We welcome in Dave McMenamin, who was at the Lakers Warriors game, and you saw LeBron James get a season low 24 minutes of action.

How much relief does that provide for this Lakers squad, considering he has been getting so much of a workload this entire season?

This actually was a 71 day off season for a guy who's now in his 18th season, who is 36 years old.

And I'm 38 so 36 in that old.

But I don't have to do the type of physical taxing activities that he goes through on a nightly basis.

And the fact that they are able to do this while you don't have Anthony Davis out there on the court means so much because LeBron seemed to be taking more and more and more on his shoulders with no Anthony Davis, no Dennis Schroder, and he was starting to look less than spry and the team was starting to fall down the standings.

But you know, you get shorter back in the lineup, you get LeBron an easy type of night, and he's going to get a few 456 easy type of nights coming up soon if they can get to the All Star break healthy with these final two games before the break.

Now, Dave, beyond being physically rested, he looked mentally extremely relaxed.

And how does that sort of play into the Lakers hands as they sort of make this push after the All Star break?

I mean, he's enjoying himself.

He's at the point of his career and his life, quite frankly, where he kind of lets it all hang loose.

I think this team is not getting the chance to get the full blown LeBron experience with the Covid restriction that they have on the road because LeBron is the guy.

Of course, he enjoys his teammates in the game.

You remember with the Cavs a couple years ago.

He's flipping water bottles at the end of the end of the bench at Madison Square Garden.

You know, he took off his shoes at a game in Utah and was doing the moonwalk and those type of things that they really enjoying the moment.

But they also extend to dinners and hanging out on the road.

You know, in hotel rooms, at restaurants, in bars, and clubs, and they can't do that right now.

And so you know, this certainly is, is a team that has a tight knit bond already.

But it can't match those calves teams where he's going out with Channing, Frye, Richard Jefferson and burning the midnight oil.

That's where they really build that camaraderie off the floor, and it pays off in the long run.

We'll see if things continue to go well in terms of the country opening up, if they get a chance to do those type of things.

All right, Dave, every superhero has a villain, and every superstar has a rival.

So before the show, Ashley, Trev and I and the crew were talking about who is LeBron James, biggest rival in his career?

Who would you say?

Tell her, I'm going to go with a guy He never actually played an NBA game against.

But he said this a couple years ago, after he won that third championship with the Cavaliers.

He's chasing the ghost of Michael Jordan.

LeBron hasn't had an on court rival.

Necessarily.

There's been guys that have pushed him at certain times in his career.

There's no love loss between him and Paul Pierce.

Certainly, him and Kobe were matched up against one another, even though they never got that finals.

Parents.

We both all of us sports fans.

One of the sea.

But the guy is Jordan LeBron.

Since the age of 14, when he was in Slam magazine, Age of 16 on the cover of Sports Illustrated has been propped up as the league's nest.

Next great thing, the elite.

The guy who should go down as one of the best all time.

And as LeBron's career has far exceeded all of his contemporaries.

The guy who's still there, the guy with the six rings, the guy with the five MVPs LeBron hasn't matched him yet.

And and so to me, the idea, the feeling, the standard of excellence that Michael Jordan is, uh, in modern sports, that is who has been, I guess, the thorn in LeBron's heal his entire career.

I would argue that close second was that receding hairline.

Whoa, whoa, Dad got Taylor Taylor.

No, no.

Am I wrong?

Like I'm just saying, Like, I'm not here to Taylor tonight.

Taylor, you have hair privilege.

You've got to recognize that.

So do you.

So do you.

So do you, Dave, comments like that.

There you go.

There's four shot of us here.

It's a pretty good looking hair.

This combination I get up in here.

For that reason.

Dave McMenamin, you are always invited back.

So thank you so much for joining us.

Enjoy your night.

Enjoy your All Star break, my friend.

Thanks so much.

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