NBA Today | Wembanyama will be the next face of NBA going forward when LeBron retires -Austin Rivers

NBA Today | Wembanyama will be the next face of NBA going forward when LeBron retires -Austin Rivers

Sticking in the city LeBron James started his record 20th All-Star game over the weekend but the biggest story was when he stated the obvious by saying he’s much closer to the end of His Brilliant career than he is to the beginning now whenever LeBron James decides to hang it up there’s going to

Be a huge void when it comes to the next face of the league and who exactly will fill those shoes well that was a huge discussion over the weekend you know we have a a great young group of guys in our league right now um that’s playing you know spectacular

Basketball and also you know are being you know great off the floor as well but I don’t think you just you just say okay well this guy is the next person to be the face of anything I just you have to just let it happen organically you see

Shay an book Luca um Tyrese Maxi Tyrese harber and so many guys that are inspiring the next Generations the hoopers after them to become basketball players that you can’t just pinpointed the one or two guys you know we win a championship I got something to say about it I know that

Austin when LeBron’s done who will be the next face of the league it has to be Victor I mean when we talk about from a standpoint of media publicity and how much time and effort we put into this guy the hype we talk about before the draft I’ve never seen a player covered

In modern day era other than LeBron James than Victor and he’s had a great year the team’s not great but they’re in the beginning stages either was LeBron James or Michael Jordan’s team their rookie years either they’re in a complete rebuild where they got a hell

Of a start with this kid he has talent potential that we have never seen in the NBA he’s a freak I mean he’s showing the outside game the inside game uh one of the league leaders in blocks um and you have Greg papovich as your head coach I

Think the future is super bright for him and I think in terms of how we’ve pushed him to be and something we’ve never seen before kind of like LeBron James we never seen someone like him before either before he came I think Victor is

Going to be the face of the leag Zach do you agree that it’s WBY look this is a a weird question sometimes I don’t know understand it like does it does it have to be a young guy can it be a guy in the middle of his

Career I think you first you got to win and second you got to want to be the face of the league and all that comes with it and I think if Boston wins this year Jason Tatum will have a case if Phoenix wins Devin Booker if Minnesota

Anthony Edwards You could argue for Luca You could argue for lots of people but I’m going to fast forward and go with Victor wanyama if he wants it because I think this guy is just going to be so crazy good in a way we’ve never seen before I think he’ll Elevate the Spurs

Quicker than maybe we expect so I’ll just go with the obvious answer under the radar candidate by the way if you don’t mind Tyrese halberton if the Pacers get good he’s got the game the style the Charisma the offense the outside shooting like Steph almost like Steph anyway he’s an under the radar

Candidate for you but I’ll go wemi yeah I agree with you on on Halle Burton um to me like wemi to me is five years from now like it’s going to take the Spurs five years to contend and when we talk about face of the league it’s not just

Who’s the best player who’s the most charismatic who has the best dunks who is the most exciting to watch because you can watch wemy all day and it’s fun to watch it’s who’s in contention for championships like this is the reason why it was LeBron and Steph is because

They met in five straight finals they and there’s a drama to that season that builds up over the course of the Season that builds up while they play each other that each one of those games is memorable and I think one of the traits that those two guys share is that they

Lean into that drama they lean into they understand what it takes to be the face of the league not just not just as a player but as a spokesperson as somebody who we look to for answers on big issues of the day as somebody off the court and

The the people I think are closest to that right now Jason Tatum I mean he’s right he he may not have the same Charisma that LeBron or Steph do but he certainly when you put him in front of a microphone he has a lot to say it may

Not sound he might you’re going to hear from him a little bit when Malika interviews him but he he has that Charisma he’s on the best team in the league right now and Joel embiid who we know has the Charisma has been troll embiid for most of his career if they

Ever get good in the playoffs and get to the finals get into contention he is a compelling figure in this league and I and I think he would lean in to that role look I love Jason Tatum I’m starting to you know beat the drum of

Him for MVP best player best team but for me I’m going wemy he was on stage with Adam Silver what did they say NBA I also he has the new Louis Vuitton deal who else is a face of the league LeBron James has that exact same deal thank you

We all wear Louis Vuitton but we don’t get paid to wear that is true and all of this stuff has to be custom all of this stuff has to be custom but while we don’t know for sure who will be the next face of the league there’s one thing

That I know for certain it’s that the NBA Playoffs get underway just two months from today so in order to help everyone get their money up get that money between now and then I want to welcome in ESPN betting analyst Tyler fum thank you so much for joining us

Yeah pleasure to be here with you in Austin CH appreciate it always all right while some ESPN bet enthusiasts are putting finally the NFL behind them what are three trends that have been popping up over the first half of the Season that can translate into some smart plays

Over the home stretch I’m glad you asked Chen I got three starting with your Boston Celtics and Jason Tatum that’s a team chenet you’ve want to bet on in the first half of games now over the season their cover rate is actually under 50% but if you’ve bet on them just to win

The first half by their spread they’re 39 15-1 ATS in those situations I think that’s a trend that continues into the second half meanwhile the Milwaukee Bucks have been a team you want to bet against when they’re in the underdog role when they have played the best

Teams in the league the Denver the Boston Celtics is the Minnesota Timberwolves they have not only lost those games outright they’ve been getting beat no regardless of who’s on the bench there that roster has struggled all season long when they’ve played good competition I think that’s a

Trend that I want to keep betting on until Doc Rivers and Giannis turn it around then the Oklahoma City Thunder one of the best stories out west they’re 34 and 20 ATS this season two situations I love betting on them when they’re at home they’re 18 and9 ATS and when they

Have the rest disadvantage when the other team actually has more rest than them the great bet is the thunder who are 11 and three against the spread in those situations okay that was pretty micro let’s go a little bit macro let’s go a little bit bigger picture starting

In the East we all know that the Celtics as you mentioned are the favorites but what are the best value plays to win the confest I think there’s two right now that I’m looking at one makes sense one may have you scratching your head it’s the Cleveland Cavaliers at 8 to1 that makes

Sense to me cuz they can play great defense and Donovan Mitchell can be that killer you need in the postseason when matchups get tough then I will throw the 76ers in there at 15 to1 if you take the gamble or think that Joel embiid comes back healthy they should not be priced

At 15 to1 they’d be closer to Milwaukee at 3 to1 however the market seems to to think and most people seem to think he’s not going to make it back to health so if that’s your belief don’t bet on him but if you think Joel can somehow Some

Way come back and be healthy for the playoffs grabbing them at 15 to1 right now would be the best bet to make in the NBA okay Austin are you rocking with Tyler out east I I I like his opinions especially on Boston um I think the

Safest bet for me in the NBA is the Denver Nuggets you talk about a team that still has their starting lineup intact they’re all healthy uh they don’t have flashy basketball so we tend not to talk about them a lot you know every time we talk about the Nuggets their

Best player is Nicole yogic he’s usually talking about how he wants to go overseas and not even be here so that to be a thing he handles his job so since we’re talking about the Western Conference what’s the best play out there the value Play Tyler I agree that

The team that’s most likely to win the west and the NBA title this year if it’s not going to be Boston is the Denver Nuggets however you got to pay a premium price for that so if you’re looking for Great Value i’ look at the LA Lakers and

The Dallas Mavericks now they’re 15 to1 and 16 to1 for the Lakers it comes down to the fact it’s LeBron James and I’m never ever going to bet against LeBron James he made it to the Western Conference finals last year so it wouldn’t surprise me if he did that

Again and got over the hump this year the Mavericks haven’t done it the way LeBron and AD have however Luca like I mentioned with Donovan Mitchell and Kyrie are Stone Cold Killers in the playoffs they can win a game they can win a series by themselves by going for

40 50 points or having a triple double so again I agree with Austin that Denver’s most likely to do it but if you’re going to throw the odds in I like the return on invest with the Lakers in the maps r o i he is he’s where the

Money resides okay lastly I can’t let you go without talking a little MVP what jumps out to you when you see the odds to take home the amazing award chenet it’s the name that you’ve been talking about for weeks you came on ESPN BET live we were on Sport Center together

And you said why is Jason Tatum not near Nicole yic and Shay gildas Alexander this guy’s the best player on by far the best regular season team and yet last week he was like 100 to1 50 to1 now people are I think Chen when they heard you talking betters went to the window

And started betting on Jason Tatum cuz that number is now down to 25 to1 I still think there’s some meat on the bone there because if history shows us anything the people who bet on this award have generally given it to the best player on the best team and that is

Without question Jason Tatum Tyler thank you so much for giving the people what they want and by people I mean myself I was right we we started a trend we’ll talk to you soon now coming up on NBA today since we’re talking Jason Tatum hear straight from him on why his time

Has arrived this season but should he also be in the MVP conversation as well we will discuss foree foreign foreign speech spee no oh like G fore Speee foree fore spee speee fore spee speech spee foreign for speech foreign speech foreign youe speech foreign good now spee spee foree spee spee and we’re for speech For Fore speech foree speech spee speech fore To Fore speech spee Speee foreign speech Forch speech fore for for foreign foreign foreign spee Foree I don’t do that more

NBA Today | Victor Wembanyama will be next face of NBA going forward when LeBron retires – Austin Rivers