LeBron James on His Free Agency Decision | Mind the Game Finale with Tyrese Haliburton

Speaking of still doing this, is there a decision that has to be made? I mean, people have seen everything that's been coming out regarding, you know, my free agency and things of that nature. I heard Warriors, I heard Philly, Miami. This guy just told me to come to the Yankees. Mind the Game Live here at Fanatics Fest. Thank you so much for coming. This is our season finale, so we really appreciate you all coming. First, I want to thank our presenting sponsor, Anthropic, the team behind Claude. Also, I want to talk about fan questions. We're going to be taking questions from you guys. So what we need you to do is follow us on X at mindthegamepod and send us your questions there, and we'll get to as many as we possibly can, all right? Finally, this episode drops Tuesday on YouTube, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. And that's all from me. Who's ready for the show? Let's go. All right, y'all. Give a big round of applause for our hosts, LeBron James and Tyrese Halliburton. New York City. I know you guys are super excited. The Knicks brought it home this year. I know Tyrese is even more excited that the Knicks brought it home. Oh, no. That's awesome. No. Good for them. I'm happy for them. It's good for them. Yo, before we start, I got to ask you, bro. What are you going on year? Was this year 76? No, no. Year 79, I think I'm coming up on. Okay, okay, okay. So why are you still doing this? Shit, I mean, I love to play, man. It's a lot of competition. I love going out there playing against the best in the world and still being able to inspire the younger generation, also inspire my generation. You know, it's a lot of people in my age bracket, not only in sports, but also just in life. Just, you know, seeing if they can still, you know, put up the same effort that they did maybe five years ago or 10 years ago and still give it all that they got. So, you know, I'm trying to inspire, like I said, the younger generation, also my generation and people that came, you know, before me and after me. Speaking of still doing this, is there a decision that has to be made? We literally talked about this in the back, Teresa. Okay, my fault, my fault. I don't know. I don't know if you want to do some. Okay, okay. I'll leave it alone. You know, me and my homies, we always have a debate. Say how long could Bron play an average 10 points? How long do you think you could play an average 10, just 10, 10 points a game, 10 points a game. And you had to play at least 65 games according to our rules today. I can average 10 points in a league for, I mean, a long, a long time. That's what I'm saying. Like a long time. So what do you think? 65, something like that. 65 years old. I mean, I believe you just like come in, get a quick 10. You can go sit down. Yeah, that's it. I mean, look, I don't get files called for me anymore. So I would say like get three layups and four free throws, but they don't call files for me. So I mean, if I get two or three layups a half, man, that's 12 points right there. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, I'm sure. I mean, that sounds easy in the thought. It never works out that way. When you say that, I'm like, oh, I can't. It never works out that way. So I mean, I want to get to you, Reese. I mean, obviously, you know, the last time we see you on the court was during the finals two years ago. And unfortunately, you know, we've seen him limp off the court, get helped off the court with an injury that none of us in not only sports, but in life want to have. So, you know, just tell us about the whole recovery process. Tell us where you are today. I mean, ----, you look great. You look like you're getting back to your fighting weight. Just take us through the process and tell us where you are today. How are you feeling? Yeah, it's been a long like 13 months now we're going on. Rehab's been long, but I feel great now. I'm playing five on five, doing everything, just waiting for the season to get here at this point. I miss the game. I hope the game misses me a little bit. I miss playing. I miss I miss New York. I love it. I love playing in New York. So, you know. So, yeah, I miss you, too. Yeah, I see. They miss me, too. That's awesome. Yeah, man, just miss getting back and looking forward. This will be a fun year. Yeah, I mean, so, yeah, we're looking forward to having you out there. I think the game is better when you out there. What you bring to the game, your excitement for the game, the way you play the game. We've always talked about it. We know our friendship goes deeper than basketball. But I know the Pacer Nation is going to be super excited to have you back and NBA as well. So I'm looking forward to that. Let's get to the Knicks, man. We have to. We in the mecca of basketball. We got to get to the Knicks. You know, it would be it wouldn't be right if we didn't. Let's just talk about their championship run. You know, obviously, it all starts with JB, you know, Jalen Bronson finals MVP, the head of the snake. What do we think that was different from last year's team compared to this year's team in order to win it? Yeah, I mean, I think personally, like obviously playing in the last couple of years, I think a lot changed. I think Mike Brown was a big addition for them. Like, I think the ball moved a lot more for them. I think they relied on their second unit even more, which I think is important. Like, I think obviously their starting five is amazing. JB did his thing. Kat, OG, Mikael, all those guys. But then I think like you can't get rid of the contributions of like Jose Alvarado. You know what I mean? Mitchell Robinson or guys like that are coming in, making big plays, helping win playoff games. But things mattered. And I think that's ultimately what mattered the most. They just leaned on, you know, more of their depth, which I think it really means a lot. Absolutely. I think, you know, I piggyback exactly what you just said, Reece. Like, the biggest take that I saw from the Knicks team last year to this championship team, I think they just diversified their offensive portfolio. You know, it was a lot of, you know, Jalen Brunson pick and rolls, a bunch of Jalen Brunson pick and rolls last year, and it allowed the defense to kind of just key in on him. I think what Mike Brown brought in, he brought in like the little pinch post, getting the ball to Carl Anthony Towns at the pinch post area or at the top of the key and let him be in a hub. And yes, at the end of the day, it would still get to Jalen Brunson, but it didn't allow you to just sit on one action. I think that's what helped him a lot. I look at a stat right here on this. They had the highest playoff point differential of all time, over 14 and a half points, which is insane. And we said, Kat, you know, we know the blue guys like Alvarado and Josh Hart and things of that nature and Mikael Bridges, but obviously the unsung hero of the whole finals run was O.G. Andonovi for sure. You know, every time I felt like the Knicks was either having a time where they couldn't score or they couldn't get a stop, that guy made it either a three in the corner or got to the hole. And or obviously we know the tip in that he had after that crazy comeback that they had. So I thought, oh, gee, we got to get O.G. as props. Yeah, for sure. For sure. I think they just like we said, like leaning on depth is big. Obviously, you know, you've won many, you know, more than many championships. Like it takes a whole unit. You know what I mean? In a couple of years, the last couple of years, I felt like for 48 minutes, like they're starting five will come to play. But then as the game got in, we got into our legs as the series went on. I felt good. Whereas this year it felt like they were leaning on everybody. The guys felt fresh, like they looked really good. So I mean, you got to give props for props to do. You know what I'm saying? Congrats to them. Yeah. What would you say as far as like, obviously we talk a lot about Jalen Brunson and rightfully so. I mean, he's one of those unique players in our league that is a three-level score, can score from the three, can score from the midrange, can get into the paint, hit floaters, you know, obviously using his footwork playing off too. Obviously, being a point guard in the Eastern Conference and competing against him, not only in the regular season, but competing against him in the postseason. And what makes him so unique? What makes him so tough? You know, out there on the floor. Yeah, I would say there's a couple of things. I think for like, he's not obviously the tallest dude, but like his footwork and the way he's able to use his body in the post, I think is like pretty crazy for his size. You know what I mean? Like he does a great job of if you put a guy, if you put a guy on him, it was his size. They're too small. That's just like point blank period. And I think he does a great job of he exhausts all options. You know, like usually good guards, they drive, you get cut off, you stop, pick it up, you swing it. A guy like him, he's driving, picks it, and then he stops, reattacks the other way. It's like you get multiple thrusts at all times. It's a lot to defend over the course of a whole series, over the course of one game. Like I think that's what separates him from a lot of people. It's just the way he's able to constantly put pressure on you defensively. I also don't think that people talk about like his stamina enough. Like I never feel like he gets tired, you know, and you know, that helps out a lot. You know, when you're running that many pick and rolls and you're running that misdirection plays or, you know, you're getting the ISOs and things of that nature for him to still have the stamina late in the fourth quarter. We look at his stats up here. We're in the clutch in a five-point game, five minutes left. Jalen Brunson averaged 40 points per 36 minutes, you know, and shot 52 percent. Oh, he scored 52 percent of his team's points. I mean, you look at SGA, SGA was 44 percent. You look at, you know, Jalen Brunson last year, he was 43 percent. So he bumped that up another nine percentage. So it's very hard to just contain a guy like that. That's always putting pressure on the defense and, you know, always just know what's going on the floor. Yeah, and it's exactly what you're saying. Like stamina to have the ball in your hands the whole game like that, you know, like that takes a lot. And I think the great part about the Knicks is like they understand when it gets to it, who's getting the ball. We got to figure out how to get him the ball, get out of his way and let him work. And I think this is what it takes. Good, good group. They got a good group of guys. That's why it works. Absolutely. Well, this is like a mind the game ritual. So I don't know if you guys are watching mind the game much, but I always open up a bottle of wine with my co-host. So I'm going to open up this bottle of wine where Tyrese, you can say whatever you want to the crowd or you. How's everybody feeling? That's good, that's good. You know, I want to tell a quick story about this guy over here. So he's in the middle of making a pretty big decision, it sounds like from what I'm understanding. And I texted Braun maybe a month ago before he even made his decision to leave LA. I said, hey, if you want to come to Indiana, we can make some crack. And he texted me back two laughing, crying faces. And that's all I got. So I decided from that on, I would never, never. I'm done pursuing him in free agency. I don't know if it's going to happen in Indiana. Yeah, definitely. I mean, people have seen everything that's been coming out regarding, you know, my free agency and things of that nature. First of all, I shout out my former team. I spent eight great years with the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most historical franchises in the world. Shout out Jeannie Buss, the whole Buss family, Rob Palenka, everybody, you know, all the coaches that I played for there, you know, all my teammates. Shit, I'm going to miss them all, obviously. So that was an unbelievable ride. And I'm just looking forward to what holds next as I wind down the final stages of my journey. So wherever I land in the fall, hopefully, you know, you're a ride or die LeBron fan. If you've been down with me since day one, I hope you ride with me there. If you're a ride or die LeBron hater, that's what you do anyway. So looking forward to seeing you as well. But it's going to be pretty fun. It's going to be pretty fun wherever I land. I'm going to, you know, do what I do best. And I'm going to try, I'm going to try. I seen something on social media the other day that wherever I go that we may be in a plane or some ---- like that. And I'm not a factor anymore. So I get that as well, too. So that's just a little motivation as well. What's up? Yeah, for sure. Where? What I hear? I heard Warriors. I heard Philly, Miami. This guy just told me to come to the Yankees. I'm like, they said New York Yankees. I can get up. We'll see what happens. Okay, so now we have a segment. We're going to move into a segment presented by Claude. So Claude pulled out all of this. Check the model against actual history. And listen to sources and ran the math and gave us visuals. So I'm going to give you guys actual stat questions and answers from Claude. The first question is how many players and Tyrese doesn't even know this. And you guys can think about this as well. How many players hit as many game winning shots as Tyrese did in the 2025 playoffs? He said, remind. I'm going to guess in their career or in one playoff. Yeah. So how many players? Yeah. First of all, do you know how many you hit in the 2025 playoffs? How many game winners you hit for? Correct. Okay, I'm going to guess in their career. Yep. How many players hit as many game winning shots as Tyrese Halliburton did in the 2025 playoffs? I'm going to guess nine. That's your final answer. I'm going to stick with nine. You'll stick with nine zero. Tyrese Halliburton's four game winners in the 2025 alone will rank you fourth in career playoff game winner since 1996, 1997 season. So, and the kicker that came from Claude's response is that Tyrese has hit a game winner and 13% of his career playoff games since 1996, 1997. The next highest rate is Chris Middleton, 5% and Dame Lillard, 4.6%. So you've combined Chris Middleton and Dame Lillard plus more. So congratulations, man. Appreciate it, bro. That's ******* dope, bro. That's dope. That's not bad. Our next question. How improbable were the Pacers four comebacks? Pacers have four comebacks, one in each series in the 2025 series. Claude's response was collectively about one in 10 million. So in round one, game five, you guys had a 2.1 win probability. Down seven with 39 seconds to go to win in overtime. Round two, game two, you guys had a 4.1 win probability. Down seven with 57 seconds to go. And guys won 120 to 119. Round three, game one, you guys had a 0.3% win probability. Down four with two minutes and 51 seconds. It won 138, 135 in overtime. And in the last one, game one of round four, you guys had a 3.6 win probability. Down nine with two minutes and 52 seconds left and won 111, 110. So these numbers are crazy. You multiply those together of the odds of winning all four games, literally comes out to winning one in 10 million. So I want to get to not only Claude's response to how great this is, but what would you say about your team in that run? Like how was you guys able to... I know you guys didn't want to get down, but was there something about y'all once y'all get down that just made y'all even luckier and more? Well, I think the thing about playoff basketball, and like you've obviously come back from big deficits before. Other teams have, the Knicks just did it this year. The thing is like in the playoffs, it's like literally the epitome of one play at a time. You know what I mean? Like as soon as you start to focus on everything that is to come, what the future could look like, I feel like that's when ---- gets bad. You feel what I'm saying? So like for us, it's like how do we just control one play at a time, one game at a time? Because as soon as you start thinking about, all right, if we go split on the road, and then we come back and we win two at home, I feel like that's when ---- never goes as planned. So I feel like you got to, you know, just take it one play at a time. It's like the most important thing. There's got to be some lady luck on your side at the same time. You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. We always talk about that. You're like, to be able to go to a championship or go to a finals, obviously you got to be playing at a high level, you know, when the postseason start, but you also got to have some luck. You know, you got to have some lady luck that'll help you get there. But you guys had it going, you guys definitely had the lady luck on your side with those games. And the last one, the last question from Claude is, what about the Knicks? How improbable were the Knicks' comeback in game one versus the Cleveland Cavaliers and game four versus San Antonio? And the response is the odds of both of those games were one in 250,000. So in game one versus the Cavs in the 2026 Eastern Conference Finals, obviously you guys know, if you guys are Knicks fans, they were down 22 points with seven minutes and 49 seconds to go. And at that time, Cleveland had a 99.9% chance of win probability. Obviously the Knicks had, that means 0.1, and they was able to come back in that game, which was insane. And also in game four, down 29, you guys remember that game, they had a 0.4% chance of winning that game. And that was a one in a quarter of a million chance of winning that game too. So that is unbelievable, unbelievable stats. You look at entering the playoffs. Also, I'm sorry, the last question is, how improbable was the Knicks winning this season when the playoffs started? And it said entering the playoffs, they were as low as 4% on the betting markets, the second lowest for any championship in an NBA, ABA merger. So shout out to the Knicks again. We can't give our praise enough. We can clap it up for the Knicks one more time for sure. So before we go over to our next section, we got one last thing with Claude. And this is about defining the odds when they put up against you. So I asked you this question, you come right back to me. So like, what's your mindset when the odds are stacked up against you, Reese? I mean, for me, I think similar to you and your position, right? Like we're not supposed to be here, you know? So I feel like for me, it's just, I'm thankful for where I am today. And it's like, the odds are stacked against us, like where I'm from, similar to where you're from. It's probably nobody ever made the NBA from there, you know what I mean? So I feel like odds have been stacked against me my whole life and they're gonna continue. So why would they change now? I'm assuming you'd say the same thing. No, absolutely. I mean, we play the game because we love it. Obviously we get well compensated for playing the game. It is a business, we understand that. But you're looking at two guys that will play the game anywhere in the world and play it for free if we had to because of our love and passion for the game. So when you look at, the odds was already stacked up against us before we ever became guys hosting minor game or you see this in our respective jerseys or winning gold medals. The odds was already stacked up against us. So that's just part of our DNA. Part of our DNA is to always feel like nothing is given to us and we have to earn everything. And in order for us to continue to get better in life and get better as leaders and get better as inspiring people that watch us play the game and inspire the game, then we always have to have that little chip because we know where we come from. So I think when the odds are stacked up against us, you look at the injury that occurred with him 13 months ago and he's talking about he's back to playing five on five and he's looking forward to this fall and get back out there and playing the way the place was played. Look at my case, I'll be 42 in the fall and I'm still playing the game that I love running up and down versus 18 year olds, 20 year olds, 30 year olds. So you use that as motivation and no matter where you are in your life, no matter how old you are, you could be a teenager here, you could be an adult, whatever you do in your life, just keep pushing forwards. And when you feel like the odds are stacked up against you, that's when you lock in even more. So that would be our answer for the last Claw question. Yeah, for sure, for sure. Let's give it up for Claw one time. Yeah, yeah, shout out Claw. You know what? I got a hard question to answer very soon. Let me tell you something about hard questions. I've been answering them in public for most of my whole life. The easy questions never changed anything for me. The hard ones did. That segment you just watched started with hard questions too. How does a season like that even happen? You saw what Claw found. One in 10 million. That's what the model gave Indiana. But Claw didn't hand me an easy answer. It showed me how impossible it was and where every number came from. It did the math. I did the thinking. That's what Claw's for. A thinking partner, not an answer machine. You sit with the hard questions instead of running from it. Everyone has a hard question. Ask yours with Claw at claw.ai mindthegame. And keep thinking. I, uh, you know, Brian, I want to talk about this offseason. Obviously, there's a lot of stuff going on in the NBA. A lot of players moving around, going different places. You got the East, the West. I think you got Giannis going to Miami, right? You got Kawhi going to Toronto, allegedly. I think, I think so. The Knicks coming back after winning the championship. You got Jaylen Brown. What I wanted to ask you was, is this the first time in your career where the East is almost more interesting than the West? Well, I wouldn't say the first time in my career because my career started in like the 70s. But yeah, I think the excitement that's coming to the Eastern Conference this offseason has definitely been talked about a lot more. And obviously you have LaMelo go over to the Wolves. You have some things happening in the Western Conference, obviously. But yeah, JB going, you know, to Philly and Giannis going down to Miami. You look at Boston every two, you know, picking up Mitchell Robinson. I think that's going to help Paul George. You look at Cleveland is going to be back, you know, trying to compete. You guys will be back competing. You can't forget Orlando. You can't forget Detroit, you know, obviously. And you got the New York Knicks for sure. So, and that's not even all the teams in East, obviously. So I think the East right now is going to be very exciting. And I will say this is like the first time in a long time that coming into a preseason that the Eastern Conference will probably get talked about a little bit more than the Western Conference. You know, we know the Western Conference is still the Wild, Wild West, but the East is going to definitely have something to say about it coming into this year. Right. I think for you being a guy who's been in the East your whole career, then going to the West for the last eight years and the conversation has always been about the West being so much stronger. How that you've played in both conferences, do you feel like that is something that's been overblown throughout your career? Or do you feel like that's something that had, you know, a fair point and you just saw it differently? Yeah, I think it's all dependent on, obviously it's all about the competition and the players. The players dictate where the best conference, you know, lies when it comes to competing, you know? So, you know, when I first came into the league, obviously you had like, I mean, you had Shaq, Cole, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, you know, you had all those guys. You had Dirk, you had all those guys in the Western Conference, you know? So, but then, you know, as I got a little bit older, you know, we did KG and Paul and Ray and myself and D Wade and Allen Iverson and Gilbert Arenas and all those guys in the East, you know, we started to make a name for ourself as well, you know? So, you know, it's had its, I mean, it's had its moments and I don't wanna forget the Detroit Pistons as well with Rip and Chauncey and Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace and all those guys. So it all depends, you know? It changes, it fluctuates on, okay, Eastern Conference got it going this year, Western Conference got it going. I know when I was in the Eastern Conference for a long time, we hated to hear always that the Western Conference is the best. The Western Conference is the best, you know? Because when I played, you know, in the East, there would be Eastern Conference champions, there would be Western Conference champions. It wasn't like the West would win 10 straight finals, you know, it wasn't like that. And as great as the West was this year, as great as OKC was and as great as San Antonio was and as hell of a season that we had with the Lakers, you know, the crowning champion was a team from Eastern Conference, you know? So it's gonna be very interesting, but the narrative for sure, I think coming into the 2026, 2027 season, we'll be talked about, we'll be the Eastern Conference because of all the moves that's been made. Yeah, I also think it's like, and maybe I'm seeing it wrong, but I feel like from a top to bottom, from a conference perspective, like it's, you don't know what could happen in our conference, you know? Like if you really feel like there's, you know, six to eight teams that have a real chance to come out of the East where the West has been so dominated by OKC and San Antonio for, well, San Antonio's just coming in, but for the last couple of years. So that's what I'm more curious about is just like the parody, you know? Because I think right now we're what, eight champions, eight different champions in the last eight years. So, I mean, I think that's good, like a good thing for our game, but I'm curious to see who's going to be the team that continues to, you know, put them together as time goes on. Yeah, for sure. And it's easier to talk about it like on paper. Obviously we see a lot of great teams and a lot of people making some great moves, but the game is always won in between the four lines. So it don't matter who's paired up with who, you know, what players is which, you know, when the game is being played in between the four lines, that's what dictates, you know, the matchup and that's what dictates the outcome. So I'm looking forward to it, man. I think it's going to be an unbelievable season. I think all NBA fans all over the world should be excited again, whatever your team is. It could be an Eastern Converse team, Western Converse team, whatever it is, your favorite coach, your favorite player, whatever it is, be excited for another exciting season coming on this fall. So I think, Jason, we have some fan questions, right? Yep. Hello, hello. Yes, I do. Yes, you do. All right. First question from at South Beach Sheed for Tyrese. If you had to coach a team of five 2013 LeBrons versus five 2018 LeBrons, who wins in a seven game series? That's a great question. 2018, that's, that's, oh man. You know what? I'm probably going to lean 2013. Okay. Can I explain why though? Can I explain why? I think the 20, like 2018 LeBron got it all put together, but I think that the 2013 LeBron, I just got a little bit more savage in him. You know what I'm saying? It was a little bit more angry for sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Sometimes anger wins. Yeah, sometimes anger wins. So I'm leaning, I'm leaning towards the 2013 angry LeBrons. I feel like that's the side I'm picking. That's not a bad pick. It's not a bad pick. All right. Next up from at Nicias. What is the appropriate age or grade to introduce zone defense to a child? What's the appropriate age to introduce zone to a child? Um, you know, like kids, they talk all day and they yell all day and they're loud all day. And then when you put them on a basketball court, they become quiet. So in the zone, that's the one thing that you cannot be. You have to communicate. You have to talk through the zone. You have to know like if players are running behind the zone or if there's guys flashing into the high posts or whatever the case may be. So I would say probably around like, maybe like 10 or 11 years old, you know, maybe 12 where kids start to feel like they can, they voices heard a little bit more. They feel more confident on speaking because you definitely got to talk to a zone or you'll get killed trying to play a zone if you're, if you're just quiet. So I would say 12 is the max, as early as 10, as late as 12. I think it's important offensively too. You got to figure out how to play against the zone. Like the more because I'm not necessarily a belief. Like I want kids to learn how to talk and man to man being gaps, rotate all those things. But offensively, like it's unbelievable when you watch kids play and they play against the two, three. They don't understand. We just need to get somebody in the middle and we just figure it out. I feel like it helps you on both sides of the ball. So I feel like introducing it around that age is a good, a good plan just to know, you know, either way. Oh, for sure. Like growing up in inner city, like all we, not my team, because we was well coached, but you go to like certain tournaments or whatever, and you have like an all black team and they so used to running up and down. And then a team from the suburb would come play him and throwing that zone on them and just like completely stall them out. They didn't even know what to do, you know? So like you have to learn how to play. You know, what's funny is teams and players in NBA that can't play versus zone. Oh, for sure. You see players crumble all the time. They don't even understand like what's going on, but they're just so used to just playing. They just don't even think about figuring it out. That's like the most amazing thing to me with teams is don't understand like we run two, three. We got to get and you see different things like guys like Spoh and other guys will put in the matchup zone or two passes. We go, man. But seeing some guys sometimes it's pretty, it's pretty unbelievable. All right. We got two more left at. No, he didn't. For both guys. What's an underrated skill that you've mastered in your career that doesn't get appreciated enough? You 78. So you probably you perfected something. You speak on something that you perfected that you feel like you is not appreciated enough. I don't know, Reese. This was an underappreciated thing. You think that you do? Oh, man, I think just like my availability throughout my career. For sure. I think, you know, obviously, I've had some injuries like everybody throughout the course of their career. But if you if you look as far as my full body of work, I've been pretty much available to my teams that I play for my 23 years to my teammates. And I think as a leader, it's hard to be able to lead a group of a group of men out there if you're not available to them on a consistent basis. So I feel like that sometimes get overlooked and not as appreciated as much. It's not like I'm looking for validation, but I'm just answering the question. But yeah, I would say that I would say that. Yeah, I would say for me, it would just be. I wouldn't say I perfected anything, but I think the most the thing that I like encourage all young guards to do is kick aheads. Like I feel like I'm like a big, especially when you go to the Olympics. So it's like it makes the game so easy, you know, because it's different kicking ahead to you guys and you guys just don't let you guys score. So I feel like it's probably like the most the thing that I feel like I do. I try to encourage kids to do as much as possible. All right. Last question at pick up hoop. What do you think about the league's parity now that we've had eight different champions in eight seasons? Well, we kind of answered we answered that question, you know, in our conversation, we think it's great, you know, I think it gives all fan bases a feeling like our team could be next. You know, when you have eight different champions, eight different eight straight years, you as your fan base, you're looking at your team and you see the possible moves that they're making. You like ----. It could be our time next year. You know, why can't it be our time next year? So happy birthday, birthday boy. Happy birthday. So I think it just gives every fan base like a feeling like we could be next and it could be a parade, either, you know, in our downtown or wherever the most, you know, prominent place in your city is in your city. For sure. Yeah, I think it's good for the league. Many people, many different people winning. I think that the second apron is kind of made it that way a little bit. You know, that hasn't necessarily been the greatest thing, you know. But I, you know, I think it's I think it's cool because I think when a team does ultimately, if a team's able to put two, three together, you know, nobody's really well, nobody's three feet. It's a shack of coal, right? Right. So like to see if a team could do that, especially in this era, I think it just goes even further into the difficulty with all the cap restrictions, all those different things. So I think it's like I don't necessarily think it's like bad for the league, but I want to see, you know, what team is able to kind of like get past that while also having to deal with the financial restrictions of it. Yeah, because that's going to make it tough. You know, if you're a team that draft well, you know, and you're a team that's building like tourism, you know, the future, you have to decide if you're a team that's going to want to pay into the repeater tax and pay into the second apron and things of that nature, especially if you're in a small market. Yeah, you know, it's something that you've got to think about. So it's the gift and the curse when it comes to, you know, like you're saying, eight different teams, eight different years, you know, winning a championship hasn't been a repeat since what? Oh, nine, 10 with the Lakers. I think Colbert, Colbert, Powell, they won both. Did you not repeat? I think Colbert, I think Colbert Powell won't repeat. Did you not repeat? Oh ----, I did repeat. I forgot about myself. Okay, I'm like, I forgot. I wasn't even thinking about myself. I want to see, see. I wasn't thinking about myself. I'm about to say, I'm like pretty sure. Yeah, but I think I think it makes sense. And like you're seeing now even teams like OKC this summer. They got traded Aaron Wiggins for two second round picks when he's worth a lot more. But you got to for your team financially have to figure that out. So I think it's all part of it. Jay, you got one more, one extra credit. That's all we got right now, buddy. Oh, but there it is. You got anything else we want to give to our fans out here? Me and Tyrese didn't cheers either. We have to cheers for sure. I'm listening. Hold on. I'll open it up. We got three fan questions. All right. Wow. Do we have an extra mic that we can that we can take in the crowd? Jason. OK, yeah, OK. So this kid right here, what's your name? OK, my man's name is Eli. How old are you, Eli? Eli's 11. Where are you from? He's from New York, Queens. OK, let me hear your question, Eli. Make some noise for that question right there. First of all, that was a hell of a question. And some of the media people here probably should learn from a young fellow. Y'all heard this question, right? So how do I feel about free agency? Obviously, it's a it's a big decision. This is the third time in my career that I've been a free agent. I think three. Yeah. So it's a big decision for not only myself, but for my family as well. And just for the last part of my career and where I want to spend the last few years or the last year or the last two years of, you know, my NBA career. So wherever I go, Ilan, I will make my staple on just I'm a natural born leader. You know, I'm going to try to fit into whatever team I'm going into, but also, you know, give them all the tools and give them all the knowledge that I've been able to, you know, grasp over the last 23 years. I know the game. I know the ins and outs about the game of basketball. Oh, I appreciate it, man. You're far too kind, man. You also and wherever I land. I hope that you that you support me and I can continue to inspire you. All right. I appreciate it. Come on. Let's do it. All right. We got two more. They got a mic out there now. Who's next? I think the birthday boy in the bronze jersey over here. LeBron, what's your favorite team to play for? Okay. What's my favorite team? What's my favorite team I've played for in my career and why? Oh, what's your name? You didn't tell us your name. My name is Jordan. Your name is Jordan. Where are you from? I'm from New York. Okay. Love it. So, Jordan from New York wants to know what's my favorite team I've played for and why? Oh, man. Got to give him an answer, huh? I would say, I would say the Heat team when we called ourselves the Heetals was an unbelievable team, you know, because not only did we do it on the floor. We also enjoyed each other off the floor. We, it was like, it was a perfect, the perfect storm. I would say the 2016 Cavs was an unbelievable team as well. You guys saw the little trip that we just went on, you know, abroad and also the 2020 Lakers was a great team to be on as well. Like we had, we had a lot of fun. We won a championship. It was, and let me not, I'm going to tell you one team that was unbelievable too. The 2008 Redeem team, the USA Olympic gold medal team in 2008. That was an unbelievable team too. Appreciate it. Nice question, man. That was awesome. Can I get a sign? Take a photo. That was a great answer, by the way. He said every single team he's ever played on. That was nice. All of them. Yeah, no feelings. That was great. You're welcome. Last question. You picking this one? I'll pick one. Oh, man. You're right here. All right, guys, everybody back. Can we get the mic right here? We got it over here. You got the Jameer Gibbs jersey on right here. Oh, here he come. He coming. What's your name? Where are you from? And then what's your question? I'm Dallas and I'm from Michigan. Your name is Dallas. Love it. And where are you from? Michigan. All right. As a 12-year-old desire to play professionally, what is some advice that you could give me? Some advice? OK. So as a 12-year-old, what is some advice that myself and Tyrese can give him that, you know, someday you want to play professionally? Is it don't matter basketball for you like an athlete, man. You look real focused too as a 12-year-old kid. I love it. I love it, Dallas. Go ahead. I would probably say for me at like 12 years old, just understanding the work that it takes to get here. You know what I mean? It's going to take an unbelievable amount of work. You're going to have to live right. I feel like good things happen to great people. So keep being a good person, doing right in school, all those things. I think those are the most important things in general. Understand it's going to take a lot of sacrifice. You're going to have to sacrifice some sleep sometimes. You have to sacrifice, you know, hanging out with the boys sometimes, get to the gym. All that's part of it. So that would be my little bit of advice. And you know what? Most importantly, more important than anything is have fun at what you're doing. It's impossible to like, we don't just do this because it's our job. We do this because we love what we do. And it's a lot of fun for us. So I would say that's you got to love what you do. So have a lot of fun. Anything's possible. Yeah, absolutely. Just to piggyback that, man. Like when it comes to something that you love to do, Dallas, just work at it. Just work, like have fun. But you've got to have fun doing it, you know, and continue to dream about it. I think the more you talk about it, the more you dream about it. Like we had dreams of playing in the NBA, you know, being out in the all-star games. We had dreams like that. We would go outside and shoot on the basket hoop or go to the near park and shoot on the hoop. Like, you know, you live in Michigan? Yeah, so we know what it means to have four seasons and having to shovel snow and getting it out of the driveway to play ball or, you know, running around in the park where snow is out there. So, you know, just like you moms. Are you auntie? I love that. So just stick with it, kid. And, you know, if it's your dream, make your dream become a reality. And don't let nobody tell you that you can't do it. All right. All right, my dog. I'm gonna take a picture. I'm gonna take a picture with my man. Hey, Reese, you want to close this out, man? Man, we appreciate all y'all coming. Thank you guys so much. Means the world. Before we leave, is there a decision? No, I'm playing. I'm playing. No decision yet. No decision. Brian, appreciate you, dog. It's love. Appreciate y'all. Thank you guys for coming out. Coming out. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks for watching Mind the Game. New episodes drop every other Tuesday. Remember to like, subscribe, or follow wherever.