Follow the Money: The $28 Million Question Behind Kawhi's Contract

Summary:

The NBA's investigative spotlight turns to the Los Angeles Clippers as potential salary cap circumvention involving Kawhi Leonard sends shockwaves through the league. We meticulously break down the complex financial web connecting Steve Ballmer's $50 million investment in Aspiration, the company's subsequent $28 million endorsement deal with Kawhi's LLC, and the timing of Leonard's team-friendly contracts with the Clippers.

This isn't just about rules on paper—it's about the Clippers' future competitiveness as they christen the $2 billion Intuit Dome. If the league finds wrongdoing, penalties could range from substantial fines to draft pick forfeitures or even voiding Kawhi's contract. We examine historical precedents, potential consequences, and what this means for a franchise that just lost Paul George and has championship aspirations hanging in the balance.

The Brooklyn Nets face their own crisis as Cam Thomas rejects long-term security for the qualifying offer, essentially creating a one-year audition before unrestricted free agency. This rare move reflects broken negotiations and gives the 24-point scorer complete control of his future while the Nets risk losing him for nothing. We analyze how this decision creates awkward dynamics for a roster now featuring five rookie playmakers alongside notorious shot-hunters Thomas and Michael Porter Jr.

Looking ahead, we explore the NBA's dramatic All-Star Game format change to USA vs. World in 2026. This shift acknowledges international players' dominance—eight straight MVPs have been non-Americans—and could finally inject competitive intensity into what's become a disappointing exhibition. Will national pride motivate players in ways previous gimmicks couldn't? Can Team USA defend home court against a potential World lineup featuring Jokić, Giannis, Luka, and Wembanyama?

Remember to surround yourself with positive, supportive people who speak strength into your life. Acknowledge those who give you the power to tackle each day's challenges—that's what our Frontrunner community is all about.

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Transcript

Podcast Introduction

Speaker 1 0:13

it's tuesday, you know what time it is. Frontrunner podcast collective is back on the air. I am your humble host, vince, and well, we have a jam-packed podcast that we are going to get to. We are going to be discussing the Kawhi Leonard Steve Ballmer Clipper fiasco that is going on, or lack thereof. We're also going to be discussing the Cam Thomas signing with the Brooklyn Nets and what it all means as far as the ramifications, and we will talk a little bit about who signed today, because today's signing was Josh Giddey Four year deal for $100 million. We're not going to talk real specific about that. We'll hit that on the Friday podcast. We'll hit that on the Friday podcast. We will end the podcast talking about the new setup for the all-star game, and I can't wait to get to that part before we get to the pod. And what have you? Let's talk about two things. One, join us on twitter at frontrunnerpc. Also at rea, underscore fudge frpc. Hit us up there multiple times. And also, if your comments, your replies, are good enough, they will hit the podcast. We cannot say this enough. Your comments Good enough, they will hit the podcast. We cannot say this enough. Your comments On Twitter. Or also, if you would like to leave us a email. You can hit us up at FRPCVince At gmailcom. I will go ahead and take that as well, but we are off and running today.

Speaker 1 2:09

So let's get into this because there's a lot to be going on with this Clipper situation. So, as you all know, kawhi Leonard, steve Ballmer and an environmental fintech called Aspiration the chart sheet reads like a scooby-doo plot mystery. There's a 28 million dollar endorsement situation going on, owners cash flowing into the sponsor and whispers of salary cap, uh circumvention and the gang vel Velma. Pablo Torre this isn't just the first unmasking. He's already pulled off the mask on the NFLPA misappropriation of funds scandal. He spotlighted the curious ties of Bill Belichick and Jordan Hudson Belichick and Jordan Hudson and now he's lifting the sheet on the Clippers alleged sponsorship workaround to augment Kawhi Leonard's salary situation. Pablo Torre has been busy this summer. You know. He's been a lot busier than the NBA. Seems like the NBA took a couple months off. We appreciate that, but I think what they need to do is give us a memo next time. That would help us line up stuff that we want to do instead of guessing. You know, be helpful, helpful to a brother. You know what I'm saying what's alleged, what's documented, the gaps in between. We will go ahead and look at this and we will give you, like our 35 000 foot uh pov on this situation. So raya drops this note into the chat. The first beat uh. This is basically talking about competitive balance. This is draft assets and the clippers brand runway of the intuit dome. You know, saying this is going to be really complicated to kind of talk about, but we hope that we can really give you as much information as possible. So this all starts if you know kawaii leon Leonard and you know what he is all about.

Speaker 1 4:27

There's always been a specter around Kawhi and it always starts with Uncle Dennis. Dennis Robertson this is the uncle of the San Antonio Spurs clashing over medical mismanagement over Kawhi Leonard's quad injury. The Spurs lose Kawhi's trust. Uncle Dennis escalates and demands a trade out. Now he goes to the toronto rafters where he goes on to win a championship and then hits free agency. Now, if you remember back then like I know all you do because it was only like five, six years ago but if you remember back then we had airplane trackings. We had you know, oh, kawhi is on his way to Toronto to sign a new deal. We had him spotted at um a couple restaurants in the Pacific Palisades area, calabasas area. There were talks of kawaii leonards basically stringing the lakers along. We'll get into that momentarily. Behind it all, we had uncle dennis. Let's get into this. Kawaii leaves in july of 2019. Kawaiii leaves Toronto to ink a three-year deal for $103 million.

Speaker 1 6:09

The recruitment chatter of that situation, but no penalties, or what have you with that whole deal signs a deal with the Clippers. Now, as that is going on, there's talks of Kawhi Leonard ending up with the Lakers and there was a belief that he was going to be a Laker. As you start to look further into it, there were demands made by Dennis Robert Dennis Robertson at that time asking for amenities and perks for Kawhi's services that Jeannie was was not comfortable with. So he goes ahead and signs with the Clippers, which, with everybody that I've talked to, that was always going to be the case. I don't know why, but it was. When that situation happened, there was thoughts of hey, was there some kind of chicanery going on? At that point in time, adam silver, the nba commissioner, looks into it, says okay, hey, nothing here that we need to worry about. We advise you to stay on your p's and q's now.

Speaker 1 7:33

September of 2021 the Clippers break ground on the Intuit Dome. The same month that aspiration arrivesiration arrives A 23 year $300 million sponsorship deal and $50 million of Steve Ballmer's investment into the company, while Kawhi Leonard is rehabbing his ACL In April of 2022. Kawhi Leonard has an LLC, his acl in april of 2022. Kawaii leonard has a llc companies called kl2. Aspire signs a 28 million dollar endorsement agreement with aspiration payments scheduled quarterly through march of 2026, quarterly through March of 2026. June of 2023 Clippers claim aspirations, claim aspirations. Sponsorship ends after the 2022 2023 season. So that's basically at the end of season, right there.

Speaker 1 8:39

January of 2024 Kawhi re-ups with the Clippers three years, 153 million dollars through 2027. No player options. That's key. So he signs basically a 51 million dollar deal with the Clippers to re-up with them, dollar deal with the Clippers to re-up with them, and he has no player option. There's no team option. It's just three years straight up. March of 2025 Aspiration the company files for bankruptcy creditors list includes the Clippers 30 million dollars, forum Entertainment 11 million dollars and kl2 aspire 7 million dollars.

Speaker 1 9:30

August of 2025 last month, aspiration co-founder joseph sandberg pleads guilty to fraud. Faces 40. Real, actual time now in early last week, pablo Torre drops his bombshell. Podcast NBA announces another investigation into the Clippers issues of categorical denials of, basically, salary cap circumvention. Says probably false. You know, I don't know how they can say probably false, but we'll see this note dropped in by serea uncle dennis isn't a side character. He's a connective tissue to the spurs. Exit the lakers, clippers recruitment and now this circumvention wind squares all feature his fingerprints all over it.

Speaker 1 10:25

The pattern analysis matters as much as a paper trail. Let's get into the money, because that's where it comes down to Exhibit C, the financial flow chart. On one side of the ledger, kawhi Leonard's contracts. So in 2019 we talked about, he signed a three-year deal for 103 million. Now, if you look at that contract and you look at what he was coming off of right, he was coming off of a championship situation with the Toronto Raptors. He signs a deal that looks to be below market and people to say, well, you know, that was a max. At the time I think there was actually a little bit more on the table with that. Now he also, in 2024, signs a three-year extension for a hundred and fifty three million dollar.

Speaker 1 11:19

No outs now on the other side, the aspiration endorsement of 28 million to kawaii's company kl2 aspire, signed in april of 2022, structured as a quarterly payments through march 2026. The allegations isn't that kawaii got paid. Every star cashes sponsor checks all the time. The allegation is the intent that steve ballmer 50 million dollar investment into aspiration creates a loop of owner sponsor player designed to augment kawaii's deal outside the salary cap. So if you look back to the first contract right, the 103 million dollar, that was a little light for kawaii leonard.

Speaker 1 12:09

If you are steve ballmer now, I don't know this to be true. I'm just I'm just painting a picture here. If you're saying, hey, we can get you on the back end because you live in la, we're gonna get you a lot of sponsorship deals, what have you? This is something that the lakers is in the lakers playbook and it's been in the lakers playbook for more than a decade. Every time, every time they tried to get a free agent to sign, they said we have very lucrative sponsorship deals that you can get involved with that can help you. You know, you don't. It's not just about basketball. It's about building your brand as a laker. So this is not new in the nba. These things happen all the time.

Speaker 1 12:57

Now, what makes this a slippery slope is the ballmer involvement. You know, saying the 50 million dollar investment that he made into aspiration, which he says is like a three percent owner stake in that company. Steve walmer makes a billion dollars of dividends from Microsoft Every single year. I'm sure he has his fingers In a lot of pots. He says that he had no clue About this company In the sense of you know how they did business, how they conducted business. He thought it was a good idea, he thought it was something that he could get behind, but he didn't really check into it and you know. That's where he's kind of standing now.

Speaker 1 13:52

Allegedly, you can sit there and say, hey, you're steve ballmer, you are worth a bunch of billions of dollars. Okay, I think steve ballmer is worth something like $154 billion, something like that, something crazy. And I just don't understand how somebody as successful as Steve Ballmer Can sit there and tell us that, hey, I really didn't really do my P's and Q's, I didn't dot every I, I didn't cross every T when it came to this company. That's amazing to me. I find that to be a little disingenuous.

Speaker 1 14:33

Personally, lurking in the margins is Uncle Dennis, back in 2019, sources say that he asked both LA teams for perks, houses, planes and amenities for Kawhi and himself. The league found nothing as far as a paper trail that will be punishable. Now, with this, endorsement clauses resurfacing, the question is did those asks evolve into more sophisticated forms of compensation? It's like Uncle Dennis was going to get his money. That's what we know. Think of Uncle Dennis as a recurring Scooby Doo villain. He doesn't get unmasked every episode, but he's always in the hallway when the lights flicker. The league scope of this investigation the NBA has announced that it's commencing an investigation into whether the Clippers crossed the cap line. Will look for as far as falls into three buckets the paper trail of the bomber. $50 million investment in aspiration indirectly funds Kawhi's $28 million endorsement. Any emails, memos or clauses that connect the owner's money to the player benefit will be scrutinized.

Speaker 1 16:09

Deliverables what did Kawhi do for Aspiration? Where are the campaigns, the social posts, appearances or if this was a no-show contract, a no-show contract? Didn't anyone inside the clipper or bomber orbit talk about endorsements as a way to offset kawaii's contract? The clippers defense is straightforward spots the signs, players all the time. They had no hand in kawaii's deal with aspiration. Um, and then aspiration defaulted and calling this a circumvention is absurd. That's a clipper stance.

Speaker 1 16:51

Here is where uncle dennis re-enters the corridor. 20 in 2019 whispers about. He asked the lakers and clippers for benefits outside the four corners of the CBA. If the NBA now sees termination clause leaking, aspirations deal to Kawhi's clipper employment, the precedent of uncle Dennis aggressive ass becomes relevant again. So, in Scoooby-doo terms, this is where velma will shine a flashlight on footprints in the hallway. Not yet proof of the monster, but clues that someone has been here before. So ray drops this in chat.

Speaker 1 17:41

No show is a loaded phrase. Lack of public deliverables doesn't prove fraud. The real question is were private appearances logged or is the paperwork this thin? That's the difference between circumstantial smoke and actionable fire. So if other stars sign sponsorship deals, why single out Kawhi? You got timing, owner funding and team contingent clauses. Put those three things together and you got a case for is worth a subpoena.

Speaker 1 18:19

Now let's get to some of the things that we do know of, because this is not the first time that there's been contract chicanery. I'm gonna take you back to the year 2000. You got joe smith in the minnesota timberwolves. There was a secret side deal was uncovered by investigators. It led to a $3.5 million fine to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the owner at the time, glenn Taylor. A loss of five first round draft picks, a year long suspension for GM and owner. And Joe Smith's contract was voided, making him a free agent. Making him a free agent that's a nuclear example.

Speaker 1 19:05

Today's CBA article 13. Lays out it in black and white Fines up to 7.5 million dollars, loss of draft picks, voiding of contracts, suspension, clawbacks Is all fair game. I'm telling you right now, if for some reason, the NBA can tie the Clippers or Bomber to this aspiration deal and specifically that $50 million tie to his $28 million appearance fee or whatever it was as far as what he was endorsing because we still don't know what he was endorsing and, as Pablo Torres said in his podcast, there was never any kind of actionable situation that Kawhi was involved with with this company if they can tie that all together, we got some real ramifications that are about to come out. Somebody in the Clippers organization organization is gonna say Jinkies, picks are most likely the hammer. Voiding Kawhi's contract would be existential. But even losing two first round draft picks would gut the Clippers retail window in the into a dome. You know saying it will be absolutely amazing. The wolves lost five first rounders. So imagine that in today's west. Could you? Could you see that this is what the nba is going to be looking at? Kawaii leonard star is at the center On record team-friendly contracts in 2021 and in 2024. Each time leaving money on the table Off record $28 million of endorsements with aspiration. That just happens to fill in the gap. Incentive maybe Keeps maximum flexibility while staying in los angeles.

Speaker 1 21:09

Now you get to steve ballmer, billion dollar owner. He can outspend anyone legally, but the league doesn't allow unlimited checkbooks because we got now the new cba right. We got stuff coming how you know these things are talked about years in advance. So when we finally got the whole situation about, you know the aprons and how it's going to work and and all this type of thing. Know that front offices knew about these things. Now they might have not known every single detail when it came to the salary cap and how the collective bargaining agreement was going to end up being, but they had a pretty good like scalpel model of what was going to happen.

Historical Precedents and Potential Penalties

Speaker 1 22:01

So his incentives to secure Kawhi long term, to christen the Intuit dome, protect brand value and avoid and avoid appearing like the NBA's richest owner gaming the rules. You can do that with a endorsement deal. The clickers organization, the middleman public line, sponsorship ended in 2023. We knew nothing of fraud. We're cooperating fully. Their incentive to prove this was an isolated sponsor player deal and not a franchise level circumvention. And then you got the league office. They are going to be the judge, the jury and the executioner when it comes to this.

Speaker 1 22:48

Silver's incentive is to guard the integrity of the salary cap. Also, remember, he is beholden to all 30 owners already a a mistrust in, or some of the smaller market owners, right, like in the midwest, and things of that nature. We're looking at you, memphis. We're looking at some of these other teams, right, you got a situation where they look at the lakers, the clippers, the gold state warriors, the Lakers, the Clippers, the Golden State Warriors, the New York Knicks, teams like that and they go hey, they have a competitive advantage that we cannot give to these players. So we have to figure out ways, help ourselves, be able to stay competitive when it comes to being able to keep our players, be able to get players from other other teams and what have you, via free agency. So the only way to do that is through, you know, having some hammer in the salary cap, that's where the acorns come involved. If seen as soft, competitive balance erodes. If he's seen as draconian, owners will revolt. His role is presiding judge in the uh court of adam silver.

Speaker 1 24:17

I just look at it like this you have a situation where, if you talk about the Indiana Pacers of the world, the Cleveland Cavaliers of the world, the Milwaukee Bucks we already talked about the Memphis Grizzlies, the Minnesota Timberwolves, portland Trailblazers, throw them in there. I wouldn't even say Atlanta. Atlanta is a big city, but you know what I'm talking about. Oh, it's Charlotte Hornets. You got these teams that are struggling to. They know they have to draft well, they know they have a finite window to be able to show their potential superstar. Hey, you can win here, you can be famous here. You can get all your endorsements through here. All we are asking for you to do is to stay patient and also be loyal to us, which nine times out of ten doesn't happen, because they go to greener pastures usually.

Speaker 1 25:24

Now we have hit some sort of impasse in the last couple years, I would say the last five or six years, where guys are staying with their team, but as soon as something goes wrong. What did we hear about Giannis all summer long? All summer long, it was like well, if Milwaukee doesn't do anything or they don't do as much as they could, giannis could want to walk. He will ask for a trade. That's all we heard. Uncle Dennis, dennis Robertson he's a recurring phantom in this whole deal. He clashed with the San Antonio Spurs organization Over injury management and then, in 2019.

Speaker 1 26:15

We talked about how he pitted the Lakers Versus the Clippers, asked for perks and things of that nature Houses, planes, amenities, amenities and now we have this situation. We have all the recipe for intrigue and shadow deals and you know under the table situations and we don't know if any of it's true. It all has to be brought out into the light by the nba's investigation of what's going on. But the way pablo tory put it is that this is that kawaii didn't really do anything for this company whatsoever, you know. And there is the smoking gun of the 5050 million that Steve Ballmer put into the company. Now, obviously, that's where the paper trail is going to be the most important thing, because if, for some reason, steve Ballmer was naive enough or just didn't think that he could get caught enough, or just didn't think that he could get caught. If there's any sort of email or text message thread that indicates some situation like that, the Clippers are gonna lose a ton of stuff at the most inopportune time because, keep in mind, kawaii leonard is like 33 34 years of age, james harden is 30, 35, 36 years of age. They are coming to the end of the row and if there's no draft picks to augment the situation that's going on with the clippers as they kind of move into this next phase of whatever the Clippers are going to be, the Clippers go back to being a team that will be in the lottery, but not for themselves, because those picks will not be there.

Speaker 1 28:23

It's not just about contracts and cap sheets's, about the clickers crown jewel, which is the intuit dome, and the events that are scheduled there. To host the dome isn't just an arena, it's a three-year runway of visibility 2024 2025 is the first full season. That was last year inside their two billion dollar home that steve walmer basically flipped the bill for. In 2026, the nba all-star weekend, the dome global party coming out party, and then in 2028 they are going to be hosting the olympic basketball tournament in that dump under the brightest lights possible. If this investigation concludes with sanctions, especially draft pick penalties or a voided contract.

Speaker 1 29:19

The optics are brutal. It's not just competitive fallout, it's branding crisis. Because here's the other thing If they don't have these picks, these naming rights and everything Are very lucrative to the franchise. It is absolutely One of the things that kind of keeps them afloat. And Do you want your name on a building that is involved in such like incestuous type situations like this? Probably not. And then there's the sponsorship ecosystem bankruptcy filings list the clippers 3030 million, and Forum Entertainment as $11 million among Aspirations creditors alongside Kawhi's LLC, even if the team cleared partners.

Speaker 1 30:15

We'll look hard at the deal. Structure. Due diligence sharpens when smoke touches the building. Here's the other thing the basketball fallout. This is where we get into it. On papers, the Clippers roster was built to contend through 2027. This is before they signed Kawhi Leonard. We talked about it three years, 153 million dollar.

Speaker 1 30:49

His running mate, paul George, was stunned by that deal, was caught completely off guard and then he went in. He was embroiled in a contract dispute with the Clippers. The Clippers wanted to sign up for less years. He wanted, wanted four years. He didn't get four years and then he was off to Philadelphia in a trade sign trade situation. So he bolted for Philadelphia in the summer of 2024, uniting with another superstar that carries his own injury baggage in joel and beat.

Speaker 1 31:26

The shock wasn't just pg leaving, it was kawaii's extension. Dropped in the middle of the 2023-2024 season, the clickers extended kawaii, catching george off guard. Uh, the message kawaii was the franchise anchor. No question george, sensing both diminishing leverage and deja vu with perpetually injured co-star, chose a fresh start in Philly, ironically trading one injury-prone elite wing for an injury-prone MVP-type center in Joel Embiid, mvp type center in Joel Allen beat. That leaves bombers Clippers with a new identity crisis. They had to sign James Harden for a lucrative deal. You look at all that. You see what they've done this offseason. They got Brad Bill to bring in and as far as contending is concerned, there's no one like.

Speaker 1 32:27

If you look at the Vegas odds, it doesn't have the Clippers like top three or anything to be able to contend for the West. They're down in that like soup mix of like the Lakers and Minnesota, timber, timberwolves, the gonna say Warriors and all those type of things. Dallas, mavericks are in there. A couple other teams, you know the teams that are at the top of the totem pole, obviously are the oklahoma city thunder uh, everybody loves what houston did this year and also the denver nuggets. Those are the top three teams in the west as far as when you look at odds and look at what Vegas is talking about, who could actually win the West. You do all of that. You do all of that for this.

Speaker 1 33:15

If, for some reason, any of this is true and right now we're saying allegedly right, we don't have it, pablo Torre believes that he has it all locked up but we don't know. So, going off of that situation, if the draft picks are forfeited, it's the cleanest hammer Silver can draw without detonating the roster directly, but in practice it cripples the clippers. They don't have paul george anymore. Hardening is on a shorter timeline. Depth pieces and connective tissue of a contender are almost always replenished through picks, cheap rookies or trades sweetened, sweetened with draft capital.

Speaker 1 34:06

If those picks vanish, the clippers are stuck in the most dangerous nba middle. Uh, too talented to tank and two assets starved to retool. You gotta throw money at the problem. What? What happens if we, if we kind of, go back to the year 2000. Right, we go back to the future.

Speaker 1 34:28

Basically, if the contract is voided or amended. That's a doomsday file Voiding Kawhi's contract After PG has already bought it. It's a franchise reset Overnight. Because here's the thing they're not just going to avoid his contract, they're going to, they're going to take picks away. So you're going to be bad and you're not going to have picks to be able to replenish. The Clippers would lose their identity piece, their draw for the Intuit Dome, their competitive, competitive anchor.

Speaker 1 35:03

Remember this. It isn't just about the Clippers. The NBA knows voiding Kawhi's deal would send shockwaves through every locker room. There will be fines. Money will talk Now. Would it be justified? I don't know. Let me tell you right now Steve Ballmer would gladly just pay 7.5 million dollars as a rounding error, but the real damage is the perception nobody would care about that. He'd be like here you want 7.5 million for me to get out of this chump change. I could find that in my couch cushions, no big deal. He would love that if he wasn't giving up picks and he wasn't giving up voiding Kawhi's contract, because that's the star that's keeping people in the seats in that building. You know what I'm saying because remember they made a run last year. I mean, I know denver beat them, but those were really competitive games and it really gave you know the look of the into a dome as a place where it's hard to play.

Speaker 1 36:15

Punishments are just penalties. Picks forfeited is asset strangling of the clippers, contracts voided, kawaii's extension undone. I'm gonna tell you right now that situation, those are the nuclear options. Sorry, I just chopped this in the chat. The irony is brutal pg left to escape with costar, with health volatility, with health volatility, only to team up with mb. For the clippers, losing pg plus, facing possible pick sanctions, could shrink the four-year competitive window to a two-year sprint.

Speaker 1 36:58

And how much money can you spend at this? Can you spend enough money to circumvent what has happened to you? That will be the question. Who knows, maybe there's sanctions on what you can spend during free agency. Be wild to think the investigation will crawl. Don't expect a verdict before spring league.

Speaker 1 37:26

Investigators will comb through aspirations, bankruptcy filings, subpoena internal clipper emails and cross-check whether deliverables ever existed. For fans this means a cloud hangs over the season, but for the team it just keeps playing. For a team that has aspirations Of winning 50 plus games With a healthy Kawhi Leonard, these off court Buddy distractions Could basically seal the tomb of the Clippers at a minimal. Expect a memo tightening rules around owner investment, team sponsors and player endorsements. Even if the clippers walk away innocent, they'll become the nba's compliance case study. Exhibit a every GM PowerPoint.

Cam Thomas Signs Qualifying Offer

Speaker 1 38:22

If pick forfeited? If picks are forfeited, rosters refreshed stalls, kawhi with Harden as a roll depth situation can keep them competitive, but the ceiling is capped. Because here's the thing with those two Akron situations you can't get yourself caught up with just spending money. And if you notice all of the the like, potential free agents because everybody's talking about 2027 being this like boom year for free what have we known these players to be doing Over the last like 8 years? We signed the contract With the team that we're with and then we asked for the trade. Well, if the Clippers don't have Graphics to send to the team that has the superstar that's waiting to get out and get to LA, they're not going to be able to get these guys LA. They're not going to be able to get these guys. They're not going to be able to to. They're not going to be able to render the new Clippers with the Intuit dome, with whoever free agent A is or free agent B is. You don't have the assets to be able to do so. Now the nuclear option is voiding Kawhi's deal Feels improbable but not impossible. Imagine it PG gone to Philly, harden gone because his hamstrings blew out, or whatever the case may be, and Kawhi stripped by league action.

Speaker 1 40:03

Action bomber invests in dozens of companies. He can't control the downstreaming of marketing deals. A 50 million dollar aspiration check doesn't mean it was earmarked for kawaii. It doesn't. These are things we know. Sponsor player deals are normal, from Steph Curry with JPMorgan Chase to LeBron James and with Nike Arena partners. Stars sign with team sponsors all the time. It doesn't automatically make them cap workarounds.

Speaker 1 40:37

Like I said, the Lakers have long been a team that has told any free agent worth his salt, if you come to los angeles, we can put you in front of the right people that will be able to expand your, your wealth. You know whether it's production companies. Whether it's production companies, whether it's, you know money marketing people, whether it's, you know you're doing a deal with. You know El Pollo Loco or whatever it might be. The Lakers have told people like you, put on this uniform, it gets you a little more clout. Then turns around, gets you into more sponsorship deals. Dude deliverables exists, even if kawaii social presence is minimal.

Speaker 1 41:32

Aspirations activations may have been private. Be the business. Business events, internal shoots, closed door sessions. Lack of instagram does not equal lack of work. You know, when we've seen kawai do a new balance commercial where he doesn't even talk, I think he's basically dribbles the basketball twice and then throws the basketball off to like cooper flag or something like that. Or Cameron Brink shots out to camp Cameron Brink.

Speaker 1 42:06

Context does matter. Aspiration was a sinking ship. Sandberg's fraud conviction paints them as an unreliable narrators relying on disgruntled finance as staff whistleblowers. We got an email that introduced Kawhi to aspiration in November 2021, after his extension. That alone kills the conspiracy narrative. Steel manning is not an exoneration, but the defense is credible. Sponsors are messy. Aspirations was shady and circumstantial evidence cuts both ways. If Silver sees ambiguity guidance beats, penalties will be coming.

Speaker 1 42:58

This is going to be a sticky situation and it's going to be held over this team for the whole entire year. I don't think it's going to be held over this team for the whole entire year. I don't think it's going to be fine, only, um, it all depends on what they find and also, was it? Was it naivete or was it like intentional? Will they find something in the emails that will scream intentionality in this situation or was this a? Hey, I'm a rich dude, I my time is cut real thin and I signed a bad business deal because it sounded like pie in the sky. It great. I thought we could reshape the world. It turns out they sold us a bill of goods Right.

Speaker 1 43:50

Total exoneration Of this situation Seems far fetched. The nuclear option of contract void Doesn't seem like too crazy, like it sounds like that would be like I think that would be just nuts if I had to put a percentage on everything. So I would say 50 chance that it's a total exoneration. Then I would have to go 35 chance that there's a guidance and fine only situation. Then I would say it's a 10% chance of draft pick forfeiture and then a 5% chance of contract void. Situation with Kawhi Leonard. That's just my thoughts on it. If the Clippers lose draft picks, how will they be able to continue to fill the Intuit Dome and also stay competitive in the west? I would love to hear people's thoughts on this. Hit us up on x at frontrunner, pc or also at rea, underscore, funch, frpc or you. Right now, good situations, good emails, good replies in the uh, in our twitter will be discussed on our pod on friday, speaking of contract signings.

Speaker 1 45:40

Friday Speaking of contract signings, cam Thomas signed with the Brooklyn Nets. Let's start this whole process. We've been talking about restrictive free agents all summer. Right, we've also talked at the top that Josh Giddey signed his deal with the Chicago Bulls. It's four years. It's $100 million. The way it looks like it's going to break down, it's going to be $22 million the first year, $24 million the second year, $26 million the third and $28 million the fourth year. Now that's all well and good. We'll get to it on Friday when we have all of the accoutrements of that deal and what it possibly means for the Chicago Bulls moving forward.

Speaker 1 46:43

Nightmare headline is the nightmare scenario for the Brooklyn Nets. After months of acrimony installed negotiations, the Brooklyn Nets could lose a 24 year old who just averaged 24 points a game and get zero assets back in the summer of 2026. That's not speculation, that's direct math. Cam thomas signed and he accepted the 5.99 million dollar qualifying offer. This wasn't some cute bet on yourself moment. This was cam saying. You don't believe in me? Then I am going to the market on my terms and for brooklyn, this, these, the ultimate front office gut punch.

Speaker 1 47:32

Restricted free agency is supposed to be the team's protection instead of it becoming a trap door. Thomas is locked in for one season, he can't be traded without his consent, and then he walks scot-free into unrestricted free agency next July. So the big story isn't Cam Thomas scoring buckets this year, it's every possession doubling as an audition tape for 29 other teams. He's playing for his next contract and Brooklyn is playing with the knowledge that their leading scorer could vanish with nothing coming back. It's like having the fastest car in the garage from one last race, but the keys go to someone else when the season ends. Sarray I dropped this note in the chat always translate the qualifying offer into fan language. This Team, this is the best player that Brooklyn has. This is basically the person, when there's five seconds left to go on the clock, who they give him the ball to. Cam Thomas. This is absolutely, 100% for sure. Let's rewind the clock a little bit. Line up the breadcrumbs that got us here, because this wasn't a snap decision by cam thomas. No, no, this was a couple years missed opportunities and negotiations soured until there was nothing left but the qualifying offer.

Speaker 1 49:18

In july of this year, fred katz of the athletic reported captured the league split perception of cam thomas. 16 front office execs were called and the range was fair. Contracts were all over the map. Some said two years, 20 million dollars, total. Some get. Some said three years, 90 million dollars. Think about that, think about the that spread, that difference, that chasm in thinking of what cam thomas is actually worth. You have people thinking him as low as 10 million dollars a year and you have people thinking he was in upwards of 30 million dollars a year as a player. In late july the word around the league was cam was the hardest one to price. Some execs loved the 24 points per game, some couldn't get past the injuries and also the tunnel vision of scoring because cam thomas does not like to pass the ball. The consensus is that one keep it short, right. One to two year deal where everything else was just hey, we'll figure it out down the road.

Speaker 1 50:42

Now, in august of last or basically last month, right, social media tea leaves started to give us a hint of what was going to happen. Cam unfollowed the nets on instagram. For fans it was drama. For agents it was messaging. Talks aren't good. In the modern nba negotiations, unfollowing is sometimes louder than a press release. Then comes september 4th of this year, deadline day arrives, cam signs the 5.99 million dollar qualifying offer. In one stroke acrimony becomes finality. Brooklyn has no outside bidders to force their hand. The nets were the only team with meaningful cash space and they didn't put real money down. So cam went nuclear. He took control of his own path, even if it meant short-term risk. Brooklyn could have secured the asset by dragging negotiations, then left the door wide open for Cam to slam it in their face.

Speaker 1 51:58

Restriction free agency is designed to protect teams. You draft, you develop. You should have the inside track to keep your guy. But Cam Thomas. But the second Cam Thomas signed that 5.99 million dollar qualifying offer. The script was flipped. Qualifying offer is a one-year deal, usually a placeholder, that place that the players almost never take unless the relationship is super strained. By accepting it, cam instantly becomes untradeable without his consent. Berkley can't flip him at the deadline unless he signs off on it himself. And then, when the season ends, cam Thomas becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2026. No matching rights, no restriction. Brooklyn loses every ounce of control. So instead of RFA giving the Nets leverage, it boxed them in Because they couldn't come up with a value for this man. So I'm going to tell you right now.

Speaker 1 53:07

There were dudes that sat in an office all summer long and I mean all summer long, bro, all summer long. These dudes that work in the cap department for the Brooklyn Nets. They sat there, they banged their heads up against the wall. I'm sure they sent out models. I'm sure they sent out models. I'm sure they sent out numbers. I am sure they talked to some of their boys around the league and said what do you think about this? And for somebody who's 24 years of age, who's averaging 24 points a game, now, I mind you, he is a chucker.

Speaker 1 53:42

I will not sit here and tell you that Cam Thomas is some sort of beacon of virtue. He wants the ball, to score the ball. He is not looking for his teammates. Okay, let's get this straight Now. He'll tell you he probably didn't have teammates worth a damn to go ahead and pass the ball, to go ahead and get this situation squared away. But at the end of the day, it's a team sport. There's five dudes on the court. You got to make sure that you feed your homies. You know I always talk about share the sugar, share the sugar.

Speaker 1 54:24

Cam Thomas was not about that life. That life net spent years raising this score right. They gave him opportunities and now he's about to walk for nothing. One exec told me if if your guy takes a qualifying offer, you failed. This is a scarlet letter for a front office. And that's what made camp thomas decision so striking. This wasn't a bluff. He took a short-term risk for long-term control.

Speaker 1 54:56

Brooklyn, meanwhile, is now playing the entire season knowing that every bucket he that he might get is definitely his last in the jersey. You know what I'm saying? It's the last buckets that he's getting and they need him. If, for some reason, they're able to trade him. If there's some reason, some God, for awful reason that they can't trade him, they need him to sign off on it. And here's the thing, if he knows that with the brooklyn nets and because here's the other thing, with this whole entire deal, the nets are looking to tank this year drafted all five of their first round picks. If you look at where they drafted at, at least in 2026 they have an opportunity, hopefully, to get themselves into like the top four.

Speaker 1 55:56

So Cam Thomas is thinking to himself oh, I'm in the best situation. This team is not going anywhere, I can get my stats, I can score my points and then I can hit the market and I can look as valuable as I possibly can. If I get traded, I might be pigeonholed into a situation that is not as lucrative for me. Now I don't know if I agree with that sentiment. I'm not sure if that is the right mindset to have, but cam thomas is definitely taking the reins of his career and he's deciding that I am not going to be burdened as an asset. I am going to be my own man. I am going to shoot this ball as many times I possibly can. Like I said, don't know if this is the best course for him, but this is what cam thomas is thinking right. He's thinking about if you score the ball. If you score the ball, if you score, you get buckets. You're gonna have value. Who's gonna turn down somebody who's averaging 24 25 points a game? Now here's the.

Speaker 1 57:15

Now here's some of the pushback that we'll talk about in a little bit. What does that all mean, right? What does it all mean? Flexibility. They didn't want to commit to a number in j July that would lock them into a two or three year deal, this being the Brooklyn Nets. That looked bad on paper If Cam plateaued instead of. They left the file open. Cam closed it for them with a qualifying offer.

Brooklyn Nets Roster Dysfunction

Speaker 1 57:44

Now here's the best part Michael Porter Jr is also on this team. Now they also have, uh, terence man. They got an unprotected pick from denver in 2032. And then they got the five rookies that they drafted this summer, high rookies that they drafted this summer, developmental projects by sure none guaranteed to pop. And now the top scorer is sitting on a one-year deal that expires into thin air.

Speaker 1 58:17

This isn't flexibility, this is fragility. It's like having a vault of gold bars and deciding to not insure them, telling yourself you'll move them later. Then one night the vault door swings open and they're gone. This is true. Put this in Bobby Marks' language you don't let a 24-point-per-game guy unrestrict your free agency for free. You sign him to some sort of deal. You know you work that out.

NBA All-Star Game: USA vs The World

International Players Dominating the NBA

Closing Thoughts and Positivity Message

Speaker 1 58:52

Here's the thing. There's a divide in what people thought that he should make. He was definitely not getting 30 million, not from the brooklyn nets, because then the contract would have made him a net negative asset. If you sign up to a 10 million dollar a deal person, that's kind of below his. You know that's. That's below his value to that team. People were saying somewhere in the upwards of like 15 to 17 range and that kind of was the sweet spot. But Cam Thomas looked at people that was in his draft class, like Emmanuel Quickly, and saw that dude was making 30 plus mil and said, yeah, I'm better than that dude and I want that kind of money. And that's where the train went off the tracks. That's exactly where it happened, you know. So when we sit here and we are like thinking about, okay, this is what the league is saying, but the players like bump, that I don't know, I don't care what the league is saying, but the players like bump, that I don't know, I don't care what the league is saying, this is what I'm saying, this is what I want to get paid and you can't come to some sort of agreement. You have all these months and you couldn't come to some sort of agreement. How does this affect the team? Real easy, think about the guards on this team. You got cam thomas. You got terrence man, okay. You got uh, keon johnson plus we're these like igor denim and nolan troy aori. Now for your bigs. You got michael porter jr, another trucker, another guy who likes to shoot the rock. Then you got day Ron sharp, zaire Williams, jalen Wilson, who looked good when he was healthy, ben Sarov, who's a rookie, and then Danny Wolf and Drake Powell, also both rookies. Shots out to Drake Powell in North Carolina. What's up? Danny Wolf, from Michigan for sure, with Cam Thomas and Michael Porter Jr on the same squad. Oh lo, you're talking about MPJ's quick, trigger and questionable shot selection, paired with Cam Thomas' legendary green light Whether it's mythical or just in his head 's. Not just basketball, now it's theater. Grab your popcorn and groans in a few. Did they really just pull that? Head shakes every quarter, I'm trying to tell you. You gonna have people running up and down the court. That's just getting cardio. Poor igor denim, poor nolan traore in particular. They're playmakers by nature. But how do you develop your table, how do you develop your table setters, when every possession is hijacked by two of the nba's most eager gunners? They're not gonna get any whistle for hesitating. They're gonna ice out these rookies. Late clock sets. There's gonna be a lot of pounding the ball into the deck and then, with like three seconds late, uh, three seconds left in the shot clock, we're going to shoot. It is going to be a laugh. Every possession, I'm trying to tell you. Here's the kicker. Brooklyn drafted five rookies known for sharing the ball Then getting buckets, but with Cam on that qualifying offer and MPpj always ready to let it fly. Every one of these prospects is about to learn how hard it is to develop scoring instincts when you're standing around in the shadows of a two uh two heat check machines. And remember this cam isn't just trying to win games, because he's not. He. Cam is auditioning for his unrestricted free agency. He is going to do everything in his power to raise his market value. He's going to jack up his usage chase highlights, keep scoring, keep that scoring average north of 24. That means even more shot attempts, even more heat checks and even more I'm him moments. Oh man, I thought he was gonna jack up a lot of shots last year. Could you imagine what he gonna do this year? Brooklyn just drafted five guys. This is what saraya dropped in the chat. Brooklyn just drafted five guys built to pass the ball and now they handed the rock to two guys built to never pass it. That's a paradox on this roster. So here's a look at the five first round picks. Okay, so you got Igor Denim out of BYU. He's a 6'8", 6'9" guard. He was considered one of the best passers in the draft. He has a vision that makes scouts salivate. But the jumper is broken right now, under 30% from 3 point land and that was in college. So it was a shorter line and without defenders sagging off clogs the lane. He needs touches to learn with Cam Thomas, contract contract gear. Diet he might be, he might not get to touch the wall for eons, eons, I'm trying to tell you. Then you got nolan traori, who's coming over from france. He showed flashes overseas, scoring 13 points. Uh, he had four assists during his best stretch. He's a rhythm guard who strives on reps. The problem is is that it's going to be hard to get a rhythm when you got Cam Thomas and MPJ on the same court because they haven't seen a shot that they're willing to pass up. Then you got Danny Wolf, who was basically a seven-foot point guard, actually handled the rock last year for the Wolverines. He was a 13-point's, three-point drill record. He's polarizing because of his turnovers and his questionable defense. But if he can get reps we can see if this works. But the problem is is that you got MPJ and Cam Thomas stopping you from getting those reps. Then you got Dre Powell, who's kind of a connective glue guy. So he's definitely insignificant when it comes to this. He's not a comfortable shooter as of yet and he will not become a comfortable shooter in this next year because he's not gonna get any shots. And then you got ben seraph, who comes over from israel and germany. He's also another connective piece. He has a sharp feel for the game, he's unselfish to a fault and guess what kim thomas and mpj are gonna love that pass the ball to me, young fella, pass the ball to you, to your vets, and you'll eat well when we go out to the club at night. So I can't wait to see this. I can't wait to see how this is all gonna function, but I'm gonna tell you right now. Here's the thing that we all need to worry about february 5th of 2026. Why is that date important? It is the trade deadline, dead complete deadline day, and if brooklyn wants to get anything done, cam needs to agree to the deal. Anything done, cam needs to agree to the deal. So it's definitely going to be a team that's going to promise him a big role. It's definitely going to be a team that has cap space for 2026. And what is brooklyn getting back in return are. Is the other team just doing them a favor? Are they getting anything as far as asset redemption back? Because here's the thing when you have a 5.99 million dollar uh salary, it's not like you're getting this great player back. Now brooklyn can take money back in the deal, so if somebody was trying to come off of maybe a questionable contract or something like that, they could do that and then be able to maybe flip that asset later. That doesn't even sound correct. So what could you possibly get? Well, could you get picks? I don't think so, because the team is going to be sitting there going like hey, he doesn't even want to be here. Really, he's just here because he can get all the shots that he could possibly get. And here's the other thing Cameron's on a mission to prove that he is worth 20 to 30 million dollars per year. And who's standing in his way? Michael Porter Jr is the other guy who has a trigger finger. That doesn't need much convincing. So just the battles between those two guys alone, and then these five rookies. Oh, and, by the way, how long do you think Nick Claxton is going to want to deal with this? When does Nick Claxton ask out and say this is a shit show and I don't want to be here. These are just things that just you know, rattle in the dome piece. So what's your thoughts on this deal? What thoughts are our hoop heads out there talking about with this? Was this a bosh situation? Is this one of those deals where, hey, we gonna let this guy kind of fall off the way, off to the wayside? Do you even play him? Is there a point in the year where you sit there and go we're gonna come up with an injury for you, or something like that, which that will definitely not sit well with Cam Thomas. Is that the way you find a way to get him to agree to a trade? Because the fork in the road is this you could assign this dude to like a $15, $16 million contract. I am sure his agent would have said, hey, man, this is best we could do. What we'll do then is then we'll ask for a trade and then we sign like a two, two year, you know, and then we can get out of it quickly. Boom, there we are. But now we're stuck in this. Let's go on to happier news. The all-star game in 2026 is going to look a little bit different. It's about to flip to a usa versus the world showdown. It feels like they're always doing something with this deal. I think this might be the best way of going for right now. I you know, if you can't get them to play hard, just because maybe if you say foreigner versus America, that might be a way of doing it For the NBA. I don't know how brilliant this is for the players. Could it be personal? Because here's the thing there has just been just apathy throughout the all-star games over like the last 10 years. Anyway, think of a versus battle, two camps on stage, smile, dad gloves, all love until the beat drops and then every line is a haymaker. Could happen because you got to think about it. What shea is out there, some others is out there. We're gonna get to some of this. Always set the stage beyond basketball. You want. You want, like american pride, to be on display. Oh yeah, you. You use some usa versus the world. You know who's gonna be real into this donald trump. He's gonna be real into this. And setting the matters clippers into a dome in los angeles home turf. You're gonna see a lot of usa flags. I guess. Now here's the other wrinkle to this deal. Poor laker fans, poor, poor laker fans watching luca cook, lebron james, everyron James, every possession After every possession. Oh, the humanity of it. All the discord in LA basketball Twitter. That night would be chaos. You got fans torn between national pride and loyalty to the king, and just purple and gold shaded glasses everywhere. And here's the eligibility curveball that we need to talk about. Let's say, for in some instance, that joel and bead is actually healthy this year. Does he count as team usa since he played for them in the 2024 olympics, or does he tick? Does he flip back to Team World because he was birthed in the Congo? We don't know. That's a 7'2 dude that averaged like 33, 34 points a game you know about three years ago. And then there's the depth issue with the world. Right, they're top heavy. You got Luka Jokic, giannis Jay, but can they keep pace with what Team USA rolls out? There you got Ant Edwards, you got Devin Booger, steph Curry, kd LeBron stills out. There. We got a bunch of dudes. You know what I'm saying. We got waves of guys. This All-Star game is a resident, is a referendum. The us doesn't want to give up the throne. You know that, it's all. They wouldn't play hard. They would not play hard. So we got gimmick after gimmick after gimmick, but now we might get some national pride situations going on. The nba isn't suddenly struck with altruism and saying basketball is a global language and let's sing kumbaya. Nah, this is about nbc and it's about their ratings. You know I'm saying about their ratings. You know I'm saying mbc just dropped a bag on the nba to get back on the airways and look at february 26th, hold up. We got the winter olympics in milan cortina, and then we got the nba back, and then we got the n back and then we got the NBA all-star. That happens like in February as well. The all-star game gets moved to Sunday night primetime. Whoo, I'm telling you right now it's gonna be crazy. So think about it this way. So you got olympics all-star game, then olympics again. Remember that 14 tournament situation they had last year that sucked a gimmick fest stoppages, in-game contest, ratings dropped 13 percent year over year, making it the second lowest rated all-star game in history. Silver literally called it a miss. The commit that's, commissioner, speak. For we thought this was going to be a banger and it did not. It did not work out that way. So what do you do you get the. You get the world up against the ugly americans, because if they could dig up james brown living in america, they would. They would do that. I'm telling you right now. There might be scenes of rocky four played in the background of this joint. You know how they do, like before the, before the game, they have their little like um, theatrical opening. You imagine, you got sylvester stallone out there. You got, uh, carl edward, or yeah, you got carl we Edwards out there. You got James Brown saying living in America Before the USA versus the world. Now here's the other thing that we have to keep in mind what happens if the USA loses and you say Vince? That could never happen. That can never happen. We dominate in basketball. We are the absolute king kongs of basketball. There have been eight straight MVPs and every single one of them have been international yokich, yannis and bead shea, gilgis, alexander this isn't the world knocking politely. They've already moved in. They control the playlist and they got their feet on the coffee table. Look at the draft pipeline. Since 2010, at least 10 international players have been selected every year. That's not a blip, it's a pipeline, and there are some franchise dude. There's some franchise dudes in these drafts. A couple years ago it was windy, not this last year, but the. You know, the year before, before the cooper flag draft, we had a bunch of role players that were drafted, but you know who was number one? Zachary risa, shea from where france? Shea, gilgis, alexander won the mvp last year, and before that it was nicola yokich, and before that it was joelle and b, and after before that it was yokich again, and then yannis was winning them. And then you have luca sitting out here, who got skinny. Is it his time? Well, here's the thing the us still has depth. Right, we can roll out a bunch of dudes, that's true, but depth is also what drake fans said when he had 700 million streams. Then kendrick dropped, not like us, and suddenly the depth didn't matter. What mattered is who has the upper hand in the moment, and right now the moment belongs to the internationals. Yoke is just redefining center play. Giannis is still the most unstoppable downhill force in the NBA. Lucas turned 26 and he got on the Ozempic plan. You know what I'm saying. What does this all look like? How is this all going to play out? Who knows? But the American players, the young ones, such as Anthony Edwards. Now Jason Tatum's hurt. Can't worry about that, devin Booker. They were to come to play, because here's the thing that you need to understand. You know who hasn't been happy with all of what has been going on. You know the dude that has really been like kind of going. You know, we, we, we're not playing any defense whatsoever. It's the seven-foot five freak of nature, alien. Victor went by Yama. Think about that. Think about what that's going to look like. Oh, and, by the way, he's going to have yannis or yokich next to him. Oh, by the way, they can have both of them next to him. You could roll out a front court of victor wing by yama, who shoots it from the outside, nicola yokich, who shoots it from the outside and the inside and also plays point guard for the Denver Nuggets. And then you have Giannis, who is an absolute hammer. He's a sledgehammer and he's just going to go to the rack every single time. What's your response, america? What is your response? United States of America? Is it going to be 41 years of age, lebron James? Is it going to be KD? Who's it going to be? Is Ant Edwards going to be out here by himself Trying to tell you, we might have some things going on. Anthony Edwards is about that life. You don't think Ant wants to walk into a dome as the face of American basketball. That's like a shoe bonus deal waiting to happen. The new face of Team USA. And Luka Doncic is just sitting out there going like this. I'm about to destroy people. And Luka Doncic is just sitting out there going like this. I'm about to destroy people. And again, where does Joel Embiid's Loyalties lie? These are all questions that we must have answered. We must have answered before this, because this is going to be like the. The new version of the british is coming, but in basketball form. Here come the foreigners, here come the international dudes, and I'm gonna tell you right now, these international dudes, if, if they get Victor out there and Victor is talking about hey, we are not here to play around, we are here to go ahead and destroy this team, destroy these Americans. And then we got Shea. And here's the best part Shea Gildress, alexander just won the MVP, right, you don't think he would thoroughly enjoy getting every american in foul trouble before, like the third quarter? I'm worried, america, that we are about to see something very ugly, and this is this is a little kind of like foreshadowing, because in 2028 we have the olympics in los angeles, in the la la, and those teams albeit won't be as stacked, obviously, as world versus the usa, but we better watch out for france. We better watch out for france because I'm gonna tell you right now, they got enough dudes and also, victor went by yama place for that team. Good luck to the americans. Yes, we got the depth. Yes, we got these dudes out here that should be hungry for just saying, hey, we got usa on our jersey, let's go out there and do it. But if the world wins, what does that look like? Also, if the world wins and Luka is and you know how competitive Luka Doncic is you imagine what that Laker locker room is going to look like the couple days after? You're going to say, hey, I put it on you, old man, I put it on your ass, I dropped 30 on you you. Easy, easy work for me. Stay second behind me. Lebron is already losing the, the, the franchise, to look to luka donchich. Could you imagine what that's gonna look like when luka is out here Calling LeBron? Like, let's say, lebron is on another dude and Luka calls him up to the screen so he can get the switch and have LeBron on him. It's going to be nasty work, nasty work. And if you don't come to play, if you don't come with the mentality, you're going to get embarrassed. The saving grace is this you know what's behind Giannis and Luka and Wimby and what have you. Maybe not much, and they're not going to let those dudes play like 38 minutes a game and all that sort of thing. Like 38 minutes a game and all that sort of thing. So that might be the saving grace is that the waves of players coming in after the, the five that are on the court, that's where maybe they make up the difference. But you know who's gonna be in the game at crunch time. And if this game was close and you got luca, you got Giannis, you got Victor, wimba, yama, jokic out there all at the same time. This is like the Avengers coming together to defeat Thanos and we come into this war with like a 22 pistol. Doesn't seem fair, does it? Well, give me your thoughts on usv vs world. What do you expect to come out of that? During the all-star game, did Adam Silver finally get it right? As far as that's concerned, I want your responses. Hit us up on twitter at frontrunnerpc. Also, hit us up at rea. Underscore fudge frpc. That's our twitter handle. Get used to it, start using it. Start banging it out pause, pause on that, but start using it, so then we can go ahead and get your replies put on the air. I'm saying get your replies put on the air and deal with us on twitter. Go ahead and drop us an email at it's going to be so, it's going to be frpcvince at gmailcom. Go ahead and drop us an email there. We'll be more than happy to read your responses there as well. Now the last thing we need to say is this the best part of you is you make sure you surround yourself with people who support you, who are giving you positivity, who are speaking um truth and they're they're speaking strength into your life. If you have people that exhibit those behaviors, make sure you're acknowledging those people. Make sure that you are, uh, appreciating those who are giving you the strength to do the things you need to do on a day-to-day basis. Now, you can do that through a facetime, you can do that through a text, you can take them out to lunch, dinner, whatever the case may be, but make sure that you acknowledge those people and if you're doing all that, we have a place for you here at frontrunner podcast collective, because we want you to stay positive. We want to stay positive and we will see your ass down the road. And we will see you on friday. Deuces.