The Brian D. O'Leary Show

Plus: Family Sacrifice, and Bill Belichick’s Early Faith in the Young Quarterback.

***

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On Tuesday morning, I interviewed New York Times bestselling author Lars Anderson about his new book, “BRADY: An American Story and the Price of Greatness” (Celadon Books, September 29, 2026), focusing on the central question of what Tom Brady was willing to sacrifice to be the best.

Anderson discusses the book’s chronological approach, the unexpected global fixation on a Daily Mail excerpt about the Brady–Gisele divorce (which he says wasn’t his intent), and his effort to avoid harming the children.

He traces Brady’s childhood insecurities in San Mateo, California, a late start in football at Serra High, his early obsession with film study, and the influence of his father and sisters.

We also cover Brady’s Michigan choice, toughness, limited access to Brady for reporting, and Brady’s relationship with Bill Belichick, including Belichick’s early belief in him and key moments around Brady leaving New England.

Key Moments

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“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky, ‘The Great One’

A fellow like me rarely gets to interview the chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) on his show, let alone get the opportunity in the first place. The statistics say that it is a near-zero probability.

The Brian D. O’Leary Show is a relatively small podcast. It’s growing, though we mostly talk about sports on the show these days.

Nevertheless, it happened.

He came on our show. The guy we had zero chance of booking took time out of his day to join us.

On Friday morning, we were fortunate to interview David M. Rubenstein, author of the new book, “INSIDE THE OWNER’S BOX: Conversations on Power and Leadership in Sports” (Simon & Schuster / September 22, 2026).

The conversation centered on sports, however. Not foreign policy or politics.

Rubenstein is indeed the chairman of the CFR, a prestigious think tank that includes politicians, high-ranking government officials, bankers, lawyers, businessmen, professors, and prominent media figures.

To sports fans today, though, he is probably better known as the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, a club in which he bought a controlling interest in 2024.

A Baltimore native, Rubenstein said buying the Orioles was a philanthropic gesture to lift up his hometown. This is precisely the type of sports-related traditionalism we champion here on our platform.

Local owners. Local interest. Local passion.

Real rivalry. Real competition.

Cities and communities need something to believe in. When I was growing up in Portland, we believed in the Blazers. “Blazer Believer” signs and t-shirts were ubiquitous in the Rose City during the heyday of the Trail Blazers. We believed.

Winning a lot certainly helped, though the Trail Blazers have only won one World Championship.

Portland’s love affair with the Blazers was about the people. Not only the players and coaches, but the ownership. Owner Paul Allen was not from Portland. He was from the Seattle area, but he gave Portland a huge gift and a huge lift by buying and investing in its basketball team.

The city government never appreciated the gift Allen gave the city and the fans.

Perhaps Rubenstein can give Baltimore what Allen gave to Portland. Hopefully the politicos don’t squander the gift like what happened in Portland.

Baltimore and Portland have both fallen on hard times thanks to societal unrest, poor leadership, and virtually zero accountability.

HBO’s series The Wire showed a side of the Charm City that most Baltimoreans would prefer not to see and certainly don’t care to address.

Portland was parodied in the sophomoric Portlandia, starring Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen. That series left many longtime Portlanders shaking their collective heads in disgust and bewilderment. “We’re nothing but a punchline,” said many.

To be fair, there may have been a chuckle here and there from those who watched on occasion.

The producers of Portlandia even had a paid subscriber to UNRELENTING and guest on our show, Dwight Jaynes, guest-star in their program.

In Portland, there was also Grimm, an NBC show that yours truly had a bit part in. One scene. One episode. But that show was literally the fairy-tale version of the Rose City.

Again, take the shots on goal. You might not put everyone past the goalie, but as Gretzky said, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Fight for your city, your state, your country, if you believe in it at all. Fight for your family.

A remnant out there still fights for and has passion for their hometown. At its core, it’s a patriotic instinct.

The problems in today’s cities are bigger than money. Solving them requires effort, vision, and passion.

Portland has a few patriotic citizens. Some have vision, some have passion, and a few are willing to make the effort. Not enough, however.

In Baltimore, David Rubenstein is the man of the hour. He’s trying to turn around the city that he was raised in. His first step was buying a controlling interest in the Orioles in 2024.

When Rubenstein grew up, Baltimore was the 9th biggest city in the nation, approaching 1 million residents. It’s a little more than half that size now.

For generations now, Baltimore’s biggest export has been its people.

In our short interview, Rubenstein and I touched on some important topics.

We talked about the Orioles’ history of largely Baltimore-connected owners, the challenges of building a winning franchise, and the disappointment of a recent playoff elimination despite increased payroll, major stadium upgrades, and an injury-plagued 2026 season.

Rubenstein explained modern sports ownership structures, including the role of a controlling owner, growing private equity participation through minority stakes, and his firm’s (Carlyle Group) sports investments, including a recent investment in the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.

He also addressed my question about the rise of legalized sports gambling, which led to his take on the integrity risks of prop bets, and the need to educate and police players.

One takeaway

In his book, Rubenstein writes:

I am pleased that I made the investment. I think it did—and will—help with the ongoing rejuvenation of Baltimore. I reconnected with my hometown and friends from my youth. I learned more about a sport that I had relished as a boy. And I felt that I was part of a team of professionals trying hard to bring glory back to Baltimore.

I hope he is correct. And I hope he is successful.

For Baltimore. For sports. For the nation.

***

Buy the Book

Click the link to buy at Amazon.

“INSIDE THE OWNER’S BOX: Conversations on Power and Leadership in Sports” (Simon & Schuster / September 22, 2026).

***

About the Episode

Chapters

♦ Meet David Rubenstein

♦ Baltimore Roots and Civic Pride

♦ Adley Rutschman Trade and Baseball Fandom

♦ Baltimore Baseball History

♦ Private Equity in Sports

♦ Fans and Community Identity

♦ Sports Gambling and Integrity

♦ Local Owners vs Outsiders

♦ Orioles Season and Next Year

♦ Camden Yards Renovations

♦ Roster Notes and Wrap Up

***

About the Guest

DAVID M. RUBENSTEIN is an investor, philanthropist, interviewer, author, and historian. He is Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest and most successful private investment firms. Established in 1987, Carlyle now manages around half a trillion dollars from twenty-eight offices around the world.

Mr. Rubenstein has served as chairman of the boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Duke University, and the Smithsonian Institution.

He is a Baltimore native and is the chairman, CEO, and principal owner of the Baltimore Orioles.

You’ll also see him hosting The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations on Bloomberg TV and PBS, Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein on Bloomberg TV, Longevity with David Rubenstein on Bloomberg TV, and “America’s Book Club” on C-SPAN.

Rubenstein is the author of five books published by Simon & Schuster.

***

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OLearyReview.com

In our most recent episode of The Brian D. O’Leary Show, we get to the core of how we build and scale businesses.

I sat down with my friend Hunter Hastings, a prolific author, economist, venture capitalist, and passionate entrepreneur. We dissected his new book, Venture Mode: Escape the Administration Trap by Finding and Unleashing Entrepreneurial Leaders (co-authored with Mark Packard, published by Amplify Publishing, May 5, 2025), to explore the dangerous traps of corporate growth and how to revive the entrepreneurial spirit.

Episode Chapters & Highlights

Here are the key takeaways from our conversation.

The Administration Trap

As businesses scale and achieve success, they often fall into what Hunter calls “administration mode.” Instead of prioritizing the innovation that initially drove their growth, companies become obsessed with the machinery of corporate control.

This obsession manifests as:

The cost of this control is staggering. Hunter notes that we may have lost 50% of the US economy's potential for productivity growth due to this administrative crisis. It stifles innovation and removes humanity from business, tracing its roots back to mid-20th-century logical positivism, where the “scientific method” and pure measurement began to overshadow human creativity.

Breaking Free: Shifting to Venture Mode

To escape this trap, Hunter advocates for “venture mode.” A prime example of this philosophy in action is Brian Chesky, founder of Airbnb. As his company grew, Chesky realized that administrative layers were blinding him to the actual customer experience. His solution was to cut through the bureaucracy to get back “in the details,” speaking directly with hosts and consumers to figure out what was working in the market.

You don’t have to be a founder to apply this. Anyone in an organization can champion this mindset by removing barriers and prioritizing free-thinking experimentation over rigid systems.

Entrepreneurial Economics: The “Atom of Value”

Much of our conversation centered around Austrian economics, which Hunter masterfully reframes for the modern business leader. We broke down three practical principles:

This approach zeroes in on what Hunter calls the “atom of value,” the single critical interaction between one customer and one service provider. By perfecting that single interaction, you can scale the entire system.

Replacing the MBA and Embracing AI

We also tackled the archaic nature of the traditional MBA, something that often breeds the very administrative mindset we need to avoid. Hunter envisions a “Masters of Business Enterprise,” splitting education into two distinct paths: learning scalable principles of value creation outside of traditional universities, and engaging in experiential, active learning within actual corporations.

Looking to the future, we discussed the role of Artificial Intelligence in completely bypassing the administration trap. We are seeing the rise of AI-enabled, “One-Person Corporations” (OPCs). By leveraging AI for administrative tasks and tapping into broader industrial ecosystems, individuals can scale incredibly fast without ever installing bloated management structures.

Optimism Through Unease

I often call myself a short-term pessimist and a long-term optimist. Hunter pointed out that this perfectly aligns with the Austrian economic principle of “unease.” According to Ludwig von Mises, being unhappy with the current situation is the fundamental driver of innovation. It is our unease with administrative bloat that will propel us toward a highly adaptable, highly entrepreneurial future.

To dive deeper into this shift toward venture mode thinking, listen to the full episode.

Resources & Links:

Step Out of the Machine

The ground-floor discount for our premium subscription has closed, but true sovereignty doesn’t sit around waiting on a sale. You can spend the rest of your life as an optimized data point, letting the elite corporate class dictate your values and your income. Or, you can step out of the managed system, embrace the grit, and secure absolute independence for your future.

But you cannot do this alone. The digital landscape is littered with lone wolves who thought they could outsmart a system designed to crush them. That is why I built a fortified, paid community for serious minds to discuss culture, business, and strategy in real time.

Stop subsidizing the scavengers who hold your values in contempt. Choose your path:

Let’s get to work on halting the decline. Subscribe today at https://briandoleary.substack.com/subscribe

THE FIRST ALL-STAR GAME with author Randall Sullivan

What happens when a botched assassination attempt on a president, the “Outfit,” the Great Depression, and the Legend of Babe Ruth collide in Chicago?

Author Randall Sullivan reveals how the first so-called “Game of the Century” helped pull America out of its darkest era. Discover the untold history of baseball’s first All-Star Game and the legends that shaped the sport.

In 1933, an assassin fired six bullets at President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami. Every single bullet missed FDR, but they fatally struck Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak. Out of the political chaos of that assassination, a city’s desperation to escape the shadow of Al Capone’s crime syndicate, and the darkest, most terrifying days of the Great Depression, an unbelievable gamble was born.

To save the city’s morale, a new mayor and a sports editor dreamed up the ultimate distraction: the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

The Book

THE FIRST ALL-STAR GAME: Babe Ruth, FDR, and America at the Crossroads (Atlantic Monthly Press, June 2, 2026)

Summary

Brian O’Leary sits down with three-time Pulitzer Prize nominee Randall Sullivan to discuss his new book, THE FIRST ALL-STAR GAME: Babe Ruth, FDR, and America at the Crossroads (Atlantic Monthly Press, June 2, 2026).

Sullivan explains that the book was born from his discouragement over modern political polarization, leading him to research how the United States survived the Great Depression. The conversation traces the chain reaction of events that created the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair and the first-ever All-Star Game. This includes a Miami assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt that resulted in the death of Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak.

Throughout the episode, we dive into the towering mythos of Babe Ruth, noting that his absence in 1925 caused American League attendance to plummet. We also explore the cultural fallout of the 1919 Black Sox scandal, the iron-fisted rule of Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, and the forgotten legacies of players like Chuck Klein and Lefty O’Doul.

Key Takeaways

Chapters

Memorable Quotes

Resources Mentioned

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Episode Summary

On this episode of The Brian D. O’Leary Show, Brian sits down with David Nugent, co-founder and CEO of Next League, a technology advisory and solutions provider exclusively servicing the sports industry.

Dave's latest book is THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS TECHNOLOGY: How to Make Smart Decisions That Drive Your Organization Forward (Sports Business Journal Publishing, April 14, 2026)

They discuss the philosophical shifts behind tech deployment, how artificial intelligence is streamlining sports operations, and the cultural decisions that drive how leagues interact with their fans.

From the evolving landscape of regional sports networks to the heavy implementation of analytics in global soccer and the PGA Tour, this episode is a deep dive into the business mechanics of the sports world.

Subscribe

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Featured Book

THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS TECHNOLOGY: How to Make Smart Decisions That Drive Your Organization Forward (Sports Business Journal Publishing, April 14, 2026)

Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/4dRBV9z

Episode Highlights

They are counting on your complacency.

The architects of the engineered decline in both sports and society are betting that you’ll nod along while they sanitize your history, erase the Permanent Things, and rig the economic system entirely in their favor.

Every day you accept their managed version of reality is another day they win.

But you do not have to play their game.

If you are tired of the corporate-approved decline and ready to draw blood, it is time to step inside The Junto.

UNRELENTING – The O’Leary Review is a relentless defense of the Forgotten American. We champion economic patriotism, uncompromising independence, and the unvarnished truths of our cultural and athletic traditions. When you upgrade to a paid subscription, you stop being a passive consumer and start building real independence outside their rigged system.

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Soccer is the world’s most popular sport, yet its origins are shrouded in chaos, and its modern “analytics” are often flawed.

⚽ HOW TO WATCH SOCCER LIKE A GENIUS (Abrams Press, May 12, 2026) by Nick Greene https://amzn.to/4eVb8ve ⚽

Author Nick Greene joins The Brian D. O’Leary Show to dismantle everything you thought you knew about “the beautiful game”. Using insights from architects, stuntwomen, paleoanthropologists, and computer scientists, we tear into the history of soccer’s bizarre early rules and expose why American youth player development is fundamentally broken.

Timed with the World Cup coming to North America, this conversation uncovers soccer’s shared roots with American football and rugby, revealing a time when the sport featured fair catches and touchdowns.

We dig into how the introduction of the FA Cup forced a standard set of rules, and contrast Scotland’s early tactical advantage through passing with England’s aristocratic refusal to share the ball.

We also explore a disastrous 1940s analytics study that set English tactics back decades, the space-warping genius of Lionel Messi, and the absurd limits of modern optimization.

Finally, we celebrate, but Greene critiques, the American youth soccer focus on the “battering ram” approach over actual technique.

Subscribe at https://OLearyReview.com for more from UNRELENTING – The O’Leary Review.

Conversation Highlights (Chapters)

Key Takeaways

Tweetable Quotes

Resources Mentioned

(Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

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By supporting this mission, you’ll receive our premium monthly “dossiers” and gain access to our private council of battle-hardened patriots and defenders of American culture. Consider upgrading your subscription.

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Mark Kurlansky on The Dying Art of Catching Real Fish

Guest: Mark Kurlansky

We had the great fortune to sit down with Mark Kurlansky, the man who wrote the definitive book on Cod, to discuss his latest release: TO CATCH A FISH (Storey Publishing, March 31, 2026).

The Hollywood elite want you to believe fly fishing is a ballet of endless shadow casting. We tear that myth apart. We discuss the reality behind the movie A River Runs Through It. The beautiful, looping casts you see on screen will leave you tangled in a mess of your own line. This leads directly to O’Leary’s First Law of Fly Fishing:

“Thou cannot cast thyself out of a tangle.”

We also confront the grim reality of the Atlantic salmon. The corporate food complex wants you to believe the salmon at your local market is wild. It is farmed. The authentic, wild Atlantic salmon are vanishing across North America and Europe. Mark shares his rare experience of landing one in Scotland.

Additionally, we briefly discuss the history of baseball in the Dominican Republic, drawing on Mark’s brilliant book Eastern Stars, and, later, the listener discovers why women may be rapidly taking over the fly fishing demographic.

Key Takeaways:

***

About the author:

Mark Kurlansky is a former commercial fisherman, journalist, and the New York Times bestselling author of Cod, Salt, The Big Oyster, and dozens of other books of fiction and non-fiction. He’s won numerous awards, including the James A. Beard Award, ALA Notable Book Award, and New York Public Library Best Books of the Year Award, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Audubon Magazine, Food & Wine, The Los Angeles Times, and more. He lives with his wife and daughter in New York City and Gloucester, Massachusetts.

***

Links:

· TO CATCH A FISH: Essays on the Joy, Frustration, Curiosity, and Allure of Fishing https://amzn.to/4bHUugF

· Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World https://amzn.to/4s5arCg

· The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macoris https://amzn.to/3PVeWlz

***

You survived another episode. Now do something with it.

If you are ready to stop playing small and build a business that hits back, grab one of my two remaining $297 Platform Domination Consults for April.

Go to BrianDOLeary.com/domination

I will see you on the inside.

Guest: Keith O'Brien, author of HEARTLAND: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and The Miracle of Larry Bird by Keith O'Brien (Atria Books, March 3, 2026) https://amzn.to/47ghvEE

Podcast Release Date: March 7, 2026

Episode Length: 42 minutes

***

EPISODE DESCRIPTION:

Larry Bird is one of basketball's all-time greats, but there's a chapter of his story that's rarely told. Between 1974 and 1979, from his brief time at Indiana University through his magical season at Indiana State, Bird nearly walked away from basketball entirely.

In this episode, Brian O'Leary sits down with journalist and New York Times best-selling author Keith O'Brien to discuss his meticulously researched new book HEARTLAND, which fills in this forgotten narrative with unprecedented detail. Through interviews with teammates, coaches, photographers, and dozens of people who were there, O'Brien paints a vivid portrait of a shy kid from rural Indiana who changed sports history—even though he never wanted the spotlight.

We discuss Bird's poverty-stricken upbringing in French Lick, his time as a garbage collector, his legendary media boycott, the iconic Sports Illustrated photo shoot, and even a softball tournament in which he beat Joe Montana.

This is Larry Bird like you've never heard him before.

***

TIMESTAMPS:

[0:00] Introduction and Sports Illustrated covers

[7:38] Keith's journalism career: Salem to Boston Globe

[10:21] Why Bird left Indiana University after just weeks

[12:30] Bird's $75 arrival at IU and feeling out of place

[14:27] Working as a garbage collector in French Lick

[16:34] How Heartland reads like a novel

[19:01] Writing the book without Larry's participation

[20:23] Bird's famous media boycott throughout college

[23:10] The legendary Sports Illustrated photo shoot (October 1977)

[27:30] Lane Stewart's struggle to photograph Bird

[28:46] The softball tournament: Bird vs. Joe Montana

[30:49] Bird playing baseball AFTER the 1979 championship game

[33:40] The 3-3 release date and Bird's #33 jersey

[34:25] The lasting impact on Bird's teammates

[37:07] Where to find Keith's work and buy the book

***

KEY TOPICS DISCUSSED:

***

GUEST BIO:

Keith O'Brien is a journalist and New York Times best-selling author whose previous books include Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose. He has worked for newspapers, including the Boston Globe, and has contributed to NPR and various magazines. He specializes in narrative nonfiction and long-form storytelling.

***

BOOK INFORMATION:

HEARTLAND: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and The Miracle of Larry Bird by Keith O'Brien (Atria Books, March 3, 2026)

Purchase Links: https://amzn.to/47ghvEE

Author Website: https://keithob.com

***

CONNECT WITH THE SHOW:

🌐 Website: BrianDOLeary.com

📧 Substack: @BrianDOLeary

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***

CREDITS:

Host: Brian D. O'Leary

Guest: Keith O'Brien

Production: O’Leary Digital

Your sanctuary for serious content in an unserious culture.

Brian O’Leary interviews author Monte Burke about his book MEN OF TROY: The Epic Afternoons, Wild Nights, and Enduring Legacy of Pete Carroll’s USC Trojans (Grand Central Publishing, published January 13, 2026).

Burke traces his own path into college football and writing, contrasts the atmosphere of college football with the NFL, and explains why coaches like Carroll and Nick Saban make compelling subjects.

We discuss USC’s unique Los Angeles moment with celebrity-laced practices, the program’s rise under Carroll, and how the Reggie Bush scandal exposed flaws in college football’s amateurism model and helped foreshadow NIL-era changes, while sanctions punished players like Matt Barkley who had no role in violations.

The conversation revisits defining games (the “Bush Push” and the Texas title loss), Carroll’s coaching style and staff, Pac-10 ripple effects, and ends with Carroll’s fishing life and Burke’s favorite fisheries.

***

Buy MEN OF TROY at Amazon: https://amzn.to/47p8Mjs

Find Monte Burke: https://www.monteburke.com/

***

Segments:

Meet Monte Burke

Growing Up With Football

Why College Saturdays Rule

From Saban to Carroll

USC Takes Over LA

Modern Era and Amateurism

Reggie Bush and NIL Shift

Sanctions Fallout on Players

Inside Pete Carroll Interviews

NCAA Politics and USC Anger

Party Culture Backfires

Agents Invade Heritage Hall

Six Inches From Immortality

Reggie Missing On Fourth Down

Pete Carroll Defends The Call

Carroll Legacy In Shadow

Recreating Iconic Games

USC Rivals And Pac-10 Shift

Coaching Tree And Lane Kiffin

Kiffin Pressure And Enemies

Trout Fishing And Calming Down

Raiders Job And Roster Reality

Angling Talk And Farewell

***

Find Brian D. O’Leary:

𝕏: https://x.com/briandoleary

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@briandoleary

Substack: https://briandoleary.substack.com/

In the latest episode of The Brian D. O’Leary show, we sat down with Yaron Weitzman in a wide-ranging interview that dove into the modern Lakers dynasty, the lasting imprint of the Buss family, and the evolving career of LeBron James.

***

Featured Guest

Yaron Weitzman: Author, NBA journalist, and insider on all things basketball, discussing his new Lakers book and the deeper drama surrounding LeBron, the Buss family, and team culture.

Find Yaron on social media:

· X/Twitter (@YaronWeitzman)

· Instagram (@yaronweitzman)

· TikTok (@yaronweitzman)

***

Books Mentioned

A Hollywood Ending: The Dreams and Drama of the LeBron Lakers (Doubleday, October 21, 2025) | Yaron Weitzman | A behind-the-scenes account of the recent Lakers’ journey, focusing on the politics, personalities, and tensions that have shaped the LeBron-era Lakers.

Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports | Yaron Weitzman | A deep dive into the inner workings of "The Process," chronicling how the 76ers undertook an unapologetic rebuild to become a contender.

Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP | Mirin Fader | A New York Times Bestseller tracing Giannis Antetokounmpo’s journey from poverty in Greece to world stardom—a nuanced look at his off-court and on-court evolution.

Blood in the Garden: The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks | Chris Herring | The definitive story of Pat Riley’s Knicks—physical, controversial, beloved, and often chaotic throughout the NBA’s golden era.

Three-Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil, and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty | Jeff Pearlman | The inside story of the Lakers’ 1996–2004 dynasty, documenting the unforgettable drama and cultural change led by Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Phil Jackson. I do not recommend any of Pearlman’s work, as I believe him to be a disingenuous, sanctimonious jerk … Oh, and a liar. But I’m dutifully giving you the resources. –BO’L

***

Key News Stories Discussed

The Luka Doncic Trade to the Lakers (February 2025):

Lakers landed Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris in a three-team blockbuster trade, sending Anthony Davis to the Mavericks—a move that shifted the balance of power in the West. For full details and quotes from both the Lakers and Mavericks front offices:

See ESPN: “Luka Doncic to Lakers, Anthony Davis to Mavs in 3-team trade” (February 2025). https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/43659380/sources-mavericks-trading-doncic-lakers-anthony-davis

Dallas Mavericks Fire GM Nico Harrison (November 2025):

Following the controversial Luka trade and mounting pressure from fans, the Mavericks fired GM Nico Harrison at a dramatic team meeting. For the backstory, front-office statements, and Harrison’s reasoning at the time of the trade:

See ESPN: “Mavericks fire GM Nico Harrison amid continued fan angst” (November 2025). https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/46928742/sources-mavericks-expected-fire-general-manager-nico-harrison

***

Chael Sonnen on LeBron – The "Same Guy" Allegation

Viral Video/Podcast Segment:

Former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen claimed on the Flagrant 2 podcast that he and LeBron James “have the same drug guy.” Sonnen alleged LeBron uses EPO and other PEDs, a claim that’s made waves online but is unsupported by any formal evidence or NBA violations to date.

For the podcast segment, see:

https://x.com/MavsStan41/status/1633276225442521088?

also …

https://heavy.com/sports/nba/los-angeles-lakers/shocking-claims-about-lakers-lebron-james-revealed/

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If you have a Substack or want to get started on that platform, I just put together a 31-page guide about how to do it. Properly. It’s called Your Substack Success Blueprint.

We talk about Magic Johnson in this podcast, so to pay homage to one of the game’s true greats, the first 32 people to buy Your Substack Success Blueprint will get a sweet $32 discount.

Use code SUBSTACK at checkout. Deal expires after the first 32 purchases, or at the end of the calendar year, whichever comes first.

https://briandoleary.gumroad.com/l/blueprint/

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For press, sponsorship, or guest inquiries, contact brian at briandoleary dot com (you know the drill…).