Transcript of Stephen A. Smith Calls out the Democrats and REVEALS LeBron Will Retire Next Year!

Alright, boys, we got Stephen A. On the pod today. Before we get into it, you guys gotta download the Prizepix app. If for some reason you have never tried it yet, download it right now. We just came back from the prizepicks World Championships, got a disappointing L. We're gonna come back for the title next year again. Prizepix is so fun. Honestly, I cannot watch sports without playing Prizepix. It makes watching the game so much more interesting. Instead of choosing teams, you're choosing individual players. So you go on the app, each player has a more or less set projection, and then it's up to you. You either choose or less than that set projection. So if you're watching the games and you know what players are going to perform on what nights, Prizepix is the app for you. We got you guys on a special code, code NEL. If you use code NELK and put in $5, you're going to get $50 with that code Nelk. Easy as that. No strings attached. Put in $5, get $50. It's an absolute steal. So download the Prizepix app, use Code Nelk. Football's on. College football, hockey, NBA, everything's on boys.

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How was last night?

It was good.

Phone, please.

It was good.

This is classic. Steiny's late.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's like, this is. This would make sense.

Did you. How was last night? Did you. Did you go out with them or. No.

Yeah, briefly. Like, we went to obviously the event that we were at, and then we went to some place called Blue Flame, which was apparently a strip club. Got in there for two minutes, left.

Apparently a strip club.

It was. I didn't know until I got there.

Yeah, right.

No, I didn't know. I knew Magic City was a strip club.

Okay.

And then I didn't know Blue Flame was a strip club. The second we walked in there, it was like, oh, no, we're getting out. And then we just left.

You guys didn't say, didn't stay.

We watched. I watched Chandler fight, lose. I lost some money. That was a little sad.

Oh, you took Chandler. That's your guy, right?

Yeah, and I did too. And then I. Yeah, I took Jon.

Jones, Bo Nickel and Oliveira parlay.

Well, I did a parlay. Jon Jones, Bo Nickel, Chandler, you got me. But then I. Then I bet big on Jon Jones because I was like, he's 100 guaranteed. And of course, guys, he's the.

He's Danny probably had a late night.

100. Yeah, he stayed out later. I think he went back out.

I think most pods he walks on now. He just looks like shit.

Yeah.

Ben Shapiro. Everyone was commenting like, yo, this guy was. He just looks like he's been out all night.

What city was Ben Shapiro in?

Miami.

Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense.

But I don't think there is a city where like, I mean, Atlanta.

Yeah.

We're going to be in Iowa. It's going to be the same thing.

Yeah, dude, he was. I don't know, man.

He's going to walk in here like paranoid as. Dude, like, what's good? Why is everyone looking at me?

And he's got to chill out, man. He's like, hey, dude, I don't know why he's so.

He's.

He likes the partying so much. More than you've chilled out the most.

I've chilled out the most, bro. I just get so hungover now. It's not worth it. It's not worth it.

I know you get it now.

Pick and choose.

Wow.

Wow.

What up?

What up?

Yeah, what you look like, dude, you do you remember years ago though, like, cuz about 5 years ago is when we were really doing it and you were partying. Crazy.

Yeah.

Remember me? I was always like, nah, I'm kind of. Yeah, I was older.

I know, but you've always been Jack, so you get away with the like. Yeah, I'm not drinking.

Yeah, that's fair.

That's such a cheat code.

It is. You're like, oh, we get it.

Yeah.

Get in here, dude.

How's your night?

Fun.

Well, what'd you guys do?

This shit sucks these days. I'm serious. What, like if I go out and have a good time, I gotta hear it from five people now?

From who?

From Gabe.

That's just Gabe.

Yo, Gabe. By the way, if you haven't tuned in this guy's rating for a living now.

Wait, what?

Yeah, rating.

Have you seen the clip?

Yeah, no, this guy shows him his D and Gabe, we should react to that.

What?

By the way, you text me again for the second night in the row.

At 105am yeah, to see if you're out, bro. No, no, no, dude, I. I get laid with women.

That's.

That's totally fine, but I'm not, I'm not hitting you up. Trust me, if. If I was gay, I would get away. Better looking. I'm. You are. You have no chance. Dude, don't put labels on it here.

Brad, you can click that. So Gabe's been doing a podcast run.

Oh, so Gabe's on pods. Damn.

Yeah. This.

Let us know what you think of this.

No, this one's pretty big, too.

So I'm about to show you my eggplant and I want you to rate it 1 out of 10. Do you think? Let's see.

I'm going to go back.

Why does Kid send you that? What?

Wait.

Oh, he's for real. Showing me. This is yours?

You sure?

Use yours.

Yeah, it's pretty good. What do you rate it? 1 out of 10.

Solid. 8.

8? Let's make it a 10.

Made a little bit more girth. Maybe I'm strong, but he's good. What the.

Wait, what.

What podcast is that? About the most insane clip you've ever seen.

Zof Creators.

He said a little more girth would make it a 10.

He does. Of. So we're talking about.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

This is a. It wasn't just a random dude who was like, here's my.

He's of creator.

Holy. Dude.

How was the night? What'd you guys do?

I went to. What's it called? Two strip clubs.

Told you.

You came to one.

I went and we went right out. That was like, not it.

We went in and right out got scammed.

You. You paid money there.

You fall in love with a stripper?

No.

Wait, where'd you go to strip club after?

Funny. Marco. Scrub. This is not the guy in Atlanta. I love you, but, dude, the guy gassed up that place so hard.

The blue fl. I didn't even know what the it was until we got there.

Atlanta is a different type of scene.

It's nuts.

It's a nice time, though. Wish sugar had a good time. Fun.

Where'd you go after?

How was Ace?

He was actually fun. Yeah, it was cool.

Seline was supposed to be on this pod, too. No, I don't think he has a pulse right now.

Yeah, no, no, that guy's. Because.

Dead Jimmy. Is Jimmy in here? Dead. Two casualties last night.

Salim is for sure.

He's done.

Wait, so wait, where did you go the second time? Because I was in. I was sleeping at this point.

Candyland with Ben. Strip club. Yeah.

What was different than the first one?

Well, let's just say, like, I'm very.

You're going to try to flex. You're like the guy in Atlanta.

No, I'm very accepted and obviously very beloved by the black community. So they all want me to come. I was the only white boy, I swear to God, at this entire place.

But wasn't Sugar there?

No, he didn't make it that late.

Oh, okay.

Does Magic City live up to the hype or.

No, I didn't go to Magic because we didn't go there. I wanted to go there, bro. Well, we didn't go there.

I'm pissed we missed UFC last night.

Oh, my God.

We should have been at that fight.

I know.

It's funny because Steve. Me and Steve are gonna go, like, randomly, just from here. We're just gonna fly up there. And then I was like, nah, it's like a lot of flying.

Trump Elon. And who else sat together?

Trump Elon? Tulsi? Vivek? Rfk. It was the whole cabinet everywhere.

Yeah. It's so sick.

The one like, I saw, I was.

Like, oh, flop that crazy.

You think it's. And I asked you that.

We were talking last night. Yeah.

Is he going to go. He's still going to go to UFC fights even when he's president. You don't think.

Why wouldn't he?

Security purposes, maybe.

That's what I was thinking.

There's already security purposes now.

Yeah. But, I mean, I don't know.

No, I think he just. I mean, he could do whatever the he wants now.

Yeah.

I don't think he's worried about his image as much now. Now that he's elected now they're just gonna, like, they're gonna just roll and they're gonna do whatever the they want.

But did you see Jon Jones?

I know Jon Jones praised them.

Massive. Yeah. Huge. Did the dance and everything.

It's a complete. We were talking about this last night, but.

Yeah.

Feel like it's like a complete. Just flip.

Yeah. From where it was when we first did the pod and you guys first hit the pod, and the support there was like, oh, be careful.

For me, it was like the way the election panned out, too, like, how it's such a landslide. It's just good to know, like, because you're kind of thinking, like, you ask yourself sometimes, like, am I crazy? Or like, we're all kind of asking ourselves, are we crazy? With everything that the left was saying and.

Yeah.

So it's good to, like, confirm. Like, that was like, a reflection of where society's at.

Yeah.

I feel like everyone just like, we're done with the.

Yeah. Everyone got to the point and they were like, yo. And also the key was, like, people were just trying to pay their bills and trying to do, like, basic. And then you have this other, like, distraction, but really just, like, other talking points that they're like, oh, this is important. Everyone's like, all right, that's all cool, but like, we just want basic, our basic needs met. And then everyone just aligned with that. And I think that's why it was a massive shift.

It's going to be interesting to see how the, the liberals have to switch up their agenda now too, because they're not, I think now they want to win, they want to be in power.

They're like a rebuild.

They have rebuild.

They got, they got to drop redraft people.

Like, they're going to have to come out, say, like, yo, we don't agree with men and women's sports and like that. Like, they're going to have to drop the super, super, super woke.

I was talking about this yesterday. Like, that's 100% going to have to happen. They're going to, they, they're going to have to go a little bit closer to the middle because I know we.

Can talk to Stephen A about it too. Cuz he's on the left, but he's like a logical left person.

Is he left?

He's left. He didn't vote for Trump.

Really. I feel like every time I've seen a clip of him, he's like fully right.

I think he's like an old school liberal. Like maybe a Liberal in like 2001 or something, ironically, which like, would have.

Been Joe Rogan and Elon Musk and all these people that have now switched. It's just weird. Yeah, they just got, it just got way too far to the point of like, we're gonna talk about all these other things and like, virtue. In what sense?

Like, you're a little woke.

Like, I'm awake. I'm more awake than you, like, currently.

Yeah, that's true.

Yeah. You just Woke up like 10 minutes ago. I woke up two hours ago.

Cool.

Yeah, No, I mean, it just seems like there's definitely gonna have to be a massive shift because if, because if Trump does a lot of things he said he's gonna do also, like, if he completes those things, it's gonna be really hard.

Yeah, we kind of just disregarded. We kind of disregarded the whole Gabe clip.

Gabe clip was insane.

So do you want. He wanted to rate your.

Yeah.

You're gonna show him a photo?

No, dude, you're giving me a 15 out of 10. I can't show you a photo.

I don't have a.

He doesn't want to show it because.

I don't have a photo.

Lay it off for the clip. Br show anything.

No, I don't Have a photo.

Okay.

Anyways, show them your micro Hollywood buddy.

Just show the phone like this.

And I like.

Okay, whatever. You're just gonna.

You're gonna show him a picture of your.

No, just say yes, dumbass.

Look at how he talks to people, bro. Be respectful, bro. Brad is way more important around here.

Not talking about him.

Nah, because I don't want him to.

Troll me on you're low key bottom of the totem pole in this room.

Nah, he gonna throw me on some.

Even Brett's got more respect these days. No, I don't mean it like that.

Just a joke.

Nah, but I don't want the joke can be misconstrued. You could say some dude.

I got my two I have seen right now out here.

I got a inside source. You're trying to hit up the ring girl from the Tyson fight right now.

Yeah. Which one?

I just. Someone just told me.

The blonde one. Yeah. Personality with the person. What does that even mean?

Big personality.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm watching the fight with this guy and he's like her.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

We were saying that.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Don't say that.

Five ring girls that one.

Don't say that. Don't say that.

What happened?

Why are you say that?

I'm not.

Why would you say.

Yeah, you want me to say that, bro? No, it's a huge. Like that's a joke. And now you're acting like. Yo, don't say that, bro.

That's a joke. I didn't say.

Yeah, all right, all right. I want to talk to Stephen a. About. We got to talk sports too though.

Yeah, we don't gotta talk politics.

Politics are over.

Nah, I wish I could say Kyle.

Won the election, man.

It's never over.

Give Kyle his flowers. He won the election without you, man. Guys on Fox News every day.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That is. I'm like Loki.

Not even. I don't even know he's on there. I'm. I'm watching Fox News and Kyle for. I swear to God, I didn't even know he was going to be on there. And he's.

Yeah, it was pretty funny. It was good.

How do you feel about all the people that say, yo, this guy's Canadian. He can't.

Yeah.

Oh, that's one of the biggest things.

I think it's kind of stupid because the US Affects the whole world. Like. Yeah, but it affects Canada. Like the US is the. The leader of the free world.

I'll tell you why I actually think that that's so stupid is because it's kind of the American dream. And you came here and you created a company, and you created a lot of jobs.

Well, I've lived here for, like, 10 years. I pay taxes here.

I love seeing the.

Yo.

This guy can't.

Between Nel and Happy dad, we have over 120 employees.

Yeah, it's funny.

People should be giving you.

But for me, the most important thing with Trump, too, is the way that he's going to handle foreign policy. Like, and that affects the whole world.

Yeah, for sure.

Like, if the US Is going to war, Canada is going to war, NATO is going to war. Like, we're all going to war.

Yeah.

So it's.

Canada needs some help, man.

I know. We. I did some foreign interference pretty much right, essentially.

Damn, dude. No, I see that a lot, though. People say that a lot to you.

I mean, it makes sense.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, if they want to let me help out in Canada, I'd be glad to do that, too, because, Trudeau, we got to get out next.

Yeah, dude, that guy, he's probably shaking.

I'm shaking right now.

That likes that guy.

Nobody likes him.

Well, I saw he's been showing Trump a lot of love now. I think he's gonna be worried.

He's got a. Yeah, he's got to bow down now, right?

Yeah.

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Let's go, boys.

Good luck. Let's get it going. I'm missing the damn Steelers game. I said, what you doing this now.

What do you have? Wait, who do you have?

So we know I'm steal this.

Who do you think's the better quarterback? Joseph Fields or Russell Wilson?

Watch for a stake, brother. We ain't gonna do that. We ain't gonna do that today. You know, I say this five days a week. I'd let y'all know where I stand. You don't need to reiterate that.

What'd you think about the Tyson fight? I know I came on your show. Stephen A's pod. That's on YouTube, right? How often do you do that?

My pod?

Yeah.

Three days a week.

Three days a week?

Yeah.

So I went on Stephen A show. We had a little. Little bet off. I think you went more Tyson and Jake.

Yep.

I think it went. I think my picks hit right.

I'm not. I don't remember. I don't remember.

I think less and less. Less and less punches.

Yes.

I think Jake got less punches, too.

You probably right. You know what it is, though? I think Jake. I think Jake did it on purpose. I think that he didn't want to do it. I think he knew that he could take Tyson out and he just felt bad for him. And he thought it would be bad for him. He thought it would be bad for all parties concerned for him to take Tyson. Now, Tyson walked into the ring stumbling.

Yeah.

Go back and watch the tape. When they introduced him, he's walking out and he's stumbling. And then after that, you look down and he had on the knee brace. And I said, oh, my Lord. And then in the first round is two minutes, not three minutes. And I saw Tyson tired, and I said, this is going to be bad. And I think that I really, really. I don't think. I'm not saying that he walked in there with that intent, but I think ultimately being in the ring with a guy that's 31 years older than you, approaching 60 years of age, I think compassion kicked in. And he was like, I don't. I really. This is Mike Tyson. I really, really don't want to hurt this guy. I really believe that's what happened.

I guess Tyson's saying it was a W, right? He said he got in the ring, he fought someone that was half his age, and the guy couldn't knock him out or do anything.

Well, he's saying that. I don't think he's saying that's why. I think he's saying that's why. Because he walked into the ring, he was able to stand around for eight rounds, and on top of all, he got 20 million. I think that's what the win was for Mike Tyson. But I think that if Mike Tyson was truly being honest with himself at age 58, if Jake had really applied the pressure and was winging some throws, I think that, you know, I think it would have been a short night. I think it would have been bad. I really, really do. And you got to remember when you get up there in age, I mean, when you go down like that, there's a lot of collateral damage that could potentially come with that. And I think that somebody with Jake's power, size, youth saw that, and I was like, I don't want to do this.

That was respect, respectable.

Yes.

I think Jake handled that very well.

Yeah, I thought he did. I'm not knocking him at all. Again, I'm not accusing him of walking into the ring with that intent. But it's one thing to have intent, talk junk, get slapped at the press conference. All of this stuff that contributes to promotional things. It's another thing entirely. When you step in the ring and then all of a sudden somebody that you've revered and you've. You've admired a long time. And for those out there who will sit up there and look at me and say, it's far fetched, I would ask y'all to go back to when Larry Holmes fought Muhammad Ali.

Yeah.

And Larry Holmes was like, you know, I love this man. I revere this man. And I'm beating him to a pulp. Y'all gotta stop this. You know, he didn't want to hurt Muhammad Ali. He made him ultimately sit on his stool and not come out later on in the fight. But he was. But, you know, that happens when you've been great and you've established yourself and who you are, and then you're just old and depleted and attrition is kicked in and stuff like that. You know, you do find yourself in situations at times where people might have compassion for you. I've seen it in boxing before. I thought I saw it Friday night.

So you didn't think that they anticipated it going that way at all?

I think that Jake walked in thinking that Mike Tyson was gonna try to come at him and he was just gonna catch him and knock him out. I think when you Saw him walk into the ring and you saw how old he looked, and then you saw the knee brace on, and you just saw the way he was moving. If you watch Mike Tyson, I mean, think about all the Mike Tyson fights we've seen. Think about the movement, the head movement, you know, the foot movement, et cetera. And then to see that and to know that he's 31 years older than you, literally approaching 60 years of age, I think to see it in front of his face at that moment, it hit him.

Yeah.

And he was like.

The first minute of the fight, I was like, oh, Tyson might have this, right? And after that, it was over.

After that, he was exhausted.

Sorry, I don't watch that much tv. I'm sure you covered this, but don't you think it's a little crazy because we were watching the fight and there's a party that thinks Tyson can win this.

Well, I think. I didn't think he could. I didn't think he could. I remember they were interviewing me before the fight, and I said, if Jake Paul, if you really, really want, all you really got to do is run for a couple of rounds.

Yeah.

And he won't have the stamina. I said, you know, you gotta remember 20. And people forgot this nearly 20 years ago, he gets dropped by Kevin McBride.

Yeah, yeah.

A professional boxer, but clearly wasn't a big name. He gets dropped. Tyson was not hurt. Tyson was tired. He literally extended his arm for the. For the referee to help him up. That was his instinctual reaction to help him up because he was out of shape. That was 20 years ago. So if you're out of shape 20 years ago, even in shape 20 years later, how much shape are you in if you haven't been fighting? The only time he's been in the ring was for an exhibition match against Roy Jones Jr. Who, by the way, was a bit bloated at that particular moment in time, obviously having retired from the sport himself. But he was also a natural light heavyweight, you know, or really a super middleweight that went to light heavyweight. Roy Jones was no heavyweight. So you're in the ring with somebody like that. That was Mike Tyson. Now you're going into the ring against a cat that's 228. He's a young lion. And no matter what questions may exist about Jake Paul and his ability to box real boxers, because we haven't really, really seen that yet from him. We don't question his power.

We know he's got power. So I just looked at it from that standpoint, and A lot of times just imagine seeing yourself going up against somebody old or whatever. We've seen it with people in the streets. We've seen it everywhere. You're suddenly in front of somebody, you're like this, this person's old. Right? This, this is not. This ain't even right. I'm not going to do this. And I really thought that's what I saw Friday night from Jake Paul.

Yeah. Wait, were you getting shots up with a lethal shooter the other day?

Yes.

You look, your stroke looks pretty good. I can maybe do like a one on one, like big exhibition game.

No.

With who against Like a levar ball maybe.

Yeah. I mean, listen, listen, here's the deal. I have fun and I, I've been a journalist and a commentator my entire career, but I know my position and I. When I'm judging professional athletes, professional anything, it's against their peers, their contemporaries. It's never me thinking, oh, I could do it, hell no. I know better than that. And so I don't give a damn who it is. You in the NBA, you know what, you're one of the elite professional athletes on the planet earth. And even if there was somebody that I could shoot better than or whatever, I would never disrespect them by really, really saying so. Because they're in a place that I was never good enough to get to. I couldn't even shine issues right.

I'm going to give you a hot take that I feel right now. I think Wemby is going to be, has the shot to be the best player of all time.

Well, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not going to dismiss that. The brother's 7 5. He hit 20 threes over a three game stretch. He's got a handle, he can block shots, he can defend straight up, he's got good foot movement, got a nice shot, he's got all around skills and he's seven feet five. I just. When people talk about him, my only problem is when we get a bit ridiculous. Oh my God, look at him dunk. He's 7 5, right? You know what I'm saying? He could dunk without jumping. So my attitude is, let's say what.

When he's shooting threes, like when he's.

Shooting threes, that's a different animal. When he's shooting threes, when he's displaying his ball handling skills, that's a different animal. And that's why I say, I don't disagree with you. He's got to get a bit bigger. And what have you? But I mean, look at Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant is one of the greatest players who have ever played. Part of it has to do with the fact that his skill set comes with a 611 frame because he's a legit 6 10, 611 with a 76 wingspan. With that kind of ball handling and shot making skills, what can you say? You can't deny it. If anything, he's underachieved because he's only got two titles because that's how great of a talent he is.

Yeah. Wow.

Think about it.

Yeah.

When you could, you could. Kevin Durant can average 30 in his sleep. Kevin Durant is money. 85 to 90% from the free throw line. He's good for 38 to 41% shooting three point percentage. Right. He's got all the requisite skills. He's one of the greatest players to have ever played the game 100. So. So you look at him and, and I would tell you that the two titles, it should have been more.

He should have had three or four.

It should have been more.

Yeah. This is something I just want to ask you. Jokic, right?

Jokic, yeah.

Three time mvp.

Yep.

No one ever talks about him as like a top five player of all time. How do you feel like when I.

That's a good question. I tell you why I think that's the play. That's the case. He's a phenomenal basketball player, but primarily due to his iq because he really, really, really knows how to play. But he can't jump onto a curb. And when we look at basketball players, the first word that comes to our mouth is athleticism. We're looking at a guy, we say, wow, you know, look at these athletes, man, these brothers can jump out the gym. They got nice. It's nice to watch. This brother, Jokic, I mean, just a big tub of large, just shoving people around, you know, no six pack names, stealth built or anything like that. He just, he's just big and strong, you know, waddle. You don't even walk. He waddles and stuff. You know, you just look at him and you can't stop him. There's nothing you can do. I mean, he shoots the ball from up here. You like looking at him like, damn. What this, this dude is unbelievable. Shot goes in. How many times. Go back and watch the Denver Nuggets when they had playoffs against the Lakers. And how many times Anthony Davis, because he's all over him, right?

And he's contesting the side, blocking his vision. He's got his Hand up, got his. And somehow, some way, this brother just. He finds a way. So he's great in that regard. But when you look at some, like you look at an Embiid, Embiid's resume doesn't compare to his. Can't even get to the conference finals. But as a talent, when Embiid is healthy, the skills are pure. You see it. I mean, he can jump, he could block shots. He is a scoring machine. Inside, outside, back to the basket, face to the basket. He's got the whole package. He just can't stay healthy. But you look at other guys, and when you think about the NBA, you think athleticism and Jokic is an athlete. Please don't get me wrong. I'm not throwing any shade on them. I'm just talking about when you think about God, look at how we marvel over Anthony Edwards. Look at how we used to with Vince Carter and Kobe and Jordan and how we still do with LeBron and stuff like that. It's because they had an athletic. A level of athleticism that you just marveled at. That's not Jokic. Right. It's not him.

He just knows how to play, knows how to use his strength, his body and abuse you.

He might have, like, probably the highest.

Basketball queue, maybe, Maybe I don't know about ever. I mean, there's greats like Magic Johnson and John Stockton's, Isaiah Thompson's the World, various others. Michael Jordan had a high basketball iq. I don't know if we could say anybody had a higher basketball IQ than LeBron, but Yokich is definitely up there.

Yes.

How many more years you think LeBron is?

He said recently, I think LeBron will tie next year. Yeah, I think he'll retire at this season and then next season, and then I think he'll call it a career. That's just. I'm guessing.

Why do you think that?

I don't think the Lakers are going to win. I think their best chance to win is now. And I think that, you know, that bucket list moment with playing with his son is what he stuck around for. You could talk about him trying to play with his other son, Bryce, but that would be about three years from now. I don't think that LeBron. LeBron's the top five top six player in the league still right now, without question. But I still. I think it's a lot to ask to expect him to want to play after next season, which would be like year 23. I think that, you know, I think that'll be it.

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So what do you think happens for his kid once he's out? Like, do you think they're kind of doing this as a favor?

But there's no. First of all, there's no question. Yeah, let's cut the bs. There's no question. That's a favor. Bronnie James did not do what it took to earn a spot on an NBA roster. That's the bottom line.

Not even to get drafted like that.

Well, you could question getting drafted because sometimes they do draft off a potential. And there's plenty of people that get drafted in the second round that we know. We don't know what their potential is. But to play, you're saying to play opening night, to be on an NBA roster, you know, and then. Listen, this is what I've said about Bronny James. He's a wonderful kid. They got a wonderful family. Their first family, the NBA. I don't think anybody can deny that with Savannah and LeBron and their kids and the jobs that he's done. Incredible role model. And his son is a shining example of that because he's a very lovable kid. Talk to his teammates, high school, college at USC and the pros. He's a real lovable guy in the eyes of everybody that, you know that you talk to about him. But the reality is that now that this has happened, you get to hearken back to the resume. You were a McDonald's All American. You averaged 14 points a game. Most McDonald All American players, they have better numbers than that. And then you go to UFC after you had the heart ailment and what have you.

And then you go to UFC and you don't do but so much. And that's fine because his health was an issue. And then you get drafted 55 overall by the Los Angeles Lakers, and you're playing on opening night, and you're inserted into the lineup in the second quarter so you and LeBron can enter together. First time in NBA history has done that. Ken Griffey Jr. Ken Griffey Senior in attendance for the game. All of that was special. At some point, you as Bronnie, you need to say, I don't want this anymore. This was nice, Dad. I appreciate you. I love you to death, man. It was great that you did this. I'm happy that I could have been a part of it. But now I gotta go earn my stripes. I gotta be in that G League. I gotta show that I'm worthy of being here. Cause you can't always be here to protect and cover me, et cetera, et cetera. I'm not saying he hasn't done that. I'm saying that's what needs to happen. If it hasn't happened, it kind of.

Sucks for Bronny, too. Cause it's like his debut could have been in a year or two, and maybe it would be, like, a crazy debut.

Maybe.

I feel like it's kind of selfish for LeBron.

Well, that's what I'm saying.

But his first debut could have been.

Like, if he had more time.

Well, I'm not hard on LeBron about that at all. LeBron has been such a treasure for the league. He's earned the right to have what he wants. And if he wanted that moment, that's fine. My point is, is that it's on Bronny. There's not. Nobody would have said anything about that moment as long as it doesn't continue. But when you end up staying on an NBA roster and taking up an NBA roster spot when others, you know, when. When so many people would say there are so many more, who's more deserving? It is incumbent upon you at that particular moment in time to say, I'm not comfortable with this. I want to do this on my own.

Would you agree that the NBA kind of owed this to LeBron?

I just said that. I totally agree. I totally agree.

I think because he gets a lot of shade for it. Everyone wants to talk about the nepotism, but, like, who cares?

It's nepotism all over sports, professional sports, especially in the NBA. You know, with coaches and GMs and HIR hiring their siblings, that shit happens all the time. I ain't buying that. LeBron has every right to do it. Everybody else does it.

You want to know the best time ever that I can think about is when Doc Rivers got Austin Rivers that crazy contract.

Well, you could say that. But here's the deal. Austin Rivers was at Duke. Austin Rivers balled at Duke. And when he came into the NBA, he was known as a cat that could play defense. And obviously, when he came in the NBA, he showed he could play defense. Austin Rivers was worthy of being on an NBA roster 100%. No one questioned that. No one questioned that. Now, the person that people will point to is Thanasis, Milwaukee, Giannis's brother. Here's the caveat with that. Giannis is from Greece. You want somebody around you that you can relate to, because he's not trusting and not open. If you don't believe me, go watch his documentary. You know, Giannis just watched. I think. I think it was Netflix that did it. It was a great, great documentary on him and his life or whatever. Yo, man, his brother don't. You know, he don't just talk to anybody. He doesn't just vibe with anybody. And so when you've got a guy of his caliber on your squad, having his brother there with him, to travel with him, to talk with them, to mingle with him, et cetera, et cetera. It means everything, because his spirit is in the right place.

And the Milwaukee Bucks benefit from that. That's an entirely different scenario than LeBron James, who's been in the league for two decades, won four championships, four time league MVP, been to 10 NBA Finals, and then, you know, your son is on the team and everybody and their mother knows. The only reason that is the case is because you are there and you're his dad. And that's what you wanted, because you told the world that was what you wanted.

Everyone talks about How Theonis is like a great teammate, too, and everyone loves him. So you said LeBron probably going to retire. Who do you think becomes kind of the face of the NBA?

Anthony Edwards. Yeah, I think Minnesota's got to be better. The move, letting go of Carl Anthony Towns bringing in Julius Randle, Dante G. Vincenzo, along with Gobert and Anthony Edwards and Nas Reed and all of those brothers. Brothers that's gotta improve and reach fruition. But I would tell you that Anthony Edwards, his game, his flair, his personality, all of those things make you think. When I say Jordan, when I say Kobe, when I say people like that, I'm not just talking about his game and what it mirrors at his age compared to what they were at their age. I'm talking about his personality. A matter of fact, one would easily argue he had a much better person. He has a much personality than either MJ or Kobe did at his age. Go watch the. Was it uncut gems or was it Hustle? It was one or the other. The movie that he was in, the movie that he was in with Adam Sandler, it was one or the other. He was. He was phenomenal.

Guancho Hernan Gomez was in there.

That's right. Yeah, that's right. The player that they was featuring. Right. And so you see Anthony Edwards in that movie, his acting was superb. It really, really was.

Yeah.

And he showed you the kind of personality that he can have. And I think all those things lend itself towards him ultimately being the face of the league.

Yeah, you're pretty spot on. He kind of has that like, Kobe, Jordan attitude.

That's right.

That you don't see. That's like an old school vibe.

Right.

And no players have that these days.

No question.

Where do you think Shedeur goes next year?

I don't know. It depends on who has the pick. You know, I think if it's Dallas, it would be. If Dallas had the number one pick, I think he'd go there. If somebody else had the number one pick, I don't know, they might go with Milroe, they might go with somebody else, but I definitely think he warrants consideration. No question about it. And I think that, you know, I've been on the record. I think that Mike McCarthy should go. I think that Jerry Jones should go out and hire primetime Deion Sanders as his head coach and Bretton Draft his son.

That's what he's saying. That's the. That's the number one possibility.

It all. It all depends on Dallas and how much they stink. I mean, if they don't position themselves to get the number one overall pick or a top two pick where they could do something like that, then that's different. But if you have an opportunity to make that happen, I think they should. I think they should.

That'd be the coolest thing ever.

I think so, yeah. What about his teammate, Travis Hunter? You think he's one of the.

I think he's my vote for the Heisman. Yeah, he's my vote for the Heisman. Plays every down.

Yeah. How about. How crazy is that?

Plays every down. And not only that, that's what Deion tried to do. When Deion played. Deion was playing offense, defense, and special teams. We went to the Dallas Cowboys. He was a wide receiver as well at times. You know, quarter. Big time pass in the super bowl against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The super bowl that they won. Okay. So, I mean, I just look at that and I just say, yo, this is the kind of player that he has. Travis Hunter is. Is a special talent. No question about it. And by the way, a straight a student, 4.0.

Yeah. He's. He's on another level.

Yeah.

And he. He crushes content, too. I don't know if you've seen him. He streams, too.

I don't. Everything I don't have, man, please. With all the damn jobs I miss. I miss so much, man. Like, my team doesn't tell me what the hell is going on. I have no damn clue half the time. I really, really don't.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Why do you think personality is so important? To be like, obviously to be the face, because it's like the translation to the audience. But why do you think personality, to be considered like the goat of something is so important?

Business. Listen, your skill set and your accomplishments, that's very, very important. Nothing matters if you don't have that. And I get that part. But we try to veer away from what sells, you know, or the importance of selling. And I just think it's stupid to do because if the people that cut the checks are thinking about that, what makes you think you get to ignore it when you the one cashing it? It's just not smart. And I think that, you know, you can use the election that just took place as a prime example. Well, you had Kamala Harris and she was playing the Beyonce song with Kendrick Lamar. Freedom, you know, and all of that. And, you know, you was talking about women's rights and Roe v. Wade being overturned, and it's about our freedom, freedom of choice, women's rights, et cetera, et cetera. And she got bum rushed during their election. Why? Because people said, I'm concerned about my wallet.

Yeah.

And I'm concerned about our borders, period. Those were the primary two things. And then, you know, and when they, when you hear people complaining about cancel culture or woke culture and all of this other stuff, that's just a roundabout way of getting to the core of the problem. The core of the problem is that that's giving folks a license to get rid of us for any excuse under the sun. You know, teachers get suspended because of the wrong pronoun or something like that. And, you know, people ain't trying to hear that. That all comes. But no matter what you point to, it all comes back to money. If you're thinking about the blood, the borders being flooded, over 12 million immigrants coming across the border illegally, what are people thinking about that before? Because you're thinking about the fact that all of these folks are coming over here. And if they're here illegally, then it's the taxpayer dollars that's paying for such and such. So again, that comes back to money. And then when you're talking about inflation and, you know, the cost of goods, when you go to the supermarket, the price of gas or whatever, that comes back to money.

We, you know, it's people that try to make it unpopular to point out the fact that in the end everything's. Everything comes down to dollars. But that's the world we're living in. When you think about Ukraine and Russia, what do you think that's about? You know, now, I mean, you may not be able to say that with the Israeli Palestinian conflict, because that's been going on for decades. We understand that, but why the involvement of other nations? Because of money. You know, so at some point it always comes back to money. When you, when the dust settles and you just scrape it off, it always comes back to dollars and cents. And then so because I'm like, if that's the reality, let's stop running from it. And if it applies to anything, it damn sure applies to the world of sports. It really, really does. And when you, when you show up and you show the ability to make other people money, suddenly they love you. And when you don't make them money, suddenly they don't like you very much. It's really that simple. And we just have to accept it.

What do you think the left's going to have to do? We've been talking about this. What do you think the left's going to have to do to kind of rebuild and change things up? With their messaging.

They need to grow up and get with the program and understand that as times and things may have changed, things remain the same. James Carville, a Democratic strategist, you know, is the economy stupid? He was famous for that quote. You know, when you think about the economy, when you think about borders, when you think about security and safety in the streets of America, that's what people care about. The Democrats tried to get us to care about other stuff. And it's not to say that folks don't care about those things, but they don't care about those things more than they care about money and safety. It's never going to change. And so what happens is that they've been a bit transparent. One could easily argue I'm not a Democrat or a Republican. I don't like either side. I think both sides need a whole lot of work. But in the same breath, it utterly disgusted me. You know, when I watched, you know, how things transpired. I was gonna vote for Kamala Harris because with Trump, my attitude was, he's gonna be on a revenge tour and it's gonna be the same kind of chaos that existed during his first term.

And I didn't think the nation needed that. But I had no problem with anybody who felt otherwise because I saw some of the things that the Democrats were doing. You are Republican and you're being accused of being a threat to democracy because he's an aspiring authoritarian and he wants to do X, Y and z. But then you're in office with your president, who promised to be a one term president, who promised to be a transitional president and just a stopgap to pave the way for a younger generation. Then the Dems win the midterms and you feeling yourself and you say, no, I'm staying, Staying. I'm staying even though I'm going to be 82 if I win the election. And I got to give four years at the age of 82. You said that shit. And then after you did that, then you turned around and what do they do? They grease the skids for you. So there's no primary that you have to go through where you have to face any competition. Then when you show up June 27 for a debate where you look like hot garbage, they turned around and said, you gotta go.

So you get booted out, pushed out. July 21, they elevate the vice president, which I understood, because obviously she's the vice president and what have you, and she should have been next in line, but she didn't have to go through A primary. Okay, so America is about dollars and cents, sure. But we also pride ourselves in a capitalistic society and being about competition. Well, when did they face competition? You didn't allow anybody to compete against them. You didn't allow leftists or Democratic voters to pick a choice between, you know, you and a Dean Phillips or Marianne Williamson or whomever else was interested, even a Bernie Sanders or somebody that have come into play. You didn't give an opportunity for that level of competition to exist. So because you didn't do all of that, Wait a minute. That's not our democratic society. Now, you didn't violate any laws, you didn't do anything unconstitutional, but that didn't mean that you were on the up and up. It didn't mean that you avoided being slick and shrewd and maneuvering your way through it. And then you turned around and tried to guilt us and voted for you, Michelle Obama, or vote for him as a vote against us as women.

So it can't be a vote for somebody's wallet. It can't be a vote for somebody's safety. It's got to be about you. It's got to be about. It's a vote against women. Women. Oprah Winfrey goes out. Well, this might be the last opportunity a woman gets a chance to vote. What are you talking about? What are you talking about? Are you. Are you. Are you telling me that women not going to be able to vote, come to midterm election in two years, in four years, they're not going to be able to vote for the presidency? What are you doing? And so you see stuff like that. And then we think about racism and we think about all these other things, you know, whether xenophobia, xenophobia, misogyny, all of these different things. And then you say, wait a minute, you kind of fueling that, too. You understand? I'm sitting with the three of y'all right now. Neither of y'all are black. I don't have a problem with you. So what? And guess what? I didn't vote for Trump. You voted for Trump. That's your business. You got that right. As an American system, I'm not tripping.

It's based on what you think your needs are and what you believe is in the best interest of the country. And your vision may be different than mine. And as long as you can articulate that vision and you ain't scared to do it, and you ain't some damn supremacist or something that's hating people and wishing violence upon other people, I'm good with you.

Why do you think America's lost that?

I think because the politicians have ruined this country. I think that they have been caught up in sustaining whatever power that they've had, that they've used the American citizens as pawns 100% and have created stuff and friction where it's not there. So ultimately it became that because you have these pundits on both sides of the aisle on the air spewing nothing but negativity towards one another, along with an unwillingness to compromise, forcing us, in this binary system that we live in, to pick a side. And as a result, that's what it is. Listen, I again am on neither side, but I don't share the politics of a Sean Hannity. I don't share the politics of a Mark Levin. I couldn't have two bigger supporters. They've watched my back for years. I tell people all the time, you're going to come to me and you're going to tell me, you know what, you don't like their politics or this or that, Fine, you come to me with that other bullshit, you know, using the race word and all that question, you came to the wrong place. I know them both. I know them both and they've always been there for me.

You know, I don't agree with all of their politics, but they stand on what they stand on and they have good damn reasons why you, you want to refute what they have to say, go up against them, debate them. Throw your ideas against theirs, throw your ideology against theirs, throw your belief against theirs. Let's evaluate, let's see what's practical and what's not, et cetera, et cetera. And we go from there. And to me, that's the way that it should be in this country. I'm not one of those. You're not coming to me and telling me because somebody's white, they racist. You're not coming to me and telling me because somebody is. You know, it could be anything. You're against women and you're against Hispanics. No, we're your facts. I'm not getting caught up in all of that emotion because that's what both sides in their own way have utilized to manipulate a vote in their favor. And they've done it at the expense of the morale of the country. That's why I didn't vote for Trump, because I was scared he would continue to do that if it had been anybody else or the Republicans would have had my vote, because I didn't like the fact that woke Culture and cancel culture had got.

Had regressed to such a degree where you had to walk around scared to. If you were saying somebody's name right. In order to keep a damn job. I don't believe in that. Or somebody makes a mistake and they say. And you. You arguing with somebody and you might call them out your name. Oh, that was inappropriate. That was abrasive. You need to get suspended. You need to get. No, no. Everybody make mistakes. Everybody make mistakes. I'm on live television every day. I've made mistakes before. I can assure you I'm going to make them again. Nobody's perfect. Nobody's perfect. But we can't be living in a society where let me take advantage of this opportunity to get rid of this guy or this girl, because that's my come up.

Yeah.

No, earn your.

Yeah.

Go out there, work, put in the work. Get on your grind, be better and earn your job that way. As opposed to your definition of success means putting somebody or bringing somebody down. No, I'm not doing.

Makes perfect sense.

Yeah.

I'm not doing it. Yeah.

You're the man. Yeah, I love that.

I think you gotta run, too. We all got a busy day. You ready for the prize picks? World championships?

I hope so, man. I'll be there tonight. I mean, I know. I don't know if I'm as ready as you are, but I'm looking forward to it.

All right, we'll see you there. We appreciate you making time.

Please, man, I have to watch some football.

Yeah.

All right, I'll see y'all later.

Yeah.

All right.

That was awesome.