Rich Paul's Game Over podcast with co-host Max Kellerman has produced a wealth of terrible takes so far in its existence, but the tide might be turning.
After Kellerman hit the nail on the head with a Luka Doncic take this week, Paul followed with a refreshingly poignant response to a question about LeBron James potentially owning an NBA team.
Rich Paul just artfully squashed a LeBron James-themed rumor
Responding to a story from Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus suggesting that Paul and James might one day co-own an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas, Paul squashed the rumor with a show of humility.
"I don’t know Eric Pincus," Paul said. "I appreciate him ... (but) I don’t have enough money to buy a team."
After succinctly shutting down the rumor, Paul then ran with the theoretical situation of owning a team and explained why he wouldn't purchase a Las Vegas expansion franchise if he did have that kind of money.
According to Paul, a Las Vegas NBA franchise figures to go for about $10 billion, and at that price, Paul pointed out that he'd want to ensure that a bunch of variables were in place that might not be there from the get-go in an expansion situation; namely, the right business partners, the right ticket packages, and the right television deals.
Paul named Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob as a model of success when it comes to taking care of the "business" side of NBA ownership, particularly regarding the above three variables.
Rich Paul says he's never discussed NBA ownership with LeBron James
Paul then frankly admitted that he's never had a conversation with LeBron about owning or co-owning an NBA team. This was a genuinely interesting insight for fans to hear from Paul, considering all of the public speculation about Paul and LeBron's business relationship and what exactly their grander vision is for when James's NBA career comes to a close.
In sum, this was an informative and stimulating piece of content from Paul. In a three-minute segment, he made himself more relatable to the listener by exercising honesty and humility, he provided some thought-provoking tidbits about NBA ownership strategy, and he gave a little hint about the nature of his relationship with LeBron.
Suffice to say, Lakers fans -- and NBA fans, in general -- would love more of this type of stuff from Paul on the podcast, which suddenly isn't looking as doomed as we all thought.