Latest news with #Bron
Time of India
14 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
"Zero chance" - LeBron James squashes fans' hopes of ever becoming a coach in the NBA
LeBron James (Image via Getty Images) LeBron James is inching closer to the end of his career as a professional basketball player. At 40 years old, it won't be long before he bids adieu to the basketball court and becomes a spectator. While the game will always be a part of him, one thing he is not gunning for in the future is that of being a coach. While many fans have asked the Lakers star over and over, he seems pretty determined about the fact that he won't be going into the coaching business. LeBron James has no plans of becoming a coach LeBron James has completed 22 seasons as a professional basketball player in the NBA and won four NBA championships so far in his illustrated career. His fans love him dearly and are quick to go to war whenever someone comes after him. He is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time, a status similar to another NBA legend, Michael Jordan . And Bron seems to be going in the same direction as MJ when it comes to his post-player life. Recently, on his Mind the Game podcast, co-host Steve Nash asked him a question from a fan who wanted to know which team Bron would prefer to coach if he ever went that route. Both Nash and James, though, were quick to refute any coaching future for the NBA great, who says he has no plans for it. "There's no way. There's no way guys... It ain't happening. No team. Zero chance." He, along with Nash, was seen laughing at the prospect of ever becoming a coach, vehemently opposing even the idea of it. So, sorry to all the fans who were hoping to see LeBron James courtside leading a team to a championship as a coach, but it seems like he has no appetite for it. While he can be seen running alongside his sons' high school teams when they are playing, he has previously stated very plainly, that it's more of him being an excited dad rather than trying to coach the team when they already have capable people doing the job. Also Read: 'Some Old Sh*t' - Tyrese Haliburton exposes LeBron James' wild game day habit before NBA Finals
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Nick Wright Advises LeBron James To Leave Luka Doncic And The Lakers To Return Home To Cleveland
Nick Wright's bold advice on First Things First was simple: LeBron James should leave Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers, reunite with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and chase another title in the Eastern Conference. Wright framed it as a no-brainer, pointing out a unique window of opportunity that simply doesn't exist out West. "I want to talk about Cleveland for a second. Because you can't run it back. You can't expect it to be different." Advertisement "You do have, right now, a massive opening in the Eastern Conference because Giannis might be on the move and Tatum, sadly, we now know what we feared yesterday, which is a torn Achilles, which probably means next year's gone... One team. You're talking about these as opposed to ten in the West." "And their starting small forward, much like their previous starting small forward when they were down 3-1, sent a group text along the lines of, 'If you don't think we can do it, don't get on the plane.'" "Now, the previous small forward responded to that by himself having the greatest three-game stretch in the history of the league. This small forward responded to it by going 0-for-9 and scoring zero points. Sorry, Max Strus." "Just go home, Bron. He's from the area. It's year 23. No one can say he's front running. They just haven't, in the entirety that the Cavs have existed, they've never been past Round 2 except for when he's been there, and they've lived in the Finals." Advertisement "There was a lot of chatter this year. Is this the best Cavs team ever? Is this the most fun Cavs season ever? How fun is it now? How fun was it? And by the way, it happened like this: they won their first-round series by more points than any team in the history of the league." "And Donovan... I think even in defeat, a compelling 'Club Superstar' case, is now on this very weird streak of every year he's been in the league, he's been in the playoffs, and every year it's ended before the conference finals." "It can only happen if Bron is willing to play for close to nothing. It would really just have to be him being like, 'You know what? I did my job in LA. I brought them a championship and helped them get the player that they then used to get the next iteration of Laker basketball. No one can say I didn't." "I gave them seven years, more than I think anyone realistically expected.' And I think, as great as Luka is, I think Bron has a better chance of winning a championship playing with the Cavs, not because the Cavs would necessarily be better, but because they would have to win two tough rounds in the playoffs: the conference finals and the NBA Finals. And the West is so deep and so hard." Advertisement Wright emphasized that Cleveland, historically a playoff underachiever without LeBron, has only experienced Finals success when he's been on the roster. He contrasted Max Strus' scoreless Game 5 performance with LeBron's iconic 2016 Finals run, reminding viewers of the greatness that came when James once rallied the Cavs from a 3–1 deficit to beat the Warriors. Now, with Donovan Mitchell unable to get past the second round year after year, Wright sees a familiar void in leadership. Wright's take hinges on LeBron willingly taking a significant pay cut, potentially even signing for the minimum. That part is hard to envision. James has a $52.6 million player option with the Lakers for 2025–26, and he's shown no indication of sacrificing earnings. The only way a Cleveland return happens is if LeBron declines that option and signs a low-salary deal outright, which would be almost unprecedented for a star of his stature, especially with the possibility of playing with his younger son Bryce in Los Angeles in 2026. Advertisement However, Wright argued that LeBron might have a better shot at his fifth championship in the East. The West is stacked: Timberwolves, Thunder, Nuggets, Clippers, Mavericks, Warriors, and Rockets all look formidable, while the East has fewer proven playoff killers. In Cleveland, LeBron would join a core of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Donovan Mitchell. With his leadership and playmaking, the Cavs could become an immediate contender. Still, financial reality and roster constraints present major hurdles. The Cavaliers are capped out and lack the flexibility to bring in LeBron via trade. Only a voluntary opt-out by James, followed by a minimum contract, could make the reunion possible. From a basketball perspective, there's logic in returning. From a legacy perspective, it would be poetic. But from a business standpoint, it's unlikely. Advertisement Even so, Wright's passionate pitch wasn't entirely about feasibility, it was about emotion, nostalgia, and closing the story where it all began. And in that sense, the idea of LeBron James finishing his career in Cleveland isn't just sentimental; it's the kind of storyline the NBA scriptwriters would dream about. Related: Lakers May Not Be The Final Stop For LeBron James, Could Change Teams To Chase His Fifth Championship
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Giannis Antetokounmpo had a unique way to shut down trade speculation with goofy online Q&A
is unique, both on and off the basketball court. Early Sunday morning, the star went forward on X (formerly Twitter) to respond to fan questions. Rather than confront the swirling trade rumors, he opted to give fans fun, surprising facts about his life and interests. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Giannis's late-night Q&A turns silly On Sunday, 18 May 2025, Giannis Antetokounmpo logged on X and invited both fans and sports people to "ask me anything." When a trailer asked about his favorite movie, Giannis did not hesitate - "Coming to America," he replied without missing a beat. Others asked him to decide the perennial goat debate; He offered playfully, "MJ or Bron for now." For its ideal snacks late at night, it chose twice MVP something simple and healthy: "Fruit and yogurt." And when it came to taste, he admitted a laughing, that he's a Die-Hard . In the wake of reported news about a high-level meeting with Milwaukee ' management, Giannis Antetokounmpo went on X and asked fans to ask him any questions they preferred. He typed, "Ask me anything!" but kept it light. He even praised FC Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal, calling him 'incredible' after watching highlights on Saturday, May 17, 2025. And when a fan inquired about his NFL loyalties, Giannis Antetokounmpo admitted, 'I'm both a Packers and Cowboys fan.' One question touched on basketball again: 'What's your favorite road city in the NBA?'Giannis Antetokounmpo kept it simple, 'New York,' he wrote, adding a smiling emoji. Trade talk and that 'very crucial' meeting Just two days earlier, Friday, 16. In May 2025, ESPN insider reported that Giannis Antetokounmpo was planned for a "very crucial sitting" with Milwaukee Bucks leaders later that week. According to Chris Haynes, the meeting may have major implications for the franchise that prepared him in 2013, and which he signed a Supermax extension in July 2020. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Despite the high effort of these negotiations, Giannis Antetokounmpo's late-night Q&A gave no hint of trade drama. Contrary to the hype, Giannis Antetokounmpo's Sunday night Q&A provided no indication of trade talks. When a fan challenged him, asking, "Why aren't you discussing trades?" Giannis Antetokounmpo shot back jokingly, "I'm working on choosing my next snack." Also Read:
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jean-Stephane Bron on Making ‘The Deal,' a Series About the U.S.-Iran Nuclear Agreement That's More Timely Than Ever (EXCLUSIVE)
'The Deal,' the sprawling Gaumont show charting the 2015 behind-the-scene nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, won Series Mania's first annual Buyers Choice Award in part due to the timeliness of its geopolitical themes. Yet, Jean-Stephane Bron, the critically-acclaimed Swiss screenwriter and filmmaker of 'Cleveland Against Wall Street,' started developing the six-part series more than six years ago. Bron, who also produced the series with 'Anatomy of a Fall' banner Les Films Pelleas and Gaumont and co-created it with French director Alice Winocour ('French Couture,' 'Próxima'), told Variety ahead of Series Mania that he first pitched it in 2018 as part of a contest launched by Swiss broadcaster RTS (which he won). More from Variety Christina Hendricks Teases 'Good American Family,' Based on 'Mind-Blowing' True Story, Admits 'Every Actor in the World' Wants to Be In 'White Lotus' Sky Studios Boss Says 'Pain in Transition' Being Felt Across TV Industry Will Likely Continue 'For a Few More Years' 'Heartstopper' Producer Patrick Walters on U.K. TV Drama Crisis and the 'Risk' of Pitching Projects That 'Feel So Specific That There Isn't a Precedent' The script, penned by Bron, Winocour, Eugène Riousse, Julien Lacombe, Stéphane Mitchell and Valentine Monteil, was finalized in the last two years, after Bron consulted a diplomat who took part in liberating the journalist who was taken hostage during the negotiations. The filmmaker says he also read the memoirs of figures like Wendy Sherman, the former U.S. deputy secretary of State who played a key role in the nuclear pact. The idea for 'The Deal' stemmed from an article in a Swiss newspaper 'about a head of protocol and the title was: The one who is never in the photo,' said Bron. He said that gave him the idea to tell 'the story from the point of view of the one who is never seen, who would be our main character and who would help us to be at the heart of negotiations.' As such, 'The Deal' revolves around a Swiss diplomat, Alexandra Weiss (played by Verlee Baetens), who leads rocky negotiations between Iran and the U.S. that are threatened by multiple hidden agendas. In the real world, those weeks of negotiations in Lausanne led to the enactment of a nuclear agreement with Iran (known as as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) in Vienna in 2015. But three years later, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from it. And yet, as recently as this week, reports broke of Trump's outreach to Iran's Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to discuss a possible new nuclear deal. Marking Bron's second incursion into TV after his 2018 mini-series 'Ondes de choc,' 'The Deal' took a 'huge amount of documentation time,' as well as an 'understanding of the political issues, of what a negotiation is, and of who the main players were, where the conflicts lay,' said the writer-filmmaker who produced through his banner Bande à Part Films and Paris-based Les Films Pelleas, the company behind Oscar-winning 'Anatomy of a Fall,' alongside Bidibul Productions and Versus Production. Les Films Pelleas' Philippe Martin, who started working with Bron in 2006 on the movie 'Mon fràre se marie,' says 'The Deal' proved challenging to finance because of its ambitious scale and high budget of €12 million ($13.1 million). While the initial funding came from the Swiss Television (RTS), Martin said it wasn't sufficient to cover such a substantial budget which is considered 'huge' for France or Switzerland. With no streamer interested in co-producing the ambitious series, Martin and his team had to engage in extensive co-financing efforts and navigate co-production agreements across multiple countries, bringing in partners from France, Luxembourg as well as Belgium, on top of Switzerland. A crucial turning point in the financing process was the involvement of Gaumont, the venerable French film and television studio behind 'Lupin,' which joined as a co-producer and also took international distribution rights on 'The Deal.' Martin noted Gaumont's involvement at this later stage was 'unusual, as they typically focus on producing their own series rather than co-producing and selling projects they didn't initiate.' But after reading the scripts, the French banner invested €1 million ($1.1 million) in the project. Bron also went to great lengths to depict the backdrop of the negotiations as accurately as possible. 'We ended up using six different hotels in Switzerland and Luxembourg to represent one,' he recalled. 'It was very complicated to have a hotel available during the 72 days of shooting,' said Bron. 'We really wanted to film in Geneva but we couldn't have the hotel in Geneva for as many days as we wanted.' But Bron said it so happens that one of the six hotels where 'The Deal' filmed was 'where some of the negotiations took place.' 'So obviously I pounced on the hotel concierge to get as much information as possible about how the actual negotiation locations to find out how the spaces were divided and how the security was, among other things, to inform our set design,' he says. While the series is inspired by real negotiations, the personal lives and internal conflicts of the main characters were fictionalized, and as such, names were changed, Bron says. The central character of the series, Alexandra, is mostly a fictional creation even though she's inspired by the real-life negotiator. Similarly, the backstories and personal struggles of characters like the Iranian foreign minister and the U.S. Secretary of State were invented. Beatens stars opposite a high profile cast, comprising Juliet Stevenson as the U.S. Secretary of State, Arash Marandi, who plays the Iranian foreign minister, alongside Sam Crane, Anthony Azizi and Alexander Behrang Keshtkar. 'We changed names so as not to be ambiguous on this question of fiction. The thing is that every time we came across something that could be very anecdotal or, on the contrary, very important, we tried to bring it back into the fiction and explore it, to push it to the maximum for purely dramaturgical purposes,' he says, adding that the most important aspect for him was to be faithful to the descriptions of the political dynamics at play during the negotiations. 'We knew from talking to a diplomat in Switzerland and reading the documentation that these negotiations were incredibly difficult, sometimes violent, exhausting, that the Iranians were taking one step back and one step forward, that they were very difficult; and that's what we show in 'The Deal.'' Bron says he also condensed a real event revolving around the journalist who was taken hostage in Iran into the timeframe of 'The Deal,' even if it actually occurred at a later time, between two rounds of negotiations. One of the most compelling aspects of 'The Deal' is the psychological depth of the main characters who all face some kind of moral dilemma or loyalty conflict throughout the series. 'What was particularly interesting about this negotiation is that there is the main conflict, which is Iran-United States, but also within each delegation, there was also a lot of tensions,' he says. 'Looking at the Iranian camp, for instance, there was an opposition between reformers and conservatives that reflected the debate within Iranian society as to whether they should even go to these negotiations, whether it was right to do so, whether they could put ourselves under the tutelage of the U.S. and Europe.' 'And on American side,' he says, 'there were those in favor of a negotiation in the Democratic camp, wanted by Obama, and there was also reluctance because at the time there was a war in Syria, and Syria is an ally of Iran, and some Democrats were saying: 'Do we really want to negotiate with people who are allies of a bloodthirsty dictator?'' For a series about diplomacy, 'The Deal' also shows a large amount of trash talks between the protagonists, which Bron says is 100% authentic. 'This kind of diplomacy is not a classic political job, because at a certain point, classic political work is exposed to the public and is done in full view of a parliament, the media, etc. Whereas during such a negotiation, many diplomats have told us that once the doors are closed, words are not always very diplomatic,' he says. Bron argues the violence in language was also tied to a 'sense of emergency' because U.S. President Barak 'Obama was eager to reach an agreement with Iran at all costs during his term in office to end with a diplomatic victory.' He also believed, Bron said, that such an agreement would bring Iran closer to the Western world and keep it at a distance to Russia and China. Ultimately, Bron feels the series conveys geopolitical themes in a way that's 'not black-and-white' but rather shows that 'negotiation like this one is actually in a somewhat gray area. It's a bit of a special place where, in fact, everyone takes a step towards the other, tries to understand the other, how far they can go politically.' Bron and Winocour, as well as the series' cast, Stevenson, Fenella Woolgar and Marandi, composer Amine Bouhafa and Julien Guilhem-Lacombe are attending the world premiere of 'The Deal' at Series Mania on March 26. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week The Best Celebrity Memoirs to Read This Year: From Chelsea Handler to Anthony Hopkins Oscars 2026: First Blind Predictions Including Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone, 'Wicked: For Good' and More
