Transcript of Where Will LeBron James Play Next Season? + Greg Cote Is A Pulitzer Prize Winner | Hour 2 New

This is the Dan Levator Show with the Stugatz Podcast.

Against the Spread.

Against the Spread.

Against the Spread is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings, the crown. Is yours. Roy, what do we got?

Game 4, the Sabers and Canadiens. Montreal currently leads the series 2-1. The Sabers have won 12 of the last 15 games as an underdog versus the Atlanta Divisions, and they have also covered the puck lines at 73%, uh, this season. So go with the Sabers. They are an underdog at a goal and a half against the spread.

Mike, gonna go with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Skeens on the bump against the Colorado Rockies. Just look at the ERAs and this one works out for us. So Let's take the Pirates -1.5. You're going to have to lay some juice on this one because they're expected to blow them out.

Fucking Salisbury.

Speaking of blowing them out, that sounds like something between a leaf blower and a chainsaw. It does not. No one would guess that. No one would guess that that's a gassy animal.

Hey, can you keep it down? I'm doing a podcast. It's like right outside my dad's door. That's every time we're doing the Greg Cody Show.

That sounded like my racehorse leaving the gate and finishing in last place.

I just enjoyed watching Greg Cody walk around out there with a single piece of bacon in his hand. No napkin, no plate. It's one of the great joys of Greg Cody Tuesday, watching him leak bacon grease as he just walks around.

It's generally the best bacon I've ever had in my life. I don't know who your bacon provider is, but they knock it out the park. Today there were some problems with it, if I'm being honest, but generally speaking, it's primo bacon.

What were the problems with it?

It was a little brittle today. It was a little brittle. You like your bacon— brittle bacon indicates that it was either cooked a little bit too long or it was a little too thin and, and couldn't withhold the cooking time.

I love a bacon that'll just like disintegrate in my mouth.

Oh, you got— no, bacon has to have a little chew.

Give it to me so crispy that it just like—

oh, I like it burnt. Yeah, I like that.

As crispy as possible.

Greg, you also ate it 3 hours after it got here.

That's a fact.

Yeah.

Jack.

Jack.

Yeah. Thank you.

You're welcome.

Okay. Yeah. Tony's got that right.

We've got a couple of things here to promote that are coming up. Roy is doing what I believe to be our most unusual watch-along ever. The Minnesota Wild and the Avalanche. The Wild and the Avalanche are playing at 8 PM tomorrow night.

Why is that unusual?

And Roy and the Hockey Show will be doing a live watch-along of the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche.

Yeah.

It's an elimination game.

Nation game right now.

The Avalanche lead 3-1 in that series. We plan on doing these watch-alongs every single week. So we have started with this particular—

maybe a drunk Greg Cody from bowling will pop in.

Oh, that'd be nice.

Hockey needs the Florida Panthers.

All right.

It is boring.

Yeah, it's not as fun.

It's so much more fun when the Panthers are playing.

Yep.

So that watch-along is tomorrow night at 8 PM. Something else that's coming up in the future. I'm not going to give you the date just yet because I don't know how this is scheduled, but I am curious whether you guys find it interesting or not. I sat down during South Beach sessions with Brooke and Robin Lopez. The two of them.

What'd they say?

Did you just talk 2 hours about like Disney?

Yes. Yeah.

Oh, man.

Yes.

They are overgrown toddlers. It was, it was crazy. Okay. It was simply crazy to talk to these giant people who are 8 years old but also have money. So among the details that became, uh, interesting are Brooke Lopez has a property in Orlando that's in the Magic Kingdom, okay? He's not only got a house, but each of the homes in— each of the rooms in the house have a Disney theme to them, and the home is filled with all sorts of secret compartments and pathways that only he knows about. But on top of that He also bought his other home in Anaheim right next to Disneyland because these are the most obsessed Disney adults that I have ever met in my life. What are you shaking your head about, Sazh?

Grow up. Home in Disney with—

You're a fan of professional wrestling.

I don't, I don't have a secret pathway into WrestleMania.

You should.

But if you could, you would. If you could.

Oh, I've seen on social media this Golden Oak. It's like the— these like insanely like mansions that are on the property. It's like the most exclusive thing you could have. I, I would love to see this house.

They were totally obsessed with Disney in a way that I found both charming and super unusual.

I— it begs a question, the Disney Corporation Disney sells property?

Yes.

Within its—

Yeah, there's places where you could live, some are adjacent to hotel properties. There's an entire town, I believe, called Celebration.

Yeah, I think they— it still exists, but at one point they were going to make like—

They punted? They did punt.

But I don't mean that it's adjacent to Disney World.

I mean, it's on the property. It's right next to Fort Wilderness, and he will indeed just simply say to his wife, I'm going to go over to the haunted house real quick. And then just go there and then come back.

They're Cuban, right?

Yes. You talk about that a little bit, but they don't know much about their heritage. Although afterward they were asking me all sorts of questions, wanting to know about their heritage.

What'd you say?

Well, I was saying, go over to the Freedom Tower when you're across the street from the arena right there. That's been a couple years. You can find out everything it is that you want to know about our people because they don't have a lot of links to it. We did a lot of good stuff from California, and that is one of the things that we did. I learned during the break something that I found fairly shocking. Chris Cody, uh, and Roy revealed this to me. And Roy, I don't know the context of what it is that you guys were talking about that revealed this about Chris Cody.

Yeah, uh, Chris asked me what the, uh, sound from the first down, uh, for the Dolphins games were.

It's just a noise I've made throughout my entire life. It's just like one, like, I just did it.

Yeah.

And to me, that is just— that's another Miami Dolphins First dad!

Let's find out. Let's find out if your dad knows because he's not a real moviegoer. Instead of impersonating the sound, do you have the actual sound? Greg Cody, do you know who's making this sound?

Hoo-ah! I do.

Clark Gable!

Come on.

It's the famous actor Rock Hudson.

Oh, this is great.

He doesn't know it.

No, no, it's the famous actor, and I gotta pin his name down because I don't think—

You should be able to say this immediately.

I don't think it's Robert De Niro. Hoo-ah! But I think It's In the Neighborhood. In the Neighborhood. Uh, give me a second. Robert De Niro.

Humphrey Bogart.

Al Pacino. Hey, there you go.

If someone said that in his headphones, you're fired.

Now, whoa, nobody said that.

What movie?

It's APEC. Um, what movie?

Uh, Streetcar Named Desire.

You ain't— you, you— you're not man enough to know the truth. Something like that.

No, that's a few good men. And, and that's a few good men. You're not man enough to know the truth.

You can't handle the truth.

Whoa, I don't know. It's a different movie. Pacino was not in it. You're not man enough to know the truth.

That was originally a line Nicholson ad-libbed.

Put it on the Poet-Leviatard Show. Was Pacino in A Few Good Men?

Whoa.

Was a blind Pacino? Okay, who did he say?

Whoa, whoa, whoa. In what movie?

Let's keep going. Let's see how long it takes you to get— Play it again.

I think he—

did he win an Oscar?

I think he won an Oscar.

Yes.

Um, uh, Bull Durham.

No. Good answer.

Good answer.

Put it on the poll. Put it on the poll.

No, it's a bull movie.

Just name De Niro movies.

I don't know.

Put it on the poll. Was a blind Pacino in Bull Durham?

Chicago Bull. Hoo-ah!

And put it on the poll as well. Was a blind Pacino in Raging Bull?

Hoo-ah!

First of all, it's a really random thing to have stick in adult—

I say it all the time.

No, but it's been for 30 years. That movie's 30 years old. I don't want to tell him what the movie is. Keep guessing, Greg. Keep trying to guess what the Al Pacino— how many Oscars has Pacino won?

Because he put A Few Good Men.

You already guessed that, and we already told you that it's not A Few Good Men. Okay. And you're not man enough to handle the truth.

Okay, classic line.

Uh, it's got a military theme to it. I just can't come up with it.

It's not a military theme, but I think he's a former military guy.

He was a colonel.

There you go, Colonel Sanders. Um, hoo-ah! I don't know, I'm never gonna get it. I don't know movies.

Wow, it's his only Academy Award.

The Scent of a Woman.

Hoo-ah! See, I told you I was gonna get it.

Your Son had no idea where that sound was from. This is two generations of idiot.

Hoo-ah!

Pop culture idiot.

I knew it was Al Pacino.

Greg, you cannot listen to what you just did for the last 4 minutes and say that that is some sort of expertise that you're bragging about.

Hoo-ah!

I speak for moviegoers in general. Al Pacino and De Niro are always interchangeable. They're always mistaken for each other. They're the same person.

De Niro could not have been the devil.

They've won the same awards. They're like the same people.

They were only in one scene together. Together, like, in their movie careers.

I know, but they're parallel lives, and you know it.

Put it on the poll: do you often confuse De Niro and Pacino, and you know it?

@LetMeTalkToYouShow.

You're gonna have to wait for that one.

Exactly.

That was staggering, even by the standards of The Greg Cody Show featuring Greg Cody, where your son Michael asks you movie questions and you flail and fail and get them all wrong. Even by those standards, that was an amazing amount of of ignorance.

I said Al Pacino. What more do you want?

The big story— brain beating me— from basketball last night, uh, the big story doesn't get to be the overwhelming metronome excellence of OKC. It's that LeBron is eliminated. Another promotional item: we are doing a 6-part series where we talk to Amin and Izzy, and we're doing some stuff that begins today in the feed where we, uh, sort of celebrate an amazing career. I don't think anyone thinks it is over, but I don't want to get numb to what was just accomplished, even though he was swept in the second round and, uh, swept by a sneaky dynasty. They're going to end up being a sneaky dynasty, right? Even if they don't win it this year, they're gonna end up being a sneaky dynasty.

I think you're probably right, but we were saying the same thing about Denver after '23. They haven't come close to winning again. We were probably saying the same thing about Boston after '24, and they haven't come close. I agree. I think this does feel different.

Oh, but OKC can lose to the Spurs, and I don't think too many people would be that surprised given how bad OKC looked specifically against the Spurs. But they're just going to be great for a long time because nobody's built like that. Nobody's built to have everything locked in and young and affordable. And they did it in a market where the rules favor them because they can lock people into contracts where they can't use their free agency to get out of the city because the success is going to be too large. It's kind of amazing what they've done in a small market there to revamp the entirety of the engineering of how you construct a roster.

And I do think, to your point, I think if you're a San Antonio fan, a Wemby fan, your biggest fear is that we're good. We should have the budding dynasty. But instead it's going to be that guy from that city. I think OKC— you're looking at OKC as a roadblock right now if you're San Antonio.

Yeah, but you say that as if there's, you know, supposedly this small window for San Antonio. Like, Giannis Alexandros is really young, Wembenyama is even younger. They could be battling out for titles the next 10 years. Like, San Antonio is going to win some.

Boar's Head brings to the deli the taste of deep-fried turkey. One bite and flavor takes over. Perfectly seasoned and deliciously golden fried. Boar's Head's got it right like they always do, and take it from a guy who knows a little bit about turkey, Boar's Head should be your go-to deli meat. A backyard tradition available at the deli. Presenting the Fryer's Turkey Breast, only from Boar's Head. Discover the craftsmanship behind every bite at your local Boar's Head deli. Boar's Head, committed to craft since 1905.

Chris Cody, when you come over to my house and we put on the games, I got basketball, I got baseball going on. But what do I lay out for you and the boys for entertainment and drinking?

Miller Lite! Uh-huh.

Those beautiful white cans, or on draft, or the bottle if you prefer.

Oh, when you open that with the can though, and you—

one of the best sounds on the planet. You pair that with the right game, you take that first sip, We both look around. It's not a bit.

I have goosebumps thinking about the first sip.

We take that first sip, we open it up, and we're looking around. Ah, there's just that 5 seconds of almost eerie silence where you're just soaking it all in. Oh man, did we make the right call or what? That's why we reach for Miller Lite. It's clean, refreshing, easy to drink, brewed for taste with simple ingredients.

Ah, that golden color.

Just 96 calories and 3.2 carbs. The original light beer since 1975, and it still hits different.

I love you, Miller Lite.

Cheers to legendary moments with Miller Lite. Great taste, 96 calories. Go to millerlite.com/dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. It's Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

The NBA playoffs are here and DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA, brings excitement to every game all postseason long. When the lights get brightest, the best players in the world show you exactly who they are. Playoff stars turn it up round by round and DraftKings turns it up with them from the first round through the finals. Bet player props, bet live, and stay in the action the entire time. New DraftKings customers bet just $5 and you'll get $100 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code DAN so you're ready for the moment. That's with code DAN. Turn $5 into $100 in bonus bets instantly. In partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours.

Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET. New York, call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY. Connecticut, Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas, wager tax pass-through may apply in Illinois. 21 and over in most states. Void in Ontario. Restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire 7 days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos. Limited time offer.

Dan Lebatard.

It's all about me.

Stugatz.

Whee!

This is the Dan Lebatard Show with Stugatz.

Yeah, I thought it was interesting yesterday we were talking and Amin is saying that Anthony Edwards and, uh, Wembenyama have a chance to be the new Magic and Bird because they're so different and it's just personality clashes. But I think the new rivalry is going to be SGA and Wembenyama because— what are you shaking your head about? Not enough personality there for SGA?

It's not that, it's that he's just droning excellence and you don't really get a lot from him. I think the more interesting rivalry in that mix is actually Chet versus Wemby because they've been growing up together playing in all these under-17, under-16 games where they've got an actual rivalry between each other where Wemba Diama kind of always wins and always gets the edge on Chet. So that's the one to look forward to in that specific one. But Wemby is just going to be the, the aim for everybody going forward because of who he is.

But the rivalry cannot be with a second-best player on a team when there's an MVP on that team.

But he's got nothing to say.

Pretty big game tonight. Like, that's huge. Spurs, big game. This is— if we were doing big game, not a big game right now, Spurs-Wolves.

We're not doing big game or not a big— but if we were— but yesterday, right when we left the show, okay, Amin was wrong and we were right. They did not suspend Wembanyama for any more time, even though they might have suspended any number of players other than Wembanyama for another game. But what you can't do If you're that league, there are absolutely a different set of rules for Wembenyama. When you're that close to being face of the league, there's no way you get suspended there. Any number— this is the punishment there is about, or the lack of punishment isn't about the crime. It's about the criminal. In that particular case, that one guy might be— it might be him and LeBron. One, maybe Steph too, as somebody who can get away with that. No one else in the league gets away with something that dirty, because I'd argue that's the dirtiest playoff thing I've seen since Draymond got ejected for a game because he wouldn't stop kicking people in the junk. And he's got a resume filled with kicking people in the junk. They had no problem suspending Draymond and really altering forevermore a legacy series.

They didn't suspend him, like, he accumulated technical fouls. If he hadn't accumulated technical fouls, I don't know that he'd have been suspended in the Finals.

You don't think so? Draymond Green, I believe, has such a history that he's on the other end of the spectrum, more likely to be suspended than anyone else. Wembenyama is less likely to be suspended. I was honestly surprised that they threw him out of the game. I was honestly surprised. I know it's dirty. I'm not questioning how dirty it was. I'm talking about the player involved. The player involved has a different set of rules because of his level of importance to the entirety of the league, not just the franchise.

But we can't do that, right? If you're going to cock back, look around, and then throw an elbow to somebody's neck at that speed, that doesn't matter who you are. You need to be— you get a flag or two and get tossed.

You say that, but, um, any other player in the league except for a couple gets suspended for tonight too. Like, that was that flagrant, that dirty. How many NBA games have you seen where you've seen that? Regular season or postseason, you got swinging elbows all the time. You don't get swinging elbows that catch somebody in the face. That's not something you see all the time.

It's really rare. Especially in today's NBA. It's rare.

It was— I thought it was fair. I thought it was fair to eject him with a flagrant 2. I didn't think he needed to be suspended an additional game. There was no grievous injury caused by it. I think it's fair. But I agree with Dan. The reality is you don't want to— if you're the NBA, you don't want to change the whole tenor of the postseason by suspending a guy like that.

He brings up something interesting, though, because that's happenstance that there wasn't there wasn't a terrible injury, but if there had been, does it change this conversation at all?

I think it does.

So you're playing the result there. It's not the crime, it's the results.

I think so.

So really—

That's reality though.

Okay, so—

If I shoot you, it's a different crime if I miss you than if I hit you. You know what I'm saying? If you throw an elbow and it causes just a minor injury, the guy's hurt for, you know, he's down for 10 seconds.

It matters.

That's one thing. Yeah, if, if the injury will cause him to miss the next game.

You guys are saying that it matters, but what I'm telling you is the fact that there wasn't a terrible injury there is totally random. Like, if I tell you that size of a human being throwing that elbow at that speed injured someone seriously, you'd say, yeah, I think that's probable if that catches somebody in the face. You're telling me— what you guys are telling me is if Nas Reed had simply gone unconscious, never mind make it a major injury, just never mind something that impacts the rest of the series where Nas Reid can't play, just the visuals are Nas Reid is on the floor now and he's unconscious. Then you're telling me that is a Game 5 suspension that changes the nature of that entire series?

Yeah, Dan, how many times have we seen somebody do a spinning elbow in MMA that hits somebody in the temple and knocks them out?

Absolutely.

But it's random. What I'm saying is Wembenyama's lucky that that's not what happened. Wembenyama is lucky that he doesn't have the stain on his resume that is the video forever of a 7-3 dude purposely throwing an elbow and hitting someone in the face with a lot of tinfoil hats surrounding this decision from the NBA.

Did they even make the right call for what's good for the NBA? It might have been in the NBA's best interest to suspend Wemby.

You have the moment with him coming back because you think there's gonna be payback now.

You have that storyline hovering over this. You have Minnesota winning another game in this series.

They have—

you have the Spurs one step closer to elimination. I think it ratchets up the drama in this series. I don't think it affects the ratings whatsoever. I think if anything, you get a bigger number for Wemby's return.

Remember, Jokic almost killed Markeith Morris. That basically ended his career. He got 1 game suspension for Jokic.

So this is the Draymond quote on all of this. You tell me what you guys think. Jaden McDaniels and Joker just got fined for much less. I would say to the Minnesota Timberwolves, hey guys, this is fair game. There's no suspension. There's no fines. Who's going to elbow him in the face? Because what what he just did was set a tone.

Fair game. Dexter Pittman game. Get in there.

You got to reach his face.

Yeah, I was about to say, you got to really give it one of these to get up there.

Is there a player in the league who can throw an elbow and actually hit Wemby in the face?

Gobert?

Is there—

Gobert's up there.

It's still— it's still going to get up there. It's still going to look super intentional.

Yes.

Put it on the poll at @LebatardShow. Is there a player in the league who could successfully elbow Wemby in the face?

You gotta uppercut them on your way up for a board. Close hand board and just kind of little chicken wing.

That's what we call chicken wing.

Do you guys— I feel like Wembenyama needs to be larger than a chicken wing. A little chicken wing is what— it's not what— when it's an ostrich wing, it's not, it's not a little, it's not a little chicken wing.

But we don't do ostrich wings, we do the ostrich drum, right? The emu, like I said, at Disney they have like the big ostrich drum as a turkey leg.

You ever walk around with those?

Embarrassingly, no.

Me neither.

Did you just say the emu, that Disney is serving emu? Is that—

yeah, that's something I've said for many years.

I don't believe that they are serving.

You want to see that?

I don't think— go ahead and check for me, please. I don't think that that's accurate what you're saying. I don't think that emu is, uh, put it on the poll at Le Batard Show. Is emu a Disney delicacy?

The turkey leg is very, very big. They don't make turkeys that so big. They don't make turkeys that big, Dan.

I don't know how much that turkey leg goes for these days in Magic Kingdom.

Probably $20.

$20. Is it really? Probably.

It's a huge emu leg. Of course it's cheaper than a turkey sandwich in the LA airport. And a turkey— a turkey—

pain, long-term gain.

A turkey sandwich at the LA airport is $25.30. And I don't think that Cody's got this right anymore. I think all prices have changed so much that, uh, you don't— I don't believe you can get a turkey leg at Disney. Do I have it wrong? For $20?

I got it for you.

As of mid-2025, it is between $14.49 and $15.50 for the turkey leg.

Nothing's happened since to send to affect the price.

Could be up by then.

And is it, is it indeed a turkey leg? Because you are saying there are no turkeys that are that big, and I'm not sure that I disagree with you.

You know, large language models say that no, massive turkey legs sold at Disney parks are not emu despite longstanding urban legends and claims from celebrities. But they use male turkeys, which are called toms. Now they can grow up to 50 pounds.

You can eat that tom.

BS.

There were a couple of funny things, uh, from the OKC Lakers series. One of them is Caruso ended up getting 3 fouls in 16 seconds. That's a little bit difficult to do. But also funny during one of the games is DeAndre Ayton allowed 2 offensive rebounds, and you see JJ Redick on the bench just complain. Go sit down and complain. After he allowed 2 offensive, uh, rebounds, he said to his fellow coaches, mumbling under his breath, I can't play. I can't play DeAndre Ayton.

Dan, this is out of the league in a couple years. He stinks. You know, yesterday he was putting out this video of his new bling, okay? He's got this massive chain that he had made from Dominatin'. That's the nickname he gave himself because no one would watch him play and say, "Your nickname should be Dominatin'." So his nickname is Dominatin'. You show off the bling— not only is your team down 3 games to none and you're out there showing off your Dominatin' bling, in Game 4, that night, you get swept. 6 points, 3 rebounds. This guy sucks.

He—

Dan, he is a terrible player.

What are you on about with DeAndre? What did he ever do to you?

Oh, you think he's a good player?

I didn't say he was a good player, but you've been on him the entire time.

I like good players.

I dislike bad ones.

Okay, but he tells you he doesn't really care about what you think.

Did he say that?

He proved it by showing you the ice.

That's why he's gonna be out of the league in a couple years. Dan Lebatard.

This guy guy comes in as the next Wayne Gretzky. His nicknames include the Chosen One and McJesus. Okay, he's a great player, he scores a lot of goals, he scores a ton of assists, but it hasn't translated to making Edmonton a powerhouse in the league.

They're in the final. Stugatz, what's your nickname for him?

McOverrated.

This is the Dan Levatar Show with the Stugatz.

Let's put up the bling again. You just reminded me of Stugatz because you didn't finish a thought. You just stopped in the middle of the word bling and just went, blah, and moved on to your next thought. But that Dominatin' looks like domination. Yeah, it looks— I don't know, uh, play on words, Dan. I, I know, I— but what I'm saying is what I'm presently looking at, I don't know if it's my eyesight or not, but I would have said that says domination, not Dominatin'. I would have said Greg Cody You would say what to that particular piece of bling?

Yeah, I didn't look at it carefully enough. It says Dominaton, but with a Y instead of a T-I-O-N.

It's a Y-T-O-N. His last name is Aiton.

So it says Dominaton is what it says.

He stinks.

Thank you, Dad.

You're welcome. His bling is pretty good, though.

You think there's a single Laker fan wants him back next year?

Well, what's going to happen with LeBron there? Because, uh, to me, uh, it is rare to have the kind of excellence that OKC is showing, and it's not the conversation point today. The conversation point today is LeBron's season is over, and he's saying after the game, I don't know if I'm going to be here next year, which is a curious thing for him to say given that he's one of the few players in League with a no-trade clause. He can absolutely guarantee that he will be there simply by choosing it. Here's his sound after the game.

You guys asked me about it and I've answered questions. Yeah, I don't think I've come out, I was like, oh, retirement is coming. Uh, yeah, so I mean, with my future, I don't know, obviously. I mean, this is obviously still fresh from, you know, obviously losing.

I don't know.

I mean, I don't know what the future holds for me, obviously. Um, as it stands right now, tonight, I got a lot of time. I'll sit back, like I think I said it last year after we lost, I think to Minnesota, there, go back recalibrate with my family and talk with them and spend some time with them. And then when the time comes, obviously, you guys will know what I decide to do.

Well, Dan, for the first time in his career, he's an unrestricted free agent.

Oh, that's right.

That's never been the— that's the first time in his whole career, unrestricted free agent.

So Haberstroh just published an article and he's arguing that LeBron has had 4 different Hall of Fame careers, that his time— he's been with the Lakers longer than he's been with anybody, uh, so it's 8 years and it's 8 All-Star appearances.

It is funny that, like, I think it's been consensus that he had 3, and now the big take is a 4th.

Well, it's just insane because Tom had 3, Tom Brady had 3, and now you can— now you can argue that LeBron James has had 4. So what do you guys think is going to happen there? Because he was saying that the, the season was success because it's the first time he's ever had to play as a third option. I'm honestly— I'm not, I'm not articulating it well when I tell you that I believe, even though he's been the most covered American athlete for the last 20 years pretty much nonstop, I still think his career has been underappreciated because we keep comparing it to Jordan and we keep making it something less than Jordan when And he's presently doing something that Jordan could not even aspire to do in that he's the oldest player in the league and he's still part of the relevant conversation. It's not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scoring, you know, 10 points a game in his 40s. He's still somebody that I would assume any team in the sport would like to have him, would like to put him on their team.

That's what's amazing to me and so admirable is that it's not just the longevity. Longevity. It's not just his age. It's that he is all-star caliber, all-star quality at that age. I don't see a lot of decline. Now, he's the third option on a healthy team, maybe. Not on every healthy team, but maybe that one. But it's remarkable how good he's maintained, how good he's continued. I think Tom Brady showed less toward the end of his comparable career than LeBron is showing right now.

What?

What?

He's just talking about the very last year because he won the championship last year.

Like, the—

what? It took Stafford's second greatest throw ever to Cooper Kupp downfield. Like, Tom Brady almost beat him.

Yeah, almost.

He was incredible. I mean, if we're going by that, I mean, that's a lot better than what LeBron just did getting swept out of the second round. Okay, that wasn't— that wasn't almost.

Not only that, Tom Brady ruined his marriage for the 8. That's for one, for one more season where he went 9-8.

All right, are we admiring him about that?

He loves ball.

Yeah. Uh, here is Kendrick Perkins saying of LeBron, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant, uh, that they'll never win another NBA championship. He says, quote, let's have a moment of silence for the ones that passed away. LeBron, Steph, and KD, they're dead birds, tall grass when it comes to them ever stepping foot on the big stage again. As far as winning an NBA championship, those days are over. I don't agree with that. I think LeBron can choose and will choose wherever it is that he's next, a place where he can win a championship as a participant instead of the lead driver.

I think you're right about LeBron could choose to go where he wants and still be a major player on a huge stage. I don't see any scenario where he's not with the Lakers again next year. I really don't.

Even Cleveland?

Definitely not. No, I don't see it. I don't see it. Like, at this point in his career, when we know that he's going to play— I mean, I mean, every year could be his last year at this point. And for the last year of his career, not a career where, hey, I gotta make sure I get a championship. In the last year of his career, he's picking up the family. His kid is on the Lakers. He's got business on that side of the country. His other son's even in school on that side of the country. And he's gonna pick everything up and go to a new team, even if the new team's the same as the old team, the Cavaliers? I don't see it.

Do you think he wants this? This to be the end of his career, this exact model, which is I get to the second round maybe and I get waxed by OKC or a team that—

well, Luka's not playing. That's—

yeah, but told us that they're better without him. But even with Luka, they're not beating OKC.

Maybe not, but you can at least think it possible given what you just saw. It's kind of an important player that you need to have if you're going to compete with OKC.

I agree, but that West is pretty tough.

And here's also thing. Even if LeBron winds up taking a little bit less than what he's making right now, it's not like he's gonna go out there and take the minimum to join a team that's a championship contender. If he's going to join a championship contender because he doesn't want to go out like this on a team that can't compete with OKC, no one who's any good has any kind of money available. So take a minimum contract with a really good team or still get paid a lot of money? Well, the only option is the Lakers.

Well, but he could just go to the East, which is easier, right? It's just simply easier.

That's why I think the, the choice is Cleveland. It's the sentimental choice. It's the final homecoming for him. He gets to go to what now is a very competitive team in an easier conference. The path to the championship is much easier there than it is if he stays with the Lakers.

I ran into Rich Paul at the airport when I was leaving for Los Angeles.

Nice name drop.

Well, it comes with information. It's not just name dropping. I have to give you the name of the person in order to tell you But feel free to hit me with the name drop if you must, even though— Name drop! And Valerie was shocked when I told her that's Adele's fiancé. He was, you know, imaginary golf swinging a golf club because he has made his way into the power brokering in that sport. 95 Just NBA clients. Alliance is what it is that LeBron is doing on the side. It's just his side project. And so when you say that he's got businesses out there, it's not just businesses. He and Rich Paul are obsessed with the content business, obsessed with the idea of content being king. You've seen Rich Paul could have done whatever it is that he wanted. He chose to do a podcast with Max Kellerman, who could have also done whatever it is that he wanted. And the two of them are doing a podcast together where, uh, the business that overflows from LeBron is such that his buddy who he once met in an airport is representing 95 NBA players. And that's just the NBA.

They represent, I don't know how many hundreds of other people. That's a crazy business to have on the side where you get a percentage of what all of those clients are making. And all of those clients are making a giant amount of money. The amount of The amount of money that he gets benefiting from playing in Los Angeles for the Lakers specifically is just nuts as a side project.

That's one of the many things I've always admired about LeBron. I remember years ago he was either still with the Heat or had just left the Heat, him saying in an interview that, that he wanted to be the first, one of the first athlete billionaires. He's always had a business intelligence to him that's admirable.

Let me ask you guys this question because I don't know, I didn't see the Kevin Hart roast. I'm assuming that that much of the subject matter in making fun of Kevin Hart is just how much he's doing, how ubiquitous he is, how much money he grabs at because he has the stated goal of wanting to be a billionaire. And to me, that strikes me as a curious goal for someone like him because it puts him on the road a ton. It makes him do an extraordinary amount of work in order to try and get there. And I ask all of you, do you guys really think there's that much of a difference between whatever your life is at $800 million or $600 million or $400 million and a billion dollars? Do you think that when Kevin Hart becomes a billionaire and arrives at whatever the goal of that destination and that journey is, it's just numbers in an account? It's basically him and a couple of financial planners who can celebrate, "Got it." It's like that Bo Burnham song about Bezos, "You did it." it. You just keep making more money.

It's about the brag of being able to say I'm going for that much money. It's not about actually getting it. It's like if I'm saying I'm going for a billy, then you know I'm impressive.

I think what Dan is saying is rooted in reality. You take the temperature of the current goings-on and it seems like all the wealthy are pretty good just chilling with their $800 million and not adding to it. We usually— when people become billionaires, they stop right there too. They don't try to become trillionaires. Billionaires.

My larger point is, as a goal for me personally, as a goal of becoming a billionaire, to me it's just— you're really— your, your life goal is just a round number? Like, your life goal, like, $950 million and you failed? Like, that's not, that's not good enough.

You're there, pal, and Elon Musk is going to Mars.

Yeah, I don't get it though. Like, I, I— what's your goal?

Power? Do you like power?

A Pulitzer. You won that already?

Congrats.

Apparently my dad won one, as I'm seeing on his note.

Oh yeah, I mean, I, I, I don't brag.

What, this thing?

I didn't want to— I didn't want to brag, but I got this.

At least you have it at the right angle.

I got this.

No camera can see what that is. You're a professional broadcaster. Real deal Holyfield.

I got this in the certified mail the other day. I gotta have it framed, obviously. But I'm so grateful to the Pulitzer. What does it It says Greg Cody wins Pulitzer, new category, uh, best catchphrase countdown. Now I didn't even realize that that was a Pulitzer category. Apparently it's brand new, and, and I, I didn't even know that I was being considered for it. It's such a thrill. It's such a thrill, and, and I'm happy about it, but I'm not going to mention it like a mean Al Hassan at every hour.

You don't think shifting the list from 50 to 60, that didn't affect the Pulitzer?

We shifted it afterward. So the Pulitzer Committee should feel even better because now their prize to me is being aggrandized.

You guys know, right, uh, we, we mentioned yesterday that Pablo Torre has now, uh, he has now arrived at Apex Mountain for self-importance, self-regard. And Pablo keeps telling people that he's going around like Anton Chigurh style from No Country for Old Men as soon as he gets that Pulitzer coin, and he's just going to flip it in front of billionaires. He's actually saying that to people.

A valid criticism from What? You just added to the original list. That's not impressive. Pablo made 10 episodes.

You just printed a piece of paper poorly, and your graphics department needs some help there on what it is that you did at your old fax-style printer. Okay, first of all, this is the new and unimproved Don Levitar Show with the Stugatz.

Gamble on by DraftKings.