Hour 3: Rich’s NFL QB Power Rankings, Cardinals Preview, plus ESPN’s Dave McMenamin on LeBron’s Free Agency

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0:58Rich Eisen: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. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. I think this is the last year of Joe Burrow's exemption for taking the Bengals to the Super Bowl. This is the Rich Eisen Show. You had one game to win. It's not a one-game season. Joe Burrow was your quarterback. Bingo, sir. Earlier on the show, ESPN SportsCenter host Scott Van Pelt.

1:42Three-time American Century Championship winner Marty Fish. Coming up, ESPN NBA reporter Dave McMenamin. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

1:57Rich Eisen:Hour number three of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. So much going on here on this ESPY day. The V Foundation has the coffers open for you to just throw money into it, please. And let's raise as much money as possible. Right now, going to ebay.com slash ESPYs. And what's closing right now is an opportunity to have a VIP trip to the Daily Show, which is a brilliant program on Comedy Central. As you know, in 15 minutes time, the bid will close at eBay.com slash ESPYs for a Taylor Swift autographed guitar. Ooh. So there's that. um i would be bidding on that for zander uh who is the biggest swifty i know um not named i guess travis kelsey um but um uh i would bid on it but i'm imagining um that's his college fund that would be on the line for something like this i don't think he would mind not going to college i think zan would be like i'll find another avenue point but um at any rate v.org slash Donate if you don't want to just, you know, go into the auction area for for all of the ESPYs are tonight.

3:19Rich Eisen:We're here on ESPN2 for the third of our three hour program. Marty Fish just left. He won the American Century Championship. He brought his championship lab coat with him. Our one we spoke with Scott Van Pelt, the World Cup. We've got England and Argentina kicking off in less than an hour. We have France having been dispatched by Spain. The Major League Baseball All-Star game went down last night. Two Yankees got back-to-back RBI hits in the first inning last night to lead the American League. Normally, I would lead with that sort of stuff. But not when LeBron James delivers a 22 emoji salute to Chris Brockman on his Instagram story page in relation to Chris's take that he said here on this program that it got aggregated by NBA on ESPN and the ESPN handle as well.

4:15Rich Eisen:That we all need to brace ourselves for LeBron to be a non-factor this year. And if he joins Miami, they're still going to be enjoying the play in tournament. and we figured who knows more about lebron and chris brockman together nobody than dave mcmaneman of espn and so he's been kind enough to take some time away from his coverage of the summer league in las vegas to join us here on the program how are you dave i'm doing well seeing that screen grab from lebron's social media response to chris he couldn't be just making fun of both chris and i for doing team top button and buttering our button in our polos all the way up thank you i've gotten a bunch of texts about that from from friends the last couple days it's a clean look rich you may want to consider it no you know you got a lot of no you do you i'll do me and and chris will do him and then lebron purpose you should well and then lebron lebron sorry dave did did chris pretty much uh not dirty i don't think um but maybe he thinks you did him dirty um what do you make of lebron's response to chris dave knowing lebron as you have covering him for as long as you have dave what do you think well i think it would indicate that he's having a degree of fun with this extravaganza that's now stretched out for more than two weeks we are in week three breaking news we are into week three of the lebron decision and it's only going to continue to amp up the attention and and the rumors and and the conjecture and we're finally get to hear from him later this week he's going to new york he's making four public appearances in New York City in the span of about 36 hours.

5:52And I'm not anticipating us knowing where he's going to be playing next season prior to those appearances beginning. And I'm not so sure we're going to know by the end of those appearances. So I'm very curious to see what he's going to say about his thought process as he shows up to Fanatics Fest, does a live taping of a podcast, does a panel with Rich Kleiman from Boardroom, shows up the Time 100 Gala, and then does the taping of the shop, his barbershop style television show.

6:24Rich Eisen:Okay. So also, then maybe you can help translate this. Chris, you're saying a lot of the responses you've seen to the 22 emoji salute that you received from King James is being taken by Heat fan as a positive sign for them? Yeah, Heat fans, seeing that as an indication that, you know, because I said they'd still be a play on team. That's LeBron kind of laughing at that notion that that's a sign he's going to Miami. All right. And that Miami fans are trying to parse out that LeBron's going to be a non-factor. That's what I thought he was responding to. That's a great way to look at it, I guess.

7:02Rich Eisen:Right. And TJ thinks that that's what elicited all those L and A-Os. No, I disagree with him. Disagree with him. And you're lockstep with me. What do you think, Dave? What do you think? I didn't take it to be any sort of clue of where he's going to go. I would say from speaking to people close to LeBron, speaking to people around the league, Miami remains a realistic possibility of where he's going to choose. Miami, Sean yesterday, and he's done a great job covering this story, he put it as Miami, Cleveland, and Philadelphia as the three top frontrunners. I would include Golden State in that list just based on conversations with people in Golden State who don't believe that they're out of it at this time.

7:49But I wouldn't venture a handicapping system beyond that right now. And I think this is the way LeBron and his advisors have structured it. They didn't want to be giving out any clear indication. And that's why when I talked to people from Philadelphia yesterday, they told me that we're not actually talking to LeBron right now. It's our players who are talking to LeBron and then filtering what they hear from LeBron back to us. And then we try to, you know, either send messages back or try to interpret exactly what's being said thus far.

8:21Rich Eisen:Yeah. You know, you are your story on ESPN dot com knocked Chris off of the social pages last night. And I guess on how many more times can I try to turn your Instagram story foray into the world of 154 million people as the as the through line to get to this LeBron story? I think I'm I think I'm out of shots on that front. But what would you you're reporting on the Philadelphia players that you wouldn't mind repeating here, Dave? Sure. The Philadelphia pursuit is ongoing and it's led by Tyrese Maxey, who has a longstanding relationship with LeBron. They're both represented by Clutch Sports. They've been working out in the summer times together over the last several years.

9:06Maxie's referred to LeBron as a big brother before. But it's not just Maxie. You have Jalen Brown, who LeBron endorsed as an MVP candidate last year, before he even endorsed Luka Doncic. And also Joel Embiid, who they've obviously had experience together in all-star games. They were teammates on the Paris Olympics U.S. basketball team that won the gold medal. And so that is where the kind of the way I think I phrase it was constant communication is coming from. And again, because that communication remains two way between LeBron and those players, Philadelphia is another team that don't believe they're out of this thing.

9:48Rich Eisen:hmm anybody else i mean we've seen draymond um put out a video and he played with um lebron and and kevin hart on the east coast i mistakenly identified it as california before and got aggregated twice by espn social since then to amplify my mistake but listen uh we've all been there before and um so what about other play what about his staff reaching out like Were we other players going to LeBron too? And speaking to people who have covered Steph for a long time, they said over the last few weeks, the way Steph has handled this is a complete departure from how he's been willingly involving himself in free agency pursuits by the Golden State organization in the past.

10:44Which to me, that is some sort of indicator. that there's true interest, obviously, in Steph joining up with LeBron, but probably because he feels that there's some sort of chance of it happening. And, of course, we have to connect the dots between Steph and Draymond, and Steph either planning messages with Draymond when he goes on vacation with LeBron or just staying in communication with what Draymond's hearing from LeBron. Again, that's another intriguing team. And Shams also has reported that Donovan Mitchell of the Cavs has been taking up kind of the mantle for the Cavs organization as the player that's been in LeBron's ear.

11:25So, again, as we keep going through weeks and days, none of those four teams, to my understanding, have fallen off as a team that still looks at LeBron as a realistic possibility of joining them next year.

11:42Rich Eisen:So you mentioned how LeBron has many public appearances in the New York metropolitan area over the next few days. And obviously his comments, he'll probably reserve them for his own content, which is understandable. What is the timeline, do you think, then, on getting an answer? I wish I knew, man. I want to go on vacation. I'm supposed to be done. Today is my last day of NBA sidelines at Summer League, and I should be going home and sitting on my couch, but I'm not. I'm taking a red eye to New York. I've been given no indication that it's for sure going to happen this week. I would hope for all of our sake that it would happen next week.

12:27The NBA calendar has been stretching longer and longer, becoming a 365 sport. But generally, when you get to August through early September, that's the dead period for the NBA. And so if LeBron decides to drag it on into August, which he did hint back in that podcast appearance with Steve Nash a couple months ago that he may do. If he does that, quite frankly, it's not just my summer that he's affecting or disrupting. It's the people involved with these teams. And thus far, by him putting it out there that he's not requiring a certain salary number, so don't worry about moving around pieces to open up more caps so I get an X amount of dollars.

13:19He has allowed these teams to still go about their business while trying to talk to Rich Paul and make it clear that they want him as part of their team. It hasn't changed that business. But if it does drag into August, like that is when these people who spend so much time doing this job away from their families have family vacation scheduled and it would disrupt some stuff like that.

13:44Rich Eisen:I understand that. But LeBron only comes around once in a blue moon. One would think despite even how old he might be. So last one for you on this. And then I'll ask you about the summer league and let you go on with your day. And I appreciate the time here. So last time you were on this program, Dave McManaman, you were here in this chair to my right talking about a deep dive article about LeBron and the Lakers and how on the night that LeBron came up with the most wins combined in the history of the NBA playoff and regular season passing Kareem, that the game ball from that night was delivered by Rob Palenka to J.J.

14:25Rich Eisen:Redick for his 100th win as Lakers head coach. and how that rankled despite LeBron's liking of Redick. And then we learn from other reporting that the negotiating period between LeBron and the Lakers, in which it was completely exclusive for the Lakers to talk to LeBron, Brian Windhorst was here saying that LeBron did not make himself available at all during that point in time. Was a LeBron return to the Lakers DOA? Dave McMenamin. it feels that way now now i can also tell you that when that lakers team went 16 and 2 through february late february i should say through the end of march the the vibes around the team speaking to people who were telling me how lebron was conducting himself pouring himself into teammates pouring himself in the coaching staff it didn't sound like a guy that at that point had predetermined that next season I'm gone.

15:27It seemed like there was something there that he could bridge to stand on. Despite the ups and downs of the relationship LeBron's had with the front office in the eight years, it seemed like a real possibility. At some point that changed. Now, Rich Paul, I believe on his podcast, said at some point in the free agency period from the time the Lakers were swept by the thunder to that day when they told Rob Palenka and company that LeBron will be moving on about eight hours before free agency officially began, that LeBron was, quote, 80 % returning to the Lakers. Obviously, that was a period post that scene that I wrote about late March after the Philadelphia 76ers win, or excuse me, Cleveland Cavaliers win that the Lakers had.

16:21So I don't know. Like, I think, quite frankly, this is something that myself and other reporters are going to be continuing to dig in to for the rest of the summer to find out what really went down. And thus far, you know, the only person who can truly tell us what he's feeling has decided to be silent so far. Like maybe in New York, we at least learn why LeBron left the Lakers. Maybe we don't learn the team he's going to, but maybe at least learn more about that part. Because to me, that's still pretty fascinating.

16:57Rich Eisen:Dave McManaman here on the program. What is the story of Summerlee? Ooh, you know what? Just from the games that I've been around, Yaxel Lindenburg, your guy from Michigan, is tremendous. Oh, my. He already has such a great feel for the game. if anyone's ever watched an interview with him he is built with the right personality and presence and confidence to be able to get it done at the next level and he was doing stuff i was covering his game yesterday for sidelines where not quite intentionally throwing it off the backboard to get an offensive rebound a la moses malone back in the day but he if he could see that his initial shot was going to be altered or he had to change it up he knew where it was going to miss that's how he described it to me and so almost rodman-esque he knew where he had positioned himself where that ball was coming off and he would have he must have had three or four foot backs that way off his own misses in the game that i covered yesterday and you think about even if the warriors don't get lebron james him with that aging core i think it's a fascinating pickup and a great pickup, quite frankly, at the number 11 spot in the draft.

18:14So he's really opened up my eyes. Caleb Wilson with the Bulls has looked fantastic thus far. Really all the top picks, Cameron Boozer, Darren Peterson, Adrian DeBonsta. I know DeBonsta shut it down, I think, after two games. But all those guys have given flashes of just really high talent and skill level. and we know that those guys have just mentioned they're going to get the ball ton like all those franchises have basically cleared everything else out and they're like this is your team now and um it's going to be a fascinating race for rookie of the year quite frankly because i think they're

18:55Rich Eisen:all going to put up monster numbers brother i'm telling you i'm obviously biased when it comes to yaxl okay i'm flat out but you know when michigan started putting it together i believe in vegas actually um at that late december tournament um when they waxed everybody you know from gonzaga to anybody in front of them they were just beating up on everybody i'm sitting there with my youngest son cooper and i'm like this guy yaxel is as advertised and we look down and his height and weight comp it's it's very lebron like now listen uh i'm i'm i'm gonna now stop using that name in relation to Yaxl unless LeBron goes to the team.

19:40Rich Eisen:And that would be another aspect for the Warriors to have him there and dare to teach Yaxl the ropes. You know what I mean? And and I think you're going to find out that the Big Ten player of the year didn't average 20, 25 a night or a game because that's not the way Dusty may ran things. You know, there's Morez and there's a Daimar, just to name the others who were drafted in the first round this year. We're going to find out. You're on to something, Dave. I really believe it. Yeah, I mean, I also had the pleasure to be around and interact with him three or four times now. And he's a pleasure to be around.

20:21And that also matters in the grind of an NBA season to have a likability factor to make new bonds with teammates. So, yeah, he's, I think, well on his way. It was a really smart pick by the Warriors.

20:35Rich Eisen:And he's given Draymond crap for being Michigan State. That's right. And despite, you know, Draymond's history with Michigan graduates who are young to the team, he's just going to walk right into that, you know, with his chest out. I kind of think that's pretty cool. So we'll see how that works. Dave. Can I interject one thing with Brockman, if I may? That's the idea. That's why you're here. I was going to bring it full circle. Please do. Please do. So when I heard your take, all I could think of is you're just a Patriots fan. Because that's how the Patriots treat aging greats. They say, get out the door.

21:12We don't need you anymore. So that's all it is. You've been brainwashed by Bill Belichick and the Patriots. And that's why you have this opinion. And I understand it. I understand where it came from.

21:24Rich Eisen:Because you go back to college. You guys are college guys from Syracuse. yeah so you know also like if there's anybody who can get under anybody's skin we almost we almost got a full debate as i walk out the studio last time so i mean this is this is our interaction about what yeah about lebron yeah as he was leaving that's odd last time yeah yeah you just can't get over the fact as to you went to a game seven one year did you not in in boston did you not oh yeah yeah 2018 conference finals won that game seven won that games there when Jason Tatum dunked on LeBron. Okay. And then I blacked out after that.

22:03Rich Eisen:I don't remember what happened. He's got a grudge, Dave. Thanks for the time. Safe travels. Look for more of my texts. Maybe not more of LeBron putting Brockman on. Yeah, I'm not going to be on anyone else's social channel. Dave, I felt I looked great. You did. You actually did. It was great. It was very good. Dave McMenamin here on the Rich Eisen Show. Back to Dave. when it comes to your home Pella Windows and Doors are the experts at taking care of you and your home at Pella they find the products that meet your needs and their experts install them that means working with a company that builds and installs a quality product with real pricing real simple really beautiful and when a trusted name like Pella chooses to partner with the Rich Eisen Show that says a lot 0 % financing options are available certain restrictions apply find your local Pella Windows and Doors showroom today at Pella.com slash Eisen for details.

23:00Rich Eisen:Make life brighter with Pella windows and doors. I've got my power rankings of the best NFL quarterbacks, one to 10, ripping a page out of the Jeremy Fowler playbook. Coming up, I'm putting my name to it. Next.

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25:20The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

25:24Rich Eisen:Hire right the first time with LinkedIn Hiring Pro. People, get started by posting a free job at linkedin.com slash Eisen. Appreciate that. Phone lines are lit. Alan Dallas is on the program. What's up, Al? How you been, brother? Good afternoon. Good morning, Richard. First and foremost, I want to wish the knower of ball, Chris Brockman, congratulations. Obviously, that's a great event. Finally, making an honest man of you. Fantastic. A little bit of a hot take there, Chris, but that's okay on the LeBron thing. Listen, the chances, what's got a better chance? And I think you might have said, I don't know if you said this before.

26:10TJ Jefferson in Dallas for the Thanksgiving game, or are you getting a point of calls after the apocalypse?