Brevin Knight, 12-Year NBA Point Guard

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Offer valid for a limited time, $10 minimum per order. Additional terms apply. The word resilient just continues to come up for this basketball team. Whenever you think that the chips are down or they're over-matched or this magical run has to come to an end, they continue to find ways to win games. I thought the adjustments to, number one, be a little bit more physical on the defensive side, but on the offensive end, I thought Bam Adebayo has been fantastic and he is a bad matchup for Jokic because he is so active off the dribble, but also just putting Jokic in numerous pick and rolls.

I thought that was also a big thing to make him be a defender, not just be a guy that can sluff off, play into the painted area when pick and rolls happen. So I thought that was big. And then just the ability to even when they're down, I had my brother saying that when they got down, there it is, they're down. I was like, you just can't count them out. And for whatever reason right now, there is a winning spirit that is going through their basketball team. That was the crazy part for me from the game. Denver goes on a 40-14 run at one point and like you were saying, I thought the game was going to be a blowout. Then in the fourth quarter, Miami plays a great fourth quarter into the final two minutes. It almost just kind of shows you that even when Miami wins, it's still so tough to beat this Denver team because Murray had a great look at the end to tie that sucker up.

Well, I don't think there has been a press conference or interview done by Eric Stolster throughout this playoffs when he said they're going to have to do it the hard way. And I think he means that in every aspect, they're going to have to do it the hard way in terms of executing on the offensive end, continuing to have multiple people step up. They're going to have to do it the hard way on the defensive side, being undersized, playing small lineups, mixing in the zone. I thought the zone was great in the fourth quarter. It slowed down Denver and it made them be a lot more of a standstill offense instead of a motion offense in that fourth quarter. And then like you said, even winning the game with having control of the double-digit lead late into that fourth quarter, it still was a good-look contested three by Murray where they won it. So I think he truly believes and his team truly believes that no matter what, they're going to have to do it the hard way and they're fine with that.

Brevin Knight here with us. How much of a shot do you give Miami to go on to win three more games in this series? As much of a shot as I give Denver.

I mean, at this point, how can you deny what they've done? I think if this was the second round, then you're like, okay, well, they did good in the first round. Well, if it's not the third round, well, they did good in the second round. We're on to the NBA Finals at this point and they've continued to be able to win at home, win on the road. They won game seven. They won in sweep fashion. I think that I give them as much of a chance to win, especially now with them taking back home court advantage. We can say it's a second series where you would think that the talent of the opponent of the Miami Heat is greater. But it doesn't matter in terms of the team side of it because their culture and their team basketball has continued to win out in these series.

Brevin Knight here with us on the Zach Gelb show. After the game, Eric Spulcher said it's an untrained eye to kind of suggest this, but you see that Nicole Jokic goes off in terms of scoring the basketball, but they were able to limit his assist to only four. Do you think that's the best way to play Nicole Jokic, just let him go off offensively and then try to limit everybody else on the Denver Nuggets?

Well, just kind of what I say for these special talent players, and I said it in the Lakers when the Grizzlies played the Lakers in the first round, which is you can't allow three level dominant players to dominate all three areas in the game. You got to at least limit them. If you can limit them to one, you'll probably win the game. If you can limit them to one and not so much of two, then you have a great chance to win.

If they're able to have dominant two and a maybe third category, you'll never win. I thought that was the mentality that Miami took was that we're going to continue to play you. We're going to play you hard.

We're going to respect your game. But we also understand that you can't stop everything with Jokic, that he'll hurt you in so many ways. So I think they just negated his ability to find people as easily and forced him to have to continue to score.

But it's just a matter of trying to take away at least one and a half of the three areas that they do well. And I thought that was a difference in that game. When you were watching the game last night, Mike Malone shredded his team's effort after the game, and he's done this before in the postseason. He didn't even like the way that his team played in a win in game number one. Was effort a problem last night when you look at the Denver Nuggets?

I don't think it was effort. I just think that the physicality surprised them. They didn't see the Miami Heat physicality in the first game, the activity that they were able to play. And then you combine the fact that Miami made shots in this game. In game one, they didn't make shots to keep enough pressure on Denver, to keep them worrying about what was happening next. It was sort of, well, they're going to miss, we rebound, we run. That was the pattern that they got into. They couldn't get into that pattern. And because of that, Miami was able to get back into their zone.

They were able to, we like to say, junk up the game some way to not allow an easy rhythm. So I think that it is incumbent upon them to, again, be able to just play their style of basketball. And if they do that, I think Miami will be just fine. Brevin Knight, you mentioned it earlier, Bam Adebayo has been phenomenal through the first two games here for the Miami Heat. In the last series up against Boston, he was really good early.

And then later on in that series, you didn't see that high level play. I actually think Bam's going to be the biggest key here for Miami to go win three more games. Can you expect what we've seen through the first two games of this series from Bam to continue as this series gets deeper and deeper? I think this series allows Bam even more for us to see who he is in terms of how well he plays off the dribble. His playmaking ability, but also the ability to make mid-range shots. So the thing with Jokic is he is forcing him to have lateral movement. And I think the one thing where Jokic, on the defensive side, where he can get away with things is if you don't press him with somebody that has good foot quickness.

And the thing that Bam has is he has that. He has moves off the dribble to go along with it. And so I think we can expect if he is able to continue to push the ball. The other thing he's doing a good job is in transition, taking the ball from end to end, which makes it a lot harder for you to defend as you're backing up with Jokic's. So I think that he can continue to play the way that he has because he's just staying within himself and doing all the things that he's capable of just with a better opportunity because of who the defender is. It's also kind of crazy, Brevin Knight, that this series has won one without Jimmy Butler playing a great game yet.

Yeah, so there's been times where we've been on our thread. I'm like, I'm tired of watching Jimmy Butler jump in the air at the basket and then passing to somebody for a late shot clock shot. And then somebody mentioned to me that, well, maybe just trying to get their confidence on the fourth quarter.

They can also be ready to take those same shots. But listen, I am not one to question a man that has gotten his team to this point playing the way that they have played. Would you like for him to be aggressive throughout the game? It's just because you know what he's capable of doing.

But that's not the way that he operates. So by his mode of operation, it has been successful for Miami. But they always know in the fourth quarter, as it was in game two, when they needed big baskets or they needed big plays, Jimmy Butler was there to make it.

And so I know that in fourth quarters, as frustrated as people may get with the jump in the air passes early in the game should take more shots when they need them in winning time. He has shown up. Who do you think goes on to win this series? You've had to make a prediction with it now being 1-1.

I'm not going to lie to you, Zach. I'm a bad predictor. I'm almost like Charles Barkley.

Whoever I pick to win, I think everybody else should go the opposite way. But I am going to, this is hard because I have my personal feelings. Mike Malone, we went to the same high school and I've known him for so long and his family. And so I have a personal side pull for him. But there's this, I continue to say there's something magical going on down in South Beach.

And I don't know if anyone has enough to overcome what they have. And so I think Miami may just eat this one out. Well my producer, Hatte Kicke, is a mush. He's awful at predictions as well. And I think he's realized his power that he could be an intentional mush. So when I hear you say that you have a personal connection with Mike Malone but then pick the Miami Heat, I think that's you trying to put a little bit of a hex and a jinx on the Miami Heat so Malone gets the championship.

So there could be, that's the little reverse psychology I used on myself and didn't even realize it. That would be something new there. Brevin Knight here with us. Let me get your thoughts on Kyrie Irving. A week ago it was, hey don't talk about my future, don't speculate about my future. And then today we find out from Shams Sharani of probably Kyrie or someone in his camp leaked this news to Shams that Kyrie has reached out to LeBron James who still has a year left on his contract in an attempt to see if LeBron would go to Dallas.

What did you make of that one when you saw it today? Very eye-opening but understanding because if you see it, I think the last time for Kyrie Irving's success was when he was alongside LeBron James. And now at a point in LeBron James' career where we all understand that he needs the other star to be able to carry their load.

He can't just do it himself the way that we've become accustomed to doing it so it becomes an even better and opportune time for him to have his friend next to him on the floor. And so if you want to have a level of comfort then you go back to what worked for so many years and what worked for him was playing alongside LeBron James. I know you do the Memphis Grizzlies games for a while now. There's been a lot out there about Ja Morant.

Everyone's seen the other video. We've had Adam Silver make comments about it. A lot of people believe it's going to be a significant suspension. Just how do you kind of react to all the latest with Ja Morant?

Well, for us in Memphis, we're not as concerned with the timing, the suspension, all of those things. We're more concerned with how Ja Morant is doing. And at the end of the day, the decision will be made by the commissioner.

There's nothing that we can do about it but the only thing we can do is continue to pray that he finds the inner peace that he has so that he can go and be the best human being that he can be. And every day, whenever we talk about it, whenever I talk about it, that's all it's about because this has gotten to be a little bit bigger than basketball. So when it became bigger than basketball, then it became about the person. And we care about the person Ja Morant because we've come to love him as one of our own.

I say it's ours because I've been living in the city of Memphis for now 18 years. And so the care for all of us is just that his welfare is at its best. The basketball side will take care of itself. The suspension will be what it is. But just wanting to be able to come back and play the game that he loves at a high level but just have fun with life also.

I know you're around the team a lot doing the games. When this stuff initially came out, was this surprising to you? The thing about this is, it's not surprising because they're young.

We've all made mistakes when we've been young. The problem with this is that in this society today, a lot is on the phone. The phone is such a big thing.

Social media is such a big part of these young kids' lives today. And I just think that it got the best of them. But I don't think that it is anything that says who he is as a person. Did he make a mistake? He made a mistake. And he will come back from it. He'll be a better person at the end of the day.

But I don't think that it has to in any way be his characterization for the rest of his life. It's just stupid though when he's twirling a gun around on video or not. It's like nothing good is going to come out of that.

We can all sit here and say, nothing good can come out of it. I ride around with a gun in my car in a case all the time. I carry mine.

I am a registered gun owner. So now, should he have been a lot more responsible with it? Yes. Is that what we can all come to conclusion? Had to be more responsible for just the gun itself, but also for what you represent in this NBA game. Yes, we can all agree. But outside of that, the mistake was made and I don't take it any further than that. Last thing I'll ask you about this Brevin Knight, just what advice would you give him?

If Joc called you up right now, you guys were having a conversation, what would you say to him? First of all, I'll say that we all make mistakes. I've made mistakes. We all come back from it. The biggest thing is understanding what the mistake was. And if you understand what that mistake was, then you can go out and still enjoy life. And I always say, enjoy yourself. You still go out. You're still 23.

You can still go to the club. You still do what you do. You got to do it better. At this point in time, you're not doing it in the right.

Just do it better. Don't stop living your life at all. Don't become a hermit. Don't become a, I got to say sorry to everybody.

You don't. You just have to live better and you're understanding the role that you're in as you move forward in life. Brevin Knight, always appreciate the time you jump on board with us. Thanks so much. Good talking to you.