that was hyped as a prodigy from a
young age and actually lived up to the hype. That's
all good and well, and it was well stated by
you for a historical law standpoint, Chris, But you would agree.
(04:40):
I mean, you're not You're gonna You're not at least
gonna give a paragraph of love to him for that.
It's unbelievable. You you already ready to go. I could
just yeah, that's fine, but but but but but but no,
at least give him that. That's in you know, Rob
you and not you've best. I just said that you
just you. You nailed it on the historical reference on
(05:03):
how it fits in. I get that. If I if
it was Kyrie or Bryce Hard or any any of them. No,
I don't know how any of them. No, No, Moni monie.
Issue with it is as much of you just put
into all of that and the historical standpoint and the love.
(05:24):
Where was the love last night when the moment happened,
Chris Bussard? Where were his teammates? Where were his Laker
fans in Los Angeles? He didn't do this in Denver,
or did this in Brooklyn? He did it at home
with the Lakers, and and go we'd Bill Plaski's column
in the La Times. If you didn't want if you
(05:45):
didn't watch it yourself, that's the part that I can't
get over. I can't get over about a guy who's
done all that he's done, accomplishes, accomplished all that he's done,
kept his nose clean, did all these other things. Chris,
and people on this day act like it was just
any other day. It was so disappointing as I watched,
(06:06):
and supposedly the NBA told him not to stop the game.
The hell strip the hell with the NBA. What's the
fine you're gonna give me? Give me a fine, I'm
stopping the game. I just don't even understand that. I
don't buy that for one second. They didn't stop the game.
The NBA told him. I'm telling you that the Lakers
could have still stopped the game. I don't care what
(06:27):
the NBA aig. He's fed so many people in this
league over the last sixteen years. Chris am I right,
no question, no question. So why in the world are
they gonna do him like that and cheat him? And
where were the fans? I just don't even understand that
these are I guess these are the people who are
who covered up his mural twice. I mean, this is
(06:48):
amazing on the non love, and I know that people
are not happy that they're not gonna make the playoffs. Chris,
I got it. But there's a time to take a
moment and pause and give credit with credit is due.
And nobody did it last night for Lebron, not his teammates,
not the opponents, not the fans in LA. What does
that say about Lebron sixteen years old and passing Michael Jordan,
(07:13):
all the numbers, all the points, all the assists, three championships,
all the finals appearance. It said something about him when
people won't even stop to give you, give you the
honor he had to go hug Caruso. Nobody even came
over when you saw the video. The thing when I
was watching it, am I wrong? No? I'm asking you, well,
(07:35):
I think you make a good point. I'm gonna address it. Firstly,
watching it, I was surprised that none of his teammates,
Like I was expecting them to surround me and hugging
and you know, all the fives all around something. I mean,
he first he caught up with Rondo, and I mean here, Rondo.
(07:56):
You know, we've seen him out with it at the
Duke game or a football game. They've hung out together,
so they must have a decent relationship. But the hug
was a little lukewarm. It was lukewarm. It was like
the huge all did it my man? You know? And
then like you said, he found his way to Caruso
and he hugged Caruso right like he was like. And
(08:18):
then after he hugged him, he said, what's your name?
Who are you? I mean that it was like it
was like that the high school. You really don't know,
he didn't know. I was surprised. Now I will say this,
it is possible. I'm just I think this is a
realistic possibility that the other players didn't know. I don't
buy that for one second, Chris. Don't you think they're
(08:39):
keeping track of Lebron James points in there? It was
everywhere all over espnywhere. I know they knew that he
was gonna break the record that night, but they might
not have known that that point, that's when he hit
his thirteenth point. That's even when they made the announcement,
was keeping it in his head thence it still was lukewarm.
The whole thing, even the crowd reaction when they made
(09:02):
the announcement. Well, let me ask you answer you on that.
I was waiting. I look, I get it, I get it.
I wish they had given him more love. But look,
let's face it, Lebron James is not yet a Laker
in that you know, in the sense that I mean,
he's not viewed as a laker. He's If he had
(09:24):
done that in Cleveland, it would have been major love.
If he had done that in Miami, it would have
been major love. He's not viewed as a Laker yet
he doesn't need to be viewed as a laker. He's
an all time great player. Break the record yet he passed,
But that was only got to number four. It was
a big enough deal for him. It was a no.
(09:46):
But but it was a big enough deal on all
everything it was covered. It wasn't like it wasn't covered.
Wait a minute, and we know, but he would have
been officially break a record. To him, it was a
huge deal. The media is always looking for an angle,
you know that. But at the end of the day,
he didn't breaks players all time and it's not a
big deal. We gonna do that every time he passes.
(10:08):
Somebody's gonna pass a few more we're gonna have. We
didn't do anything when he got the assists mark, we
got broke into the top ten. This is passing Michael Jordan.
We have though, we do have the audio of the
crowd last night at the Staples Center. That's so nice.
I think that's you, Rob No, But that's what I'm saying. Look,
(10:33):
his first year when he came here, he obviously it
wasn't really a full fledged rivalry because he and Kobe
obviously never met in the finals. There's a little bit
of gap in their ages, but in terms of who
was that best player of that era on the perimeter,
there was a real rivalry between Lebron and Kobe and
(10:53):
still is in the fans eyes. And so when Lebron
comes to the Lakers, Kobe fans ur I rate. We
saw that with the defacing of the Murrles. Then Lebron
gets here and the season has been a disaster. But
when Kobe a large part because of things he's done,
and now I'm telling you to me, it does make sense,
(11:14):
as unfortunate as it is, because if this season we're
going great, if they were the fourth seed, then I
think the fans would have been all up into it, Chris,
and so with his teammates. But the way it's gone,
they don't view him yet as a full fledged Laker
like Kobe Magic, Kareem Shock, any of those guys. I
(11:35):
think you're giving him a benefit of the doubt that
he doesn't deserve. From this standpoint that when Kobe broke
the record to pass Michael Jordan, he was in Minnesota
and go, Chris, go look at the YouTube of the
crowd reaction to a visiting player. When he did it,
it was unbelievable in Minnesota. So don't tell me that
because he ain't a Laker, that they didn't do that.
(11:56):
They're supposed to relate. The gains are salty. They're salty.
They were polite. They gave him a polite applause because
they're upset. That's it. That's what it is. It's gotta
be You gotta be bigger than that in the moment.
You gotta be bigger than that in the moment you do.
Who wouldn't be robbed you? You'd feel you do the
same thing. I'm not I'm not a fan, I'm a reporter.
(12:20):
Whatever you do the same thing. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and
Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern four pm Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeart Radio app. We
started off the show talking about Lebron james historic achievement
last night. He surpassed Michael Jordans, in many people's eyes,
(12:44):
the greatest player of all time, to become the fourth
leading scorer in NBA history. Great achievement for Lebron was
not received and celebrated the way both Rob and I
think it should have been by fans at the Staples Center. Obviously,
these fans have not truly embraced Lebron as a full
time pure Laker, and it showed last night. But one
(13:09):
thing that this achievement by Lebron has sparked, Rob, is
a discussion of the goat. And we have this. You know,
this talk is always out there, who is better Lebron
James or Michael Jordan? Who is the greatest player of
all time? And obviously there are some people that think
it's somebody else, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Oscar Robertson,
(13:31):
Wilt Chamberlain. There are many names you could throw into it,
but the two most I would say most prominent today
are Michael Jordan and Lebron James. Would you agree with that, Rob, yep,
I would agree with that. And you and I both
have Lebron his second greatest player of all time behind
Michael Jordan. And I was right now, right now, right,
(13:55):
I was on First Things First this morning. And Nick
Wright are our colleague. We had him on the show
last week. He of course thinks Lebron is the greatest
player of all time, and so that even now can
he admit or he can't even admit that anything's going
on here or no, well no, I mean he has
(14:17):
admitted that Lebron has not had the greatest year. I
believe he's admitted it. As a leader, he certainly has
questioned Lebron's ability as a gem to your point that
he's ified great talent to put on a team. But
he makes a statistical, like an analytical argument for Lebron.
(14:40):
And he actually tweeted something earlier saying that when it's
all said and done, it won't even be a debate,
which I agree, it's not a debate. I think Jordan
is clearly the better player. Uh, and look Lebron, like
I said, I believe he's number two. But I want
to throw it out there for our listeners, Rob, I
belie leave there's a clear cut case, an airtight case
(15:05):
from Michael Jordan as the goat ahead of Lebron James,
and I want to make it today, and I want
to get your response and your reaction, and of course
get the callers and the listeners reaction. But I've talked
about some of this on First Things first today. But
I don't base the Jordans over Lebron argument solely on
(15:28):
the championships. And some people get locked into that, oh
it's just about the rings, or you just because Jordan
has six championships and Lebron has three, you know that's
the only advantage he has. No, Oh, no, that right,
championships is a part of it. Whenever, whenever you hear that,
that drives me crazy because they act like like Michael
didn't do anything else right. I just don't even get that,
(15:50):
like he was Robert Ory or something. Yes, he who
got when I think as seven rings and when you
give him the ten straight scoring titles and some of
the other stuff, it's it's it's like it never happened. Well,
that's that's a good point. Like one thing I think
for the Goat, and I think this is criteria that
anybody would agree on, is that you have to be
(16:11):
individually dominant not only an impact on the game, but
also statistically. Because all these sports, baseball, football, basketball, statistics
are important and if your statistics correlate with winning, then
they're really substantial statistics. So you have to be individually
dominant from a statistical and impact standpoint, and then also winning,
(16:36):
you have to be dominant from a team winning standpoint.
That's why Bill Russell, in my view and most people's,
i'd say, is not in the gold conversation. He's got
eleven rings. He was the lynchpin on every single one
of those championship teams, but he only average fifteen points
for his career. He shot forty four percent from the floor.
(16:58):
He was not the best in the visual player. It
was clearly Will Chamberlain. So while Russell was team rise
in terms of winning incredibly dominant, he didn't have the
individual statistical dominance in my view, to wreck to be
considered the goal. And again, let me say this, Rob,
we gotta tell this to people. You nitpick when you
(17:22):
differentiate between the all time greats, because they're fantastic, right,
they were all great players in their own rights. So
you have to go and you gotta look, and you
gotta wonder about the era. Who did he play? Who
did he be? You start nitpicking about everything done. Yes,
he had a better teammate, he had better coaches, he
(17:42):
had better this he played in that kind of ballpark,
do you know what I mean? Right like that, that's
what you do right. So here's my case for Jordan
as the goat over Lebron number one. Michael Jordan had
no weaknesses, no week. There was not one part of
his game that you would point to and say was
a weakness. Now, some people might say, well, he wasn't
(18:05):
a great three point shooter in his day. That was
not a weakness, No, because the right, nobody shot threes
that much, and you had a Reggie Miller, Ray Allen
here or there. But it wasn't right. There wasn't a
huge part of the game. And I would contend, and
I think most people would understand this. If Michael Jordan
played today, he would be a better three point shooter.
(18:27):
And Chris, here's the evidence why you know this. When
he came into the league, he was known as a dunker,
right right. He developed, Yes, he developed being a shooter range,
Yes that that was developed, and became a pretty good
three point shooter, you know, serviceable for that time for sure.
(18:47):
I mean we all remember the finals, I mean the
NBA Finals what he hit seven in the first half
against Portland, so he you know, I don't consider that
a weakness at all. Lebrin does have a glaring weakness
and it's the file shooting, and that is a weakness
in his era. That's not something you can just say, oh,
(19:08):
it's not a big part of the game. No, that
that's a weakness, all right. I also think while Lebron
certainly is a better passer, there's no question about it,
Jordan was a great passer. I think Jordan was a
better finisher at the rim. I think Jordan was a
better defender. Even though both are really good defenders, Jordan
(19:28):
was more of a tenacious defender, and he was the
Defensive Player of the Year one time and a nine
time All Defensive Player All NBA Defense, whereas Lebron was
six time All NBA Defense. Jordan, even though he was shorter,
had a better post game than Lebron. Lebron has not
(19:53):
exposed people in the post like he should, and you
can't stop him at the realm. We've been talking about
this for years. If Lebron would have ever decided I'm
gonna do this and just right post up, yeah, he
can't be stopped. He could, especially in today's day and
age where you can't touch Nkim Elijahwana, David Robinson of
(20:15):
The Lions Old Morning of Patrick Eweing. Jordan was finishing
at the rim and play having a post game with
guys like that in the league. Now, I'm not saying
he was posting Patrick Eweing, but when he posted a
guard Ewin, it's still around there. You win't still around
the rim and can help and and and I also
think Jordans fit into a system better. Jordan was not
(20:40):
ball dominant, but it wasn't dribble dribble dribble, dribble dribble.
Go look at some of the old youtubees of Michael Jordan.
He did not over dribble. It's not just a knock
on Lebron, but a lot of players of this nowadays. Right,
that's more common, but that that makes it tougher on
your team. Who's the best team in the league. Golden State,
(21:01):
they don't have anybody that over dribbles. You know, look
at San Antonio when they won their championships, they didn't
have anybody that over dribbled. Team basketball, you don't need
a guy dribbling for fifteen seconds of the shot clock
twenty seconds. And Michael Jordan, even though he shot a lot,
he didn't over dribble like Lebron has done. Throughout his career,
(21:24):
and that makes it easier to play team basketball, which
does lead to more winning on the championship level. So
I don't I think just from a an eye test
basketball game standpoint, and look, Lebron, I guess you'd have
to give him a better rebounder. He's averaged seven and
a half for his career. Jordan average six close to
(21:46):
six and a half. So Lebron's averaged one more rebound
per game than Jordan. But he's three inches taller than
what sixty pounds more? Right, So I could I mean,
Lebron's the size of Carl Malone. I could argue that
Jordan is a better rebounder for its size. But if
you want to give that to Lebron, you know, if
you did it pound for pound, you know what I mean?
(22:07):
Did it like that inch for inch, pound for pound,
whatever you want to calling the resume, of course, you know, look,
we all recognize how Lebron James put the Eastern Conference
on lock to the point where other teams in the East,
other great players were shook. They just knew they couldn't
beat him. They were almost defeated before the series began.
(22:29):
But Michael Jordan did that to the entire league. That's
the difference. He didn't just do it to the East,
he did it to the whole league. And finally, Michael
Jordan never had that Dallas moment like Lebron. And I
know Lebron's overcome it, but it never happened. It never
happened when you melt out in that situation. And I
(22:52):
always say, for all thee whenever I'll argue with you know,
the Lebron's people about about stuff. The other thing too, Chris,
is just make the list of all the guys who
didn't eat in the Michael Jordan era and look at
the guys who ate during the Lebron era. It's just
those are facts. No, No, everybody who didn't get stopped
or didn't get a championship during the Lebron era. No,
(23:14):
Jordan kept Patrick ewing, Hakim Elijahwan until he was you know,
Jordan retired, yes, you know the first time. David Robinson,
uh Shaquille O'Neill, Reggie Miller, Reggie Millard, Gary Peyton, Sean Kim.
I mean we could go on and on her a. Nope,
they didn't win in Malone, right, he kept them from
(23:37):
getting a ring, and you're right. As great as Lebron
has been. Everybody's eating everybody, even some more than him. Yes,
that's the part that's shocking, right, Durant is eating Steph
is eating Duncan, an old Duncan eight during Levinsky ad Yes,
Jason Kid got his No, there's no And even when
(23:57):
Jordan got beat before he started winning his championships, he
was giving them business, the business, you know. He and
Lebrin's not the only one Magic had the tragic Johnson series. Yes,
Larry Bird scored eight points twice in his first finals appearance,
so it happens, but it didn't happen to Jordan's That's
why he's the goat. When he lost, he was averaging
(24:20):
forty something. Larry Bird, the Great Larry Bird. Larry Bird
is arguably one of the top five players of all time.
I got him in the top ten, so you could
argue he's in the top five. Be sure to catch
live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Brussard and
Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern four pm Pacific.
(24:41):
Here's what I'm fearing now, considering what we just saw
last night, which I thought was disgraceful. I think it
only gets worse. And when he passes Kolbe, who's next
on the list, I would be shocked, or I should say,
I wouldn't be surprised if they boo Lebron like like
(25:01):
they would take it out, especially if things don't go
the way that they want them, say that they don't
get that second star and it's just okay, and it
doesn't look like they're gonna be winning the championship or something.
And I think that they would take it out on
Lebron again, picking Kobe over Lebron and not giving him
his due when he when he's ready to pass Kobe. Well,
(25:23):
first of all, if he stays healthy, he's going to
pass Kobe. Right, He's about thirteen hundred a little under
thirteen hundred points away, so he'll pass him some point,
you know, maybe midway through next season or something like that. Look,
if they I mean, I guess it's not out of
the realm of possibility, that would be horrible. It would
(25:46):
be ugly, not only for the Lakers fans, not only
for Lebron, but for the entire NBA. It would be terrible.
And I don't know that happening I can't imagine that
they booed him twice. It's already this year. Uh. The
other game, they would they were chatting, uh for we
want we want Kobe. He shouldn't be. He shouldn't be
(26:09):
dealing with that with Dave. Dave just uh uh painted
up and and his his murals twice. He faced them twice.
There's just so much that has gone on. Lebron doesn't
faced this before. Now he just hasn't. Well, this is different.
I don't think now would there be maybe a smattering
of booze possible? Yeah, I guess, but I don't even
(26:34):
foresee that bottom line. I think it's gonna depend on
this now. Again, I don't see them just full fledged
booing him. But what I do see, I think you
would hear some booze because especially now, if they were
in the number one seed in the Western things, you know,
you you it might. I guess you can't do this.
Maybe it's something that if things were going bad, because
(26:55):
I think Rob is gonna depend on this. How things
are going well? Last night he got boot on that
big night, he got boom when he missed those two
free throws. Did you hear the bulls? No? That. But
that's a that's a you know what I mean. But
I'm just saying, but they but they're willing to boom him,
is what I'm saying. No, of course they're willing to
boo him. I think it depends on how things go
(27:18):
next season. If it's as bad as this year, then
I guess nothing is out of the realm, apologis. And
to be honest, if something like that were to happen. Now,
if I'm the Lakers, Let's say the next season's going Poortland.
Let's say they don't get Anthony Davis and you're playing badly,
(27:39):
maybe about at the time that Lebron is gonna pass Kobe,
you're maybe in the ninth seed and just struggling, and
you know, it's just it's similar to this year. If
I were the Lakers in that situation, I would ignore
it him passing Kobe because it's not the record. I
(27:59):
would just just let the game play out. Now, the
other media is gonna drum it up, make it a
huge deal. But if I were the Lakers and and
things are that bad, I would just let the game
just go on like a normal game. Wowcause because I
wouldn't and not out of disrespect for Lebron, but out
(28:21):
of protection for Lebron, because the last thing you want
is for your home fans, the Laker fans, to boo
Lebron James when he passes Kobe Bryant. You don't even
want half cheers at half booze. So if if you
(28:41):
get the sense, and I'm throwing out a big hypothetical,
if you get the sense that that is going to
be the case, then I think you just gotta play
because again, Rob, it's not the record. I mean, are
we gonna what are we gonna do every time he
passes somebody on the points the assist list? Are we gonna,
(29:02):
you know, make it a huge deal. No, the next
the next thing for him to do is to get
the number one, to get Kareem. No. I get all
of that, but I think you know people are saying
he's not a Laker yet you know that you've said
that that that that's the way that No, I say,
that's how that precepts the perception of the only thing
(29:25):
I can think of for last night and I and
I get it. Yeah, I don't. I don't know if
you go forward, uh, I mean when you talk about
this year though, Chris, I think you're right. Everything went bad.
There's a lot of things to remember. The whole pizza
thing when he's gonna go to Blaze Man, that's another part,
because he didn't have a press conference, right, Remember he
(29:45):
didn't have a press conference with the fans. He put
out that thing just like, hey, I haven't been to
a pizza part. He didn't say it was gonna go
but but it, but it did come off as that
he was gonna be at this one closest to his
house here right in Brentwood. I've been to that one,
you know where it is. So so that was the feeling.
And then fans waited up. Remember how hot it was
(30:06):
here and fans waited all day and he never showed up.
So that was another thing. There's just been a couple
of things where he hasn't played right with with the
La fans. And I don't know if he's misread them
or just thought that he's Lebron And it doesn't matter.
This isn't Cleveland. It's just as I'm not saying that
as if Cleveland is. They're not just happy to have him.
(30:30):
They've had superstars, plenty of superstars on Lebron's level before. Yes,
I mean that's that's almost like a birth right. And
think about this in LA right now, you have a team,
a team that went to the super Bowl. In LA.
You got a baseball team that went to back to
back World Series, right, that's what they Chargers made the playoffs,
(30:50):
they were good. They won twelve regular season games. You
just started looking at all that stuff people aren't trying
to be and the Lakers or what. And the Clippers
are going to the playoffs and the Lakers or what. No,
not in this town. Yeah, I'm telling you if if
it's bad next year, I would just keep the game going,
keep the game going. Look, MJ, as great as Kobe
(31:12):
is and was, MJ was different. First of all, he
was Lebron's idol. Secondly, he's widely recognized as the goat.
That is a different thing. But we can't you know,
when he passes Kobe, when he passes Carl Malone. You know,
I just think that would be better than him getting
booed and hopefully he doesn't. Hopefully, look he can make it,
(31:36):
like next year will be great for him. I mean
I think it'd be great for the NBA. If Anthony
Davis does join the Lakers, and if Kevin I've said
it before, if Kevin Durant leaves Golden State, because Golden
State is still gonna be a contender, you know, go
and Durant goes either the Clippers or I think even
better than Knicks. And now they're legit. Like you've always
(31:58):
complained about it, it's one team. We all know Golden
State's gonna win it. If these guys move around, especially
going to big markets, flagship franchises, it's better for the
NBA because then you might have six or seven teams
that can legitimately get to the final. That's always better
for a league when it just mixes up and it's
just not as predictable. We all believe that Golden State
(32:22):
will win. That's what we believe, and we would have
to be proven wrong.
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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