PMS 2.0 1314 - THE LEBRONVERSATION: 72 Minutes With LeBron James LIVE In The ThunderDome Uncut & Unfiltered

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Pat McAfee Show – PMS 2.0 1314: THE LEBRONVERSATION

Release Date: March 26, 2025

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Introduction

In episode 1314 of "The Pat McAfee Show," hosted by Pat McAfee alongside AJ Hawk, the Toxic Table, and Tone Diggs, the spotlight shines brightly on basketball superstar LeBron James. The episode, titled "THE LEBRONVERSATION: 72 Minutes With LeBron James LIVE In The ThunderDome Uncut & Unfiltered," offers an in-depth and candid conversation with LeBron, delving into his illustrious career, personal life, and perspectives on the evolving sports landscape.

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Conversation with LeBron James

LeBron’s Performance at 40

LeBron James enters the conversation at the impressive age of 40, still performing at the highest levels in the NBA. McAfee initiates the discussion by highlighting LeBron's commitment to maintaining both his physical and mental health to sustain his performance.

Pat McAfee [08:33]: "Sir, you've been in the league 22 years longer than you were not in the league. You're in the league and you're playing like you're one of the best seasons you've ever had. Why is that, you think?"

LeBron James [08:44]: "I think obviously I've been in the game for a while, so I kind of know what to expect. And, you know, obviously, one, you got to take care of your body, but more importantly, got to take care of your mind."

Commitment and Love for Basketball

LeBron emphasizes his lifelong dedication to basketball, attributing his longevity and success to his deep love for the sport and unwavering commitment.

LeBron James [10:19]: "I'll be still playing, you know, at this level, if I wasn't in love with it or didn't commit to it."

Overcoming Early Life Challenges

The discussion transitions to LeBron's humble beginnings in Akron, Ohio, and how basketball served as both an escape and a means to uplift his family from challenging circumstances.

LeBron James [10:19]: "I was living in Section 8 housing with me and my mom... If I commit to this, I can figure it out for not only myself, but for my mom."

The "Cookie Story" with Pat Riley

A memorable and humorous part of the conversation revolves around an anecdote involving Miami Heat's Pat Riley and LeBron's favorite chocolate chip cookies. LeBron shares a lighthearted story about Riley limiting his cookie intake, symbolizing the disciplined culture within the Miami organization.

LeBron James [20:26]: "They had the same ladies all the time. They knew I love chocolate chip cookies... One flight, I got on, I looked at them... No more cookies on these flights."

LeBron's Views on NBA Culture and Media

LeBron candidly discusses the immense pressure and scrutiny he faces as a public figure, especially in the age of social media. He reflects on the constant comparisons to legends like Michael Jordan and the challenges of maintaining his reputation amidst polarized opinions.

LeBron James [12:18]: "It was like, I can be in the names of those guys. But it was also super fucking scary and intimidating too."

Pat McAfee [14:00]: "You've been in the public eye for so long... Why do you think that is the case?"

Balancing Off-Court Ventures and Basketball

LeBron addresses the complexities of managing his diverse business interests, including production studios and podcasts, while remaining focused on his basketball career. He credits his right-hand man, Maverick Carter, for enabling him to balance these responsibilities effectively.

LeBron James [65:09]: "I definitely got some great people in place, you know, my right hand man, Maverick Carter, he's unbelievable."

LeBron’s Family and Son Bronny's Development

A heartfelt segment centers on LeBron's son, Bronny James, discussing his son's aspirations in basketball and the pressures of being a second-generation athlete. LeBron expresses immense pride in Bronny's resilience and dedication, especially after overcoming a significant health scare.

LeBron James [50:08]: "As a dad, I'm just super proud of him, period. As a young man, super proud of his development."

Future of LeBron’s Career

LeBron contemplates the longevity of his career, emphasizing that as long as his passion for the game remains intact, he will continue to play. He underscores the importance of mental sharpness and physical health in determining when to retire.

LeBron James [53:09]: "It's my mind. If I could continue to... I'm all about the process."

Interaction with Other Sports Topics

The conversation briefly touches upon NFL player movements, specifically Russell Wilson's transition to the New York Giants and Stefan Diggs' contract with the New England Patriots. LeBron shares insights into these changes and their potential impacts on the teams involved.

Pat McAfee [04:40]: "Russell Wilson goes to the Giants. Stefan Diggs goes to the Patriots. Who's the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tone?"

Tone Diggs [07:01]: "Right now it's Goateed Mason Rudolph. And we are just, you know, waiting on Aaron."

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Discussion on NFL Moves

The show transitions to brief NFL updates, covering significant player transfers and contract signings. Highlights include Russell Wilson's move to the Giants with a substantial guaranteed contract and Stefan Diggs' acquisition by the Patriots.

Pat McAfee [04:58]: "Russell Wilson is now a member of the New York football giants. Unbelievable. 10 and a half million dollar guaranteed on a one year deal up to 21 million in incentives."

Tone Diggs [07:01]: "Who's the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers?"

Pat McAfee [07:05]: "Aaron Rodgers is still making his decision. Let's assume that that comes at some point, relatively, because it's going to have to."

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Closing Remarks

As the episode draws to a close, Pat McAfee reflects on the depth and candidness of the conversation with LeBron James, expressing gratitude for the insights shared. The host encourages listeners to engage with the content on various platforms and anticipates widespread reactions to the unfiltered discussion.

Pat McAfee [79:54]: "Cannot wait to see the big reaction coming from it. ... It was a big conversation."

LeBron James [79:57]: "I'm clapping for y'all. I appreciate that, man."

Pat McAfee wraps up by teasing upcoming episodes, including a planned conversation with Steve Nash, and reiterates the unique and engaging nature of their discussions with sports legends.

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Notable Quotes

• LeBron James [08:44]:

  "I think, you know, seeing what our team is capable of doing, you know, even before, you know, the big acquisition of picking up Luka, I thought we had a good chance of making a good run."

• LeBron James [10:19]:

  "I've had an opportunity to be able to be blessed with a, with a crazy God given talent. And a lot of us are, to be completely honest, when you become, when you find your niche in sports, you know, there's a lot of people that are born with unbelievable talents."

• LeBron James [20:26]:

  "They knew I love chocolate chip cookies. So they would get on, and I would, hey, soft, soft, soft. With a little crispy edge."

• LeBron James [50:08]:

  "As a dad, I'm just super proud of him, period. ... his development is skyrocketed."

• LeBron James [65:09]:

  "You know, my right hand man, Maverick Carter, he's unbelievable. He's a dog."

• Pat McAfee [08:33]:

  "Why is that, you think? Is it comfort? Is it what. What is it about this year?"

• Pat McAfee [79:54]:

  "We can't wait to hear your thoughts on it all."

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Conclusion

This episode of "The Pat McAfee Show" offers an unparalleled glimpse into the life and mindset of LeBron James, blending professional insights with personal anecdotes. The unfiltered and honest dialogue provides listeners with a comprehensive understanding of LeBron's enduring legacy, his approach to basketball, and his role as a family man and public figure. The conversation not only highlights LeBron's achievements but also his vulnerabilities and the principles that have guided him throughout his career.

For those who missed the live session, the full uncut conversation is available on YouTube, ESPN Plus, and TikTok Live.

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Engage with the Podcast:

Use the hashtag #thelebronversation on X to share your thoughts and reactions to this in-depth conversation with LeBron James.

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Note: Advertisements and non-content sections have been intentionally omitted to focus on the core discussions and insights.

Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello beautiful people, and welcome to our humble abode, the ThunderDome on this LeBronNation Wednesday, March 26, 2025 this program starts now. Big day that it is. Obviously, we are incredibly lucky that we get to talk about the sports world every single day. We can't thank you enough for allowing us to do this. It is literally a dream job and just yesterday we got a chance to catch up with a dream guest. Ladies and gentlemen, this is something that I think a lot of people have been seek or hoping for for a long time. If you host a talk show, having conversation with notable human beings is like a part of the gig. Getting a chance to talk to these greats is a dream part of the gig. To get to learn from the people, to get to kind of meet the people that you know and the people that kind of make the world run and the sports world kind of drive day to day. We are incredibly lucky that we get to chat with these people. And we take every single opportunity and we try to hold it with the most amount of gratitude and appreciation that could possibly, possibly be had. Because not, not everybody just has time to come talk to a bunch of dumbasses. Like for instance, for LeBron here, he's playing the Pacers tonight and he'll get to the arena shortly here and we'll learn about that in a conversation we had with him. He flew in yesterday after the show ended, drove from the airport to the Thunderdome, which is like our drive because we're on the opposite side of where the international airport is. So flight from wherever comes in long time, hops in black suv, drives an hour around the city to get to where we are and then comes, comes in here and spends 2, 3 hours and an hour and 15 minutes chit chatting with us on the show. And I saw a bunch of people say, well, why isn't it live? Why is it he's in the middle of a basketball team, he's got a game tonight against the Indiana Pacers. And the fact that he took any amount of time out of his life at this stage of everything to come chat with us, incredibly thankful. We covered damn near everything, damn near everything in this chatter and obviously we're going to run it just straight through. So it's an hour and about 12 hour and 15 minutes uncut. There are some pictures that have been put on top of it. But I think this is going to be a convo where you're going to learn more about a man who has been a superstar since he was a kid than maybe Ever. I don't want to do too much, but I think we learn a lot about this guy and we're so incredibly thankful. The talks at table is here. Bruce Brown sitting in for Boston Conner, who traveled back home with Tak for the rest of the week. Send some love to Connor and talk for sure. Schmidt here. Ty. It was a big convo.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Unbelievable. I mean, you mentioned it. We've done so many cool things, but for whatever reason and, and you didn't even get like, like he was so comfortable when he got in here, which was so awesome. But like, you didn't even have the chance to really be like starstruck. Like, I mean, you said it. Been watching LeBron since, for my entire adult life, since I was like 12 years old. It was, it was incredible. It was by far one of the coolest things we've ever done.

[Pat McAfee]

I've seen him on the court, obviously. I've seen him on tv. I've seen him play. Much taller than.

[AJ Hawk]

For sure.

[Pat McAfee]

He's so tall. Yeah. Nine year NFL vet Darius, Darius J. Butler. He's so tall.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And I think you, you kind of, you go watch the games and all the NBA guys are standing next to the guys, you know, and we talk about how big LeBron is. Like on a LeBron, 6 foot 8, 6 foot 9. This guy's huge. Then he walks in, it's like, oh, yeah, he is fucking gigantic. This guy is a tall lad. Also, just like the way he operated was like so, like just human, you know, And I thought that was incredibly impressive of him because he's walking into a building he does not know, into a bunch of people that he's never met before. And he was welcoming and cool with everybody. And it did feel like from moment one, it was like, oh, we're gonna have a great convo here.

[Darius J. Butler]

Great convo. Like you said, super comfortable. Almost like you were in a locker room or a barbershop, just shooting the shit. More open than I've really seen him on any platform that. Outside of any platform that he's on, you know, obviously the shop and other things like that he's mind the game and things like that, that you hear him speak, you know, with no cut, so that it was great. So, I mean, I can't wait to rewatch it because having the conversation was one thing, but now I've been able to rewatch, I'm sure I missed some things. And you mentioned it. We kind of hit on most things that, you know, you would ask if you had a conversation with bron and he was pretty open about it. You mentioned he's been, you know, in the spotlight since he was 15, 16 years old and he's kind of around our age, but he's had to deal with so much before us and be on such a bigger stage. So it's gonna be dope to see. I think it'll be dope for the people to see and I think it'll be a lot of things taken from it going.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think there's going to be a lot of reaction.

[AJ Hawk]

I think that's safe to say.

[Pat McAfee]

I think, I think, yeah, yeah. I think the Internet is about to eat because of everything that happens here. Now before we get to that couple of quick NFL notes, let's go to 1/2 of the hammer down Cowboys. AP Tone AP Tone you know how I know Russell Wilson isn't going to be the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers?

[Tone Diggs]

How's that?

[Pat McAfee]

Because Russell Wilson is now a member of the New York football giants. Unbelievable. 10 and a half million dollar guaranteed on a one year deal up to 21 million in incentives. Obviously we saw a rebirth of Russell Wilson in Pittsburgh year. It didn't end the way anybody wanted it to end, but I think he showcased the fact that he still got it. Day Ball not only brings in Jameis Winston a couple weeks ago, now brings in Russell Wilson. They were in on Matthew Stafford, they were in on Aaron Rodgers. The New York Giants understand the situation over there. We got to win now. We need a veteran quarterback that's going to be able to do so. They have two in their quarterback room with Tommy Cutlidge also hanging out as a third stringer. Good luck to Day Ball. Good luck to Russell Wilson. Malik Neighbors has a new quarterback in the building and actually a couple of them also news Staphon Diggs takes a trip up to New England. He is now a member of the New England Patriots. Last year was on the Houston Texans got injured, but I guess he's back fully healthy, they're saying.

[Darius J. Butler]

Well, I would say fully healthy. He is moving, moving well, running routes, pulling sleds, doing full workouts down there with Dr. Reef. He trains down in South Florida. He's always been a worker. He's always been a grinder. And Drake May, who was he compared to during the draft process coming out like a lot of young, big athletic quarterbacks are compared to Josh Allen. And obviously Stefon Diggs played a huge role in Josh Allen's development to become the MVP quarterback that he is now. So I'm sure Mike Vrabel wants to see that same jump with Drake Mays play. So getting a professional wide receiver who's used to being the guy getting open, catching balls in big moments, I think this is a pretty good move from New England. And salary wise, it kind of looks like a one year deal if they. If they want to get out of it after one year. And also good money for Stefan, if he can make it work and stay there.

[Pat McAfee]

In New England in a variable culture, we assume Stefan Diggs will be able to just jump right in. I think a lot of people in Houston, his teammates, have come out and said how much they enjoyed being his teammate. Whenever the conversation obviously with Buffalo went the way it did, Minnesota went the way it did, teammates have come out and said positive things about Stefon Diggs, and obviously, as a football player, he is an absolute dog. But Russell Wilson goes to the Giants. Stefan Diggs goes to the Patriots. Who's the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tone?

[Tone Diggs]

Right now it's Goateed Mason Rudolph. And we are just, you know, waiting on Aaron.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Obviously, Aaron Rodgers still making his decision. Let's assume that that comes at some point, relatively, because it's going to have to. Speaking of all the soonness that needs to take place, we need to showcase the greatest conversation we've ever had. Ladies and gentlemen, we got a chance to catch up with the King yesterday. It is time for the debut of the LeBron versation. Ladies and gentlemen, Goat and I would say child stars. Okay. Nobody ever talks about that. Been famous since a teenager. Basketball, obviously, in life as a whole. Fucking dominating through and through. Just a kid from Akron, ladies and gentlemen, LeBron James.

[LeBron James]

I appreciate it, man. Definitely been seeing you guys up in here, man. So it's great to come here and be in the studio with you guys.

[Pat McAfee]

I told you, as soon as you pulled up out there, I. I walked outside, black SUV pulls up, turns around, your door opens and literally go, holy shit, you're actually here. I thought this was all bullshit. Thank you for taking time and coming and visiting and chatting with us. We're obviously massive fans. Dude, I'm 37 years old, obviously. You' little bit older than me, but watching you, because I have, you know, because my demo in high school was the one that was watching you dominate. You actually came to Pittsburgh, beat the Pennsylvania All Stars, which is your high school team and the whole story. So I followed your entire career. Massive fan, yours. Thank you for doing this.

[LeBron James]

I appreciate it, having me, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk about it. You're 40 years old now.

[LeBron James]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Sir, you've been in the league 22 years longer than you were not in the league. You're in the league and you're playing like you're one of the best seasons you've ever had. Why is that, you think? Is it comfort? Is it what. What is it about this year?

[LeBron James]

I mean, I think obviously I've been in the game for a while, so I kind of know what to expect. And, you know, obviously, one, you got to take care of your body, but more importantly, got to take care of your mind. You know, being a professional athlete, if your mind is not as sharp as possible or as clear as possible, then you're not going to be able to perform at a high level. You know, I think, you know, seeing what our team is capable of doing, you know, even before, you know, the big acquisition of picking up Luka, I thought we had a good chance of making a good run. So I wanted to make sure that I was there not only physically, but. But also mentally and just give to the season. But I felt pretty good, man, throughout the whole season. I know I had a little small injury that kept me out two weeks, you know, two weeks ago. But I'm back and I feel great.

[Pat McAfee]

We watched you do the sprint down the court thing. It was hilarious. Just like 40 years old doing the same thing you were doing whenever you're 18, 20, and we'll talk about the Luca trade and we'll talk about the Lakers, but you talked about, you know, having clarity in mind and feeling good going into the season because you knew could go on a run. There was that saying what you got. You spent like a million bucks on your body or I don't know where.

[LeBron James]

The hell that shit came from.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a very fair assessment.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, I don't know where that came from. But I mean, listen, man, I do take care of my body, but I don't. I have no idea where the amount of money came from. But I do invest in my body for sure. You know, trying to do a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Obviously, a lot of soft tissue work, a lot of massages, a lot of hyperbaric chambers, ice tubs, ice. Ice baths. Whatever I can do to continue to play at this level, man, I'm continue to do what I'm playing.

[Pat McAfee]

You've committed your entire life to ball, right? That's safe to say.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And you love the sport. Is that your drive, is how much you love the sport? Or why do you think at this age you're still going as there's no.

[LeBron James]

Way I'll be still playing, you know, at this level, Pat, if I wasn't in love with it or didn't commit to it, you know, I've had an opportunity to be able to be blessed with a, with a crazy God given talent. And a lot of us are, to be completely honest, when you become, when you find your niche in sports, you know, there's a lot of people that's born with unbelievable talents, but it's literally the ones that like really commit to their craft and literally commit to the sport in general. Being able to pour yourself into it is what you're going to get out of it too. So I figured when I knew I had a gift at like 13, 14, that I was out there on the court and I was running past guys and jumping higher and you know, making passes and doing things that the other 13, 14, 15, 16 year olds wasn't doing, I was like, oh, I'm. This could be it, this could be it, this could be it. And like I'm living in, you know, Section 8 housing as me and my mom, you know, we trying to figure it out and I'm like, oh shit, if I commit to this, I can figure it out. I can figure it out for not only myself, but for my mom. Get out of the, you know, out of the, you know, the inner city and make something out of it. So, you know, big time for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

And your friends, you've taken care of everybody. And I think that is one of the things that I love the most. You know, we have Rich on here multiple times. I love Rich. He's been very good to us. But just like the way you take care of your people, the way you've kind of done everything is admirable. It never gets talked about.

[LeBron James]

Obviously, I appreciate it.

[Pat McAfee]

And the chat, the chatter that surrounds you since you have been a guy since you were 13. And I remember the Hummer story and the shooting deal and everything back. What's going on now with the Nil, I mean it's completely.

[LeBron James]

Geez, right? I mean, I could imagine if I, if Nil was around when I was in high school, loaded up, I'd have loaded up big time for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, I think you already were, which is part of the problem. Yeah. But literally since that you were a superstar, since you're like a teenager, as soon as you get in the NBA, obviously the chosen one, here we go, this is it. You're in Cleveland, you immediately start getting compared to like greatest of all time.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And as a person that's in sports and we are all sports fans. We saw that happen, I assume at the beginning. Massive compliment. Is that a massive compliment?

[LeBron James]

No, it was, it was. I can remember like my first, my first game, you know, when I watched the replay my first game on national television, it was like, will he be one of the one name guys that ever played this game? It was like he was like Wilt, Kareem, Magic Bird, Jordan, all these first name guys. And then at the end it was like LeBron. And I'm like, fuck, I'm 17 years old. I was like, what the hell is this? Why you guys are giving me this already? It's like I haven't done anything. And it's like, like it was a compliment to be able to be, you know, in the, in the names of those guys. But it was also like super fucking scary and intimidating too. It was like, I'm just a small kid from Akron, Ohio. I don't even know what.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, very tall and at that point, I think you're a little bit more jacked at the time because the game called for it. But whenever you talk about it being a scary situation, you never let that image out publicly. And I think none of us ever saw you being scared. None of us ever saw you like kind of flapped at all. You were an unflappable force and you've been in the public eye for so long. I think you would probably admit that you probably some things up on the way, but you haven't really. You're like the, and I said it earlier, child star, like most people, especially you talk about Section 8 housing, coming from nothing to everything, being in the public eye at some point that is going to collapse a human.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

For you it feels like it hasn't. And there's been a lot of things said. There's been a lot of fires that you've been put into. Either you walked into yourself or thrown into. Why do you think that is the case? Do you think it's because your mom? Do you think it's because.

[LeBron James]

Well, I mean, obviously I give her a, a lot of credit for the way she raised me, the way she taught me, the things that she was able to instill in me. It was also me also just looking at her, the way she moved and the way, how, how determined she was to be able to make my life better even with the circumstances that we were growing up in. So I give her a lot of credit. I have some little league coaches too that, you know, taught me about not only just you know, playing the game and teaching me the game of basketball, but also being a young man, you know, throughout my, my small adolescent years. And then just like, to be completely honest, like I didn't want to my opportunity up. Like I, I knew that the statistics for an inner city black kid to be able to be in a position that I was in, especially for my hometown, it never ever happens.

[Pat McAfee]

Never.

[LeBron James]

It never, never works out either. It never happens. And if it does happen, it never works out, you know, and you know, it was a, I mean, I don't like, I want to throw him under the bus, but the only inspiration like we had was like Jerome Lane, the guy who like dunked and shattered the backboard that played for Pittsburgh. He was from Akron, Ohio. Like we saw that and we was like, oh shit, that's inspiration. And then I went through high school and all my boys know this too. Like I went through high school and we was playing against the inner city kids. Cause we went to an all Catholic high school. And fucking Jerome Lang was like hating on us. I was like, oh, this motherfucker, he's back in Akron hating on us, going against us. And I'm like, oh shit. He was like our only inspiration. We looked up to you. And I was like, you know what? I can't fuck this opportunity up, man. If I get the opportunity to make it, I gotta do what I have to do to put my city on, to represent my last name on my back, man. My family, my friends. And also it's sport. Sport has given us so much. I mean, I look around here, I mean, baseballs and NFL helmets and basketball jerseys and like, like seriously, like a putt, a putt putt. Like seriously, like it's given us so much. So like I, I, I couldn't, I couldn't mess the opportunity up.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, you've done, Hey, I think you figured it out. You've done good. Now we'll see what's left, you know, now the conversation is, how many years is he gonna play? You look like he could probably play forever. Debo has a question for you, kind.

[Darius J. Butler]

Of on that note. And one of the things people got on you about was when you went to Miami, you made go to Miami. I know some great things behind that as well. Me, lifelong Miami Heat fan, I loved it. But what was it like coming down there winning your first championship and what was that kind of load lifted off your back? You talk about being amongst the one name guys, championships obviously got to come with that. So what was that like going down there? And getting that done.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, I mean, listen, my aspiration was a lot bigger than just, you know, winning MVPs and, you know, being an All Star and. And, you know, whatever all the individual things is, before I even got to the NBA, I've always won. And it doesn't matter which level you win on. If you're in a winning environment, that shit carries on throughout the rest of your life. My first year ever playing organized sports, I won a Little League football championship that year and then backed it up with a basketball championship. Undefeated season. My second year, we did the same thing, you know, and I was league MVP in basketball and football. Through middle school championships, through high school, I won three state championships. You know, like, I was just always born winner. And I knew how to win because of the culture that I was around. I knew how it was supposed to be done. And at that moment, you know, my seven years in Cleveland, I had some good years, obviously, some great years. One was able to take the team to the NBA finals. I was 22 years old. I had a moment in Detroit where I went insane. 25 straight. 29 out of 30, you know, and took a team that. You look back at our roster, you're like, what the hell? How would that even possible?

[Pat McAfee]

There's a lot of those, but we don't want to dive into all of them. You were at the finals, like, 45 straight years.

[LeBron James]

You know what I'm saying? So, like. But it got to the point that that final season, I was like, I've maximized this potential. Yeah, I've squeezed all the juice out of this damn lemon here, and I know it. And in order for me to get to where I want to get to, I have to make a choice for my career going forward. And Miami was the best choice. You know, at that moment, I felt like it was the best choice for me. You know, the conversation I had with D. Wade, had with Bosh, had with Udonis Haslam, you know, D. Wade and UD had been there. They had won one, had beat Dallas. They had been in some. Some. Some. Some big, you know, playoff matchups with. With Detroit, where Detroit beat them, and then they beat Detroit, you know, and things of that nature. And then you look at the Big Four that Boston had. You know, everybody talk about the Big Three, but everybody always decides that for some odd reason, that Rondo wasn't as great as Rondo was. Yeah, it's always just the Big Three.

[Pat McAfee]

He's from Boston, not me.

[LeBron James]

They say the Big Three, but Rondo though, was. When he was A dog. He brought it all. He made it all work with those guys because Ray wasn't bringing the ball up. You had Ray flying around. You know, you have Paul when he get it at a certain spot, and Paul was a killer. And then you had KG was anchoring the defense, and also, you know, you throw it to the low post. But it all started with the mind, and that was. Was with Rondo. So for me to go down to Miami, man one, it was a terrifying experience for me. You got to think. I know a lot of people know it's the first time I ever left my Hometown. I was 25 years old. You got mad. My first seven years, even though I played for Cleveland, I still lived in Akron, you know, so for 25 straight years, I was.

[Pat McAfee]

Awesome house. You had an awesome house. We've seen that.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. So I'm comfortable. That is my comfort. My comfortability is being in Akron, Ohio. You know, I drive, you know, 30 minutes to Cleveland, play my games, and then I shoot right back down to Akron, and I'm good. So. So for the first time, it's like, I've always used the analogy. Like, I felt like this was my college moment. You know, I didn't go to college, so, like, going to Miami was my, you know, moment to basically get out the house with my parents. You know, I was going off to college, and I learned a lot, man, and shit. Two championships. Four. Four finals appearances, you know, two more MVPs, you know, and things that I could just. I can always look back on and say it was a hell of an experience.

[Pat McAfee]

And you guys were the Heatles, you know, that was. Yeah. You guys were selling out everywhere.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. Yeah. For sure.

[Darius J. Butler]

Well, while we on that. While we on that, you mentioned you didn't wait. And I forget which one of them it was, but they told a story about Pat Riley fucking with your cookie.

[LeBron James]

Yes.

[Darius J. Butler]

Is that true? Is that a real story?

[LeBron James]

No, it's a true story. Okay. It's a true story. Now, like, Riles wasn't. Like. It wasn't like, Riles was on the plane, and I was about to get my cookies, and Ryles snatched them out of my hand. You know how stories can become a little bit. They kind of build to Sasquatch at some point, but it was. I mean, I was. You know, there was a time where everyone knows I love fucking love chocolate chip cookies. Cookies. It's like my. My biggest vice specific. No, it was literally the plane that we were getting on. The. The. The ladies on the plane were making chocolate chip Cookies.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, holy.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. So they knew. Yeah. So they were making them and bringing them because they. We had the same. With the same ladies all the time. You know, it was a, you know, party of six. You know, they were rotating every time. They knew I love chocolate chip cookies. So they would get on, and I would, hey, soft, soft, soft. With a little crispy edge.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah, perfect.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, perfect. And I would get on, and they already knew. They bring me two cookies, and I'll get to gambling with the guys. And I got my cookies, and we good. And then one flight, I got on, I looked at them, and they looked at me, and I'm like, oh, those. That look didn't look familiar. And I asked him. I was like, we got the. He was like, no, we're not allowed to. No more cookies on these flights.

[Pat McAfee]

What?

[LeBron James]

And we all know where it came from. I looked at D. Wade. D. Wade looked at me. He was like. Basically, without even saying, he was like, fucking Ralph's done it again. Ralph strikes again. I was like, damn.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, I'm so. What was it like down there? Because they talk about the heat culture and Pat Riley and it being. And obviously him just saying, no more cookies.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

They be, oh, it's LeBron's cookies.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. He don't give a One thing about Riley. He don't give a. About nothing. Listen, if it ain't about that heat shield and covering that heat culture, you know, I mean, we see what's going on now. I mean, well, not anymore, but we see Jimmy and, you know, and it was at one point where even I left, and it was time for D. Wade to get paid, and. And he didn't want to pay D. Wade. And D. Wade left. I was like, oh, sh. When that happened, I was like, wade County.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah.

[LeBron James]

When Wade county had to leave and go to Chicago, I looked at the cookie situation. I was like, oh, shit. Maybe it wasn't that bad.

[Pat McAfee]

He lost the cookies.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. I was like, okay, fuck it. I mean, D weighs millions. And my cookies. I was like, okay, maybe I made it. I was safe. I was like, okay, it wasn't that bad.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk about the cultures, you know? Cause Cleveland, you talk about at the beginning of your career, trying making. Feeling like you had to go to Miami, obviously do that. You go back to Cleveland. A win one. That parade was bananas. And then obviously, out at LA, what is it about J.J. redick's culture that you have felt experienced, and obviously a couple games have not won, but fourth in the west, still on a playoff push. What is it about JJ Redick and his culture or what you guys have right now that you like?

[LeBron James]

I think the best thing about J.J. is that he's just a great podcaster.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he is. Yeah, he is. We learned a lot, brother. You guys were talking about, like when doubles here, then we round here, then.

[LeBron James]

He'S just a podcaster that for some odd reason became a head coach. And all because of me. You know, it's just the weirdest thing in the world. And those conversations have died down. But no, no, I think one thing about jj, man, he. He bleeds the game and he breathes the game of basketball every single day. He's one of those guys that. It's kind of just like me, like if we. If we lose a game or we didn't play up to par, there's no such thing as sleeping that night. There's really. There's no such thing as sleeping into the next match until the next game. And he's just determined to, like, he's a. He's a dickhead.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Gotta be.

[LeBron James]

And I love. And I love it. And I love it. And when I was a kid, I used to watch Duke. Now I realize it. I hated Duke when I was growing up. And then when I. Then when I got a little older and I started playing with Coach, I started matching up with Coach K. We played with, you know, I played with him for Team usa and then I was like, okay, I see why he's great. I see why he's great. I see why I hated J.J. redick. You know, I see why I hated Shane Battier. And then Shane came over to us in Miami and helped us win a championship. I was like, I see it. He's like the greatest guys slash dickheads that you ever meet.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that all from Coach K? You think JJ has a lot of Coach K in.

[LeBron James]

Absolutely, Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. He's just. He's meant for it, you know, and there's just some things that can't be explained. But when you got the it factor, it's just like, oh, yeah, he's still shoot ever.

[Pat McAfee]

Is he ever still?

[LeBron James]

Absolutely.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, Absolutely. Absolutely. He'll let us know for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Okay. Let's talk about a guy who made a shot the other day in warm ups that was. I don't know how it defied physics. I think Luca, he did this. He did the shot.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. Up over from the complete opposite.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. And then it. I don't know how that works, actually. Like science. I don't know how. But then he'll do one off the Jumbotron. Yeah, Here it is right. Here it is right here. You've seen this, obviously, I assume.

[LeBron James]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

He probably does this type of stuff every single day. What has it been like being his teammate? And I think it was the first game there was. You guys were calling it up or whatever, and you looked at Luca, and it was a big deal because you said, you don't change a damn thing. World change for you, actually, is what you said and then broke down. I think it was a big deal for people to hear you say, but obviously Luca as well. What has it been like, and why do you guys have such good chemistry?

[LeBron James]

I mean, his name is Luca Magic for a reason. And you see that. You see his play on the game. He's a very transcendent player. And you talking about that moment, that moment, you gotta think, you know, I can't put myself in his shoes because I've never been traded before, but I can have a sense and be a human being. To know you commit to a franchise for seven years, and you feel like, this is the place where I'm gonna be. This is my comfort. You know, I talk about my comfort before I went. Went to Miami, and then out of nowhere, bam, you just get traded. I don't give a damn where you're going. It doesn't matter who you're pairing with. That's a. That. That is a. That's a shock to your system. It's a shock to your system. And, you know, even though, you know, he was ready to play that moment, I feel like that had to be said, because he is still that guy, you know, in order for us to reach our potential. So he has to be that guy. He has to fit out, and we'll figure it out. Let us figure it out with you, you know, because we need you to be who you are. But it's definitely, you know, I lost a dear friend and a great friend and a champion, you know, duo with AD Miss him to death. But we was able to gain Luca Magic, you know, and, you know, I think both sides will.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot of people thought you two wouldn't be able to work together, because. Ball dominant, you know, LeBron James, too. Too much of a prima donna.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, that's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Not gonna let Luca come in and do the Lucas. Yeah, I'll be able to figure it out.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. It must be the idiots that don't know the game of basketball. Oh, my goodness. There's so many of those guys out there right now.

[Pat McAfee]

I would say your League. You're you, you. And your league has the most absurd chatter.

[LeBron James]

Oh my goodness, it really does. It is every single day. And then you realize you was like, I'll be looking at. And I hear it. I'd be like, like, you know, those guys, just a lot of those guys that played the game or did not play the game, it was just, they played the game. While they were talented, they, they. I don't think they ever thought the game. I don't think they were ever smart. I just think they were bigger and stronger and maybe faster at the time and they dominated and when it was over, it was over. You know, they don't. That's why I'm able to still play at. At 40 years old.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, that's what everybody talks about.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, My mind is just like, I can play the game because I can out think the guys out there. And as my athleticism has went down a notch, not a lot, but a notch, you know, as my athleticism has went down a notch, like, I'm able to still bring up other facets of my game to be able to still, you know, do what I need to do every single night.

[Darius J. Butler]

But.

[LeBron James]

But the talking heads of our sport.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh my goodness, it's a lot.

[LeBron James]

It's a lot.

[Pat McAfee]

Especially for you. I mean, you're in a much different situation than maybe any other human in history of sports, if I had to guess. And like I said at the beginning, it's a compliment, though. Like, they're immediately telling this teenager that we need to talk about him as if he is Michael Jordan, who obviously transcended the sport, changes sport forever and everything like that. But then it gets to the point where it's like, hey, this is a real conversation. And it almost immediately becomes divine, divisive. Do you. So this is an interesting concept here. You probably lost a lot of trust in media, I would assume, because of the things that happened. Not just what was said on tv, but what it led other people to probably think they should say.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[LeBron James]

I mean, it all started with the decision. It all started with the decision. The decision really, like, had me like sit back and like. Because people literally like, I give a. I give a moment. So the decision, you know, it was brought to me to be able to, you know, do something cool on tv, you know, do a kind of college style. Like I said, never had went to college. I was like, you know, this would be pretty cool, make the decision, put the hat on, but also, you know, raise $2.5 million for a great cause. You know, and also be able to make it cool. And the funniest thing is from that moment it was. Was December 2, 2010, was my first game back to Cleveland. So I stay at the hotel, stay at the Ritz downtown in Cleveland. And this one, I knew that it was. People did not even really care or didn't even understand the situation. They just wanted to be a part of the nonsense. I hit the elevator to go downstairs to the bus, catch the bus to go over to. I think it was the Q the Quick Alone's arena then. And the elevator opens, and it's two guys, random guys on the elevator. I don't. You guys can always pull this up. They used to have these F, U, K lbj T shirts, okay? Black T shirts, red letters. And I see the two guys. They see me, they say, oh, my God. Oh, no. Listen, this is. Man, we love you so much, man. We're just here. We're just here for the spectacle, man. We're just here for the spectacle. Like, seriously, we love you, man. And have a good. Get in the door. In the elevator, door closed. I was like, oh, yeah, those are.

[Pat McAfee]

Two white dudes, by the way.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. Oh, for sure. I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to say it because we're outnumbered right now. It was like, oh, my God, man. We fucking love you, man. Like, oh. Oh, shit. Don't. In the elevator closed. I was like, you know what? This is all part of the spectacle, and it's about to go. It's about to get haywire.

[Pat McAfee]

So the decision you think is whenever the conversation kind of changed a little bit about you.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. Because they just needed something. They needed something. Everything was so positive, you know? And I'm. And I gave them no reason to make it negative. It wasn't fucking up, but they needed anything, you know, I'm doing everything I need to do on the court. I'm not out in the streets. I'm not doing. I'm not being caught in all the. That doesn't respect the game and respect my craft. It was like, oh, you decided to go on TV and make a decision for your career. We got you. We got it. We finally got it. We finally made a little chink in the armor.

[Pat McAfee]

We got something.

[LeBron James]

We got something.

[Pat McAfee]

It's selfish.

[LeBron James]

It's selfish. He's selfish, mother. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And then that caught a little bit of fire, right? Because a lot of people don't like seeing people that are successful in anything, especially if somebody is taking happiness from them and their team. Which you were doing, obviously, with the Cavs. And then that just. You're saying from that moment is when. Until. Which leads obviously to you and Stephen. A. Hey, Legit. That feels like a moment that had been brewing for a long time.

[LeBron James]

He's like, on a Taylor Swift.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[LeBron James]

Tour run right now.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah, yeah, we're watching it. We're all.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah, we're all.

[Pat McAfee]

You're seeing it as well.

[LeBron James]

Just, you know, he literally. It started off with, I didn't want to address it.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah, sure.

[LeBron James]

I didn't. I didn't want to address it. I wasn't going to address it. But since the video came out, I feel the need to address it.

[Pat McAfee]

You would be. Not to talk about.

[LeBron James]

Are you kidding me? If there's one person that couldn't wait till the video to drop so you can address it, it's your ass. Like, seriously, I. It's. And, like, another. He. He completely, like, missed the whole point. The whole point. Never in my. Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport, criticize players about what they do on the court. That is your job. To criticize. Or to, you know, be in a position where, okay, if a guy's not performing, you know, that is all. That is all part of the game. That's all part of the game. But when you take it and you get personal with it, it's my job to not only protect my damn household, but protect the players, you know? And I think. And I think a lot of the media, including him, and I know he's gonna be happy as hell. He's gonna be smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about it. Oh, my God. He's gonna get home and grab some.

[Pat McAfee]

Ice cream out of the fucking freezer.

[LeBron James]

And sit in his chair and his tighty whities on the couch.

[Pat McAfee]

I hope. I hope at some point you two get. Do get a chance.

[LeBron James]

Like, relax, bro. Like, relax. Like, seriously, just, you know, how do.

[Pat McAfee]

You feel about the way the game is covered? New players are covered. Because this is a big topic of conversation with the NBA. We have Tyrese Halliburton who comes through. We love Tyrese.

[LeBron James]

Oh, he's.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, the man loves you, too.

[LeBron James]

Tyrese is great. Love that guy.

[Pat McAfee]

So Tyrese gave me the heads up, like, hey, LeBron, coming on your show is a massive ordeal because, like, Everybody in the NBA, like, does look up like, LeBron is our guy. Like, I think Pat Beverly told the story down at the bubble whenever everybody was like, we need to take a stand. And yada, yada, yada. And then I think he was. The person went up and said, hey, you. If you're playing, we're all playing. If you're not playing, we're not playing. But I think that's how everybody in the league feels about you. So congrats on that, by the way. Respect amongst your peers.

[LeBron James]

No, no, for real. Yeah. They had a. Respect. Respect for my peers. It means a lot. And I carry that, man. And. And I take that with a lot of responsibility. Because there was too many years went by when players did not have an opportunity to just speak and their voices to be heard or allow the narrative to get so much outside of sports. Like, if I listen, if I miss a game winner or if I don't show up in the finals, you know, like, I was supposed to versus Dallas in year one in Miami, you could say with whatever the fuck you want, you know, I should have been a lot better. I know. But, like, don't take it to, you know, my household or take it to what. What's going on. And other guys, like, I seen something within B where a reporter came into the locker room and started speaking about, like, I think his brother or something.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[LeBron James]

Like, how weird is that? Like, that's so weird. Like, why are we taking it to that point? And we're taking it to that point because people have gotten too comfortable. I think people in the media had gotten too comfortable, especially with our sport. It got too comfortable where, you know, back in the day, like, for sure you would never bring up Charles Oakley's brother.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[LeBron James]

Charles Oakley will smack you through his brother, Bernie Maxwell.

[Darius J. Butler]

All right.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. Mad Max. Like his name was Mad Max for a reason. It wasn't because he picked you up 94ft. It was because if you said something about Mad Max, like, he's gonna. He's gonna separate your jaw. And there was no repercussions from that. Like, we. They got to the point where they knew, oh, you know, these guys can't really do anything to us anymore because there would be a fine suspension. And, you know, or.

[Pat McAfee]

Or. And don't embarrass the league.

[LeBron James]

Don't embarrass the league. Or, you know, you. Now, here come your sponsors. They're coming after us or coming after you, and they're gonna be like, what are you doing? Like, that's when. That's when they decided they could, you know, thought. They thought.

[Pat McAfee]

So the conversation about old school basketball is a real thing. Like, because that's the new narrative now is like, it's A nostalgia issue. Issue. Like a lot of people who grew up in a different era of basketball and get introduced to basketball, they're gonna like that era regardless, no matter what happens in the future. You've played through what now three years?

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Three years back, whenever Koozie was doing no look passes. Yeah. The first ever no look Bash.

[AJ Hawk]

He's a dog.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, he was an exciting white, wasn't he? He was an exciting one.

[LeBron James]

He was that game. Who's that game for sure.

[AJ Hawk]

Boom.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But we're watching these highlights and I'll speak for you.

[LeBron James]

You for that. For that era.

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly. Thank you. You don't have to say this.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

I'll say this. I'll say this. Yeah.

[LeBron James]

Game for that.

[Pat McAfee]

I watched. I didn't. I grew up in Pittsburgh, so we didn't have an NBA team, so I was more NHL guy. But I would watch the Lake show at night because I couldn't sleep. So I did know the NBA, but not like I didn't follow it as closely. When I watched the last dance, I was watching a lot of highlights and I was watching people dribble a ball like this and I was like, I don't know how that works in modern battle basketball. I think you guys have played a couple different sports. I think there was a Koozie era of sports where a no look pass. Holy. Then there was an era where people were starting to get like nasty there some more.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, you asked Pistol Pete Marovich, he started coming in and started, you know, getting a little bit that. But then that the ball was hitting off guys heads and stuff. So they looking at him like, what are you doing?

[Pat McAfee]

Like, never see those low lights though. Only see the highlights. Highlights are the balance. Bangers survive. Then obviously Jordan comes in in and transforms everything. You know him, Duncan from the foul line. Massive ordeal. I made a whole brand off and he's flying now. Kids are like dunking from the three point line in high school. It's like there. It's just like the game has evolved.

[LeBron James]

So much, I think.

[Pat McAfee]

But there is like a nostalgia combo that takes place with you guys. This modern era. Do you feel that? How do you address that?

[LeBron James]

No, no, no, I definitely feel it. And I think, you know, we just have to recognize that evolution is just a part of life, man. Like, you know, you look at the, the hummer from the 1970s to the hummer of today, it's like, it's. You're gonna be like, okay. You might be nostalgic about it. You loved it in the 70s. But do you really want to drive that every day? Right now, in 20, 25, you're gonna get out the car and your goddamn neck and your back is gonna be hurting so bad. Like, seriously, you're gonna be hurting so bad, you're gonna be like, okay, you know what? This might be just a Sunday chill car. Like, I drive it up the street, get some ice cream, come back home.

[Pat McAfee]

But I refill it because it gets too much.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[LeBron James]

I gotta just start it up, let it just. Just crank the. Crank the gas for about two hours just to make sure it's still running. But, like, you know, like, we have to understand that there's. There's players and errors and things of that nature. Like, we get it, but, like, you know, I. You watch some of the. You know, you watch some of the NFL games as well, from the 70s and the 80s, and you got, like, you know, Jack Lambert and those guys, like, coming through, like, completely decapitates people. You know, like, murder Ronnie Lott. Like, Ronnie Lott tore his pinky off and then went to the sideline was like, just tear the rest of it off. I'm getting back out there. Like. Like, I get it. Like, those are nostalgic moments. But, like, the game. The game is different. And we should respect all eras in that era. You know, we can't be saying, okay, just because Wilt was great in the 60s and 70s that he'd be great now. And we also can't say to some of the guys, now, it'll be great. It is. What it is. Is respect that era and we move on. But the whole. Every single day that he's better. He's not better. He wouldn't. You trying to tell me Giannis wouldn't be able to play a NBA game in the 70s?

[Darius J. Butler]

He wouldn't be able to deal with.

[Pat McAfee]

Neither would you. Neither would you, Yanis.

[LeBron James]

Giannis antho would have 250 points in a game in the 70s. 250.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that koozie? When was Koozie playing Kooz? Locking up Giannis.

[LeBron James]

And that's no disrespect. Like, it's no disrespect, but, like, seriously, like, Kyrie Irvin, like, they would have.

[Pat McAfee]

Called him a witch. They would have called him a witch.

[LeBron James]

No, no. They would have told Kyrie, you. You're not. You know how they used to tell Lou Alcinder at the time that he couldn't dunk in high school games? They would have told Kyrie, you're not allowed to Dribble anymore. That's what they would have told him. Dribbling is outrude. They would have seen that.

[Pat McAfee]

How. So how tall are you?

[LeBron James]

I'm six, nine.

[Pat McAfee]

And how heavy are you?

[LeBron James]

I'm give or take in between 215 to 280. I don't know. It depends on the day.

[AJ Hawk]

Okay.

[LeBron James]

Depends on if you give him my cookies or not.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we're tipping too close to 280, LeBron. The Beatles are becoming a heavyweight battle. So six, nine.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's say you're two. You look very thin right now.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, yeah, I feel good.

[Pat McAfee]

So 215, 6, 9, 220. Could easily get to 260, though. I think that would play in a lot of different areas.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, come on. I could play just like I would be able to play in any year. It's funny, you hear some of them older guys like LeBron James couldn't play in this era.

[AJ Hawk]

Never been fouled by Bill Lambert before.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, I think I've seen, like, Dennis Rodman say that one time. He was like, didn't LeBron James. Not skilled enough. Yeah, not big enough. He's not. Nah. Doesn't weigh enough. He's not strong enough.

[Pat McAfee]

Can't handle it.

[LeBron James]

Nah. I'm like, okay, okay, okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk about you flopping all over the place. That's why people get mad.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, I know. Yeah, I know.

[Pat McAfee]

Now, why do you do that? Patrick Mahomes does the same thing. He's greatest of all time for us in the conversation. The greatest of all time. The rules indicate that. That if you're to hit him, he gets 15. No doubt. Is that same thing for you?

[LeBron James]

I wish. I wish because I am, like, literally over, like, the last five, six years. Why everybody. Everybody's been claiming I flop all the time. I'm not gonna. Bottom half of free throw attempts per game.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, they won't give you the whistle.

[Darius J. Butler]

You don't get the whistle superstar treatment.

[LeBron James]

You know, the funny thing is, I have a lot of teammates that be like, they come to the Lakers, and they'd be like, man, when I used to play against you, I used to think you got every goddamn call, and I hated it. And now that I'm your teammate, it's like, oh, my goodness. You don't get any calls. I'm like, hey, you know, don't worry about it.

[Pat McAfee]

Just.

[LeBron James]

Just keep playing.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I'll just like, you see me in the third quarter. I got good flop. I practice on this one last night because there's a video from the last dance where I think the ref says to Michael Jordan, he goes, I didn't see it. Michael, I am so sorry. I would never do it to you. Yeah, I believe you, Michael. Yeah, that's the. The clip.

[LeBron James]

Oh, yeah, I saw that. I saw that. And Mike was like, God damn it. Y'all saw that. Oh, we.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So you and. You and Michael at a good spot? Spot?

[LeBron James]

Who, me and Michael Jordan? Yeah, we're in a good spot. We don't talk.

[Pat McAfee]

Why not, you think?

[LeBron James]

Because I'm still playing. I think I'm still playing. I'm still focused on my craft right now.

[Pat McAfee]

When you're done, you think you two will be the. Can have a conversation?

[LeBron James]

I hope so. You know. You know, the funny thing is me, like, me and. Me and Kobe, besides are, you know, the late great Kobe, Obviously, me and Kobe never had a real relationship either until we was on the Olympic team. We had a great relationship there. Olympic Team 8, Olympic Team 12. But it was always competitive between us. We were always like, I was on the east coast, he was on the west coast. And it was like, even though we never. I fucked up one time in, you know, 09 and didn't beat Orlando, and I think it was 09, didn't beat Orlando and didn't get an opportunity to play him in the finals. But, like, until I became a Laker and then he retired, that's when our relationship, like, like, became really, really good. Yeah, you know, he, like, welcomed me, called me like, bro, anything you need in la, like, I got you. You're a Laker now. You family, you know, and we would have multiple conversations. He was obviously, you got sold him coming to a lot of games and things of that nature. And when I. When I passed him in the scoring record in Philly, you know, I think he had a tweet out there, like, keep on going. Like, keep transcending the game. Keep going, like. And that, like, meant so much to me. So, like, I think it's. Cause I'm still playing, you know? And MJ's. We all know MJ, even if you don't know him personally. He's one of the most ruthless competitors there is until I'm done and he doesn't have to look at me run up and down wearing the number 23. And every time my name is mentioned, is mentioned with his. He's like, I don't want to talk to you.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I'm on a golf course.

[LeBron James]

Don't talk to me right now. I'm on the back nine. Do not call me.

[Darius J. Butler]

It was great to see. See y'all at the top 75.

[LeBron James]

Oh, yeah, that was dope. That's. That's straight. That's straight. Respect, admiration. And just like, you know me for sure. I mean, like I said, I wear 23 because of MJ, you know, and that. That. The inspiration that he gave me as a kid at Akron, Ohio. That don't have much inspiration in your hometown. You look at something, it's got to be somebody in sports, somebody in music, somebody on the TV screen. So, like. Like Will Smith on Fresh Press. Fresh Fresh Press of Bel Air. Michael Jordan playing for the Bulls, Jay Z, Biggie and Tupac. That was like. Yeah, that was my inspirations. You know what I'm saying? Like, I. I needed that cuz I didn't have, like, language. Jerome Lang, he's like, hating on me and shit. So, like, you know what I'm saying?

[Darius J. Butler]

Kind of on that note, Bronnie, your son obviously had that inspiration in the home, and we've talked about it since years ago, wanting to play long enough to play with your son. So you obviously visualize how was the real moment with that happening? Cause I know me seeing it, you know, seeing the Griffeys there, just seeing it like, that was just an unbelievable moment. So what was that like for you, really actually being in it?

[LeBron James]

Like, you know, seeing that pop fly head towards Ken Griffey Sr. And then see Junior over there right before the ball got to his glove and he snatched it out the air and run back to the dugout and like, laugh at his pops. Like, that was a cool ass moment. And. And for that moment, that game open at the home opener versus Minnesota, and then just over there and see Griffey Jr. Man, the kid, and seeing his pops over there and us getting that picture at half court and then us going out on the floor and having that. That. That moment, I was. It wasn't even. I wasn't physically. I wasn't even there. I wasn't even there.

[Pat McAfee]

You're floating.

[LeBron James]

I'm floating. And I can only.

[Pat McAfee]

Dad right there.

[LeBron James]

I can only imagine where Bronnie was. I don't know. We haven't even talked about it yet. At some point we will. But I wasn't even there. Like, I was. So. I wasn't. I might have been in the rafters. I might have been at home. My body may have been at home watching the game, watching the moment. I completely was not there. And. But damn, that was an unbelievable moment, man, for. For. For Me to be able to, like, have that dream, be able to speak it into existence for it to come to fruition, for my mom and my wife and my. My daughter and my. My youngest son to be there. It was like, you know, I started thinking about everything from what the hell he went through not less than a year before with his. He almost died, his cardiac arrest. Man, that came out of nowhere. Seemingly. That came out of nowhere. It was a. It was a birth defense effect that practically, you know, quite honestly, if he never played sports or he never, like, started to become, you know, strong and run fast and all those stuff, we probably would have never. We would never have to worry about it. But as he got stronger and things of that nature, it was just something inside his heart that, you know, was just pounding at his heart and pounding at his lungs that unfortunately we had the incident. And thankfully, you know, a lot of these kids we've been seeing a lot lately in sports, not only in basketball, but in football. And unfortunately, we was able to catch it. And to all the families out there that haven't had the opportunity to catch their kids before, it gets to the point where they're not here anymore, like, to see that happen to Bronny and for him to be able to play that same year after that happened, you know, at usc and then less than a year later, be drafted by the Lakers. And then in that fall, we go out there together. So that's why I wasn't there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah.

[LeBron James]

Like, I was. We walked in together, but I. I was not there.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a dad moment. That's really cool. People forget, you know, you're only one name now, LeBron, but you're still a human, too. And I assume for sure, you know, your baby boy. Yeah.

[LeBron James]

You didn't get a chance to experience his dream.

[Pat McAfee]

And then obviously that led to the thing with Stephen, A talking about him and how critical everybody has been of Bronnie. And I think that the pressure that a second generation's through Star has on him.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

His whole life he's had that. It feels like he is very. I mean, he's like a 55 year old. It looks like the way he kind of handles it all. And I think you've even said that as well. But how about his development? We had Rich Paul on the day after the draft.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Because there's a bunch of rumors about Rich. Paul was telling teams, hey, you draft him, we'll send them Australia. There's a lot of those types of things happening. The Suns were involved. There Was a chance they could get you, but he ends up with the Lakers with you.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And obviously, it's a whole storm. Like. Like LeBron James is bullying.

[LeBron James]

Blah, blah, blah.

[Pat McAfee]

Everything. The way it always goes. Of course, this guy's not good enough. This guy's not this. He does start out a little bit rough, but now, I mean, just dropped 39 last night in the G League. I think he had, like, a double double or something. He had his best game in the NBA last week. He's obviously getting better and better. You have to be loving every moment. And how proud of Bronnie are you from what he's going through?

[LeBron James]

Listen, for me, as a dad, I don't. It doesn't matter if he never scores, ever. For me, as a dad, I'm just super proud of him, period. As a young man. For me, as a mentor and as a teammate of his and that wants to see him thrive because I've seen the work he's put into the game. I am super proud of his development to where he is now. From the moment that, you know, he was drafted in June of 2025 to us being now in March of 2026, his development is skyrocketed. You know, And I just think I had a good friend of mine, you know, who went through a cardiac arrest as well. And he told me that, you know, it took him, and he played basketball as well. And back then, when it happened to him in the early 2000s, they wasn't with going back to performing. It was like, if it happened, it's over with.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's not roll the dice.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, we're not rolling the dice. There was not enough data on it. It's like, you have a cardiac arrest. It is over. We don't want this on our resume. They was not going back to performing. Performing the play. And he told me, he was like, man, I'm gonna be honest. It took me about two and a half years to finally get back to just normalcy, like, my body, my mind. And, you know, he said, when it happened to me, I was 23 years old. Bronnie was 19 years old, you know, and he's like, it's gonna take a little time. And I reason with that. But also, he's doing things right now. Less than two years.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[LeBron James]

You know, and it's because of his determination and his will to want to get better and his will to, like, I don't really care what y'all saying. I hear it. He did an article the other day. He was like, y'all hear the noise. I use it as motivation, but I also know what I'm capable of. And, you know, I've always told my kids, like, all of them. You know, they all play sports. Two basketball players. My youngest son going to Arizona on a full ride. My daughter's.

[Pat McAfee]

What is he, 7 foot tall? That came out of nowhere. Bryce, right? He popped up out of nowhere. Because we follow your family on the Internet, obviously. We see it all and it's like, Bronnie. Okay. And then little Bryce. Little Bryce with the glasses.

[LeBron James]

Right, Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

And then all of a sudden, one video popped up of an Aussie and Brian.

[LeBron James]

So he on his way to Arizona. My daughter's, you know, she's playing 12 and under volleyball. She just turned 10. So, like. And I just tell him, like, it doesn't matter about the noise. That's going to happen. It's only about, like, if you love it, go out and practice if you think you want to. If you fall in love with it, you only can fall in love with the process. Don't worry about the outcome. Fall in love with the process, and that will take care of itself. So, so super proud of Bronny, man. I know. Very long winded. When you talk about the kids, I just start thinking about him. But super proud of his game and where he is today. You know, starting off the G League season with, like, you know, just trying to figure it out. And now, like you said last night, 30, you know, 39. And more than anything, when I talk to him, he was more pissed off at the technical free throw that he missed more than anything. He's like, I could have had a 40 burger. He said, I could have had a 40 ball. I missed that day of technical free throw. So, man, the kid is. He's. He's awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

He's been fun to watch. Yeah, it is in. The story has gotten so loud. And I think that's why, listening to you talking, you say you get long winded about the kid. It's like, well, that's why everything happened. That happened a couple weeks ago. But, like, you playing with him obviously was a dream. You said that years ago. Bryce. Now, though, I mean, very possible. That is.

[LeBron James]

Oh, don't do that to me.

[Pat McAfee]

You said you're 215, not nowhere near 280. You're doing that shape.

[LeBron James]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

The best shape you've been in. That conversation's loud about now about how many more does LeBron James have? I think fans, I think the league. I bet you Adam Silver is wondering the same exact thing because of what you've done for the league, for how long you've done it, that convo pops up every year. Is it for you two or is it just for outside?

[LeBron James]

No, no, it's popping up more and more every year because obviously, I know I'm on the other side of the hill than the previous side, you know, so I've done this for a long time. And then obviously, I know it started, like, okay, now you. You get to the top of that roller coaster and it's like, okay, when is this damn roller coaster going to go down?

[Pat McAfee]

Kennywood. Yeah, yeah.

[LeBron James]

You know, like, so I understand that. So. I don't know, man. It's. It's all about. For real for me. It's my mind. If I could. If I could continue to. I am all about the process. Like, I am all about the process. And if it gets to the point where I don't feel like showing up to the arena five hours in advance, or I don't feel like training, or I don't feel like studying the scout sheet of guys, like, when. If it gets to that point, like, I know, like, you know what, Bron? It's a wrap.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you kind of. You'll be able to tell.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, you'll be able to tell.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you will be. Personally, five hours before the game is showing up every day.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. 7:30 game. I'm usually there around 2:15, too.

[Pat McAfee]

What do we got? We got a cold tub. We're drinking some. Putting some wine on our feet. Sure. What are we doing?

[LeBron James]

We're doing a little bit of everything. For sure. I'm some wine, you know. Drink a little wine, too.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw you walk into the game. Remember the big booze bag?

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Guy was walking with the wine to the game. Yeah, I remember that. Mailed it in. LeBron's quitting. Showing up drunk. Everything you do is talked about. Yeah.

[LeBron James]

I had one former Laker. I had a one. I wasn't even playing. It was preseason. I had worked out before the game. I wasn't playing in like, a former Laker. I was on the bench, like, you know, eating fruit. Like, you know, I worked out. I had. Okay, I got a shower. Let me get out here to watch the guys, support the guys during the preseason game. It was like year fucking 20 for me probably. Why am I even going out here for a preseason game? But I'm a good guy and I love my teammates and I'm a good teammate. So I go out there and the next day I wake up as a Laker guy play for the Lakers. I know you guys going to look this up? It's like everybody, yeah, look this up. Like, that's very selfish.

[Pat McAfee]

LeBron.

[LeBron James]

Why is he over there eating fruit?

[Pat McAfee]

What are you doing?

[LeBron James]

He could have did that in the back or he could have had that at home. I'm like, bro, I'm literally just trying to like, replenish everything I just lost in my workout, in the weight room and in the back that you didn't see. But you worried about me about a damn bowl of fruit, everything.

[Pat McAfee]

Seriously. You're not being committed. Is it LeBron James? This guy's not committed.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, like, I had a steak and eggs over there or some like, I don't know, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Something to think about.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, that might be next. Give him something to really think.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, A little protein in there. Connor, massive Boston Celtics fan, has a question for you.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah?

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Who's Boston Celtics fan?

[LeBron James]

You know.

[AJ Hawk]

You know, who knows? This, this might not be the year, but looking at the league and looking forward, the big convo is, you know, once LeBron is gone, who's the face of the league? Everyone's talking about the face of the league. You know, as a Celtics fan, of course I say, like, why does Jason Tatum get more love? But even, even talking about the future, when for you, did you become the.

[Pat McAfee]

Face of the league?

[AJ Hawk]

Like, when, what year was it? Obviously, right away you're getting talked about as, you know, a one name guy. But when did you feel like, okay, this is officially my league, like, I am taking over this entire league.

[LeBron James]

You know what? I never had that notion. I never had that notion and never, like woke up, like, after I brushed my teeth, like, yeah, this is my leak. You know, I'm the face of the league. God damn it.

[Pat McAfee]

Shine these up.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, I'm gonna shine these up. But I did know there was a responsibility put on me to carry the league in a certain fashion. You gotta think that, like, before I entered the league and like right after MJ retired, after he came back the third, second or third time, yeah, he came back and he was done with Washington, there was a big, like, you know, fan player separation with our league. You know, they just wasn't resonating with a lot of the players or, you know, a lot of guys was, you know, didn't really, didn't really care, you know, or whatever the case may be. And I felt like, I felt like in order for, you know, myself to make a name for myself, obviously I knew the play was going to take care of itself. Because I knew how much I committed to it, but also had to. I wanted to handle the response, responsibility, you know, of showing a face of the league in a sense of like a modern citizen, you know, being a role model, you know, it was, you know, we have guys who, you know, didn't want to be role model to the sport or didn't want to be a role model to the game, didn't want to appreciate the game or commit to the game. And I felt like, you know, I had an opportunity to not only play the game that I love, but also I wanted, I wanted fans to follow me. I wanted people to follow my journey. And what came out of that was me kind of being, I guess people say, the face of the league.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, the Sprite commercials, you know, like.

[LeBron James]

You know what I'm saying? So, like, I never went out to be like, I want to be the face of the league. Like, you know, I seen. I see a lot of shit too. Like, I seen Brianhurst on one of these shows not too long ago.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, Linda, you guys played together high school.

[LeBron James]

This guy was like, you know, says he's like my best friend. These guys are just, just weird. But wait, Wendy.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, like, that's not real.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, it was our forcer, huh?

[Pat McAfee]

Knew it. He went.

[LeBron James]

So he went on his show and said, you know, like, oh, don't let LeBron fool you. Like, he wears number 23 because of Michael Jordan, okay? That's a fact. He signed with Nike. Nike because of Michael Jordan. It's like, motherfucker. I didn't. I said, well, I signed with Nike because I got a hell of a signing bonus. And they gave me a seven year, ninety million dollar contract. And I moved my mom out of the hood the next day. I signed that contract. Like, and ultimately I. My whole thing is like, what do I want to wear off the court? I was like, I want to wear Nikes. Like, yeah, I want to wear Jordans. I want to wear pennies. I want to wear Bo Jacksons. I want to wear air Maxes. I want to wear like, you know, so primes. Like, you know, like, what are we talking about? So, like, I knew there was a, A responsibility for sure. Like, listen, man, during the ball drop, you know, during the, the lottery drop, Cleveland got the number one pick. That's. I just don't think that was.

[Pat McAfee]

Whoa. What are you.

[LeBron James]

What a coincidence, don't you think?

[Pat McAfee]

Wemby with the spurs, that one's a coincidence.

[Darius J. Butler]

Oh, my God, those are.

[LeBron James]

Let's keep LeBron home, you know, What? Patrick Ewing to the Knicks, you know, Derrick Rose to the Bulls. I understand the assignment guys. I'm, you know, so, you know, it's. I had to make sure that, you know, I had to do my part. I didn't want to be a fuck up. I just didn't want to be a fuck up, man. Like, like I said earlier in the show, like no one gets this opportunity, man. It's zero to none. And I couldn't be a fuck up. So that's what came with it.

[Pat McAfee]

You've done a great job representing it all. Do you feel like, like we are at a phase though? And you talked about before you got in the league there was like a potential disconnect between the players and the fans.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Felt like that was almost starting to happen again until I don't back half of this season. Feels like most momentum you guys have had.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

A while. Do you agree with that?

[LeBron James]

Yeah, I agree with that. You know, I agree with that. I just about, I think it's all just understanding, you know, understanding, you know, from a, from a player perspective. And also we're getting closer to playoffs, you know. Yeah, it's a long ass season, man, you know, difference between us and the NFL, man, you so much excitement. But it's one game a week and you get, you get an opportunity to get excited like when you know that Sunday or you know, or you know, you got Thursday night games now Monday, I mean even occasion Saturday game, Wednesday Christmas from Christmas Grinch like. But no in all serious like you know, it was one game a week. So you like, like you know, the excitement, you know, is there. So you know you, you have us, you know, we just, we just came out of playing six games in eight days. You know, six games in eight days is like oh man, man. And three sets of back to back. So. But the playoffs is on its way. The weather is getting better, the excitement is getting, you know, the crunch time is like, you know in the west is you know, you got four or five teams one or two games from behind each other, you know. So I think that's the connection is coming back. Everyone loves and now you got March Madness going on in college basketball. So I'm going be honest. No, I don't follow, man. I don't do the brackets. I love the sport. I watch occasionally some games but it's hard watching college basketball for me, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Different sport.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, it's a different sport. Yeah, it's a different sport from when we play and you know, and you know every time A kid drives. You know, a kid can just come out of nowhere and slide up underneath him and it's always a charge. You can't do a Euro step. It's a travel.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, Derek Queen, actually. Yeah. Kid from Maryland. I don't know if you saw this.

[LeBron James]

Gather step. I love it. Pick that ball. Gather one, two, off glass. Game time. You know, and I just don't, you know, you shouldn't need 35 seconds to shoot the damn basketball.

[Pat McAfee]

Got it.

[LeBron James]

You know. You know, it's, you know, but it's, you know, it's the game.

[Darius J. Butler]

I hate two halves. Why is that a thing?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. The only sport, right?

[LeBron James]

The only level women's went to. I think women's went to four corners, right? Yeah. What are we going to haves for? It's long. It's so. I don't want to watch one half.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah, it's too long.

[LeBron James]

It's long.

[Pat McAfee]

It's long. And then they got to stack the timeouts because of commercials, too. Whenever the gameplay.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I think the 4/4 kind of helps TV as well.

[LeBron James]

It does, it does. And it helps the players, too. Like, it's four quarters and it's too long. You get a kid who gets two fouls in the first half, you can't play again. He's sitting over there for an hour of real time. Like, you know, it's like you don't want to see your face. Favorite player in college because that's, that's what the game is built on. Like, you get your favorite player. Like, if Cooper flag right now gets two fouls in the first half, you're like, I don't. I don't want to watch this Duke game anymore.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you feel like this next generation? Because Wemby is obviously stud. He's unbelievable.

[LeBron James]

He's unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

But this is. I mean, Joker is also, what, 6 foot 11, whatever it is. KD obviously says he's not 7 foot. Feels like he is.

[LeBron James]

And then he's always taller than everybody at the All Star weekend photos for some odd reason.

[Pat McAfee]

But he obviously, whenever he came into the league. And I think Dirk, also, big shooter, like the tall, multifaceted player is the next generation, Right?

[LeBron James]

Yeah, that's their inspiration. Their inspiration is, you know, Dirk. Their inspiration is kd. You know, their inspiration are those guys who, like, you look at KD, you know, like, you know, 6, 9 to 7 foot, depending on what he wants to tell you. You know, that, that great handle, the smoothness, the. The be able to, you know, shoot off the dribble and also be able to catch and shoot and be able to look silky smooth out there while being the tallest guy on the court.

[Pat McAfee]

They're doing koozie stuff. Exactly.

[LeBron James]

Somehow I don't know how they're doing, you know. So Katie's biggest, you know, Katie's big time inspiration to guys like Wimby, to guys like Cooper Flag, who's coming in and you know, you have a lot of these guys. So chat, chat as well.

[Pat McAfee]

This derek Queen kid, 6 foot 10. Yeah, 6, 10. He's in the. I don't know if you heard about him saying, give me the ball.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, I'm from Baltimore.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah. That is absolutely famous.

[LeBron James]

I'm from Baltimore. One of my best friends from Baltimore, Carmelo Anthony. So I gets it, I get it, I get it. Give me the damn ball. And he wanted the ball.

[Pat McAfee]

That's what I told him in the conversation. I was like, Baltimore is one of the cities wherever you give an answer on why are you a confident human? And I'm from Baltimore.

[LeBron James]

Everybody's like, okay, there's no follow up question to that. Okay, got it, I got it.

[Pat McAfee]

Ty has a question for you.

[AJ Hawk]

So obviously you, you could play another 10 years if you really, I mean, it really does seem like that. But as you've gotten older, I mean, you have all this other off the court, you have the production studio, the podcast, all that kind of stuff that you're doing, all these different business ventures. How hard is it focusing on a lot of that stuff and not letting everything you have to do, basketball wise, kind of suffer? Because I, I mean, you don't seem like the kind of guy where it's like, you're going to start a production studio, be like it, you guys handle everything. You know, I'll attach my name to it. But like, how difficult is that, balancing those two? Because this is obviously some stuff that you seem like you're passionate about.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, for sure, for sure. I definitely got some great people in place, you know. You know, my right hand man, Maverick Carter, he's unbelievable. He's a dog. And one. The greatest thing about him is his ability to, you know, create relationships that last long. And we've never been just one off guys. Like, we want to be able to create partnerships, you know, and not like endorsement deals. Like that was like a thing of the past. That was something that we didn't want to do. So the trust that I have with him, I allow him because of shit, I've been knowing him my whole life, you know, and when you have that type of chemistry, and you have that type of brotherhood and that type of trust. You allow him to do it. But also, he's always checking in with me, like, hey, listen, this is what we have going down the pipeline. Yay. Or not. You know, this is what I. Why I feel it would be beneficial to us.

[Pat McAfee]

And.

[LeBron James]

But ultimately, like, do you want to do it or not? You know, so, like, in this instance, like, you know, got to the point where, you know, you brought that up and why I started, you know, the podcast Mind the Game with jj, you know, last year, it was like, it was a looseness of the sport being covered and how the sport should be covered. It had got away from the essence of the game of basketball, of why I fell in love with the game, why I teach the younger generation the game, why I am in the position, you know, that I am, that I am in. And we have that conversation, me and Mav is like, okay, I got what you're saying. Okay, let me go figure it out. And he goes to figure it out.

[Pat McAfee]

So I learned so much from that show. I legitimately did. Now, obviously, looking back on it, it was just you interviewing JJ right after me hanging out that entire thing. But I assumed J.J. was going to become a head coach after that show regardless, because the way you guys talked about it, to your point, about never hearing it be discussed like that legitimately as a football person, as another sport person, never played basketball. Whenever you guys were drawing up plays and, like, why you do this and debating on how to cover and all that, I felt like I got smarter as a basketball fan. So first of all, I'd like to thank you for that alongside jj. And also congratulations. Congratulations. Season two, Montreal.

[LeBron James]

Season two. Season two. I haven't clapped all night, but I'm a clap on that. Yes, sir. Season two, man with Steve Nash, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay?

[LeBron James]

The great Steve Nash, man.

[Pat McAfee]

So he's been a coach before, obviously, and obviously he's played a long time in the NBA. I had one chance to interview Steve Nash and I learned about him in real time. And I think he played a lot of years.

[LeBron James]

Legend, legend, two time mvp, whatever. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I looked at him and I said, you played blank amount of years. And he goes, yeah. I go, holy shit, man. I literally learned it in real time. Legend out there.

[LeBron James]

Absolutely.

[Pat McAfee]

But also loves the game. Obsessed with the game, which feels like why it could potentially be a great fit for season two of Mind the Game.

[LeBron James]

Absolutely. We're looking forward to it, man. We got a. We got an episode. Two episodes in the bank. We're gonna get a couple more soon and we're gonna just like, continue to, you know, preach the game, how it's, you know, how it's supposed to be taught, you know, how it's supposed to be viewed. And, you know, we understand that, you know, some of the other things is gonna be said. It sells for them. But, you know, what we've grown to love, why me and J.J. did it in the first place, while me and Steve are doing it now, is because this is how we grew up loving the game. This is what brought us together. This is what the essence of the game should be talked to to not only the generation that's playing now, but the generation that's gonna come up after us. So mind the game. Season two coming, y'all, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, wait. Congratulations.

[LeBron James]

Appreciate it, man. Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Can we talk about a couple things real quick that we have to cover?

[LeBron James]

Absolutely, absolutely.

[Pat McAfee]

Taco Tuesday. You saw that? Is that real?

[LeBron James]

It's today Tuesday?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it is.

[LeBron James]

Oh, today is Tuesday. Oh, my goodness.

[Pat McAfee]

That was quite a situation. That was quite a situation. Barbershop. Another one?

[LeBron James]

Yeah, man. The shop. Oh, yeah. I grew up in it. That was easy. That was easy. That was another easy one, man. It was like too many conversations that's going on right now. That's not. That's not the essence. It's not the essence, man. I remember getting dropped off as a five year old. Mom drop you off, she go do what the hell she had to go do, make her errands. She talked to the guy that's coming here. How many? He's behind about three or four. Okay, about three hours. Shit. Being there about three hours. And I gotta wait there and sit there and wait my turn. And in that moment, that's when you hear everything. You start hearing about the best MC that's going on right now. The best hair product, the best beard oil, the best people in sports, you know, music, your music. It is everything, Drama. Everything. Yeah, yeah. Every single thing goes on in a barbershop. So. So, you know, for us to be able to create that platform to shop, to be able to bring on all the beautiful minds that we've brought onto the shop, men and women. It's been a pleasure. It's been an honor. And we keeping that thing going, man, because it's like, it's a comfort place. You know, I went to the barbershop from when I was like, five all the way through high school. And, you know, to be able to have that sense of, like, truth. It's the one Place of truth, where you can go out there and be like, this is who I like. All right, that's who you like. And we gonna fight to the battle about it, you know, and it be a new topic the next day. And, you know, I think it's pretty cool.

[Pat McAfee]

So you guys did a couple watch alongs too, for Thursday Night Football?

[LeBron James]

Yeah, man. Oh, that was dope. I mean, y'all. I mean, you guys know my love for the sport of football. So to be able to do that.

[Pat McAfee]

You wouldn't be able to take a shot, though, remember? Yeah. Six foot nine, £250. Wouldn't be able to handle.

[LeBron James]

For me. Yeah, man. You know, lot of, you know, I wouldn't be allowed to do a lot of things. They say, oh, they got my little high school highlights up there. Vers Benedictine. That's where Rich Paul went to high school, by the way. Yeah, yeah, I was playing against Rich Paul High school there.

[Pat McAfee]

One of the greatest American hustlers of all time.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Legit. I think the record will state that Rich Paul may be one of the greatest hustlers of all time. You're from Ohio, so obviously football. State.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Obviously basketball as well. But you love the game. I think you like. You've talked openly about how much you. You like, love ball.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, yeah, for sure. For sure. Football is my first sport, man. My first love. You know, I grew up big time, prime time, Dion Sanders fan. Big time. Eric Metcalf fan, too, growing up in that, you know, growing up in Akron and seeing him up in Cleveland. Seeing Eric Metcalf do his thing up there, too, man. You know, Seattle's finest, Eric Metcalf and, you know, just grew up just always loving the sport, man. Like, you know, seeing, know, you know, Jerry Rice and, you know, and, you know, seeing some of the old clips of, like, Walter Payton, Sweetness. And, you know, seeing Barry Sanders, that was another topic of conversation in, like, the barbershop. Barry Sanders versus EMT Smith. Oh, yeah. You know, you know, so you hear that conversation, you know, so, you know, I remember my mom buying me a pair of Barry Sanders sneakers. You know, I was like, oh, man.

[Pat McAfee]

You felt so quick.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, I felt so quick. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and, you know, they had. They was like. I don't know if they was one of the first teams, obviously. I don't know that for a fact, but, like, seeing Barry Sanders on turf, you know, wearing sneakers, you know, that was super cool as a kid. So, yeah, I just. It's. It's a great sport. I mean, I love it. I love football and I love. And I love the new guys now. Like, they're super cool. My favorite guy, Derek Henry, without a, you know, seeing Saquon, like, out there. And I got guys, like, wearing my shoes now. You know, when Saquon did that move where he, like, turned backwards and did a pirouette backwards and jumped up in the air and, like, he had my kicks on. I was like, oh, my goodness.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't know those were yours. They were sick.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He had my. He had the LeBron Retro Fours on in a spike when he did that, like, spin move.

[Pat McAfee]

Nasty.

[LeBron James]

Oh, my goodness.

[Pat McAfee]

Those are in the bronze.

[LeBron James]

Yes. Yeah. I was, like, super. Like, I was going crazy. I was like.

[Pat McAfee]

I couldn't believe it. You know, I didn't even know that.

[LeBron James]

So, yeah, I love it.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, let's talk about something else that we have to address. The Olympics. You saw your eyes blink sideways. What was that all about? What was that? What? What the was it? Hey, I need to know what happened. Is that always happen? Your eyes always blink like that, or is that just at the Olympics?

[LeBron James]

I don't know. That was probably, like my Michael Jackson Thriller video moment, you know, when he went from, like, you know, he kind of turned it to that. To that beast of his. I don't know, man. It was. I saw that. It kind of freaked me out too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Okay.

[Darius J. Butler]

I missed that.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah. Okay. So you.

[Bruce Brown]

You also saw Terrific.

[Pat McAfee]

You also saw it and thought the same thing everybody else did. Okay. Yeah.

[LeBron James]

There was people like, oh, my God, he's actually there in Paris and he may be at his home in California at the same time.

[Pat McAfee]

This guy's not a human.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, this guy's not human.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's real. That was a real conversation that was happening.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And I watched it a couple times. I was like, hold on, I'll tell you what.

[LeBron James]

I mean, the eyes are interesting. Yeah. I can't sit here and say that it was not real. It was not. Okay, just leave it at that. Okay, just leave it at that.

[Pat McAfee]

Fair enough. Okay. When you think about the rest of the season and you think about this Lakers team, you guys will have success if What? Wow.

[LeBron James]

Well, obviously, we could go without saying any team health. Health. That's the most important for our team. We are not in a position where we can afford anybody to go down. And then after that, luka, myself and AR15, we gotta be all clicking at the same time, you know? And we know there's gonna be games where, you know, it happens throughout the course of a playoff game where, you know, I may not be making my shots or whatever or AR is not making his shots or Luka might not be making the shots. But as far when I say clicking. We have to be in tune on what we got to do every single night because we got to. We got to make sure everybody's in the right place every single game. You know, the playoffs is literally one possession to have you losing a series. You know, one possession can make you lose a series. And it's up to us three. You know, obviously I know I'm, you know my voice and what I command out of guys. That's going to be her Lucas play. Some people lead by example and his. The way AR his affections play. We have to make sure we have everybody in tune. And because we know that our coach staff gonna give us the game plan, JJ's not gonna send us out there on a. On a wild goose chase. Nope. We're gonna be.

[Pat McAfee]

We.

[LeBron James]

He's. He and his coaches staff, they're gonna make sure we know what the hell we need to do in order to get the job done. And then it's up to us to go get it done.

[Pat McAfee]

You guys are mind the game, right? You guys are gonna mind the game always too. Plug. Season 2, Season 2 Season 2 available soon. Hey, we can't thank you enough for stopping by.

[LeBron James]

I appreciate it, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, dude.

[LeBron James]

Legitimately appreciate you boys over there, man.

[Pat McAfee]

I didn't know we were snapping after. I feel like I missed it.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. When I found out you was a Celtic fan, I thought you going to throw a beer on me. Like, what happened? What is that? Is that what's coming after I went for 45 in there, you know, that threw a beer on me on.

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, if you're still on the Heat, that's from. But I also do have one kind of mythological, whatever the word is question. You don't read those books before the games, right?

[Pat McAfee]

All those books you open to the first page and then you don't read.

[AJ Hawk]

Those books ever again.

[LeBron James]

I. Listen, listen. I actually have finished those books. Oh, hold on.

[Pat McAfee]

Like if you were to hold this.

[LeBron James]

Hold on, hold on.

[Pat McAfee]

People say you would say you read it.

[LeBron James]

This is how.

[Pat McAfee]

That's the art of winning.

[LeBron James]

Someone take a photo or take the photo, please. Pat, take the phone.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we got it. I think from this angle, probably Rich's book.

[LeBron James]

We got the first page.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow. Holy Braun. Read it and then. That's it.

[LeBron James]

That's it. I didn't even talk to you guys, this whole time I was up here, all I did was read the whole book. That's it. That's it. Meteor.

[Darius J. Butler]

Everybody might not know that movie, but.

[LeBron James]

It'S a classic, by the way. It's a classic.

[Pat McAfee]

So you get. Talk about the books. Music. Music's another thing. Music, yeah, Acting.

[LeBron James]

Acting, yeah. Everything.

[Pat McAfee]

Who's next in the music world if you had to give a prediction.

[LeBron James]

Wow.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Because we've heard you say. When I heard this guy, I knew.

[LeBron James]

You know what? I. I don't know, man. I don't know. That's a good question. I literally go to. To when it comes to, like, the new generation now. This is the best thing about having teenagers as well. You can literally go to them and get the whole, like.

[Pat McAfee]

The scoop.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, the scoop. But I don't know, man. I don't know who's next up. But I do love music, though, man. But I'm definitely been listening to it. I got ready for the game yesterday listening to Eric B. And Rakim, man. Like, I'm an old school guy too, so. But we'll see.

[Pat McAfee]

Music and sports go hand in hand, so. So much.

[LeBron James]

No, for sure. No question about it.

[Pat McAfee]

Your knowledge of it has certainly been something that people have had about.

[LeBron James]

About. Yeah, I appreciate it, man.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, you mind the music as well. That's right. And mind the books. Do you mind the game?

[LeBron James]

Mind the tacos y Tuesdays?

[Pat McAfee]

Mind the movies? Yeah, you mind the movies.

[LeBron James]

As long as they don't take. They don't take away my mind the cookies, we'll be fine.

[Pat McAfee]

Dang. The heels are done.

[Darius J. Butler]

Still love the last one.

[Pat McAfee]

The ha are done. This guy doesn't have any cookies.

[Darius J. Butler]

Still got spo. We still got the look good. We good.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know.

[AJ Hawk]

People are saying the D. Wade curse statue is now carrying forever.

[LeBron James]

I haven't seen it yet. Oh, well, in person, I've seen it. I've seen it on. Yeah, I love my guy.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, when you get your statue done, just let's make sure it's a good one.

[LeBron James]

I'm not going to reveal it to the world.

[Pat McAfee]

What do you mean, got to? That's what a statue is.

[LeBron James]

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

[Pat McAfee]

You're putting in your bed.

[LeBron James]

If I need to see it multiple times.

[Pat McAfee]

Times, Bill, before we let it out.

[LeBron James]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Because if not, that'll happen.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

What the hell?

[Darius J. Butler]

I mean, Wade saw his. He says.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, he said he saw it. He liked it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But I think he was just sticking up for the person.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah, him and his son expression.

[Pat McAfee]

Good team.

[AJ Hawk]

Like, they didn't like it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he's a good teammate.

[Darius J. Butler]

I remember that moment.

[LeBron James]

Yeah. When he stood on the. On the table. Well, I see.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, LeBron, we appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen. Go talk. Yeah, okay. We're clapping for y'all.

[LeBron James]

I'm clapping for y'all. I appreciate that. I appreciate that, man.

[Pat McAfee]

You're the man. Ladies and gentlemen, LeBron James. That was obviously an incredible honor to get a chance to chitchat with LeBron. I hope you had a chance to learn some things maybe you never knew about. Why don't you go ahead and use the hashtag thelebronversation on X and let us know and we'll read some of the reactions on the other side. Shout out to espn moving this break that we were supposed to have about 25 minutes ago this long into it. It was unfiltered, unedited, and raw on YouTube, ESPN plus and TikTok Live, which you can certainly go back and check out. And we can't wait to hear your thoughts on it all.

[LeBron James]

It's playoff time, and it's now or never.

[Pat McAfee]

Don't miss out on the last few.

[LeBron James]

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[Darius J. Butler]

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[LeBron James]

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[Pat McAfee]

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[LeBron James]

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[Darius J. Butler]

Visit prizepix.com for restrictions and details.

[Pat McAfee]

Taxact can think of a million things more fun than filing taxes. Taxact is going to name some now. Sitting in traffic, folding a fitted bedsheet.

[AJ Hawk]

Listening to your co worker talk about his fantasy team digging a hole. Digging an even larger hole next to that original hole.

[Pat McAfee]

Unfortunately, Taxact's filing Software can't make taxes fun, but TaxAct can help you get them done. TaxAct, let's get them over with.

[AJ Hawk]

Big day.

[Pat McAfee]

It has been a big day.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, huge.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a big conversation. Cannot wait to see the big reaction coming from it. Obviously there's been a lot of parts of that that I don't think any of us knew about. And then some stories that were confirmed true. You know that cookie one nine year NFL vet Darius J. Butler. I guess from the responses and reactions that I'm seeing on X and on social media, I guess the Miami media said that that story was not true. I guess that is what a lot of people down in South Florida were saying on X. I don't know if that's true or not, but I guess it was reported. That story blown out of proportion and then right there. Good journalism. We confirm that those crispy edged soft home baked cookies were certainly a part of the real story down there.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Darius J. Butler]

You know some people calling Pat Riley petty or is it just, you know, he culture? Is it just the top, the pinnacle of discipline? But one thing I think we can all agree on, you take away a man's soft baked crispy edge chocolate chip cookies, I mean any consequences that come from that, you better be ready for that.

[Pat McAfee]

You understand?

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah, that's right.

[Pat McAfee]

I got a little bit more clarity on it. The entirety of it all the talks at tables here, Bruce Brown and Ty Schmidt. Boston Connor traveled back home alongside talk. Send positive things to Boston Connor, he'll be back next week. Ty Schmidt, what a moment there for the program. And we let off the show. We talked about Russell Wilson, Gavin to the Giants. Congrats Russ. Giants fans are saying let's ride already very excited. Stefan diggs 26 million going to new England also huge, huge. Trent Ray Hendrickson I guess there. Cincinnati's trying to get a deal done with.

[Bruce Brown]

He.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, good luck there. And then we also said like yeah, there's some things that we get to do that are outrageous. Talking to him yesterday was an absurd thing. And then watching it back, like I literally watched, I think probably just like everybody else did. That's the most I've ever heard out of LeBron ever. And while as soon as it ended. Okay, as soon as it ended. And they filmed an episode of Mind the Game season two with Steve Nash. Steve Nash was here too. We did not know that was happening. No, the last we had no idea Steve Nash was going to be here. And then all of a sudden Steve Nash walks in. It's like holy shit. Steve Nash is here and Steve Nash then, I mean, absolutely beat the living shit out of me and Foxy. Okay. He didn't miss a shot. Didn't miss a shot. I don't think he missed one shot. He said he hadn't shot in 11 years. You know, since he retired, he's in incredible shape. Playing tennis every single day. Jumpers. He was in tst. His form was absurd. He started with a couple war warm ups, you know, and he was like, I don't know, he. Any rims in? Okay, first one from like let's say 4 or 5ft. Then he backs up to 6ft and then splash. And he blacks up, backs up to 7ft, splash. 8ft, splash. 10 splash. And then he goes back to 3. Splash. And then the game is shooting from all five spots. Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash. Gets come back around. Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash. It was absurd. And then, you know, Ty, you walked out. There you go. This multiple time mvp.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

There's levels, there is levels. There's a multiple times. So Steve Nash was here. Was awesome. But literally sitting over there. We sat there for probably three, four hours. We were here till about 8pm last night watching them record, do their thing. They took over shout out to Jason and uninterrupted shout out. He was a little bossy, a little.

[AJ Hawk]

Bit, but hey, you got to do that producer.

[Pat McAfee]

He had to do what he had to do. And Kevin came through and worked and you know, it was great. But we were chatting over there and we all thought it was pretty surreal. And then watching it back, it's like he was so cool to us. Like, I can't believe he did that. Now, granted, there's some Internet chatter happening about maybe the reasoning on why he did it.

[AJ Hawk]

Maybe.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. And there's been a lot of places that have certainly been wanting to chit chat with LeBron James for a long time like that. And those people are probably going to be haters of some of the things and how we conducted said conversation. If you would like to ask the question, do it, get a conversation and have it your way. But everything we talked about, I feel like we address a lot of outstanding things and he blessed us with a lot of fucking answers. And I'm very thankful for that. You know, we've been doing this a long time.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Remember, we're in the back of a box truck down in Louisiana with no air conditioning, 135 degrees.

[AJ Hawk]

Correct.

[Pat McAfee]

Everything's crashing, but we got to go live. We've been through that moment is a wild one. For us. And I enjoyed the fact that we enjoyed it last night afterwards.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, and I think we should have, because, you know, I mean, we were even saying right up to like, when, you know, okay, we'll believe this when he actually shows up, you know, because, like, it's happened plenty of times. You always talk about, hey, we don't really promote stuff for the show because there's a chance, like, you book someone and then you make a big deal about it, and then 20 minutes before they're supposed to come on, something falls through and it doesn't happen. And then we're kind of just sitting here with our dick in our hands.

[Pat McAfee]

Like, we look like.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, exactly, exactly. But for him to come in and it. I don't know if it really, you know, like, you. You could tell in the interview. He literally walked in, sat down, and we got right into it. Like, there was no preamble. Like, him kind of feeling it out a little bit, seeing, like, oh, okay. So, like, yeah, people can say what they want about the reasons he decided to. To do it here, but regardless of that fact, like, there could have been multiple moments in that when we did it, when he was just like, nah, stop. Like, cut that. Like, I don't really want to discuss that. I don't really.

[Pat McAfee]

Which a lot of people are saying was going to happen.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly. Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

As soon as we announced that, there was a lot of people saying, pre recording. LeBron's. Yeah, pre record was like, yeah, he's in the middle of an NBA season. He's got a game. Yeah, he's flying in from the west. Like, there's a lot of moving pieces and a lot of things happening. So the fact that he even made time was awesome. Then he added an extra two hours of travel.

[AJ Hawk]

Right.

[Pat McAfee]

To come here to do the entirety of it all. And yeah, a lot of people thought it was gonna be at it. We ran it.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, that was exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

That was literally the entirety of it.

[AJ Hawk]

And that's what a lot of people are saying. Like, you know, why is the audio dropping out? It's like, because he was real. He was dropping F bombs. Like, he was super. He was super comfortable. Comfortable. Which, you know, I just. I don't know. It's crazy because, like, you said, you know, for him to come in and for, you know, like, you guys are professional athletes, like, that's one thing, but the amount of people that want to talk to him or have opinions about him or have said, you know, out of pocket stuff about him, for him to just sit in the Pocket there with, you know, me and Connor up here too. And just whatever I'm going to, I'm going to go with the flow. I'm going to have fun with these guys. Like, it surpassed my expectations of what it was going to be. And like, I. I'll remember yesterday for the rest of my life. Like, that was insane.

[Pat McAfee]

There were some LeBron haters in the Thunderdome. D butt. You know, there were some LeBron haters in. In the Thunderdome. And then immediately afterwards, like, yeah, he did a lot there for us. Yeah, he seemed cool too, didn't he? Seemed like a human.

[AJ Hawk]

Charming.

[Pat McAfee]

Charming. I got texts from people that are in the bids. This is a fascinating conversation. What do you mean, a fascinating conversation? Like, LeBron was just like, kind of. It did feel like LeBron was just hanging, you know. Yeah, it literally felt like that.

[Darius J. Butler]

It was the most candid that I've seen him. Like I said, I've even seen him on platforms that he owns and obviously he's, you know, probably. They probably have, you know, pre production and know what they're going to talk about. Like you said, walking in, just sitting down and you know how free flowing the show is. Like, you. You didn't even know necessarily what we were going to ask when you went to us. So for him to be that candid in that moment in the middle of the season, to take the time out, all the things that you mentioned and he is a person that, you know, with all the deals and things that he has partnerships and things, you want to, you know, protect that in some sense. So for him to go into detail and talk about certain things, like, it was huge things. I know even like when I asked him about the Bronnie thing, like, I kind of forgot about Ronnie's heart, which that's huge. Like, that's a huge thing. And for him to even go in detail about that and then why these moments mean even more to him. Because you do. We do. You know, especially in the media now we talk about athletes and sometimes even as former professional athletes, you forget about the human aspect side side of it, the family side of it. So see him going in detail about that and clear up some other stories. The cookie story. Obviously a lot of people from home are hitting, pissed off about Pat Riley and how that all went down. But yeah, it was dope.

[Pat McAfee]

Million dollars on the body.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Because he was probably in his head, like something more.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

Never added it.

[Pat McAfee]

People are kind of undercutting. Like, I took a couple of trips, did this at his stage 40 years old, you know, he is a physical specimen.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

And when he walk. When you forget that, I think I'm just on tv, I think you forget that he, like, almost hits his head on the exit when he's walking in here, you know? And the pictures, like, it was funny whenever we lined up for the photo that we showed there, he was like, I'll get in the back. He, like, looked around and was like, I'll get in the back. I don't want to block anybody. And Gumpy, you know, Gumpy's 5 foot 10. We'll say, okay, and we'll do that. He's the one.

[Bruce Brown]

10.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he's the one right in between.

[LeBron James]

That's a very good day, brother.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he's. He's five. Five. The. This guy, he is a little fella in his shoes. Somehow he got these cute little shoes. I mean, it is unbelievable. It is unbelievable. One of the greatest humans and hardest working humans of all time, obviously a Canadian. But LeBron literally looks right at him. He goes, I'll get in the back. And Gumpy goes, oh, no, it's your show, pal. And Gumpy just pokes his head around there. And LeBron looks down at him one time and just, like, shakes his head. And it was like, I assumed that he had never been in a room, like, what we had, you know? And I'm appreciative of him knowing our program. Cause when he sat down, he said, I've seen this place so many times, I had no idea what it looked like. Which is what a lot of people say. So the fact that he's watched is very cool to think about. Because, as I said at the beginning, like, I'm 37, he's 40. So I've watched, like, and I'm a sports guy, and I like people that are, like, I've always been infatuated with the greats. Like, always have been. I always want to know what makes the greats great. Always want to know how they tick, you know, the work ethic. And there's always gonna be things that come along with greats now, you know, and if you pay attention to the greats, you'll find those. There's always gonna be some sort of flaw or offset because you have to sacrifice something to get to a level that nobody else has ever been. So, like, nobody at the top has ever been perfect. Nowadays, everybody's been covered. More so now, even more so than whenever LeBron came out of high school in the early 2000s or whatever. Because how much social media Is. But his entire life has been documented, you know, and it's like, for him to now grant. He's pissed off people with his politics. He's gone public with his politics, which is going to happen anytime you do politics. He's taking stances for things that some people think, a portion of people think like, this guy shouldn't be talking about this. He has no idea. But then he's also done, like, so much good. And like, the way he worded that is just not wanting to fuck it up.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That's an interesting. I think that was like, the most human thing. Thing that I think I've ever heard out of like a LeBron. LeBron. Like a LeBron James. Like, there was an actual fear there. Like, hey, there's a lot of stories in the past of people having this type of opportunity and ruining it. I don't want to be somebody that does that. That was cool to hear the reason, like, his. That felt like his why, you know, And I don't think I'd heard it before. And the way he laid it out, I was like, there's a reason this guy is the one. There is a reason why he's been able to do it. And you look around now, now, and I don't want to do like, Paul Skeens feels like a similar, you know, situation with, like, baseball right now. These. It. This doesn't happen often. You know, him understanding the assignment. He said he talked about the lottery.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Cleveland, okay. Lottery. Yeah. Scratch off.

[Darius J. Butler]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Me going back, I understood the assignment, you know, and it's like, it takes that, I think to. And I bet you the leader is very thankful for everything. LeBron. And it's probably why LeBron has so much sway, you know, amongst players, amongst the league, because he has been it for 22 years. Literally, day one, he's Guy.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah. When you talk about expectations and I know Skeens is a guy and we've had other. And now with the media that we have, like, expectations are larger for a lot of different individuals. But to go back to, you know, when he was 16 on the COVID of Slam magazine or whatever it was was his. Like, at that point, he was already being compared, okay, is he going to be the next Michael Jordan? And for him to, you know, live up and surpass those expectations, I. I know, you know, Lu Al send to Kareem Abdul was before our time. But he. He kind of had those same expectations. Like, before social media was really a thing like LeBron, everybody knew who LeBron was. Everybody expected him to be kind of what he became. So I. I couldn't imagine the pressure it is to kind of live up with that and him growing up, you know, saying that he, you know, didn't have necessarily those role models around him, and then to become what he's become and then, you know, be that role model for so many young kids, you know, the young boys in his house, first and foremost, like, that's just dope to see.

[Pat McAfee]

$2.5 million was raised at the Boys and Girls Club, the school in Cleveland.

[Darius J. Butler]

You got a school, like. And people. To your point, people are always going to be, especially people that are, you know, viewed on the mountaintop or as the greats. People are always going to be on both sides. You know, we. We speak very, very glowingly about Michael Jordan now, but when Michael Jordan was in. In his heyday, a lot of people hated mj, too. A lot of people spoke on, you know, his weaknesses or whatnot. Everybody. You go up and down the list. It's always going to be people on both sides. Just like you said, it may have been some LeBron haters in the building. It's definitely LeBron lovers in the building as well. And that's going to be in every building, every barbershop, everybody, every group chat. You're gonna have those conversations. It's kind of what comes with it when you. When you kind of enter that Mount Rushmore conversation. Not only in basketball, but just in sports, in general.

[Pat McAfee]

Business, you name it. Human, you. You like everything. When you get to the top of the mountain, a lot more people know you. Yeah, I think, you know, and this is gonna sound so narcissistic to bring up, like, our story, but, like, the more people that know us, you know, and the more people that get introduced to us, like, the louder it gets. I. I think. I don't know if it was Herb shrewd told me. He was like. But as you climb up the mountain, the windier it gets, you know, like, that is real life, and that is how it all is, you know, but the height comes a lot of benefit. But the negative is, it gets louder, too. More people that know you, the more people that are gonna like you, but the more people that are definitely gonna hate you. LeBron's been known.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

By. And we talked about it before social media. That was flip phone era. Everybody remembers him at the WWE. The WWE @ the time, I assume. And in the front row with his little flip phone, it's like, you didn't need social media to know who the hell Lebron was. The whole world knew who LeBron was and the way he has operated, I think he should be incredibly proud of himself. Legit. And coming in here and he's forever. There's going to be some story or controversy. He's a human, you know, like, things do happen, but it's like, what he did here for us I will forever be thankful for, you know, and that was very, very, very cool with him, especially because we're football deficits. You know, I think we had some good NBA questions in there big time.

[Darius J. Butler]

Then we did journalism.

[Pat McAfee]

I think we did a little journalism. There's people doing emergency broadcast right now to respond. And we. We. I'm sure they will.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, yeah, sure.

[Pat McAfee]

We. We. We did expect that. As in the conversations that we were having there afterwards as they were filming, there was a lot of, like, who. I wonder if insert name here knows that there's something. And then, oh, I wonder if. If definitely they know, they would know that something. And then, ooh, kind of a ricochet. Like a couple of those.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

But other than that, I learned a lot about LeBron James. And human he is. And he's got the pacers tonight on ESPN. I'll tell you what. We FaceTimed Tyrese Halberd immediately after the conversation and said, look out, bub. Yeah, look out. He's locked in right now. Just want to let you know they're figuring it out. And Tyrese said, so are we. I don't want to hear, you know, Tyrese doing his. His thing, but it's. It's nice to get to know these NBA dudes.

[Tone Diggs]

So it was great. He was. It was awesome to hear him just as a human a lot of times, like, even him bringing up the. The finals against Dallas or that series against Orlando and like, saying, like, hey, I fucked those up. Like, that was cool of him to hear. And just being a human talking about Bronny. And then I love, like, you talked about. I love hearing the greats talk about the greats and like, the conversation about him and co. Kobe not being super tight and kind of a rivalry even during those U. S. Olympic teams until he became a Laker, until Kobe was retired. Like, and then talking about how that's probably what's going to happen with. With MJ Just because, like, him saying he's. He's definitely tired of seeing me running up and down before 23 like that. That, like, him talking about that stuff was just awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, and then in that same sentence, he mentioned, like, since I'm in high school, They've been talking about my name with this guy, you know, so he could see how George and we all know Mike. And even if you. You don't know Mike. Yeah, you know Mike. And it was like, oh, I guess we could see how that could be true. And I wonder if LeBron's going to have to deal with the same.

[Tone Diggs]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, whenever it happens, I wonder if he's.

[Tone Diggs]

Maybe if there's another one.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, you know, we can take this over to football because like Brett to Aaron Rodgers and then how Aaron wanted to do Jordan Love.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I wonder if there will be a way that LeBron, like for the next. Whoever it is. Is it Wemby potentially at vastly different players player. But whoever it is next, I do wonder how that relationship will go.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah, it'd be interesting to see. And these guys.

[Pat McAfee]

How long is this guy gonna play for too?

[Darius J. Butler]

That's the first question. But the. The Michael, we all know him, you know, just. I would say him and LeBron, just for me, outside looking in are different when it comes to. To that. I feel like, you know, everything. Yeah, yeah, a lot of things. A lot of things for sure. And Kobe was more similar to Michael when it came to that. So I think he'll be more open. And you mention it, being around so long, like he's playing with his son, but he's faced like, I don't know how many players now he's like, I played against your dad, I played against your uncle, I played again. I've coached. You know, Steven, he played against Nash, he played against Reddick. Like Reddick has come up after him, retired, went to tv, now become a coach, all while he's still playing. So I think he'll definitely have that type of mentor relationship with whoever that next person is.

[Pat McAfee]

Steve Nash and LeBron James, season two of Mind the Game, debuting on Tuesday, April 1st. I do believe it is an Amazon property, but I think you can see and watch it everywhere. We talked to Steve Nash off air, and I assume he thought it was off the record, but we're definitely gonna say it because it was a great line. He said that all the people that didn't think LeBron and Luka were gonna work is because they thought that, you know, a star, whenever he's not getting the ball and he's used to getting the ball, ball can sometimes pat a little bit. You know, like that's a real thing that can. Can happen. You know, humans, egos, pride, everything like that could take place. So I think the people thought that they weren't going to be able to work because one of them wouldn't be able to buy into the other one being sorry. Normally it's like people take turns, you know, that is kind of how like that would, would work. And he said instead, it feels like what he's watching is LeBron's taking advantage of the fact that Luca is getting a lot of the attention and being involved. So he's able to do stuff he's never been able to do before. Cutting, backdooring, being able to kind of do the off the ball shit that I assume he's been wanting like, others to do, you know, like everything that he has maybe wanted and he's fully committed to that. So I think that goes into it even more of a conversation, like, maybe this guy isn't just a prima donna prick. Maybe he has been painted into an image that, you know, a couple different things that have happened, people just automatically assume the absolute worst. It's like this dude's willing to give up like his ego. In his 22nd year in Los Angeles with him already being a goat for another guy trade. He wasn't even if you listen to all reports, right? He was not talked to about. He talked about how much he likes Anthony Davis. And it's like he's just like, yep. And he's called JJ Redick. What a dickhead. So it's like there's obviously coaching happen. It's like I feel like I have a much different perspective of LeBron after talking to him. And I just keep saying I can't take him enough for him.

[Darius J. Butler]

A lot of people would take shots at him early on, even in high school, like, he was always more passive. People would say, like, hey, you know, take the shot, take the last shot every time. I don't care if you double team, don't pass it up to the better shot. Because that's kind of who he was as a, as a player was. Hey, I'm gonna be a team player. I'm gonna get the best shot. I'm gonna put my players in the best position to succeed, lead. And people wanted him to be the Kobe who's going to take the final shot, be the MJ who's going to take the final shot. So once you're in that, in that position, you're never going to make every, everybody happy. I feel like he's definitely stayed true to himself and that's, that's what I also admire.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, to your point, like, I think he's just like at peace with everything now. Like he does. He doesn't give a. About the, you know, argument between him and LeBron because like when you get to his level, like in his head, it. You're never going to win that anyway. You know, like he probably thinks he's the best of all time. He should, but. And you know, like it doesn't matter what he does at this stage of his career. Like he, they. The Lakers could win the next two NBA Finals. And that's not going to sway how anyone who is on the Jordan side thinks anyway. So like you said, like he's at peace with it. It's like, you know what I can put I. My resume is signed, sealed and delivered like it's set in stone. So I can, if, if it takes me just sitting in the corner, corner and hitting open threes or cutting to the basket and Duncan and I can kind of pass the torch on to Luca to be like the next star of the Lakers, I'm good with that. And people are going to say what they're going to say regardless.

[Pat McAfee]

He was awesome. Hey, thank you, Bronnie and Foxy, you're. You've been a brawn enthusiast. Brawn enthusiast your entire life. Yeah. As soon as it was over, you admit, oh man, dude, who's a big bron guy. Like, that was awesome. I so mind blown. So he mentioned that night in Detroit where he scored 25 points. I was probably 12, 13 years old and ever since that night, I'll never forget it, I was like, this is the guy. So I've been on this LeBron journey. Ups, downs, championships, losing championships, all this stuff the whole time. And countless, countless, countless LeBron Jordan arguments. I mean, you have to do that. But to see him in the flesh, like Ty said, didn't know if he was actually going to come. I didn't want to get my hopes up. And then to see him, we do the interview immediately. I couldn't have got out of this seat faster. Walked out there immediately. Legend dapped him up. He was so cool. He was so nice. I'll literally never forget that. Did you guys snap after the dap up or not? No snap from him or me. So we were kind of on the right page there. That was interesting. He dropped that in there out of nowhere, you know, cuz he's got handshakes for everybody. So I didn't know what, to be honest, might be.

[Darius J. Butler]

Your handshake?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Okay.

[Darius J. Butler]

I didn't get a snap either.

[Pat McAfee]

The, the rhythm of the snap was something I've never experienced before. It was very Quick after the. You know, usually there's like a boom and then like a little. Like a little. Oh, we're doing boom in there instead.

[AJ Hawk]

It was like he's got those massive hands. They get there just right away, you know, Boom. Big fingers, you know, it's like.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, because he probably doesn't want to take them away. That's a long trip.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

You're gonna get back.

[AJ Hawk]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

So it's huge.

[AJ Hawk]

He's absolutely huge.

[Pat McAfee]

He had a couple bars in there, too. Everything becomes Sasquatch, I think was one of the things that he said. It was like, oh, I bet you. He explains that about a lot of stories about him that go, how about the two kids? Two guys, Caucasian gentlemen who are outside the elevator. Oh, my God, it's LeBron. Oh, I didn't. What a moment. F U K LBJ. He's heard a lot of that throughout his life, and we're thankful that he stopped by. I don't know what the hell we're going to talk about. Nobody. There's going to be. We would be wasting every conversation that we have right now. For instance. For instance, Trey Hendrickson in Cincinnati might get done.

[LeBron James]

Oh, wow.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

Maybe.

[Darius J. Butler]

What made you say that?

[Pat McAfee]

Well, there's been a report, you know, a little latte, Starbucks air and Starbucks jouster. Yeah. Basically saying that they're looking to basically complete a sweep of paying all of their players. This has kind of been the mo or the statement coming out of the Bengals since the beginning. They said they want to be able to pay Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. Everybody said that's not possible. Remember, he said, ideally, we'd keep both Jamar and T. They did. Congratulations. And then as he spoke about Duke, Tobin spoke about Trey Hendrickson. Would like to keep Trey Hendrickson here as well. Didn't think it would be possible to be able to pay both wide receivers, and Trey Hendrickson. Didn't think it would be possible to pay one of the wide receivers and Trey Hendrickson and pay the other wide receiver. But now it's being reported that they're going to try to do it. So I'm not going to doubt them just strictly because they dunked on me pretty good for not thinking that they'd be able to get both wide receivers done. But if they're able to get all three of these guys done, they're going to have to hit on the draft. That is going to have to be the case. But other teams have been able to do it. But other teams have been able to.

[Darius J. Butler]

I mean, What a lot of the good teams that people always refer to, the Eagles being one of the examples. One of the best, I would say the best example of defending super bowl champs is they pay their guys early. So they don't, you know, when you get to this point and now the market jumps up year by year by so much, you know, put yourself in this situation. We talk about it all the time. When you. When you're not on the. When you're not with the quarterback that's not on their rookie deal. So Joe Burrow has already been paid. You paid your two receivers, and now you're going to pay the. The reigning sack king right now is like, hey, it's going to be a tough time filling out the rest of that roster. Maybe bring in, you know, the Thunderdome squad. We can get some shit done.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah, we do got something.

[Darius J. Butler]

It'll be. It'll be interesting to see how Duke. Duke Tobin gets this done, but obviously he is one of their best players. I'm bummed out to hear this. As a Colts fan, I was hoping some way, somehow we got him back with Lou over here with our defense. But most importantly, I hope Trey gets his well earned money because he's been a dog since stepping foot in the league.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Trey's been good to us, obviously. And what he said on our program at Radio Row was kind of the big, like, well, wait a minute, are they going to be able to get Trey done? Are they trying to get Trey done? And Trey's like, I love Cincinnati, but, like, also, at some point I need to be given what I'm worth. There's been a couple years now where they've kind of extended it. Hopefully he's able to make his money, get his money, and if they're able to keep him in Cincinnati, that's phenomenal work by Duke toe. Yeah. And we'll see how it all goes. Go ahead, Ty.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, and ultimately, like, well, are they gonna have to meet in the middle somewhere? Because I understand they're trying to get it done, but if they come back to him and they're like, hey, how. How does $32 million a year sound? It's like, well, I'm the reigning sack king and you got guys making 39, 40 million a year. So, like, do.

[Pat McAfee]

Should I.

[AJ Hawk]

Do I need to take a hometown discount? Like, I know he said he loves Cincinnati, but, like, the proof is still going to be in the pudding because, you know, is that necessarily fair that because they've already paid those two guys, they want him to Stay like that doesn't necessarily mean that he should have to take a big pay cut for what he thinks he's truly worth.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. I don't know if it's a pay cut or not. Russell Wilson last year was getting paid $1 million by the Pittsburgh Steelers and like 36 or 40 or something from the Denver Broncos. Yesterday it's announced he signs a one year $10 million guarantee up to or 10 and a half million dollar guarantee up to 21 million in the one year. They obviously signed Jameis Winston to a 4 million per year job a week ago or whatever. And he got Tommy Cutlets in there day ball and was obviously on a mission this offseason to get a veteran quarterback understanding the situation, especially what has happened over the last couple years and understanding that Hard Knock's offseason basically showcased the Saquon Barkley decision. And then Saquon goes on to be the offense player of the year and MVP basically and have the greatest season in the history of any running back. So that's tough. Yeah, but now we got a chance to win. They bring in Russell Wilson. Listen, let's go to New York Giants football fan Bruce Brown. You guys got on super bowl or what?

[Bruce Brown]

I don't know about the Super Bowl. I'm fired up. It seems like Giants nation is a, is a bit torn. And to all the Giants fans that are upset about us signing Russell Wilson, I would just say who do you think we are? Like we tried to get Matt Stafford, he stayed home. He didn't want to move across 100 million guaranteed.

[Pat McAfee]

You guys are going to.

[Bruce Brown]

Yes, exactly. To come be New York Giant, I would imagine we offered Aaron Rodgers much more or at least a, a few million more than what the Steelers are offering. But obviously he would probably rather be a Pittsburgh Steeler. We are what we are and we got to build something here to attract future free agents that might want to come here and just put a respectable season together. And I think Russ is a great, you know, first really second step behind Jamis, you know, coming as a, as the backup, you know, towards that goal. I think our roster is a lot better than, than a lot of people you know, might think, especially on, on the offensive line end of things, but you know, still certainly holes to fill and steps to take, but I think it's a great first step. And you know, now looking at the draft, we could still go chador 3 and have him sit behind Russ for, you know, maybe eight, nine games and then, and then let Shador go out there or we go Travis Hunter, maybe Trey back in Jackson start.

[Pat McAfee]

So okay, here we go. Now we're working. Now we're wheeling, dealing more.

[Bruce Brown]

More options on the table for the draft. And you know, I'm pumped up about it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I love to hear that. And Russell Wilson's post, obviously he won a Super bowl there, but they beat the Broncos. So he says, I know this place pretty well. He goes, this is the place where Zito took the top off an RV right outside.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

A lot of people saying he's the first guy to ever be excited to go to MetLife Stadium.

[Pat McAfee]

See, that's not good.

[Bruce Brown]

Place is a hole.

[Darius J. Butler]

That's what I'm saying. Eternal optimist he is.

[Tone Diggs]

He loves going to MAD stadium, that quarterback.

[LeBron James]

Let's ride.

[Pat McAfee]

Is he going to. Let's ride. What do you think it's going to be? He didn't do anything with the Steelers. Right. I tried riding it down.

[Tone Diggs]

No. And. And it that kind of. Maybe that's why he lost the juice in the last half of the season.

[Pat McAfee]

He hopped off the pony because.

[Tone Diggs]

But fun fact, ESPN BET came out with their win totals for the NFL. Giants are the lowest at three and a half. So they don't believe with Russell Wilson.

[Bruce Brown]

Four, three and a half.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

Our so yeah. Russ changed.

[Bruce Brown]

Obviously we have our division. Then we play the entire NFC north and the Chiefs pretty much.

[Darius J. Butler]

So you look fine.

[Bruce Brown]

Let's see the. The Raiders, Saints, Patriots, maybe that's a tough schedule. Maybe the Bears, maybe the Broncos.

[Pat McAfee]

Man. Dabol, your head coach.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Looking at this thing going, what did I do?

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah. What the hell do we do to deserve this? They better not be on prime time. That's all I.

[Tone Diggs]

They will.

[Darius J. Butler]

They will.

[Pat McAfee]

Five straight weeks of it, brother.

[Bruce Brown]

Oh yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Five straight weeks. We're going to be forced to watch it. Good luck to Russell, man.

[Darius J. Butler]

Good luck, bro.

[Pat McAfee]

Congratulations to Stefan Diggs. Obviously has a leg injury. He secures another $26 million in another prove it type contract which he certainly can and would be able to with Drake May. That's a huge deal for New England as we have about a minute here. Debug.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah. Good deal for New England. I think a great deal at this point in his career from. For Stefan Diggs. He's made a ton of money in his career. He knows what it's like to be a number one receiver. From what I've seen online, at least from Dr. Reef in him and his post, he looks like he's trending in the right direction health wise. So I'm looking forward To Drake May getting another certified weapon on offense. Then this makes the draft even more exciting for what the Patriots to do at the top.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, Travis Hunter and Stefan Dig. Oh, wow. That'd be pretty crazy. But the way those first four picks are going, literally anything can happen right now.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Especially with what the quarterback stuff happening. And then there's some Browns quarterback conversation happening. There's a lot going on. We'll continue to cover it all every day that you'll allow us. We can't thank LeBron enough. It's been LeBronNation. Wednesday, March 26, 2025 here on ESPN. We roll on on YouTube, ESPN Plus, Disney plus and TikTok Live. We'll see you tomorrow. Be your friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. Go. Goodbye. That was a pretty good sign off. Hell yeah. I felt pretty good about that nail. It felt pretty good about that one. People are not happy about the muting of the swear words on espn.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

We should have put on the bottom unfiltered on YouTube.

[Darius J. Butler]

They should know at this point.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But a lot of people that do not know our show are watching. A lot of people know LeBron.

[Tone Diggs]

They were tuning.

[Pat McAfee]

Have you just looked at like the.

[AJ Hawk]

Amount of followers he's got?

[Pat McAfee]

A lot. I checked that out last night. You know, cuz we started talking about it, we're like, this is the biggest. The biggest. This is by far the biggest.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That has ever been on the program by far. Like Aaron Rodgers is a megastar.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Peyton Manning, insanely famous.

[Tone Diggs]

What about Dewey?

[Darius J. Butler]

It's the thing though.

[Pat McAfee]

The Rock, Dewey.

[Darius J. Butler]

That's the thing. Like football, obviously, America, but these basketball dudes like James Harden, Steph Curry, like these like us, you know, numbers wise, probably not even the top three when it comes to like actual people. Not money wise. Yeah, but, but soccer players, same thing. So yeah. When you get those big time basketball players like their brands are so, so wide. It's crazy how many people following.

[Pat McAfee]

We're getting quoted in different languages, obviously. Oh yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And I hope they, if they do a lip dub of me, I hope it's a good one.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm sure it will be.

[Pat McAfee]

I hope in their language they got a little pizzazz, you know, I hope they hope they get it right. Cause I've been down this international road before.

[AJ Hawk]

Before, sure.

[Pat McAfee]

It was not for a conversation with LeBron James. It was for a conversation with Aaron Rodgers during a time where there was a, a shot, you know.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And he was, he didn't want, he was not no, he was never going.

[AJ Hawk]

He wasn't getting it.

[Tone Diggs]

That was doctor not doing it.

[Pat McAfee]

He consulted with Dr. Joe Rogan at the time also like three other actual doctors nobody talks about that. Had a 500 page report. Boy, I was getting murdered in different languages. I mean just the entire. The entire planet was just burying me. Look at the flappy arms on a guy next to him. This fatso is going to be on a conversation about health. I don't think so. Jesus, what language is that? And I'm asking the Internet to translate and I'm like, stop translating, please. It was better when it was just a bunch of letters and I didn't understand what it was saying. Let me get out here. Let me keep it moving. I assume. Same thing here.

[AJ Hawk]

Miles Teller Saga.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean that's a whole nother animal.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, different languages. Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Buried Swedish tabloids tell me I'm the worst human of all time. Yeah, let me translate that. This piece. All right.

[Bruce Brown]

The Swedes.

[Pat McAfee]

I think so.

[Tone Diggs]

Come on.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm telling you, I think it was them. I forget who it was, but LeBron here, he certainly, I assume shows are going to use that for the next year.

[Darius J. Butler]

Long time, long time.

[AJ Hawk]

Put that in the bank for the next decade. I think be okay.

[Darius J. Butler]

Cool. Quotable moment.

[Bruce Brown]

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[Pat McAfee]

Big day it has been. And what an honor it has been to be here. The talks at table have Bruce Brown and Ty Schm Smith looking fantastic. Opening day tomorrow.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, God, I cannot wait.

[Pat McAfee]

Opening day of the baseball season is tomorrow. Ty Schmidt and I. I'll let you two Yankees Die Hards know tomorrow on the program. Derek Jeter.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, my God.

[Darius J. Butler]

What?

[AJ Hawk]

The captain.

[Tone Diggs]

Holy captain.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, my God.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

I'd take a bullet for Jeet any day of the week for the rest of my life.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, you. You wouldn't be. You're just saying that would be the.

[AJ Hawk]

Last day of my life.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you couldn't be able to do it every week. But we're saying if a week comes.

[AJ Hawk]

If like, Jeets, 95 years old, living in a nursing home, and some, like, Colombian hitman in Miami decide, hey, we got to get rid of this guy, and I get wind of it, I'm down there, I'll take every single one of them for your captain.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, captain. My captain.

[Bruce Brown]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

He'll be on the tomorrow.

[AJ Hawk]

Hell yes.

[Pat McAfee]

What are the story lines? Are the Yankees gonna win this year or no?

[AJ Hawk]

Well, see, that's what's kind of tough is because as you know, the baseball season is so long that, like, there are story lines. But I mean, we are. Nothing matters for the next, like, month and a half.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, what does matter?

[AJ Hawk]

What's that?

[Pat McAfee]

Shohei Otani's back on a bump.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, sh.

[Pat McAfee]

Otani last year, end of season. Now they've gone to win the World Series and all that. He was taking pitching sessions, you know, never played, never pitched. We were hoping that there would be a moment where he would come out and maybe close the game out, whatever it was. Because Shohei is obviously a phenom. This is a one of one, an anomaly in every single sense. He's back doing it. So we got a chance this year. We're going to see the Shohei Ohtani experience. You know, people chit chatted about Babe Ruth was basically the last guy who pitched and hit as well as he did, but inevitably would just go on to hit there. Normally, if you're as good of a hitter as Shohei Ohtani is, we're not wasting any of that in a chance to ruin it with pitching. And if you're as good of a pitcher as you are Shohei Ohtani, we're not going to blow any of that with having you hit. So he's the first guy. Offense, defense, special teams, he's playing every single position on the field. And there was a conversation that maybe he would never get back to pitching because how good he did hitting, how much money they paid him, how well the team did this, feels like maybe he is going to get back to pitching. And how do the baseball people feel about Sh. Sh. Ohtani's ability to be able to do both of these things?

[AJ Hawk]

I mean, it definitely can be. I'm of the thought that they're. The Dodgers pitching staff is so deep. Like, they went out and got a bunch of starting pitchers. So, like, they don't really need him to pitch, per se. And I just always worry when a guy has had issues before, like. Like, it would suck if Shohei does something to his elbow that kinda. To the point where, like, he can't even hit and they lose him for a season. And we potentially like, start to, you know, not. Not saying like, what could have been because what he's already done in his career is, you know, like, will probably never be replicated. But I just worry because they're so deep. Like, he's unbelievable, obviously. So it's kind of like, I mean, are we really gonna, you know, limit what this guy can do? Because he's unbelievable. But it's also like, he is so good at the plate too, that. Do we even want to take the risk of him potentially getting hurt? Because we went. We have the best pitching staff in baseball too. We went out and spent a bunch of money on that. Like, we. They don't necessarily need him to do it, but it's one of those things where it's. You got a guy throwing 100 miles an hour, he has nasty stuff. Like he. He. As a competitor, I'm sure he wants to continue to pick.

[Pat McAfee]

So you two are Yankees guys? Yes. Okay. As the coastal elitistness has made its way out here to Thunderdome. And I hate that we're just part of the problem, you know, just pushing the agenda of the Yankees.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Because you know what I heard? D Bucks.

[LeBron James]

What's that?

[Pat McAfee]

Well, the Mets run New York now.

[Darius J. Butler]

I heard that as well.

[Pat McAfee]

That spread in the news.

[AJ Hawk]

No, we'll see.

[Pat McAfee]

No, Gaines left yesterday.

[Bruce Brown]

There is no Sinatra at Citi Field. But they did have.

[Pat McAfee]

I saw Jerry Seinfelder.

[AJ Hawk]

He is a Mets fan.

[Bruce Brown]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I've seen him there. I Seen the trumpets there?

[Bruce Brown]

They also got.

[Darius J. Butler]

He's back.

[LeBron James]

The Rler was there.

[Pat McAfee]

The Twitter. Why is the Rizzler there?

[Tone Diggs]

The Rizzler was.

[Darius J. Butler]

That's it. That's it on the R. The Rizzler.

[AJ Hawk]

Don'T know about sports. You see his bracket? Everyone said, oh, no, he was 4 0.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah.

[LeBron James]

Oh, yeah. He.

[AJ Hawk]

He picked St. John's to win the national championship. They didn't even make it to the sweet.

[Darius J. Butler]

Come on.

[Tone Diggs]

So did this show.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah, we did too. We bet pretty heavily on that. So Austin Rizzler seeing the field the same damn way.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. We didn't have Yale in the sweet six or the final four, you know. Come on. Rizzler.

[Pat McAfee]

He's trying to get education. He understands. He's working. He's working a little bit.

[AJ Hawk]

I don't give a if the Rizzler is a fan of the Mets, cuz once again, once we do the blood sacrifice of big boom AJ and his son, the Yankees are back big time.

[Darius J. Butler]

Who else got a shot outside of the Yankees?

[LeBron James]

Dodgers, Red Sox loaded up first time in a while.

[AJ Hawk]

Phillies will be good. The Braves are always tough.

[Pat McAfee]

Pittsburgh Pirates.

[Tone Diggs]

Yep.

[AJ Hawk]

They could be a dark horse. Yeah. They can stay healthy.

[Tone Diggs]

Pitching staff.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. If they can stay healthy, they will be. Skeens. A lot of people picking him to win Cy Young. So it's. Yeah. For the first time in a long time, you might be, you know, keeping a close eye on the Pirates. Pittsburgh Pirates have a come September.

[Darius J. Butler]

What?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Paul Skeens. Paul Skeens does that to a city, to a franchise, to a team, to a league. Okay. Paul Skeens is coming there. Humble.

[Darius J. Butler]

I mean, super humble.

[Pat McAfee]

So much moxie military man understands exactly who he is, what he can be. And I think he understands what he means to, like, the sport of baseball. Definitely to Pittsburgh. He gave a promo in a press conference, I think last week that was like, the city of Pittsburgh deserves, like, our team to be good. Like, we're all getting excited about a wild card. When I think we won a wild card game a couple years back, Koch was on a team, leading the team and he was like, the Pittsburgh fans still talk about, like, the wild card game being like the thing. He was like, I respect that. I appreciate that. But that can't be what the standard is like. We need. We need to do this. He gave like a motivational speech to the city of Pittsburgh.

[Darius J. Butler]

Love that.

[Pat McAfee]

And I think it's radiated through the Pirates kind of organization. Now. The ownership always going to take money. Okay. Always going to take the Money. But I think they're being like publicly forced to kind of do a little bit more maybe. And his other hundo boy Jones, they feared for the worst. Turns out he's going to be able to get back the pitching. Not only Skins, they got some pitchers, they got some people that can hit. Look at the Pittsburgh Pirates with the best ballpark in the damn league about to do the damn thing with Paul.

[Darius J. Butler]

SK I cannot wait until we can get SK and some pin stripes.

[Pat McAfee]

Right?

[Darius J. Butler]

I mean, just fast. That's the thing about this mlb. He's got to spend six more years in Pittsburgh.

[Pat McAfee]

Got to spend.

[Darius J. Butler]

He can turn it around. He can turn the fresh franchise around. You know, pitching. What do they pitch? Once every five, seven days. Every five days. I hate that as well. But yeah, I'm wishing you guys the best, but that ain't happening. Right. Your Marlins look just as bad. Probably 10 times.

[LeBron James]

They got the buos game.

[Darius J. Butler]

One big game. Make sure you guys ask the captain about the Marlins and. And how went down there and why he got.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, he loves it down there.

[Pat McAfee]

What happened?

[AJ Hawk]

A lot of people say that he was like a sleeper agent for the Yankees and kind of got in there, got rid of all the Marlins best players, traded him to the Yankees, got kind of set him back like 15, 20 years. Got out of Dodge.

[Bruce Brown]

It's not true. He was in a can't win situation.

[AJ Hawk]

It is not true.

[Pat McAfee]

But a lot of people.

[Bruce Brown]

Dodge.

[Pat McAfee]

Listen to two Yankees fans go. Our captain.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Wants another team to work for us.

[Darius J. Butler]

Stanton.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. It was awesome at the time. Now you know John Carlo Jesus can't use his arms. Yeah. Can't use his arms.

[Tone Diggs]

I can't hold a fork.

[AJ Hawk]

He's the most jacked guy in the history of humanity. He.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Can't unzip his pants.

[Bruce Brown]

Having trouble drinking coffee.

[AJ Hawk]

Surgery on both of his bionic elbows. He's got a hammy problem now, too.

[Bruce Brown]

He swings the bat like five miles per hour faster than anybody else in Major League baseball. I think O'Neal Cruz was like second highest and now he just can't even.

[Pat McAfee]

Why? What are you talking about? His arm. His body is.

[Bruce Brown]

He squeezes the bat so tight that now he can't straighten his arm.

[AJ Hawk]

Arms when he makes.

[Bruce Brown]

That was the report this off season.

[AJ Hawk]

When he makes contact, he hits it like 10,000 miles an hour and hits a homer like every time he makes contact. But when he doesn't, he usually strikes out and tweaks something you don't want to see.

[Tone Diggs]

That guy rounded third on his Way to home either.

[Bruce Brown]

He's so injury prone that they told him last year not to run fast. So he was just jogging around.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. So it's basically like, hey, if you don't. And even like he's too strong.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. Yes. Can he not dial it back? Has anybody talked to him and just said, hey bud, let's.

[Tone Diggs]

She's too strong.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

They tell him not to run.

[Bruce Brown]

Can't really put the genie back in the bomb.

[AJ Hawk]

No, I mean we're talking hitting bombs out the center field that like car him off the wall. And like he just. He'll jog the first and just stay there. Hey, we don't need you legging out a double. We don't. God forbid you try to get the third. We don't need you pulling a hammy.

[Pat McAfee]

Is he. He's healthy to start this season.

[AJ Hawk]

No, no, no. Yeah. He squeezing the bat.

[Pat McAfee]

He literally.

[AJ Hawk]

He can't pick up a grain of sand right now.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, John, we hope you're okay. We hope you Godspeed. On the way back. He was. He worked too hard. He was too strong.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Too explosive.

[Bruce Brown]

Was dealing with it in the playoffs and just kept mashing dingers anyway.

[AJ Hawk]

Really just need him for the playoffs. An absolute dog.

[Pat McAfee]

With that being said, all this comes from the amount of hard work he puts in.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, you don't swim that fast just because you woke up that way.

[AJ Hawk]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Granted, there is a gift. But then he's got to work. He's just too jacked, you guys say.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You guys have a player that's too jacked on the Yankees. You have Aaron Judge.

[AJ Hawk]

Y.

[Pat McAfee]

How's is he. He was MVP last year. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

He's won MVP too the last three years. A lot of people thinking he. He may win MVP again because he is unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

Season hasn't even started. What are they talking about? No idea.

[AJ Hawk]

Kind of the same thing. Like we. We think there's a good chance Paul SK Win s young.

[Pat McAfee]

We know that's going to happen.

[Darius J. Butler]

We'll see.

[Tone Diggs]

SK Is a favorite.

[Pat McAfee]

We know sh Is going to pitch and hit. Right. That's going to be sweet.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And we know that inevitably probably Pittsburgh Pirates start spreading the news. Yeah. That they. Are they in the same no as the Yankees.

[AJ Hawk]

That'd be the World Series where they would present.

[Pat McAfee]

So you guys would have Russell Wilson I believe.

[AJ Hawk]

Holy Yankees. Pirates, I believe are in town when we're in Pittsburgh for big night out that. That week. I believe the Yankees are in town.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So we'll try to make that happen for sure.

[AJ Hawk]

That would be week.

[Pat McAfee]

You think Russ plays or. No.

[AJ Hawk]

I'll tell you what. We need a third baseman.

[Tone Diggs]

So I'm saying he lives in New York now.

[Bruce Brown]

Utility guy.

[Tone Diggs]

He can do this.

[Pat McAfee]

Finally, this is something. Maybe this is why he chose the Giants. You know, maybe there's conversations elsewhere and now he can put.

[Tone Diggs]

I don't think there was conv.

[Darius J. Butler]

Elsewhere has been done since prime. I mean I saw on the Internet you guys in the bind now since he signed with. So there were conversations. I don't know what you're a privy.

[Pat McAfee]

To bind and way behind.

[Tone Diggs]

I. I'm privy too that the Steelers did not want Russell Wilson back. He wanted to be a Steeler until, you know, he said, well, Giants are really the only team left that wants me. So.

[Pat McAfee]

So when you say the Steelers didn't want him back, that's the fans you're talking about?

[Tone Diggs]

No, I'm talking about the organization, the fans.

[Pat McAfee]

Jeez.

[Darius J. Butler]

I mean, Caboli wanted him back.

[Pat McAfee]

It seems scored scored too.

[Bruce Brown]

Scored too many points against Bengals and already Smith said hey, stop audible and at the line of scrimmage. Tone it down. I don't think handed off the naj.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk about the Steelers quarterback situation. You know, the Ohio State pro day is happening. Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan and Arthur Smith all in attendance. Guess who they're watching.

[Darius J. Butler]

The running backs, of course.

[Pat McAfee]

And also national champion quarterback Will Hyde, who's being compared to 7 Big Ben Roth.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They went to dinner last night with two running backs. Trayvon Henderson, Quinn Shaw, Judkins and a quarterback, Will Howard.

[Darius J. Butler]

Love that.

[Pat McAfee]

Where'd they go?

[Tone Diggs]

Somewhere in Columbus probably. Probably Chop House. Probably Urban's Chop House. If I.

[Pat McAfee]

Nobody was dancing. Nobody wanted a dance floor. Stayed away from.

[Tone Diggs]

But no, they took those three to dinner last night. It was reported huge pro day today. They. They. They've brought running backs in. They're going to bring both those running backs from Ohio State I believe in for a top 30 and it feels like, you know, Will could be on the board and I'm. I'm pretty pumped about that. I'm down to two quarterbacks that I would potentially want for this draft. Number one was Jackson Dart. Number two was Will Howard. And if it's anyone other than that, I'll be pissed.

[Darius J. Butler]

Quinn.

[Tone Diggs]

Huh?

[Darius J. Butler]

How's Quinn?

[Tone Diggs]

Quinn's a good guy. He's got a great arm. He's got Moxy. He's just.

[AJ Hawk]

He's.

[Tone Diggs]

He's not a Steelers quarterback.

[Darius J. Butler]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Who. What team is Quinn? Yours. Good for you. Think it's not the Steelers like a.

[Tone Diggs]

Like a McVeigh offense, like a. Like a Koc type offense. Fence.

[Pat McAfee]

Dolphins.

[LeBron James]

Great.

[Tone Diggs]

Great with the fence.

[Pat McAfee]

That's what you're talking about.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Pittsburgh Steelers. We got play action.

[Tone Diggs]

We got to be a big boy. We are in the AFC North. We're driving the ball through the wind. Yeah, that's what I'm talking.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, we're driving now. Will Howard's going to have to throw the ball today.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Like most pro days, nothing bad can happen, right? Most pro days.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

It's like, hey, this is. This is a choreographed workout exhibition. This is a routine basically that has been practiced. But with what happened at the combine, the way people were talking about that Will Howard should throw the ball well today to his people, that he'll know he will throw the ball well. But also like kind of has to. Yeah, yeah. I think, like, kind of. And if he does, I think he quiets a lot that happened from the combine. But if he has a day like I think the NFL posted. Quinn, you were throwing a duck. Did you see that?

[Darius J. Butler]

They did.

[Tone Diggs]

They posted a bomb and then they said, look at the gun. And it was.

[LeBron James]

Was.

[Tone Diggs]

I mean, it went far, but it didn't. Was not a spiral.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a wobble. That was safety corner.

[Tone Diggs]

We talked about that literally all night. We talk about this all the time.

[Pat McAfee]

Social media person just sent Quinn Ewers into a fire. Like, literally into a fire. Didn't know ball in that moment. Like, yeah, traveled far. But that thing that looked bad, I think when yours did not win from that particular clip. But nonetheless, they say Quinn is a guy and could spin it. We all agree that he can. But pro day, I think matters more now. Yeah, they posted that. I mean, that's a long throw. That's a long throw.

[LeBron James]

It looked like.

[Darius J. Butler]

I didn't know it was that.

[Pat McAfee]

Did you see it?

[Darius J. Butler]

No.

[Tone Diggs]

This is.

[Bruce Brown]

I don't know.

[Darius J. Butler]

Is that a war?

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Especially with the white backdrop. I mean, it looks like it was a punt.

[Darius J. Butler]

You know, it got. It got there. I guess Peyton used to throw some ducks that got there.

[Pat McAfee]

So there a lot of touchdown wobbles.

[Darius J. Butler]

Exactly. As long as they get there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you're right. I agree. But who knows if he's throwing every ball like that or if that's just the one ball.

[Bruce Brown]

Texas put out another deep throw. That is a nice, pretty spiral.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Because Quinn has that. Oh, yeah. You know, he's got that. Quinn's got a good ball. Go release Will Howard, though. I Think needs to show that he can throw the NFL ball.

[Darius J. Butler]

I think, personally, big, big pro day for him. Obviously, we talked about. We talked to him after the national championship, so he didn't go to the Senior bowl to compete and throw throughout that week in front of evaluators and coaches. So big, big pro day for him. One of his receivers also, Ibuka, ran. He ran a pretty good time. Probably sneak into that first round running the 4 4. So big, big day for those Buckeyes.

[Pat McAfee]

We're getting some footage here. This from Chase Brown at Chase, a Brown underscore will hire the Brandon Ennis. And that is in a bucket. Oh, okay.

[AJ Hawk]

Big boy throw.

[Pat McAfee]

Tight spiral there, too. You know, we were actually in a room that was right over attached to this facility that has like 10 recliners, six TVs.

[Tone Diggs]

It's that window up there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's right on the. Yeah, right. There's a basketball court down there. Very kind. And there's trophies from the 1910 all the way through. Now littered through that building, they have a showcase room that has, I don't know, a thousand trophies. Give or take a thousand trophies.

[Tone Diggs]

That's my quarterback.

[Pat McAfee]

That's why. I mean, that's a hell of a ball. That's a big deal for Will Howard, man. Especially, like, the only reason why I know that is because how loud I was about Will Howard after watching his playoff run from the sideline and being like, this guy. He's big. He can run his teammates like him. He's making all the biggest plays in the biggest moments. I mean, third and 11. I understand Jeremiah Smith's wide open, but still got to make the play in the national championship to win the game. He did. How much football he has played has been something that a lot of people talk about over the last couple years. For rookies, how much ball do they play? In college, he played a lot of football. So I was a big fan. I was very loud about. Hey, why is nobody talking about Will Howard? Love the Cam Ward conversation. Love the Shador Sanders conversation. Jackson Dark came into the convo a little bit more. We were missing out on that, I think, as well. But I just wanted to know why nobody was talking about the national champion, Will Howard, who just had a run that was phenomenal. I know he's throwing two great wide receivers, but he was putting the ball in places. And when the lights were the bright, brightest, he played his absolute best. So I. I thought, this is a guy. This is a guy. And then the combat happens. Everybody's like, just like, we said, yeah, nobody's talking about him today could change all that. And I think when draft comes, somebody's going to love Will Howard. I think somebody's going to love Will Howard.

[Tone Diggs]

Agreed. And you saw what hall of Fame quarterback, you know, quarterback guru guy knows quarterback Kurt Warner said that was the greatest four games stretch he's ever seen in his entire life. Life.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I think he said of the season. I don't think he said it the entire life. Maybe he said any quarterback from the entire season.

[AJ Hawk]

I think.

[Tone Diggs]

Okay, well, he might have said it was. He said it was great. Four games.

[Pat McAfee]

Well said, babe. Will.

[AJ Hawk]

Well said.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, so you think Will Howard's going to the Pittsburgh Steelers? Silence.

[Tone Diggs]

He'll deliver. He's ours.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Cuz he went to dinner last night.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

And they're just standing right behind him saying they're basically running his workouts.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, so you say it's like whenever Urban Meer was with Trevor Lawrence.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And when the Chicago Bears were with Caleb. You're saying like this is. This has been decided ser.

[Bruce Brown]

Hey, picture this. This QB room, Raji the goatee, Mason.

[LeBron James]

Rudolph and will hire Bill H.

[Tone Diggs]

Rejuvenated.

[Pat McAfee]

Go win a Super Bowl. Win a Super bowl and then you got the future right there. There's the come well hired. I think he'd be a good Pittsburgh Steeler too.

[Tone Diggs]

I think he would too.

[Pat McAfee]

He was throwing 11 o'clock at night in the parking lot cold.

[Tone Diggs]

Oh, he likes to throw to good wide receivers. We got him.

[Pat McAfee]

You do. And one changes number because the other one's going to wear the other number. Everybody thought maybe that that wouldn't be a tandem or duo.

[Tone Diggs]

Sounds like it might be 14 is GPS. That's his legacy. I'll make mine in four. That's what DK Metcalf said after getting.

[Pat McAfee]

Paid 30 million a year. Yep. For the Pittsburgh Steelers. Rich Eisen mentioned it to Cam Hayward. It's great take. If we would have told you 13 years ago that the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to pay 30 million a year to a wide receiver that has never played for the Pittsburgh Steelers before, what would you say? And Cam here was like, we just. We know. We know that it's time. So we got a lot of vets here. They're trying to change it, they're trying to attack it, they're trying to go get it. That's why the Aaron Rodgers conversation is so loud. Because it's like you listen to any player talk about Aaron Rodgers and they say, yeah, would be able to go win right now if Aaron Rodgers. You listen to media people talk about Aaron Rodgers. They say, is it worth the poison? All that. That's, that's how media and a lot of fans, you know, think that as well. But you listen to any player, it's like, get Aaron in here, game's going to be better. Like, that's just how it's going to go. Minnesota still in the game with Aaron Rogers.

[Darius J. Butler]

Really?

[Pat McAfee]

The Pittsburgh Steelers still in the. I don't know. That's what Quesi, who's the general manager for the Minnesota Vikings Vikings, had a press conference today and he was asked about Aaron Rodgers and he said, I never want to be a thousand percent on anything or yada, yada, yada. But then, yeah, here it is. Vikings GM Kwesi Adolfo Mensah confirmed coach Kevin O'Connell talked with Aaron Rodgers and Rodgers was a consideration. A player like him is always going to be in those conversations. But from our delineations at that time, we're happy with where we are going forward. Obviously the caliber of player he is. It had to be a part of our conversation. Then Adolfo Mensah added, right now we're happy. Right now is a big one. We're happy with our quarterback room. On J.J. mcCarthy, you said @ every checkpoint, whether it was the draft process or practice until the injury or the offseason, now he's met the bar. So at right now and delineations at the time, you know, it's like we talked about it, we certainly did. We moved on. But never says absolutely not. Because I guess there is a moment in time where it could happen and you don't want to have her have to put your foot in the mouth or have one of those moments. But it's like, is Aaron just waiting on Pittsburgh Steelers and potentially retirement? Is there another team that we haven't heard about, potentially that Aaron wants to. What is going on, you think, and. And people are going to ask us to tell them, I have no idea. I have reached out. We are, we are in the dark. We are in the dark. But also we understand that he's got a lot going on, probably mentally thinking about everything, how it was on last couple years, what his career was, how Green Bay ended, what he's accomplished, how much money he's made, his fill, philanthropy that he's doing. Obviously he's award winning and giving back his experiences. We all know he likes to travel, get out of the country, go do stuff we never heard of and everything like that. So I wonder what all is being contemplated right now.

[Darius J. Butler]

I mean, the graphic. I was just upset. Then there was two, but obviously that was probably put together before the Russell Wilson signing in New York, so. So it's. I can't think of another place outside of Pittsburgh where he'll end up. I know Quesi, you know, didn't really speak in, like, absolutes. Well, yeah, absolutes, but, you know, it kind of feels like that's. That's JJ's job. JJ McCarthy. You know, I saw him yesterday on my timeline, draining a big clutch putt. Saw Dan O talking about how just impressed he's been with his presence around out there in Mexico. So I think it's JJ's job. He drafted him the top 10. He was obviously. Look at this. Look at this. But what a read.

[LeBron James]

Wow.

[Darius J. Butler]

Got a little Billy Ho in him. Stance was interesting, but he got the job done. But I think they'll start that clock with J.J. mcCarthy and see if that's really their guy for KLC and the Minnesota Vikings.

[Pat McAfee]

Excited to watch it. And the thought of J.J. mcCarthy being the starter for that Vikings team, it's like, welcome to the NFL. And you're. This is a good situation. And J.J. mcCarthy in good situations has performed very well.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yes. Delivered.

[Pat McAfee]

He has always delivered. High school, I think he did. College, he obviously did. Dropped in as a freshman. Then he gets given the job over another quarterback who took Michigan to the College Football Playoff, like, in real time. So he's always been a guy. And you listen to, like, Herb street talk about him. You listen to other people talk about him. They're like, he's a guy and he needs to be talked about as if he's a guy. It's like, all right, I'm excited to watch if that's the case, especially with Kevin O'Connell, big time.

[LeBron James]

I mean, it.

[Bruce Brown]

It is a lot like Will Howard coming out. Like, he had that run to win the national championship. I. I think the one thing that he might be ahead of, of Will Howard, is on the accuracy side. Like, he. He's always, you know, kind of putting it where he wants it, at least in the college game and what we saw in the preseason. I'm excited for him to get this opportunity. I personally believe in JJ McCarthy and think that he will win at the NFL level, especially with all the talent. Talent around him. What about, like, backup and all that, though? Like, are they looking for a veteran anywhere?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they didn't. Tannehill's name was. Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

When you were in Glasgow, we. We talked about it a bit with.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Schultz. He's Saying Schultze. Saying that Ryan Tannehill's name. They've checked in on him. It's like word Flacco sign.

[Tone Diggs]

Nowhere.

[AJ Hawk]

He hasn't yet.

[Pat McAfee]

He was with the Giants for a second.

[Tone Diggs]

He visited.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, flacco with Kevin O'Connor, model, Brissette sign.

[Tone Diggs]

Where did he. Still free agent.

[Darius J. Butler]

Okay. I remember it was conversations. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

No, New England, right?

[Tone Diggs]

No, that's Dobbs.

[AJ Hawk]

Josh Dobbs. Yeah.

[Darius J. Butler]

And Milton Jacoby.

[Pat McAfee]

Where was Jacobe? Was there link. Was it Colts?

[Darius J. Butler]

He was linked somewhere and had conversations somewhere. I've just.

[Pat McAfee]

Cardinals. We just pulled some things up, I guess. Cardinals.

[LeBron James]

Was it the Colts Notes he signed with the Cardinals.

[Tone Diggs]

Oh, okay.

[LeBron James]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. All right. Yeah. I thought we talked about him joining. Was that clearly signs of the Cardinals? That might. That must have been in that week. Free agency week. Must have been. Go down, scroll down. March 11th.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. Two weeks ago.

[Pat McAfee]

We should have known. This age. Kobe, we appreciate you, man. Good luck, everyone. Beautiful city over here. Yeah. Phoenix. What a place. Okay. Russell's there, Stefan's there. LeBron Versace at Trey Hendrickson, TGL. Billy Ho. Billy Ho in Atlanta.

[Darius J. Butler]

Atlanta, congratulations. Got a championship.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, he did. That was awesome. You know, congrats to them. They had their championship. Now, we don't know how the ratings did throughout the entire season, but we do know whenever there's big moments and a big play is made, we will celebrate the hell out of that. Look at that celebration. First ever TGL champion. Are you not entertained?

[Darius J. Butler]

Love the juice.

[Pat McAfee]

Are you not? I'm the guy. Congratulations to Atlanta. Getting a huge win. What a putt.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, you never do that on an outdoor. In actual golf, you know, you never have a full throw and a hat toss. I'm the guy. You know, anything like that feels like in that arena, in that setting, there is a little bit more juice, a little bit more electricity. You watched every single week.

[Darius J. Butler]

Not every single week.

[LeBron James]

You watch.

[Pat McAfee]

You watch.

[Darius J. Butler]

It was tough to keep up because they change, you know, days of the week and the times. But I'll tell you what, when it was like, you know, random Tuesday night or even last night, like, it was electric. I think this is kind of what golf needed, a part of what golf needed. Obviously, we need the best players playing against the best players more often. But for this to be something, especially for somebody that's new to golf, you know, only been watching it and playing, playing it for two years, like, just the pace that they play, you talk about the personality. Seeing more of their personalities, more to juice, more talk you know, seeing. Because obviously these guys all know each other, so the way that they talk, but most importantly, the pace of playing in the moments, you know, the heightened moments, the people in the crowd, I think it'll continue to grow. This is the first year, I'm sure the ratings, you know, they've been probably down since that Tiger Rory matchup. But I think if they get a schedule and we know the teams in the plays, I think it'll find some legs for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

I was just reminded, you know, Billy Ho drains that massive putt for that big moment to, you know, kind of put a stamp on the end of that TGL first season. Do you know that Billy Ho had Ty Schmidt blocked on Twitter? I forgot. Long time, long time.

[AJ Hawk]

Years.

[Darius J. Butler]

What happened?

[Tone Diggs]

This was year. Yeah.

[Darius J. Butler]

You know, Billy Ho got beat.

[Pat McAfee]

I think Ty's tweet was that he always pisses down his leg, something like that in the big moment.

[Darius J. Butler]

And he blocked you.

[Pat McAfee]

He blocked you. Oh, he.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, yeah, with the quickness. He said, I don't got time for his today, this guy. And you know, rightfully super. We put that.

[Pat McAfee]

And then you put it to bed when he came on the show. But him making that massive pot right there. Nick obviously was at the back going, hey, do you remember Billy Ho had Ty blocked for saying he always chokes or whatever. And then literally, I was remembering. You guys did put that. We did.

[AJ Hawk]

We put the unblocked you, right? He did unblock me.

[Darius J. Butler]

Okay. He was kind of telling me, you know, some of his stories. So I became even more of a fan of, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Blue collar dude. Blue collar golfer.

[AJ Hawk]

Well, I didn't know any of that stuff either at the time. You know, I just figured, oh, this is, you know, prep school rich prick. I hate this guy. This guy. And then he comes on the show and was like, you know what? I shouldn't have been hating this guy.

[Pat McAfee]

May 21, 2017, Ty Schmidt says, hey, Riggs, what are the odds old Billy Ho shits down his leg and chokes down the stretch today?

[AJ Hawk]

It's a simple question.

[Pat McAfee]

Six retweets at the time. Time.

[AJ Hawk]

Simple question.

[Pat McAfee]

19 likes Billy Ho. Saw it and said, this guy.

[AJ Hawk]

Y. Bingo.

[Tone Diggs]

He probably. I think Billy Ho bookmarked it.

[AJ Hawk]

He might have. He might have.

[Pat McAfee]

They were able to put it to bed, though.

[Darius J. Butler]

I love it.

[Pat McAfee]

And. And by the way, Billy Ho, complete opposite last night.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Championship putt.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Good for him. Yeah, he was good on the show. Cuz that was whenever Liv was making massive offers for people.

[AJ Hawk]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

And he stayed with PGA and We learned his story of, like, hey, you're like a blue collar dude, like $100 million, like, and he talked about, like, legacy, want to play in the best tournaments and everything like that. Like, loves the game, I think. Very appreciative of the game. So him having that moment last night was dope. That was cool. I haven't. I haven't followed as closely because to your point, when's it on? You know, like, when was it on?

[Darius J. Butler]

Foxy probably watched a little more than me.

[Tone Diggs]

He watched.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. So the issue is we didn't know when it was on. And then if you guys remember, at the beginning of the season, all of them were blowouts. The first, like three weeks. It wasn't even a close match every single time. And what they did is they changed the Hammer rule before the Hammer went back and forth and like, it didn't really do anything. Then they changed it mid season to where each team got three hammers and it changed everything. Every match after that was very close, exciting. I enjoyed it. But to your point, it was very hard to find. Sometimes it was on ESPN2, sometimes it's at 9:00, 7:00 clock. It was very random. So, yeah, I. There was moments, which I think all you're looking for.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

In sports, the. I'm not gonna get into it now. It's not time. Yeah. It's a great day here.

[AJ Hawk]

It is a great day.

[LeBron James]

It's great.

[Pat McAfee]

Just.

[AJ Hawk]

I know what you're gonna say.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I'm not. I'm bummed out about it too, to be honest. They throw Matt Berry in, like, and just like one man, that thing. What sport. Have you ever seen just one person up in a tower being able to. Just Very difficult task. Impossible. Yes. You're voting about Barry in the. Then they had Marty. I'm not getting into it all, but I think there's a lot of opportunity with tgl. I hope they continue to do it. Like, I hope that is the case and I hope they. Like you said, they changed the Hammer rule. They changed, like, I think they were trying to figure it out too, throughout the season. So good luck to all parties down there.

[Darius J. Butler]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Egl. Ovechkin's only six. Six goals away from catching Wayno and breaking Ueno's record. How many games are left, Nick?

[Bruce Brown]

I believe he has 11 left for him to be able to pull this off.

[Pat McAfee]

11 games left, needs to score 6 after scoring another goal. Alexander Ovechkin, an absolute dog, goes by OVI and also is going to be Remembered as the greatest goal scorer in the history of the NHL, has to score six more times in 11 games. For people that don't follow Hawkins, yes, that would be a very impressive run. And yes, he would be able to accomplish that. He's already had a couple of those runs this season. A lot of people thought him catching this record would take multiple years. And instead he just showed up and just scored basically every single game that he played to start the season. Then he was out for a couple weeks and then he got right back into ripping net. And this is history in the making. Wayne Gretzky, obviously the greatest of all time. He has the most goals in the history as well, and then assists as well. So he just was great at everything. OVI will go down as the greatest goal scorer of all time. And six goals from now, it'll be justified. Nick, how's everybody kind of covering this? Capital is also number one in the east too, right? I mean, their team also going to go on and win this whole damn thing potentially. Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

And it's crazy because this has kind of overshadowed the team success. Not in a negative way, but the team is dominating.

[AJ Hawk]

They are.

[Bruce Brown]

They are cruising through this regular season season. And it reminds you of the Capitals teams of old, they always finish first. They get these Presidents trophy runs and they had these early bow outs in the playoffs. But this team feels different. They're inspired by this OV magical run here. And if he pulls this off this season and then they go into the playoffs, they're going to be really hard to beat.

[Pat McAfee]

Tom Wilson still on their team.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, Still a menace.

[Pat McAfee]

Still a problem. Tom Wilson's always a problem. Tom Wilson's a problem. Always has been. So handsome, too. Yeah, just like so, so, so handsome. And then just. Well, I hate that guy if you're on any other team, but if you're the Capitals, got to be the most beloved player probably in their building. I mean, ov, I would assume for everything he's done. But Tom Wilson has to be beloved by that entire place. He's a problem. He's a menace. And he's. He'll stick this right in your ear hole. Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

Little chicken wing.

[Pat McAfee]

And you'll have to think about that for the entire game. What was it? The fight? Wonder who was the full fight? Was it the Capitals or was it the Bolts? Who was the team that? Rangers maybe or the Islanders?

[Tone Diggs]

It was Rangers. It was the Rangers. And somebody who's definitely the Rangers when.

[Bruce Brown]

They all drop minutes right at the start.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, they had to fight. Remember something Happened.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, Yeah. I think Tom Wilson was just embarrassing our entire franchise. So we just took a stand and dropped the Devil's all at once.

[Pat McAfee]

Who was it?

[Tone Diggs]

Devils and the Rangers.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so it wasn't Tom. So it was Devil's Rangers.

[Bruce Brown]

No, this happened. That happen happened with the Devils and the Rangers. This also happened with the Capitals and the Rangers because of Tom Wilson. What he did to the bread man or Tommy Panarin.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so I'm remembering.

[Tone Diggs]

And then, you know, guys just kept.

[Bruce Brown]

Lining up and he kept knocking them down.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah. It turned into Tom Wilson show.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

When really it was supposed to be a get back by the Rangers.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And everybody just had to be like, I gotta go fight this guy.

[Bruce Brown]

They went and signed Ryan Reeves like a big enforcer dude, just to combat Tom Wilson. And then they built Rampy in a labs. Now we're good forever.

[Pat McAfee]

How's Rumpy doing? Hasn't been a lot of Rumpire state building conversations. He.

[Bruce Brown]

He's trying to play real hockey, you know, like pass the puck, shoot the puck, stand in front of the net and, you know, maybe deflect it in a little bit. But he still gets penalties just for being gigantic. He'll just be skating around minding his own business. Maybe his elbow gets up a little bit and he just nails somebody right in the mouth. And then he gets, you know, suspended for eight games and shit. So he's. He's working through it. He's got to get the target off his back a little bit more.

[Pat McAfee]

I'd say that's never going to happen because how we got introduced to him, and I think a lot of people are introduced to hockey maybe for a while. Is that this guy in Madison Square Garden, since he's beginning of being a Ranger, would stand in the middle of MSG and he would throw bombs at people and it was like, we love this guy. He was a great fighter. He was built for it. He's big and a lot of attention was drawn to him. So that got every other fighter on every other team go, oh, you're the. Oh, the Empire State Building, huh? Okay, okay. I know you had a fight last night. Well, guess what? There's another one coming tonight. And it became must watch, must see, and haven't heard about as much of it this year. Makes sense. He doesn't want to just be known as the face mask whacker guy.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, well, he just can't be, you know, in the penalty box giving up power plays every time he. He steps out there. Also, I. I think he Spent this offseason like actually just boxing and like fighting.

[Pat McAfee]

All the. All the fighters do that?

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah. So now I think people are a little wary about. About trying the young lad.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's understand though that there is still one name synonymous with greatness in the NHL. Yeah. And although the team might not be having his best year, Sidney Crosby's still doing it. 37 years old, Pittsburgh Penguin legend, first in the NHL and 5v5 score. So whenever everything's fair, check balanced. He's bad butt. Do you know that?

[Darius J. Butler]

Of course I did.

[Pat McAfee]

Now you are. You haven't been talking about it enough. Two points away from a record breaking 20th point per game season. Are you kidding me? Close to 57% from the face off dot. What?

[Darius J. Butler]

Good 57%.

[Tone Diggs]

Little respect, E. But that's right, me.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, like fine wine. They're saying here at Bleacher Report, which we couldn't emphasize more.

[Tone Diggs]

Oh, that's what we should have. We should ask LeBron. Hey, maybe put some money into the Pence Penway Sports Group next time.

[Pat McAfee]

Will there be a next time? Fascinating question.

[Darius J. Butler]

You guys still packing out the house?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, the Penguins. Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

Sell it every night.

[Darius J. Butler]

It's the last highlights we shoot.

[Bruce Brown]

Don't you worry.

[Tone Diggs]

They got.

[Bruce Brown]

They got a lot of draft picks. It's going to be big off season.

[Darius J. Butler]

Oh, draft picks.

[LeBron James]

You can trade those picks for players.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, you need to stop. Yeah, I said it. And it's big night out and they're still filling it up.

[Darius J. Butler]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

They're still feeling another late season melt by the Red Wings. We stink. We just keep losing and losing and losing. They get our hopes up. They say we're making the playoffs. First time since like 17. The first 23 years of my life. The Red Wings made the playoffs every single year. It's one of the longest active streaks in any sport ever. And then they haven't made it since back since. And now they. They're not going to make it again because they keep losing. I thought you guys were back. Remember Stevie is. Stevie. I love him. So he can stay as long as he wants. They fired the coach like really early in the season. And then they. They went on this run. They won a million games in a row. And then they stink again. Oh, so hockey town is currently floating around. It's terrible. But where's it at? Where's it at right now? Washington, I guess.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, Maybe the Bruins.

[Darius J. Butler]

Oh, no, still down there.

[Tone Diggs]

The Bruins are horrendous.

[Pat McAfee]

What are you saying? South Florida? Florida?

[Darius J. Butler]

Yep. Atlantic Division. Atlantic Ocean. Right down there. In that area.

[LeBron James]

Not without Chuck E. Cheese.

[Bruce Brown]

There are some rumblings Brad Marchand will.

[Pat McAfee]

Make his debut for the Florida Panthers on Friday. He hasn't played yet.

[Bruce Brown]

No, he's been hurt.

[Pat McAfee]

I thought I saw him skating on Boston's ice immediately after.

[Bruce Brown]

You just had, like, a skate with the boys. Just practicing, warming up and stuff.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, so he has not played for.

[Bruce Brown]

He has not played yet.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, my. They said he jumped in a group chat and just started roasting people. What he does.

[AJ Hawk]

Classic Marshy.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that you saying you guys are hockey Ton.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah, Right now, Hockey Beach. Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Everyone like that going down a hockey beach down there. Sunrise, Florida.

[Darius J. Butler]

Is that the Ross, Florida? Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

How's that go? Miami, Lauderdale.

[LeBron James]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Sunrise.

[Darius J. Butler]

Sunrise is kind of in. Sunrise would be like Carmel, Lawrence, you know, in Indianapolis.

[Pat McAfee]

Of Lauderdale.

[Darius J. Butler]

So Fort Lauderdale would be Indianapolis. Carmel would be like Sunrise.

[Pat McAfee]

Miami's down at the bottom.

[Darius J. Butler]

Miami's at the bottom.

[Pat McAfee]

Fort Lauderdale Upright.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yep. That's Broward County. So that's Fort Lauderdale.

[LeBron James]

Holly.

[Darius J. Butler]

Let's say Hollywood. Like Fort Lauderdale Airport.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Darius J. Butler]

In between Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay.

[Darius J. Butler]

So Miami, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale. Then let's say like, Boca, Palm Beach.

[Pat McAfee]

Here we go.

[Darius J. Butler]

Jupiter.

[Pat McAfee]

And it's in Sunrise. So it is still.

[Darius J. Butler]

So it's a little west south for Florida.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, the ownership group.

[Darius J. Butler]

Exactly. So if you look in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano beach, kind of that area. And just hit a little west.

[Pat McAfee]

Right.

[Darius J. Butler]

So you hit west. Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I got it. Okay. And that's hockey time.

[Darius J. Butler]

That's Hockey Town.

[Pat McAfee]

Hockey Beach.

[Darius J. Butler]

Hockey Beach.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, it's inland, brother.

[LeBron James]

Yeah.

[Darius J. Butler]

So they just hopped on Sunrise Boulevard, took it all the way east, and then you run right into Elbow room.

[Tone Diggs]

I miss. I miss.

[Pat McAfee]

Really?

[Tone Diggs]

I miss elbow room.

[Pat McAfee]

Did you go? Who?

[Tone Diggs]

So I went three days in a row.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

When I was doing it.

[Darius J. Butler]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

You said you didn't think you were gonna go because it was so packed out.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Night.

[Tone Diggs]

When I took that picture, put on the story.

[LeBron James]

You.

[Tone Diggs]

You DM me. I said it was too packed to go in. Night, two, three, four. Or not day, two, three, and then.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah. It's always packed, brother. That's elbow room. Yeah, you're good. You just got to get in there.

[Tone Diggs]

We got there early. We posted up. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Smart. You get your play. Yeah, yeah. And then everybody's joining your part.

[Tone Diggs]

Come on in.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Welcome to the old boat room.

[AJ Hawk]

Love it there.

[Pat McAfee]

Did you tell them? Did they know who you were?

[Tone Diggs]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So you were able to just do your thing.

[Tone Diggs]

Bought some merch, even though they sent us a bunch But I. I bought a new hoodie down there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that became the hockey room.

[LeBron James]

Yeah, it did.

[Bruce Brown]

Yeah, it did.

[Pat McAfee]

It became the hockey room. Here's the live cam down there at the Elbow Room. Obviously having a good time down there. I'm surprised Lord Stanley isn't in that man's pocket right there. Walking through. Congrats to all the boys down there. Having a day. Having a day. All right, the LeBron versation Wednesday that, that we had here will be one that we talk about for a long, long time. Shout out to LeBron. Doing that. We're going to gather the LeBron versation tweets. We realized that that would have been an impossible task to do during the break. So we'll run those tomorrow.

[AJ Hawk]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

And that'll help us out for tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, opening day for the mlb, we'll have Derek Jeter joining us.

[AJ Hawk]

Let's go.

[Pat McAfee]

We'll also be chit chatting about everything else that's happening around sports in the back. Great work, boys. Graphic department. Way to go. Way to go. Work, boy. East, boys. Good working.

[AJ Hawk]

Hell yeah. Good work, boys.

[Pat McAfee]

Good work, boys. Good work. All right, we'll see you tomorrow. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. We're in this thing together. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three.

[LeBron James]

Team.

[Pat McAfee]

Goodbye.

[LeBron James]

In case you didn't know, these young men are driven.

[Darius J. Butler]

They are prodigies, the savants, the ones we've been waiting for.

[LeBron James]

Like Damian Lillard, for instance.

[Pat McAfee]

He doesn't seek guidance or mentorship.

[LeBron James]

He's a leader. He isn't waiting for the baton to be passed to him. He's taking it for himself. He's relentless in a pursuit of greatness, always pushing to one up himself.

[Darius J. Butler]

He is accomplished, but far from satisfied. He embodies what it means to have.

[LeBron James]

An unstoppable drive and are shaking up the status quo in their community and beyond.

[Darius J. Butler]

And Damian Lillard drives a Toyota. A new generation of Toyota drivers are.

[LeBron James]

Here and they want you to know one thing. You can't stop my drive.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, I'm Brad Milke. You may know me as the host of ABC Audio's daily news podcast, Start here. But I'd like to add aspiring true.

[LeBron James]

Crime expert to my resume.

[Pat McAfee]

And here's how I'm going to make it happen. Every week, I'm going to unpack the.

[LeBron James]

Biggest true crime story that everyone is talking about.

[AJ Hawk]

ABC's got some unique access here.

[Tone Diggs]

So I'll talk to the reporters and.

[Pat McAfee]

Producers who have followed these cases for months, sometimes years. We'll bring you the latest developments and.

[AJ Hawk]

The larger context on the true crime.

[Tone Diggs]

Stories you've been hearing about.

[Pat McAfee]

Out. Follow the crime scene for special access to the people who know these stories best.