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So back then—leading up to December, like that fall—were you guys internally like, 'Something's happening'?" Answer: "There’s always been, over the last couple years, whispers. Like, 'Mark’s really in the sh*t now. Something’s going to have to happen.' Some crypto thing. FTX. The Tom Brady–Gisele crypto thing. People were like, 'Man... Mark.' We had a deal with a crypto wallet company that went belly-up. It caused a bunch of weird lawsuits and things like that."
The Lakers legend appeared on stage alongside Tom Brady and Victor Wembanyama at Fanatics Fest in New York City. When asked how much longer he had in the league, James chuckled and pointed at Brady. 'He played until he was 58! 'I don't know, man... I can't play that much further.' LeBron then gestured to Wembanyama and suggested the 7ft 3ins Frenchman might push him into retirement. 'The more and more time I play as long as he keeps smacking my f***ing shots into the stands, it's going to make me retire,' he said.
Prime, NBC, and ESPN would be “compelled” to talk to James, say my sources. “That’s a meeting you have to take just to see what he wants to do,” said one executive who declined to be named. But ESPN might have the toughest recruitment given the bad blood between James and Smith. James physically confronted Smith in March over comments about his son Bronny. Smith told Rolling Stone there’s still hard-feelings. “I don’t like him, and he don’t like me,” said Smith. Other factors are at work here, too. Flanagan tells me Tom Brady’s monster, 10-year, $375 million deal to call NFL games for Fox Sports has effectively reset the industry. It also opened the eyes of some superstars about the lucrative opportunity in sports media. Even the GOAT himself—Michael Jordan—is coming to TV as a “special contributor” to NBC’s NBA coverage this season (However, a source told FOS that reports of MJ’s $40 million annual payday are false).
Curry said he would "for sure" consider a broadcasting job, though he won't rush into it. "I would be more patient," said Curry, who noted former National Football League quarterback Tom Brady moved directly into the Fox broadcast booth after retirement and his current teammate Draymond Green has been a TNT Sports NBA analyst for years as an active player. "I think about what would be the right opportunity for me, 'cause anything that I do, I want to be all in on it," Curry said. "Right now, just doing your homework on the different pathways and options that might be available."
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Dwyane Wade on LeBron James: We watched Tom Brady be dominant at 40 but we've never seen it in basketball
Dwyane Wade on LeBron James’ longevity: It’s no secret all of us are amazed. We haven’t seen an athlete in basketball do this. We watched Tom Brady still be dominant in football when he reached 40, but it’s not something we’ve seen in basketball at this level. We’ve seen people play into their 40s or 20th year in the league, but we haven’t seen this level of dominance where some nights you watch him, and you don’t see a dropoff at all. There are some nights you watch him, and he looks like the same guy you watched in 2003 on occasion. It’s impressive. It’s strengthened his personal case for the conversation of one of the greatest to ever play the game of basketball because his career is unique to just him. It’s not like anyone else’s. That’s why the conversation is so heavy.
Thomas played down the significance of his penchant for lighting it up in this building, though there was one fan on celebrity row, seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, who caught his attention. “Today was kind of dope though, seeing Tom Brady,” Thomas said. “I was a big Tom Brady fan growing up. He gave me a little look when I hit a 3, too. That really was a good moment for me, for sure. It was 98-77 in the final minute of the third quarter when the Nets flipped a switch. They reeled off 21 of the game’s next 27 points to get within six.
Tom Brady loudly booed at Madison Square Garden by Knicks fans
New York still hates Tom Brady. The seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback was loudly booed when shown from celebrity row during the Knicks’ game against the Nets on the jumbotron at the Garden. Brady also signed a football and tossed it to a fan in attendance for what will undoubtedly be a very expensive souvenir. Brady is scheduled to be on the call for a game between the Packers and Bears this week for Fox.
"I'm so grateful for everything I experienced at Golden State," Thompson said. "But I mean, I've seen some of my favorite athletes pivot and have tremendous success. When I think of Shaq[uille O'Neal] leaving the Lakers and winning a ring or Tom Brady winning one with Tampa Bay, it's been done before. "That was my main goal at this point in my career. I just want to win, and this team is so close. I just wanted to be a part of that when July 1 hit [free agency]. It's human nature to think about your future. As present as you're supposed to be, we're all human. We all think about that. Now, to know I'm locked in for a few years here, it allows me to be free."
Tom Brady has received mixed reviews for his performance in the broadcast booth with Fox but NBA legend and Inside The NBA analyst Shaquille O'Neal isn't judging Brady too harshly. On the latest episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, the four-time NBA champion weighed in on Brady in the booth and how he can continue to get better. “He has G-19 classification. Talk about your experience,” he said. “Tell stories and be yourself. It’s not that he was quiet, he was professional. Because when you first come in, you don’t know when it’s your turn. Everybody can’t be Charles Barkley and just take over segments and blurt out and take 9 minutes to answer one damn question. You got to get used to it. So this year might be tough for him but by the second and third year, he’s going to be as good as Troy Aikman. Troy Aikman is really good, but Troy Aikman when he talks about football, we believe him because we know how great Troy was.”
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LeBron on whether he might get into broadcasting like Tom Brady: “You know, I don’t know. I definitely love the sport. It would be great. I see Tom Brady doing it, and he’s been great so far. And, you know, we will see, even if it’s just a guest appearance, you know, one game or two when I’m done playing. But it’s always fun to give back to the game because the game has given me so much. So, if it’s basketball, if it’s football, if it’s whatever, I love the word ‘sport,’ because it’s given so much to me and my family. And it’s only right that I give back to it.”
Stephen A. Smith will be recording a podcast, ESPN will be broadcasting live, and every major sports commissioner, including the NBA’s Adam Silver and the NFL’s Roger Goodell, will be on various panels, as will various star athletes. Trading card giant Topps, which is owned by Fanatics, will be dropping exclusive products, including a special collection from rapper Travis Scott. Fanatics is spending $10 million for various activations at the event, including a WWE experience that will let fans experience the thrill of making an entrance like a pro-wrestle and a “kids zone” where Tom Brady will pass footballs to young tots.
Celtics stars Jayson Tatum, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday had a chance to chat with Tom Brady at USA Basketball’s 50th anniversary party Monday. White said he had never met the Patriots legend. “That was dope,” White said. “He’s obviously the GOAT and I was pretty excited to see him. He congratulated us [on the NBA championship] and we talked a little bit about the parade and how it compared to theirs.” So, how were Celtics and Patriots duck boat festivities different? “Ours was warmer,” White said, smiling.
Knicks fans were the latest to learn that. “There’s nothing like the Garden,” he says. And throughout New York and Indiana’s Eastern Conference semifinal in May, Haliburton felt one pocket of seats across from the Pacers’ bench was consistently on him the most. As he tells it, a pregame interaction set the tone for their series-clinching win: “So, Game 7 came around, and I'm like, I gotta come up with something to get me going. Like I heard Tom Brady say that one time, like he would look for things to get him going, and Michael Jordan said the same thing—like, sometimes he would make things up. So there's a dude courtside, he's chirping to me in warmups … and then he was really talking crazy. And I wasn't going to say anything, I'm like, I'm gonna let this go. I'm gonna get him later. And then [Pacers teammate and karate black-belt] James Johnson walked over. And James obviously is the muscle of the NBA. And when James walked over, the dude got quiet. So I just went over there. I was like, 'Why are you quiet now? Like, are you scared of him?' And then that's kind of what got us going. “From there I mean, I got hot, I got going and it was like, every bucket I'm looking at him just to keep the blood flowing and keep the juices flowing. And honestly, as a team, we just flowed off that.”
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