Celebrating Celebrity in America, And All That It Controls

The Schloss-Blog is here today to ask ... who's in charge here?

In the NBA, who is running the league? LeBron Freakin' James, that's who. He has set the precedent that you can go to any team, any time, whether your contract is up or not.

I'm all for free agency - it's about time the players, who are the game, made their due. Even with all they get paid, the owners are still sitting on most of the cash. But LeBron said I want Anthony Davis, and he got him, even though Davis is not a free agent. LeBron gave away every Lakers' draft choice for the next millennium to get him, but why be picky? To get Davis, he gave away three good players as well.

Davis wanted the big lights and the big city and he got 'em. With his injury history, he'll need them. LeBron's too. Those two will have to monitor their minutes to be healthy for the playoffs (what if they don't make it - have you seen their bench?). And everyone is writing off the Warriors already, well, especially without Durant, Cousins, Iguodala, Livingston and Thomspon, the latter for the greater part of the season. Steve Kerr learned a lot from Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. He has something up his sleeve and an owner not afraid to spend to get it.

But look around. Durant and Kyrie Irving decided they wanted to play together. So they are. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George decided they wanted to play together and make the Clippers a contender. And they are and they have, respectively.

Can you imagine baseball players doing this in free agency or trade demands? Never happen, especially with George Steinbrenner not around anymore to accommodate those who would want such. Super teams don't last in baseball anymore. The Cubs were the next super team. Now they're just a good team. Well, not too bad a team.

The best super team I can think of is the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team. Dominant. Super. Victorious. Champions. Over and over again. I hate to tell you this, everyone, but at next year's Olympics in Tokyo, the U.S. Men's basketball team is going to get a challenge. From Latvia. From Spain. From Greece. From Italy. From France. From Turkey.

The USWNT in soccer, meanwhile, is going to win gold. They want it back.

But in basketball, as we said, the players have taken complete command of the league, deciding who's going where and when, contract status notwithstanding. Hey L.A., you've got two playoffs teams now. But Denver is going to the Finals. Maybe Utah (take a look at what they did in the draft and free agency - they are going to be tough and might have the best Mike Krzyzewski-trained coach in the business (Quin Snyder). The only question is whether the league wants a team from Denver or Salt Lake City in the Finals for the impact it would have on ratings. It's already bad enough that the best team in the East, this upcoming season at least, is going to be - Indianapolis. Yeah, the Pacers. Made great free-agency and draft moves and kept their best players, while weakening Milwaukee and the Greek Freak.

Now, will someone please tell Dolan to sell the Knicks. Please. Actually, someone did. A fan at a Knicks game. Dolan had him banned for life from Madison Square Garden. And the Knicks still suck. Apparently, so does the owner.

I hate to spoil this sports party, but I've been in something of a debate with my Trump "friends" over his knowledge of social media, his handling or lack thereof in international policy, his bromance with American citizen-killer Kim Jong Un, his continued, mistaken belief that tariffs have billions pouring into us and his denial of close association with role-model American Jeffrey Epstein, who was let off by debunked Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta. Trump's history speaks for itself.

So does the Schloss-Blog's. Have a great week. Listen in tonight - you never know who gets a shout out on the Howard Hours on Radio Free Phoenix (9 p.m., Arizona time).