It is the JR Sport Brief show on the Infinity Sports Network. I'm coming to you live from Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you for being here. Nobody told you thank you today.
I did. Thank you again for hanging out with us. This show gets started every weekday, Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 Pacific.
What a day, what a time, what a show. We've already been talking about a lot. We got into Justin Tucker, this man released by the Baltimore Ravens. We talked about some of the basketball action that we got, that we saw, that we witnessed over the weekend. We talked about some winners. You know, teams like the Denver Nuggets will be in action tonight against the Thunder. We talked about the Golden State Warriors. We got to wait until tomorrow until they take on the Wolves. And then we talked about some losers like James Harden and the Clippers. James Harden's disappearing act in the postseason continues on. The Houston Rockets and Jalen Green. Well, they got some growing up to do.
Not a shock, not a surprise. And we're actually minutes away from the start of another basketball game, another series outside of the Nuggets and the Thunder. The Boston Celtics are getting ready to host the New York Knicks.
That series, game one, is only minutes away. I'm in Atlanta, Georgia. Thank you to our producer holding it down in New York City, Nico Scarlatos. And thank you again to you.
If you missed the first hour of the show, go ahead and hit rewind on the free Odyssey app. Thank you for listening on your local affiliate, Sirius XM375, and a smart speaker if you have one. You can call up 888-710-4ISN.
That's 888-710-4ISN. Hey, how about this? In about 20 minutes, we're going to have a chat with Bonta Hill. He covers the Golden State Warriors for NBC Sports Bay Area, as well as 95-7 The Game. So Bonta will come through and join us in about 20 minutes to talk about what these Golden State Warriors can do against this big Minnesota Timberwolves team, anchored by, crazy to say, defensively, Rudy Gobert.
They are not a small squad, so we'll see what the smaller, small-ish Golden State Warriors can go out there and do against these Wolves. So we'll have that chat with Bonta Hill in about 20 minutes, next hour, to talk about all things going on in the league, what we got going on out west with the Nuggets and Thunder, as well as the Wolves, Warriors, all of the series. Steve Ashburner is going to join us.
NBA.com, a senior writer. So we have a lot to get into. We got a new destination for the NFL Draft this upcoming season, or excuse me, we just had the draft. We just had it in Green Bay next year.
The draft is going to take place in Pittsburgh, PA. And then we found out that in two more years from now, the NFL Draft is going to take place at the National Mall, right behind the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. They're expecting about 1 million plus people to show up for the draft. Damn. That's a lot of folks, unless I am requested professionally to be there. I ain't trying to be out there amongst 1 million people.
No, thank you. I can sit here and do the show right here from Atlanta, Georgia. We'll see. It's going to be a hell of an experience.
1 million plus people. We'll talk about that and actually hear the president's announcement from that earlier today. You want to find me online?
You can at JR Sportbrieve. I said this. We are getting ready for Celtics, Knicks.
Now I've said this last week. I don't know if I'm a turncoat. I don't know if I'm a reformed New York Knicks fan. I just, I don't feel the same way that I used to about it. I just don't. And the optimism, the false optimism surrounding a lot of Knicks fans and emanating from Knicks fans is just, sometimes I don't get it. I watched and saw what Jalen Brunson did last week.
Absolutely amazing. Clutch player of the year, knocking down game winning threes, series winning threes. But then I look at Karl-Anthony Towns. It's like, here's 10 points.
That's my contribution. I look at what Karl-Anthony Towns did last year in the post season. He's up, he's down. Sometimes he's a ghost. I'm not all that enthralled by, by his lack of consistency and the fact that he's still doing this in New York, I'm just like, let's be real. Drew Holliday's been dealing with a leg issue, a hamstring.
And now he's supposed to come back. They built the New York Knicks to try to counter what the Boston Celtics have done. They got wings. We need wings.
OG Ananobi. We need him to frustrate Brown and Tatum and let's trade for Mikel Bridges and bring in Karl-Anthony Towns. That's the counter to Kristaps Porzingis. And we have Brown, or excuse me, we have Jalen Brunson and they have Holliday. The Boston Celtics also have depth.
They have the sixth man of the year. Not something that a New York Nick would know anything about, not on this damn team. I mean, Knicks fans complain about the lack of depth or the fact that Tom Thibodeau doesn't even go onto the bench. And can you blame him? What's he going to do?
Throw McBride out there all the time? This is crazy. The New York Knicks in an ideal space, if they had more depth, I'd feel more confident. The Celtics team is deep.
I didn't even mention Devin White and Al Hoffa, like they got bodies. These New York Knicks, unfortunately, unless Jalen Brunson is going to turn into God and average 50 points here in this series, I think the Boston Celtics will get the Knicks the hell up on out of here in probably six games. Maybe, maybe less. I don't feel confident in the New York Knicks as they get ready to take on these Boston Celtics. I don't. And rivalry? What rivalry? Jalen Brown was asked about renewing a Knicks Celtics rivalry, and I'm just kind of like, don't the Knicks got to win something first?
Listen to this. It's a great stage for basketball. You know, just all the history between, you know, Boston and New York is excellent to be able to live or to relive in that. So I don't take that for granted. You know, I think a lot of people will be excited watching this series just because of the history.
Yeah, the history. Ain't nobody think about that. New York Knicks fans are pretty much probably just happy to be here at this point in time.
They certainly act like it. This terrible situation. Hey, Josh Hart, who plays for the New York Knicks. How does he feel about this? He does not think about no rivalry. He knows the New York Knicks actually have to believe in no one understand that they can beat the Celtics.
Listen to this. I mean, we always go in with confidence. It's idiotic to play the game if you don't go in with confidence.
If you don't go in to win, you shouldn't go out there. So, you know, we're confident in the team that we have. We're confident in the coaching staff that we have. And, you know, I'm sure his vice versa is the same for them.
So, you know, it goes down to execution. It goes down to physicality, you know, mental toughness, all those kind of things. So, you know, we're always confident in ourselves. And, you know, if you're not confident, you know, like I say, you shouldn't be out there. True. Very true. Like, why are you playing the game if you don't feel that you can go out there and beat the opposition? I mean, sometimes you got to be realistic. But in most cases, if you don't believe in yourself, then you done already lost.
You're a loser. Now, he talked about mental toughness. Tom Thibodeau, head coach of the New York Knicks. Well, I don't know how mentally tough he is, but he's certainly someone who can, uh, the McHale Bridges over here flexing his knee. The game just started.
Boston leads three to two. Tom Thibodeau seems like he has always mentally exhausted. He said that the team, they have to be very well aware of what's going on and actually pay attention.
Listen to this. We need everyone to play well. We've got to be at our best. I think balance is what's going to win. You know, you can't have any mental breakdowns where you have a bad two or three minute stretch because of their ability to go out there and beat the stretch because of their ability to go on runs.
You have to minimize it. Yeah, go on runs like just knock down threes, pull guys off the bench. Something the Knicks can't do. The Celtics winning in six.
Aniko, you said it. You're looking forward to this game. It's underway now. Boston's up three to two, about two minutes of going by. You think the Knicks are going to win this series? You got the Celtics. I know who you're rooting for.
What do you think is going to happen? I'm not going to tell you that the Knicks are going to win this series, but I just cannot believe the negativity from this fan base going into the series. It's unbelievable. Fill us in. We don't know.
What's the word? I mean, nobody, not even Nick fans. I haven't heard a single person say that the Knicks have a chance in this series. And again, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that they definitely are going to win it, but we've seen bigger upsets in sports before. I mean, even if you look at the two cities, New York and Boston, similar situation, what happened with the Giants and Patriots in 2007? I mean, that was the greatest football team of all time. And the Giants were able to knock them off and win the Super Bowl. Why can't the Knicks win a second round playoff series against the team that lost 20 games this year?
Oh boy. Well, I mean, a little different between a single elimination football game versus having to go out and beat a team four times. The Knicks, and they own four versus the Celtics this season.
I can't, is it negativity or is it being realistic? And you said it too. Who do you think is going to win the series? If I had to, if I was, you know, you told me a million dollar bet right now, I'm going to put, I'm going to put my money on the Celtics, but I think it's going to be a better series than people think.
I'm not going to sit here and say they're going to get swept or lose in five because that's what most people think. Wow. Yeah.
Yeah. Well, the losing is still losing. And the thing for the New York Knicks, this is kind of the team that they're, they're stuck with. I mean, they traded away all these first rounders from McHale Bridges. You paid OG and an OB. Jalen Brunson took a discount.
He's eventually going to get a bigger check. I mean, unless you now move Karl-Anthony Towns again, there's almost no way for the New York Knicks to seemingly add legitimate talent to the roster, unless they're, they're trading away a star. And we know Brunson ain't going anywhere. So outside of looking at Karl-Anthony Towns, it's kind of a tough pill to swallow to think that the Knicks, there was a lot of enthusiasm when they added McHale Bridges. There was enthusiasm when they added Karl-Anthony Towns, but the lack of depth has just kind of irked a lot of people.
And then when you look up and down both rosters, it is almost night and day when it comes down to talent. The Celtics have talent that they, they, they have to try to fit in there. And so, yeah, Nico's going Celtics. I'm going Celtics. I'm giving the Knicks, I'm giving them two games. I don't think they'll, they'll, they'll push this series to seven. We'll see what they do, but let's be real. Dating back to last year, when the Boston Celtics walked away, hoisting the Larry O'Brien and people thought they're going to run the same team back.
And unless these dudes are hurt, it's going to be hard pressed not to, to look at them as the favorites to come out of the East and Joe Mazzola, Mr. Enthusiasm all himself. And he was asked about stopping the New York Knicks and slowing him down. And he talked very fast. And he talked like this. And he said, well, we have to do, we have to get to play defense to just show up and work.
This is what he said. It's not just one guy, it's a team. You have to be able to defend them as a team. But I think when you're playing against guys like that, even the things that you can control are even more important. Your transition defense, your rebounding, your spacing, your execution, your defending without falling.
I think all they test those controllables with a high level of discipline. What the heck? Nico, do you know what the hell he just said? Do you say anything?
It sounded like he was speaking pretty fast. Yeah, this man is, I don't, I know he likes MMA. He likes fighting. He likes basketball, of course.
I don't know what the hell else is. I know he got a family. I think he has two kids. Maybe he likes a lot of coffee too. You think, you think he's loading up?
I mean, there's gotta be something going on there that can't be natural. He can't, why can't he just be naturally enthusiastic about basketball? He's just so excited he can't contain himself.
I mean, I'm enthusiastic too, but I can, I can control, you know, how to, how to speak in a normal pace. Maybe he's trying to, how do I say this? Maybe he's trying to speed up his press conference, right? No? That makes sense? A little bit? That's fair, I guess. But I mean, he said a lot of words.
So if you, why not just take the Bill Bella check route? Well, I feel like he's done both in the past. I feel like it is since we have learned and heard about Joe Mazula when he took over from Imei Udonka, I feel like we've gotten one or two. Either he says absolutely nothing or he comes by and he just gives you what you just did. He sounds like the FedEx guy from the 80s and it's just, he's just a mouth a minute.
It's like, slow down, bro. Let people, you know, get a chance to understand what you're saying, but who wants to hear from Joe Mazula? Does anybody ever really want to hear from him?
I know I don't. Yeah, it's like, we, we, we listen to, I make, I listen to make fun of him in context, but unless it's a particular, this is a, this is a tough, you know what? This guy's yelling at Jason Tatum to get up off the ground. The guy has a busted up wrist, missed a basketball game and he's screaming at the dude to just get up off the ground.
A tough dude, I guess Joe Mazula is. New York Knicks leading Boston eight to seven. The game is just underway. Of course, we'll keep you up to date on this basketball game as it continues on. The New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics game one here in the second round.
And also, we had this game yesterday. If you're a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers, I think you might have a little bit of a reason to be worried. The Pacers beat them in game one of their matchup yesterday, 121 to 112. Tyrese Halliburton, the guy who says he doesn't care about his peers who voted him the most overrated player in the league.
Well, he's kind of hot right now. 22 points, 13 assists. Donovan Mitchell needed like 30 shots to get to 33 points, but here's a larger issue for the Cavaliers. Darius Garland has been out with a toe. Mobley is now dealing with an ankle issue.
DeAndre Hunter is dealing with a thumb. Game two is tomorrow. Like there's a legitimate chance that the Indiana Pacers would like to get up and down and up and down and up and down the basketball court. There's a good chance that the Cavs are sitting at number one, number one seed all year long, that they're going to go down 0-2 tomorrow to the Indiana Pacers. This series is not over.
I don't care if it's 0-2 tomorrow. It's not done, but not a position the number one seed wants to be in. Cavaliers not looking good right now.
And the Pacers, yeah, Mr. Overrated, he might make him his way to an Eastern Conference Finals. We'll see you sooner than later. It's the J.R. Sportbreeze Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Hey, you know, speaking of coaches, we're going to take a break. You know, Bonta Hill, he's going to join us in about 25 minutes. He's going to come through and join us. So we'll get his thoughts on what's going on in Golden State, the chances that they stand against the Minnesota Timberwolves. And so we'll take a break and we come back. We'll talk and hear from another coach who's had some issues with the media. His name is Greg Popovich. He spoke to the media for the first time since he had a stroke. He's passing the torch. And then there was another big announcement today in Washington, D.C., the president announcing that the NFL is bringing a big event to the nation's capital.
We'll hear both of those on the other side of the break. You're locked into the J.R. Sportbreeze Show coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. It is. The J.R. Sportbreeze Show here with you on the Infinity Sports Network, letting you know that this portion of the show is brought to you by Ethos Life, the easy way to get life insurance in 10 minutes, up to two million dollars in coverage with no medical exam.
Just a few health questions. You can get your free quote at check Ethos dot com. Not available in all states. Right before we went to break, we talked about the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics, their series currently underway in Boston right now. About five minutes ago here in the first, Boston leads 17 to 14. And then we listened to head coach of the Boston Celtics, Joe Missoula, who he has conversations with the media. He talks to the press.
Like he's in a rush. Like, I don't know. I remember being in school. I'm sure they don't even teach this anymore. I actually had like a typewriting class.
Like you had to learn how to go on the keys and learn the keyboard, ASDF. And how many words can you punch out a minute? Remember, there was a point in time where you had to put that on your resume.
How many words can you go out and type in a minute? I think that's I think that's moot. I don't think anybody cares about that anymore. But that's how Joe Missoula speaks. He needs to get out as many words as possible. Well, today we learn from one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, one of the greatest coaches really in American sports history. Greg Popovich is stepping down. He's no longer the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. After twenty nine seasons and his unfortunate stroke early in the NBA season, Mitch Johnson is going to take over full time as coach. And I actually said last week, who knows the next time that we'll hear from Greg Popovich.
But the answer is today. Like we heard from Greg Popovich as he kind of passed the torch to Mitch Johnson, explained why he stepped down, told everybody what they can expect moving forward. And yeah, a little slower in speaking, a little softer in voice. But it was good to see Greg Popovich stand up and tell some jokes. He says, I'm no longer the coach. I'm now the boss.
He says El Jefe. He's the boss. He was flanked by Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan standing up on the stage.
Victor Wabinyama was there as well. And let's listen to Greg Popovich. He pretty much said, yeah, I'm not doing his job anymore because my health is just it's not good enough. Things are getting better by the day, but it's not good enough for what we plan ahead. And so it's time to make this change.
Yeah. And as we noted last week, Greg Popovich is no longer going to be head coach. He's still going to be in the building. Greg Popovich is still going to be the president. And I think it's a great thing to still have him around as a resource.
And Mitch Johnson pretty much said the same thing. He's not going to be shy in getting his advice. And I'm sure Greg Popovich is not going to be shy in sharing any advice and any thoughts.
I mean, the blueprint has already been made. The type of players that the San Antonio Spurs bring in the system and then having a seven foot guy in Victor Wabinyama. I think they'll be OK. I'm not all that worried about what the San Antonio Spurs are going to do into the future.
You have Stefan Castle, who just won Rookie of the Year. They have some assets moving forward. Greg Popovich, he's he showed a lot of love to the new head coach, Mitch Johnson, for what he did this past season and what he expects him to do moving forward. I want to thank all of you in here, former players, coaches, friends, people from a ticket office or people who put on a show during timeouts. We all have a part in this. It's not just the players and the coaches. Everybody has been dedicated to do their part to make a successful, thriving organization.
And that starts at the top with the whole family. And we will continue to do our best to do this with class. It's one of the reasons why Mitch Johnson will be taking over because we have total faith in him to continue what's been started a long time ago. Yeah. Yeah.
You talk about class. I mean, outside of Greg Popovich, cursing out, you know, sideline reporters and Craig Sager in a funny way, like the San Antonio Spurs are the type of basketball organization you want. There's no nonsense. There's no rumors. There's no garbage. The talent that they bring in, for the most part, these dudes come across as upstanding guys.
You don't hear about nonsense. And I would expect that to continue with the San Antonio Spurs. A lot of people for years looked at their style of basketball, looked at Tim Duncan and said, oh, my God, it's boring.
The big fundamental. You really went from the Admiral David Robinson and then you went to Tim Duncan, who was as exciting as, you know, white bread. And then you bring on Kawhi Leonard, who's nothing but a robot. And now you have Victor Wambenyamo who turns his phone off at night.
So he is not disturbed. Like this, the Spurs have a way about doing things, and I appreciate it. In a world where everybody has to scream and yell and be obnoxious and be vulgar and be nasty, the Spurs just show up and play basketball. And how long is it going to take before the San Antonio Spurs are back in contention, especially if you know who Victor Wambenyamo is going to be healthy?
We'll see sooner than later. Also, congratulations, Kenny Atkinson named NBA Coach of the Year. Cavaliers won 64 games. We just talked about the trouble that the Cavaliers might be in with some of these injuries already down 0-1 to the Indiana Pacers as of yesterday. Darius Garland dealing with that toe. You got Evan Mobley dealing with that ankle. You got DeAndre Hunter dealing with a thumb.
And they got game two tomorrow. So Kenny Atkinson, who was basically dumped by the Brooklyn Nets before he even got a chance or an opportunity to coach Kevin Durant, had to go over to the Golden State Warriors. Coach of the Year for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But let's be real. When you're a coach in the NBA, you are only as good as what the hell is going on with you right now. Because we've seen championship coaches who have just been, they've been given the boot.
That's just the clear facts. Come on, Michael Malone just got fired. Frank Vogel, booting the holster, got fired. And so, yeah, congratulations on winning Coach of the Year.
It doesn't do you too much when things are not going well. Always easy to get rid of the coach. Not always easy to get rid of the players. Kenny Atkinson named NBA Coach of the Year. It's the J.R. Sportbreeze Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We just heard from Greg Popovich passing the torch to Mitch Johnson. We're here from President Trump. He had some words to share at the White House today about the NFL draft coming to D.C. We'll get into that. We'll talk some more basketball. A matter of fact, when we come back on the other side, we'll have a conversation. Bonta Hill is going to join us.
He covers the Golden State Warriors for NBC Sports Bay Area, as well as 95-7 the game. And so we got more football to get into. We got more basketball.
Bonta Hill on the other side. We'll hear about the NFL draft. We got a lot to do. It is the J.R. Sportbreeze Show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We're moving on into the second round of the NBA playoffs and the Golden State Warriors. It took them seven games, but they dispatched.
They got rid of the Houston Rockets. Tomorrow, they start off against the rather large Minnesota Timberwolves. Rudy Gobert is out there. Randall, big team. Nas Reed and what have you to talk about what we can expect from these these warriors and led by Steph Curry. Get some thoughts on his hand and how are they going to match up against Minnesota? Joining us is someone who covers them all year round.
NBC Sports Bay Area, 95-7 the game. Joining us right now is Bonta Hill. Bonta, how are you, man?
J.R., man. Long time, no talk. How you doing, brother? It's been a pleasure. Well, it's been a long time. Happy to have you back. I'm good. How are you?
I'm doing good, man. These playoffs have been fascinating. I haven't had to shift gears to baseball yet because the Warriors somehow some way won in Game 7 on the street. Not Draymond Green, not only Draymond Green or Jimmy Butler or Steph Curry, but Buddy freaking Hill scored 33 points.
J.R., something crazy, right? He went scoreless in Game 6 against the Rockets, 0 for 4, did not score a point. He follows it up with a playoff career high of 33 points.
He's the first player in NBA playoffs history to go scoreless in one game and then drop 33 in the decks. It's the full Buddy Hill experience. Yeah, he's up, he's down.
Well, before we get into a lot of the stars, and this is one of the main questions, Kuminga has been tethered to the bench. You just talked about Buddy Hill, then he's here one day and the next day he's not. What are your thoughts on what they need from guys not named Draymond, Steph and Jimmy, if they're going to have a chance against Minnesota? Well, they're going to need more from Buddy Hill, right? They're going to need Moses Moody to step up. And look, Moses Moody had a good Game 5, but it came basically when the game was already finalized.
The Rockets were out big in that one. Brennan Pajitoski being that starter next to Steph Curry. He's got to help stabilize that starting unit.
And I'll give credit to Paz. This is his first ever playoff series. He's the youngest player on the team.
I don't think the lights are too bright for him. Although he didn't shoot well last night, just won this ever from afar. He's helping connect the offense to the defense.
He's moving the ball around, playing 0.5 basketball the way the Warriors want to play. So yes, the bench, you know, they were the third highest scoring bench in the league this season. They had three points last night from their bench.
So Moody's going to be a next factor. They're going to need a couple threes from Quinton Post from here and there. So the bench will definitely have to help out the starters who played heavy, heavy minutes in Game 7. And knowing that they're 37, 35, 35, Jimmy, Steph, or some Steph, Jimmy and Draymond. Yes, we're going to need the bench to help out those X factors to help win this series.
So they'll do a lot. They may not get 9 threes from a player like Buddy Hill, but they will need to score at least 30 to 40 points a game to hang with the key wolves. Yvonte Hill covers the Golden State Warriors, catch them on NBC Sports Bay Area. You mentioned Steph Curry. It seems like he had that stretch.
13 points here, 17 points here. Was able to, you know, score 20 points yesterday in the third. How's the thumb, or has he just adjusted to what's going on with it? Yeah, he, listen, he'll never give us any details on the thumb. Steph is a guy who does not discuss his injuries.
He does not use them as an excuse whatsoever. He's got a bilateral knee tendonitis. Nobody ever brings that up anymore. He's played through it. The pelvic contusion, he doesn't discuss that anymore. He just grinds it out.
This thumb that has that heavy wrap on it and that's IG shaking it. And I know the internet detectives a week ago do bid on a photo of him walking to the plane with that dub, but he's going to play. We're going to have to cut that off.
And I still think he tried to play with four fingers on that right head. So he's going to play. It's not going to hold them out of these games. He's been dying to play meaningful basketball, which is why they made the big move for Jimmy Butler right before the trade deadline. He just wants a chance to play the seven game series. And we saw last night, three plays at the half yet the lawyers were up 12.
And of course he closed the show score 19 of a 22 in the second half. So that dub's not going to hinder him whatsoever. He's played through it. He's learned how to dribble with that wrap on his right thumb.
So he's not going to reveal anything. He's never going to tell us how much it hurts, but he's going to play through it. And right now, as long as he's on the court, the Warriors have a bunch of shits.
Well, you talk about a bunch of shits. Throughout this season, this is going to be the first time that the Warriors take on the Wolves without Jimmy Butler. They were three and one against them in the regular season, but they are completely a different team. What do you think we should expect over this series? Oh, you're going to, you're going to get Rudy Gump here at Jermant Green here on the same court. You're going to get some smoke, right?
You're going to get some spiciness. Julius Rando and Jermant might have a bit of history. Anthony Edwards and Jermant Green have traded trash talk back and forth. You got Donte DiVincenzo going up against his former team. He didn't like the way things ended with the Golden State Warriors.
So there's going to be a lot of drama. There's going to be great players, young Timberwolves. Look, these teams are not just this year, JR, where the Warriors beat them three or four times, but you're right. Jimmy Butler wasn't a part of that. The last time the Warriors played the Minnesota Timberwolves, Dennis Schroeder was in the starting lineup.
Trace Jackson gave us a giddy 20 plus minutes. Slo Mo was handling the ball at times. So they're two completely different teams, but going back the last two to three years, these teams have played a lot of games against each other. And they've trash talked. Nas Reed has killed the Warriors.
Rudy Gobert obviously part of the equation now. So these teams know each other very, very well. So it's going to be some hard fought basketball.
You're going to see some low hun- some games in the low hundreds, maybe high 90s. I think this is going to be one of the best series in the second round. And it has instant classic written all over it because who the heck are we, JR, to doubt Stephen Curry, Jermant Green, and Jimmy Butler? But yet on the flip side, you have Anthony Edwards coming from the throne.
He's looking for the throne. He's already taken out Kevin Durant. He took out Jokic last season.
He just took out LeBron and Lucas. So I expect a fascinating series. I think it's going to be riveting. The first four games is every other day, so it's not going to be much rest for both teams. It's probably favorites Minnesota at this point because they're a younger team, but I think both teams are going to just trade- just blows, heavyweight blows left and right here. So I expect a heavyweight fight. I expect the series to go six or seven games.
Oh, well, Bontay, you talk about heavyweight fight. I have images of Draymond Green putting the Go-Bear in the headlocks. How do the fans in the Bay Area feel about Draymond? I mean, he's throwing people to the- we- I can run through the list of people getting stepped on.
Are the fans kind of just like, come on, man, or is it- are they, oh, we love- like, what is it? You know, it was so funny, J.R., that Friday night when the Warriors lost Game 6, and at that point, Draymond had 19 turnovers and only 18 assists in the series against the Rockets. And he was averaging less than seven points a game. He was shooting 26% for Bree, 36 from the floor. He just was not having a good series whatsoever.
So the fans were just like, oh, this is the end. Draymond's cooked. He's washed. And you see what he did last night in Game 7, the 16, 6 and 5, the 2-3's, the trash talk.
He's- look, we hated one day, we love him the next day. He, by far, I gotta say, Stephen Curry's been in this market for a long time. Kevin Durant's been in this market. Klay Thompson.
Think about all the 49ers with Deebo Samuel, and George Kittle, and Fred Warner, and Christian McCaffrey, and all these players that's come through the Bay Area, baseball, football, hockey, whatever it is. Draymond, by far, is the most polarizing player I've covered over the last decade because of what you just mentioned. He may get suspended one day, then the next day he'll drop a triple-double. And he just- all of a sudden, we're like, ah, yeah, that's the Draymond we love. That's the Draymond we grow to love.
And then next thing you know, he'll get a technical like he did. That's when they're like, Dre, what are you doing? It is the full Draymond Green experience. It's just like Russell Westbrook and Denver, right?
You never know what you're going to get. It's the same thing with Draymond. He's going to play the game within the game. He's going to set some illegal screens. He's going to play hard-nosed basketball.
But you know what, JR? The guy's a freaking winner. I mean, as much as he puts us through the stress of just what he's doing on a day-to-day basis, the guy is a winner. He's a 16-game player. In the playoffs, he does show up. So as much as he struggled, he watched it all the way in Game 7 against the Houston Rockets. So look, he's going to get his jersey retired here. He may be a statue guy. And at the end of the day, he's been part of four championship teams.
And so that legacy lives on forever. He's going to always eat for free in the Bay Area. But no, he drives us crazy, man. One day we traded, hell, I may have traded him 50 times over the last eight years, for crying out loud.
But at the same time, I'm thinking, if he's on your team, you love him. Yeah. You talk about a Draymond statue. I'm like, they're going to have to put it across the street, man. A Draymond statue maybe one day, Bontay?
Okay. Hey, I mean, Steph, I mean, listen, Steph's getting the statue. He's getting the statue. But knowing how Joe Lacob is, and he wants these guys to be remembered, they all make his statues.
Who the heck knows? But he's going to have his jersey retired. And he's one of the top 10 warriors of all time. There's no denying that.
The DPOI award, the all defensive teams, and of course the championship runs that he's had with the Dubs. I mean, we hate him at times, but at the same time, we love him. And it's one of those love-hate relationships. Yeah. There's no dispute in that.
We're being joined by Bontay Hill from NBC Sports out in the Bay Area. You know, it's easy to look at this series and this matchup and say the Golden State Warriors are older, which you had mentioned, and the Wolves are our younger squad. But then I also take a look at the size. Will this be the series where this will ultimately catch up to the Warriors? You always think the size is going to catch up to the Warriors, but yet they somehow, some way, find a way. Despite the limitations with their small ball lineup that they've been running for years. Not a small ball lineup with Harrison Barnes and then fast forward to Kevin Durant wasn't really small. Kevin Durant's basically 17. Ajay Gedala was 6'7, 6'8 with the 7'3 wingspan. Draymond Green has long arms. So they work really small, especially when playing Thompson in the back court at 6'7.
They've gone super small. They did against the Boston Celtics, right? They will try to play Rudy Gobert off the floor.
Minnesota's a physical team, not as physical as Houston. They've had success against Rudy Gobert, getting him in the pick and roll. So can you play Rudy Gobert off the floor to take away some of Minnesota's rip protection? And then you go at Julius Randall, possibly who, by the way, is playing probably his best basketball of his career. I'm very impressed with the young man and how he's kind of revitalized his career in Minnesota. Look, rebounding could be an issue for the Warriors, but for some reason they're so scrappy. And now they're employed as 1-3-1 zone defense where they're getting at their guys and playing the zone and making teams shoot over them. Yes, you may say, hey, the size is going to be a problem, but Nas really plays on the three-point line. You know, Julius Randall loves to get the ball with the elbow at the wing and not to traditional power forward close enough, right?
And he can step out and hit the three. I don't think the size will be as big as an issue as it looks on paper. I think the Warriors will be able to navigate around those size issues that Minnesota Timberwolves possess. And so, look, am I picking the Warriors to win the series?
No, not yet. I'm going to be sitting on the fence for this one because Game 1 looks, it could be a schedule loss with the way they have to quick turn around coming from Houston up to Minnesota, play Game 1 tomorrow. But I don't think the size is going to be as big as a deal as it looks on paper.
Okay, so hit the fast forward button just a little bit. When you think about what they can do in the offseason, regardless of what happens, win or lose, they've added Jimmy Butler. What's next for this roster? Kuminga hasn't been getting the burn.
What do you think is going to take place in the offseason? Yeah, I think Kuminga is probably gone at this point, right? It's been an up-and-down career for him in his fourth year. And I don't put all the blame on him.
I know the fan base has been rapping about the job of Kuminga. It's his fourth year. He needs to step up. Well, before he got injured back on January 4th, JR, he was playing his best basketball. 20 points, six rebounds in his previous 17, 50 percent.
And he was figuring it out. The last season when Andrew Wiggins got hurt, Kuminga was playing ball. 20 points a game over the last 35.
Did you look at this previous year where Andrew Wiggins had to go away for two months due to personal reasons and Kuminga was able to help stabilize the starting unit and he played some good basketball. I think he's a good player. Is he an all-star?
No, not yet. Does he have a lot of flaws right now? Yeah, he needs to work on his ball. He has to work on the decision making. But a young man like him at 22 years old has started to play not to make a mistake.
You know, when you start to play not to make a mistake because you're worried about getting yanked from the game, you're not going to play good basketball. So I think Kuminga, and by the way, you know, there's this rumor out there that hell, he passed up 30 million dollars. He should have took the contract.
The lawyers never offered him a deal. They were going to wait because they just fixed their books. They just got under their luxury tax.
It got under their first and second apron. And why not wait? He's a restrictive free agent. Now you just say, hey, JK, go prove to us that you're worth the money and we'll reward you after the season.
But they never offered him anything for 40 years. So with that said, I don't see how he comes back. I think it's a trade shift for the Warriors to maybe get some shooting that sees it alongside Jimmy Butler, Jermaine Green, and Steph McCurry. So I think he's basically played his last basketball to go to St. Warriors.
It looks like it. We'll see what happens in this series that starts tomorrow. Let's see if Kuminga gets out onto the court. Hey, go ahead, Bontay. Tell everybody where they can follow you and your work in NBC Sports, 95-7 the game. Fill us in, man. Yeah, no doubt.
I appreciate that, man. NBC Sports Bay Area hosts the Warriors pre and postgame live on NBC Sports Bay Area. We'll have the coverage even though we don't carry the games anymore.
As they move on to the second round, we'll still do our pre and postgame shows before and after every single game out here in the Bay Area, plus 95-7 the game. I join them every Friday. Step down from the morning show because I was doing double duty for a while.
So I needed to take care of my health or whatnot. But I did the morning show this morning. It was a lot of fun and I'll be there every Friday from 9 to 10 a.m. and then fill in occasionally. So I'll still contribute with 95-7 the game. But you'll find me on Twitter or I guess I should say X now at Bontay Hill.
B-O-N-G-A-H-I-L-L. Hey, Bontay. Always a pleasure, man. And enjoy the series. It's going to be a good one. Absolutely, JR. Keep doing your thing, man. Proud of you, man.
Keep holding down. No doubt about it. That Bontay Hill can catch him out in the Bay Area NBC Sports as well as 95-7 the game.
Thank you so much to Bontay. He's waiting to see what happens, man. This is going to be a close one. I'm still going to go with the Wolves over the Warriors here in this series. I think Anthony Edwards is looking to take that next step forward.
Or he'll be stopped by Steph Curry, which is why this is going to be a good one. It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. We are going to take a break. When we come back, I told you that the President of the United States, he had a message today for NFL fans. There's a very, very big event that is coming to Washington, D.C. in two seasons. First, we get the commanders back in the city at RFK. And now we got a big event coming to D.C., the National Mall. I'm going to tell you what it is on the other side of the break. We're here with the president had to say as well. You're locked in. It's the JR Sport Reshow here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network.
