What it takes for an outdoor ice rink in NC…

Jay Williams, Jay Will, Keishon and Max.

Every morning right here on the radio in Raleigh and where you are I'm sure. Alright, sir, you're as a Brooklyn Nets season ticket holder. Can we start today off on a positive note? Why can't it be a positive? Why can't it be a positive? Why can't it be a positive?

Alright, go ahead. Well whenever things start off with Brooklyn Nets, it necessarily has to be too positive over the last two weeks if you know what I mean. You remember over the last two weeks, certainly not, but you remember before the experiment that this was the overachieving team. This was the team that with Spencer Dinwiddie by the way. I don't know how many games they won but they were one of the surprises of the East and then they dipped their toe into the super team water and that didn't work out. So we're back to your roots.

Yeah, now it's a battle for New York. The Knicks beat us last night and I like Spencer Dinwiddie a lot. Obviously, look, if we're looking at things realistically, you know, the combination of not having a homegrown superstar when you do these big threes makes it very difficult and challenging. Not having a guy like Paul Pierce who was there at the big three with Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Not having Dwayne Wade who was there at Lebron James and Chris Bosh. Somebody that can say, here's what the standard is.

Here's what the culture is. Here's what the coach means when he says this, uh, guys to get you to buy into that. I think ultimately with Kyrie having the challenges he had with KD, with James leaving early, Steve Nass first time head coach, you know, coaching these guys and Sean March, we're at a rebuild, you know, the nectar at a rebuild. And so we have draft picks now. Actually you can make a case that we're in a better situation now than what we were, you know, pre when Joe Harris finally got there, we'd had no picks out of wings and having pieces that teams need to get back to a championship caliber level. It's a rebuild and it's a good position to be in. I guess coming off of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie still in the worst disasters we've had in the history of sports, but it is where it is Adam.

So first of all, there are a couple of things here before I get to the, where did this whole thing go wrong? Did you grow up, uh, from Plainfield, New Jersey? Did you grow up a Nets fan? Were you, uh, were you going to Brendan Byrne arena to see, uh, the Buck Williams, New Jersey Nets? You know, for me, I kind of grew up more of a Detroit Pistons fan. Um, Isaiah.

Yeah. And it was, it was something about not being the tallest guy being the fierce competitor. Um, I just, I love the swag that Zeke brought to the table, but I went to a lot of games, uh, watching the New Jersey Nets. And for me, frankly, it re like my basketball fandom really started, um, with Biggie's basketball, like watching Georgetown basketball, I was being recruited by a guy, um, you know, for Villanova, I play with him John Celestin a ton for my AAU team, New Jersey demons. And so Steve Lapis was the head coach and I was familiar with, you know, Biggie's carry kettles and nose teams and then watching Carrie get drafted to New Jersey. And then obviously going to Nets games, the Meadowlands was just what I did.

It was, that was basketball to me. I wasn't a Nick fan. I wasn't a Celtic fan. I was a Nets fan and it's always stayed with me. And I don't see it going to Brooklyn. You felt like it was more in tune with the culture, even though I missed it for New Jersey.

So that's where it all comes from, Adam. But it's still like, for me, I still love Brooklyn is still my team. It just, the last couple of years have been really painful.

There's no question has been painful. I'm curious your thoughts on where this whole thing, this experiment went wrong. Well, first off, it's an experiment that I'm sure Brooklyn would do all over again.

If they could, they would just do it differently. I would say, I think where we're not wrong. I just think the, the personalities in play here and how things were shaped narration wise from the beginning, just started to lead it down an interesting path, the wrong path. And I would say this to that, you know, being on the plane with Kevin Durant flying back to New York after he tore his Achilles during the NBA finals was a very vulnerable moment for him in his life. And Kevin Durant is one of the most powerful people I've ever been around. And he knows who he is basketball wise, but I think everybody can relate that at that time, you know, he was a people's champ, but he got misdiagnosed. He tried to play through it. He tore his Achilles and for a lot of players kind of feel like almost make your career as a chance to be in jeopardy.

It might be over. And I think at that juncture, Kevin Durant was trying to figure out what was the next move and was that, was he going to stay with golden state? Was he going to try to do something on his own? You know, he wasn't really sure maybe exactly where he wanted to be, but Kyrie was, he has a very strong personality and these two were very close and Kyrie's like, I want to go to New Jersey.

I want to be a part of the Brooklyn X. We need to do it this way. And I think Kevin liked the thought of doing it his way with his teammates, but that wasn't Kevin saying, I'm going to do it this way. Do you want to come with me? It was more so Kyrie saying, Hey look, this is a team.

I feel like we should do it here. And Kevin liked the way that sounded. And from the beginning conversations with Sean Marx and company about this is Kevin's team, but you have to think from the outside, it was never deemed as Kevin's team. It was always Kyrie saying, this is what I wanted to be.

So I think just having that, you know, challenge of power and whose voice really mattered and who was going to handle confrontation when one guy wanted to do it as opposed to another. And now we're going to have a first year head coach has no head coaching experience. So I think just the way things got kicked off, it thinks I've got kicked off by saying Kyrie, this is Katie's team. I'm just going to state it.

You may not like it, but this is how it's going to go. And everything coming through Kevin and him and Kai working that way, it would have been different than it saying this is Kai's team, even though we're saying it's Kevin's team, everything operating internally deemed as if it was Kyrie's team. And I think that was the first biggest challenge for the Nets and how they handled it.

Jay Williams is joining us as he does every Tuesday here. I think one of the most important things that you said, you said a few minutes ago about there was nobody there who was their team because I think in the in the long run, Miami worked because Dwayne waned Dwayne Wade was rooted in Miami. And maybe the first year he didn't turn it over. It wasn't really turned over to LeBron.

And maybe that's why they didn't win. But they won the next two when it really became on the court, LeBron's team. But Dwayne Wade was still the anchor. And the same thing happened in Boston with Paul Pierce already there, even though Ray Allen was such a huge part and Kevin Garnett was such a huge part.

And Rajon Rondo, too, was even in Golden State, Adam, Steph Curry. Absolutely. KD comes in. No question about it. But the head coach, the fact that there was so much talk, I think it was more from Kyrie than Kevin that we don't really need a head coach. Well, I think you do. And I think when you let the players, certain players anyway, I don't know if you could you can maybe LeBron could get away with this.

I'm not sure. But when you let the players dictate so much, do you run the risk of this happening? You know, Adam, this is a polarizing conversation.

You're damned if you do your dance, if you don't. I mean, now what we're arguing for the Lakers and LeBron is he had too much power and the franchise needs to get the power back. They don't win a championship once Anthony Davis comes and becomes a Laker.

How the hell do you think that happened? Right. Right. So that got you a championship.

Was it worth it? I would come to terms and say it was. So I think there's a delicate balance in how the power dynamics work.

I think it has to be a collaboration. But this this this whole notion that it's one way or the other, it's never one way or the other. It's both teams working together and both teams having accountability as relates to front office and player. And you know, the power dynamics of what the player brings to the table as if it's an agency that they don't own, but still have, you know, connection to if it's free agents and recruiting people that because they can make phone calls and create an environment conducive to winning and make it desirable to come to a certain place. It's all the factors working in together. I hate that we always decipher it and make it one or the other.

They're both together. Yeah, I 100 percent agree. And Josiah didn't have to turn over basically the franchise to a group.

He did not write it. That's a choice that they made. And I'm not even saying that it might not work. I mean, I do wonder what would have happened had covid not hit. Because I thought that was probably the biggest the biggest crack for this franchise because mean Kyrie was unavailable for the first half of the season and then only for the set for half of the second half of the season. And that was his choice. And Kevin Durant dealt with it as best he could. And Kevin's been hurt, too.

But I wonder what would have happened had covid not hit. Adam, I'm going to say about that. Good.

I want to really lean into it. We're there's a reason why in New York a lot of people got back pay the Jeep Grand Cherokee for by it's electrified. So you can boogie, woogie, woogie into the forest. Boogie, woogie, woogie through the mud or boogie, woogie, woogie to work where you boogie, woogie, woogie down the hall to your boss's office to tell him you quit.

Then you boogie, woogie, woogie to the elevator as he boogie, woogie, woogies after you begging, please take me with you. The electrified Jeep Grand Cherokee for by learn more at Jeep.com. Jeep is a registered trademark of FCA US LLC. Who are vaccinated? Yeah. So put that into perspective. Like when we when people start hitting these points by saying, well, he's unavailable. Like, OK, well, a lot of people chose not to get that like then got back pay.

I work from home for four months. Right. Like everybody ESPN worked from home. Yeah.

You were in your closet. So it doesn't just go into like we just hit these like high line points. And I'm like, I hear it's very challenging for a lot of people in the black consciousness of our country during George Floyd that were questioning whether they wanted to come to work or not. It put a lot of things into perspective. So I am not sitting here going through one by one all the Kyrie Irving stuff at all. But there were some pretty big things that occurred over the last several years that I feel like now just became headline points that we just gloss over the nuance of all those things. And they were pretty significant, big things that we all dealt with differently internally. And the truth is, is that if Irving had played for the Indiana Pacers, he would have been allowed to play at home.

Right. And so the only two teams that were impacted by that were actually three, the Knicks, the Nets and the Warriors because of local local laws. And what I didn't understand was the ability for visiting teams to bring unvaccinated players in. But the home team could not.

That was the giant disconnect for me. Whether you believe in the rule of the law or not, it was just completely inconsistent to say that it's OK if you don't live here but work here. But if you live here and work here, you can't work. It's just none of that. None of that made any sense. It's just all part of the bigger picture. And I always and I've always said this about Kyrie. I think his heart is in the right place. I hope I've always thought his heart was in the right place.

Right place. He cares about a lot of different things. And that's cool. And I think it makes him who he is. And sometimes it just he gets caught up in it. Like, I don't know, Adam.

No, I don't know. I get that we talk about team sports for a living. It's all about are you doing whatever in the best interests of the team?

Well, I am going to go ahead and say this on your show. Like, you know, you get blessed to play this game and to make a life changing money with it. I don't always look at every player having to do what's best for the team as are you doing what's best for yourself. You know, and I've seen Kyrie Ervin change a lot of lives.

I've seen him donate the causes. I've seen us spend his time. And I'm just able, I guess, from being a former player, I'm able to look at things a little bit differently.

And I I hear all that. And I would be I would be torn if I were a player because I feel like, man, I missed my window with a guy like Kyrie Ervin. I'm not Kevin Durant. I would love to hear Kevin Durant's thoughts. Yeah.

Real opinion on it. But there are also a lot of other people Kyrie has helped with his path. That's his path that he chose.

So I I don't know, man, it's a tough conversation. You know, the interesting thing, the latest Kyrie flap happened because of a documentary. Kyrie Irving is a documentary.

That would be a fascinating life story to really tell. And by the way, he's asked about his long term contract with Dallas. You know, it's like another one of those things like, well, you're asking about that. I get journalistic integrity, but then he's like, I'm focused on that. Well, how can we all talk about it?

So like, it just feels like, you know, it's always if you have a relationship with the media that is contentious and it's been contentious, you know, from the time you've been on board, like, you know, you're not really going to give your true self. I would pay money to watch that documentary. No, no question. No question.

It would be number one on Amazon. Jay Williams is joining us here. I apologize if anybody or anybody got offended by that. I apologize.

All right. So I need to ask you, former Duke star jersey in the rafters. Did the Blue Devils get screwed in the state of Virginia for the second time? They clearly got hosed at Virginia Tech when they went to the monitor and decided that the inadvertent punch to the throat of Kyle Filipowski was just OK. And we're going to allow that, even though I checked with a former referee and said, no, inadvertent or not, it should have been called. Did they get screwed at Charlottesville on Saturday? Well, yes, they got screwed.

But this is also coming from a guy that literally wrote Jason Gardner like the NCAA national championship game, like I was in the Kentucky Derby. OK. We've also had a lot of calls that have just worked in our not every call is going to go right. Should he have been rewarded to free throws at the end of game? You're damn right. He should have. Do I wish that John Shire would have been a little bit more aggressive in his approach and animated? Yes. But also, that's not who John Shire is.

And I do think that him being even killed has is going to help him long term because I would have lost my mind. Yep. I would have thrown chairs. I would have put a I would have thrown chairs in the court like Bob Knight. OK, I would have not been a great representation of my university.

So, yes, we can get bogged down into the details of it. But I think Duke has received a lot of gracious calls before that. I'm never going to complain or use calls or lack there of a call as an excuse. Right. I'm not a believer on that.

It's like I'm not going to be well, so broke. You know, we just didn't get that one. Like, that's the call. You know, that is the call. And we have to live by the call.

But we also have to put ourselves in positions, Adam, where I'm going to look back in the game. Super Bowl prime example. OK. You don't like the call down the stretch.

I hear you. There is warrant there for that on the Bradbury call, but they don't have the fumble in the first half. You know, don't allow the punt return by their Tony to go for 80 plus yards. So we take care of other aspects of the game. We won't have to worry about the call late in the game. That's how I look at sports in general, because I don't want to just always give it to the rest and complain about that. I'm with you.

One hundred. Don't turn it over twenty two times and maybe win that win that game in regulation. I appreciate you bringing up Jason Gardner. I was sitting. It's a matter of fact, with I was sitting with Bob Valvano, who's going to do radio for the ACC tournament this year. He and I were sitting basically at center court right behind the scorers table.

And we saw that. And I try to remember, was that your fourth would have would have been your fourth or fifth foul? One of the two. I don't know. My fourth.

I think my fourth. And if that might have been in the first half to. Yep. That was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. Not called. Sometimes, you know, I'm just glad those ACH payments hit and everybody was taken care of.

You know, sometimes they have to hit on time. Unbelievable. All right. On that note, I again, I cannot thank you enough for bringing up the Jason Gardner thing, because I know especially Tar Heel fans, how many of them go? What about that?

And I'm like, I can't I can't explain. I think the Tar Heels just need to focus on themselves right now. No one at home against Miami. They haven't beaten a good team yet. They actually know they're the best when they have is NC State.

But that was on their home floor. I'm just telling you right now, Adam, I am coming down for Duke at Carolina for game day. OK. I might or might not participate in game day. Oh, and I am coming down with a lot of animosity. And this is the first time I will be in a gym since I watched that squad. I'm not going to say their name anymore. Beat my coach the last two times on the way out.

It's personal. I'm coming with the pain. I just want you to know that I look forward to seeing you live in person on your show. I'm coming to the studio. We're going to hang out.

We're going to do multiple shows. I'm there. I love that so much. That is fantastic. I'm coming with the pain. He is. He is, man. I can't wait.

That was tremendous. The Jeep Wrangler four by eight. It's electrified. So you can boogie, woogie, woogie up a mountain over creeks or boogie, woogie, woogie through a desert where you get bit by a pit piper. So you boogie, woogie, woogie back to camp and ask your friends if they'll suck the snake venom out when they say no.

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