00:00Rick Buecher joining us right now on the Wise Heart Right,
00:02We Make It Right, called Kyle Wright Hotline.
00:04And there was a clip of Rick, and it was last week,
00:07so I hope I'm saying this right, Rick, where you had said,
00:09you know, the market is not as demanding, in demand of LeBron
00:13as maybe LeBron would like it to be.
00:15And I think that that might be part of why this is taking so long.
00:18Rick, did I get that right on that quote,
00:20or can you correct me and steer me in the right direction if not?
00:24No, that's fair. That's fair.
00:26I do believe that, and by good morning, guys.
00:29Morning to you. Thank you for coming on. We appreciate it. Thank you.
00:33Yeah, look, I think that what Rich and LeBron are trying to do
00:38is maximize whatever they have left in terms of drawing attention,
00:44in terms of leverage, in terms of finding the best place
00:50and getting the most out of wherever he is going to go.
00:54I agree with you a thousand percent that I believe they've always had a sense
00:59of where they were going, that this wasn't real jockeying,
01:03and the day-to-day, the oddsmakers can have fun with it.
01:08It disappoints me a little bit that we have reporters who are trying to suggest
01:13that it's changing from day-to-day.
01:16Like, there's teams that are moving in and out.
01:19Like, it's a horse race, right?
01:21It's a live horse race that's going on.
01:23I do believe that the Golden State Warriors really want
01:27and would still want to have him,
01:29and it's one of the reasons that Draymond Green opted out.
01:32I just don't know.
01:33I don't see a world where LeBron goes to Steph Curry's house
01:42and lives in Steph Curry's house.
01:46I do believe that LeBron wants to be in a place where it's still his place,
01:52and that's why I said from the beginning, for me,
01:55Cleveland is the only place that makes sense.
01:57And now that this has gone on, as long as it has,
02:00and there's been as much talk, if he doesn't pick Cleveland,
02:06I'm going to think, what did Cleveland ever do to you?
02:10I mean, I know what Dan Gilbert did to you,
02:12but I thought you guys resolved that.
02:14You won a championship.
02:16Why would you tease Cleveland and Cavs fans that you are coming back
02:23and then break their hearts one more time?
02:25You kind of already did that twice.
02:28I know you definitely did it once.
02:30Like, let's not do it three times.
02:33That's where I stand on this.
02:35Rick Buecher joining us on the show.
02:37Well, I'm not asking you to name names or throw anybody under the bus.
02:40I want to ask you a general question about this,
02:41because, I mean, you've been through this before.
02:43You've done a lot of TV, Rick.
02:45And I know you mentioned, like, hey, there's insiders, there's reporters,
02:48and you said you're disappointed that they're acting like, oh, yeah,
02:52there's still some waffling going on.
02:53I would imagine there's producers, directors going, that's it.
02:57You've got to come up with something different here.
02:58You're going to have to come up with something different next hour.
03:01Like, is that far-fetched for me?
03:03No, no, no.
03:04It's not so much that.
03:07And, look, I was at ESPN for 12, 14 years, and I know how it goes.
03:16And it was one of the evolutions while I was there.
03:18We went from they would ask me what we needed to talk about on the NBA,
03:22and then they asked me what we needed to talk about with the Knicks,
03:26the Celtics, the Lakers, the Heat, the Bulls, the Lakers.
03:31And then it was, you know, what do you have on LeBron?
03:40And then it was, we're going to talk about LeBron today.
03:43So it really became, you're going to talk about him regardless.
03:47And I will say, like, when he left Cleveland the first time, there was,
03:53we knew that there was a big part of him that wanted to stay in Cleveland.
04:00Cleveland, and there were various voices out there from teams saying,
04:09we think we can get him.
04:10New York, Isaiah Thomas thought he could get him to New York.
04:15I heard from somebody, you know, Miami, and I just couldn't believe,
04:19I couldn't believe he was going to leave Cleveland for Miami.
04:22I got that one.
04:23I didn't listen to one of my sources on that.
04:27Because I was hearing over and over again, he doesn't really want to leave Cleveland.
04:33And so there was some legitimate movement there.
04:37I just don't see that that is the case now.
04:41And so it's become more of a, we are, I think you're a thousand percent right on that too.
04:47I just think there's, it's having to fill content.
04:50We need to talk about it.
04:53And, and so let's find a way to look at this through another lens in order to have,
05:01have content about LeBron.
05:02Because that's really what it comes down to.
05:05He is such a polarizing figure and, and, and draws so much attention that if you can just say,
05:12we're going to talk about LeBron next, you're going to draw numbers.
05:15Host of the Rick Buecher podcast, Rick Buecher, join us right now on the hotline.
05:19We know in his past, in different stops, LeBron can support and uplift an entire organization.
05:26And at times day to day, he can also be a drain on an organization.
05:30What will this version, 23 years into the NBA, 41 years old, LeBron James be for his next stop?
05:37Well, I think it depends on honestly where he goes.
05:40And that's why like he doesn't have the same leverage.
05:43Why, when, when, you know, my, my issue with, with Rich simply was, you know, I, I was,
05:49I covered all of the presentations that were made by teams.
05:55His agent at the time didn't have to go out and present, you know, how, how LeBron would help all
06:04these different teams.
06:06And the idea that all, you know, 29 teams would want him.
06:10No, not all 29 teams would take him at this point, even on a minimum contract, because there is a
06:18weight that comes with LeBron.
06:20There is an attention that comes with LeBron.
06:23And there is, because of all that he has done, there's an expectation of how he's going to be treated.
06:28And I would add the fact that you've got an agent who's doing podcasts and, and, and talking about your
06:34teammates, that there's, there's a lot of teams out there at this point in their evolution and where they are.
06:40They're like, you know what, for a year or two, do we really want to invite that into our house?
06:45It's not really a reflection of where LeBron is as a player so much as it is with everything that
06:53comes along with LeBron.
06:54And so I just, for sentimental reasons, for where the Cavaliers are, for the, for, for the fact that there's
07:07not a personality there or an established star that is so big that they couldn't coexist with LeBron.
07:16Like the idea of him going to Miami, you know, Bama Adebayo is now established as the guy and you've
07:23added Giannis Antetokounmpo.
07:25Neither of those guys have an allegiance to LeBron, the way that Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade did.
07:31And, and they're the future of that franchise.
07:35LeBron's coming in very much the third star in Miami, regardless of what he did previously.
07:43And I wonder how much Heat Nation resents the way that he left.
07:48I think it was different than when he left Cleveland the second time.
07:53I may be wrong on that with Cavs fans, but I just, I see the fit for him and how
08:00he would be embraced and how he would be regarded in Cleveland as being better than any place else.
08:08And I know we, and Philadelphia has been mentioned too.
08:12We all know what Philadelphia fans are like.
08:16If he doesn't, if he goes there, they're going to have expectations.
08:21And if he doesn't deliver, they're not going to care what he's done previously.
08:26He's going to hear it.
08:27And, and he has to know that.
08:29And so I just, at the end of the day, nothing makes more sense to me for both LeBron and,
08:36and for the teams involved than for him to return to Cleveland one more time.
08:42Rick, let's talk about the actual basketball fit.
08:44If it is Cleveland, some have put up red flags surrounding James Harden and how he would coexist with LeBron.
08:53I'm always in the camp that when you put the highest IQ basketball players together on the floor, they tend
08:59to figure things out.
09:00What do you say?
09:00Yeah.
09:01Yeah.
09:01No, I, I, I believe that.
09:03I think there's enough mutual respect between those two in terms of what they've done and what they're capable of.
09:11And I think that that is, that is without question, the most important, the most important thing.
09:16Uh, the, the, the, the guys that LeBron has a problem with are the guys that don't, can't think the
09:23game that aren't in the right place that can't remember plays that, that all of that.
09:28And, and for whatever foibles that James has, it's, it's not that.
09:34And, and I do think at this stage, it wouldn't hurt to pair James with somebody who has the work
09:41ethic that LeBron has to maybe scooch him over to one, one, one less night on the town, one more
09:49day in the weight room.
09:51I ask you, Rick, you followed, uh, obviously the Kobe years and how he was able to stay in unbelievable
09:59basketball shape up until the injury.
10:01And now LeBron has blown past what anybody would have ever thought somebody physically could play at this high of
10:08a level.
10:09What is it about LeBron and his ability to be durable and also be in just basketball shape this far
10:18into his life?
10:20Well, one, I would say he's one of the premier athletes that has, has just natural athletes that has ever
10:28come into the league.
10:30And, and, and he's been diligent about it from the very beginning.
10:36I don't, you know, there's a lot of guys that come into the league and they live off of their
10:41athleticism and then they have an injury and they start to take their conditioning, uh, and their preparation seriously.
10:50LeBron has done that from the very beginning, which is why he has never suffered a major injury.
10:56I would say that, you know, Russ Westbrook has had an injury or two, but by and large, he's the
11:02same freak athlete who came in and has been diligent about it from the very beginning.
11:07I think that that is a, a big, big part of what contributes to, uh, LeBron's, LeBron's longevity.
11:14And then I think he's also been very calculating in terms of when there's a situation that is not going
11:24to pay off with the premium.
11:26If he's not, you know, a couple of those Lakers years where it was like, we ain't, we're not making
11:32the playoffs or we're not playing for a title.
11:34Um, he, he would shut it down, you know, or he would, he would, he would end, uh, four is,
11:42is, you know, putting him out on the wing is, is not necessarily the ideal that you want to play
11:48him as a, as a big man.
11:50And you already have quality, big men in, in Cleveland, but I, I, I do, I would, I would be
11:57careful in trying to make moves that are.
12:00And I think that about, and I said, the one exception might be golden state because Draymond opted out.
12:07He might be able to get a little bit more than that, but by and large, all these teams have,
12:11have already constructed themselves.
12:12And they're like, if we can add a LeBron James for, for the minimum, why not do that?
12:18And I would fully expect that Cleveland is, is, is of the same mind.
12:23Uh, and, and again, I'm thinking that's part of the situation.
12:28Rick Buecher joining us on the show.
12:30Final one for me.
12:31Why does all of a sudden every athlete feel it's necessary to tell us about their financial woes on a
12:35podcast this summer?
12:39They're running out of stories, man.
12:40They told, they told all of the good ones, they told all of the, the behind the scenes ones about,
12:47about teammates or funny situations.
12:49And so now, now we're getting to this point.
12:53Look, it's a, it's always been an intriguing thing for me because I, I do believe that we look at
13:01the numbers and, and, and the number that guys get paid is not what actually ends up in their bank
13:07account.
13:08There is a reality to that.
13:11But this is just a misunderstanding of normal people.
13:18Okay.
13:18You know what?
13:19You had a hundred million.
13:20It wasn't really a hundred million and it went fast.
13:23And you had a lot of family members that you took care of.
13:26And that's why you, and it ended up all going away.
13:29No one cares, dude.
13:31You started with a hundred million dollars.
13:33Everybody on the 99% of the planet would love to have had a shot at a hundred million dollars.
13:40Even if it had gone away, they'd be, they'd, they'd love to have that.
13:45That story is not going to play well with, with the general public.
13:49So I don't know why we need to tell it.
13:53Rick, we appreciate your time.
13:54Awesome perspective.
13:56And just to let you know earlier, we have a reporter comes down with us every week, the iconic Mary
14:01Kay Cabot, the plane dealer in Cleveland.com.
14:04And she referenced that she worked with you.
14:06Yeah, that, well, we were, yeah, we sort of worked with, we both covered indoor soccer way, way, way, way
14:13back in the day.
14:14And then I, I had a, um, I had a short stint as a, as a 49ers beat writer.
14:20So we probably crossed paths, uh, when it came to that too, but, uh, Mary Kay Cabot, legend, legend in
14:28a multiple way of multiple ways.
14:32And I will say she was just as good.
14:35You knew when, when she was covering, uh, the Cleveland crunch, I believe it was, uh, when she was covering
14:43indoor soccer, you knew she was going to be a great reporter and have a long career, uh, back then.
14:51So, uh, glad to know that she's, uh, she's still out there and, and working in Cleveland.
14:57Rick, thank you very much for the time.
14:59All the very, all the very best to you and yours.
15:01We do appreciate your time.
15:03Hope to run you down again soon, friend.
15:04All the best.
15:04Sounds good.
15:05You got it.
15:06Rick Buecher on the wise heart, right?
15:08We make a right call.
15:09Kyle Wright hotline.
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