Nobody Knew Anything About LeBron James' Decision | Local Hour

Summary

The Dan Le Batard Show: "Nobody Knew Anything About LeBron James' Decision" – Local Hour Summary

Date: July 27, 2026
Location: Live from the Elser Hotel, Downtown Miami
Main Theme:
The crew dissects the shockwaves from LeBron James’ stunning decision to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency – a move no national reporter predicted. The episode navigates reporting miscues, the modern meaning of “sources,” Philly’s rise, swirling conspiracy theories about cap circumvention, and the larger business and basketball context surrounding LeBron's final major career move.

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Episode Overview

This “Local Hour” focuses on the fallout from LeBron James’ unexpected decision to join the Sixers and all the confusion, reporting mistakes, and speculation that surrounded the story. The cast uses the local Miami Heat perspective to frame a broader discussion about the NBA, media trust, business shenanigans, and how no "insider" really had reliable information on this seismic sports event.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

A. No One Knew – Why Reporting Got It Wrong

• Everyone Missed: No NBA insider, not even LeBron’s closest affiliates, tipped Philadelphia as the destination. Speculation switched rapidly between Miami, Cleveland, and Golden State, but “not a single person ever said Philadelphia” (Amin Elhassan, 10:15).
• Source Confusion: Chris Haynes, under fire for a blown “scoop,” defends his methods, highlighting the difficulty in distinguishing real sources from rumor mongers and the dangers of trusting bad information.
  • “[I heard it] from people that I trust.” (Chris Haynes, 05:27)
  • “There has never been someone at this contract relative to everyone else's contract that gets this much attention for the signing of this contract.” (Chris Cody, 11:08)
• Modern Disinformation: The cast expands on the challenges of “source culture” today, emphasizing that even prominent insiders like Rich Paul (LeBron’s agent) were in the dark until the last hour.
  • “Even Rich Paul ... was saying until the last minute he thought it was going to be Miami that LeBron chose.” (Chris Cody, 09:53)

B. What Counts as a Source?

• Media Illiteracy: They point to a viral video simply explaining “what a source is,” noting most fans (and apparently outlets) can’t tell the difference between credible, team-connected information and barstool gossip (07:00 - 08:00).
• Trust & Anonymity: A “true” source is someone whose credibility justifies the journalist risking their own reputation to protect anonymity (Chris Cody, 09:10).

C. The LeBron–Sixers Bombshell: Questions, Money, and Motives

• Unprecedented Bargain: LeBron, long adamant about demanding max money, takes the greatest free-agent discount in NBA history—$3.9 million with Philadelphia, when the market and Sixers’ cap space dictated little else was possible (12:21).
• Rich Paul’s Role & Narrative Spin: The team frames the move as "money doesn’t matter," shifting the narrative after realizing there was no market for a max deal (13:12-14:01).
  • “Rich Paul said weeks ago, money does not matter. And everybody met that with skepticism.” (Mike, 13:12)
  • “They started with the narrative of money doesn't matter when it's mattered a whole lot the last 20 years.” (Chris Cody, 13:36)
• Why Philly? The crew breaks down why, basketball-wise, the Sixers became the best remaining option, especially after adding Jaylen Brown.
  • “This is the best possible choice for him in the Eastern Conference to win a title this year. That is an incredible starting five.” (Mike, 27:01)
  • “If we were looking at this from a roster construction standpoint after they added Jaylen Brown, that team makes a lot of sense.” (Mike, 27:09)
• Embiid Health Worries: However – “they are not a championship contender if Embiid is not correct.” (Amin Elhassan, 29:29)

D. Fanatics, Topps, and Alleged Cap Circumvention

• The Conspiracy Angle: Rumors swirl about Michael Rubin (Fanatics CEO, ex-Sixers minority owner) allegedly manufacturing compensation outside the salary cap with LeBron’s Topps/Fanatics endorsement, since Topps broke the news before basketball insiders did (16:35-17:17, 21:33).
  • “Topps trading cards are run by Fanatics and Michael Rubin ... If you made a list of most powerful people in sports and said to me, Michael Rubin was number one, I'd say, yeah, that's probably right.” (Chris Cody/Bill Simmons, 17:17-17:26)
  • “Michael Rubin had to divest right, from the 76ers. ... There were a whole bunch of rumors about James Harden picking the 76ers and his close relationship with Michael Rubin.” (Mike, 23:47)
• Is It ‘Loser Talk’? Mike pushes back hard, saying the idea LeBron’s Topps deal was uniquely inflated if he signed with Philly is “sore loser behavior,” calling it “irresponsible” without proof (24:47).
• NBA’s Shadow Economics: The group muses that, with mega-owners like Ballmer and Rubin, secret deals are whispered about but not publicly challenged since “everyone’s probably pushing the rules” (25:01-26:20).

E. Why Not Miami or the Lakers?

• The Miami Angle: LeBron’s statement that “I’d already done that” is seen as partly shaped post-fact to rationalize passing on the Heat; “To go back to a place that you won wasn’t as appealing because you can undo some of the feelings there.” (Mike, 38:17)
• The Lakers' Frustration: L.A. fans reportedly frustrated that LeBron didn’t take a pay cut to stay one more year, when he accepted a minimum in Philadelphia (45:43).
• Rule-Bending & Fit: There’s an ongoing suggestion that LeBron prioritizes settings where he “can make all the rules” – a role the fading Lakers weren’t granting anymore (46:51-47:33).

F. What Happens Next?

• Roster Fit and Uncertainty: Wild speculation about how LeBron will age, Embiid’s ability to stay healthy, and whether Jaylen Brown will accept being the “third or fourth wheel” after being “the guy” elsewhere (28:09, 32:06-32:46).
  • "How did [Jaylen Brown] like being Robin in Boston? Now he's gonna be Alfred in Philadelphia." (Chris Cody, 38:00)
• Legacy & Economics: The Sixers get a “multimillion-dollar business on the LeBron James farewell” (Mike, 12:03). The regular season becomes compelling theater again as everyone wonders: “Will this be a championship or will it implode?” (Bill Simmons, 27:36)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On nobody knowing anything:

• “Nobody who’s reporting from sources knew shit here, nothing. ... No one knew anything.”
  — Amin Elhassan, 10:15

On the dilemma of sources:

• “Do I trust you so much that if I get embarrassed here, I still won’t reveal who you are?”
  — Chris Cody, 09:10

On LeBron's money stance flip:

• “LeBron James, since signing that deal at a discount with the Miami Heat in 2010, has been firmer on nothing than ‘I will not take any discounts.’”
  — Bill Simmons, 12:21

On Michael Rubin’s power:

• “If you made a list of most powerful people in sports and said to me, Michael Rubin was number one, I’d say, yeah, that’s probably right.”
  — Chris Cody/Bill Simmons, 17:19

On the Topps deal/cap circumvention suspicions:

• “If I told you right now ... Topps said now we'll give you $50 million. Like what’s the number I have to put it at ... where I get your attention?”
  — Chris Cody, 22:53

On ballot-boxing, shadow rule-bending in NBA business:

• “Is it 'cause they're all competing in these shadows ... the rules are for everybody else.”
  — Chris Cody, 25:37

On LeBron’s rationale:

• “I think LeBron James picked the best possible landing spot ... to help him win a championship this year. And he said as much in his statement."
  — Mike, 39:22

On Philly’s true championship hopes:

• “You only win if Embiid is playing.”
  — Amin Elhassan, 29:36

On the shock of the ending:

• “Look at that Photoshop of him in a Sixers uniform. This is crazy. He's ending his career in Philadelphia. It's random... But I think with altitude on the situation, we get it.”
  — Mike, 45:28

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:14 – 06:03: The crew roasts Chris Haynes for his failed scoop, debates the meaning of a “source” and the tradeoffs between trust and credibility.
• 09:38 – 10:53: Blunt admission that “nobody knew anything” about LeBron’s real plans.
• 11:08 – 12:56: Explaining the media and business impact of LeBron’s free agency.
• 13:12 – 14:01: Dissection of Rich Paul and LeBron’s narrative about money “not mattering.”
• 16:21 – 18:19: Early discussion of Topps, Fanatics, Michael Rubin’s power, and the “conspiracy.”
• 21:33 – 24:47: Deeper debate over whether the Topps card was just an endorsement or something more.
• 25:01 – 26:20: The problem of mega-owners and NBA “shadow economics.”
• 27:07 – 29:29: Is Philly truly the best fit? Embiid’s centrality and health concerns.
• 32:06 – 32:46: Jaylen Brown’s new role and Sixers' young assets.
• 38:17 – 39:53: The real reason LeBron didn’t pick Miami; shaping of the media narrative.
• 41:02 – 41:23: The timeline of the Topps leak.
• 45:43 – 47:33: The Lakers’ anguish, LeBron’s “rule-making,” and the Heat’s attitude on not landing him.

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Final Takeaways

• Absolute Secrecy: LeBron’s final decision was the rarest of NBA free agency events: nobody in media, not even those closest to him, saw it coming.
• Reporting Reckoning: The crew’s self-parody and meta-commentary reveal a profession in flux, grappling with “sources,” fans, and a post-truth age in sports news.
• Business Trumps All: Suspicions linger about shadowy side deals, but the panel ultimately concludes Philly was a sensible basketball choice – provided Joel Embiid is healthy.
• Legacy Moment: The NBA, thanks to LeBron’s perpetual drama and superstar gravity, remains the king of off-court storylines, even as the truth behind them grows murkier each summer.

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(End of summary)

Transcript

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[Mike]

I'm always the friend that says, hey, I've got it. I've got a place. I've got some ice cold Miller Lights. I got the tv, I got a big comfy blue leather couch.

[Chris Cody]

Come on over.

[Dan Levitar]

That's the behavior of a Miller Time mvp. I almost never watch the big ones alone. I'd much rather be with my friends. And if I am alone, we're texting,

[Mike]

we're sipping on our Miller Lites, toasting the day, toasting the big games.

[Dan Levitar]

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[Bill Simmons]

As I feel like I'm surrounded by an assortment of hungover, sad people that the ability to talk about LeBron non stop for the next couple of years was something that this show was welcoming and we've lost that ability to do that. And I feel like I'm walking into a broken group of people who really were rooting for something and now can't have it.

[Amin Elhassan]

Doesn't LeBron know how much we were gonna say really nice things about him for two more years? It was gonna be so pleasant for him here.

[Bill Simmons]

Chris, how are you dealing with the fact that everyone thinks you're a ruiner and a disgrace?

[Chris Haynes]

You know, a lot of people report things that don't end up being right. That's all I'm gonna say.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, that's not what I asked you, though.

[Chris Haynes]

I'm feeling okay. I don't feel great about it. I'm kind of just neutral. I don't. I'm not, like, stressing it, like, some have thought. I. People are checking in on me, like, are you okay? And I don't know. Maybe I'm just perfect. I'm perfectly numb to some of this stuff. So I just. I'm good.

[Mike]

Because you do it all the time.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah. Do you think at this point, the risk was worth the reward?

[Chris Haynes]

Yeah, it was worth it.

[Bill Simmons]

It was.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah.

[Chris Haynes]

I mean, it was nice little bump for the.

[Mike]

I don't understand this at all, man. That's crazy. You're like, yeah, I see the benefit. I got people's attention, got some followers out of it.

[Chris Haynes]

I mean. All right, all right, let's. If we're going to do this. A few weeks ago, Dan was like. Dan reported the Heat, Are doing it this year for Giannis. What have they done since then? I'm not saying you're. I'm just saying that's a report you got out there.

[Mike]

But they were trying to do it.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay. No, no, no, wait a minute. What I said was, before anyone knew it, that all of that with the Heat and LE was real. And it was real. There's no disputing that it was real.

[Chris Haynes]

Right. And that. So they went out. They went after LeBron, is what Dan was reporting there. And I'm reporting that the Heat thought they had him, and I stand by that. I mean, there's been reports that, like, Ethan was reporting.

[Chris Cody]

You didn't report that the Heat thought that they had him. You said that he had decided he was coming here. That's different.

[Mike]

He was going to announce that he was going to Miami on Monday.

[Chris Haynes]

Maybe I worded it poorly. It's a semantics thing.

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It's not.

[Chris Cody]

It's not semantics. One of them makes you wrong, and the other one makes you right. That's not semantics.

[Mike]

You know what? Semantics.

[Chris Haynes]

So the Heat Came out like Ethan Skolnick has reported afterwards that the Heat. I saw reports that Rich Paul thought

[Amin Elhassan]

he was going to the old afterwards report.

[Chris Haynes]

Yeah, I mean, I'm just saying the reports are. Everyone in his camp thought he was going to the Heat, and so did

[Amin Elhassan]

I love an afterwards report.

[Chris Cody]

Roy, can you just get me the

[Bill Simmons]

sound that was the foundation of this report.

[Chris Haynes]

I don't know what a source is.

[Bill Simmons]

Thank you.

[Chris Haynes]

That's fair.

[Chris Cody]

Well, I want to talk.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, we'll keep this for the show, but I actually want to have a conversation with you about what you think a source sources.

[Chris Cody]

Because it's not the guy who sidles

[Bill Simmons]

up with you at the bathroom urinal and says something.

[Chris Cody]

Because there are 7 million douches in

[Bill Simmons]

Miami who were reporting that LeBron was coming to Miami.

[Chris Cody]

There has to be a filter between the person at the urinal who thinks he knows something and how that news gets disseminated to the public. And it's supposed to be a trusted news source. It can't be. You still arguing that you're right on Monday when it's as wrong as anyone's ever been around here?

[Chris Haynes]

I'm not arguing I was right. I'm arguing that I didn't make it up. I heard it from people that I trust.

[Amin Elhassan]

Just tell us. Who were your sources?

[Chris Haynes]

I'm not gonna know. I will not say that. I get it. I'm not.

[Amin Elhassan]

If your source was wrong, what do you owe them? But it's like it made you look stupid.

[Chris Haynes]

There have been plenty of people that have done similar reports and got like, you guys are just attacking me because I'm an easy punching bag.

[Amin Elhassan]

No, but maybe we're on your side. Like, we don't like that someone made you look stupid. Who was.

[Chris Cody]

We're attacking you because you're the one who got it wrong.

[Chris Haynes]

All right, well, they better put something good around Giannis or else you're a terrible reporter.

[Tony]

You got you there.

[Mike]

You are listening to the Dan Levatar show in partnership with the DraftKings sports app, now live in all 50 states.

[Bill Simmons]

Bill Belichick's primary right hand man, power broker Mike Lombardi, the GM of North Carolina, has been placed on administrative leave effective immediately. Pablo Torre has done a report on Lombardi. He will be joining us at 10 o' clock to talk about that, the process and other things. But Windhorse is on get up. And he has said about LeBron, quote, this is a one off moment in the history of the league. We've never seen a player ever say the following Things I don't care about money. I don't care about my family. He doesn't even care that much, apparently, about the city, because it seems like he's going to leave at least part time in New York.

[Chris Cody]

So I don't know how to frame

[Bill Simmons]

it, Windhoard says, because it's really, truly unbelievable. LeBron James as a Philadelphia 76er. I want to ask you guys a handful of questions here. We were making fun of Chris Cody during the Shadow Show. Chris, I say this seriously, and I say it to you and others, because I saw a video the other day that had, like, a million views, and all it was is explaining what a source is. That's all the video was.

[Chris Cody]

Because evidently, says there are a whole lot of people who watch television, hear

[Bill Simmons]

the reporters say sources this and sources

[Chris Cody]

that, and have no idea what a source is.

[Chris Haynes]

I don't know what a source is.

[Chris Cody]

Do you think the grand majority of our audience sort of knows what goes into a source being a source?

[Amin Elhassan]

Well, I guess the short answer is no. I think that most people in the audience think when they hear a source, that means someone affiliated with the team.

[Bill Simmons]

So the source is the following, for those of you who care about this sort of thing, okay? And a reporter is only as good as his or her sources.

[Chris Haynes]

That's true.

[Chris Cody]

Chris Cody, we're making fun of him because he got it wrong. He got it wrong in every way.

[Bill Simmons]

Got the day wrong, got the team wrong. Not a lot of other things you can get wrong.

[Chris Cody]

Just got everything wrong because he was hearing from a source that he won't reveal, and he was trafficking on our credibility.

[Bill Simmons]

And our credibility is born of, at

[Chris Cody]

least in part, generally, when I'm reporting something from sources, there's not a whole

[Bill Simmons]

lot of history that I have of my sources getting it wrong.

[Chris Cody]

But I will tell you that the last time I covered this in LeBron,

[Bill Simmons]

I told you guys I had seven sources.

[Chris Cody]

I had about 400 people telling me he was coming here. I had seven I trusted. And what Chris did, I fear and feel, is that just one told him and he trusted. But he doesn't know what goes into that trust, even though he comes from a lineage of journalism with his father being a journalist. And this is what a source is. Do I trust you enough that if I get embarrassed here, I still won't reveal who it is you are? I trust you so much that I'm putting my credibility up against the fact that I'm protecting your anonymity. So I'm trading my credibility for your information. I'm going to protect you, but it's because I trust you so much that you're not going to embarrass me. I believe your information is credible. And so the pipeline, and I think this is important in the modern age because we're getting really confused in the age of disinformation of what's true and what's not true. The pipeline is who do you trust? Not just who do I trust, who do you trust with your information? And as has been saying for months,

[Bill Simmons]

and now everybody's been saying for months,

[Chris Cody]

nobody who's reporting from sources knew shit here, nothing. Because even Rich Paul, who would be a good source if he's telling me something anonymously, I would believe him as a source and protect him as a source if we have a relationship where he's not likely to embarrass me on purpose. Rich Paul was saying until the last minute he thought it was going to be Miami that LeBron chose.

[Amin Elhassan]

No one knew anything. Like no one knew anything. At various times over the last few weeks, reporters were saying Cleveland right now is the favorites. Miami right now is the favorite. Golden State right now is the favorite. Not a single person said at any juncture that Philadelphia is the favorite. So you have people out there who are either straight up lying because they want to have their name in the game and hopefully they end up being right and look informed, or they're just getting terrible information. No one knew shit this whole time.

[Bill Simmons]

In this particular case though, the only people who can know. It's like a really tight circle of people who would know and everyone else has to talk about it because it's the person in American sports who has dominated the entire country when it comes

[Chris Cody]

to sports talk for the last 20 years. It's been. When you think about what this run has been for him, it makes no sense that in the history of sport there has never been someone at this contract relative to everyone else's contract that gets this much attention for the signing of this contract. This is the biggest bargain in the history of free agency. The fact that you bring this, nevermind that It's a top 25 player, everything else that comes with the top 25 player, that means attention economy. It means every single one of your sports talk businesses in Philadelphia celebrating today. Because LeBron James basically helped build this thing that we have here. Because he came to Miami, when he came to Miami and allowed Miami to be a market that was national with ESPN when none of our other sports teams deserved national coverage.

[Mike]

And there will be a multimillion dollar business on the LeBron James farewell that they will get to capitalize on.

[Chris Cody]

Maybe the amount of money that the

[Bill Simmons]

Sixers got for $3.9 million doesn't make a lot of sense to me in this respect.

[Chris Cody]

ZAZ.

[Bill Simmons]

LeBron James, since signing that deal at a discount with the Miami Heat in 2010, has been firmer on nothing than I will not take any discounts.

[Chris Cody]

He has been firmer publicly on no stance, then you will pay me the maximum that is allowed because I'm underpaid. Even when you pay me the max, I'm still underpaid. And this represents a reversal, of course,

[Bill Simmons]

when it comes to him.

[Chris Cody]

That is at least in part because the market showed you, no, no one's going to actually pay you what you think you're worth in a market that

[Bill Simmons]

you want to play in.

[Mike]

Well, the teams that were in it did not have a max contract to give him. But as firm as his actions were over the course of his career, that's how firm his words were via Rich Paul. Rich Paul said weeks ago, money does not matter. And everybody met that with skepticism.

[Amin Elhassan]

I didn't believe it.

[Mike]

Everything along the way of Rich Paul, Rich Paul saying that he hasn't decided. Every single thing that was criticized, oh, no, you guys know exactly where you are.

[Dan Levitar]

Came out to be true.

[Mike]

Rich Paul didn't know. LeBron didn't know.

[Bill Simmons]

Let me, though, offer you a bit of perspective here on what Rich Paul did know earlier than the rest of us.

[Chris Cody]

He said out loud that money's not a factor when he realized they weren't

[Bill Simmons]

going to get what they wanted anywhere in the world.

[Chris Cody]

Like, he didn't say that because that's where they entered the proceedings after leaving the Lakers. The Lakers broke up with him, and then they started framing everything, and they realized that the moment that the Lakers broke up with him, they had a decent idea of where the money was going to be and how much it was going to be. And so they started with the narrative of money doesn't matter when it's mattered a whole lot the last 20 years. They knew the amount of money that was going to be available, and it was a lot less than what they wanted. The market spoke early on this.

[Mike]

Yeah, but the market, I'm sorry, but, like, correct me if I'm wrong, didn't we all know what the market was? Like, we all knew the cap situation from all these teams that he'd consider being in the mix. Like, it's not like, all right, let me get a max contract. They didn't have that to offer the mark. The cap situation for these teams was a cap situation. Yeah, they could have maybe moved things and signing trades, but I think it was pretty clear that he had to take less.

[Bill Simmons]

This stuff happens months before we hear about it.

[Chris Cody]

LeBron James and Rich Paul have been planning for the exit from the Lakers for many, many months. It didn't just have we learned about it when they were will and ready to do the framing of whatever it is that they were going to say publicly so that they could shape the storyline, but they knew what their situation was in Los Angeles. Now, I'm hearing a number of different

[Bill Simmons]

things in a number of different places,

[Chris Cody]

and I want to make both some

[Bill Simmons]

clarifications and some corrections here, because the New York Post, for example, did a

[Chris Cody]

really bad job of headline writing on

[Bill Simmons]

something that I said.

[Chris Cody]

As a whole lot of people, not

[Bill Simmons]

just in Miami, Cleveland's doing this too.

[Chris Cody]

There are a whole lot of people wondering how it is that LeBron James just signed a contract that is less valuable for him than just about any contract he could have signed at any point in his career. And so the New York Post puts up this headline that says, heat furious

[Bill Simmons]

over LeBron snub as wild 76ers conspiracy theory emerges.

[Chris Cody]

And I didn't say furious. They're not furious. There's no one there I've talked to who's furious.

[Amin Elhassan]

This is definitely, though, from you?

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, it was from me. They were using my name all over that story, and they misheard me. I said curious. I'm not even making that up.

[Amin Elhassan]

I mean, you were walking the streets while you were talking to us. Maybe like, you know, it came in a little bit, like, grainy.

[Mike]

I don't know what was the wild conspiracy theory, though.

[Chris Cody]

I'll get to the wild conspiracy theory in a second.

[Bill Simmons]

But it's curious because Mike is real eager. You may have noticed him there.

[Chris Cody]

He wants me to lob him, dunk it. And he already did that the time that I presented it the first time. And it's fine that he wants to dismiss it immediately as the loser's lament. I want to clarify again, this isn't just the Heat that's wondering about this, the thing that happened here, where Philadelphia comes apparently out of nowhere to be the team that lands him at the greatest free agent bargain there has ever been in the history of competitive people

[Bill Simmons]

bidding with money over a talent because

[Chris Cody]

the Sixers only had $3.9 million to

[Bill Simmons]

spend, you have to get money elsewhere. If you're LeBron James to actually get the value or closer to the value of what it is that you are. And so Topps, the trading card company, was the one that actually broke this news before Shams, before it was released.

[Chris Cody]

And however it is these things get

[Bill Simmons]

released, LeBron's been very calculated over 16 years about how these things get released. Television show, Sports Illustrated. And this time I thought it was Shams that released the news. It was not. It was Topps trading cards. And Topps trading cards are run by fanatics and Michael Rubin fanatics. Quiet as it's kept, Fanatics is a

[Chris Cody]

powerhouse that's as large a power as there is anywhere in sports.

[Bill Simmons]

Like, if, if, if you've.

[Chris Cody]

If you just said to me right now that Michael Rubin. If you made a list of most powerful people in sports and said to me, Michael Rubin was number one, I'd

[Bill Simmons]

say, yeah, that's probably right.

[Mike]

They have a total monopoly over sports merchandising.

[Chris Cody]

So Michael Rubin owned 10%. This Michael Rubin's a fascinating figure. He was millions of dollars in debt at 14. Like, had a jet ski company and stuff and just knows how to work business. And through whatever it is that he inherited, he, you know, he created a business that was able to lose money

[Bill Simmons]

before it made money. Because the best way to make money is to have money, or in some cases, not even have it, and just pretend like you have.

[Chris Cody]

And so Michael Rubin owned 10% of the Sixers and realized, not enough. If I'm not an actual owner, if I'm not a real owner, if I'm a minority owner, I don't really have power.

[Bill Simmons]

And so he realized, nah, my relationship with Joel Embiid is probably more valuable than owning this percentage of the team because of what it is that I want from life and sports. And so he got out and he built a giant company looking for something

[Mike]

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[Mike]

Chris Cody, this is the Dan Levatar show.

[Chris Cody]

What are your guys thoughts on the

[Bill Simmons]

idea that a trading company would have. Would have the news before anyone, before Shams, before anyone. That they would release a trading card

[Chris Cody]

that takes prep, Even if it's not the actual card, even if it's just somebody photoshopping it. They had the news and the information before anyone else had the news and the information. And because Michael Rubin's not affiliated with the 76ers, a leap that can be made by people who are suspicious or curious is what was Michael Rubin doing for the Sixers here? But how much is that deal with Tops worth? And while. Mike, go ahead. I'll give you the chance to poo poo it, Mike.

[Bill Simmons]

But I wanna ask you some hypotheticals afterward.

[Mike]

Are you alleging that the Heat's contention is.

[Chris Cody]

I'm not saying the Heat anything. Okay? I'm not. Don't make this about just the Heat, cuz there are plenty of people talking about this. It's not just.

[Mike]

I'm sorry, I just read the New York Post. It just said Heat. But you don't think he would have had this deal with Tops if he picked Cleveland?

[Bill Simmons]

I don't know what the deal is.

[Mike]

What is being insinuated here is that there's some sort of cap circumnavigation via Tops that would only exist if he picked the Philadelphia 76ers. And I believe wholeheartedly he would have had that deal with Tops wherever he chose.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay, but you don't know what the deal is.

[Mike]

I know what the deal played out to be, which was Tops got to announce where he was going.

[Chris Cody]

No, you don't know what the deal is. You don't. If I told you right now, just in the hypothetical. If I told you that deal goes for X usually, but Top said now we'll give you $50 million. Like what's the number I have to put it at where I get your attention on. Ah, like where I get your attention in the. In the. In the space where they gave Kawhi how much to not plant trees on the side? Like what's the number I have to put it at for you not to poo poo it? Because. Because Michael Rubin. Let's say hypothetical. Hypothetical. But let's say Michael Rubin badly wanted to get him to the Sixers and has all the money in the world and is the most powerful man in sports. What do I have to put the number at? Beyond what the number normally is to get your attention on?

[Mike]

Not sure if that was kosher, not fanatics. Spends a ton of dumb money. Did you not see how their flag. Yeah, the flag football investment went?

[Amin Elhassan]

I think we have to find if there's a connection between fanatics and the Sixers still. Right.

[Mike]

Well, the thing is, Michael Rubin had to divest right, from the 76ers. And if you actually want to look into, like, weird stuff, there were a whole bunch of rumors about James Harden picking the 76ers and his close relationship with Michael Rubin. Michael Rubin clearly had to divest because he had a lot of close relationships with athletes that probably complicated his investment in the Philadelphia 76ers. If there was an incentive to pick the 76ers because he's friends with Philly ownership and ends up being a 76ers fan, yeah, that's worth looking into. But I don't feel like. And I think that this should be the standard Unless totally disproven after a thorough investigation. I don't think that the number attached to his tops deal would be any greater or less if he picked another team. And I think to suggest that is pretty irresponsible. And I think for teams that ended up losing teams that went on the record saying, LeBron, LeBron can make his own decision. And then when he makes a decision to just suggest, hey, look into the tops thing is sore loser behavior, bad ball.

[Bill Simmons]

Fair enough to come away with that appraisal, But I'm going to take a couple of steps back here and frame this for you in a different way so that you understand exactly what's happening in the NBA. NBA right now. And I'm going to go over to where Ballmer is.

[Chris Cody]

Do you know how much money you have to have for other NBA owners to be scared of your money? Because what's happening with Ballmer right now is other NBA owners are scared of what he will do when he goes to court and is like, what about your rules? Why do I have to respect what your rules are? I respect your rules because we're all in the idea that the governance applies to everybody, and that's how it's fair. But I don't respect your rules because I'm doing this on the side and I'm denying that I'm doing it. It's all alleged, and I'm going to keep denying it. If rich people don't yell and scream

[Bill Simmons]

about What Ballmer's doing and they don't

[Chris Cody]

yell and scream about what Rubin's doing. Is it cuz they're all doing it? Is it cuz they're all competing in these shadows around? Yeah, the rules are for everybody else.

[Mike]

I think that's how Adam Silver has been able to keep this the way that it is and keep legacy media from reporting it fully is because if I'm another owner, what. What Steve Ballmer has done allegedly through Pablo's reporting is an advantage, is unfair. It's cap circumnavigation. It's not fair to the other owners. And if I were another owner that was doing everything above board, I'd be losing my mind about it because this league legislates that equality with that salary cap. I think the reason why we're not hearing about it from the other owners is because they're all kind of doing something like this and they wish this story would go away.

[Tony]

Isn't that just a reflection of real life and how the elite of elite work in the shadows in ways that we can't understand it?

[Bill Simmons]

I'm not exactly naive. I've worked in this business for a long time. A no show job paying tens of millions in dollars outside of the salary cap allegedly stunned me.

[Mike]

Right? But LeBron absolutely already showed up. He went to fanatics fest. He's doing his part here. This is not a no show job. I think LeBron James picked the 76ers and it maybe took me a little bit to realize this because it's the best possible choice for him in the Eastern Conference to win a title this year. That is an incredible starting five. If you want to look into any business interest that might be a little shady is the fact that not the first time in his career, by the way, he's got a clutch sports guy on his team and Tyrese Maxey. And maybe we all should have paid more attention to the Maxey thing, to the Mike Gansey thing, but I think it's pretty evident.

[Amin Elhassan]

Did you know that the coaches clutch sports also.

[Mike]

I think it's pretty evident, yes. There's all these sorts of things. But guys, like, if we were looking at this from a roster construction standpoint after they added Jaylen Brown, that team makes a lot of sense. Way more sense than any of the other destinations. I think we just didn't think he'd end his career in a Philadelphia 76ers uniform because it's random.

[Amin Elhassan]

How shitty does Bronny feel right now? He left Bronnie to go play with the guy who says, bronny sucks.

[Bill Simmons]

The thing that I love about the entire transaction, beyond the mystery, there are many things that I love about it. One of them is, holy shit, the oldest player in the league is going to have us all watching. Is this going to be a champion or is it going to implode? That's wildly interesting. Like, they're going to make the regular season interesting.

[Chris Cody]

Still, at his age, LeBron James is traveling around still making the regular season interesting. Because while you can say it's a good basketball fit, you're asking LeBron to play the four. And I thought he didn't want to

[Bill Simmons]

do much of that anymore.

[Tony]

Defensively, he doesn't want to, but I think offensively, putting him in the dunker spot, in the pick and roll spot, he saw that happen in LA and was like, okay, maybe I don't like being the third person, but also, this is a really good spot for me to age.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay, so this is funny, all right. Because this is a really good spot for me to age. Ignores.

[Chris Cody]

You have to trust Embiid. And we get real forgetful with him all the time. In the 50 games, in the half of the games, 38 games that he's available, in the half of the games that he's available. What happened to them in the playoffs is they beat Boston because he was healthy for four games, and then they couldn't do anything because he can't stay healthy for more than four games.

[Mike]

Right. I think. I think Amin did a great job of framing that as Embiid is viewed as a luxury, and they have assets that if the Embiid thing totally gets nuked, they have ways around that. But it's not like the other destinations that were in this didn't have question marks. There are question marks about Giannis's health. There are question marks about Golden State. You mentioned earlier that the Philadelphia 76ers came out of nowhere. No, they didn't. They were always reported as a finalist. If he went to the Chicago Bulls, that's a team coming out of nowhere. This team was always in the mix. It wasn't taken seriously. The relationships that he had via Clutch and Mike Gansey were not looked at at the same way because no one thought he'd end his career at this random destination that ended up being the best starting five for him to latch onto.

[Amin Elhassan]

I don't think Embiid can be viewed as a luxury. They are not a championship contender. If Embiid is not correct, it's not like a guy you sprinkle on saying, oh, this would be a bonus if we get Embiid.

[Dan Levitar]

No, no, no, no.

[Amin Elhassan]

You only win if Embiid is playing.

[Chris Cody]

That is absolutely true what he's saying. You can be interesting, you can be competitive. You ain't winning the title. You're not winning the title against OKC and San Antonio. You're not winning the title. If Joel Embiid doesn't look like Joel Embiid has to look that it doesn't become the best starting five unless Embiid is a part of it.

[Mike]

Respectfully, I don't know when the injury is going to occur to a Joel Embiid. I just assume at some point there is going to be an injury because I have history as my guide. But the thing that we are not paying enough attention to is the young assets they have on that roster to be able to dig themselves out of a catastrophic situation with Joel Embiid. And that team plays pretty well without him historically. So I. You have Vijay, you have Maxi. Hell, you have Jaylen Brown. You have so many assets and flexibility to go out and reshape that roster should Embiid become a huge.

[Tony]

Are you seek to trade Embiid?

[Mike]

I'm saying that you can staple a VJ to Embiid like you're not buried. Hell, they just moved the Paul George contract and got Jaylen Brown back in there. I think the days of overlooking what Philadelphia can do with their roster are from a bygone era.

[Tony]

I think he was a decent asset though, Paul George, because he had a decent year when he did come back.

[Mike]

Simmons called it the second worst contract in the league, only behind Joel Embiid.

[Tony]

That's the problem though. Joel Embiid is the worst contract in a guy who doesn't play.

[Mike]

What I'm arguing is you can staple vj, who is an asset, who is desirable, who is good enough, who is ascending to two staples.

[Tony]

For two years of LeBron, you let go of potentially a lifetime with VJ for two years.

[Mike]

I'm not saying, I'm not saying it's without its question, but what I'm saying is it's not the albatross that we're presenting it as.

[Amin Elhassan]

You can't do that like you get LeBron because it's okay. We have this two year window here to just super maximize everything. And if it doesn't work in this two year window, great, we have a future between Maxi Edgecomb and Brown.

[Mike]

Okay, but James Harden in Cleveland, Giannis's health in Miami.

[Amin Elhassan]

Where is Harden? He hasn't Even signed.

[Mike]

There are questions about all these teams. This wasn't like, like any of his previous decisions. The money wasn't there. And there were question marks about all these rosters. What makes it interesting is the question of, is this going to work with Philadelphia guys? There wasn't a single place, including Miami, where you wouldn't have question marks about the fit and their ability to do it. Yes, it shifts the odds. No doubt. Marketplace reflects that. The market price on DK Sports reflects that. Wherever he went, probably would have been the title favorite. But there are questions about LeBron. There are questions about every single fit here.

[Amin Elhassan]

I think there's major question marks. I told you on Friday, Dan, I may not have said it on the main show, but I thought the most interesting place for him, for him to go to would have been to go play in Philadelphia if it weren't Miami. But that doesn't come without major questions. The Embiid part is obviously a huge question, and I think Jaylen Brown's a major question, too. Like, I. I'm just as interested to see what it looks like where Jaylen Brown, who very clearly called this his favorite season because he got to be the guy and his reward for being the guy and having a successful season is here. You're now the third, maybe the fourth option.

[Chris Cody]

Mike is going to have to help

[Bill Simmons]

me here with what he's seeing in Philadelphia's young people that I'm not seeing because I was so tired of betting on Kelly Oubre and Dominic Barlow to do anything in.

[Tony]

Guys are gone now.

[Bill Simmons]

I think they might be.

[Chris Cody]

And I think Andre Drummond is also gone. So Mike is trusting Johnny Broom and Adam Bona to be what for sure.

[Mike]

Broom also might get moved. No, no, guys. I've said Vijay Edgecombe a ton of times. I think it's a huge desirable asset at a rookie salary wage. And you can staple that to a bad contract. You can just trade it with other money that makes sense. I think he's super desirable. I think he showed you in the playoffs that he's an ascend, an ascending talent.

[Tony]

I think the interesting thing is how they're going to play Embiid this season or how they're going to play LeBron this season. Is LeBron going to play back to backs? Is he going to play a normal ration of games? Is Joel Embiid? If I put the over under at 39 and a half games for you, do you think Joel. Joel plays more than that.

[Mike]

This is Tony, you know, that moment at a party or a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks.

[Tony]

I know it. Well, it's usually when I show up, everybody goes crazy.

[Mike]

Yeah, you usually take all the credit for it, but it's because. Because Tony usually walks in with Cuervo. Walk in like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cuervo is a thing that turns hanging out into this is the night.

[Tony]

It has that effect on people.

[Mike]

It does. You usually take the credit for it, but again, it's the Cuervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hootin and hollerin'. Keep it Cuervo.

[Tony]

Keep it Cuervo, baby.

[Dan Levitar]

Summer is pretty much my favorite time to be a sports fan. The biggest soccer tournament of the summer just wrapped up. Next up, baseball's on every night. Racing never takes a weekend off. And my calendar basically revolves around first pitches, green flags, and whatever game everybody's texting about. I realized I'm the MVP of my group.

[Mike]

I'm always the friend that says, hey, I've got it. I've got a place. I've got some ice cold Miller Lights. I got the tv. I got a big comfy blue leather couch.

[Chris Cody]

Come on over.

[Dan Levitar]

That's the behavior of a Miller Time mvp. I almost never watch the big ones alone. I'd much rather be with my friends. And if I am alone, we're texting. We're sipping on our Miller Lites.

[Mike]

Toasting the day, toasting the big games.

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[Mike]

Carolina is gonna get this moment just because they waited us out. Jonathan Sasso But I love that Buffalo is going to replace the Panthers in this situation, because those fans absolutely deserve it. Not going to the playoffs, what, 14

[Amin Elhassan]

straight years deserve it. We deserve it.

[Dan Levitar]

I don't care.

[Mike]

We won twice our I deserve a

[Amin Elhassan]

third one before they deserve anything.

[Mike]

I just heard paying attention to hockey. I live in a swamp. Give me three in a row.

[Amin Elhassan]

Buffalo deserves. Eat shit, Buffalo. I care about Buffalo.

[Mike]

This is the Dan Levatar show.

[Chris Cody]

This is the problem with all of this, right?

[Bill Simmons]

Man, Edgecombe looked good whenever Embiid wasn't playing, but the Sixers weren't very good. Like, it was Edgecombe and Maxey, and

[Chris Cody]

they were doing whatever they wanted so fast. So fast, the two of them. And like, oh, look, they're a nine seed.

[Mike]

All right, but now you have LeBron James and Jaylen Brown on that roster.

[Chris Cody]

Yeah, and I wonder. Yeah, it does matter. But the thing that I wonder about before we get to this Jayson Tatum sound that may or may not have been passive aggressive is you've seen the tweets about Jaylen Brown. How did he like being Robin in Boston? Now he's gonna be Alfred in Philadelph.

[Dan Levitar]

That's a bar.

[Chris Cody]

Because, you know, you just all those guys, highest end of the league in usage rate when they play. All of them.

[Amin Elhassan]

All of them.

[Chris Cody]

Jaylen Brown, Maxey, LeBron, Embiid, everybody but Edgecombe. Edgecombe never looks better to me than when no one's out there playing with it.

[Mike]

Right? So we've highlighted that throughout this entire process. It turns out rich Paul and LeBron James were telling the truth. Everything that they said kind of played out. And part of the reason why he didn't pick Miami. You can have your conviction and say, I still believe that Miami is a better fit for LeBron James. But part of the reason that he didn't pick Miami, according to the people that matter, was he'd already done that. And to go back to a place that you won wasn't as appealing because you can undo some of the feelings there. That's one of the reasons that he gave for not picking Miami. I think we can understand that.

[Bill Simmons]

I want to, though, correct you, or I guess it's not even a correction,

[Chris Cody]

because I agree with you in general about them telling the truth, but what they were doing more is shaping, shaping it. They were shaping it, and so it became the truth.

[Amin Elhassan]

But what.

[Chris Cody]

It's not the truth that he didn't want to go back to the Lakers and continue to do things there. They didn't want him there anymore. And they immediately shaped it as I want to see what else is out there. And that's when the money talk started to change after they sniffed around. Because I'm telling you, these things happen months before we hear about them.

[Mike]

It's just when I look at it and I separate myself from the emotion and look, the homer in me thinks that if he picked Miami, Miami would have been in that conversation in the east and could have added to the roster and ultimately would have been in the mix as a champion. I really believe that. I wish he picked Miami. I'm saying that right now. But if I can separate myself from that emotion, I think LeBron James picked the best possible landing spot of the teams that were reported to be in that mix to help him win a championship this year. And he said as much in his statement.

[Amin Elhassan]

Yeah, I don't know about all that true stuff. This feels to me like one of those, this is my truth, so this is my truth, so this is my reality.

[Mike]

Then it can be a rationalization, but it's not. We're debating whether or not it's the right fit. And for that to. For that to be clear consensus, then to suggest that there's a tops thing or something that's not above board going on here just sounds like loser talk to me.

[Amin Elhassan]

Like, Mike, you think LeBron made his decision 1:00am Friday morning?

[State Farm Announcer]

Morning.

[Amin Elhassan]

That's when he finally made it.

[Mike]

1:00am No, I mean, it's been reported that shams message. Pat McAfee, hey, you're going to want me on later today. So, I mean, these deals probably came together and there was industry chatter. I remember I checked the DraftKings sports app one random day and the price on Philadelphia was really inflated. Post fanatics fest. And I was like, what happened here? There was crazy line movement and then it shrink back down.

[Bill Simmons]

Mike, I'm going to keep keep correcting your word choices as your word choices allow you to arrive at loser talk when you call it loser talk. Because you say suggesting and intimating asking questions isn't the same as suggesting or intimating.

[Chris Cody]

Being curious isn't the same as being furious. And this report from the Athletic on the Tops thing, timestamps on the post from LeBron James, tops, his ex account, post and shams all popped at 11:30 Eastern, but users received tops post notification first indicating Top sent its post seconds before the others.

[Bill Simmons]

It's particularly of note because parts of the Sixers organization were apparently surprised by

[Chris Cody]

James's decision, with a team source close to the process telling the Athletic that they did not learn of his choice to accept their offer until minutes before

[Bill Simmons]

the social media alerts.

[Chris Cody]

According to the company, this marks the first time a player move has ever been announced via trading card.

[Mike]

Right. And LeBron has always been on the cutting edge of that and has decided to announce where he's going in different ways. And I, I firmly believe 100% of my heart that he would have a top steal if he picked Cleveland, that he would have a top steal if he picked Golden State, or that he would have a top steal if he picked Miami. I know go there after repeatedly saying LeBron can make his own choice and to let it be known, hey, we're curious about this thing is not Miami Heat cold.

[Bill Simmons]

It's everybody's asking this question, Mike.

[Chris Cody]

We don't have to keep making it just the Heat because I'm hearing it for more than just Heat people. And I'm going to ask you the question again.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm going to ask it again.

[Chris Cody]

If tomorrow, hypothetically, someone reports as fact that the Tops deal is worth how much more do I have to make it than the average deal? Because it can be argued LeBron James is a bigger star than anybody and so he's worth any amount of money that you want to pay him for a Tops card. But where do I have to put the number to get your attention on saying, you know what? That is curious?

[Mike]

Nowhere. Nowhere. Unless he got more money to go to Philadelphia.

[Amin Elhassan]

We're not.

[Mike]

We're having an irresistible, irresponsible conversation. It's an irresponsible thing for a professional organization to posit that LeBron James picked a destination because of a tops.

[Chris Cody]

You're using posit. You're using words that aren't being used.

[Mike]

Okay. To curiously posit that he picked a Destination because of a top seal. He's the biggest star in sports. He was going to have an endorsement deal with Tops regardless. Just move on. He picked another team and he picked another team. That makes a ton of sense for a team or fan base to question what's going on here. When the guy at most could have made $8 million. It's not like the difference was $4 million. There's nothing shady going on here. If you want to look into fanatics and their monopoly over the sport, yeah, go right ahead. If you want to look into the James Harden signing of several years ago, go right ahead. But he picked Philadelphia on merit. There's a very strong argument for it. He didn't pick other destinations. He gave explanations as to why. It wasn't just basketball fit, though. If you have injury questions about Joel Embiid, you can have injury questions about Giannis Antetokounmpo. He picked Philadelphia because what he said was, this was the best roster to help me win. Now it was better than Miami's and he also didn't want to go back to Miami for some emotional reasons as well.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm going to pair that, as he says, on merit. On merit makes total sense. With the guy who's been covering LeBron as an expert since high school.

[Dan Levitar]

School.

[Bill Simmons]

This is a one off moment in the history of the league. We've never seen a player ever say the following things. I don't care about money. I don't care about my family. He doesn't even care that much, apparently about the city because it seems like he's going to live at least part time in New York.

[Chris Cody]

So I don't even know how to

[Bill Simmons]

frame it, because it is.

[Chris Cody]

And this is Brian Windhorst, who's covering

[Bill Simmons]

him since high school.

[Chris Cody]

Really truly unbelievable. And now Mike with a weekend to sleep on is like, I saw it coming all along. It's on merit.

[Mike]

No, I'm not saying I saw it.

[Chris Cody]

Makes total sense. While Windhorse is still on Monday saying, this is unbelievable.

[Mike]

Okay, well, if you're going at me for saying that this makes sense, I like my hand. It makes total sense. They did not come out of nowhere. They were a finalist, reported the entire time. And you could say not caring about money with whatever destination he picked because the money wasn't there to reflect his fair market value, he could have maybe made a couple more million dollars down here in Miami. That's it. So very clearly the money didn't matter.

[Bill Simmons]

I don't believe he doesn't care about money. You know why Cuz he's been telling

[Chris Cody]

me for 15 years publicly that it does.

[Mike]

He doesn't need to care about salary that he's getting because he knows I can get endorsement deals anywh.

[Chris Cody]

He didn't have to care about it for the last 15 years and he still cared about it every single time. Said, you will not pay me less than the maximum guys.

[Mike]

It's pretty obvious why he picked Philadelphia. He told us as much.

[Chris Cody]

I know, but Wayhorse is saying it's still unbelievable.

[Mike]

Yes, it's unbelievable. Look at it. Look at. Look behind you. Look at that Photoshop of him in a Sixers uniform. This is crazy. He's ending his career in Philadelphia. It's random. They weren't taken seriously as a leader this entire time. But I think with altitude on the situation, we get it.

[Amin Elhassan]

I do think that there's got to be a Laker fan after he signs for the minimum in Philadelphia who says you couldn't have played for the minimum one year with us, one out of eight, yet all the money in the world after you signed with us, you couldn't do it for one year. And let's see what other pieces we can put around you and try and win here like now, Philadelphia. You don't owe them shit. They don't owe you shit. Now is when you're going to be minimum salary guy.

[Bill Simmons]

This is the thing that I would say here, because the Lakers have been telling everybody who didn't get LeBron that where there are relationships, hey, there are some bullets you dodged there. And nobody has any questions about what he is on the court. Right? But what he brings off the court

[Chris Cody]

can be a handful for an organization. And. And there were plenty of Heat people who were not sold on welcoming all of that back to them. I would say the reason that this is them shaping the truth instead of just telling the truth is he also

[Bill Simmons]

wanted a place where he could make all the rules because they want him so badly again, because he likes to make all the rules when he goes to places. And he didn't get to do that anymore with the Lakers once they got Luca.

[Chris Cody]

And he got to do that when he went back to Cleveland, but he left Cleveland and came here. And I've told you some of the stories about Mavericks, Carter and all those guys asking for an assortment of things in 2010 that weren't allowed, that the Heat wouldn't go for, because why wouldn't you ask for them? You have all. Kawhi and his uncle just kept asking for an assortment of things that could or couldn't have been allowed, allegedly, because they. Because, hey, you put it on. You put the responsibility on the organization to follow the rules if it means you can have more money.

[Mike]

All right? So you're finding it. You're talking it out, and you're finding more reasons as to why he picked Philadelphia and more reasons why it makes perfect sense.

[Chris Cody]

The rules, making the rules. That's not being reported by anybody. It's not being said by anybody as. As the agent and the story shape the entirety of the narrative, because they can, at least in part, because they're

[Bill Simmons]

the only ones who have any real information, unlike Chris Cody.