Neal Freiman

All these controversies are hitting the league at the same time while it seems like other sports are ascending.

We talked about how baseball is kind of back in the public's good graces at this point.

But the tanking issue is just something that Adam Silver has thrown everything at, and it hasn't been able to solve it yet.

I mean, there was supposed to be a lottery reform where it didn't reward the worst finishers as much as years prior.

That hasn't really changed things.

They added a play-in game to give more playoff spots to people so they had something to play for.

That hasn't changed it that much.

The issue is that if Victor Wimbanyama is out there –

You should do everything in your power to get him on your roster because that completely alters the trajectory of your franchise.

Which means losing.

Yeah, so you have to lose as much as possible to get the best chances.

It's just like one player can absolutely alter your fate so much that it's going to be difficult to ever stamp this fully in.

I can't tell if I'm into this either, because I'm seeing all the same characters that I grew up with, but I don't know their faces anymore.

I'm like, am I over this?

Have I outgrown it?

Either way, HBO has sunk a lot of time and resources into this.

There is a rumor going around that they were spending

a hundred million dollars in episode on this, which would be the most expensive TV show of all time.

It looks like that is overstated, but it is similar to, you know, the Game of Thrones treatment in the last few seasons.

So 15 to $20 million an episode.