Hour 1: Perfect No More

0:01This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required. Compatibility and availability varies 18+. As soccer takes center stage this summer, Comcast helps bring the experience home to America as the exclusive Spanish language home of the tournament in the U.S.

0:35Telemundo is set to present its most expansive coverage ever 700 hours of programming live on-site presence at all 104 matches and with multi-view and real-time 4K Xfinity will deliver the most innovative and immersive sports viewing experience for fans watching on Telemundo, Peacock, Fox and FS1 Learn more at ComcastCorporation.com This is The Rich Eisen Show Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part.

1:15Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash richeisenshow and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. Oh, my God. You guys are my favorites. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Rich Eisen. I know what I'm talking about. That's the headline. The Rich Eisen Show. With guest host, Dan Schwartzman. I mean, honestly, he's brilliant. He's a poet. Dan Schwartzman. Oh, my gosh. Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Dan Schwartzman.

1:55Oh, that is correct. In for day number two. Dan Schwarzman for Rich Eisen on ESPN Radio, the ESPN app, Sirius XM, Channel 80. We are powered by Progressive Insurance. I am coffeed up. Had my two cups. I am literally shaking. Lots of sugar as well, my friends. I've eaten a bunch of shortbread cookies today. I convinced myself they are fat-free and no calories. If your mind believes it, your body digests it that way. What do you think of that? That's some great logic, right? That's the only way I can actually eat like that and get away with it. But we got a lot to get into today. I'll tell you what.

2:32It's a beautiful July day. It's probably going to rain later on here. But there's a lot of talk in the NBA. We got baseball heading to the All-Star break. The NFL is always relevant, as amazing as that sounds. It is always relevant 365 days a year. The World Cup, after a day off yesterday, continues today. France and Morocco. Interesting fact, five players on Morocco were born in France. How about that? And I have to be honest with you, I'm not a big soccer fan. Call it football if you want to be fancy. But I follow it enough. Like, I know enough about soccer. I don't sit there and want to watch every MLS, La Liga, Premier League match out there.

3:14But I do follow it. And yesterday, not being able to turn on any World Cup game, I felt empty. I did. I felt alone. I felt empty about it. We're going to get into the World Cup a little bit later on. But NBA, here's an interesting little story that came out that kind of caught my attention. And let me preface by telling you I am a Mark Cuban fan. I like Mark Cuban. I've watched Shark Tank for years. I think he's been good for basketball. I think he's been good for ownership of a sports team. He was kind of like the hip young guy that bought a team and sat in the stands with the fans in a T-shirt and jeans, and he would get upset at officiating.

4:01He would get himself fined left and right by the league. He would do little stunts, like worked in a fast food place or something. I remember there was something about him and he worked in a fast food place and served the fans for some reason. He's done a lot of things, I think, that would be considered good as an owner in the NBA. He took over a Dallas Mavericks team that played in a terrible facility, was not exactly a hot spot landing zone for NBA free agents. No one wanted to go play for the Dallas Mavericks. And Mark Cuban changed the culture of the organization. State-of-the-art arena, state-of-the-art locker room.

4:42The facilities were beautiful. Made the Mavericks kind of a cool team, a cool organization. People wanted to go there. It culminated in them winning a championship with Dirk Nowitzki. And Cuban bought a team after he sold his internet holdings with broadcast.com, things like that. And he watched the Mavericks become a very, very valuable franchise. And then he went out and he decided to sell the majority stake in the team to the Adelson family. And Mark Cuban is now coming out in the Dallas Morning News reporting that he alleges that he has been kind of shut out from different opportunities with the team.

5:27And I'm not just talking about, for instance, player personnel decisions. And we know that he has come out and said that he had no knowledge of the Luka trade before it happened. He did not know it was going down. If he had known, he would have tried to put a stop to it. But this is a business decision where the Adelson family is looking to move the teams about 10 miles north of downtown Dallas to a former site of a mall and build a newer state-of-the-art arena. and what Cuban says and he owns 27 percent of the Mavericks at this point but indications are the Adelsons have the opportunity to buy 20 percent more from him after they bought you know the majority stake earlier and he claims that he is entitled to receive some sort of you know he has some say his businesses have some rights in terms of with the move and I guess with the new arena, things like that, and he's not getting that.

6:22He's being shut out. As much as I like Mark Cuban, and I think he's a pragmatic guy, and I follow him on social media, and I enjoy his conversations that he has with people, and he'll react with fans, he'll talk to fans, but he also is a guy that will, I think, try to do good for people. I'm not saying I align with him completely politically, and I really don't care, but when it comes to prescription drugs, He wants to lower prices for Americans, and rightfully so, we pay a lot of money for our prescription medication in this country. And he wants to change that. He's doing a lot with that. I give him a ton of credit for that.

6:57But I think Mark Cuban has to realize something. He sold the majority stakes in the Dallas Mavericks. And that was his baby. I get it. But you sold it. Now, I don't know what the agreement is in terms of the fine print of that sale and what sort of rights he may have. but you chose who you sold this team to, right? Like you chose the Adelson family probably because they had an unbelievable bid. Like you're not selling low right now if you own a sports franchise. The valuation of teams in every one of these leagues, and I'm going to throw the WNBA in there, I'm going to throw the NHL in there, the valuation of sports teams right now are through the roof.

7:43All right. You want a great investment and you have billions of dollars by a by a team. I mean, the value of these teams just keeps growing, growing, growing because these TV contracts and revenue keep growing. So Mark Cuban sold out because he made billions of dollars selling the majority stake in the Mavericks. And he says that, you know, he apparently when he made this deal, he had some rights in terms of decisions being made. And he's mad that he's been shut out. But if I'm buying a majority stake of a organization and it doesn't have to just be a sports franchise. Why would I not want to have the ultimate decision making capability?

8:34and why would I want the guy that sold me his share of the team to still have some say? Like, it's my team. I paid billions of dollars for my team. I'm going to be the one to decide who I'm trading, who I'm keeping, who I'm drafting, what I do. Because it's my team. I bought it. Like, you can't be Mark Cuban and now own 27 % of a team and think that you potentially have some ability to dictate who to be traded, who not to be traded. Like, yeah, it was stupid to trade Luka. We all knew it was stupid when they made that deal. But it's my team, and if the GM that I have installed as the person to make that decision decides on making a move, I don't think I need to run it past the previous owner, although he is a minority owner still, and get his approval to make a deal or not.

9:32If he wants that, I'll pay less for the team. Or that needed to be in the agreement as to the fact he would have that type of right. Now, he claims he does have some sort of right. I don't know if it's legal or not when it comes to, I guess, potentially moves being made. But again, if I'm going to buy a team, I'm not usually going to give the old owner the right to make decisions of now my team. And if Mark Cuban is unhappy with who he sold the team to give back the billions, not that they'll take it back because they bought and invested in a club that is only going to go up in valuation over the years.

10:10Does he have seller's remorse, I guess? Okay. Well, go cry in your mansion with the billions of dollars that you got for selling. Like, I honestly don't sympathize. I sympathize with somebody who may be sold and they got taken advantage of and maybe they were old or they weren't mentally fit to make the sale. And they made a sale and the buyer took advantage of them in terms of how much they paid. OK, that's not the case here. It's not as if Mark Cuban didn't get fair market value for the Mavericks. It's not as if Mark Cuban took less money because somehow they duped him over. Mark Cuban got paid a lot of money for his shares of the Mavericks, and now he's crying that he doesn't have this say.

10:52The fine print says one thing. Okay, and maybe you have some rights in terms of being, you know, your businesses are part of this agreement and blah, blah, blah. But, you know, an agreement to continue running basketball operations that doesn't make a lot of sense to me because if you are the Adelson family then why exactly would you allow him to keep doing that I don't think you would it's just bizarre to me it honestly is bizarre to me and the Dallas Mavericks yes I don't think that they are going in the right I know flags seem to be a heck of a player I think he's a difference-making type of player.

11:36They lucked out to get the first pick. You lose Luka, who, by the way, is a tremendous talent, but you bring in Flagg. Okay, that's fine. And I think that maybe helps them out a bit in terms of where they go direction-wise because you can build around a young superstar like that. Okay? It works out. It's not like the cupboard's empty. It's not bare. But I don't think the Mavericks are in good hands right now. Okay? I don't. I think they were obviously in better hands in terms of figuring out how to be better when Mark Cuban was owning the team. Absolutely, I think that. But you know, that seller's remorse that Mark Cuban kind of seems to have, I don't sympathize with this at all.

12:17I really don't. I mean, why sell then? He's a young guy. Here's the thing about it. I understand when Paul Allen's estate sells the Seahawks, it's because the man passed away. Okay? Like, I get that. Or, you know, you have a Donald Sterling situation where you're forced to sell the team because of things you've done. Okay, I get that. Or somebody is very old and the mental capacity is not there. Yeah, sell the team. Mark Cuban looks pretty good to me. Mark Cuban is not really an old guy. Mark Cuban can continue owning that team and continue running it if he wanted this power and this ability to make these decisions.

13:05But the Dallas Mavericks are right now in a crossroads, big time. And I think he kind of sees this, and here's what I think plays a role in all of this. You know, for Mark Cuban, his reputation in Dallas is great, right? Again, Mark Cuban took a downtrodden franchise that had nothing going in its favor, and he put the money, he put the resources into it, and he built them into a very, very respectable team. A place where fans flock there, they sell out, they make money. Players want to go play in Dallas. It's a tax-free state when it comes to income tax. Any of great facilities, Dallas is a great city.

13:49Why not? It's a good place to go play. He made that, right? He made this a comfortable place for people to want to go to. And his reputation in that city is very positive because of the fact he did that. But I think what's happening now is there is anger in Dallas at Mark Cuban because of the fact he sold the team to Adelson and Dumont. And they're not popular right now because they traded off Luka Doncic and they haven't exactly put together a team that seems to be heading in the right direction. So there's obviously negativity in regards to them. Well, who sold the team to them? That's right.

14:36It's Mark Cuban. So fans who are mad at Adelson and Dumont naturally would then get mad at Mark Cuban because he's the one that handed the team to them. And I think for Mark Cuban, who, again, has a very, very good reputation in Dallas for all he's done, the last thing he wants is for people to have a sour taste in their mouth when the name Mark Cuban comes up. Oh, yeah, that guy, man, he sold this team to these guys. You know, he sold it to this family. Why would he do that to us? Why would he put us in the hands of ownership that doesn't seem to know what they're doing? I think that's kind of playing a role here where you want to kind of wash your hands clean of a situation, but you want to be viewed in a positive manner.

15:24And right now, people are going to be upset at Cuban because of the fact Dumont and Adelson are running this team, potentially into the ground, because he sold to them. I wonder if that's playing a role in why Mark Cuban has obviously come out here and said negative things about them and there's going to be a legal battle here and things like that. How much of it is seller's remorse in the fact that it's kind of hurt him in the community because it's because of him they are in charge. LeBron, guess what? Another day goes by. No new news on LeBron James. But are we starting to think more and more he's heading to one city over others?

16:06We'll get to that next. We are just underway on a beautiful Thursday. Dan Schwartzman in for Rich. It's the Rich Eisen Show on ESPN Radio, the ESPN app, Sirius XM, Channel 80. The Rich Eisen Show podcast. Back on the Rich Eisen Show. Dan Schwartzman in for Rich on this Thursday. Rich Eisen here. running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow. The challenge? Finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent.

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17:23Because next doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. We did it when we made advanced safety standard on every vehicle and engineered EVs with ultra-fast charging capability. Because the future isn't some far-off concept, it's already here. Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. On ESPN Radio, LeBron James has not made his decision yet from yesterday to today. I was really hoping he would just because, I mean, I think we all want to get past this. I'm just kidding. I knew he wasn't going to make a decision yet. This is going to play out as long as possible because I think LeBron enjoys the spotlight here.

18:01He kind of enjoys this, right? He likes it when people have to hold their breath, wondering where he's going to go. He's going to milk this as long as he can. Why not? It's kind of his last hurrah, right? How much longer does LeBron have? It's probably his last year. Look, could he play multiple years? Yes. He's in incredible shape, okay? This is not the battered, broken down 41-year-old that we are accustomed to seeing in sports that has no business continuing to play, and the only reason why they're playing is because they want a paycheck. No, LeBron James is still a really, really good player.

18:35But here's the thing you have to think about. Most people, when they get to a certain age and they've played at a high level, the decline is not gradual. It's like you fall off a cliff. Like Kobe was going along, going along, signed that two-year,$48.5 million extension, I think it was, and then fell off a cliff in terms of not being able to stay healthy. Right? I remember that. And it was hard to see Kobe playing out there, and it was just, it was different. He clearly had aged out there on the court. Played a long time. Came into the league at 17 years old. And for LeBron, we haven't seen that decline.

19:16It's been very, very subtle, right? and you could even say the decline is more him changing the way he plays to a point, maybe a little bit more self-preservation, a little bit more of a team concept type of guy out there. Still putting up really solid numbers, don't get me wrong. But you have to kind of think, is this decline of LeBron's going to continue in a very subtle manner, slightly here, slightly there, to by the time he hangs it up next offseason potentially or maybe two offseasons for now who knows when it'll be he's still averaging 20 points 19 points 18 points that's low for him still really good for others obviously but is that what we're going to see from lebron or are we going to see a season here with some load management where lebron somehow gets hurt he plays 30 games clearly not the same player the knees are bothering him it's clearly slower on the court, it's just sad to see him play like this, right?

20:19We know how great LeBron is. We've seen LeBron James. I'm 47 years old. I remember when he came into this league, I have seen the highlights of LeBron. LeBron at his best is potentially the greatest player we've ever seen. He's clearly the most physically talented player we've ever seen. Again, I'm not saying he's the greatest player. I'm saying physically he's the most talented player we've ever seen. That size, that ability, the strength, the finesse, the passing, the basketball IQ, the vision on the court, his ability to just do whatever he wants on a court, regardless of who's guarding him.

20:56No one can physically do what he has done. He's just different. He has incredible God-given ability. And he was blessed with incredible physique to be able to accomplish it. And I was talking to a pro athlete once, an NFL player, and, you know, a great relationship. And I said, you know, you've worked very hard, no question about it, to get to where you are, had an unbelievable career, but you're also lucky to be 6 '4", have incredible twitch muscle reflexes, and be able to have a 45-inch vertical when you were young. I wasn't blessed with that. I'm like 5 '11", 6 feet tall. I cannot jump 45 inches in the air from a standing position.

21:40I don't have the twitch muscles to do it. I was not blessed with that ability. I was not given that athletic ability. We had this long conversation. It's like, I work hard. I'm like, yes, of course you work hard. I'm not saying you haven't worked hard. I'm not saying that you haven't put the time in. What I'm saying is you had an incredible foundation to build on. I don't have that foundation. I wasn't blessed to be a professional athlete. now some people will go beyond their physical limitations like a jalen brunson or a nikola yokich right like i look at yokich i'm like man what a dad bod and then i watch him on the court like man that guy's slow and then i see he's put up 30 15 and 15 i'm like wow that's incredible even luca right like luca lost some weight last year and slimmed up but luca for a little bit was not looking like the uh million dollar athlete here right six pack ripped blah blah blah but lebron james is godly when it comes to physical ability and what he has six nine fast can jump do this do that it's it's the complete package and teams right now are out there vying for lebron as that missing piece and the sales pitch to lebron has to be you are the guy that's going to take us from being a really good team to making us the best team.

23:02We are the best team in the league because you have arrived. Like you are the missing link. We've completed the puzzle. We cannot find that one piece. We're searching around the room. We've looked under the couch, under the rug. We cannot find it. And wham, there's that piece right there. And you are that piece. That's the sales pitch. LeBron's not going to a team that is three players away from competing, right? He's not going to do that. He's going to go to a team that, with him, they are probably considered the favorite to win the NBA title. Because at his age, why would you want to go to a place that is, quote-unquote, rebuilding?

23:40You're not. So what does that mean? Well, Golden State's kind of hanging on to that dynasty. It's the ending days of that dynasty, and they look at it and say, okay, you know what? We bring in LeBron. We have one last hurrah. Steph's not getting any younger. Draymond's not getting any younger. we add LeBron into that mix and he will put us over the top that one last time before we bow out and have to build a new team here and move on from Steph and Draymond and bring in the next generation of young talent and hope that we can build a second dynasty. Minnesota looks and say, hey, we have Edwards, we have talented guys here.

24:20We just need LeBron. You slot right in and you are the guy that will put us over the top in the West, will beat the Spurs, will beat OKC, and it's because of you. We win a championship, we raise a banner for the first time, and you ride off into the sunset as a hero. And then there's the Philadelphia 76ers who had the process. People in Philly trusted the process. They lost a heck of a lot of games in pursuit of the process, as they call it. And it did work to a point. They landed Joel Embiid. They landed Ben Simmons at the time. They landed talented players with the belief that all that losing leading to high draft picks would lead to them actually winning a title.

25:05It hasn't worked out that way, and they're at a crossroads, right? What do you do? How do you keep it going? How do you add to Tyrese Maxey, who is a tremendous talent, Joel Embiid when he plays, and that's the key phrase, unfortunately, when he plays, because he doesn't play very often, sadly, because he's hurt a lot. You bring in Jalen Brown from Boston in a trade where, at least on paper, Philly got the better of that deal, right? Paul George in four draft picks, two firsts, two seconds. For a guy who averaged 29 points a game, a guy who's won a ring, hey, by all means, sign me up. He's 29 years old, a lot of talent there.

25:43You can fit his$53 million contract. Okay, great. And now you say, what else do we need to complete this puzzle? And that's where LeBron James comes in. Now, does he want to go to Philly? Possibly. Philly's a really, really good basketball town. I worked four and a half years in Philly. Well, the things about Philly that I'm not crazy about, one thing I'll tell you is they are really good fans. Flyers have a great fan base. The Eagles have an amazing fan base. The Phillies have a good fan base. and the Sixers have a real classic fan base. They were there for the Moses Malone, Dr. J years. They kind of left during that process because why are you paying to watch a 10-72 team?

26:28You're not going to pay for that, nor should you. It was kind of a joke. It was sad. And now you throw in the fact that they are good again, winning 50-plus games here and there. Fans are back. They'll pack the arena. But where do they go from here? Yeah, Jalen Brown, it's still a fun show, right? It's worth the price of admission. You're going to pay to go watch the Sixers because Tyrese and Bede, Brown, pretty darn good threesome there. That's a really impressive group of players. And then you add LeBron to that mix. Here's the question, though. LeBron to me is not a selfish player. I never thought of LeBron as being a selfish player.

27:09But is there enough ball to go around? Right? If Embiid's playing, he's got to have the basketball in his hands. He's a tremendous player. Jalen Brown's not coming over there to average 15 points a game as a role player. Tyrese Maxey, who's established himself as one of the top players in this league, a big-time scorer, how much is he willing to relinquish? The last three years, he's averaged 26, 26, and 28 points a game. How much is he willing to give up for LeBron James? as unselfish a player as LeBron is, how does he slot in there? Is LeBron James going to show up there and, you know, play 20 minutes a game and give you 12 points?

27:56Is that what he wants? Is that worth it? I don't think so. Like, you still have a reputation to uphold, right? You're LeBron James. You're potentially the greatest player in history. You're the highest scorer in the history of the NBA, over 40 ,000 points. No one's ever done that. And who knows if anybody will for a long time. Longevity is a really hard thing to do in any league. Staying healthy enough to put up 40 ,000 plus points. But the reputation when people see LeBron James is he's a superstar player. Does LeBron James want to take a back seat? What was that famous quote? I think it was Joe DiMaggio.

28:34And at like 36, 37 with bum knees and he's out there and he's hustling and somebody says, why do you do it? And Joe said, because there's a kid out there coming to watch me play for the first time. And, you know, I got to be Joe DiMaggio. I can't be a guy half, you know what? I can't be playing at half speed. Because in their mind, then, Joe DiMaggio is not a great player. And I think LeBron's probably similar in that sense. Like, LeBron James isn't going somewhere to be an afterthought. He's not going somewhere to be a bench player, a role player. He's won championships. Because when young Stevie and Johnny go to watch their first NBA game, and daddy's telling them, oh my goodness, that LeBron James man.