Follow The Money | July 21, 2026 | Hour 3

**Pauly Howard** (0:11)
Locked and loaded, thanks for joining us. Pauly and JJ, VSiN, the eSports betting network, always follow the money, baby. And here we go, with the hall of fame of the legend, Tony Rizzo, ESPN, Cleveland, The Real Big Show, day 22 of indecision with LeBron. I thought it was gonna happen tonight, I'm going down with the ship, it's gonna be Cleveland, maybe the announcement tomorrow. Let's break it all down with the legend, Tony Rizzo. He joins us on the Progressive Guest Line.
How are you, my friend? What's going on? Why is it taking so long? Day 22, lay it out for me. Just go, you have the floor.

**Tony Rizzo** (0:47)
Pauly, yes, here's what I got, okay. Guys, I've known LeBron James since he was 16 years old. Okay, I was the Fox 8 sports anchor in Cleveland when he was at St. Vincent, St. Mary's. So there's three options right now. Why is it taking so long? Everybody wants to know. Number one, milking it.
Milking it for podcasts. And by the way, I think we're approaching $200 million on Kelsey.

**Pauly Howard** (1:17)
Bingo.

**Tony Rizzo** (1:18)
On betting. Yes. Okay.

**Pauly Howard** (1:20)
Yep.

**Tony Rizzo** (1:20)
Number two, roster or other adjustments. So roster adjustments. LeBron is going to pick his roster, no matter where he's going. So I don't know who that includes, excludes. But, and the people that like, you don't think they play a part in all this? They do.
Everybody has to be, it's got to be a roster that LeBron wants. And also, I've heard this rumor, and I have to say it, I'm going to break news with you guys, I don't know, I think. There are, I, there was rumored to be ownership involvement in this decision. Oh. As to where he would go, LeBron might want to own a piece of an NBA team. So that's a whole nother thing, but decide what team that would be.
And then still undecided, guys, I had a guy call me from a bakery in Cleveland, literally, in the middle of the season, he goes, LeBron's leaving the Lakers, he's going to come back to the Cavaliers. And this guy's Mitch Corbo, Pauly, you know Corbo is, right? Corbo, Corbo has said LeBron is coming back 99.9%.
I've heard so much Cleveland stuff, from people in Cleveland. I'm here, people that run car services, golf courses, you know, everybody keeps saying he's coming back home, he's come back home. No, it's a native Clevelander, won title in 50 years of whatever I've done in this great, I'm worried about that, because everybody thinks he's in Cleveland, I'm nervous.

**Pauly Howard** (3:09)
Yeah.

**Tony Rizzo** (3:09)
But that's what we're hearing.

**Pauly Howard** (3:11)
Then why the Miami money on Saturday?

**Tony Rizzo** (3:15)
Pauly, it's a, what did we talk about this week? There's no sports book.
It's the stock market. They're betting his people hedging against whatever they hear. And I cannot, I'm not getting into that. So on this morning show, Miami was the favorite, 40 some percent. By the end of my show today, the Cavs were back as the favorite. Yeah. Yeah, it sounds about right. It sounds about right. I get it.
I, everything. Tony, I have a take on this.

**John Jastremski** (3:49)
I get it.

**Tony Rizzo** (3:50)
Yeah.

**John Jastremski** (3:51)
I'm dying to get your take on this.
He's obsessed with golf now. Takes one to know.

**Tony Rizzo** (3:56)
Yeah.

**John Jastremski** (3:57)
I love it. I can't get enough of it. Is the fact that Miami, a 12-month-a-year golf destination, does that change the calculus in any way? Because listen, there are beautiful golf courses to play in Ohio. I'm not questioning that. But you know the deal. As someone who lives in New York, the weather from December until March is as bad as can be.
You're going to be at home a ton throughout the winter. If you're in Florida, you could sneak out and play the morning round. Is that a part of the calculus here for LeBron? Am I crazy to bring that up or not at all?

**Tony Rizzo** (4:30)
Hold on. Good question, yes.
Here's what you got away. If it was me and you, I'm 65 I'm at this point in my life where I want to do this. Would you want to be somewhere you could play golf every day or be in your home, the best story, and you could play golf wherever you are? During the season, you can't play golf anywhere, does it?
Off season, Cleveland's beautiful.
I don't know what you think about Cleveland, but in the summer, it's one of the best cities in America. No, I believe it.