Reacting to the ESPN layoffs plus why LeBron is still the face of the NBA

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Support him at SoundCloud.com slash May 1st Music. Speaker 1: ESPN layoffs begin with Ryan Clark. Ryan Clark is no longer with the Florida Network. Speaker 1: Clark's departure marks the beginning of a round of ESPN layoffs that are expected to take place Speaker 1: this week. That was posted, what's that, yesterday? Yeah, that was posted yesterday. Speaker 1: It is now a day later.

Speaker 1: As you all know, Ryan Clark was let go from the four-letter network. Speaker 1: And look, Ryan Clark was an instrumental piece into the reemergence of ESPN's NFL coverage. Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and keep that all the way 100. Speaker 1: When it comes to analysis, there was a point where ESPN's NFL coverage was deemed as fallen off, lackluster. Speaker 1: as the rise of athlete-driven NFL podcasts escalated, Speaker 1: the attention to detail in terms of the coverage from an NFL perspective for ESPN was deemed to be declining. Speaker 1: Ryan Clark, along with Dan Olofsky, and even the Mina Kimes of the world, Speaker 1: kind of helped re-elevate or bring it back to a level to where ESPN is now thought of again Speaker 1: as they do solid NFL coverage. Speaker 1: You may have your disagreements Speaker 1: with some of the personalities Speaker 1: or the way that they cover certain things, Speaker 1: but for the betterment of the network, Speaker 1: Ryan Clark came in and legitimized the coverage.

Speaker 1: And he legitimized the coverage Speaker 1: by leaning heavily on the fact Speaker 1: that he was a former player. Speaker 1: He leaned on the fact that Speaker 1: what he knew was superior Speaker 1: to what your talking head non-athlete commentators were providing on the 4LTW network. Speaker 1: So he brought in a breath of fresh air approach. Speaker 1: Like what Nate Burleson has done with CBS is what Ryan Clark, in my opinion, Speaker 1: brought to the 4LTW network in terms of he was able to elevate the content, Speaker 1: elevate the acumen, elevate the conversations that were being had on air Speaker 1: And it also doesn't hurt that he had some personality to it. He understood the game of knowing how to go viral, have some hot takes every now and then, and he did not back down. There was no back down in Ryan Clark. Now, was the fact that Ryan Clark had no back down?

Is that part of the reason why he is no longer employed by the four letter network? Speaker 1: Because as we go deeper into the story, 16 hours ago, ESPN has cut ties with NFL analyst Ryan Clark. Speaker 1: That tweet was then updated because our story, Clark was live on NFL Live today. Speaker 1: Clark was on NFL Live today, but was told during the program that he was being let go. Speaker 1: He did not finish the program. Speaker 1: ESPN was expected to inform him tomorrow morning, which is this morning, when it is anticipated the network to inform more employees of the layoffs. Speaker 1: So the four letter network was going to keep this under wraps until today, Tuesday morning, to inform Ryan Clark and a whole bunch of others.

Speaker 1: With allegedly Carl Ravage being one of those that you no longer work here. Speaker 1: But the story got out or the names or at least one name in being Ryan Clark got out to other parts of the sports media landscape and they were going to run with the story. Speaker 1: So to combat that, to try to diffuse that, the four-letter network decided, well, let's try to get ahead of it. Speaker 1: Let's not have Ryan Clark. It's already bad enough that we about to lay him off, but let's not have one of our competitors. Speaker 1: Out the story before we can even inform Ryan Clark. Speaker 1: So because Ryan Clark was live on the show while all of this was going on, I'm assuming they waited until a commercial break.

Speaker 1: And then they informed Ryan Clark, hey, by the way, tomorrow you're getting laid off. Speaker 1: So this will be your last show on the network. Speaker 1: Now, whether it was Ryan Clark solely or the powers that be and Ryan Clark, Ryan Clark decided to not finish the show. Speaker 1: I firmly agree with Ryan Clark stanza. If y'all let me go, I'm not finishing the show. Speaker 1: Let me go home now. So Ryan Clark does not finish the show.

Speaker 1: Very awkward, very abrupt, but it is what it is. Speaker 1: If this is business and you're cutting me because of business. Speaker 1: And we're assuming that this is all business, right? Speaker 1: I have a thought. We'll get there. Speaker 1: But Ryan Clark decides to leave the show. Speaker 1: So Ryan Clark gets found out that he's going to be let go while on air.

Speaker 1: He decides to bounce. Speaker 1: Now, who was the competitors who were going to out this story of Ryan Clark being laid off by ESPN while Ryan Clark was on the air? Speaker 1: Well, it is none other than the right wing conservative sports media entity of Outkick. Speaker 1: Now, I am not a fan of this content. I am not a supporter of this content. Speaker 1: We are only going to show this content on the screen here because it provides us the information to continue talking about the story. Speaker 1: So Clay Travis, who is a dick, who is a a-hole, who is a blatant racist for pay, Speaker 1: tweets out that ESPN firing Ryan Clark and leaking the news to outkick writers to break is just chef's kiss perfect.

Speaker 1: So he's painting a narrative. He is trying to insinuate that before the network leaked the story of Ryan Clark's firing to a competitor, Speaker 1: a competitor that has been open firing on Ryan Clark for years because he is a strident, proud black man that has strident, proud black man takes. Speaker 1: outkick don't like that they want no part to that their whole entity is derived Speaker 1: off of the fact that they didn't like those types of voices being used Speaker 1: in prominent spaces like ESPN Speaker 1: so now he's insinuating that Speaker 1: they as in ESPN leaked the story to a right wing Speaker 1: conservative sports media outlet to leak the firing of Speaker 1: Ryan Clark Speaker 1: that doesn't sit right with me i don't know if i fully co-sign that but let's just assume that Speaker 1: there's a monocam of truth not that it's all the way true but let's assume it's a monocam of truth Speaker 1: that's what it is today when it comes to media you have to give a little bit of truth and just Speaker 1: maybe get rid of the rest right fake news and the whole deal but there's more in terms of breaking Speaker 1: this down. So we have someone who is a part of OutKick that goes deeper. OutKick told them, Speaker 1: them as an ESPN, an hour before we had the news and that they would give them time to comment Speaker 1: slash tell Ryan Clark. In that hour, they pulled Clark off the show, but ran and told another Speaker 1: reporter to try to beat us us as an outkick who was that reporter that reporter was andrew marshall Speaker 1: who is with the athletic so there's even beef within the beef so the beef is allegedly between Speaker 1: espn and ryan clark right because they're letting him go they're not retaining his services even Speaker 1: though i think he helped rebuild the nfl brand on their network that's one beef then we have the beef Speaker 1: of ESPN and OutKick. Speaker 1: But there's someone at OutKick, Speaker 1: Clay Travis, who used to be at ESPN, Speaker 1: who is saying, no, ESPN was giving us the tea Speaker 1: because they know we never fucked with Ryan Clark.

Speaker 1: But then we have someone else from OutKick Speaker 1: going deeper saying, well, we told them Speaker 1: an hour before that we had this tea Speaker 1: and we were going to run with it. Speaker 1: So either prepare a PR comment and or tell Ryan Clark that he's about to get let go. Speaker 1: And then instead of doing either of those things, either preparing a statement and having it ready for when the eventual story does get leaked. Speaker 1: All they did was tell Ryan Clark or they, quote, pulled Ryan Clark off the show. Speaker 1: And then to try to beat OutKick to having the tee first, they gave the tee to a competitor of OutKick in the Athletic and Andrew Marchand so that Marchand would get the credit of breaking the story of Ryan Clark being let go. Speaker 1: I know that's a lot, but this is sports media and this is how all the webs get tangled. Speaker 1: Right.

So you have the beef of ESPN and Ryan Clark. Speaker 1: Then you have the beef of ESPN and OutKick. Then you have the beef of OutKick and The Athletic. Speaker 1: It's all happening at the same time. So with all that being said, bottom line is Ryan Clark was let go. Speaker 1: Right now, the why of why Ryan Clark was let go. Steph, I see you in the chat.

I'll get there in a sec. Speaker 1: ESPN executives soured on Ryan Clark because of issues with his words. Speaker 1: Now, remember, I said he had no back down. He was not afraid to press the issue. Speaker 1: He was not afraid to say what was on his mind. And he was given the platform by ESPN to do so. Speaker 1: OK, so ESPN executives soured on Clark because of issues with his words, Speaker 1: a dynamic that peaked with on and off air incident with an on and off air incident this past season involving colleague Peter Schrager.

Speaker 1: Who is Peter Schrager? Peter Schrager is the dude from NFL Network. Speaker 1: He's a talking head. He is a commentator. He is not a former player. He is not a former athlete. Speaker 1: I don't know if that man has ever played football a day in his life.

Speaker 1: But he has been elevated to be a voice in the NFL space. Speaker 1: He is elevated as a commentator, analyst, even as a quasi insider. Speaker 1: And we'll get to that in a second in the NFL space. So he carries a lot of cloud. Speaker 1: He was on NFL Network. Now, NFL Network is under the umbrella of the four letter network ESPN. Speaker 1: So now all of those dudes from NFL Network in terms of talent, not all, because some of them have been let go as well.

Speaker 1: I know some of them are getting let go today as well. But the more popular commentators, pundits, insiders from NFL Network have made their way in. Speaker 1: They're now employees of ESPN, Schrager chief among them. Speaker 1: So where do we go in terms of the online spat? Now, they had an online spat because Schrager was defending CeeDee Lamb. Speaker 1: It was a back and forth. I'm not going to play it because of copyright.

Speaker 1: right? But the back and forth was on get up last September, as you see here. Schrager defended Speaker 1: Cowboys wide receiver City Lance performance in a season opening loss. Clark said, that's the non Speaker 1: player in you. Schrager asked Clark not to belittle him. And later that day, Clark apologized on the Speaker 1: Elon app writing today. I had an interaction with my colleague Schrager both on and off the air Speaker 1: that I regret.

Speaker 1: So, Peter Schrager, NFL Network pundit, Speaker 1: now ESPN NFL pundit, Speaker 1: here's the deal where, in the words of Avon Barksdale, Speaker 1: Ryan Clark was caught playing them away games. Speaker 1: Now, I just told y'all that I think, Speaker 1: and I'll come off the screen for a little bit here, Speaker 1: I just told y'all that I think Ryan Clark Speaker 1: helped rebuild the NFL coverage on ESPN. Speaker 1: He helped rebuild it, right? Speaker 1: In doing so, they use them on all the shows. Speaker 1: Get Up, First Take, NFL Live, Speaker 1: Monday Night Countdown, all the shows. Speaker 1: They were running them all over the place. Speaker 1: He was popping up on all the ESPN podcasts.

Speaker 1: He was doing all the stuff. Speaker 1: All the meanwhile, he's doing his own thing Speaker 1: with the pivot, right? Speaker 1: So he's doing all of this, all the things. Speaker 1: In doing so, he was known for going at people. Speaker 1: He would go at Stephen A. Speaker 1: He would go at whoever. Speaker 1: He had no back down.

But you can't do that with every single person. Speaker 1: Now, he might not have known Peter Schrager in terms of who he's connected to. Speaker 1: He might not have known that Peter Schrager, even though to you and I, he's just a random talking head dude that pops up on TV a lot. Speaker 1: Within the industry, it is known that Peter Schrager is held in high regard. Speaker 1: Now, when you have a back and forth with someone that is held in high regard, there are potential consequences at play. Speaker 1: Did Ryan Clark play a away game? Speaker 1: In the words of Avon Barksdale, was Ryan Clark out here caught out there playing them away games?

Speaker 1: Because Ryan Clark barked up a tree and that tree fell on him and that tree's name is Peter Schrager. Speaker 1: let's go into deeper reasons as to why that could be the case. Speaker 1: So, what's the proof that I have that Peter Schrager is held in high regard? Speaker 1: Exhibit A, Your Honor. Speaker 1: Peter Schrager is highly connected. Speaker 1: If you recognize the faces on the screen, that's by design. Speaker 1: If you recognize the face on the left and the face on the right, you should because these names are held in high regard.

Speaker 1: These are luminaries within the industry. Speaker 1: These are luminaries within the NFL ranks. Speaker 1: And this is a another indication of a troubling sign of how it's not about what you know. Speaker 1: Or how you came about to know. Speaker 1: It's all about who you know. Speaker 1: And it's not just about who you know. Speaker 1: It's even more so about who is going to protect you.

Speaker 1: Who do you know that is going to protect you? Speaker 1: So if you have Ryan Clark, who is a strident, poignant, proud black NFL commentator. Speaker 1: Getting at one of your boys. Speaker 1: And you could make a call. Speaker 1: And your other boy can make a call. Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden, Ryan Clark has to run to the Elon app to apologize. Speaker 1: And then just a few months later, just a few months later, that was September.

Speaker 1: This is now July. So not even a year later. Speaker 1: That guy is no longer employed by the company. Speaker 1: Do you see what I see or not? Speaker 1: Is the math math in or not? Speaker 1: Hit the chat. Speaker 1: Steph in the chat.

McAfee about to see another bag come his way. Yeah, we will get there. Speaker 1: We will definitely get there. That's that's the next piece. This thing is layered. Speaker 1: And I know just the headline is Ryan Clark laid off. And while to a certain degree, that is the most, you know, polarizing headline.

Speaker 1: Right. But there's so many layers that make this thing up. The who, the what, the when, the why and the how. Speaker 1: matter here. And that's why I'm trying to provide that to y'all. So when you have people that are Speaker 1: connected, you can go very far, even as a non-athlete, even as a non-player. If you're connected, Speaker 1: whether it's through your agent, whether it's through your management, whether it's through Speaker 1: your father, whether it's through, you know, like, what's her name?

She does the Spurs a lot. Speaker 1: Michelle Beadle. Michelle Beadle is highly connected and she's thought highly in NBA circles and basketball circles overall because of her dad. Speaker 1: Her dad was one of them, especially in a San Antonio area. Her dad was one of them. Speaker 1: So she used his clout to get her own clout off and she was given opportunities because of the strength of her dad. Speaker 1: So her dad did the work, got the knowledge, got the acumen, built the reputation up, and then she was able to piggyback off of that and rise to her own heights in her own career, even surpassing her father.

Speaker 1: Now, if you want to connect the dots, Google is your friend. But Peter Schrager, if you start to enter in some names with who he's connected to, you can clearly see the mob ties. Speaker 1: Of Peter Schrager and you can clearly see why someone like Ryan Clark, if he has beef. Speaker 1: With Peter Schrager, even if it's just a temporary thing, people have long memories. Speaker 1: If I'm Peter Schrager and I know I'm protected, there's a certain confidence I could walk around Bristol with. Right. Speaker 1: I could walk around and feel as though, yeah, I'm one of them.

I'm good. I'm protected. I'm Teflon. Speaker 1: If someone on air challenges me and tries to belittle me, which is the words he used. Speaker 1: The words he used. Speaker 1: Do not try to belittle me. Speaker 1: taking that term and leveraging it Speaker 1: that goes a long way because words carry a lot of meaning Speaker 1: having those words when people especially on air I can tell you as someone that's worked behind Speaker 1: the scenes as a producer you know director technical director all that stuff the talent Speaker 1: has these words that they are prepared to use, like having that Speaker 1: vocabulary.

Vocabulary is in itself a weapon. Speaker 1: If you know what to do, if you know how to use your words, your words could be Speaker 1: a weapon. Being able to have in real time Speaker 1: to be able to tell Ryan Clark, do not belittle me. Speaker 1: That is threatening language and not threatening in they Speaker 1: put your hands up. We need to shoot the fade, but in the threatening Speaker 1: of I can tell the bosses that you're belittling me, that you're demeaning me. Speaker 1: That's going to go far with the bosses up top. Speaker 1: So if you already know you're connected, if you already know you're Teflon.

Speaker 1: And you have an on-air dispute and you feel as though, hey, I need to get this dude up Speaker 1: out of here. Speaker 1: He's going to be coming at me like this. Speaker 1: Hey, Ryan, don't belittle me. Speaker 1: Even though it just seems like a normal word to you and I, because I've been in this game for almost 20 joints, I know, oh, that is code. Speaker 1: That is code to let him know and let the bosses know, hey, this ain't going to keep happening. Speaker 1: You're not going to come at me just because I'm not a foreign player. Speaker 1: And this is the dichotomy of where we have this is the dichotomy of what the sports media landscape is today, where we have a bunch of former athletes flooding the space in a bunch of networks trying to fill out airtime and trying to fill out studio shows with a bunch of former athletes.

Speaker 1: The problem is, is that athletes don't know how to moderate. Athletes don't know how to host. Speaker 1: By and large, yeah, you go with the podcast. That's just talking. It's conversational. Speaker 1: But hosting a show is a different beast, a different set of skills that is required. Speaker 1: For the most part, you have your people that sneak through the cracks with no skills and still fail upwards.

Speaker 1: But hosting a show, moderating a show, being a non-athlete analyst in a show is extremely difficult, Speaker 1: depending on how you move. Speaker 1: If Peter Schrager is held in high regard by the executives Speaker 1: and you have a non-athlete like Peter Schrager Speaker 1: that you're going to elevate, Speaker 1: you can have a former athlete calling your future prize up Speaker 1: or your future star out by saying, Speaker 1: hey, that's the non-player in you. Speaker 1: As in, your opinion is less noteworthy, Speaker 1: less valued because you didn't play. Speaker 1: And that's going to continue to be the tug of war on all these shows. Speaker 1: Because until athletes get good enough to where they can host and moderate in addition to provide the former athlete perspective, Speaker 1: there's going to have to be someone who is not an athlete sitting at that desk or sitting on these podcasts, Speaker 1: these live streams, these shows that have to be the traffic cop. Speaker 1: Someone's got to be Ernie Johnson, right? Speaker 1: as good as Shaq is, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley is, Speaker 1: they need a Ernie Johnson to steer the ship.

Speaker 1: Let those guys do what they do. Speaker 1: Let those guys be the big personalities. Speaker 1: Let them have their jokes. Speaker 1: Let them go off the rails a little bit. Speaker 1: But at some point, someone's got to rein them in. Speaker 1: And that type of person normally looks like Peter Schrager. Speaker 1: So if there is a path for Peter Schrager to be elevated to a higher space, you can't have Ryan Clark, who has already been strident, who has already been very prideful in his takes and has had viral moments going back and forth for people already.

Speaker 1: You can't have this guy demeaning or, in his own words, belittling what the Ford of the network deems as part of their future. Speaker 1: So if that guy just also so happens to be connected. Speaker 1: Who is more expendable? Speaker 1: Who is more expendable when it comes to. Speaker 1: Ryan Clark, former player who's got his own thing with the pivot, he can easily just ride that out and continue to monetize that. Speaker 1: Or there's other networks that I think I think Ryan Clark's phone is blowing up for a multitude of reasons today. Speaker 1: But I'm sure part of that is former is that other networks, whether it's your Amazon's, your Netflix's, they're all trying to get at Ryan Clark to pull up because Ryan Clark is damn good at what he does.

Speaker 1: Ryan Clark, if he wants to be hired, could be hired today. Speaker 1: I'm sure there is something now, unless now here's here's another interesting piece. Speaker 1: And I'll call the screen here for a little bit and I see the chat. We're going to get to the chat right after this. Speaker 1: If there is a scenario where Ryan Clark is laid off. Speaker 1: Normally in a layoff, there's a negotiation of sorts within the layoff. Speaker 1: There's severance, right?

Part of that severance is usually a nondisclosure agreement, a NDA. Speaker 1: Also, at times, part of that could be a non-compete clause, which bars you from working with a competitor for a set amount of time. Speaker 1: If this is the case with Ryan Clark being laid off now, one, does he have to sign an NDA? Speaker 1: Which would hinder him from going on even his own platform in the pivot and talking about what just happened to him. Speaker 1: you could Speaker 1: there could even be Speaker 1: a non-compete clause Speaker 1: where Speaker 1: if Speaker 1: if Ryan Clark is offered opportunity Speaker 1: let's say Netflix spins the block Speaker 1: and says hey yo Speaker 1: now that you're unemployed Speaker 1: we would love to have you Speaker 1: for our NFL games this year Speaker 1: Christmas, Black Friday Speaker 1: all that stuff Speaker 1: we want you in a mix Speaker 1: if Ryan Clark has to sign a NDA and a non-compete, that can't happen. Speaker 1: So this gets later because what if the four-letter network not only has Ryan Clark signed the NDA, Speaker 1: which would ban him from being allowed to speak on being laid off on the four-letter network Speaker 1: or the circumstances which he thinks led to him being let off at the four-letter network on his own platform. Speaker 1: But he can also be subject to a non-compete clause to where he can't even go to an Amazon, to a Netflix, to an NBC, to a CBS.

Speaker 1: And just start working again. Speaker 1: That would be extremely dirty. Speaker 1: So not only do you lay me off while I'm working for you. Speaker 1: And then you put clips up of the last show I did with you to help continue to push your algorithm and your views and your metrics and your monetization. Speaker 1: But then you're going to make me sign something that says not only can I not talk about what just happened to me on my own platform, but I can't even go get another job for a certain amount of time. Speaker 1: It's a dirty game. Speaker 1: It's a dirty, nasty game.

Now, if you're Ryan Clark, here's the advantage of being a former athlete. Speaker 1: You can have the bread, assuming he's been good with his money and he was an undrafted free agent, made his bread and league and rags to riches type story for Ryan Clark. Speaker 1: But he's made his money. Pivots monetized. He's had ESPN money the last few years. Speaker 1: He should be OK. Can't speak in nobody's pockets, but in theory, he should be OK.

Speaker 1: Do you say no to the severance package? Speaker 1: Because the severance package has a NDA and a non-compete clause in it. Speaker 1: I know I'm talking real deep contract shit, but this is the game that we're in. Speaker 1: This is the industry. I'm trying to give you the perspective of that. Speaker 1: If you're Ryan Clark, do you turn down whatever the severance package is? Speaker 1: And it might be a nice one because he's talent, right?

Speaker 1: He was allegedly making upwards of over two million dollars a year. Speaker 1: that severance package might be seven figures. Speaker 1: Are you turning down a seven figure severance package? Speaker 1: Because it has language like an NDA, because it has language like a non-compete. Speaker 1: Now, if he's been good with his bread, that seven figures shouldn't really matter Speaker 1: because he can really get most of that money back, maybe not millions. Speaker 1: I don't know how much to pivot doing over there, but I don't know if he's getting millions, but just the views alone. Speaker 1: If he turns down the severance package, turns down the NBA, turns down the non-compete.

Speaker 1: And if he goes on the pivot and airs it out, that's going to do numbers everywhere, every platform. Speaker 1: And then he could go get hired by another company and then run those numbers up. Speaker 1: I don't know. Y'all let me know. Would you turn down the severance package, a potential seven figure severance package so you can speak freely on your own platform, which is already monetized and then go get a job at a competitor? Speaker 1: Do you take that bag and go chill? Speaker 1: Because let's just say the severance, let's say the NDA, the NDA might be longer than a year.

Speaker 1: The non-compete might just be for a year. Speaker 1: But the NDA might be longer than a year. Speaker 1: Would you be willing to sit at home at the crib, take a seven figure payout, chill at the crib for a year, but you still can't talk about what happened to you? Speaker 1: Or not sign anything and I'm airing everything out. Speaker 1: You let me know in the comments. Let me know in the chat. Speaker 1: All right.

To the most casual, Ryan is easily one of the most recognizable media members like everyone else. Speaker 1: This is a message to keep a certain, I'm assuming there's a part two. Yep. Speaker 1: To keep a certain demographic in line. No, very, very accurate. Speaker 1: Being a strident, black, proud black man. Speaker 1: And it obviously goes for women as well.

Speaker 1: But being a former athlete in this space is a very, it's a very delicate dance you have to do. Speaker 1: Because you could be loud, boisterous, like a Cam Newton, wear the hats and have the clothes and it's OK. Speaker 1: He's safe. Cam Newton is safe. Speaker 1: Because if a black topic were to come up. Speaker 1: If a controversial take or opinion comes up, he's more than likely not going to go there in terms of stoking the fires. Speaker 1: Right.

That's not his bag. But Ryan Clark, we know what type of time he on. Speaker 1: OK, we know what type of time he on. He is the he is. Speaker 1: The antithesis of Jason Whitlock. He is the reverse Jason Whitlock. He is opposite.

Speaker 1: Jason Whitlock, he is bizarro Jason Whitlock, right? Speaker 1: Ryan Clark's going to talk his talk and has done it on air and is deemed as controversial. Speaker 1: So, yes, there is a certain way that black black anchors, commentators, pundits, period, have to toe the line. Speaker 1: that's why the more popular Speaker 1: black pundits Speaker 1: are your Stephen A's Speaker 1: because Speaker 1: when he tries to get Speaker 1: black Speaker 1: it's not really black Speaker 1: but it's black enough Speaker 1: it's black enough right Speaker 1: but we know how he really gets down Speaker 1: because he goes on his own show Speaker 1: and he's talking about right wing Speaker 1: I'm going to run for president Speaker 1: he's down with Trump Speaker 1: then he wants to beef with Trump Speaker 1: then he doesn't Speaker 1: Like we know what he really is. He has made enough money to where he has crossed to a certain threshold. Speaker 1: And he now is free to let his real thoughts out. He doesn't feel like he has to carry the culture on his back.

Speaker 1: Not that he ever did, but he doesn't have to feel the oppressive pressure of I'm carrying the culture on my back. Speaker 1: I've made enough money and I'm up so much that I don't have that need anymore. Speaker 1: I could jettison that backpack of carrying the culture and I could just be me. Speaker 1: And who I am is a conservative black dude that likes his money and likes access to power. Speaker 1: In the chat, Ryan Clark was fired for implying Peter Schrager, the non-player in America's greatest ally club, like the juice. Speaker 1: That's a good comparison. I mean, when you see what's what's here.

Speaker 1: When you look at guys like Chris Sims, right, Chris Sims was a I won't even say mediocre football player. Speaker 1: He was a bad NFL quarterback. Now, he can go on live streams. Speaker 1: He could go on podcasts. He could go on networks and look the part, talk the part. Speaker 1: But he couldn't put any of it into reality. Right.

Speaker 1: Like, I think I did the breakdown. I was going to do a video on it, but I didn't. Speaker 1: Still may. But the premise is, is that who is the worst athlete? Speaker 1: The worst pro athlete that has turned himself into having a high level media career. Speaker 1: Because Dan Orlovsky. Speaker 1: As good as he is, as as a court, as a commentator, is as bad as he was as a NFL quarterback, obviously, infamously or famously, however you want to look at it, ran out the back of the end zone because he had no awareness.

Speaker 1: Right. He was a horrible NFL quarterback, but he is a phenomenal NFL analyst. Speaker 1: Chris Sims was an even worse NFL quarterback. Speaker 1: And I don't hold himself in that high regard in terms of his acumen as a commentator or analyst. Speaker 1: But Chris Sims not only has the right last name because his dad was a actual good NFL quarterback and was a good to solid, probably more so solid NFL commentator on TV for a very long time. Speaker 1: But he had the right last name. So just like Michelle Beadle.

Speaker 1: Leveraged her dad's career to be able to get her own career popping off. Speaker 1: Chris Sims did the same thing. Chris Sims was supposed to be one of those can't miss prospects when he went to Texas and he was mid. Speaker 1: Then he got to the league and he was even worse. Speaker 1: Then he got into the media and all of a sudden people are valuing his opinion when they have no basis as to why they're trusting his opinion. Speaker 1: Just because his last name is Sims? Yes, because his last name is Sims.

Speaker 1: But he also has Cal Shanahan as a plug. Speaker 1: Cal Shanahan and Chris Sims share tattoos. Speaker 1: You heard me correctly. They have matching tattoos. Speaker 1: So Chris Sims not only has the nepotism of his father was a, you know, high level quarterback, won a Super Bowl. Speaker 1: and turned into the media space and was highly regarded in the media space. Speaker 1: But he was able to piggyback off of that.

And then not only that, you compounded even more by, oh, by the way, Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan is my man. And my man to the point that we have matching tattoos. Speaker 1: So, yes, Peter Schrager is connected. Speaker 1: Whether it's NFL coaches or executives at the NFL Network or whether now some of those NFL executives are now folded into the ESPN landscape because of the buyout deal. Speaker 1: People high up think highly of Peter Schrager. Speaker 1: And when Ryan Clark goes at Peter Schrager to the point that Peter Schrager says, hey, do not belittle me. Speaker 1: it is no surprise to me that in under a year Speaker 1: Ryan Clark is no longer with the fourth of the network Speaker 1: now that's that layer of it right Speaker 1: then we got to get into the McAfee Speaker 1: angle right oh and then by the way Carl Ravitch we had that piece here Speaker 1: right where I mentioned that earlier Carl Ravitch one of the most prominent voices at ESPN for more than Speaker 1: three decades is expected to be let go by the network Speaker 1: okay but this is what Steph was talking about Speaker 1: earlier.

ESPN and Pat McAfee are negotiating a new deal that could pay him more than 60 million dollars annually. Speaker 1: The proposed extension may be tied to additional responsibilities across the network's NFL coverage. Speaker 1: So with the deal that has the NFL network folding into ESPN, which has the NFL having a 10% ownership stake in ESPN. Speaker 1: With ESPN having their first Super Bowl coming up this year. Speaker 1: They are going balls to the wall with NFL coverage. Speaker 1: They are enhancing their NFL coverage. Speaker 1: Now, you would assume Ryan Clark would have been a prominent piece of that content.

Speaker 1: Now we know he will not. Speaker 1: So who will be? Speaker 1: Well, you're going to have your Peter Schrager's of the world for sure. Speaker 1: But now McAfee, with an alleged new deal that's going to pay him more than $60 million a year, Speaker 1: they are putting everything that they can behind this McAfee machine. Speaker 1: the McAfee machine is running the Speaker 1: network. Now imagine Speaker 1: you are Fraud A. Smith.

You are Fraud A. Smith Speaker 1: and you have put in all Speaker 1: types of years of work. You have seen the ups and downs. Speaker 1: ESPN at one point fired that man only to run Speaker 1: back and give him another chance and he has never looked back. Speaker 1: But that man has I used to call him infamously or famously on my podcast at the 70 podcast, by the way, available on all major podcasts and platforms. Speaker 1: I call that man overworked and underpaid because that is what the full of the network was infamous within the industry for doing to people. Speaker 1: And after working there myself, I can tell you it is accurate, right?

Speaker 1: Most folks there are overworked and underpaid. Speaker 1: fraud a smith now is getting upwards of 20 million a year now he's got his own platform he's able to Speaker 1: monetize outside of espn and he's got brand deals and stuff like that and then you know who knows Speaker 1: i'm sure maga might be sliding him a check or two or three allegedly but he's getting his bread Speaker 1: elsewhere but the espn piece of it is upwards somewhere between 20 and 30 well let's let's give Speaker 1: some grace and say it's closer to 30, but reportedly it was more in a 20 to 25 range. Speaker 1: To have McAfee come in after you, to have McAfee who was already monetizing his YouTube piece Speaker 1: and to bring a partnership deal, leverage that piece and then bring that to the four-letter network Speaker 1: and then have the relationship with the high-level executives after the four-letter network Speaker 1: and now to be able to walk away with potentially, Speaker 1: if not triple, at least double what Fraud A. Smith makes, Speaker 1: that's extremely troubling if you are Fraud A. Smith. Speaker 1: But you've made your bed and you've signed whatever you've signed. Speaker 1: Now you can always try to renegotiate and all that stuff, Speaker 1: but it is what it is.

Speaker 1: Stephen A. Smith will never make more money than Pat McAfee. Speaker 1: And the minute, the second he makes more money than Pat McAfee, Speaker 1: Pat McAfee is going to go into renegotiations to make sure he makes more than Stephen A. Smith. Speaker 1: Because at all these sports media companies, they have all learned football is king. Speaker 1: As if they didn't know already, it has been compounded over the last couple of years, Speaker 1: especially as the streamers, your Netflixes, your Amazons are jumping into the space Speaker 1: and even streaming companies through gambling Speaker 1: like FanDuel, like DraftKings. Speaker 1: Football is king.

Speaker 1: It makes all the sense in the world Speaker 1: to double, triple, quadruple, quintuple down Speaker 1: on football content. Speaker 1: If you're trying to get into the content creating space, Speaker 1: if you're trying to get into the sports content creating space, Speaker 1: start with football. Speaker 1: If you are the four-letter network, you're about to have your first Super Bowl. Speaker 1: You just got the NFL network. Speaker 1: You have absorbed the high-level content, the high-level talent from NFL network. Speaker 1: You're now going to integrate them into your NFL content. Speaker 1: And oh, by the way, now the NFL owns 10% of you.

Speaker 1: You are now financially incentivized even more so. Speaker 1: You are now more fiscally responsible. Speaker 1: to put out more and more and more NFL content. Speaker 1: When the NFL owns a piece of you, Speaker 1: you don't think that comes with any, Speaker 1: whether it's said indirectly or directly, Speaker 1: you know you're going to triple down, quadruple, Speaker 1: quintuple down on football, right? Speaker 1: We're not buying a piece of you Speaker 1: for you to go run the numbers up on your NBA coverage. Speaker 1: We're not buying 10% of you Speaker 1: to go crazy talking about the World Cup. Speaker 1: We're not buying a piece of you to go crazy Speaker 1: talking about pickleball and the Ocho and all that.

Speaker 1: We're buying 10% of you Speaker 1: to make sure you know that NFL is king. Speaker 1: There's so much with this story. Speaker 1: So much with this story. Speaker 1: And I'm sure as the day goes along, Speaker 1: there's going to be even more. Speaker 1: There's going to be even more. Speaker 1: I'm going to check to see if there's any other names that have been let go. Speaker 1: Yep, we have some more names.

Speaker 1: All right, let's see. Speaker 1: Hang on. Speaker 1: Let me go to the screen. Speaker 1: Oh, it's going to be one of those streams today. Speaker 1: All right, who else we got? Speaker 1: One of the top NFL Network insiders, Tom Pelissaro, is expected to be let go as part of the ESPN layoffs. Speaker 1: So now this is the other piece of it.

Speaker 1: So you're bringing in NFL Network people into ESPN. Speaker 1: ESPN already has their NFL people, right? Speaker 1: They already have the Adam Schefters of the world. Speaker 1: They already have, you know, well, they had Ryan Clark, Speaker 1: but they have their people that they lean on, right? Speaker 1: Now you have double of everything. Speaker 1: This is business, right? Speaker 1: NFL Network has their own insiders, Speaker 1: Ian Rappaport being one of them, Speaker 1: but ESPN signed Ian Rappaport, Speaker 1: so they're keeping him.

Speaker 1: But that means we can't keep all of them, Speaker 1: so Tom Pelissaro, you gotta go. Speaker 1: so NFL Network Speaker 1: all the people that were Speaker 1: brought over Speaker 1: they were ESPN employees for a little bit Speaker 1: but until ESPN Speaker 1: figures out who they're going to keep Speaker 1: and who they're going to let go Speaker 1: they all just had double of everything Speaker 1: now they have made their choices Speaker 1: and they are cutting the fat Speaker 1: they are trimming the excess Speaker 1: it sounds cutthroat Speaker 1: but that's what it is Speaker 1: so now we can't have too many NFL insiders Speaker 1: some of y'all gotta go Tom Palisaro is a victim of that today Speaker 1: long time sports center anchor David Lloyd and injury expert fantasy analyst Stefana Bell are Speaker 1: expected to be laid off by the four letter network today so now it gets even deeper now it's not even Speaker 1: just NFL network people it is now long time sports center anchor David Lloyd and people even on the Speaker 1: fantasy side. Again, the NFL network has their own fantasy stuff, right? So just like the ESPN bet Speaker 1: thing kind of came and went, and ESPN is now just leveraging, what is it, DraftKings? I think it's Speaker 1: DraftKings. They're leveraging what they're going to do with DraftKings. They tried their own thing.

Speaker 1: They tried to have their own app. They tried to be their own sports book. It didn't work. All right, Speaker 1: we'll just leverage a partnership with an existing brand and just piggyback off of that. Speaker 1: Same thing with this NFL Network thing. Speaker 1: Okay, do we need another sports center anchor? Speaker 1: Are we going to be ball-to-the-wall football when we just absorb NFL Network and all their content?

Speaker 1: Are we going to be doing a lot of sports centers like that anymore? Speaker 1: When we have NFL Network's library, we could just run a football life into the ground like NFL Network was. Speaker 1: Instead of another sports center, you might get the Ricky Williams football life. Speaker 1: at 2, 3 in the morning Speaker 1: instead of them doing a fresh live sports center. Speaker 1: No, we're just going to run a block of a football life. Speaker 1: Cheap. Speaker 1: We don't got to pay no cameramen.

Speaker 1: We don't got to pay no talent. Speaker 1: We got to pay no producers, no directors, no PAs, no media people. Speaker 1: We don't got to pay any of them. Speaker 1: We're just going to re-rack the Ed Reed football life Speaker 1: and just run that. Speaker 1: this is where we're at in the industry Speaker 1: who else we got Speaker 1: long time NFL Network analyst Speaker 1: Charles Davis is expected to be let go Speaker 1: again Speaker 1: NFL Network analyst Speaker 1: do we need another football analyst Speaker 1: when we have Mina Kynes Speaker 1: when we have Boogamah Farlin Speaker 1: when we have Marcus Spears Speaker 1: when we have all these people Speaker 1: do we need a Charles Davis Speaker 1: the forward network has decided no we do not need a Charles Davis the industry is trending in a Speaker 1: direction where big bank take little bank NFL network was it was a losing entity in terms of Speaker 1: money for the NFL they decided to sell that off leverage that leverage that to a partnership with Speaker 1: a existing media company that existing media company turned out to be ESPN and oh by the way Speaker 1: can we own a piece of y'all too? Speaker 1: Can I own a piece of y'all too? Speaker 1: And now they got 10%.

Speaker 1: Steph in the chat. Speaker 1: To be fair, Mina Kimes is one of the best to do it. Speaker 1: Real ball nowhere. Speaker 1: No, that's the thing, right? Speaker 1: So if you have a Mina Kimes, Speaker 1: if you have a Booger McFarlane, Speaker 1: if you have a Dominique Foxworth, Speaker 1: now if they were to lay off Dominique Foxworth, Speaker 1: that would be extremely telling in terms of black voices proud strident i mean he already got bomani Speaker 1: up out of there now they got ryan clark up out of there they been got jemele hill and michael smith Speaker 1: up out of there if they were to get dominique foxworth up out of there that would be extremely Speaker 1: telling to me in terms of the lean or the slant that the company has decided to take but yes mina Speaker 1: the Kimes is one of them. Speaker 1: You know, being able to listen to her podcast and just watch her break shit down. Speaker 1: And it's not just surface stuff.

Speaker 1: It's not just looking at a box score. Speaker 1: It's not just, oh, I'm gonna look at this website and siphon that information and then Speaker 1: remix it like it's my. Speaker 1: No, she is actually you can tell she watches tape. Speaker 1: You can tell she is leveraging her relationships and talking to coaches and talking to scouts Speaker 1: and talking to coordinators. Speaker 1: You can tell. Speaker 1: Like when she has tea, it is legitimately sourced. Not only because she's inside like that, but also she comes from a journalism background.

Speaker 1: She used to be a business reporter. Right. So she is used to vetting stories and doing long form interviews and profiles. Speaker 1: So she is already a high level journalist that pivoted from doing business stories to sports, to football specifically. Speaker 1: Like where now she can do she's done color commentating. Speaker 1: Like she has gone from you were a business reporter. Speaker 1: To now you're calling games and you don't sound like you're trash at calling it like, you know what the hell you're talking like the pivot that that's another pivot.

Speaker 1: That pivot was really, really amazing to watch in real time. Speaker 1: So if you got to mean a kind. Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe I don't need Charles Davis. Speaker 1: If I got a mean of kinds, maybe I don't need Tom Pelisaro. Speaker 1: I mean, if I got a mean of kinds, do I need Pat McAfee? Speaker 1: No, no, no, I know how y'all get. Speaker 1: I know how y'all get.

Speaker 1: I know how y'all get. Speaker 1: I know y'all love y'all some McAfee. Speaker 1: I mean, he doesn't fit my demo. Speaker 1: McAfee's not in my demo. Speaker 1: He's not on my algorithm. Speaker 1: He's not on my feed. Speaker 1: And he's not on my timeline.

Speaker 1: but apparently there's enough that he's worth 60 plus million dollars to the four letter network. Speaker 1: Allegedly. So while we have that information streaming down about who's next to go, who's going to go, why did they go? Speaker 1: The LeBron watch continues. So Rich Paul is still talking. Rich Paul is still putting out pods. Speaker 1: Rich Paul is still doing all the things and he keeps talking about LeBron while LeBron is holding not only us in the content space at hostage.

Speaker 1: He's also making the NBA schedule makers and holding them at hostage as well because the league can't announce a full schedule until they know how many LeBron games they're going to get. Speaker 1: But Rich Paul quoted about LeBron's timeline said, we're not making this about attention and a spectacle. Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and laugh at your man's Rich Paul. Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and laugh at Rich Paul because this is a lie. Speaker 1: This is an absolute lie. Speaker 1: This is a lie. Speaker 1: Like, why lie?

Speaker 1: Like, we're at the point where. Speaker 1: Again, narratives is a thing. Speaker 1: media narratives and controlling the media narrative is a thing. And these both these guys have learned Speaker 1: from people who don't look like them of how to operate and control media narratives. So they're Speaker 1: just running the same playbook. However, how dumb do they think we are? How dumb do LeBron James and Speaker 1: Rich Paul think we are that he can say this?

We're not making this about attention and a spectacle. Speaker 1: He is literally the last important free agent decision left on the board. Speaker 1: He is the last piece on the board. Speaker 1: And there's so many players that are going to take the minimum just waiting to find out where LeBron is going. Speaker 1: Because for salary cap reasons, for fit reasons. Speaker 1: No one can make a move until LeBron makes a move because if he goes to Miami, Miami is going to have to figure out and fill out the rest of that roster. Speaker 1: If he goes to a Minnesota, now Miami has a lot more bread to throw around the code to go get some other vets.

Speaker 1: If he goes to Philly, same thing. They got to fill out that roster. They may have to make some additional moves. Speaker 1: If he goes to Cleveland, same thing. Speaker 1: Like, so whatever team he goes to, that team and then the domino effect of other teams are going to have to make moves once he decides where he's going to go. Speaker 1: So to say that this is not about attention and spectacle. Speaker 1: When you have people in the media space that are saying LeBron already knows where he's going.

Speaker 1: Why he's taking so long is up to his own accord. Speaker 1: Only he and maybe Rich Paul knows. Speaker 1: it's not about a decision or anything like that Speaker 1: he has a choice to make he has a business choice to make Speaker 1: and we talked about that here on the stream where we broke down the whiteboard Speaker 1: and the whiteboard had the Dallas Mavericks on it Speaker 1: and the only reason why the Dallas Mavericks were on the whiteboard Speaker 1: was because of oil money Speaker 1: it was all off the court reasons Speaker 1: they had the Boston Celtics on that white board Speaker 1: and I talked about how Speaker 1: even though Rich Paul put Brad Stevens the boy genius Speaker 1: and Jason Tatum on that board Speaker 1: I was like no that has nothing to do with Brad Stevens or Jason Tatum Speaker 1: it has everything to do with the Boston Celtics are owned by a private equity fund Speaker 1: so he wants access to that private equity fund Speaker 1: but what's the business if he just plays at the crib again Speaker 1: if he closes out his career in Cleveland Speaker 1: is he trying to make the Michael Jordan Wizards move again Speaker 1: is he trying to right the wrong that was what happened to Michael Jordan with the Wizards Speaker 1: that doesn't make a lot of sense to me Speaker 1: if you are a student of the game in business Speaker 1: you should know that the Michael Jordan Wizards move is not the move. Speaker 1: You don't play for a team with a under the table handshake agreement that you're going to own the team after you're done. Speaker 1: You don't do that. Speaker 1: And the NBA forbids that there's contract language that states that a player can be a player slash owner. Speaker 1: So it's not like it could be written into your contract.

Speaker 1: So what is the business angle for LeBron going back to Cleveland? Speaker 1: Dan Gilbert going to get after everything that we've seen over the years with Dan Gilbert and LeBron. Speaker 1: And yes, they mended fences to get LeBron back there for the second run. Speaker 1: But you're now telling me the third and potentially likely final run is going to be LeBron's going to own the Cavs at the end of it? Speaker 1: How sway? Speaker 1: what is the business choice to make is is it the business of bread and ownership or is the business Speaker 1: of legacy is legacy a business he's got four championships is he trying to get the five Speaker 1: what where does five put him it puts them in the pantheon of tim duncan it puts them in the Speaker 1: Pantheon of Magic Johnson. It puts him in the Pantheon of Kobe.

Speaker 1: It still ain't Jordan, but it's Speaker 1: one closer to Jordan. Speaker 1: Is that the business choice? The business of legacy? Speaker 1: If he goes to Philly, Speaker 1: it's a two-year window. Speaker 1: Do you see a scenario where LeBron goes to Philly and gets Speaker 1: back-to-back chips to finally catch Mike? Speaker 1: Is that the business choice? Speaker 1: What is the business choice that LeBron and Rich Paul Speaker 1: are speaking on?

Speaker 1: If LeBron goes back to Miami and wins one more, Speaker 1: that doesn't seem like business. Speaker 1: Again, now, if you want to play the business ownership piece, Speaker 1: this is a long shot, but walk with me. Speaker 1: The Miami Heat are owned by a very old man. That old man has a son. The son is alleged to be the heir to take over once the father eventually dies. Is there a scenario where LeBron is trying to maybe not outright own, be the majority owner, but is he like, yo, I'll come back to Miami. Speaker 1: but when the old man eventually dies Speaker 1: and the son takes over Speaker 1: you bring me in as a minority owner?

Speaker 1: But again that language can't be in the contract Speaker 1: so now we've got another handshake agreement Speaker 1: and we saw what happened with Michael Jordan Speaker 1: and the Wizards when that happened. Speaker 1: What's the business choice? Speaker 1: You let me know. Speaker 1: We'll hit the chat. Speaker 1: You know, on point, prioritize entertainment over analysis, real ball knowers, add insight and let the moment breathe. Speaker 1: No, that's real. And I think the sports media landscape has turned into that where it's less about what you know.

Speaker 1: It's less about acumen. It's less about any of that stuff. It's all about can you drive engagement? Speaker 1: Are you polarizing? Are you a contrarian? You know, when I started my career. Speaker 1: I'm kind of known as a contrarian, but it's because I'm an I'm an actual contrarian.

Speaker 1: Like when everyone's saying we should go left, I'm like, well, what's wrong with right? Speaker 1: That's how I'm wired. That's how my brain works. Speaker 1: Ask anyone who has known me for any significant amount of time. Speaker 1: They can tell you that I think differently, but it's by design, not because I'm trying to stand out from the crowd. Speaker 1: Unfortunately, the contrarian angle has been bastardized. Speaker 1: It been plagiarized to where to where now we have fake contrarians.

Speaker 1: To where if everyone's saying Lamar Jackson's really good, you know how I'm going to stand out by saying Lamar Jackson stinks. Speaker 1: Because that take is going to be so outrageous and so against the grain that it's going to get me clicks, views, engagement and the like. Speaker 1: That's where the industry is right now to where it's not about do you know ball? Speaker 1: I'm trying to build a community here of just ball knowers. Speaker 1: Yeah, we can have our fun and entertainment and shit like that, too. Speaker 1: But at the core is do you know ball though? Speaker 1: Because once we know ball, once you know ball, I bet then we can we can talk our shit and have some fun.

Speaker 1: But let's let's be clear. This is a platform for people that know ball. Speaker 1: If you go down to people that I brought on as guests, Stefan being one of them that you see here in the chat, I bring on people that I know know ball. Speaker 1: Now, you can still have fun and be entertaining with people that know ball, but the baseline always begins and ends with me. Speaker 1: Do you know ball? Speaker 1: And once you pass that litmus test, then I'm like, all right, cool. Speaker 1: Now we can shoot the shit, have fun, talk about whatever else.

Speaker 1: But hey, when it's time to talk ball, can you keep up? Speaker 1: Because I know I know ball. Speaker 1: so I've had to weed out a bunch of people Speaker 1: in my content journey that I thought knew ball Speaker 1: that didn't know ball Speaker 1: so if you're here right now Speaker 1: the algorithm is assuming you know ball Speaker 1: and if you subscribe to this channel Speaker 1: that means you know ball Speaker 1: and you're trying to tap in with more people that know ball Speaker 1: does this prove that Bron is still the face of the league at 42 Speaker 1: hmm Speaker 1: yes Speaker 1: although to be real Speaker 1: did we need this though Speaker 1: for that Speaker 1: like yes right Speaker 1: answer is yes Speaker 1: however Speaker 1: I think we already knew that Speaker 1: like LeBron's gonna be the face Speaker 1: until he walks away Speaker 1: that's why the NBA Finals Speaker 1: if Big Vic would have Speaker 1: you know Speaker 1: if Mitch Johnson would have been Speaker 1: a real coach Speaker 1: if De'Aaron Fox would have been Speaker 1: a real point guard Speaker 1: if Big Vic would have played Speaker 1: like Big Vic the entirety of the series, Speaker 1: the baton would have been passed. Speaker 1: But because those ifs didn't if, Speaker 1: now we got LeBron at 42 still being the most polarizing, Speaker 1: engaging lightning rod for the league at the age of 42. Speaker 1: This man had a full white beard playing golf Speaker 1: and he has the whole league on standby Speaker 1: until he decides where he's going to play next year. Speaker 1: That's real power. Speaker 1: Absolutely real power.

Speaker 1: Chris in the chat Speaker 1: they're going to monetize Braun Speaker 1: especially if it is his last season Speaker 1: so he's sort of the face Speaker 1: but I mean yeah no he's definitely still the face Speaker 1: like I Speaker 1: it's amazing that at the age of 42 Speaker 1: he's still the face Speaker 1: but it's not surprising right Speaker 1: like Speaker 1: who else could it be Speaker 1: they tried to make it Victor Webinyama Speaker 1: He wasn't ready. Speaker 1: They have tried it with SGA. Speaker 1: It's not going to happen with SGA. Speaker 1: Low-key, it could be Ant. Speaker 1: And that's why I think Ant and Bron teaming up would be more of a, Speaker 1: it could be a real passing of the torch. Speaker 1: If Bron goes to Minnesota, which I'm on the record saying, Speaker 1: I think that's the easiest lineup for him to fit into. Speaker 1: If he were to go to Minnesota, he can kind of, not that Ant Edwards needs a mentor, but the fact that Rich Paul is his agent, which also kind of means LeBron is your agent, allegedly.

Speaker 1: But the fact that you can have LeBron and Ant teaming together, playing the whole year together, that could kind of be a passing of the torch of sorts, especially if they walk off with a Larry LB. Speaker 1: Because Ant has the personality. Speaker 1: You need someone with some personality. Speaker 1: The face of your league can't be boring. Speaker 1: Baseball has learned that with Mike Trout. Speaker 1: Mike Trout was, at one point in time, the best player in the world. Speaker 1: But he was boring as shit and the league couldn't monetize off of that.

Speaker 1: You can't have the face of your league being boring. Speaker 1: LeBron, as much as his public persona, is manicured. Speaker 1: as much as he has been protected, as much as he has a clean reputation. Speaker 1: But if you know, you know, allegedly not so clean, Speaker 1: but he's got enough things working with him and the machine needs him. Speaker 1: So they're going to let a lot of things go by the wayside. Speaker 1: LeBron is an entertaining personality, entertaining enough personality, right? Speaker 1: John Morant was thought, nope, nope, he's fighting kids in his backyard.

Speaker 1: Can't have that. Zion was thought, nope, he's too caught up Speaker 1: and BBW point stars. Speaker 1: All right, well, that can't work. Speaker 1: The league has been struggling Speaker 1: to find a face. Speaker 1: Who's going to take the baton from LeBron? Speaker 1: Who? Speaker 1: If it ain't going to be Big Vic, Speaker 1: who?

Speaker 1: If it ain't Ant, Speaker 1: if it ain't Ant-Man, Speaker 1: who? Speaker 1: It can't be Ja. Speaker 1: It won't be Zion. Speaker 1: Who? Speaker 1: It ain't going to be Cooper flag. Speaker 1: I don't think any of the youngins that just got drafted, Speaker 1: I don't think it's any of them. Speaker 1: Who is the future face of the NBA?

Speaker 1: This is that period similar to post-Jordan and before LeBron, Speaker 1: where you had a bunch of dudes. Speaker 1: Yeah, Kobe was, some people will say Kobe. Speaker 1: I think that's a little revisionist. Speaker 1: But there was a period where it was Jordan. Speaker 1: It was briefly Iverson, even though the league wanted it to be Grant Hill. Speaker 1: It was briefly Iverson. Speaker 1: And then once it was not Iverson, you kind of had a bunch of dudes vying for it.

Speaker 1: Tim Duncan, but Tim Duncan, as great as he is, he was hella boring. Speaker 1: They would have loved it for it to have been Yao Ming, but the feet couldn't hold up. Speaker 1: then when it was looking like Speaker 1: it was going to be Kobe Speaker 1: for an extended period of time Speaker 1: then Colorado happened Speaker 1: then we got the LeBron thing rolling Speaker 1: and it's been LeBron ever since Speaker 1: so we're kind of entering that Speaker 1: where it's like Iowa after LeBron Speaker 1: who we might be in the malaise for a little bit Speaker 1: because we don't know who it's going to be. Speaker 1: There's no one standing up saying, Speaker 1: I want to be the face. Speaker 1: I think Ant has the personality, Speaker 1: but we know how Ant get down off the court, Speaker 1: even though he's not doing anything wrong, Speaker 1: but public perception wise, Speaker 1: it kind of doesn't fit. Speaker 1: That's why the Iverson as the face Speaker 1: only lasted a few years Speaker 1: because of how he was moving off the court. Speaker 1: Even though, again, he was doing nothing wrong, but perception wise, it didn't fit.

Speaker 1: Same with Ant. Speaker 1: Now, if LeBron and Ant team up, he might get some of that public persona cleansing that he might need to be the future face of the league. Speaker 1: But I don't know if Brown wants to hoop in Minnesota. Speaker 1: Scrub zero in the house. What's good, brother? Speaker 1: What will be a bigger story? Speaker 1: LeBron winning another ring or Jalen Brown doing it apart from the Celtics?

Speaker 1: Huh. Speaker 1: From the NBA's perspective, LeBron doing anything is the bigger story, right? Speaker 1: But for us, people that know ball, for the culture, Jalen Brown. Speaker 1: But for ball, it depends on where LeBron wins that ring, right? Speaker 1: To me, it depends where. Speaker 1: Let me pull this one up too. Speaker 1: Edwards ain't moving like he wants to be the face of the league for real.

Speaker 1: No, no, he's too busy being outside. Speaker 1: He's too busy being outside. Speaker 1: But let me go back to this one. Speaker 1: Bring that back up. Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 1: LeBron winning another ring, it depends on where. Speaker 1: He wins another ring in Cleveland.

Speaker 1: It's a good Hallmark movie. Speaker 1: It's that, right? Speaker 1: Him winning a ring in Philly, Speaker 1: it hits, but it don't hit like Cleveland Speaker 1: because there's no history there, right? Speaker 1: The only history is Embiid and the process Speaker 1: finally reached the pulpit, right? Speaker 1: They finally, it finally is the culmination Speaker 1: of the process, right? Speaker 1: LeBron in Miami, again, it's a storybook thing, but I don't think that that story is that dope. Speaker 1: Like, that story to me is not that dope.

Speaker 1: That's all the pushback LeBron got in 2011 for doing the super team thing, even though it wasn't really about that. Speaker 1: It would be more of that at 42 years old, teaming up with the Nigerian freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Bam Adebayo, Idris Adebayo. Speaker 1: Like it would be more of I'm joining a super team just to join a super team if he goes back to Miami a second time. Speaker 1: I don't view that as a bigger story. Speaker 1: Like LeBron is the face of the league. Speaker 1: So him winning another championship and getting the five, tying Duncan, tying Kobe, tying Magic, that's a thing. Speaker 1: But five ain't six.

Speaker 1: Like if he goes to Philly and wins two, if he goes to Cleveland and wins two, goes to Miami and wins two, Speaker 1: that becomes bigger. Speaker 1: But if Jalen Brown Speaker 1: goes to Philly Speaker 1: in one of the blackest cities in the world Speaker 1: has a team that is Speaker 1: ready to win right now Speaker 1: potentially walks through the Celtics Speaker 1: on the way to a championship Speaker 1: wins that Larry OB Speaker 1: but again it wouldn't be about him right? Speaker 1: It Speaker 1: it's a really good question. Speaker 1: It's a tough one. Speaker 1: It's a tough one. Speaker 1: Because Jalen Brown winning in a black city on a black team with black energy, that would be a thing. Speaker 1: But LeBron winning a fifth ring, hard stop.

Speaker 1: It's a bigger story. Speaker 1: But for us who know ball and us that are about the culture, it would be very, it would be right there. Speaker 1: It still would be slightly below LeBron getting a fifth. Speaker 1: But it's not a big gap. Speaker 1: It's not that. Speaker 1: It's more like a 1-1-1-A type of deal. Speaker 1: Good question, though.

Speaker 1: Thank you for that. Speaker 1: That was good. Speaker 1: Scrubs here on the chat. Speaker 1: Also, this is on Adam Silver in the league Speaker 1: for holding on to LeBron too long. Speaker 1: Well, I mean, no, I'll push back on that Speaker 1: because I think they tried to hand the baton. Speaker 1: It's just Deuce tricked it off. Speaker 1: They tried to give it to Zion.

Speaker 1: They tried. Speaker 1: They tried to give it to Zion. Speaker 1: He wasn't ready for it. Speaker 1: He was undisciplined in terms of his diet and his women choices. Speaker 1: Like, he was undisciplined. Speaker 1: He wasn't... Speaker 1: Could you imagine if they actually did give it to him and still did what he did?

Speaker 1: You know how bad the league would be in if Zion was actually the face of the league? Speaker 1: And he goes from busting through sneakers to busting through BB... Speaker 1: Hmm. Speaker 1: I'm just saying Speaker 1: it would be a bad look for the league Speaker 1: it was even a bad look for the league Speaker 1: even when he wasn't the face of the league Speaker 1: and he still did what he did Speaker 1: so could you imagine if the keys were actually given to him Speaker 1: they tried to give it to Ja Speaker 1: they tried Speaker 1: they tried to give it to Ja Speaker 1: when it looked like the Warriors were declining and the Grizz were on the way up Speaker 1: they tried to give it to Ja and then he couldn't handle losing to a kid in his own backyard Speaker 1: and then everything went to hell ever since Speaker 1: he couldn't stop showing guns on IG live Speaker 1: he couldn't not feel a way losing in his own backyard Speaker 1: all the things went wrong Speaker 1: they tried Speaker 1: and the sneakers are still flying off the shelves Speaker 1: the job threes are still out here killing Speaker 1: but that ain't enough to be the face of the league Speaker 1: they want it to be Wemby Speaker 1: they are dying for it to be Wemby Speaker 1: that's why I thought they would have gone to greater lengths Speaker 1: to fix the NBA finals Speaker 1: to let it be Big Vic Speaker 1: so that LeBron could walk off Speaker 1: not that he would have retired Speaker 1: but like, all right, it's not that important anymore. Speaker 1: We got Big Vic. Speaker 1: He's ready. Speaker 1: But it hasn't been anybody.

Speaker 1: Giannis had had that one year with the championship. Speaker 1: He won back-to-back MVPs. Speaker 1: It ain't even Giannis. Speaker 1: It ain't even the Nigerian freak. Speaker 1: Like, it's LeBron until he walks away. Speaker 1: So Adam Silver and the NBA has tried, Speaker 1: but the dudes that they have given it to Speaker 1: have all tricked it off in their own way. Speaker 1: Kobe would have been the face if not for that case in Colorado yeah I mean I mean he was Speaker 1: he was the face but then Colorado happened and then it took him a minute to rebound from that Speaker 1: and it took a lot like a lot of people still carry energy for Kobe even though Speaker 1: his passing allowed a lot of revisionist history and how people felt about Kobe Speaker 1: the manner of which he passed the fact that Gigi passed with him just the nature of it all Speaker 1: led a lot of people to rewrite how people felt about Kobe while he was still alive there were a Speaker 1: lot of people that still felt the way about Kobe about that Colorado shit so he he even though he Speaker 1: rebounded his image he got his Nike deal back and he became Kobe again and we all loved him again Speaker 1: And there were a lot of people that stayed away and was like, no, fuck that dude.

Speaker 1: Then he died. And it was all we all loved Kobe. Like, no, I remember. Speaker 1: I remember y'all had some energy, but, you know. Speaker 1: People get to write their own history, the people that are still breathing at the right down history. Speaker 1: Stephanie chat, the only other note, the only other potential face there has been in 2012 was Steph. Speaker 1: Yes, here's the weird thing with Steph, right?

Speaker 1: Steph. Speaker 1: Was Steph ever the face? Speaker 1: He was certainly a baby face, like if we're doing wrestling terms, he was a baby face. Speaker 1: But I don't know if he was the face. Speaker 1: Because to say he was the face means that he trumped LeBron. Speaker 1: I don't know if Wardell ever trumped LeBron. Speaker 1: He certainly had a meteoric rise and a historic impact.

And I still stand firm. Steph Curry ruined basketball. So he has that impact. Right. But I don't know if he ever overtook LeBron as the face. He was certainly at one point in time the lead baby face. Speaker 1: And babyface, if you're not familiar with that as a wrestling term, babyface means you're the number one good guy.

Speaker 1: Like you have your heel and you have your babyface. Speaker 1: So you have your top heel, your top bad guy, your top good guy. Speaker 1: If you want to tell me when the Warriors and the Cavs kept playing in the finals, Steph was the top babyface and LeBron was the top heel. Speaker 1: I could listen to that with not a lot of pushback. Speaker 1: But I don't think there was ever a scenario where Wardell was over LeBron. Speaker 1: I could be wrong. Y'all let me know.

Speaker 1: Script Zero, we know Zion couldn't be the face. Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, that dude, man. Speaker 1: You talk about giving all the opportunity in the world. Speaker 1: LeBron gave you cosigns. Speaker 1: the league Speaker 1: put you in a position Speaker 1: to where you were the man right away Speaker 1: like all the conspiracy theories Speaker 1: that the Knicks were Speaker 1: is supposed to get Zion Speaker 1: and all that stuff Speaker 1: Zion wanted to be a Knick Speaker 1: can you imagine Speaker 1: Zion as a Knick Speaker 1: the Knicks don't win the championship Speaker 1: if Zion's a Knick Speaker 1: that's without a doubt Speaker 1: the Knicks don't break the 53 year drought Speaker 1: if Zion's on that roster Speaker 1: but can you imagine the amount of trouble Speaker 1: we've seen the bad choices Zion has made with women. Speaker 1: That would have been tenfold Speaker 1: if he would have actually been a Knick. Speaker 1: Putting Zion within striking distance Speaker 1: of Washington Heights.

Speaker 1: Putting Zion in striking distance of Dykeman. Speaker 1: Putting Zion, oh man, it's... Speaker 1: He would have been at all the parades. Speaker 1: PR parade, DR parade, pride parade. Speaker 1: He would have been all the parades. Speaker 1: Zion would have just been... Speaker 1: Nah, it would have been bad.

Speaker 1: It would have been bad. Speaker 1: It would have been bad for Zion. Speaker 1: It is... Speaker 1: Sometimes you don't know Speaker 1: that something that you want Speaker 1: and you not getting it Speaker 1: actually turns out to be a good thing. Speaker 1: Even though Zion wanted to be a Knick, Speaker 1: the Knicks surely wanted Zion to be a Knick. Speaker 1: And I'm sure there were some in the league office Speaker 1: that wanted Zion to be a Knick. Speaker 1: It is great for all parties involved that Zion Williamson was never a Knick.

Speaker 1: If Brunson leads the Knicks to another conference finals, does he take the baton even though he's 29? Speaker 1: No, I don't think there's a scenario in the world where Jalen Brunson could be the face of the league. Speaker 1: I don't see a scenario where Jalen Brunson, he's too... Speaker 1: One, he's not good enough. Speaker 1: Like, can we have a real conversation about Jalen Brunson? Speaker 1: Can we have a real... Speaker 1: I'm trying to not put on my chief Nick Hader number one glasses Speaker 1: because the Knicks won their championship.

Speaker 1: We're trying to give them some grace. Speaker 1: But can we have a real conversation about Jalen Brunson? Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson is really good at what he does. Speaker 1: He is a scoring guard. Speaker 1: He is an undersized scoring guard. Speaker 1: He's got a lot of IT3 in him. Speaker 1: He's got a little bit of Iverson in him.

Speaker 1: He's of that mold, right? Speaker 1: Your Rod Strickland, no, Rod Strickland was a real point guard. Speaker 1: Your tiny Archibald, Mahmoud Abdul-Raouf, formerly Chris Jackson. Speaker 1: He's of that mold, right? Speaker 1: That guy could never be the face. Speaker 1: Like I said, Allen Iverson was only the face because he was so polarizing. Speaker 1: The tattoos, the rap.

Speaker 1: Like when Iverson dropped 40 Jewels, his rap, what was that? Speaker 1: Was that the name of the album or just the song? Speaker 1: I think that's the name of the song. Speaker 1: when he dropped 40 jewels and was spitting and was spitting hard and had like murder death kill type Speaker 1: bars it fucked a lot of people's heads up but he was also like on the path to being an mvp he was Speaker 1: also on the path of taking a mediocre roster the middest of mids people go crazy about the rosters Speaker 1: that LeBron took to the NBA Finals Speaker 1: when he was in Cleveland Speaker 1: the first go around. Speaker 1: Will you please go look at that Speaker 1: Philadelphia 76er roster Speaker 1: that Allen Iverson took to the Finals Speaker 1: and actually won a game Speaker 1: against Kobe and Shaq Speaker 1: at their peak? Speaker 1: Like LeBron gets credit Speaker 1: for being swept Speaker 1: by Tim Duncan Speaker 1: when he has Zydrunas Ogowskis. Speaker 1: Allen Iverson had Speaker 1: George Lynch Speaker 1: Eric Snow Speaker 1: Aaron McKee Speaker 1: and the late great Speaker 1: Dikemi Mutombo Speaker 1: and won a game Speaker 1: against Kobe and Shaq Speaker 1: do you know ball or nah?

Speaker 1: are y'all with me or nah? Speaker 1: But no, Jalen Brunson cannot be the face because Jalen Brunson is not polarizing enough. He is not engaging enough. Like the whole thing with him and the WWE, that's some fugazi bullshit. Like none of that is real. Like Jalen Brunson doesn't have the personality. You need that personality.

Jalen Brunson does not have a personality. Speaker 1: Like he is a Nepo baby. He is a like he he has no personality. No, he's not. He's not that. Speaker 1: Kobe, even though Kobe was a Nepo baby, his dad played in the league, but Kobe developed personality, even though when he first came to the league, his personality was copy and paste MJ. Speaker 1: Then as he got older, as he went through the shit in Colorado, he got to be more of who he was, more of who he actually was at his core.

Speaker 1: and that was the whole Mamba mentality thing, right? Speaker 1: That was a personality. Speaker 1: That was, if he would have came into the league Speaker 1: on some Black Mamba shit, Speaker 1: that could have went completely different, Speaker 1: for better or for worse, Speaker 1: but that could have went completely different with Kobe Speaker 1: if he would have came into the league Speaker 1: on some Black Mamba shit Speaker 1: and not some copy and paste, Speaker 1: I want to be Michael Jordan shit. Speaker 1: Stephanie chat, we have talked ad nauseum Speaker 1: about how Mamba mentality has been watered down today. Speaker 1: No one liked Mamba Kobe. Speaker 1: He was an ass. Speaker 1: Yeah, no, he was an ass.

Speaker 1: Like, yeah. Speaker 1: Like, as much as Jason Tatum is cosplaying Kobe, like, and that's why the whole Celtics choosing Tatum over Brown thing, it's layered. Speaker 1: It's layered. Speaker 1: There's racial stuff there, but there's also personality stuff. Speaker 1: Like, it's cool to want to be like Kobe. Speaker 1: There was a point in time, like Steph just said in the chat, where people, it was not cool to want to be like Kobe because Kobe was an ass. Speaker 1: And more specifically, he was an asshole.

Speaker 1: Like, there was a lot going on there. Speaker 1: But because of the manner of which he died, Speaker 1: the fact that he died young, Speaker 1: the fact that he died with Gigi, Speaker 1: all that stuff, Speaker 1: there's been a lot of whitewashing Speaker 1: and cleansing of Kobe's image. Speaker 1: Dude, I remember. Speaker 1: I remember. Speaker 1: I was there. Speaker 1: I was working in the industry. Speaker 1: I remember.

Speaker 1: Script zero in the chat. Speaker 1: Brunson is a plus player with top end interchangeables, intangibles, Speaker 1: but he's never going to be that top player in the NBA. Speaker 1: I'm good with that. Speaker 1: I don't look to him for that anyway. Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I think, again, if you're a Knick fan, yeah, you don't care. Speaker 1: As long as Jalen Brunson is the number one guy on your team, Speaker 1: that's all that you should care about. Speaker 1: There's no requirement for the dude that won the NBA championship Speaker 1: to then be the face of the league.

Speaker 1: Like, it's not a prerequisite that you have to, it's not a prerequisite to have to be the current NBA champion and the face of the league. Speaker 1: Like, look at the NBA champions we have had. Speaker 1: All, what, we've had eight different champions over the last few years? Speaker 1: Like, none of those guys outside of LeBron have been the face of the league. Speaker 1: The Warriors, Wardell's never been the face of the league. Speaker 1: The Celtics won, Tatum's never been the face of the league. Speaker 1: He wants to be, he's another guy that wants to be.

Speaker 1: butt and despite him looking the part and acting like the part behind the scenes, if you know, Speaker 1: you know, he's not the face of the league. He's not. OKC, SGA, he doesn't have the temperament. Speaker 1: I'm not going to say he's boring. He's not boring. But from a talking perspective, he's boring. Speaker 1: When you put a mic in front of him, he's boring.

On IG, when he gets into his caption bag, he's lit. Speaker 1: But when he's giving an interview, he's boring when he's doing, you know, the podium on post games. Speaker 1: He's boring like that. That's not going to cut it. LeBron called. Speaker 1: The vast majority of NBA fans broke and we applauded him for it. Speaker 1: Do you understand what it is to have to be the face of the league?

Speaker 1: And this is while he was peak villain, Bron, peak heel, Bron, right? Speaker 1: So Wardell was the face. Speaker 1: Bron was the heel. Speaker 1: And Bron called the casuals. Speaker 1: All broke. Speaker 1: I'm going to wake up tomorrow and still be LeBron Ramon James. Speaker 1: You're going to wake up and still be you.

Speaker 1: He called y'all broke. Speaker 1: And he was still the face of the league. Speaker 1: That's the type of shit I'm talking about. Speaker 1: that's the type of shit I'm talking about Speaker 1: Zion would have never Speaker 1: Wardell would have never Speaker 1: Jaw might have Speaker 1: Jaw might have Speaker 1: but he couldn't handle losing ones Speaker 1: or no losing a team game in his backyard Speaker 1: he couldn't stop going to strip clubs Speaker 1: he couldn't stop Speaker 1: you know bringing guns on IG live Speaker 1: he Speaker 1: LeBron called everybody broke and it has been canonized as one of the best moments of his career. Speaker 1: It's up there. It's up there with what he did when he ran off 25 straight points against Detroit or whatever. Speaker 1: It's up there.

LeBron calling people broke, calling NBA fans, calling paying customers broke. Speaker 1: It's up there with the chase down block on Eagle Dollar. Speaker 1: script zero Allen Iverson winning one off that Lakers team is nothing short of special Speaker 1: and it doesn't get appreciated he doesn't get appreciated and that's and that's my whole thing Speaker 1: yo like that roster Aaron McKee George Lynch some of y'all might not even know these names Speaker 1: Aaron McKee, George Lynch, Matt Geiger. Speaker 1: Matt Geiger. Speaker 1: And he got a win against the Lakers. Speaker 1: And it wasn't like one of those cheap wins where you're up 3-0 Speaker 1: and then you lose one, but then you still win in five. Speaker 1: He won game one in L.A.

Speaker 1: Isn't that the only game the Lakers lost that whole postseason run? Speaker 1: The Lakers were sweeping everybody, I believe. Speaker 1: Let's fact check that. Speaker 1: I don't want to be out here doing fake news. Speaker 1: Hang on. Speaker 1: I think that was the only game they lost that whole playoff run. Speaker 1: What was that, 2001?

Speaker 1: Oh, we got a lot of scrolling to do. Speaker 1: Come on. Speaker 1: Come on, Lakers. Speaker 1: Let's go. Speaker 1: Previous, previous, previous. Speaker 1: is. We're searching Speaker 1: online.

We're trying to pull it up. Speaker 1: I'm going to break that down. Speaker 1: Because if it wasn't that year, it was Speaker 1: one of those three-peat years Speaker 1: the Lakers only lost once. Speaker 1: Let's see. Speaker 1: 2001. Speaker 1: NBA champions. Speaker 1: Playoffs.

Speaker 1: They need to make this easier. Speaker 1: Yes, it was that year. Speaker 1: Here we go. Speaker 1: Hang on. Speaker 1: Here's that year. Speaker 1: Portland, they swept them 3-0. Speaker 1: Best of five.

Speaker 1: They swept the Kings 4-0. Speaker 1: They swept the Spurs. Speaker 1: They swept Tim Duncan at this peak. Speaker 1: And then they lost one game to the Philadelphia 76ers. Speaker 1: Do you understand how insane that is? The only team to beat Kobe and Shaq at their apex, at their peak. Speaker 1: In the most one of the most dominant runs in NBA playoff history was a team.

Speaker 1: With Allen Iverson, the late great the Kimmy Mutombo, Eric Snow, Aaron McKean, Tyrone Hill, Tyrone Hill, Speaker 1: who is more known for being bitch slapped by Charles Oakley Speaker 1: than anything else in his life. Speaker 1: He is more known for being pimp slapped by Charles Oakley. Speaker 1: He was a starter on this team. Speaker 1: Matt Geiger, Raja Bell, Todd McCullough, Speaker 1: Jermaine Jones, not Jermaine Jones, Speaker 1: Jermaine Jones, Kevin Speaker 1: Ali. Yes, that Kevin Speaker 1: Ali. Speaker 1: 14 minutes. Speaker 1: George Lynch, Speaker 1: Rodney Buford.

This Speaker 1: is who walked into Staples Speaker 1: and got game one. Speaker 1: And Iverson still Speaker 1: dropped 36 points Speaker 1: a game in that Speaker 1: series. Speaker 1: 36 a game Speaker 1: against Kobe and Shaq at their apex. Speaker 1: Y'all don't hear me though. Speaker 1: Dikembe Mutombo as your second leading score Speaker 1: is atrocious. Speaker 1: Atrocious. Speaker 1: Look at the amount of minutes played.

Speaker 1: Iverson never came out the game. Speaker 1: He damn near played every minute. Speaker 1: 47.8 minutes played. Speaker 1: There's only 48 minutes in a game. Speaker 1: Look at the shot disparity. Speaker 1: 162 shots in five games. Speaker 1: Do you understand me?

Speaker 1: 162 shots in five games. Speaker 1: we can do that math right Speaker 1: I don't gotta crunch the numbers for you right Speaker 1: we can do that math Speaker 1: Mutombo was the second most with just 55 Speaker 1: he took two thirds Speaker 1: of the shots Speaker 1: two thirds Speaker 1: and he still shot over 40% from the floor. Speaker 1: You don't hear me, though. Speaker 1: But keep talking to me about LeBron getting swept by Tim Duncan Speaker 1: when he had to join us Lugauskas. Speaker 1: Go ahead. Keep talking to me about that. Speaker 1: At least AI got a game, Speaker 1: and not a, you know, gentleman sweep game.

Speaker 1: He got game one on the road, no less. Speaker 1: Stephanie, Chad, we're talking about faces of the NBA, Speaker 1: but let's switch to NFL. Speaker 1: Is this the year Caleb Williams because a top five QB Speaker 1: and maybe a true MVP candidate? Speaker 1: Okay, we want to go NFL? Speaker 1: Let me do a quick check to make sure nobody else got laid off. Speaker 1: Ooh, big name. Speaker 1: hang on, big name, big name.

Speaker 1: This is why we keep the timeline active. Speaker 1: This is why we do this. Speaker 1: Y'all ready? Speaker 1: Oh, let me make sure I'm on the screen. Speaker 1: Your man's Cam Newton has been laid off by ESPN. Speaker 1: Cam Newton is no longer with the fourth of the network. Speaker 1: So one former top five QB, one former NFL MVP has now been let go by the four letter network.

Speaker 1: Cam Newton laid off by ESPN. Speaker 1: So this dude who we referenced earlier, who is part of the right wing sports media entity known as OutKick. Speaker 1: He apparently has a plug within ESPN because he is leaking a lot of the layoffs. Speaker 1: So let's see. Speaker 1: And there's his version of it. ESPN is laying off Cam Newton. Speaker 1: Sources say he will not be on with Stephen A this fall.

Speaker 1: So. Speaker 1: And this to me is probably the more telling part. Speaker 1: And this is why I was saying if you're Stephen A, if you're Fraud A. Smith. Speaker 1: And you have done all that you can for this for this company, you have done all the things you have put your your life, Speaker 1: your livelihood on the line for this company. Speaker 1: You have exposed yourself, your family, your friends to this network Speaker 1: to ingratiate yourself to the bosses, to the powers that be. Speaker 1: And time after time after time, Speaker 1: they're showing you that you matter, but only to a certain degree.

Speaker 1: Like they are planning for life post-Fraud A. Smith. Speaker 1: And it's smart. Speaker 1: It's smart because you don't want to indenture yourself to one person and they'll they'll have to face that choice in a few years when it comes to being all in on Pat McAfee. Speaker 1: Right. Because the McAfee thing will then start to weigh down and then I have to figure out, well, who's next after him? Speaker 1: If you're putting all it's just like face of the league, right?

Face of the league, face of a company. Speaker 1: Stephen A. Smith has been the face of the company for a very long time. Speaker 1: Now, it is clear without a shadow of a doubt the face of this company is now Pat McAfee. Speaker 1: So if you were aligned with Stephen A. Smith, with Fraud A. Smith, Speaker 1: now that Pat McAfee, who is allegedly on the verge of signing a deal that's going to pay him more than 60 M's a year, Speaker 1: if your allegiance is more to Stephen A., you are expendable.

Speaker 1: And Cam Newton has learned that today. Speaker 1: Being aligned with Stephen A. does not give you protection. Speaker 1: Stephen A is protected they're not going to lay him off Speaker 1: but if you are on the peripheral so now that's two people that were Speaker 1: normal contributors to the Stephen A Smith led show at first take Speaker 1: that have been let go today Brian Clark Speaker 1: now we got Cam Newton and yes Michael Irvin was on there for a little bit and Speaker 1: Shannon Sharpe but those were extinguishing circumstances that got them Speaker 1: about the paint. Speaker 1: This to me is more about Speaker 1: we're all in on McAfee. Speaker 1: So if you're riding with Stephen A, Speaker 1: you are no longer needed. Speaker 1: You are no longer necessary.

Speaker 1: You are no longer Teflon. Speaker 1: So now what? Speaker 1: Now what? Speaker 1: Who the hell is Stephen A Speaker 1: going to do shows with? Speaker 1: Jay Williams is watching Speaker 1: a lot of football. Speaker 1: Jay Williams is watching Speaker 1: football. He's...

I see you, J. Will. Speaker 1: I see you, J. Will. He might have known this was coming. Speaker 1: So let me start to jump out there and have some football takes. Speaker 1: Okay.

I see you, J. Will. All right. Speaker 1: Steph wants to talk NFL. Let's see if we can do that. Speaker 1: Also, real quick. Speaker 1: We did that.

Real quick, though. Speaker 1: Now that they're getting another former athlete about the paint. Speaker 1: So there was one former athlete in Ryan Clark. Speaker 1: Now we have another. Speaker 1: And we have some older media members being part of this layoff as well. Speaker 1: It got to me to want to show you guys this. Speaker 1: Awful Announcing, which is a sports media company that kind of follows and traffics in sports media news and stuff like that, Speaker 1: put together a list of who they feel are rising stars.

Speaker 1: So let's get into who you see here. This is a lot of diversity going on here, right? It's a lot of diversity. But let's talk about or let's just take a look at what you don't see on this list. Gilbert Arenas, former athlete, right? Cool. Checks the box.

Speaker 1: Kenny Beecham, SiriusXM. Shout out to Kenny. Worked with him when I was at Bleach Report. He's come a long way. The brand was always strong. I'm glad he's finally getting recognized for the brand, right? Speaker 1: But don't get it twisted.

Even though this is in alphabetical order, there's a reason why you have two black guys at the top, because you're not going to see another black face for the rest of this list. Speaker 1: Madeline Burke. Kevin Clark. Again, just notice what you see or more importantly, what you don't see. Speaker 1: Allie Clifton. Shea Cornette. A dude from Barstool.

Dude on Amazon. I guess another former athlete, I guess. Speaker 1: Renee Montgomery, former player. So she doesn't count. Black and a former player. Speaker 1: You normally don't count when I'm doing this type of stuff, but we'll let it rock. Speaker 1: She's also a triple minority, if you know, you know.

Speaker 1: But Alexa, again, what do you notice? Speaker 1: Jackie, again, what do you notice? Speaker 1: Ashley, again, what do you notice? Speaker 1: Monte Teo. Speaker 1: They're going to keep him. Speaker 1: If you're going to let people go from NFL Network, you're going to keep Manti Teo. Speaker 1: Ryan Clark got to go, but Manti Teo stays.

Speaker 1: Something about that just doesn't seem right to me. Speaker 1: John Wall, former athlete, doesn't count. Speaker 1: Charlotte Wilder, Madeline Hill. Speaker 1: Again, what do you notice? Speaker 1: So I say all that to say is that out of the black faces on this list, only one is a non-athlete. Speaker 1: Whereas damn near every other non-black face on this list is a non-athlete. Speaker 1: Do you see what I'm cooking or not?

Speaker 1: But this is the media thing in a nutshell. Speaker 1: Where if you're black and a former athlete, you might have opportunity. Speaker 1: But if you're black and a non-athlete, there's only room for one. Speaker 1: And right now that one is Kenny Beecham. Speaker 1: And at least Kenny Beecham is really good at what he does, so it's okay. Speaker 1: But the fact that there's only one, when I could scroll down this list and find white non-athletes being put in prominent media positions up and down. Speaker 1: Their analysis is okay.

Speaker 1: But when the Ryan Clarks of the world call out the fact that these are non-athletes. Speaker 1: He has to run to the Elon app to apologize. Speaker 1: Do you see the game? Do you see the rigging of the game? Speaker 1: So Seth wants to know, is this the year Caleb Williams becomes a top five QB? Speaker 1: So if we're doing that, let me come off here so we can look this up. Speaker 1: If we're doing that, that means we need to find out who the consensus top five quarterbacks are.

Speaker 1: And all these lists are always subjective, right? Speaker 1: All these lists are subjective. Speaker 1: But let's just take a list from NFL.com Speaker 1: They are ranking all 63 starting quarterbacks Speaker 1: Let me come off Speaker 1: All 63 starting quarterbacks from the 2025 NFL season Speaker 1: Okay Speaker 1: So Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford is tier one Speaker 1: Josh Allen is number two Speaker 1: Dak Prescott's number three Speaker 1: Drake Mays number four Speaker 1: Justin Herbert is number five Speaker 1: Right? Speaker 1: Again, do I agree with this list? Speaker 1: No Speaker 1: I don't agree with a lot of these lists Speaker 1: To the point that Speaker 1: Last year I did a mini doc Speaker 1: Mocking the NFL top 100 Speaker 1: And did my own top 10 Speaker 1: And Stefan, who's in the chat Speaker 1: Was a part of that Speaker 1: Trying to figure out a way to do that again Speaker 1: This year, if you think we should run that back, let me know in the chat. Speaker 1: Let me know in the comments. Speaker 1: And if you haven't subscribed, subscribe so you can know when that drops, if we do do one.

Speaker 1: But yeah, so now we have Justin Herbert, Drake May, Dak Prescott, Josh Allen, and Matthew Stafford as a top five. Speaker 1: So do I think Caleb Williams can go into this top five next year? Speaker 1: Sure. Speaker 1: I think there's a scenario where he can be better than Justin Herbert and be better than Drake May next year and be in that top five. Speaker 1: But if we're talking about a more legitimate top five. Speaker 1: Let's see if we're doing let AI do it right. Speaker 1: AI is saying based off QBR, the top five quarterbacks are Drake May, Jordan Love, Brock Purdy, Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott.

Speaker 1: Again, that's another variable, right? Speaker 1: If you want to go through passer rating, the top five are Drake May, Matthew Stafford, Speaker 1: Jared Goff, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen. Speaker 1: So let's go off that list. Speaker 1: Again, I think Kayla Williams could be better than Drake May this year. Speaker 1: I think Kayla Williams could be better than Jared Goff this year. Speaker 1: So yes, there's a scenario where Kayla Williams could be a top five QB, Speaker 1: but that's based off what metrics. Speaker 1: If you're now telling me Lamar, Josh, Burrow, Speaker 1: if we start to throw some more names in there, Speaker 1: instead of just going off stats and raw data, Speaker 1: like AI is doing here, Speaker 1: if we're going off of players that we just feel are good, Speaker 1: that are top tier, Speaker 1: Joe Burrow hasn't been mentioned in any of these lists Speaker 1: because it's off data and he was hurt, right?

Speaker 1: So, but we all think Joe Burrow's a top five QB. Speaker 1: So if we're going to take, and Mahomes ain't on any of these lists, right? Speaker 1: We haven't seen Mahomes yet. Speaker 1: So if we do Mahomes and Burrow, and then we do Lamar, and then we do Josh Allen, Speaker 1: that only leaves one spot. Speaker 1: Are we definitively saying that Caleb Williams could be that fifth spot Speaker 1: over the likes of Matthew Stafford, over the likes of Jordan Love, Speaker 1: depending on what he does this year, over the likes of, you know, Speaker 1: if you're into Jared Goff, if you're into Drake May, Speaker 1: if you're believing in what Drake May is going to do with now A.J. Brown, Speaker 1: all that, and then we still got your Jalen Hurtses of the world. Speaker 1: Like, there's a lot of QBs out there, and that's why the list thing, Speaker 1: even though I did one, right?

Speaker 1: I did one because I wanted to, one, I wanted to do it because I wanted to show Speaker 1: that anyone, even someone like me who is not working for NFL or NFL Films Speaker 1: or NFL Network could do a mini-doc about the NFL. Speaker 1: Anyone's list is going to be subjective. Speaker 1: Anyone's list, like trust me, Speaker 1: in the process of doing the top five, Speaker 1: I heard some names that I was stunned. Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence's name was put out there in the top five. Speaker 1: Someone was 10 toes down. Speaker 1: Now, Pertz was also a Jaguars fan, Speaker 1: so a little skewed, a little biased, Speaker 1: but Trevor Lawrence's name was put in the conversation. Speaker 1: We don't even have Jaden Daniels on here.

Speaker 1: Jaden Daniels has not been mentioned in any. Speaker 1: So again, if we're talking about Speaker 1: can Kayla Williams break the top five, Speaker 1: if your top five has a Drake May in it, sure. Speaker 1: If your top five has a Jared Goff in it, sure. Speaker 1: But if your top five has a Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, if we have those names, those names that we know that are actually the top five, that's difficult. Speaker 1: That is difficult. Speaker 1: Heading into what, year three? Speaker 1: That's difficult to just vault him in the top five.

Speaker 1: Because to be quite honest, I don't know if that receiver room is as good as everyone thinks it's going to be. Speaker 1: We know he's got the play caller. Speaker 1: That's confirmed. Speaker 1: We know he's got a tight end. That's confirmed. Speaker 1: We know he's got the moxie that he showed in college. Speaker 1: He's got it.

Speaker 1: But now with no DJ Moore, Speaker 1: we're putting a lot of stock into Luther Burden and Rome Medunze. Speaker 1: And while I think Luther Burden is one of those, Speaker 1: I'm still not sold on Rome Medunze. Speaker 1: So if we're saying Rome can step in and be the number two, Speaker 1: even though he probably thinks he should be the number one Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm putting Caleb Williams in the top five Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm putting him in the same conversation as Mahomes Speaker 1: Lamar, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow Speaker 1: I don't know if he just automatically gets that fifth spot Speaker 1: Scrap zero Speaker 1: should have a better year in the third season. Not sure about MVP candidate. Speaker 1: That would be a monster jump, but I'm interested to see what he can show. Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, he's a guy that, look, he showed me last year. Speaker 1: I'm still not a Chicago Bears fan.

I will never go back to being a fan Speaker 1: of any team. The Chicago Bears could go out here and Speaker 1: be the next dynasty, and I still will not go back to being a Chicago Bears fan. That has nothing to do with Speaker 1: Kayla Williams, nothing to do with Ben Johnson. I don't believe in fandom. I believe fandom is a Speaker 1: mental illness. But I still pay attention because I know ball, right? So I'm still watching all the Speaker 1: games.

And Caleb Williams showed me a lot. He showed me a lot. And he showed me that, yeah, Speaker 1: he's got it. He's not a fluke. He's not any of that stuff. He's one of those. But being top five, Speaker 1: along with Mahomes, along with Burrow, along with Lamar, along with Josh Allen, Speaker 1: that's a really high ceiling.

Speaker 1: But if we're just doing off of data, Speaker 1: yeah, he could break into this top five. Speaker 1: He could have a better year than Jordan Love. Speaker 1: He could have a better year than Brock Purdy. Speaker 1: Sure, he could have a better year than Drake May. Speaker 1: He could have a better year than all these guys Speaker 1: and break into that, sure. Speaker 1: If he's going by QBR, yes, he could do that. Speaker 1: If he's going by pass-up rating, yes, he could do that.

Speaker 1: If we're just going by consensus ball-knower, Speaker 1: the ball-knower top five, I don't know. Speaker 1: That's a different conversation. Speaker 1: I'm a believer in Ben Johnson Speaker 1: yeah you should be Speaker 1: you should be Speaker 1: no doubt Speaker 1: no doubt Speaker 1: Ben Johnson Speaker 1: now he's got some stuff Speaker 1: to figure out Speaker 1: I think there's some Speaker 1: and I talked about this Speaker 1: throughout the season Speaker 1: like Speaker 1: he was given Speaker 1: he gave the keys Speaker 1: to Caleb too soon Speaker 1: and then he had to Speaker 1: take him back Speaker 1: and then he started Speaker 1: running the fuck Speaker 1: out of the ball and then the Bears actually got good. Speaker 1: Then when the Bears actually got good, it allowed Caleb to slow down, Speaker 1: have the game slow down for him. Speaker 1: And then when he unleashed Caleb later in the year, as the year went along, Speaker 1: then we got to see the Caleb. Speaker 1: The Bears off rip in the season, at the beginning of the season, Speaker 1: it was not good. Speaker 1: Now there might be some revisionist history that, oh yeah, Speaker 1: year one was great.

Speaker 1: Slow down. Speaker 1: I watched the games. Speaker 1: It was not good. Speaker 1: It took about week four, week five, when he started running the ball and stopping Caleb Williams from having 30, 40 dropbacks and dial that back a little bit. Speaker 1: Then the offense kind of got their legs underneath them and understanding this new offense and this new scheme and philosophy. Speaker 1: Then things started to progress. Speaker 1: Then Caleb started to have the time to make the reads.

Speaker 1: Then the play action started to work. Speaker 1: All that stuff was predicated off of the success of the run game. Speaker 1: Now if Ben Johnson can unleash it all with the passing game and all that stuff, Speaker 1: then this year will tell me more about the Ben Johnson-Kaela Williams relationship Speaker 1: more than last year. Speaker 1: Last year was the filling out process, right? Speaker 1: This is, no, now we cooking. Speaker 1: Now we should be unleashing everything. Speaker 1: But now no DJ Moore.

Speaker 1: And, you know, you might not know how I feel about DJ Moore. Speaker 1: I wasn't the biggest DJ Moore guy. Speaker 1: He was certainly a number one on this team, Speaker 1: but only because there was nobody else that was actually number one worthy. Speaker 1: Now you're assuming either Roma Dunze or Luz LeBurgeon is going to take that spot. Speaker 1: The jury is out. Speaker 1: You know what it is? Speaker 1: This has been the V10B podcast, Speaker 1: a podcast that is talking about sports and sports media in addition to other things.

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Speaker 2: Thank you again for listening to this episode. Speaker 2: I will catch you again on the next one. Speaker 2: I go by the name of The Sam D. Speaker 2: This has been The Sam D Podcast. Speaker 2: I'm out.