LeBron James Only Makes Sense in Indiana

LeBron James Only Makes Sense in Indiana

Brian Windhorse uh has been reacting in real time to the news that uh LeBron James and Rich Paul and the Los Angeles Lakers seem to be at some sort of of impass and LeBron wants to um win now and he knows that the Lakers are trying to rebuild around Luca Donicage and that has caught everybody by surprise that Rich Paul, LeBron’s agent, basically said, “Hey, we’re kind of open to trade possibilities.” And Brian Windhorse initially uh was caught off guard by this, but after spending two or three days uh talking with NBA sources, here’s what Windhorse had to say uh yesterday. Um, the Lakers and LeBron, whoever wants to spin their side of the story, I’m not sure what happened, but the Lakers and LeBron did not have substantive discussions about extending his contract, which every team LeBron’s been on for 20some years has wanted to have substantive conversations about extending his contract. And what happens to expiring contracts in the NBA? They’re viewed as trade pieces. So for all those reasons, you know, the money, the fact that LeBron and Luca are still a very formidable duo, the fact that the Lakers are not done with their off season, the fact that trading him is crazy, the fact that this is being built around Luca and they’ve got to maintain their cap sheet and all of those things, everything that makes sense, but I’m just unlocking the door because I’m not as convinced as before as is of its impossibility. What he just said is there’s a possibility of LeBron James getting traded. He is trade bait. He’s an expiring contract. And when I saw this yesterday, I was like going through my head, where could LeBron James land? And when I thought about where could LeBron James land, then I went where would Nike like for LeBron James to land? this won’t be purely or maybe at all a LeBron James decision. It’s about what’s best for Nike. And so all the speculation early on, it’s the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s from Cleveland. He’s had success with Cleveland. Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers, they’re close to a championship team. They had this marvelous regular season. They got all this young talent. You just plug LeBron James and Bronnie James into Cleveland and it all makes sense. But not to me. And I’m not sure if it makes sense to Nike. What makes more sense for Nike and its declining stock? What makes more sense for Nike, which hasn’t been able to find its next Michael Jordan? What makes more sense for Nike, which has found its next Michael Jordan, but it’s not a he, it’s a her, it’s Caitlyn Clark. Caitlyn Clark is the biggest asset that Nike has. Caitlyn Clark is the person that Nike chose, hey, we need to get this next brand of Kobe shoes moving and selling. Let’s use Caitlyn Clark, not to promote Caitlyn Clark shoes, but to promote Kobe Bryant shoes. And it worked. Those shoes sold out almost instantaneously. It was a test of Caitlyn Markets marketability and ability to sell shoes. Nike and their brand have a problem in middle America that Caitlyn Clark is fixing. Where would Nike like for LeBron James to land? I think in Indiana. Who has LeBron James been pretending to just love and support? And maybe it’s not even pretending. Or who is LeBron James strategically been befriending all over social media at every opportunity realizing that the black queens, the lesbian queens of the WNBA have a problem every time LeBron James capes up for Caitlyn Clark. This is very strategic by LeBron James and Nike. They want a relationship between Caitlyn Clark and LeBron James. This is marketing magic. I think LeBron James has two seasons left in the NBA. You send him to Indiana. You do a marketing campaign about LeBron James the GOAT or one of the greatest of all time. Nike wouldn’t call him the goat cuz that’d be offensive to uh Michael Jordan, but one of the greats of all time ends up in the ultimate basketball city and state where they’re having this basketball revival with Caitlyn Clark. LeBron James gets paired not just with Caitlyn Clark symbolically, but in real life he gets paired with the man that I call the best coach in the NBA in the last two decades, Rick Carile. This is a story. This is a narrative. This is something that has a lot of potential. You’re well, hold on. Miles Turner just left uh for Milwaukee. LeBron would want no peace. Tyrese Hallebertton just Tori Achilles. The Pacers aren’t going to be any good next year. This is a two-year strategy. This is a two-year story. This is about next year, what LeBron can do working alongside uh Rick Carile. And then in year two when Hallebertton is back now that’s when you really have a chance for a championship. Next year is about hey can we make some magic and maybe win the East pairing Rick Carile the best coach LeBron would have ever had in basketball and that’s not a shot at Eric Spolstra. That’s me complimenting Rick Carile. Pacers have a very deep roster. Would they obviously have to give up some pieces to to LA to get LeBron James? He’s trade bait. You got to trade something to get LeBron James. Oh, Pascal Seakum. Is he 31 years old? Is he an NBA allstar? Did he just average 20 points and eight rebounds this past season? Is he arguably the best player on the Indiana Pacers even with Tyrese Hallebertton? Does he play the power forward position? Is Pascal Seakum a perfect complimentary player to Luca Donic more so than LeBron James? Is Pascal Seakum a win now player for Luca Donic and the Lakers? The Lakers are always in win now mode. I’m not saying you can just trade Pascal Seakum straight up for LeBron James or maybe you could or maybe you add but the Pacers have a very deep team a lot of assets I don’t know someone else is going to have to tell me salary cap implications and what you got to pay LeBron but what I am telling you if Nike wants it to happen it can happen and if Nike sees upside in getting LeBron James into a narrative where he’s in Indiana, the home uh the mecca, ground zero of basketball and he’s and Caitlyn Clark is there and we got this whole Midwest, middle America revival of LeBron’s brand and Nike’s brand. It’s already going on with Caitlyn Clark right there in Indiana. I I I know your initial Oh, that’s crazy. LeBron LeBron James wouldn’t go to Indiana. Played in Miami. Play he’s playing now in LA. Cleveland was his hometown. There’s nothing to do in Indiana. LeBron, if he’s going anywhere, he’ll go to the Knicks and play for Mike Brown again. I don’t think so. If I’m LeBron James and I want to win a championship, I want to get with Rick Carl. I certainly wanna and I know the Knicks are in the East as well, but I I want to move out of the West. It’s crazy in the West. The best player in basketball is in the West, Nicole Joic. The best team in basketball is in the West, the Oklahoma City’s Thunder. And the best newly reconstructed team is in the West in the Houston Rockets. I want to get away from uh Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets, Nicole Joic and the Denver Nuggets, Shay Gilis Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder. I even want to get away from Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. I want to go east, pair myself with the best coach, pair myself with the best story, and present myself as I’m LeBron James. And just think it through, gentlemen. I’m passing the basketball torch to Caitlyn Clark. Think of that story. Think of how LeBron wants to position himself postNBA career. Think of what Kobe has been benefiting from in death. Oh, Kobe was a girl dad. Kobe loved the WNBA. Kobe was big on women’s basketball. Now we have LeBron James in Indiana passing the basketball torch. the matriarchal basketball torch to Caitlyn Clark. This is a story that will work in this matriarchal culture we have built here, this media culture we have built here. This is the type of story that will help Nike continue to launch Caitlyn Clark, but continue to dominate the tennis shoe gym sales market. I’m telling you, the Indiana Pacers, my Indiana Pacers, and I people I I tweeted this out early this morning and people from Indiana like, “Oh, we hate LeBron James. We don’t want LeBron James here.” And I’m like, “Hold up, man. I guarantee tweeting at me. I’ve been a Pacer fan a lot longer than you, and I got more beef with LeBron James than you. I want LeBron James in Indiana. Like what you saw? Hit that like button, subscribe, and check out the full episode by clicking the link below.

LeBron James and Rich Paul seem to want to move out of L.A., and if that’s true, Jason Whitlock proposes that the only place LeBron James could go is to Indiana. The Pacers are on a roll, and it is the perfect team for LeBron to hop to. Plus, Nike should be incentivized to want to pair LeBron James in Indiana to be close to basketball’s megastar Caitlin Clark.

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