King’s Choice, Champion’s Response: LeBron to Philly, the NFC West Arms Race & OKC’s $36 Million Chess Move

Sometimes taking a week off is exactly what you need.

We took one in the middle of the summer, came back, and suddenly there was enough chaos for about three episodes.

LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er. Oklahoma City decided to play with Stan Kroenke’s pocketbook. The NFC West looks like it might once again be the best division in football. Denver’s PLL homecoming did not exactly go according to plan. And somehow, by the end of all of it, Niko and I were debating Frank Sinatra, Hercules and whether Dream On is legally required to play after every championship in American sports.

Welcome back to the Far End of the Bench.

LeBron James Chose Philadelphia. Now There Are No Excuses.

We talked about the possibilities before LeBron made his decision, but Philadelphia always felt like the cleanest basketball answer.

Now it is real, and I don't care what his contract says: this is championship or bust.

I have heard the argument that you can't put those expectations on a team with the third-best championship odds. I've heard the argument that LeBron is taking a veteran minimum, so somehow expectations should be different.

Come on.

This is LeBron James.

If one of the two greatest basketball players ever willingly joins a roster already carrying Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid and VJ Edgecombe, nobody gets to suddenly pretend we're grading on a curve. Philadelphia didn't bring LeBron in because they were hoping for a fun second-round series.

They brought him in to win the damn thing.

And here's where Niko had the take that might sound insane until you actually think about it:

This is Tyrese Maxey's team.

Not Embiid's.

Not Jaylen Brown's.

Not even LeBron's.

Maxey has reached the point where he can be the lead guard driving a championship roster, and basketball has swung back toward elite point-guard play controlling everything. Philadelphia doesn't need LeBron to carry a team for 82 games anymore. They don't even necessarily need Embiid dropping 30 every night.

If Embiid can give you 18 and eight while staying healthy? Great.

If LeBron has nights where he scores 15 because Maxey and Brown are cooking? Even better.

For possibly the first time in his career, LeBron can legitimately be the third option some nights. That isn't disrespect. At this stage of his career, it may be the greatest luxury Philadelphia can give him.

The difficult part won't be talent.

It will be figuring out how all of that talent fits before the games actually matter.

You can't win an NBA championship in October, November or December.

You sure as hell can make winning one a lot harder.

Philadelphia's first half of the season should be about figuring out roles, surviving the inevitable ugly nights and learning how this ridiculous collection of talent functions as an actual basketball team.

Because this window isn't going to stay open forever.

OKC Didn't Just Offer Spencer Jones $6 Million. They Sent Denver a $36 Million Bill.

This was one of my favorite conversations of the entire episode because the number everyone initially sees isn't actually the number that matters.

Oklahoma City's offer sheet to Spencer Jones wasn't just about whether Denver wanted to pay Spencer Jones.

Of course they wanted him.

The real question was:

How badly?

Because once Denver matched, the consequences went far beyond the contract itself.

The move pushed the Nuggets into a financial position where roughly $6 million in salary could create around $36 million in total tax consequences and penalties.

That's where I refuse to believe Oklahoma City wasn't looking directly at Denver and saying:

Go ahead.

Match it.

We dare you.

That's what championship rivals are supposed to do. You don't just attack another roster on the court. If you can make one of your biggest competitors uncomfortable financially, you do it.

Denver essentially had three days to decide whether it was better to swallow the financial hit now and figure everything else out later or let a player they clearly valued walk immediately.

They chose Spencer Jones.

And I'm good with that.

Jones went from undrafted and on a two-way deal to somebody another contender was willing to put real money in front of. You cannot blame the player for signing that sheet.

Go get your money.

The Nuggets' job is to react.

The bigger question is what matching him tells us about everything coming next.

Because this doesn't feel like the final move. It feels like the move before the move.

Denver clearly values Jones. Nikola Jokić appeared to value playing with him. Jones gave Denver toughness, defensive effort and somebody willing to fight through games when other guys weren't available.

But you can't keep everybody forever.

That's the reality of building around expensive stars in today's NBA.

Denver bought itself time.

Now it has to decide what to do with it.

The NFC West Might Be Completely Insane

Football is close enough that I can taste it.

Hard Knocks is back. Actual NFL football has appeared on television. And for our first division preview, we went straight to what could be the deepest division in the league.

The NFC West.

Seattle won the Super Bowl and somehow looked more terrifying watching its training camp.

There are certain football practices you watch and immediately know the difference.

Guys aren't just running drills.

They're competing.

They're flying around.

They're talking shit.

They're trying to beat each other.

Watching Seattle practice felt like watching a team that absolutely believes the Lombardi Trophy still belongs to them.

Sam Darnold has finally found a home after bouncing around the league, and the Seahawks have built an environment around him that looks completely different from what followed him early in his career. Even after losing pieces from the championship roster, we don't think the cupboard is suddenly bare.

Then there are the Rams.

Adding Myles Garrett to that roster is disgusting.

And I mean that as a compliment.

Los Angeles attacked its weaknesses, added one of the most destructive defensive players of this generation and still has Sean McVay designing the offense. If Matthew Stafford has another run left in him, the Rams aren't building for three years from now.

They're trying to win another Super Bowl right now.

That left us with the same top four but one major disagreement.

Niko has:

1. Rams
2. Seahawks
3. 49ers
4. Cardinals

I have:

1. Seahawks
2. Rams
3. 49ers
4. Cardinals

That's how close Seattle and Los Angeles are.

I had Seattle at 11-6, with Los Angeles originally around 10-7, and I still think there is a legitimate possibility this division sends three teams into the postseason.

Arizona is the easy fourth-place pick.

San Francisco is the terrifying wildcard because there is still enough veteran talent to punish anybody, but there are enough age, injury and roster questions that I can't put them beside the top two.

Seattle versus Los Angeles could end up being one of the defining division races of the NFL season.

Denver's PLL Weekend Hurt — But the Season Isn't Dead

There is something special about the PLL coming through Denver.

The crowd shows up.

The city embraces the Outlaws.

There are former DU players everywhere.

And frankly, the league might be reaching the point where Denver has outgrown the current setup and deserves an even bigger stage.

The results?

Those weren't nearly as pretty.

Still, the beauty of this PLL season has been parity. Denver took its punches, bounced back enough to remain in the Western Conference race and entered the stretch run with paths still available depending on what Utah and the rest of the league did around them.

That's what makes this part of the schedule fun.

One weekend can make you feel like everything is collapsing.

The next can put you right back in position to play for a championship.

And Throwback Weekend might have delivered some of the best uniforms the league has produced yet.

VS: Five Songs. One Per Artist. Choose Carefully.

This week's VS sounded simple until we actually had to make the lists.

Your five favorite songs.

That's it.

Except you only get one song per artist.

And these are essentially the five you're stuck listening to forever.

Suddenly this got difficult.

Jimmy's Top Five

1. Go The Distance — Roger Bart, Hercules
2. Online — Brad Paisley
3. No Guidance — Chris Brown
4. Oh, What a Night! — Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
5. Dancing Machine — The Jackson 5

Niko's Top Five

1. My Way — Frank Sinatra
2. Dream On — Aerosmith
3. Red Dirt Road — Brooks & Dunn
4. Hound Dog — Elvis Presley
5. Friends in Low Places — Garth Brooks

And somehow after picking ten completely different songs, our number ones told almost the exact same story.

Niko hears My Way and hears ownership of your life.

You decide who you're going to be.

You get knocked around.

You keep going anyway.

Mine has always been Go The Distance.

And yes, part of that is because Hercules came out in 1997 and has been one of my favorite Disney movies forever.

But the song means more to me now than it ever did as a kid.

There have been plenty of moments in my life where I wondered whether I was actually going anywhere. Football didn't become what I dreamed it would become. Other paths changed. I've had times where I wondered whether I made a wrong turn somewhere.

But that's the whole point.

Going the distance isn't about knowing you're going to win.

Rocky didn't need to beat Apollo Creed to prove he belonged in the ring.

Sometimes the victory is being willing to walk into the fight and find out.

That's the lesson I've tried giving players I coach too: stop being so afraid of what could go wrong that you never actually attack what is in front of you.

You're going to screw up.

A lot.

So what?

This podcast itself is proof of that idea. We've been doing some version of this for years. We've screwed things up, changed things, rebuilt things and kept going.

We're still trying to get better.

But we're still here.

Different songs.

Same message.

And yes, Niko's Dream On argument was strong as hell too. There may not be another song that immediately turns random sports footage into a championship montage faster.

Players and Benchwarmers of the Week

Then we got to the awards.

Jimmy's Awards

My Player of the Week went to the Utah Archers.

They came through Denver, handled their business and strengthened their position near the top of the PLL picture. Even as the standings shifted afterward, their Denver performance earned the nod.

My Benchwarmer of the Week?

MLB fans.

Not because they've done anything wrong.

Because they're the ones who may ultimately get screwed.

The growing financial divide, escalating contracts and looming labor fight have put baseball on a path where owners and players can spend months arguing over salary structures while the people buying tickets, watching games and caring about these teams are left waiting.

If that turns into a lockout, nobody wins.

Especially the fans.

Niko's Awards

Niko gave Caitlin Clark Player of the Week after another stretch of huge performances and for continuing to push Indiana toward becoming something more than the team that once needed the No. 1 pick to get her.

That distinction matters.

There is a difference between putting up numbers and changing what an organization believes it can become.

Then came the Benchwarmer:

The FIFA President.

The argument wasn't really about one person as much as what the World Cup is supposed to represent.

There are very few sporting events left that feel bigger than an owner, franchise or television contract.

The Olympics are one.

The World Cup is another.

You don't own the world's game.

You temporarily get trusted with it.

That's different.

And when federations are willing to stand up and effectively say that the competition doesn't work without the countries actually playing in it, that's a pretty strong reminder of where the power ultimately comes from.

The Bench Is About to Get Busy Again

This episode felt like the end of summer.

Not because nothing is happening.

Because everything is about to happen.

Football is back.

College football is around the corner.

The PLL playoffs are coming.

NBA rosters are taking shape.

And Far End of the Bench is heading into another year with our anniversary episode coming next.

The quiet part of the sports calendar is basically over.

Good.

I've had enough.

It's time to lock back in.

If you don't stay down and you never quit, come on over here and sit on the Far End of the Bench.