Victor Wembanyama Hype (Hour 1)

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That's C-A-C-H-G-E-L-B. Coming up 20 minutes from now, joining us in studio, we got Scoopy Robinson stopping by. Always enjoy our conversations with him. And then at 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. Pacific to preview the NBA draft that does come your way tomorrow evening at the Barclays Center will be no other than Jon Rothstein. But first up, producing our extravaganza for the next four hours is, of course, Hatte Kiki. I don't know about that, Hatte Kiki.

So Hatte Kiki and I got up early this morning and we made our way to the Westin in Times Square. And Victor Wambunyama was holding his pre-draft press conference. Now, it's one thing when you hear about the hype surrounding Victor Wambunyama and then you see him in person. Because we've heard players like Giannis Antetokounmpo say he's never seen anyone like Victor Wambunyama. A guy like Steph Curry, an all-time great, say Victor Wambunyama is a cheat code. LeBron James, a top two player of all time, he called Victor Wambunyama an alien. And for me, you keep on hearing, hearing, hearing about Victor Wambunyama. And of course, you've seen him before, whether it's been on YouTube or Highlights or the rare time he's on television.

But most of us have never been able to sit down and watch an entire game of Victor Wambunyama. So it's almost to a point where he's like a mythological human being, right? Where the hype is so big and it just keeps on growing exponentially, you just start to wonder, is this guy even real? And obviously, you know that he is. He's going to be the first overall pick in the draft going to the San Antonio Spurs. But when you see him just so casually walk into this press conference today and you see the size of this guy, standing in at seven feet, four inches, and then also just how skinny he is, I'll give credit to LeBron.

LeBron's analysis is spot on. He looks like an alien. He doesn't look like he's from this planet.

And maybe aliens are taking over when you get to see what's going on in Las Vegas that we were talking about last week with Crystal Presti when he was filling in. But Hickey, that was my big takeaway today. And we got a chance to talk to him, ask a question or two. And I asked him about the hype and he says he embraces it and doesn't really pay attention all that much to it because he has his expectations and his expectations are to be the best. But to finally be in the same room as him and be sitting five feet away from him and understand that this guy is actually a human being, it still, in a weird way, doesn't even feel real. But Hickey, my biggest takeaway today was that you just watched him sit there and do the press conference. And he didn't even seem like he was a human being. And I just thought all throughout about the LeBron James analysis where he compared Victor Wambunyama to an alien.

I'm glad we got to go in person because everything so far, like I said, because we've not really seen him too much, I will say all reports. And with us being in the room, I personally can confirm he's tall. He is absolutely as big as everyone talks about. And it is skinny, though.

Right. He is very skinny, but he doesn't seem, at least right now, I mean, it's also tough to compare because we don't really have him side by side with any other NBA player. But he is very thin, but he also seems very confident in his body, which is interesting. Oh, 100 percent. And I saw him do one interview today where it was something along the lines of people say, oh, you got to put on more weight, you got to bulk up.

He's like, why don't you slim down pretty much? And when he was going to that press conference, he talked about not only wanting to be the best on the court, but being the best off the court and also being the best at press conferences, too. And there's not a lot of times that we really give a rat's ass about the NBA regular season because now the product has become the biggest part of the NBA calendar is the off season. Then it's the postseason. And then the least important is the regular season. And some of that is to the fault of the NBA with load management.

So I understand that. But there's not a lot of times on this show or across most national sports networks where we're just talking about the NBA to just talk about a game that did happen. It's rare that that happens now.

It usually has to be because there's some drama around the player where he wants to trade or he's upset with the coach or you get a big matchup with LeBron up against somebody else. But there are a few amount of people and also amount of times where an actual game in the NBA regular season is going to be talked about. It's similar to baseball in a national landscape. Now, don't get me wrong, I know basketball is a lot more popular than baseball in terms of what we do. But for baseball, there's not a lot of days where we're getting on here and we're recapping, let's just say, a Milwaukee Brewers Cincinnati Reds game.

It just doesn't usually happen because baseball is more regional. But when we usually talk about baseball, it's because of a fight or a scandal or it's the playoffs or a guy like Shohei Ohtani does something that we've never seen before. And I wonder if Victor Wambunyama is going to kind of have that Shohei Ohtani effect where Shohei Ohtani does things that we've never seen before and Victor Wambunyama looks like an alien and looks like someone that we've never seen before. I wonder in a bigger and popular sport if that Ohtani effect is going to be there for Victor Wambunyama and I really do think throughout the NBA regular season next year, we're going to be talking about Victor Wambunyama a lot. Because right now, out of all the storylines that are out there, on the basketball court, nothing gets me more excited than seeing this guy actually play because there's one thing to hear about him.

Most of us will try to pretend to be experts but most of us have not seen him play live. And when he travels around the USA this year, and goes from city to city, you're going to want to be in that building to see him play. And he goes to a great organization in San Antonio, it's going to elongate the career, Greg Popovich, now he probably wants to stick around longer than he probably intended on doing so. But that effect and that factor, I think is going to be great to the NBA. And the big question is, can he live up to the hype? Because I brought this up to him today, longtime NBA analyst, Chris Broussard, a little while back said, if he goes on to have a career like Kevin Durant, or like a Kima Lajjawan, we're talking about guys that are all time greats. Chris Broussard said that would be a disappointment. And when I heard that, I said, what? Like, what are we talking about? But the hype is so large, where people are saying this is the most hype prospect ever.

Now I'll push back on that. Because LeBron James, to me, no one will exceed the hype in my lifetime that we experienced with LeBron. Zion did have Barack Obama at that Duke UNC game, but what makes this one so unique is most of us listening, if you're being honest, have never seen this guy really play.

And you keep on hearing so many words of extolment brought his way. When you get to some of the top players in the league like LeBron Giannis and Steph Curry, not only have praise, but have effusive praise for Victor Wambunyama. So I'm really excited just to see when you get past all this hoopla and he hears his name called number one coming up tomorrow evening. And I know he said today he'll play in the summer league, so I don't know how much he'll play, but we'll get to see him a little bit in the summer league. And you know me, heck yeah, I usually give a rat's ass about summer league. When he plays this year, I'm all dialed in, I'm tuned in for the summer league this year. But I can't wait till the NBA regular season starts. And who would have ever thought I'd be saying those words? Because the NBA regular season is usually boring.

Yeah, it is. And now this year, he gives you a reason. And let's just hope he doesn't get hurt. How many times does a big star get hurt and you miss the first year? But let's just hope he's healthy. We'll see how many games they don't have him playing.

But that excitement is through the roof. Because these are one of those guys right now that no one has a bad word to say about him outside of, is he too skinny? But the way that he is described, I just hope he's as good as advertised. Because when you start talking about Akeem Olajuwon and Kevin Durant, both won NBA MVPs, both won two finals MVPs. If Victor Wambunyama goes on to have a career where he wins an NBA MVP and two finals MVPs, and that's a disappointment, you just wonder what is he going to have to do when he retires where everyone says, wow, that met the hype? Does he need to be Jordan? Does he need to be LeBron? Does he have to be a top five player of all time?

Because it's weird to call someone a bust or say that someone's disappointing if you are a Hall of Famer, you won in a league MVP, and you won two finals MVPs. And I remember when LeBron came into the league. That first year LeBron was there, I was on a family trip, visiting family in Boston, and we went out of our way to go to TD Garden to watch the Celtics go up against the Cleveland Cavaliers because everyone had to see LeBron. And you wanted to see LeBron in the NBA. And now everyone's going to want to see Victor Wambunyama, and he seems like he's ready for everything that's going to be thrown his way.

We know LeBron took a garbage Cavs team, which has some players that infamously we do remember in year four and get to the NBA finals before they got swept by the San Antonio Spurs. And I just wonder what the immediate impact will be of Victor Wambunyama on the court and to the San Antonio Spurs. But for me, the thing that I keep on going back to, I watch a lot more regular season baseball now because of Shoayotani. And when Shoayotani is in a game or he's in the area that you live, you want to go see him play because he's one of one. He does things that we've never seen before on the mound and at the plate.

No one else could replicate that. And the way that Victor Wambunyama is being described, when you go to Giannis Antetokounmpo saying he's never seen anything like Victor Wambunyama. Steph Curry saying Victor Wambunyama is a cheat code. LeBron James with the perfect analysis calling him an alien.

He is a mythological person right now. And when we finally get to see him play, it's going to be must watch TV. And if he's playing in a drivable radius from where you're living, you're going to want to get in that building to see him play because those tickets are going to be extremely hot. So I'm looking to see, will Victor Wambunyama have a Shoayotani type of impact? What Shoayotani has done for Major League Baseball has been phenomenal. And now when you look at Victor Wambunyama, a lot of times you forget about the NBA regular season. If he's as good as advertised, you won't be forgetting about the NBA regular season this year because you're going to have to watch the San Antonio Spurs.

It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. We'll take a break when we come on back. Brandon Scoopy Robinson is in the building. We'll talk some hoops with him next. He's back. Here's Zach Gelb.

All right. Welcome back in Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. You know, I got here to CBS Sports Radio in 2018 and I was doing the weekend overnights.

And when you're doing a show from 2 to 6 a.m. Eastern, it's tough to get people on because a lot of sane people are sleeping. But someone that always made himself available whenever we needed to talk about the NBA was Brandon Scoopy Robinson. So we're at the Victor Wambunyama press conference today.

Who wasn't at the press conference? If you're in the media and I turn my head to the left and I'm like, oh, it's Scoopy. So Brandon Scoopy Robinson, kind enough to join us in studio right now. Lead NBA insider at Bally Sports.

His career has skyrocketed as well. Scoopy, appreciate the time as always. How you been? Hey, I'm Brandon. First time caller. Genuinely, genuinely a great opportunity to come here, man. I'm glad to see your your rise as well. It's cool to see both of us being young and taking the national scene by storm.

Congratulations on your success. Well, I appreciate that. So I finally got to see Victor Wambunyama today and I said I thought he was an alien. I know LeBron James has said the same thing, seeing him in person, getting to be around him today.

Just what was your reactions and thoughts? I have to be honest with you. This was my second time seeing Victor. You're well experienced. I'm growing.

So I'm not seven five growing. But this is what I'll say. The first time that I met Victor was actually in January in Paris.

I was at the Pistons Bulls game and he's with his mom. And quick, funny story. And I'll give you the edited version. So he walked past me and I looked up and I said, damn, you're tall as sugar honey iced tea.

You know what sugar honey iced tea is? His mother looks at me, who's very tall. She goes, he gets it from his mama. And I was like, word.

And she was laughing. But to me today, I wasn't surprised by his height. But what I will say is I like his intellect. I like his skill set. But the stoicism at the podium gives me Tim Duncan vibes. And I don't say that just because he is a spur in 24 hours.

I say that because I just think he fits that system so well. You don't really see rah rah guys in San Antonio. Stephen Jackson is the exception to that rule. And it was short lived. But I think for me, you saw the signs in San Antonio back in the spring.

And you saw that they were going about this reset a certain way. And I think he fits. It's so cool to see that you've seen the France experiment, the French experiment of Tony Parker.

But as my geometry teacher in high school would say, Victor women, Yana is a horse of a different color. You have the tall and lankiness of a K.D. You have the explosiveness of a Tracy McGrady. You have the European flair.

And I don't like to use that term just because. But you have the European flair and the understanding of the American game like Giannis Antetokounmpo. And to be so mature and to have just this world experience at 19.

I think San Antonio is a great sandbox to play in to to grow your career. I'm happy for him, for him to be a success because the hype is just out of this world. What is he going to have to accomplish? That's like asking a gold medalist in the Olympics in wrestling. What is it going to take to succeed in the WWE? You've won already as a gold medalist. You just take that experience.

You take mentors and you have your circle and you just grow. I think a lot of times we put expectations on people and those expectations are others expectations. His personal goals and his expectations should be his. I think we have not seen the level of hype that when Benyama has has has graced us with since probably 2003 when Ron was there and he exceeded those expectations.

So if that's the guinea pig, he's in good company. You look at what LeBron was able to do. He got to an NBA finals with the team. I'm going to say this politely.

That was not very good. Four years into the league. What is the immediate impact of a Victor when Benyama because you're right. Scoopy, he's going to the perfect situation for so it's interesting. You say that I had some conversations with some Spurs officials when I took a trip to San Antonio back in the spring and I was kind of just gauging. What was life like for Tim Duncan when he was there? What was life like for the John T. Murray when he was there? And what was life like for Kawhi when he was there? And the conversation with folks in San Antonio was this. Duncan, as great as he was, did not like talking to media. He did not want GQ features.

He wanted to just be in his own world. Kawhi, similar, but I think San Antonio had growing pains in the in the aspect of this is what it's like to have a star with a team, meaning like the uncle Dennis's, who was, you know, a Kawhi's trusted adviser and just, you know, even challenging pop. I think for many years, the Spurs has been a college type system where the coach was the face.

The sun rose, shined and set on the coach. I think you see that with figureheads in college basketball like John Calipari and others. And I think for Victor women, Yana, to directly answer your question, I think he's a mesh of some of all of those guys.

He has the team. But seeing Victor women Yana in San Antonio makes me think about when we watched The Last Dance and we talked about, or rather the documentary talked about how Michael paid attention and his team to tennis players. And it wasn't just being a basketball star. When I look at women Yama on the podium today and just getting to know him, the smile, the French accent and more, it gives me tennis star vibes. I felt don't, don't, don't yell at me.

Don't troll me. But I felt like I was looking at Sampras. I felt like I was looking at Agassi.

That just happens to be seven foot five. I think he's the type of guy that crosses over to so many different markets. I think he has the potential to be a guy who, if you're a hip hop fan, could appear in a DaBaby video, but could also could also appear in an entourage reprise episode.

I think he has that marketability, that international appeal. And I was saying this before you came in. Sometimes you view the NBA now from the way that I care about it. The off season number one, the playoffs number two, and then it's a regular season number three. I want to see this guy play. And this guy makes me care about the regular season because I'll be watching a lot of Spurs games.

And whenever he's in the area, I'm going to want to go and see him in person. Yeah, that's that's that's really why I, I, I come from the Black Baptist Church. And we often say this thing called I felt it in my spirit. There was just something that I felt in the spring about San Antonio. And I just said this felt like Ewing coming to New York. This felt like LeBron in Cleveland. This felt like women Yama in San Antonio. And I feel like there are going to be people who come to San Antonio to be in the presence of of what could be potential greatness. I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but San Antonio to me has always been the New England Patriots of the NBA. They may not win every year, but they're that fifth cup of wine at the holiday party.

They sneak up on you and they win. We've seen this before. I didn't like it early before the lottery happened. I wasn't really feeling Detroit prior to Monti becoming head coach. To me, women Yama just symbolizes we want more pop. We want more Greg Popovich. The Greg Popovich effect, coupled with the international appeal of women Yama. In addition to them figuring out what they're going to be. I've spoken to several guys on that Spurs team just about what that season this year was like. And they told me that certain guys have told me that they learned a lot from pop and pop learned a lot from them.

I've made a reference to the baby. The Spurs were insufferable this past season. They were losing all the time. We know about Greg Popovich is political stances. We know about just what the Spurs have done.

But to me, this adds years into his life both personally as well as professionally. If he stays the course with this team as to does victim women Yama Brandon Scoopy Robinson in studio with us at Guildshow CBS Sports Radio. You had a viral clip today.

Oh boy. You were talking to Brandon Miller. And you're asking him, you know, who's the goat? Is it LeBron or or is it Michael Jordan? Then he goes, well, to me, it's Paul George.

How'd you react to that one? Well, I got to be honest with you. That debate to me is is is insufferable. And and I think LeBron and Mike aren't even the same player. And I really did not expect Brandon to say that.

But my guy brother Justin text me today and he was like, I know after he said that quote, you were like, yes. And I was like, yeah, but I just think, number one, this shows that the NBA is getting younger with players. I mean, there were guys that I talked to today that, you know, there's certain players that cam the Pistons are looking at him. And he wasn't even from what he told me wasn't even born in 2004 when the Pistons won their championship against the Lakers years ago. I think we're looking at different perspectives.

It doesn't just have to be one brand and another brand. I also think it's in the debate on who's the goat. We have to give credit to the late Kobe Bryant. I think because of his untimely passing, we the gap between Michael and LeBron is getting that much greater. But I don't think it's a fair comparison because I think Kobe is more like Michael. LeBron is Magic Johnson with a better jump shot. That's always to me, size frame 6869 point guard that does what he does. The Paul George comparison to me, what Brandon said to me today. Number one, he's often compared to Paul George, but I think you also have to differentiate the difference between your favorite player and who the goat is.

Those are two different conversations. Talking about the Clippers, since Paul George gets brought up, I guess some conversation is Paul George going to be on the Clippers come the fall? I haven't heard anything that suggested currently that that's the case. I know that there have been a lot of conversations pertaining to what happens after pick three in the draft, including Portland. No relation to the Paul George situation. But I think the Clippers are in a situation where it just has not worked. And I've always felt that this past season was the make or break season as it relates to what they do next. But what do you replace Paul George with if if that's what you're going to do?

I think you have to really figure what comes with that. To me, the thing that the Clippers have lacked, particularly last season and the year in the season before that was a distributing point guard. And so, you know, with the Chris Paul Bradley Beal deal not done done, you look at do you offer picks as well as other assets to the Washington Wizards to bring in Paul to bring in Chris Paul to make the Paul George and Kawhi experiment last a little longer?

I personally would like to see Paul George in the Clippers uniform come September with the added bonus of a bona fide point guard accompanying them. The biggest problem for me has just been the health or the lack of it with Kawhi and Paul George. And that's why with all those jobs that were open this year, I thought maybe Ty Lue who has to be frustrated because that's got to be the most maddening thing in the world.

But you know, you have a team that's good enough, but then injuries just keep on unfortunately popping up and nipping in you know what? I thought maybe Ty Lue was going to be on the move this off. Well, from folks that I've spoken with across the league had intimated to me that Milwaukee was considering Ty Lue. You saw the smorgasbord of coaching firings anywhere from Milwaukee to Philadelphia to Phoenix. Personally, I felt Milwaukee would have fit particularly because Ty Lue is such a player's coach. You've seen the wonders that he did in Cleveland. You saw how he carried over after after Doc Rivers was let go in with the Clippers.

I personally felt that the two teams that he would have fit were Philadelphia or Milwaukee Phoenix. Not so much, but I'll add, prior to Steve Nash being hired by the Brooklyn Nets some time ago, Ty Lue was someone that Kevin Durant wanted and so much so sources have shared with me that Kevin Durant called Ty Lue and said, yo, I want you to be the coach of that team. And he said, you got to talk to Kyrie and let me know what he says and have Kyrie called me. I'm not sure whether Ky called and I don't want to start the Kyrie rumor mill today.

But what I will say is this. What I will say is the fact that he's wanted so much, the fact that he stayed with the Clippers, they got to have something up their sleeve because to stand put and to to operate as business as usual. I think that you're risking the injury bug again and business being as usual. Scoopy Robinson here with us, assuming Jalen Brown's not going anywhere, which I'm going to say I think that's safe to assume right now. You have Jason Tatum as well, and they're close, I guess, on trading for Kristaps Porzingis.

How do you think the three of those guys will gel together if that is that Jalen Brown's not going anywhere? Well, Washington has been a cacophonous noise that's just been star after star, you know, leaving from the perspective of Kristaps Porzingis, one of the things I often visit Washington Wizards games in our nation's capital. And to me, Kristaps Porzingis on that team with Bradley Beal, as well as Kyle Kuzma, they were a talented team that just injuries were not their friends. And I think the issue with Robert Williams, the third and his health kind of forced Boston to have to find big men that can benefit them. Now, when you look at Kristaps Porzingis over the years, you wonder, one, if his health was going to stay stable.

He did play very well this season in Washington. And but I think for the the the ultimate goal for the Celtics to win a championship, they had to get better. I sat down with with their owner with Grossbeck during the playoffs.

And one of the things that he said to me was, we've been there before. We didn't get the T-shirt, we didn't get the keychain, but we're trying to win this whole thing. They came up short against the Golden State Warriors in the finals and they're trying to get on the right side of this because, you know, losing to a Miami Heat team who had less of a support staff than they did. That's just unacceptable. And so I'm not surprised that the Boston Celtics went out and did what they needed to do.

But I still think there are some pieces that are missing. Personally, if Chris Paul decides to do a buyout with the Washington Wizards, this is just me talking. I would consider the Boston Celtics in addition to the Clippers and the Lakers. How do you make that work, though, with Chris Paul, from a salary standpoint, when you're paying Kristaps Verzingis what you are and then Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown? I took algebra twice. The mathematics is not my friend.

Geometry. I had a guy on my right. I could copy off him. So I understand basketball players.

So this is what I'll say. I'll say that if you take the mathematics out of it, I will say from a stylistic standpoint, he makes sense because you need more of a distributing playmaker that is a veteran. To me, Malcolm Brogdon was that. But I think you need more of an old, reliable, steady point guard that that is a basketball mind alongside Joe Mazzola. I think that while I do think that their guards that they do have are cool, I don't have a problem with them.

I think they're missing that. And I think adding a big man that can benefit both Tatum and Brown, the law firm that is Tatum and Brown. And you have a point guard that can round that out. I think that makes them a very dangerous team.

That's just my opinion from the mathematics standpoint. Chris Paul has to make some decisions. I know he's promoting his book and he's and he's making his rounds and he's shining out in the streets. But at the same time, if you want to win that championship that people often criticize him for, and I hope he gets, I think he should consider the Boston Celtics. Last thing I'll ask you, and it's a two part question, Brandon Scoopy Robinson. When we take a look at Damian Lillard and Zion Williamson, will Dame be back in Portland come the fall and will Zion be back with the Pelicans come the fall? Well, the thing that has been brought to my attention today is that the Portland Trail Blazers are still figuring out whether they build with the number three pick and keep Damian Lillard or do they go out and make a trade? Damian Lillard is in a very interesting situation that Kevin Garnett was in in Minnesota right before he was traded to the Boston Celtics and then won a championship. Now, when you look at the numbers, when you look at the personnel, you look at the Brooklyn Nets and you look at the assets that they have, I think they have a lot of tradable assets on that team. You look at Cam Thomas, you look at Cam Johnson, if they don't give him the number that he wants and you think, how can I make this team better alongside my Cal Bridges? You also look at that Brooklyn Nets team and you look at who they also have. They have Nicholas Claxton, who to me during the regular season held his own against Joel Embiid. But you need you have guards.

You just have to kind of fortify and strengthen what you already have in that system. To me, from a personnel trade perspective, Brooklyn makes the most sense to me. It always made more sense than Miami did because Miami has been steadfast and not wanting to move Tyler Herro.

To me, Brooklyn makes sense. But to me, being somewhere for 12, 13 years with Damian Lillard, do you stay loyal and not win a championship or do you go elsewhere? That's something internally that he's going to have to ask himself.

I won't speak for him. Portland also has to make some moves and make some changes. If I'm Portland, I pick up the phone and call that brother, Sean Marks, and see what's going on. And then what about Zion? I mean, from people that I've spoken with within the Pelicans organization, to me, Brandon Ingram is the leader of that team as it relates to star power. C.J. McCollum is the vocal leader of that team.

Zion, to me, at 22 years old, I know I didn't have it together at 22 years old. I know there's a lot of extracurricular stuff that's going on with Twitter. They suspended that young lady's account. Yeah, about time. I think if you ask me today, I say he stays. If I look at the draft tomorrow and I see what else they add, I might say he's gone.

I think that if he stays at the draft, I think come free agency period beginning next week, it may be a different conversation. Brandon Scoopy Robinson, great stuff. Appreciate you coming on in. Make sure you check him out. There's a great job on Twitter. He's everywhere today. That's Scoopy. He was the one that asked the question to Brandon Miller, and now it's all gone viral and does a great job for Bally Sports. Subscribe to the Scoopy Radio Podcast on all streaming platforms as well.

Make sure you do that, and he's been grinding. I remember when you were doing videos with the Nets when they were in New Jersey. Man, that was 12 years old and a praying mom who found my late mother, found my talents and honed them in. I wanted to text her today, but she's not here.

Nonetheless, I know she's up there watching. She's definitely guiding you throughout all this. It's just been an incredible journey to see the career that you've built up and the way that it's unfolded. Appreciate you coming in.

Thank you for the opportunity to be myself. He's back. Here's Zach Gelb. I want to replay a little bit of a chunk of an interview that we had with Bill Reiter yesterday from Reiter Than You. We were having him on, talking to Bill. He does a great job on CBS Sports Radio from 10 a.m. to noon Eastern, and then as an NBA insider for CBS Sports HQ. And we had a little conversation about the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James, and I didn't expect that this would become a story, but here we are.

Listen up. I also heard a while back and heard this again, that LeBron, LeBron's moody. I mean, let's be straight, Zach. LeBron changes his mind on people, and you hear something that he thinks that can be true one minute, but the time sources tell you it's changed. But I've heard he's over Anthony Davis. He's frustrated with the guy. He doesn't believe in his toughness for obvious reasons. So I'm extremely curious if the Lakers, I don't think they will, but do anything really bold, maybe move A.D.

I don't think they're going to. I'm just saying, LeBron's angry. He's put out.

He doesn't believe in his number two. I think L.A. is under a lot of pressure or something big from LeBron. You think there's a chance, like an actual legit chance that he could be dealt at some point this offseason? I think there's a one percent, that's not true. I think there's a three and a half percent chance.

So is that a chance? Look, I think that if Rafa, here's what I'll say. I first heard this before the trade deadline. If Rafa Lincoln hadn't pulled off such a, I think, really impressive slate of moves at the trade deadline, and brought in these random guys that became not so random and made the Lakers a team that obviously made the conference final, if that hadn't happened, my percentage would be higher. There's a bit of a power struggle or a political struggle going on between LeBron and Palenka. LeBron obviously wants what he wants, but I think Palenka's got some political capital now with Jeannie Buss and that organization.

And frankly, with all of us who thought he was just an idiot, he's not as it relates to being a GM. So I don't think Palenka's just going to bow down to what LeBron wants, especially moving on from Anthony Davis. But I do think that LeBron's over AD, and I think there's a, you know, not zero percent chance that something like that could happen.

Here's the thing, Hickey, when I listen back to that. LeBron's going to be on the Lakers next year, and Anthony Davis is going to be on the Lakers next year. There's no doubt about it in my mind.

Now, I'm not discrediting what Bill Reiter's saying. And Bill even basically said it's, what, a three percent chance that AD would get dealt? And I've also asked him in that conversation about LeBron possibly getting traded, and he doesn't think LeBron's getting traded. But it does speak to what are the Lakers working towards? Because it does feel as if they're going to run this back with LeBron and AD, and then ultimately, what are you going to be able to accomplish?

Because as great as LeBron is and as great as Anthony Davis is, both have dealt with injury problems as of late. And AD, you've seen him at times of the post-seasons be so dominant and be like, okay, that's the guy that the Lakers need to be, need AD to be for them to go win a championship. But then he bottoms out, where you look at, I know it's probably unfair to compare him to Nicole Jokic, because Nicole Jokic is the best player in the sport right now. But when you talk about Nicole Jokic, he never has a bad game.

He always is at a level where it seems like he just rolls out of bed and gets a triple-double. And it's not all or nothing. For AD, it feels like it's all or nothing. I do believe that LeBron will be back in Los Angeles next year, and I don't think Anthony Davis is going anywhere else. And as Bill was saying, at the deadline, I do think it probably changed their thinking about that, because they were able to salvage the season. And I do believe it would have been a totally different conversation if they weren't able to salvage the season. Now, earlier, right when the offseason started, you said, so not that long ago, that you think LeBron's going to wind up with a Dallas Mavericks. I pushed back on that in a big-time way. I just don't see how that's going to work on out. Are you still sticking to that, or have you kind of changed that it's just inevitable that LeBron and AD are both going to be back in Los Angeles next year with the Lakers? Well, the rumor mill, the reports have not gone in my favor so far. Shocker. So I will, I guess, have to wave the white flag on that. Already? Usually you get stubborn with this stuff.

Well, I won't delay the inevitable at this time. But I do think what Bill is saying when you're talking about does go into the fact of why he threw out the retirement thing in the first place in the press conference. Like that night when he tossed it out there, no one believed it, and I believe we'll have to show it the next day if not it was one of the main topics about the day anyway. I think it was take the attention for the conversation about him getting swept. No one believed he was actually going to retire, but I think that was just pure frustration, because I think he had, was it 31 points in the first half?

I mean, the exact number. It was a great first half, did very little in the second half in part because I think he expended all his energy to kind of help build up that, what was it, a 13-point lead, 15-point lead at halftime. And I think he was banking on AD to kind of finish off and at least win one game and send it back to Denver and make it respectable. And he couldn't even do that. And I think he was just at that point frustrated, just like, I, you know, I need something more than what he's given me. And he probably knows, LeBron, he's not going anywhere and AD's not going anywhere.

So at least to maybe make himself feel better or cause a little tension, eh, maybe he'll retire. Now that excerpt for that conversation we had with Bill went all over the place today. One outlet called the LeBron Wire, which I think is a USA Today affiliate, their headline was Zach Gelb says LeBron James is frustrated with Anthony Davis.

I just can't win Hickey. And my Twitter mentions because of that article are going nutso today and just ridiculous because it said Zach Gelb hosts a show on CBS Sports Radio told Bill Ryder that James is reportedly done with Davis. So all the Lakers fans are mad at me for something that Bill Ryder said. I got misquoted. I didn't say that. I was just doing the interview. No, it's not. People respect you enough to say, wow, Zach Gelb said that instead of just ignoring you like, oh, just some idiot on the radio said that, but he has no credibility.

Yeah. Man, I don't think we mentioned New York once so far in this hour. Some media outlets. It's the New York Sounding Network, CBS Sports Radio. When we call you out on it, you just backtrack very, very easily. Zach Gelb shows CBS Sports Radio.