Celtics Get Their First Win, LeBron James Mulls Retirement & AFC North Betting Preview - Ride the Line Ep. 13

The Ride The Line podcast is back for another jam-packed episode with co-hosts Grant Mitchell and Tanner Kern! Episode No. 13 hit on a variety of topics from the NBA playoffs, previewed the AFC North and showed love to the story of the weekend, club golfer-turned PGA pro-Michael Block.

Eastern Conference Finals

The show starts with Grant and Tanner discussing the Boston Celtics getting their first win of the Eastern Conference Finals to bring the series against the Miami Heat to 3-1. Although there has not been a single team in league history to come back from a 3-0 hole and win the series, both co-hosts believe that the Celtics have a better shot than most others did.

Grant believes that the Celtics need to focus on putting themselves in better positions earlier in the game, whereas Tanner is all-in on Jayson Tatum carrying the C’s to victory.

The show followed that up by discussing potential Jaylen Brown trade destinations if a trade is to be made. The favorite of the three presented was one that sent him and other players to the Portland Trail Blazers for Damian Lillard and Matisse Thybulle.

LeBron James Retirement?

Moving on from the Celtics, the show dove into LeBron James’ comments after the Los Angeles Lakers were swept by the Denver Nuggets. LeBron seemed to imply that retirement was on his mind, but Grant believes that it is all a ploy to get the front office to be active in the summer. 

Grant and Tanner spent the next few minutes discussing if the Lakers still have a chance to win a title with LeBron and Anthony Davis as their best players. The prevailing opinion was that they can be competitive, even one of the best teams in the league, but they need the extra punch that a scoring guard that is not on their roster provides. Grant pointed out that D’Angelo Russell was supposed to be that man for them but did not live up to expectations—not even close.

But as much as LeBron was the topic of conversation (as always), so too were the Nuggets and their remarkable season. Jamal Murray did something that no player in league history has done before in the conference finals, and Nikola Jokic is averaging a near-30-point triple-double in the playoffs. Their imminent NBA Finals matchup with either the Heat or Celtics promises to be a great showdown between teams that are clicking at the right time.

AFC North Betting Preview

Grant and Tanner left basketball behind in the B block to continue their week-by-week division preview of the NFL, and this week, the AFC North was at center stage.

Tanner showed the highest praise to Joe Burrow and penned the Bengals as division winners, which both he and Grant agree is a better bet than taking either side of their wins total. The debates intensified when discussing the Baltimore Ravens since Tanner is still not fully sold on Lamar Jackson’s competitiveness, whereas Grant respects their talent on both sides of the football.

Neither one of the hosts are fans of the Cleveland Browns, but Grant was especially high on the Pittsburgh Steeler because of Mike Tomlin’s winning history and the defense's ability to ascend into a potential top-three unit in the league.

The show then closed out with a review and tribute to Michael Block, a club pro that made the cut for the PGA Championship and won nearly $300,000 despite finding work as a $150/hour coach.