 It seems right now to see it shink into armor a little bit with the Warriors. They've had bad losses at home. New York media with the sensationalism, with the back pages, it was aggressive and players had a hard time dealing with it. What would worry me if I was the NBA is the frequency and the intensity of these situations. Chris Broussard here and welcome to the brand new Hoops on Fox podcast. This podcast will give you your daily dose of all things NBA from Fox sports, including the best content from Skip and Shannon, Nick Wright plus special guest, fresh NBA content from myself, post game interviews from NBA stars around the league and much, much more. Up first, Chris Broussard says it was Skip to explain why the next media may be too much for Katie and Kyrie. I don't agree with Barkley in the long term. Now, I am frustrated with Kyrie complaining about the press. We didn't know you spoke to LeBron James. That was a private conversation. You chose to share that. No one knew about that. I speak to you, I speak to you. No one knows about this. Okay, so you brought that on yourself. So when the media wants to talk to you, maybe we don't know who else have you spoken to. Have you spoken to Katie? Did you speak to Rod Strickland? Who have you spoken to? That being said, we as New York Nick fans, we've never had two champions. The last time we've had players play for the Knicks that had rings and things is the great Willis Reed and those guys. Maury Stottemeyer, a very good player. We knew he had an injury. Inevitably, in our hearts, we knew that just wasn't gonna get it done. Carmelo Anthony, no rings and things. So these guys, they've played on the biggest stages. It's the Mecca of basketball. It's the city's game. We know they can get it done on the court. And I think that although they have both been sensitive, particularly this year, the New York fans, we come out in droves and there hasn't been a highlight out of New York. This season, the biggest highlight was James Dolan ejecting and banning a fan. That's the highlight of the season. That's true. That's the only thing. There's been no highlights. Is this guy, this little guy with the funny teeth, banning a fan who paid. That's the only highlight we have. So I think we have a two-year grace period. I think that the New York and the New York media will be so happy. So you're saying they would take it easy on them, fans and media? Well, the fans, we're gonna just be happy. I mean, to see two guys out there putting a point and all that stuff, we haven't had like excitement like that. And I think the media, they're gonna do well. If they both come and they're going to do well and I think it'll take at least two seasons before people start breaking their chops. Kairi, I don't know what you're talking about. He seems like he doesn't want to be talked to, win, lose or draw. You gotta figure that out. Doran will be fine. Kairi, this is like, yo, whoever you're speaking to, don't bring it up, okay? But in the short term, two years, we'll be fine. We'll win more games, we'll improve. There'll be excitement, there'll be highlights other than James Doe and throwing out fans. So my answer, long-winded answer is, I think that we will be fine if we get those two guys and I'm praying. Please, please come to New York, please. Okay, that's the fan perspective. Just so people know, you work for the New York Times and you covered the Knicks and the Nets. So you know what of you speak. You know, you were inside the New York media covering basketball. Yeah, and look, I do tend to agree that especially with the fans, there will be a two, I'd say a year or two grace period where assuming, and they would, if Kairi and Katie go there, they would certainly be a really good team. They wouldn't be expecting championship or coming down on them if they didn't win a championship for at least a year and maybe two, right? Yes, so it'd be two or three years before they really jumped on them. As far as the New York media, when I was the beat writer, that was early days of the internet. The internet wasn't what it was now. And the New York media was so different from media anywhere else. LA, Chicago, the only thing even close was Philadelphia. But New York media with the sensationalism, with the back pages, it was aggressive and players had a hard time dealing with it. Now though, New York is still the top, but with the internet now, sensationalism has been brought all over the country. And no matter where you're at, you're still catching heat. You know, it's all over, you know, you catch heat no matter where you are. Maybe not quite to the extent of New York, but you do catch heat. Now to answer Barkley's question, both of them obviously have rabid ears. Both of them obviously are sensitive and I would not recommend that either one of them go there by yourself. No, for sure. No, do not go, because you won't win big and then you will catch heat. Be on you, okay. But I do think if they go together, or one of them went with Anthony Davis or whatever, if they go with two stars, they'll be fine. These two guys, Kyrie, let's look at him. Kyrie just did a big mea culpa piece with Yahoo, where he said I was wrong for the way I've handled things, I apologize, we know we apologize to LeBron. Like I gotta be honest, I'm looking at Kyrie and I'm thinking, this is a young guy, he's only 26, he's still learning. He's not above saying, I get it now, I didn't get it then, I think he kinda said, look, I don't like the way the media handles things, but I kinda get it, I understand it now. So I think he's open to learning and I think if he gets to New York, he'll kinda be like, look, this kinda comes with the territory, I was wrong initially in Boston, I get it, I think he can adapt. And KD and Kyrie, look, they're sensitive, you can say what you want, about them clapping back at people and complaining. The good thing though, it doesn't impact their play. Not at all. Like some players can't hear all the stuff and play at the top of their game. KD can hear it, be upset, go off on the media. He texts me sometimes if he doesn't like something I said and we'll go back and forth, but it doesn't impact this game. Not at all. He still goes out there and balls in the same way Kyrie, through all the ups and downs this season, he has still been a great player, probably his best season individually. So even if they are in New York and at times they go into a shell and they go off on the media at times, they still will bring it. And so I do think for all their issues, they can handle New York. For one, actually a couple of times lately, I have agreed with Charles Barkley on this show, which is shocking. It's been weird. This time, he is completely wrong about this and almost naively wrong. He is missing the boat on both these guys. To your point, I'm gonna triple down on what you just said. In all my time of covering or closely observing superstars, the thinnest skin superstar ever to me is Kevin Durant and Kyrie's starting to threaten that. He's starting to challenge him. They are both social media victims to me because they read it and they respond to it and they let it go inside them. And it doesn't, not only does it not affect them, does it not hurt their play, it fuels their play. They both thrive on this. They would both thrive together. I agree with your together point. In New York, they would constantly be at war with the media. There'd be nights they wouldn't talk. They'd clap back in big group interviews. They'd be all over the media. They would fight the media. They would actually try to put the media back in its place. But they're not good at it also. Neither one of them are good clappers. They're not adaptive, I know. They're just not good ranchers. They don't talk good trash. Neither one of them are. I have to help them out with that. Yeah, but you know what I mean? Kevin Grant actually had burner accounts. It's like, what? Who has time for that? That's Grant, right? What? You know who the media does love and who is good with the media? Coach Fisdale. He handles it good. He's got a personality. He's fair. He's firm. He knows when to be tough. He'll rant when he needs to. So I think if they came to New York, they'll do their little things, but I don't think it's as big as impact as people say because number one, it doesn't affect their play. And I think New York will get off on it. And the fans, to see that kind of craziness in the garden every single night and what they do and I mean craziness as far as their skills, there will be, there will be elation. There will be sincere elation. That's New York basketball. Like they'll be adored and loved by the fans every single night. So what they make some weird rants and comments. We'll take it. Okay, what did Kevin? Kevin had the weight of the NBA world on his shoulders going into the first finals with Golden State against LeBron. And what did he do? You know, the NBA was the world's waiting for him to fall on his face. He left Russell Westbrook and joined forces with Steph and Clay and Draymond. And what did he do? He won MVP. And then he backed it up by winning MVP again. I'm not worried about it. Come on man. I'm not worried about it. Kyrie hit the shot of shots. Game seven at Oakland. We deserve it. This is the city game we need basketball. These guys are beautiful players. You know what? Come to New York guys. Those two guys get what it would mean to you for them to win a chance. Oh my God. Imagine we split it. Two, two, both of them on the Empire Staple. And two, two, it would be gorgeous. Kevin ran thin shoulders. Empire Staple Staple is long. And it would be just beautiful come to New York. You're like a banner. Yeah, what are we doing? They would reach the top. Oh, light them up. We maybe be sat in Kyrie. I mean, he plays like a New York City streetball player. Like all that stuff. It does from New York City. The Statue of Liberty would be like. Oh, the Statue of Liberty wouldn't even be thinking about Old Delbeck. They haven't had a player as exciting as Kyrie in New York since Earl de Pearl. That type of game, that type of street game? Absolutely. Does anybody remember Earl de Pearl? Right. I'm not sure if I remember. Very few of these young people. You should. Oh, man. It was Kyrie. I mean, he does stuff that they do in the park. I mean, it would be beautiful. It was 1973. Yes. That's the last champion. Rolls Royce Backport. We need this for you, Mike. Please. And it's not just me. The fans. The fans in the cheap seats need it. They deserve it. We've been through too much. We've got an owner who's throwing out fans during games banning them. The same goons he sent after my guy Charles Barclay. He sent after a fan, Charles Oakley. Those same goons. Well, there's one guy who needs those two worse. He's playing here in LA. I think you want them in LA more than New York, don't you? It would just be fun. It would be more fun for me, but I'm not a Nick's fan. Skip. Well, seriously. I think it would be fun if those two go to New York and AD gets traded to the Lakers. Listen, AD is not enough for LeBron at this stage of his career. It's not enough. He might be at the Jimmy Butler with him. You know, the only thing you'd have going is that Kevin is no longer in the Bayer. That'd be good. OK, that would be open. That would be nice. Well, LeBron, give him Kevin. Give him AD. He needs, like, 17 people with him. He needs, like, if, yeah, he can't do it. He needs, like, 50. He's the greatest player in the world. He's the entire All-Star roster with him. Clay Thompson. Send down Steph. He needs a two. Next, Colin Coward breaks down the unfortunate situation between NBA fans in Russell Westbrook. So last night, Russell Westbrook, incident with a fan. Fan says he said something. Westbrook said he said something else. But what would worry me if I was the NBA is the frequency and the intensity of these situations. Now, the fan could be a big jerk. I've said before, I hate hecklers. I would have almost no tolerance. If I was a general manager or any commissioner of a sport, I have zero tolerance for very, very, very little tolerance for heckling players. The NBA is a very unique sport. The NBA has sold seats right next to the players. Football players got a gap. Baseball players got a gap. Hockey players got a wall. Basketball players sit next to fans. And the NBA, a little bit agreed here, even though they're making a fortune with all this television revenue, has literally kicked broadcasters upstairs to add seven more seats. And equipment guys got to sit behind the team so they can add seven more seats. So players are right next to fans. But here's the thing. I can't control those fans. Maybe the guys are racist. Maybe the guy's a jerk. And I'm not sure I can control Westbrook, but I should at least give him the tools to deal with this. More security, more space, maybe a watchdog around him to hear what fans are saying. Because what I'm concerned about is the frequency and the intensity of these situations. Three years ago, and I'm not a psychologist, but three years ago, this was not Russell Westbrook. He was an 85% free throw shooter. And he was kind of a well-liked guy in the NBA. Three years later, his game is deteriorating and his personality is detonating. And that worries me. Last year, Utah, this year, Denver, then the kid, then the fan, I'm not saying fans can't be jerks. And I'm not saying in all these incidents, the fans aren't wrong. This fan, people say was on internet, there was racist stuff on his account. I'm not denying that. But Russell Westbrook in the next week is gonna go to another arena. It's not gonna be empty. There's gonna be fans there. And so who knows what happened to Westbrook to increase the intensity and the frequency of these? I'm not a psychologist. Kevin Durant's gone on to star, Hardin's gone on to star. Maybe that bothers him. Maybe the surgeries have made him less of a player. He's struggling with that. Maybe Paul George's emerges. I don't know. But this is just basic psychology stuff. It's the intensity and the frequency because it's not like he wasn't heckled three years ago. I sat at Laker games listening to Kobe Bryant get heckled. You don't think LeBron's been heckled? Michael Jordan heckling? And by the way, some of those could have been racial. I'm not, listen, there's inappropriate stuff in European soccer, international hockey, NBA. I'm not denying any of that. But like I told my son, I can't control fans. I can't control their kids. And I'm not sure I can control you or Westbrook, but I have to give you tools to better equip yourself. Adam Silver's gotta step in. By the way, Roger Goodell's changing rules. Why? To protect players. Doesn't want his players hurt. These players are commodities. These players are assets. Okay, Russell Westbrook is the face of a franchise, the face of a division and one of the seven faces of the league. Okay, and this is not gonna get better. Fans are now sensing stuff bothers him. So they're poking and they're poking and they're poking and they're dangling and they're poking and it's getting worse. This is where a commissioner has to step in and protect his player. And I don't have the answers. But I would hire security. I think I've seen it, you know, last night James Harden's walking off the court and he's high-fiving fans. I think fans are too close to players. I'm showing an incident on FS1 where there's a player, Russell Westbrook's on the floor and a fan runs up to him. That's not appropriate. That's not appropriate. And in football, there is a gap between fans and player. In hockey, there's a wall. In baseball, God in Oakland, it's like a parking lot between the first baseman and the fans. NBA, they're right on top of the players. And these are young players and they're stars. And Adam Silver's recently said many are unhappy, they're on their Instagram, they're on their Twitter. The intensity and frequency of this stuff, you gotta step in. Listen, I could, I was saying this morning, he feels like Westbrook, not Westbrook. His shot's broken, his personality here's a little more unhinged than usual and this stuff's escalating. So get him help, get him security, get him space, get him a therapist. But this could end up being really bad and I'm not gonna just blame Westbrook if he throws a punch in the next two weeks. Captain, it's not gonna be all on him. Listen, you gotta be culpable, I tell my son all the time, hey, it's how you handle this chaos. So you'll be eventually to blame. But players, most millionaires in America, you get to be 50, you've worked hard, you've put money away. Pro sports is cruel. Hey, you're 24, here's a pile of money. Well, I don't know exactly stress. Here's a bunch of fame. Well, I'm from a small town, I'm 25 years old. Pro sports is rough and I know nobody wants to hear it because they're all rich. But these players are increasingly targets, fans on top, they've sold the tickets next to the players, fans can be jerks. Somebody's gotta help Westbrook. That is the role of a commissioner. Protect your players. Gidell's changing rules to protect players so they don't get hurt. Somebody's gonna get hurt. Now, Swin Cash joins Nick and Cece to discuss tonight's matchup between the Warriors and Rockets. I actually am. I'm buying it as a statement game and I'll tell you why. Because when you don't have Katie in the lineup, you're coming off a loss like you had against the Phoenix Sun, it can be a statement. Teams right now see a chink in the armor a little bit with the Warriors. They've had bad losses at home. They have went two and five since the all-star break. So you have to think about a team to send a statement out. Sometimes you do it without being at full strength. Oh, I like that. I think the possibility is there. And also let's not forget the championship. Because I think this Golden State Warriors, they're looking forward to Katie being gone because they got a lot more credit. And they did win a championship without Katie. I believe in the head-to-head. The last two years, Nick, you've been on top of this. Rockets are eight and five. Only team in the NBA with the winning record. And when you have a team that has that type of record against you and you're a little short-handed, I'm from the same school of thought as you. With Steph and them being out there, claying them, if they get hot and go off in this game, it would be tremendous momentum. Forget the head-to-head, but just where the team is right now. They're in a rut and they could use a lift or a boost of confidence. Go ahead. Yeah, yeah, and I wanted to correct myself. They are five and four since the all-star break, but they were 23% from the three against the Phoenix Suns. One of the reasons why they lost. So without KD, they'll have an opportunity for clay and Steph to get hot, be able to shoot, and be able to show their offense. It's clicking on all cylinders. Listen, they haven't won back-to-back games since February 12th. And so obviously this wouldn't be a back-to-back win, but you got to win the first one in order to get that going. Now, you said earlier, Jenna, I'm a gambler. So I wouldn't, to use a gambling term, to me, there's a house-money game. And by that, I mean, if you win, everything you guys are saying is true. If you win, we did it without KD, a team that's been the only team with a winning record against us over the last two years. We beat them, we weren't at full strength. But if you lose, you have a built-in excuse. You have a built-in, the Rockets are at full strength. They're the hottest team in basketball. They've won nine in a row. It's all in their court. We are without our best or second best player. So that, to me, it would be a better chance for a statement game if they were at full strength. The problem with that, Nick, is most elite athletes don't feel that way. They're not looking for the excuse. They're expecting this to be able to go the other way. So they're not gonna be like, oh, you know something, guys? It's okay to lose. Man, they're the world champions. And for a reason, they got the two-time MVP. Clay is a special, special player. They got two other all-stars. Like, elite athletes, they just don't think that way. And they know that the Houston Rockets are coming at their head. So I believe that Golden State, in this environment tonight, that they're gonna try to meet that intensity. Now, does it work out? No, it might not work out. But I definitely know that Steph and that roster, they're not going into this saying, you know something, we're a little shorthanded. And if we don't play well, oh, you know something, we were shorthanded. We got an excuse. Well, guys, you have to keep this in mind. They have been talking about how they have to start revving it up, getting ready for the playoffs. We've heard it from Kerr. We've heard it from Clay. We've heard it from Steph. Now, the thing for me is, when you look at this Golden State team, people are talking about, are they bored? Listen, we play sports. You can't get bored at any time. But what I can say is this, I lost a game five championship, 20,000 at the palace in Detroit. And that whole season, I kept saying, guys, we can't go off and on. We gotta be ready. We gotta be ready. But you can come out, you can shoot poorly, and not be able to defend, and lose a basketball game. People keep talking about, oh, can anybody? You can flip the switch. Yeah, you can flip the switch, or people can't beat them in seven games. If you get bad chemistry, you get guys not shooting well. Anybody can be beat. I'm not saying that the Warriors can be. I still have them winning a championship, but there are possibilities. And when you lose to a Philadelphia team at home, when you lose to a Boston that bad at home, those are teams that are in a top echelon that are supposed to be meeting you in the finals. Nick, we've had more and more people come on here and say, well, I'm still picking the Warriors, but I'm starting to worry. But boy, you know, they lose a game to the Suns after beating them. Because they all saw how bad I looked when I, I think I was the last person to pick against them it was two years ago, captain in five. I think it was the last person to say the Warriors aren't going to the championship and I looked like an idiot. It's true, a lot of butts with this team, especially this late into the season. Because here's the thing, they went into the year having, in the last two years, since they added Kevin Durant, they were only, they were only pressed once. The series against Houston, they had won seven of their eight series in five games or fewer. And seemingly they got better, because they added an all NBA caliber center. And that's what I want to talk to you about because seemingly they got better, but they, Boogie Cousins has not been an improvement for them. He has made their offense worse, which is surprising to me, has made their defense worse, which we probably should have anticipated to a degree. At full strength or not, I wonder if Boogie Cousins is playable in a series against the Houston Rockets with how often they run pick and roll and how often they want to isolate you. He might be playable in a series against the Denver Nuggets. Nikola Jokic can't guard anybody, like so Boogie is going to struggle on the defensive end, but Jokic's got nothing for Boogie on the other end. Capella can guard Boogie, so he's not going to punish you offensively. And on the defensive end, aren't they just going to put him in the torture chamber again and again and again, Houston against him? Well, you look at this whole acquisition now to Bogey and bringing him back. Now he has won a championship with the Golden State Warriors. He understands the system. So he's a guy that can come in with that starting unit, but when you're going against the Houston Rockets, if it's a late game situation, I see Steve Kerr going small ball. I see him going back to Iguodala. I see him pushing the five over to Draymond Green. But guys, keep this in mind. I don't think Boogie is bad for them offensively. Boogie is a big that can shoot from the outside, can pass. We're starting to see his offense come around. Where they struggle is the defensive end. That's the problem they have. You mentioned that the pick and roll. He has not been stellar in a pick and roll. I've seen more straight line drives to the basket with the Golden State Warriors than I have seen in the last three years. It's amazing to me. But they have to think about this. Boogie is a guy. He's playing for a contract next year. So if he's not playing at the end of games, does that disturb your locker room? And the organization, they made a promise to him because he took less. That's the only way he could fit into the roster by taking that contract and less. And there was plenty of discussions. Boogie knew I'm going there to try to reinvent my image, try to be a champion and try to get me a max deal. Tell me who the person in the organization that has that conversation with Boogie Cousins and say, you're not going to be playing in those important minutes. That, to me, that person does not exist unless you're going to have Draymond. I was going to say staff, because what I got going forward is more important and what you agreed to. I came here with an agreement and that agreement is we're going to bring me back slowly but I'm going to be integrated back onto this team and I'm going to be playing critical minutes. So those promises and those minutes, they promised him. And that's why Boogie Cousins is going to be out there and that's why it's on the board that they can be beat because of the lack of defense that we've seen the worst of the last five years of a Warriors team. Following, Chris Broussard breaks down the top five NBA coaches. There's always, we're going to hit you with a great top five and since I sat down with Danny Green, he of course plays for one of the all time great coaches in Greg Popovich. That got me to thinking, who are the best five coaches in NBA history? And at number five, I'm going with Lenny Wilkins. Lenny Wilkins, one of the few people in the world to ever be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. He did it as a coach because he's the second winning this coach of all time with over 1,130 victories. Then he also won a title, 1979 with the Seattle SuperSonics and check this out. There have been two teams in 38 years, the last 38 years of NBA history to win a championship without a bonafide superstar or a guy who would be considered a top 50 player of all time. One of them was Lenny Wilkins Seattle SuperSonic teams. So he did a great job of coaching them. Also was great in Cleveland and Atlanta and some other places Lenny Wilkins, fifth greatest coach of all time. At number four, the man, Pat Riley, coach the Lakers, the Knicks, the Miami Heat has won five championships all together, four with the Showtime Lakers of Magic Johnson and Karim Abdul-Jabbar. And then 18 years after his last title with the Lakers, he leads the Miami Heat to a championship in 2006. Pat Riley showed his greatness when he left LA and went to the New York Knicks. Now in LA, he's coached this glamorous up and down, fast break style with Magic Johnson leading the way. Then he goes to New York and completely changes his coaching style and coaches the Knicks of Patrick Ewing to a hardcore defense first, slow down type game that made them a top team in that era and a contender against Michael Jordan. So Pat Riley can coach in many ways and that's what makes him the fourth greatest coach of all time. At number three, Greg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs. This guy, similar to Pat Riley, can coach to the strengths of his players. When he had David Robinson and Tim Duncan, twin towers were going inside. When David Robinson gets older, they build it around Tim Duncan. When Tim Duncan gets older, Tony Parker and the pick and roll becomes the focal point of the team. When Parker gets over, they do a lot of ball movement. They're shooting a lot of threes when they beat Miami in the finals. Then they get Kawhi Leonard to come of age and Lamarcus Aldridge is a free agent. They go more ISO style. Greg Popovich adjusts to the strengths of his players. Oh, and he's also got five championships. He's also about to lead the Spurs to the playoffs for the 21st straight year, that second longest streak in the NBA history. And then he's got 18 years. It's about to end this year maybe, but 18 years of 50 or more wins, longest streak in NBA history. Greg Popovich, number three. At number two, I'm going way back. Red Arbok of the Boston Celtics. Look, this guy is an absolute legend. Led the Celtics to nine championships with Bill Russell leading the way. Great thing about Arbok too, is that in that era where racism was just overt, he was a guy that didn't care whether you were black player, white player, whatever. He was the first NBA coach to start five black players. He hired the first black coach, Bill Russell, who actually coached the Celtics to two championships himself. But Red Arbok, great innovator, was the first to create the sixth man. I mean, Red Arbok, second best coach of all time. And at number one, you know who it is, Phil Jackson. A bit of a strange guy, you know, with the Zen and the smoking and all that stuff, but you can't take it away from him. The guy is a great coach, 11 championships, obviously an NBA record. Now everybody would say, well, of course he had Michael Jordan, and Scottie Pippen and Shaq and Kobe, but here's the thing. The great Michael Jordan, the goat Michael Jordan, never won a championship without Phil Jackson. Phil Jackson was great psychologically with players, really got him to perform to the best of their ability, got him to play the team basketball that was necessary to win championships. I know he had a lot of great talent, but a lot of other coaches had those players and have had great talent and have not been able to win championships, especially in the way he's done it. Three Peets are hard to come by. Phil Jackson has three peated three times and then his other two championships were a repeat, as good as Popovich is, never three peated. You know, so the ability to get your players to be dialed in, to be hungry, to play with a sense of urgency and want to win a championship after they've won one or two, that is a gift. Phil Jackson has it. That's why he's the best coach of all time. Thank you for listening to the Hoops on Fox podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a five star review, letting us know what you think of the show.