Luka's $165M Lakers Extension Changes Everything

Luka Dončić signs his massive $165M Lakers extension, setting up the franchise's next decade. We break down the deal's implications, his record-breaking jersey sales, and how the Lakers are positioning for Giannis in 2027. Plus: Warriors-Kuminga drama and our Lakers City Edition jersey rankings.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Overview of the Episode
00:44 Luca Doncic's Contract and Jersey Sales
03:17 Celebrating Success: Luka's Weekend and Team Dynamics
05:52 Jonathan Kuminga's Contract Situation with the Warriors
11:31 Lakers' City Edition Jerseys and NBA Design Trends
17:41 Luca Doncic's Future with the Lakers
23:18 The Future of the Lakers with Luka Doncic
28:17 LeBron's Role and Future with the Lakers
40:33 Giannis Antetokounmpo's Future and Trade Speculations
50:11 LNLS Outtro.mp4


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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, what's going on? Y'all?

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Welcome to a new episode of Late Now Lakes Show
podcast powered by nineteen Media Group.

Speaker 1 (00:05):
It is your host to Ricky and Kwame. Kwame my brother.
I'm gonna get you in earlier, so it's not just
a shot of me here. What's going on? Man? How
you feeling?

Speaker 3 (00:12):
I'm good, man, I'm good, coming off a big weekend
for the Lakers for today, tomorrow, and you know, hopefully
for the very long futures I do. We're gonna talk
about that so we can just jump right into it.
But I'm doing well, man, I'm out. The spirits are high.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, we I think it's officially or it's been the
dog days of summer.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
We're just gonna get right into it.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
So if you haven't noticed, Luka Doncas just signed his
one hundred and sixty five million dollar contract with the
Los Angeles Lakers, tying him with the franchise to the
twenty twenty seven twenty twenty eight NBA season.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
He does have an opt out, which we will talk
about soon.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Life is good for all intensive purposes over here on Lakerland.
Luca is the number one jersey seller in the NBA
this past season, just signed a contract extension, getting called
the King of LA. But apparently the real story is
folks talking about Lebron james absence from the press conference.
Twitter is twittering, ESPN's doing a Monday news cycle Deep Dies,

(01:08):
and everybody's psychoanalyzing what FaceTime calls could mean. So we'll
get into all of that, but let's let's let's dive
through some of our quick topics, shall we.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
Kwam, Yes, sir?

Speaker 1 (01:20):
First up, she got Luka danceez Is.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Like we previously mentioned, he is the number one jersey
seller in the NBA.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
This has been the.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
First time that a non Lebron James Steph Curry NBA
athlete has led the NBA in jersey sales, Kwami. Twenty
twelve was the last time somebody not named Lebron or
Steph had that title. Can you tell me what NBA
star led the league in jersey sales for the twenty
twelve twenty thirteen NBA season.

Speaker 3 (01:50):
Oh wow, that's tough. The twelve on the I'm gonna say, like,
is it Kevin Durant?

Speaker 2 (01:55):
No, Actually, I don't think Kevin Durant has ever led
the NBA in jersey sale. This guy only did it once,
but you can assume that he had a pretty big,
you know, cultural impact when he switched over from a
cold weather state to his hometown team.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
And it no, guess, Carmelo Anthony, that.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Is his year that he switched over to the neck
when he was traded to the next right, Yeah, Mellow, Yeah, Mello.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
Hm, I didn't see that coming, guess, Carmelo Anthony. Shout
out Mellow.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
I had a Mellow Nuggets jersey.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
It was when they really started doing the dark blue
throwbacks and they had that Denver script and then the
two pick axes going across man. Mellow was bro like
he didn't like obviously was Lakers fans back there, but
it didn't matter.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Mellow was that guy.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
In fact, I thought he was that guy so much
that I decided to buy a large and.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
That mount that was way too small. I got home
with it. My parents may return it. Bro. It's like,
there's no way you spent that money on that small
of a jersey. So shout out Carmelo.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
And also a one time jersey sales leader was the
year right before that with Derrick Rose hometown Derek Rose.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
That makes sense Late Night Lake show up the next.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
So you know, Luca goes from cover of Men's Health
magazine flying around literally across the country doing different basketball events.
He was just in Chicago, we saw him in New York,
gets to La over the weekend, signs a ninety bazillion
dollar contract extension.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
And he hops on a flight.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
He goes right to the Backstreet Boy concert in Vegas.
I mean, pretty solid weekend for mister Dancis. He was
partying with his Laker teammates. Ob yes, sans Lebron, but
that's okay. Yeah, a lot of his other guys supporting
Rob Polinka. In what I'm seeing with my eyes is
I think throwing up gang signs and celebration to you know,
I want it that way, So.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Shout out Rob.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
And then you also got the surprise man the new
owner of the Los Angele Lakers, Mark Walters, buying Luca
and the Lakers at VIP seats my question because obviously
that's dope that that's what's up. That's what you're supposed
to do when the face of the franchise signs an extension.
But I mean my question to you would be bro
if you were to sign for that much money and

(04:17):
they threw you a surprise concert in Vegas at the Sphere.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
Who are you going to see?

Speaker 3 (04:22):
Brother? I know, I don't know that. That's tough. I
mean it's difficult because I don't I'm not a big
live music guy. Like concert dude, I feel like the
music don't always sound as good. Somebody who won't give
me a show?

Speaker 1 (04:33):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Maybe like if you would ask me like three, four
or five years ago, I probably would have said, like Kanye,
I heard his shows are crazy, Drake is still on
the list. I never seen the Drake show. I'd love
to see that, even though I know he's not super
popular right now in the media circles. But whatever, I'd
like to see that.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
There's a handful of artists, but like I don't know,
I entertainers, maybe like a Beyonce maybe something like that.
It definitely wouldn't be Backstreet Boys, I'll be honest with you.
It seems to have been surprising for Luca. Luca's what
like ninety nineties twenty six, Like how much Backstreet Boys
did you really get in? You know what I'm saying?
That was Rob Lincoln just trying to turn up for
his old self. But no, like I said, it probably

(05:09):
be somebody of the air like Beyonce, maybe like a
Chris Brown or Drake. I probably wouldn't, you know. I
don't think I need a celebration. I just signed for
sixty five. I can celebrate that enough. Like, hey, there's
gonna be a lot of years of celebration. Backstreet boys
don't don't move me. But good on the ownership to
take him out, fly him out, having a good little night,
a little sua RAI to celebrate this long standing partnership.

(05:31):
So I think they did well by him. And like
I said, if he's appreciative and that's something that he
wanted to do, that's great or something that he just enjoyed,
you know, getting to know these guys chopping up in
the social setting, I think that's good. But I don't know.
For me, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
We got we got Beyonce, we got the pre canceled
Kanye West. Yeah, although you know some aubreed. You know,
I think Aubrey would probably be my top two to
three pick. But I'm gonna be completely honest with you, bro,
if I signed that big of an ex tension, get
me to a k Trenada concert and don't drug test
me for about three months, okay, because we were real

(06:08):
about to have some zooms Nation after one hundred and
sixty five MS was signed on the dotted line, right,
we're doing all the testing to make sure everything we
got is safe. But once we passed that test, we
were flying high. Give me up with the give them
the babies a binkie, give me that light up binky.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
Move the hell out of my way. I'm gonna look
like Terry Crews and in white Chicks. Bro. I gotta
go see them. They're gonna be.

Speaker 2 (06:33):
Out in Chicago in November, so you know, maybe I'll
get none one hundred and sixty five million dollar contract
party out of that, so I'll saying any details fair.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
Hey, Qualm let me know.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Oh, by the way, if you want to have a
jump scare, there's a beardless Gabe Vincent in those videos too,
so you know it's.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
The shooting will come around with the refreshed look.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
But I don't know, man, that was that was not
It was scary, So shout out Gabe Quaian. I'll let
you take this next note away, your your your arch
nemesis from over the years, Lebron's number one enemy, the
Golden State Warriors, seem to have a little bit of
turmoil with one of their younger core players. What's up

(07:18):
with this whole drama with Jonathan Communion and the Warriors?

Speaker 3 (07:21):
Yeah, I mean the Warriors only want to offer him
what a two year deal or an extension? Sorry, and
Kaminga's not really happening. He wants he wants a longer deal.
I think, what is he twenty two years old? I
believe he's a young guy. He's looking for a little
bit more than that. So I think the Warriors current
offer is just a what is it? A two year? Sorry?

(07:43):
They can offer him up to a deal that would
pay him sixty three million over three years, but currently
they're only offering him a two year, forty five million
dollar offer, but only the first year is guaranteed, so
if he's traded, he can be waived at no expense
to the team. And it kind of puts him in
the odd place. He loses his bird clause no or
his bird rights no trade clause sorry, and he'll lose

(08:04):
that if he is waved. If he does sign that
deal that the Golden State Warriors have currently proposed. If
he signs the one year qualifying offer and then enters
strict and free agency next year, you know that could
happen as well. But you know, with the cap rising,
that causes the Golden State Words to have a little
bit of issue with their books. Again, they got some
big dogs tied up, tying up their their dollars right now.

(08:25):
So they got Jimmy Butler, Steph Curry, Draymond Green that
are eating up majority of their their their payroll, and
they're gonna be in that. They're gonna be hitting those aprons,
that first and second apron. They're gonna be dancing between
those two, which means even making moves difficult. Sounds like
they don't want to trade him. They're out there deciding
that they're probably not gonna trade him. They haven't liked
the offers they've been fielded, and to be honest, you know,

(08:46):
Jonathan Kamiga, ultimately he's a relatively unproven player. Unfortunately, I
think he's talented. I think he has some some good athleticism,
some good skills, stuff that could be developed. But unfortunately,
when you play for the Golden State Warriors, you have
to be a part of a system. It's very much
reminiscent of the old Spurgs. You have to play within
the system. You don't get to just break out and
do dribble between tween tweens and then get whatever you want.

(09:07):
That's not how the Warriors play. It's ball movement predicated
on you know, screen setting and moving without the ball
and stuff that he may not get the touches that
I think he wants in his young career, the potential
I think he thinks he can hit. So obviously that's
why we see a bit of an impasse there between
the Warriors and Jonathan Kamingu's camp. So we've seen that
the Sacramento Kings have offered a couple deals. One was

(09:28):
just Malik Monk and then another player probably Dario Sarich
of sorts, and then a protective first round pick. The
Warriors seem to be willing to do the deal provided
the pick could be unprotected. But sounds like those those
contract talks or sorry, those trade talks have essentially you know, disappeared,
So there's really not a market for Jonathan Mingia at
the moment. I think they have until what October first

(09:50):
to make sure that that qualifying deal is set. Somebody
check me in, fact check me on that note is
October first time, right, So he has to accept that
otherwise they're going to go and do a season with
a lot of it on what the future for Jonathan
Kaminga is. Honestly, I think the kiss of death came
when they brought in Jimmy Butler. He provides a very
similar skill set that Kaminga does, probably with a bit
less playmaking. Jimmy Butler is a pretty decent playmaker. I

(10:14):
would say Cominga doesn't really have that in his game.
He's just tunnel vision. How can I get a bucket
because I'm faster, more athletic, whatever it may be. He's
still in that young stage, so I don't know if
he's willing to sit around and wait for his turn.
We've already seen he wasn't willing to do that before.
There was what a story that leaked last season about
Kaminga kind of being done with Steve Kerr and his
rotations and he kind of wanted out. And we see

(10:36):
now that even the front office is having a bit
of a hesitancy to bring him on completely. So it's
gonna be interesting. It's gonna be interesting, but Unfortunately, the
Kaminga contract talks have stalled the Warriors entire offseason. They
have made no moves to better their roster. They've done nothing,
and it's all hanging on the crux of this and
unfortunately it's not looking good for the Warriors over there.

(10:59):
And you know what, feel bad for him, not one
bit because every opportunity they had to extend their their window,
they've done something stupid to close it. They had Jordan Pool,
the Steph Curry successor, and they let Draymond punch him
and pack him up. And now they're looking at a
roster where your core is all thirty five and above,
your three stars are all thirty five and up, and

(11:19):
you're supposed to win the championship with that. Come on, man.
So honestly, it sucks for the Warriors. It's not great
for them, but it is what it is. It's unfortunate.
No love lost here. I can't wait to see that
that that team squirm another season, right.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
And I appreciate you getting in a couple of Jimmy
Butler shots through that John Always conversation.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
So I'm Jimmy Butler's biggest hater. I might put that
on my Twitter handle on my bios to do it.
Someone's gotta do it.

Speaker 2 (11:45):
Last topic for our quick Hits before we dive into
the Luca extension, the NBA, the Lakers, Nike, somebody came
out and announced that the Lakers will be running back
their City Edition uniforms from two years ago. This is
what is it called the City Nights?

Speaker 1 (12:06):
What is this called?

Speaker 3 (12:07):
Bro?

Speaker 1 (12:07):
It is called the California Dream.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
The California Dream jersey, which the Lakers previously used a
couple of years back, is.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
Making a return.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
They I guess, started working on a new one, decided
to stop and just said let's let's go back to
what works. So I guess this also has to do
a little bit with the Lakers as a team deciding
we not wearing last year's gradient whatever we call in
this purple to black Lake show jersey that they went

(12:37):
one to nine and they threw those off to the side,
and as you know, they did not see him again.
So Kwami this question, I guess it's for you. More so,
we always like to take a look at the new
jerseys that Nike is rolling out each year, not just
with the Lakers but overall. Bro, what's the take on
them recycling two years ago as jersey and what overall

(12:58):
outside of the obvious black Mamba joints, it's your favorite one.

Speaker 3 (13:02):
Yeah, you know. I there's a reason why I think
they do this, and I think it's because I think
they want to bring this black jersey in because it
doesn't it doesn't fit the normal what do they call
it now, statement And I don't remember what they what
the other jersey is called. Yeah, yeah, I think it's
association in statement jerseys, which is absurd. But I think

(13:23):
the reason is because obviously they have a purple, they
have a gold jersey, and then they have the Sunday
whites well, which aren't always on Sunday anymore. They're just
kind of white jerseys everywhere. I think they just wanted
a black and that's the only black jersey that we've
had that's a city jersey that is not the Mamba ones.
So that's gonna be my guess why they brought it back.
I don't like that jersey, I'll be honest. I didn't

(13:45):
love it. I don't really like the way Los Angeles
is on the top, like that weird like triangle thing.
I know it's supposed to be symbolic for some reason,
but I don't get it. I don't really like it.
I don't like the way it looks on the jersey. Personally,
I don't mind the color scheme. I just wish the
way they had Los Angeles was a little different. Personally,
my favorite, like you said, excluding the black Mama joints. Honestly,

(14:09):
I think it might be the Minneapolis ones, the white
and the blue. I think those are just so crispy
and clean. That white, the hints of blue, I think
it's just icy, like it really gives me that feeling.
It's like refreshing. But to be honest, the first four
I thought we're all pretty good. I enjoyed the pinstripes.
I know people don't like the most dominant ever shack joints.
I thought they were kind of cool, especially on court.
I didn't mind them. And then the purple one with

(14:30):
the two stars next to the numbers, the one that
came after the icy blue joints, was the last good
one to me. But since I didn't really like the
white and purple, I don't like the current ones they're recycling,
and the Grady ones I actually despise so but honestly,
me personally, the icy whites of the Elgin Baylor Minneapolis ones,
those to me are chef's kiss.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with you there.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
Man.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
As I'm just looking at these, I'm like, at some
point they ran out of ideas and I just don't understand, man.
And like companies like Nike and you know you're Adidas
or Puma, anybody that could design jerseys. There should be
a department for just jersey innovation, Like, and it don't
got to be a big department. You just need two

(15:15):
to three people that's just in a room coming up
with new concepts, new seasons of jerseys, right, Like, it
ain't even got to be the actual season for you
to drop a new concept of a jersey just to
get the people excited. So I do you know, I
feel like along the way, and it's not just necessarily
with jerseys for me, it's honestly with overall sports creativity

(15:37):
and design and logos.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
Overall that I feel like we're lacking. You know, I'm seeing.

Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah, I think the last new team that I rocked
with their logo, I did, like the Golden State Valkyries.
I thought that was a nice approach to a new logo.
But then you got the Portland Heat, which is a
new expansion W eight NBA team, And it's like, did
y'all try And if the answer is no, why, but

(16:05):
not to stay too long on the soapbox. Obviously, the
Black Mambas will forever be in Laker legacy and man
like if they just you remember the old throwback knock
off the Black Lakers jerseys before they had Black Lakers jerseys.

Speaker 1 (16:20):
Where they would just put the bro.

Speaker 2 (16:23):
The cursive Los Angeles and you had the purple on
the side.

Speaker 1 (16:27):
It's essentially what we're seeing with this.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
But they just decide to make this you know, secret
society triangle, you know, above it. So I think I
think they can execute. I still think there's a very
long runway for jersey designs, especially for the NBA. The
NBA used to be cool with their with their logos
and their jerseys and their personalities. The oversized rocket, just
the entire goddamn thing. You got a Milwaukee Buck with

(16:51):
the deer is three fourths of they like, it's okay, guys, like,
let's bring back that that ultra creativity.

Speaker 1 (16:59):
This minimal still get little old.

Speaker 3 (17:01):
So yeah, it's definitely sleep in the market. I'll be honest,
hot take. I even think the Lakers earn jersey. Remember
they did the earned ones, like if you made the playoffs,
you got a special jersey. They did that for years.
We have the twenty twenty twenty one joints there. It's similar,
you know, black and it's basically a black jersey. It
says Lakers on It's like a bit of like a
raised text. It looks like or like the block lettering.

(17:24):
I love that. I think that looks better than the
ones they're going to recycle for this year. But teach
their own ni he's just gonna keep doing shit to
make the money that they need. And I get it,
But can they at least give us Christmas Day jerseys back?
Then they're gonna go all these city jerseys at us.
Can we at least get Christmas jerseys back? Nike? Please please?
Those made the day feel special man. Yeah. Yeah, we've

(17:44):
we've strayed far from the path of the path of light.

Speaker 1 (17:47):
Just the easy layups they complain about. You.

Speaker 2 (17:50):
You'll hear old heads talk about, you know, the game
and how youngins are training for basketball these days, and
it's all trainers and silo right, and very very very
organized and with not a lot of team ball, right,
not a lot of just pick up and go bro.
That's how I'm feeling. That's how I'm feeling with some
of these uh, some of these designs and this overall

(18:11):
just just just thought they want to go.

Speaker 1 (18:14):
They'd rather do something extravagant, weird.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Then just give us our Christmas jerseys back and it
don't take it.

Speaker 3 (18:21):
The logo in the NBA Finals, give us the virtually
from the court. Yeah, like come on, man, like we
get it, but you're not fooling us. Like, let's get
back to the roots and then expand from that. Nobody
asks for some of these changes, so you know, it
is what it is.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
It is what it is.

Speaker 3 (18:41):
All right.

Speaker 2 (18:42):
We're gonna take a quick break and when we jump back,
we're gonna get into the Luca money and don't dare
star like Lebron like show don't move all right, Well,
I'm just gonna roll back in from that. Just qual
me during the break. Just let me know what Warriors
fans nicknamed Jonathan Kaminga and we're not gonna repeat it
for there. I just want to let y'all know Warriors
fans I can't wait until the day when you guys

(19:04):
are back in irrelevancy, because if that is the nicknames
you're given your core players, shame on you at any
events on the bigger and better things. Luca doncz you know,
at least one hundred and sixty five million dollars richer
signed that three year contract extension with the Los Angeles
Lakers on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
Rob Polinka was Rob polinkiinging.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
With his with his quotes, let me just pull him up,
make sure that I got correctly here.

Speaker 1 (19:32):
He says.

Speaker 2 (19:32):
Luca is an absolute killer on the court and blends
with a unique generosity.

Speaker 1 (19:37):
And care for the community. You get it, you know,
like he's a demon, but he's also like a great guy,
you know.

Speaker 2 (19:44):
Yeah, Above all else, Luca will lead our franchise to
pursue future championships, a goal that will forever define the Lakers.
It was very clear that the keys have been handed,
tossed and put into a hardier you know, case, and
given to Luka Doncich as the next superstar of the franchise.

(20:06):
He obviously is aligned with that plan with his contract extension. Yes,
Luca did for go more money in this extensions.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
But this is probably the biggest butt you can come
up with.

Speaker 2 (20:18):
He is now in line to sign a five year,
four hundred and seventeen million dollar contract extension if he
declines his player option in twenty seven, twenty eight, seventeen
million dollars for five.

Speaker 1 (20:32):
Additional years of basketball. You know, Coomia's funny.

Speaker 2 (20:36):
Someone on on X when it was the contract terms
were posted and I went to llenus account and tweeted
about it. They were like, well, he's going to be
washed by the time he signs that extension, and I'm
just like, I had to go check his birthday, I
had to check his horoscope. I had to go and
check all the details to see what the fuck they
was talking about. Because Luca will be twenty nine in

(20:59):
the twenty seven bro, when we say that the Lakers
winning got their guy for the future, he'll be in
a Lakers uniform, God willing into the early trees. Okay,
like to us, to us that that's a decent amount
of ways away, But to someone who's still in their
early twenties, there's still a whole lot of basketball to
be played. So Kwami reaction to the Luca contract extension,

(21:23):
his details and four hundred and seventeen million dollars super
Max waiting for him.

Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, we talked about it a little bit last week,
and yeah, he kind of did what we expected. We
expected him to sign this past weekend, and he did.
I know. One of the options was that obviously he
could forego extending this season, extend next year for an
additional year, but by doing a three year contract this way,
he can opt out of that third year and they'll
get him up to ten years of service which allow

(21:49):
him to sign for that super Max. That's you know,
thirty five percent of you know, the cap hold, which
is you know, the five year four hundred and seventeen
million or whatever you just described earlier. So honestly, for
him to get that to maximize his profits, yeah, that
was the best deal for him to take. So he
surely didn't give us no discount, but don't. We don't
need a discount out here. But I love it. I
love it for him. I think it's gonna be great.

(22:11):
I'm glad that he was just ready to commit today
and not willing to put you know, Lakers fans to
the Oh my gosh, what's happening? Is he gonna stay?
You know? It kind of shut up a lot of
the other fan bases who were swearing that Luca was
not gonna come back, he wasn't gonna stay with the Lakers,
whatever it may be. So I'm glad he shut up
that crowd as well. But I love it. I love
the move. I love it for us, I love it
for Luca, I love it for the Lakers organization, fans worldwide.

(22:34):
I think this is a huge move. Again. You get
one of the most transcendent stars in the peak of
LA and Luca is a showman, so he's gonna love
the bright lights that the Lakers are gonna bring. And
this is honestly, to be completely honest, this is gonna
catapult the NBA who's been starving for a star to
take the mantle, a young star to take the mantle.

(22:54):
Luca's gonna be that guy in LA. We're gonna see
it for years to come, and this is the start
of it. So it you know, I've been a Luca
fan for years. Man, I've been singing this man's praises
that he made it easy. He came to my team,
he came to the team I support. I'm firmly parked.
I'm sad. So yeah, we're good. We're good. I'm excited
for this man. So Luca's on He's on board. Like
I said, at least for the next two years, he'll

(23:16):
re up. We won't have pocketbook issues. We have new
ownership coming in the way, with deep, deep pockets. They'll
be able to get Luca the money he needs without
a hitch. It won't even be it won't even be
a second dought. He's going to sign that sucker. And
like you said, we're gonna ride into the twenties with
the Luca Lakers. So hey, how much better does life
get than that?

Speaker 2 (23:34):
You know, not much, But if you ask around, they
still want to act like we're not having a great summer.
We not enjoying the beautiful weather in the outside, the sunshine,
rainbows in the fresh water. I don't know, man, I
think this is amazing. I think this is just another
sign that I made the best decision of my life

(23:56):
becoming a Lakers fan back when I was a young pup.

Speaker 3 (24:00):
Like it's God's favorite franchise.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
God's favorite franchising. Don't y'all forget it, Please, don't forget that.

Speaker 1 (24:07):
I get it, y'all.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
Superstars cement your organization, and it's from one era, and
you can call back on that one era. Trust me,
I'm a Bears fan, right, I'm a Chicago Bears fan.

Speaker 1 (24:18):
All they talk about is nineteen eighty five.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
That's it now, all the greatness from that Super Bowl
Chicago Bears team. Guess what the world keeps going and
it's two thousand and twenty five, and now no one
really cares about what Mike Dicka did and you know,
all all of that stuff and shout out sweetness when
that was a speak kill on the goat's name. But
the point is, y'all, time keeps ticking forward and the

(24:42):
Lakers remain the same, no matter what you think about
the organization. How it's ran ownership now new ownership. Hello,
they're gonna end up with a superstar from Kareamkaream and
Magic to shacka Kobe to just Kobe. It's Kobe and
Powell to just Lebron to Lebron to now Lebron and
Luca Doncic. You can only imagine that next name that's

(25:06):
going to show up after that, and we might find
out sooner than sooner than later. So kwamea you mentioned
excuse me. You mentioned that with the contract extension by
Luca Doncics, that has sealed your contract of Laker for Lifer.
I was curious, though, Bro, with all of this manufactured

(25:27):
duama about Lebron James this summer and how happy or
unhappy he is. I I did start to wonder to
myself with Kwame, with Kwame leave too, especially with Luca
here with Kwame and Bronni and Lebron leave for Cleveland
and leave me in late night Lake show stranded?

Speaker 1 (25:45):
Bro, what were you prepared to do? Did you have
contingency plans set up for.

Speaker 3 (25:49):
Lebron exit pre Luca? I mean, I didn't think he
was going to exit pre Luca. I'll be honest. I
always had the thought in my mind that he was
just going to stay a Laker, and I had made
the decision that I was not going to move again.
I would still support Lebron whatever team he goes to,
but I'm not I'm not buying another jersey, Bro. Like
it's it, Like that's all, folks. No, I had planned

(26:10):
to stay with the Lakers for the long haul. I
got a buddy who we were both Caz fans. Lebron
went to Miami. We went to Miami. When he went
back to Cleelany said, I'm staying. So I'm a Heat
fan and he's still a Heat fan to this day,
die hard. So I'd like to take a page out
of that book. Commit And like I said, I see,
I love how Laker Nation has been. It's been a
great ride these past seven years of my fandom. Like

(26:30):
it's been a lot of fun. Of the people I met,
discourse every game is do or die with the Lakers.
Actually think that's kind of fun. You know, it's it's fun.
So I'm here for the long haul. I've seen how
you guys have been mysteriously blessed, Like every single time,
every time it looks dark, it's like, oh psych, here's
some daylight, and it just keeps happening. So I want

(26:50):
to experience that. But I want my children to be
able to Yeah, I want the I want to be
in the good graces of the Lakers. Now it's time
for me to commit as well. So I'm here. And
like I said, I told you I was gonna be
on the side little MFFL mad fan for life, on
the side. Like I told you that a couple of
years ago, departs. I'm Luca Nation on the side. He

(27:10):
came to me, this is this is this is this is,
this is, this is, this is the universe telling me
I was this was always in my destiny to be
a part of the Lakers family. So I'm here to stay. Man,
I'm here to stay. Even if Lebron decides to leave. Ay,
I'll support you from a distance, but I'm here. I'm
here for the future with Luca.

Speaker 1 (27:29):
It's Luca time, I see.

Speaker 2 (27:31):
And there's a lot of the A lot of Lebron
fans had a Lebron to Luca pipeline, a set up,
and you know, we just a lot of alleviated any
type of travel issues, any zip code change. You know
how much of a paying the ass is getting all
your mail switched over to a new address.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
You ain't got to do that, brother. You locked in.
We locked in.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
We're so happy to have you and the rest of
our new Lakers fans.

Speaker 1 (27:55):
Welcome you guys.

Speaker 2 (27:56):
You know, if this is your first time listening to
the podcast, this is what you're gonna get. A lot
of me and me end up some fun special guests,
as you guys probably see on the back. Just scrolling
through so try to have a good time. Leyon Lake
showing as the season picks up, we definitely gonna have
a good time. So okay, now we ain't gotta be
here forever, but you know, I'm either was an absence

(28:17):
from the Luca presser and the Backstreet Boy concert turn up.

Speaker 1 (28:21):
I go on Instagram.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
I see Big Bron Bron doing his best Charles Barkley
impersonations on the golf course man getting his swings in. Hey,
it takes ten thousand hours for you to, you know,
be a master at anything, right Lebron obviously is an
hour seven of golfing. Any any concerning any issue with
Lebron not being there or at least not being vocal

(28:43):
publicly about Luca donc extension.

Speaker 3 (28:46):
No, not at all, Like, not not one, not one
inkling of my being is like that was kind of bogus. Nah,
And again, people are gonna people are gonna stretch the
optics as far as they can because they see what
the Lakers are. They see they just signed Lucas, so
they're like, we gotta figure something out. Like these guys
are looking like they're looking like world beaters, like they

(29:07):
might something might happen. So they gotta, they gotta, they
gotta manufacture fake drama to try and get everybody stirred
up and riled up and have question marks pop up.
Lebron is forty going on forty one. He turns forty
one this calendar year December. He is going to be
a forty one year old man, and you expect him
to be every presser for every new no Man. He's

(29:29):
enjoying his vacation. He's still hooping, he's doing his thing,
but he's enjoying his time off. The man is going
to play his twenty third year basketball. I challenge you viewers, listeners,
what have you ever been able to do for twenty
three years consistently? So, like I said, he's gonna he's
gonna takets time to get enjoy it. I don't have
any doubts he's gonna roll in the training camp ready

(29:49):
to go. I wouldn't be surprised if he does his
Lebron camp again and gets people's syched. He's gonna be
ready to go for the season. I have no doubts there.
And honestly, at this point, it's not his it's not
his job to be the ambassador for the Lakers anymore.
Luca's now the franchise player, and it's so him making
the calls to Marcus Smart, welcoming DeAndre Ayden. That's his
job now as the franchise leader. Nobody's asking and even

(30:13):
though they very well could, but nobody's asking, Hey, where's
Austin Reeves. We ain't seen Austin Reeves all summer. I
ain't even seen him play golf this summer. Where's Austin Reeves? At?
Is he mad? He was in that report too, that
apparently him and Lebron don't like playing basketball, Luca, even
though they played with him for like two months and
they were hooping, but apparently it's all we don't like
to come on, like, are we really gonna believe this?

(30:34):
Like I said, the season's gonna start, We're gonna start
winning games, and we're gonna look back at the summer,
the discourse over this summer and be like, wow, that
was a little ridiculous. I think it's gonna be fine.
I don't take any stock into it. Like I said,
Lebron doesn't need to be the ambassador for the Lakers anymore.
Let the man enjoys time as long as he comes
into the season. Correct in hoops? What more do we
need from the guy? Sometimes I think we overdo the

(30:56):
optics of everything outside of basketball. Doesn't matter. What's as
long as what they're doing outside of what we see
the product from the court beat, as long as it's
not like super destructive or you know whatever, baby, who cares?

Speaker 1 (31:08):
You know?

Speaker 3 (31:08):
If they show up when the season tips and Lebron
is Lebron and they're winning games, does it matter that
he wasn't in a press car. No, Like, this stuff
doesn't matter, Like, we got it. I get it, slow media,
there's nothing going on in the summer, But I don't.
This is a non story to me again, him taking
pictures with the Clippers logo behind him, non story. Like,

(31:29):
But I get it. The anti Lebron crowd is just feasting.
I know, the Laker fans who've hated Lebron this whole
tenure here can't wait for him to be out the
door so they could just love Luca. They can't wait.
I get it. The media cycles who've been churning the
name around for twenty three seasons to line their pockets,
but he's feeling it come to an end and they're panicking.
Everyone feels it coming to the end. They don't know

(31:50):
what to do, so grasp at the last few straws.
Y'all have man enjoy it. But you know what, I'm
gonna enjoy. I'm gonna enjoy this, these last couple of
seasons of greatness. So for me, I'm not worry about
the antics of storylines and none of that until I
hear it come out of Lebron James's mouth himself. It's
all speculation, it's all rumors swirling. Rich Paul said they're
gonna be monitoring moves. He didn't say, y'all better do

(32:12):
it or we're not, Like he didn't even think the
threat wasn't even harsha. Hey, we're gonna be monitoring the moves,
and they made some good ones. The roster is better
in my opinion. So like, what board, what do you
think Lebron's looking for? What do you think he wanted
he wanted someone like, tell me what he was looking for?
The whole roster be traded for? Who for Jose Veil?
Like you know what I'm saying. I think they filled
the gaps they needed. Rob maintains they want to keep

(32:33):
flexibility as they continue to go through the season for
whatever that maybe Luca is saying the same things Lebron
is saying. I want to win now. I don't want
to wait. So how are we all? How are we
not on the same page here? To me, this is
all the same page. And to be honest, I think
we know we know who Luca's favorite player was growing up.
It's his teammate Lebron James. What you think Luca hasn't

(32:54):
talked to Bron and be like, look, I want you
to be here as long as you want to be here.
And I'm sure Lebron's like, hey, I'm glad that I
could pass this on to you. Like, I think there's
a lot of conversation that probably happens between the two
of them that will never know here anything. I think
they're on the same page. I think they have a
great amount of respect for each other. I think this
is we saw it in the games. They have great chemistry.
Things work. It never felt like even when if it

(33:17):
wasn't his turn minds herd thing. We saw Lebron do
this before with Dwayne Wayne, they figured it out. Why
can't he do it again? And I don't think Lebron
wants to have to go out there and score thirty
every game. I really don't think he does. I really
think he will relish not be not having to do that. Now.
Can he go crazy a quarter year?

Speaker 2 (33:33):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (33:34):
I think he loved that, but no, So for me,
all the Lebron stuff is nonsensical. I think people just
the rage that his name invokes in people's absolutely absurd.
I think y'all need to talk about that with y'all therapists,
get that out, whatever it is. But I think this
pairing is great. I think that their timelines are line
and Rob even let us know he's And again, I

(33:54):
think people might have skipped over this message because it
wasn't reported super heavily. Rob said, we want to respect
Lebron and his family's timeline on how much longer he
wants to play, and I think that's important. Maybe the
contract extension didn't come because Lebron said, I don't know
when my last year is going to be. I might
be done after this. We'll play it by ear, but
we don't know that. We're speculating. Oh, the Lakers didn't

(34:15):
give it to him because they don't want We don't
know that. They could have said Lebron, what are you
looking for for your future? Say you know, I don't know.
Let me play this contract out, let's revisit in the summer.
It could have been something as simple as that. We
just don't know. And like I said, I think Rob's
quote was a bit more telling. We don't know. Dadd
almost seem like they don't know what to offer Lebron
because he isn't given them indication of when he wants
his career to end. And that makes sense, and they're

(34:37):
gonna respect that, and I think everybody's going to so
I think it's all smoking mirrors. I'm not worried about it.
What say you?

Speaker 2 (34:43):
I think you you touched on pretty much saw the points, man.
I think first off, right, I do want to acknowledge
that this is not without a couple of interesting things
that happened.

Speaker 3 (34:54):
Right.

Speaker 2 (34:55):
You know, the Lakers did not give Lebron a heads
up about the ad tray.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
Okay, you don't necessarily have to.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
I guess the Lakers also did not give Lebron the
heads up on the franchise being sold. Reportedly, they gave
Luca heads up. Okay, that's kind of interesting. Why not
your superstar? That's been there, get the heads up and
not just the new guy on the block. So you know,

(35:23):
I think there are small things like that, Yes, Rich
Paul saying that they're going to monitor the.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
Moves that the Lakers make.

Speaker 2 (35:31):
Rob saying if Lebron retires a Laker, I think that
would be great, not without a little bit of room
for Hey, why are y'all saying these things like this?
Now I'm not here to dive to. I think your
point about him signing this one year deal as another,

(35:52):
you know, example of him maybe not being sure what
the future holds for him, which I do think is fair. Right,
he's looking around the league. He knows he gets still
make a strong impact on the game. But I think
we started to see towards the end of the year,
bro like who was the first sub out? It was Lebron, right,
like that man needed his rest towards the end of
the NBA season. I think he's honest about that, right,

(36:14):
As someone who's very in tune with his body, it's
how long can I continue to do this? And I
think there might be a little bit of I'm just
not going to string the Lakers up for like, let's
just say a five year fully max extension when I only.

Speaker 1 (36:27):
Plan on playing this and maybe one more. You get
what I'm saying.

Speaker 2 (36:30):
So I think, Yeah, I think Big Bron, Bron and
the Lakers, and more importantly, I think Rich Paul and
the Lakers. They're on the same page, or at least
they're on the They have an understanding of where each
other lies. Now, where are they going to tell us
fully where each other lies?

Speaker 1 (36:47):
No?

Speaker 2 (36:48):
No, But also it's not for us, right that is,
that's business between the most famous basketball organization in all
of sports history and the arguably the best basketball player
to ever touch at basketball in his representation, sounds like
some top level shit that I'm just not going to
be a part of.

Speaker 3 (37:07):
Honestly. Before we close that point, one last thing I
want to make a notice is like I would don't
be surprised if don't don't be shocked if Lebron goes
out in the way people didn't think he would go
out again. I always think it's funny that people never
listen to what Lebron literally says out of his mouth,
but then just believe every single report that's ever said
about him. Remember on his podcast he said recently, I

(37:28):
don't know if I want to do a retirement you know,
or like a farewell tour. So I don't really know
if that's for me. I don't really know if I
want to do all that. People are like, no, he's lying.
Is egalistically never pass an opportunity either. Don't be surprised
if he just dips at the end of the season
and says, hey, I set my twenty three record, it's
my jersey, I'm out. We overheard the conversation that was

(37:48):
recorded in New York when I believe he was out
with Kevin Love for a dinner and he's saying, Savannah
wants me to retire in the next year or so.
This is what came out of his mouth. This isn't
a journalist speculating and reporting. These are two things that
came out of his mouth. The Lakers didn't give him,
The Lakers didn't give him a contract. But then in
the same breath, Rob is saying, look, we want to

(38:09):
respect Lebron's timeline for when he wants his career to
add I think those three things. Don't be surprised if
he hangs it up at the end of the year.
Don't be shocked. And I know people will be flabbergasts
because they swear he's gonna need to be paraded around
with a crown on his head for every game because
they think he's that that big of an ego maniac.
Don't be surprised if he just rides out. I'm gonna
tell y'all, don't be surprised if he just rides out.

Speaker 2 (38:32):
Lakers would be disappointed, Nike would for show, be disappointed.
In the NBA would be disappointed.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
But who gives a shit.

Speaker 2 (38:37):
You're allowed to retire while you want and however you
want to retire, right.

Speaker 3 (38:43):
He doesn't owe this league nothing else. He's given this
league twenty three years of dedicated service. He don't owe
them nothing else.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
And I may be mistaken, but you know, I'm fairly
sure it was weeks, if not months, into his NBA
his final season or so, Kobe announced that he's he's
going to.

Speaker 1 (39:02):
Retire at the end of the season.

Speaker 2 (39:04):
And I might have to fact check that, but I'm
fairly sure that, like Kobe didn't start the years.

Speaker 3 (39:09):
I think it did. I think he did say he
was going to retire at the start of the season.
He said he was only going to play all the
road games because he wanted everybody to get everybody on
the road to get one more opportunity to see him.
But home games he didn't really play, remember like there's
like hit or miss, but he played. He said he
wanted to be ready for every road game so everybody
can get an opportunity to see him. Okay, for the
last time.

Speaker 2 (39:29):
He wrote Dear basketball on November twenty ninth, twenty fifteen.
I mean obviously started before yeah, man, it's.

Speaker 3 (39:38):
Usually like the week before Halloween, so late.

Speaker 2 (39:40):
October, I'm going to assume, yeah, the season had started
by the time. And then Kobe dropped this, like it
said a month or so into the season.

Speaker 3 (39:48):
A month or so in and that's fair.

Speaker 2 (39:50):
It's to me a perfect example of listen, man, leaving
this sport that you have known for your entire life
is not just going to be something that is just.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
Well, one day I love it, the next day I'm
up out of here. Right.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
It is a grind to have that lifelong breakup, right,
that is a first Let's look Kobe's first love.

Speaker 1 (40:09):
Lebron's first love was a.

Speaker 2 (40:11):
Basketball and obviously he had Kobe had thoughts that this
might be coming to an end, but I'm sure there
was a practice. I'm sure there was a flight. I'm
sure there was a rehab assignment where he was just like, bro, this.

Speaker 1 (40:23):
This really is it? I'm done, and then he drops this.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
I wouldn't be surprised whatsoever Lebron decides to go out
on his terms without some pre planned, you know, rollout,
even though we know Nike's ready, we know the shirts,
we know everything, the campaign, we know everything is ready.
So no, really good point there, Kwalm switching up. Let's
get us out of here with a fun topic that

(40:48):
just hit our Monday morning news stand. Go, let you
take this away, but apparently we have nothing else to
talk about, but honest potentially being open to playing some
else as long as it's a major city.

Speaker 3 (41:02):
What a what A what A? What a slow news game?
Summer rate? Yeah, geez, I feel like this has been
speculated every year for who knows how long. But you know,
this is the typical thing when you have a superstar
in a small market that seems to kind of just
continually hit roadblocks, especially once you kind of get into
the playoffs. And Milwaukee's kind of been that since they
hit the pinnacle in the twenty one season, where they

(41:23):
won the championship. It's been they can't get back to
the mountaintop right, and they've tried a few things again.
They brought in Damian Lillard. He had an unfortunate achilles tear.
They stretched waved him. Haven't really brought back anybody of Merriat.
They got Miles Turner for swapping out Brook Lopez, which
is actually an upgrade in my opinion, very similar style player,
just younger, more athletics, several other things. But this roster,

(41:43):
by no means man is a championship roster. But like
even in the East, that's going to be pretty much
on its hands and knees this season. No man, Like
I just I just don't see it. Unfortunately, Gianness would
literally have to average like fifty a game to get
up out of here suite. I mean, you're probably looking
at a starting lineup probably Cole Anthony, Gary Harris Tory
and Prince Kyle Kuzma. Oh sorry, there's one extra person,

(42:07):
so you probably take maybe actually I don't know if
you take out a lot of it. I don't know.
I'm looking at this at this roster, and I'm just
seeing a lot of like you know, so it's difficult.
I see where Giannis would want to ask out, but
something tells me he won't. Something tells me he won't.
I mean, but we've been playing this offseason game for
literally every year since that championship of what's Gianna's gonna do?

(42:28):
Is he gonna ask out? What does he want to do?
He's essentially holding the organization quote unquote hostage, and I
just don't know what more the Bucks can do. Again,
it's not a super appealing place for free agents. I'm
surprised you Miles Turner went, but he was in Indiana before, so, like,
you know, I just.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
Want to be clear and then shout out to the
folks who love Indianapolis, Indiana.

Speaker 1 (42:50):
I'm going to Milwaukee first.

Speaker 3 (42:52):
So yeah, but it's like again, it's gonna be a
hard free agent destination. Doc Rivers is the coach, Like,
I just see a lot here where it's just difficult. Man,
it's just difficult.

Speaker 2 (43:02):
Well if that's the case, man, if it's if it's rough, Like,
if I'm Milwaukee, why the why the hell would I
trade gianni'sun Like?

Speaker 1 (43:09):
Why would I let go with any of this?

Speaker 2 (43:11):
Because then we're going back into where's Brandon Jennings right, like,
that's where we're at. We would have to draft that
next player unless the whole that we get from the
team that we're trading Gianni's for. It sets us up
in a position, but there's no way to cut it. Well,
I guess to your point in the East that it
still is a little open that if you actually get tangible,

(43:31):
real NBA players that aren't superstars, but enough supporting cast players,
you can be playoff. Definitely playing right contention, so they're
not far off, especially for being in the East there.
But I'm just like, damn man, Like, Okay, if that's
the case, why not just hang on to Gianni's. I
don't think this is gonna come down to you got
to say the word you want to say. Janni's hasn't

(43:53):
come out and said anything either way. He's kind of
been very in between, like blase blah blah about it
from all reports that we're seeing and a couple of
quotes from him, but he said, what, I'll probably stay
in Milwaukee. I'll probably stay in Milwaukee. Doesn't sound like
somebody who's committed to the relationship. I'll probably stay with
my wife is gonna get me stabbed?

Speaker 1 (44:13):
In my sleep. You get what I'm saying, like there's
meaning behind those words.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
So I'm interested to see if Jannis is willing to
turn that that dial.

Speaker 1 (44:24):
On the pressure.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
But until then, Kwalm, this feels like, hey, Milwaukee, get
better or else. And if I'm Milwaukee, I'm like, Okay, Yannis,
we'll do our best.

Speaker 3 (44:32):
I don't know if they can't, Like unfortunately, Gianni's is
thirty you know, at this point, I think it's either
he looks for a trade now or like, when you're
gonna ask for a trade, we're thirty two, thirty three,
like it, don't you just get diminishing assets? At that point,
I think you kind of got it. I think if
Yannis wants to maximize the remainder of his career, it
either needs to be this year or next year if

(44:53):
he wants to get out. If he doesn't, I think
he stays. But he should really take a book, a
page out of the Book of Loyalty from his former
team made Damian Lillard, and see how loyalty pays you.
I mean a shout out to Dame for his whole
reunion and you know, getting back with his like cool.
We ultimately they just they sent him around, and now

(45:13):
he's just gonna have a retirement tour when he's, you know,
thirty six coming off in Achilles injury. Like his career
is gonna mount to a whole lot of nothing, and
it's gonna and he ran from the grind. It's gonna
look like he ran from the grind and went home
to retire his jersey. I don't know what kind of
story Jannis wants to tell for himself. Obviously he's won
a championship, so he's already in a different stratus sphere,
so to speak. I'm gonna he retires probably a top

(45:34):
fifteen player all time, all things considered, if he wants
to stack more championships. I'll be honest. I don't think
Milwaukee has a pathway. Just looking at their salary and
their contract situations, it doesn't look like there's a great
path here. I don't know if they can put up
a trade package that can get a start, even if
they wanted to. They gave up a lot for Drew Holliday.
We remember they gave up a decent different Damian Lillard

(45:56):
as well, so they're kind of tapped on resources here.
So this is this is where Yannis is gonna have
to look at himself in the mirror and say, do
I want to stay or do I want to go?
And if he needs to go, he needs to be
he needs to say with some bass in his voice
and get up out of there. Otherwise he'll just be
another guy in Milwaukee that you know will put up
crazy numbers, but you're never really too worried about. Even
right now, who's the number two on this basketball team,

(46:18):
Kyle Kuzma. That doesn't look good.

Speaker 1 (46:20):
So that's trouble. That's trouble.

Speaker 3 (46:23):
I'll pray for our brother up in Milwaukee, but it's
not looking good.

Speaker 2 (46:26):
It's not But you know, and I do appreciate his,
uh his teams that Cham's is reportedly saying that he's
only focused on the major markets like New York, Las
and maybe Miami. It's like, well, great, bro, now you're
locking yourself in and I get it, you know, like, hey,
y'all ain't gonna dame me, right, yeah, take me to

(46:46):
a team that really wants me that I really don't
want to be in that city, So I don't blame him.
If he just wants to go to the big boys,
it would be pretty pretty nasty if he ended up
on the Clippers.

Speaker 1 (46:58):
Knock on wood there. You know, I.

Speaker 2 (47:02):
Do find it pretty in Tarasante that we are now
approaching a time where Yannis is getting pretty close to
trade me or walk me. You know, he'll he'll be
a free agent right in that twenty seventh season where
Luka can potentially opt out.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
You know who else is available potentially in that twenty
seventh season.

Speaker 2 (47:23):
Who's GM just got off saying some weird stuff about
potentially trading him, Nicola Jokic, And you know.

Speaker 3 (47:30):
It's gonna be a hell of off season.

Speaker 1 (47:32):
A hell of an off season, brother.

Speaker 2 (47:33):
And I think that having Luka Doncic, who I think
would pair up oh so beautifully with either one of them.
I mean, obviously with Yanni's being a little bit more
Yang on the defensive end for him, but also obviously
a perfect match on offense and Jokic just you know, hey,
I might be having them balking flags in the background
if we get a Jokic Doncic pairing with the Lakers

(47:57):
in a couple of years. So I have to I
have to brush up on my Eastern European history. So
it's exciting, man, But you also got to think, does
does Yiannis want to be in that or ahead of that?

Speaker 3 (48:12):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (48:12):
In that means that now you have a guy that's
equal equal.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
There's no way you can say under equal to your stature, and.

Speaker 2 (48:20):
Some might say more accomplished they can with all the MVPs.

Speaker 3 (48:23):
Right.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
You might just like how I made it with my
last job decision when we found out my company was
going through an acquisition.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
I didn't want to be in.

Speaker 2 (48:33):
The Chicago Land area looking for a job with two
hundred other marketing professionals on top of the ones that
already don't have a job, on top of the ones
that will be coming out of college. I'm leaving now,
y'all that when y'all can handle that, right, and best
of luck to you. So I'll see if Jiannis takes
the Ricky approach and says the words he wants to say,
or if he gonna twiddle his sons and go the

(48:53):
Dame route and end up in Sacramento.

Speaker 1 (48:56):
Yeahnasty.

Speaker 3 (48:57):
Time will tell, Time will tell, Brother will tell.

Speaker 1 (49:01):
But I think that's gonna do it.

Speaker 2 (49:02):
For this episode of the Late Now Lake Show podcast,
appreciate y'all rocking with us?

Speaker 1 (49:06):
Yeah, let us know what y'all think of the comments.

Speaker 2 (49:08):
Is Gianni is actually available or is he just posturing
for Milwaukee to improve? Do you think the Lakers can
realistically compete for him with those twenty twenty seven assets?

Speaker 1 (49:17):
You know, let us know. But to wrap us up,
kwame Lucas here he and going nowhere?

Speaker 2 (49:23):
Lebron's here. We're pretty sure he ain't going nowhere. And
if it is, it's to the retirement home or to.

Speaker 3 (49:28):
Of course golf course.

Speaker 1 (49:29):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yoh, to the golf course. Yep, yep,
you're right, to the golf course.

Speaker 2 (49:35):
Life is good over here, man. We can't complain, so
any last thoughts before we get out here.

Speaker 3 (49:39):
Hey, next year, we got a big decision to make
on Austin Reeves too, So there hasn't been enough talk
about Austin. I think if anybody should feel like they're
stepped on, it'd be Austin Reeves. He was looking to.
It was looking like it was gonna be him and
a d in the future. Could he really be a
backcourt with Luca? A lot of question marks I think
pop up around Austin a bit more than people aren't

(50:00):
thinking about. But we'll touch on that another Day.

Speaker 2 (50:02):
Yeah, we'll lock in on Austin next week. For you guys,
appreciate y'all rocking with us this week. For Kwame, it's
Ricky Lele show Peace