What did that mean to you both as a coach and also the leader of a club?

It feels, it feels unusual now, but even when the siren went, we went, um, you know, the coaches all together and you sort of walk to the, to the lift and you go down the four levels.

And I actually found myself sort of quite emotional, a- and I didn't even really have a reason why.

And then I got to the ground, and Will was the one who wore it on the outside, but a lot of the players' feelings were, were quite similar to that.

There's a lot of pressure on these guys.

Um, you know, they've...

Everyone is watching everything they're doing all the time.

Yeah

Ooh, yeah, tell us, Sam.

You got Giannis and Bam behind him.

You got defense.

So he don't have to worry about rebounding, doing the dirty stuff.

Then you can put the ball in LeBron James' hands the last eight minutes of a game.

He can still be the old LeBron James when he's orchestrated.

And this LeBron James is a better shooter than the first version of LeBron James.

What do you think of Toronto with the addition of Kawhi? How does that shape the landscape of the East?

Ooh, yeah, tell us, Sam.

You got Giannis and Bam behind him.

You got defense.

So he don't have to worry about rebounding, doing the dirty stuff.

Then you can put the ball in LeBron James' hands the last eight minutes of a game.

He can still be the old LeBron James when he's orchestrated.

And this LeBron James is a better shooter than the first version of LeBron James.

What do you think of Toronto with the addition of Kawhi? How does that shape the landscape of the East?

It's Friday night against the Giants, a team they lost to in opening round.

Our best has been pretty good.

We've been quite potent.

Even, like, we lost the Bulldogs game just before by...

But I thought there was a 15-minute period of that game that's probably our best footy of the season or close to.

Um, and then on the weekend, I mean, there's a part of me that looked at the weekend's game against Gold Coast and said, "Great, we won up there for the first time for over a decade.

Uh, we played some good footy." Uh, but there's a part of me that said, "Well, we kicked five goals from center bounce, and we lost the expected score." Um, so I don't think we're a complete product either.

How, how confident are you you can turn things around this time?

What?

...

the Washington football team, and Joe Gibbs is the head coach.

And I cannot think of this word, and I gave up, so I'm gonna go with armadillo.

Uh, now is the time you can say anything you'd like.

Uh, thanks, Nancy, for having me.

I enjoy, uh, seeing you weekly on other, uh, trivia nights.

It's finally nice to put a face to the name.

Do you now think that you've dodged a bullet with Zach

Merritt? Well...

You haven't just said it in round one or round two.

You've said it every week, on every show.

So you've said it everywhere, every day.

And I've heard you.

And we can agree to disagree.

But it's not the media doing the job, but the Hawthorne is active in the trade space.

I'm just saying, it's different.

Well, it's exciting, you know? You, when you look at where this team has come, the fact that they're knocking on the door for an NBA championship.

And I still say, and I...

Look, I picked San Antonio and New York to play in the finals.

I picked New York to win it months back.

But I honestly believe if Anthony Edwards was healthy, because what people don't understand, he makes everybody on this team 4 to 5 to 6% better.

And it's those little incremental things that you need to get over the hump.

Mm-hmm.

Sammy, I heard you talking with Barrero early in the playoffs about that and just that, hey, this is the team, the Timberwolves team you really just like, not just for Ant, but what else kind of impressed you about that group? And, I mean, if Wolves fans are looking forward and saying, man, Oklahoma City's not getting any worse, San Antonio's not getting any worse, how are we going to find our way back into it? What do you see for that?

Okay.

San Antonio was put together to mirror OKC.

They play a bunch of guards.

Look at their draft, all guards.

And I said this, you're not going to beat the Knicks playing three, four guards.

You're not going to beat, when this team is healthy, you're not going to beat this team with three or four guards because you've got to figure it out.

Can you maybe tell the clean version of those memories for this fan base? Well,

They don't get to understand the anxiety and the pressures and the feeling of being without.

Yeah, DJ, look, man, I don't behoove those kids.

The NIL is great.

It gives these kids an opportunity to make some serious money at a young age.

And if they're smart with it, it could be the foundation of their life.

You know, it can make their life Easier or harder if they do the right thing for that opportunity.

So I don't begrudge these kids for having these opportunities as a family.

Those three guys, starting with Carl Anthony Towns, if you would.

Were you comfortable with the way that all that was, was handled as, you know, best in class in this area?

Oh, I think it was a great example of exactly what should happen, and that's the doctor, as soon as he saw an incident, he ran out straight away.

Um, it'd be silly to wait to rewatch the, the vision of it.

So he ran out straight away, he assessed him live and said, "I think he's fine." Went back, watched the vision, said, "Uh, you know what? That looked a little bit ...

I'm just gonna make sure.

I'm gonna go back out and make sure we get him off, do the assessment." He went and did that, um, and then he passed the assessment and comes back on.

So I think it was a really well-executed plan, which is exactly what the AFL, um, wanted to happen.

Tell me, how do you think about the AFL's, uh, rejection of you guys playing further football in Tasmania? How do you feel personally?

doing.

Darryl's been labeled as one of the smartest GMs, and he's a very smart guy, but the things in Philadelphia just haven't worked.

And when you look at the payroll and you look at the money that Joel Embiid and Paul George, and then you look at you've got to build this team around Maxie and Enstone, think about this, guys.

They've got the talent on paper.

But if Joel Embiid can never be healthy, it's just not going to work, guys.

There is no way you can protect him from the postseason, especially when you start playing every other day.

So I just think it was time for Philadelphia to move on, get a new boy.

In your opinion, what has Mike Brown done so far this season and into the postseason that lets you think that this was the right move for the Knicks?

Your thoughts on the organization changing directions and trying to undergo a search to find a new general manager.

Well, guys, when I was a head coach, I spent a lot of time with Bob Marvin, and he knows what he's doing.

Darryl's been labeled as one of the smartest GMs, and he's a very smart guy, but the things in Philadelphia just haven't worked.

And when you look at the payroll and you look at the money that Joel Embiid and Paul George, and then you look at you've got to build this team around Maxie and Enstone, think about this, guys.

They got the talent on paper.

But if Joel Embiid can never be healthy, it's just not going to work, guys.

There is no way you can protect him from the postseason, especially when you start playing every other day.

Can either one of those teams keep the Knicks from going to the NBA Finals with the way that they're playing?

They did

... you gotta pick your poison some night.

A, a night like that, you, you contain Mitchell and Donovan, uh, and James Harden, the other guys beat you.

You gotta do the same thing tonight.

I like when they're playing that wall, that gate against Donovan Mitchell, not giving him space, but yet you gotta make that multiple effort to g- when he passes the ball, you gotta get to those other guys 'cause you can't let the bench on the road come in this building and get 45 points.

Mm-hmm.

So now think about if Joel Embiid is healthy and they get past Boston.

You gotta play him.

What's happening, Sam?

What's up, guys?

It's too bad Kate outed you for drinking ginger ale, but was it that much of a celebration for you or what?

No, it really wasn't, guys.

And, and, and, and you know me, man.

I, I never really think about it.

I get a kind of a kick out of it

It's too bad Kate outed you for drinking ginger ale, but was it that much of a celebration for you or what?

[laughs] No, it really wasn't, guys, and, and, and, and you know me.

Man, I, I never really think about it.

I get a kind of a kick out of it when people call me on the anniversary and talk about it and get my perspective.

It, it was never something I was embarrassed about.

Look, obviously you don't want something like that to happen, you know, as a player or as a coach, but it happened, and I don't look at it as it was good or bad.

I just look at it as one of the many experiences that I experienced as a player and a coach.

... to see Bam get to 83 points.

Your thoughts about what you've seen in game one of this series thus far?

Not surprising.

Look, I love Houston.

I love Ime Udoka, what he's built, the culture, the defense.

But they can't score.

They struggle to score the basketball and I've said it before the trade deadline.

For all the people, "Oh, Houston should wait." I thought it was one or two people Houston should have rolled the dice on.

H- how the hell is this situation this bad?