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  • the Davis finalizing a five year, 190 million maximum contract to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers CEO Rich Paul telling ESPN the deal includes an early termination option prior to 1/5 season in 2024 2025.

  • The deal could be signed as soon as today and other Lakers news.

  • They agreed to a two year extension with LeBron James.

  • Max.

  • Who's the bigger signing at this point?

  • Is it a deer?

  • LeBron.

  • Let me get this straight.

  • You asking who's the bigger signing?

  • The 36 year old who still signed up for another season and got the 27 year old to come and join them?

  • Or the 27 year old who's not from there, who's never played in his hometown, who said on a podcast recently, I'm not of the Lakers right now and who is about to be a free agent, right?

  • And you just signed him for five years.

  • The 27 year old who you just snapped up for the rest of his prime the best years of AIDS career are very likely now going to occur as a Los Angeles Laker.

  • Clearly it is the a D signing that is the bigger deal.

  • Like, did I really think he was gonna go anywhere?

  • Not I didn't think a D was moving.

  • I thought he's gonna stay right there in L.

  • A.

  • But I knew LeBron was going anywhere I knew because he had a contract.

  • You knew LeBron was going to stay right there.

  • But even just for right now, a D is locked up.

  • And for the rest of the man's prime, the Lakers now have their nest there.

  • Next, great big who is going to be remembered now is Los Angeles Laker, You know, the way Kareem is thought of as a Laker.

  • Shock is thought of as a Laker.

  • Anthony Davis will be thought of as a Laker.

  • He is the new great Laker, Big Anthony Davis, one of the top three players on the planet.

  • He's big time, and I get where you're coming from with all the things that you pointed out.

  • But to me, LeBron is a bigger deal on Lee because of this you.

  • Everything about the Los Angeles Lakers is about LeBron James.

  • Even the greatness off Anthony Davis shining through to a championship level is about LeBron James.

  • We saw a D in New Orleans all of those years.

  • He couldn't get past the second round his first year with LeBron James.

  • He is a champion.

  • It's LeBron James reminding everybody that he's the best in the world.

  • We got to take into account some of the things that we were saying.

  • We wondered once upon a time whether anybody wanted to come and play with LeBron James.

  • Okay, we were talking about that when he first arrived with the Lakers.

  • But A D ultimately ends up coming on board.

  • There is leadership that was exhibited from day one until the final day.

  • The continuity, the consistency, the togetherness, the cohesiveness all of that was due in large parts of LeBron James is not to say that Anthony Davis had nothing to do with that because we know better and we also understand that Anthony Davis, with LeBron having him toe lead on, was a big, big thing.

  • They don't win the championship without Anthony Davis.

  • We get all of that.

  • There were times in the bubble where we looked at him and said, This dude is the best player on the planet, not LeBron James because of the way that a D was playing.

  • At times we get all of that.

  • But in the end, when you talk about a model of consistency shooting 49% from the field nearly 35% from three point range leading the league in assists at age 35 36 years of age, averaging 10.2 per game when, of course, the 25 a game making the necessary sacrifices when called upon stepping up for the challenge is when called upon, exhibiting a consistent level of leadership that even Magic Johnson stood back and applauded.

  • Time and time again, you take all of those things into consideration, along with the distractions Kobe Bryant, unfortunate and devastating, passing the stoppage of league play ultimately it being reignited.

  • And then the Social justice issues that took place to the point where teams and players were contemplating not even playing it all, with one of them being the Los Angeles Lakers.

  • All of these distractions, all of these things that happened.

  • It ended up being an Achilles heel for the Los Angeles Clippers, who felt like they were together enough if the season hadn't stopped for them.

  • to really, really make a run.

  • But once they came back, some of them didn't wanna come back, etcetera, etcetera.

  • The Lakers, no matter what happened, even with Avery Bradley electing not to play and participate in bubble play.

  • Everything you look at, it's not just about to play on the court.

  • It's about leadership.

  • And when LeBron James signs on board to say, I wanna be here essentially saying I want to end my career here it also elevates the profile of the Lakers in this regard, Max.

  • It reminds us all that the Lakers, when you are a star and you produce for them, there is no controversy.

  • They take care off their own.

  • And that's the message they sent toe Anthony Davis.

  • And they sent it again with LeBron James, which made it that much easier for him to commit to the five years $190 million Max.

  • That's what Jeanie Buss told me when they extended Kobe before they'd even seen him on the court after a catastrophic injury at an advanced age when it was pretty clear he'd never be the same and they extended him.

  • They thought they were out from under a deal that was hurting them.

  • They extended him two years, 50 million, which at the time was a lot like It's a lot now, But it was the most you could give a guy, basically just about.

  • And I asked Jeannie Buss about that, and she said she was that she that the rest of the league, besides doing right by Kobe, has to see how the Lakers take care of their own.

  • I thought that was an excuse at the time, but it's clearly true.

  • Jeanie Buss, since she got rid of Jim Buss.

  • It took her three years toe win a title, and now they have both LeBron and A D locked up for the foreseeable.

  • For the next 3 to 5 years, it's still a D.

  • That's the bigger signing, though.

  • And look, they get along like one of the great things about LeBron is the idea of the kind of chemistry they had right from the beginning.

  • There both trying toe up each other, right?

  • They're pulling in the same direction.

  • One common cause.

  • It's not an ego clash, at least not yet.

  • It doesn't look like it will be as opposed to Shaq and Kobe, where they were butting heads at times.

  • Remember what the Lakers did?

  • We got to choose between Shaq and Kobe.

  • Were taking Kobe.

  • Is that just because he was drafted with the team or because he was, you know, because Shaq couldn't plan?

  • No, it wasn't that cause shock went on to win another title with Dwyane Wade.

  • No, it's that you take the young superstar who's entering his prime over the old superstar, even if you think the old guy is better, right?

  • Anthony Davis?

  • Stephen A.

  • May not even be a good as hell one day be.

  • And I'll tell you this right now.

  • Now that he's on the Lakers and you already want to chip and he's locked up with LeBron on A on a great organization, he has a chance to become the greatest power forward ever.

  • He has a chance to be remembered that way.

  • When you think about the Lakers one through five all time, Magic is the greatest point guard ever.

  • Kobe is next to Jordan at the to is the greatest ever.

  • At the three.

  • You have LeBron at the five you have take your pick, Kareem Wilt Shack, now with the four.

  • You have a d the Lakers gonna have a claim pretty soon, toe having the best ever or very close to it at every single position.

  • You know, on the court one through five.

  • This is an enormous signing of Anthony Davis.

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the Davis finalizing a five year, 190 million maximum contract to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers CEO Rich Paul telling ESPN the deal includes an early termination option prior to 1/5 season in 2024 2025.

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