The LeBron and Giannis Loyalty Test

Hang Up and Listen

Slate Podcasts

News, Sports, Sports News

4.6 • 986 Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2025

⏱️ 73 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hosts Alex Kirshner, Ben Lindbergh, and Lindsay Gibbs break down an unexpectedly quiet start to NBA free agency while big trade rumors keep swirling. They dig into fresh betting scandals rattling baseball and basketball, including Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz. And they debate whether the WNBA’s ambitious expansion plans are moving too fast for the league’s own good. Plus, Alex has an Afterball about the remarkable mismanagement of the Washington Nationals. On the bonus episode available exclusively for Slate Plus members, the panel talks F1 domination on the track and on the screen. NBA Free Agency (3:19): Could LeBron move on at age 40? Sports Betting (20:07): Did Luis Ortiz engage in micro betting? WNBA Expansion (39:10): Too fast, too soon? Afterballs (57:26): The Nats fired their GM days before the MLB Draft. (Note: time codes are only accurate for Slate Plus members, who listen ad-free.) Get more Hang Up and Listen with Slate Plus! Join for weekly bonus episodes of Hang Up and Listen and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Hang Up and Listen show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/hangupplus for access wherever you listen. You can email us at [email protected]. Podcast production and editing by Kevin Bendis, with production assistance from Patrick Fort. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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1:04.3	It is Monday, July 7, 2025.
1:09.8	Welcome back to Hang Up and Listen, the sports podcast here at Slate.
1:13.5	Back with you yet again. I am Alex Kirshner. I'm a contributing writer for Slate, and I also
1:18.6	co-host the college football podcast, Split Zone Duo. Getting to be that time of the year.
1:23.7	Big show for you this week, though. We're going to talk about a busy but mainly foreboding first week of NBA-free agency and how it threatens to shift the balance of power in the league.
1:32.7	We're going to talk about the latest in sports betting scandals, in particular the probe into whether Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz intentionally threw balls to help gamblers who had placed micro bets.
1:45.3	And we'll talk about the fast-growing WMBA's plans to grow even further and why Lindsay Gibbs
	...

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