About this transcript: This is a full AI-generated transcript of New York Knicks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers — Game 4 Postgame Media Availability from NBA, published May 27, 2026. The transcript contains 14,942 words with timestamps and was generated using Whisper AI.
"stand especially this late all right they're playing great basketball you know you just gotta gotta give them credit um they're playing they're on the heater they're um in a groove um just got to give them a ton of credit congrats to to mike and their staff and um you know i i don't want to go like"
[5:37] stand especially this late all right they're playing great basketball you know you just gotta
[5:52] gotta give them credit um they're playing they're on the heater they're um in a groove um just got
[6:00] to give them a ton of credit congrats to to mike and their staff and um you know i i don't want to
[6:09] go like and detract from our you know what what we've done what we've done this postseason
[6:13] you know i i just um i think sometimes you gotta give the other team credit for for playing great
[6:20] basketball um i don't you know i'll tell you what didn't help was um losing those two game sixes
[6:33] you know haven't been in this um you know kind of a long time and seen seeing this before i i think
[6:42] um you uh you have to take advantage of those opportunities and the way um the way the scheduling
[6:51] is set up in the in the league and you know that's a whole nother topic i could go off on
[6:56] you know you know you um you get on a hectic schedule and and that's that's not to say oh
[7:03] we we win those games so you know we beat the knicks i'm not saying that but i i think it gives
[7:08] us a better chance um but i think the density of of the frequency of the games with it never had two
[7:16] days rest when you know the whole deal you know played a part in it um definitely i'm not going to
[7:23] say that's the reason we lost but we would have had a better chance i think we win you know we take
[7:28] care of business and those game sixes i think that's the five one regret that you know two regrets i
[7:35] guess you'd say hey kenny chris the emotions like as a coach when a season that you weren't proud of
[7:44] ends the way that this one did yeah i'm yeah i'm disappointed i mean disappointed for the group
[7:50] you know um listen from from a coaching standpoint you know you know normally you you'd say man i
[7:58] wish we had you know player wise roster i wish we had this i you know we didn't have this i can't say
[8:03] that you know ownership and front office um gifted us with a wonderful roster talented roster
[8:11] um you know so i feel bad you know i feel bad for the group you know because you want to you want
[8:18] to fulfill you know your expectation first of all so um you know that's disappointing i'll turn a
[8:26] positive though the we took a step we took a step um you know this is kind of how this works you have
[8:33] to you have to keep climbing we are going in you know obviously a positive direction um you know fell short
[8:41] you know there's no bigger motivator right to get to the next level you know i think it was all
[8:47] season and development how we got a the sacrifice we're going to need to you know make to to get to
[8:52] the next level but um i'm proud of this group in terms of how they how they fought through adversity
[8:58] you know won two game sevens we took a we took a step i think we took a step um mentally from a
[9:06] mental toughness point of view um you know um so um i'm going to kind of lean on that um and again
[9:15] we don't know we would there's another you know another two steps really you got to take if you
[9:20] you know that's that's the ultimate goal there's obviously a tough reality in the nba you guys have
[9:26] the highest price price roster you're the only team in the second apron and it's hard to stay
[9:31] there financially how concerned are you that the changes could come this offseason based on what
[9:38] happened in this series and including your job security listen um i have confidence um confidence
[9:47] in myself first of all um confidence in the group the roster um talk you know that that's for down the
[9:54] line you know our front our front office has done a phenomenal job like i said giving us a great roster
[10:01] you know obviously there'll be decisions to be made like like every summer um but i think we're
[10:08] we're doing pretty well with those decisions since i've been here so just keep trusting trust in our
[10:15] process trust our collaboration seven again said you're going to shout out i'm just kind of curious
[10:25] again going back to him yeah yeah someone of this season the effort that you would sort of just take away
[10:39] yeah he's our leader at the end of the day he's our leader um i knew he's going to come out
[10:46] aggressive um and uh didn't didn't surprise me um and then you know post game i go to he's the first
[10:56] guy that i want to hear talk not me you know and he gives a great message some of the stuff i just said
[11:01] about us having to handle um you know game six better game six is better um and those are those are
[11:12] those are lessons for the group um you know talked about our you know summer improvement how we got
[11:19] to all make sacrifices and take another step so um again we lean on him as an organization um and i
[11:28] thought he he backed it up you know tonight coming out and and being super aggressive donovan is there
[11:37] anything you could reveal now from a physical standpoint i i think he just came back to me you
[11:43] know saying you know it's banged normal normally normally banged up like you you are at this time
[11:49] of year there wasn't any like specific oh he's got to get an mri or look at this i think he's just
[11:54] generally um generally banged up generally fatigued did you see him take another step this season
[12:03] yeah oh yeah definitely like i said a lot yeah i think it was a another step for him another step for
[12:11] the calves you know obviously he went to conference finals but he's you know the number one reason we
[12:17] went to the conference finals so that that's a big step and i i think there was um like i i think there's
[12:22] a mental toughness you know you know growth there um he kind of took it to another level um led even
[12:31] better than he did the year before adapted to a new roster right we're two and a half months with this
[12:38] roster you know and and uh he kind of with his communication his leadership you know kind of
[12:44] made that work on the fly along with james and and and you know evan but um you know he was a
[12:50] you know big time growth this year from a leadership standpoint
[12:54] all right coach his first trip to the conference finals with this group
[12:59] yeah maybe in the moment it's hard to kind of look at the big picture but is there a season of success
[13:05] yes absolutely so you know that was the task right take another step and we know um you know
[13:16] knicks were in the conference finals last year right this is this is how it you have to
[13:20] you have to um um there are barriers right and we we we jumped a barrier that we're we're stuck on
[13:28] right second round second round second round stuck on that you make a jump it's hard not easy to do
[13:33] in a really competitive east um and then i'd say you know we made the jump again with a roster
[13:42] you know where we're we're trying to figure out you know things in two and a half months to get ready
[13:48] for the playoffs so you know with not great preparation time um to put it together put it
[13:57] together on the fly says a lot about those guys in the room um a little bit about the coaching
[14:02] so yeah i consider it success
[14:05] yeah i mean it's hard to say i mean you know you look at the other games and you could or the totality
[14:30] of it and say they they pretty much dominated so you know i i think it's a reach to say oh man we
[14:38] won that it would have changed the series not you know i would say if these other games were like
[14:42] kind of closer and and and similar and and and um but pretty much all the other games that was
[14:49] you know they they they you know they had a big advantage you know so
[14:55] it comes to the the big picture when you said that this season's a success
[15:03] do you believe that ownership in front office you'll have to ask them that's just our from
[15:09] coaching and players and and and and being in the locker room but um you know you have to ask them
[15:17] but i believe so that will be my gut i think it would just part of it's just human nature that
[15:25] when you're trying to get to you know over that second round hump that we talked about so much
[15:30] as a group donovan and his career all that once you guys did that do you feel you were fighting it all
[15:38] the satisfaction of getting to this stage no when you're a competitor there's there's you're
[15:44] you're satisfied for about a couple hours when you do qualify that for for something like the
[15:49] conference finals and then you turn the switch i know that's how players are that's how coaches are
[15:55] um you just and obviously our game one we came we didn't we didn't come out there um lackadaisical
[16:01] or anything we came out you know competing um you know so um i don't think there was any of that
[16:07] um do you do you get any sense because there was so much goodwill uh after game seven and then
[16:23] this series was tough just do you get any sense that any of that has changed as far as the goodwill
[16:30] goodwill in what sense from from the fans sent from the public from no not i mean not the like
[16:39] fans or media like what no i mean more like you know from dan and between the coaching staff and
[16:47] the front office and just all the good stuff that was happening you know two weeks ago i mean listen
[16:52] you're disappointed i mean everybody's disappointed right but i think in these situations you got to
[16:58] take a step back i think that's what um i think we do a really good job as an organization you got to
[17:04] look globally how did this how does this season go and again i wish it's hard for me to sit up here
[17:10] and speak for someone it's not here so it's it's your what you're asking is pretty difficult i would
[17:17] just say from a player and coach's perspective being with that group in there like pretty darn proud of
[17:22] what we did and that that for me from a coach that's that that's my you know intimate relationship
[17:28] with the players um you know so um yeah i think i think a lot of goodwill a lot of good feelings
[17:37] and then with james or as we've gone through this whole playoff run james has said a few times like
[17:44] well hey i just got here you know i've only been around two months like it takes a while do you feel
[17:50] like with more time you can win with this team yeah i think we need you know you know but like i think
[17:58] dance you know um dance you know is it you know we obviously have to make decisions it's probably
[18:05] not going to be the same roster so you know um but i love this group like i said in the beginning i think
[18:11] um the group we put together i wouldn't wouldn't change it for anything right considering the parameters
[18:18] of what we have so um yeah i think um i'd love to get a full training camp love to get um more refs
[18:28] with this group we're you know like i said doing on the fly a little bit um but uh yeah love the group
[18:36] all right thanks so much you know first of all they said this before the game and i meant to say this
[18:57] before in my pre-game presser but uh my dad was in the military for 26 years and he did not i mean he
[19:07] he's 85 and something like that he's he's doing pretty good for for an 85 year old but i got a lot
[19:15] of respect for uh everybody that serves our country and um you know my hat goes off uh to everyone my
[19:24] heart goes out to everybody that has lost a loved one service serving our country and uh you know i hope
[19:31] everybody had a nice long weekend but more importantly you know people that died in the
[19:38] line of duty serving our country we hope that we remember them and and think highly of them because
[19:44] they paid the ultimate price for what we all get to do what i get to do so so thank you to the families
[19:50] um i mean our guys played great i you know i've said it all along my staff has been unbelievable
[19:58] uh the players they were unbelievable i mean you know you're in the playoffs you're in the conference
[20:05] finals and you know you score 65 points off of um offensive rebounds and fast break points i don't
[20:16] i don't know if i've ever seen that before uh at this point in the year so i i give our guys a lot
[20:21] of credit for sticking to the game plan and really trying to you know push the pace because that's what we
[20:28] wanted to do coming into uh this series um you know 41 percent 42 percent 93 points uh against a team
[20:38] that's um of their offensive caliber uh it was just amazing um again coaching staff came up with a
[20:47] fantastic game plan and our players went out there and executed it and you know six offensive rebounds
[20:54] 22 foul shots that's phenomenal just a phenomenal job by our guys on the defense end of the floor and
[21:02] then i mean i could say a lot about our our team individually especially 33 assists on 48 baskets but
[21:10] you know our bench was fantastic jose was was really good um mitch his vertical um threat at the rim
[21:21] offensively was fantastic 10 off 10 rebounds five offensively five defensively was amazing um deuce
[21:31] deuce was just he's spectacular uh he spaced the floor the right way and he hit some timely threes
[21:37] um throughout the course of the game and then landry you know landry shaman has continued to step up big
[21:45] on both ends of the floor you know and a lot of people are going to talk about his shooting which
[21:50] they should um but when josh wasn't guarding uh donovan you know landry had to guard him and you're
[21:58] not stopping down with a natural he's just too good of a player but landry did his best to make him work
[22:04] and that was fun to fun to see mikhail josh uh og og was phenomenal um cat with another double double
[22:15] and he's extremely efficient uh and then you know jalen our mvp he caused or created a lot of double
[22:23] teams and you know we had a lot of guys uh good get great looks because of the havoc that he caused
[22:31] out on the floor with the attention that uh cleveland had to pay to him so just a a good win by our guys
[22:37] trying to take care of the details while pushing the pace against uh a really good cleveland team
[22:44] mike mike i know you like to talk about the group and everybody that's helped you guys get here but i
[22:53] want to ask you about you it's been 19 years since you were a head coach coaching a finals team
[22:58] a lot of stuff happened in between um can you kind of just take me through your mind when you got
[23:04] this opportunity did you think when you left sacramento were you sure if you'd ever get another
[23:08] head coaching job i guess can you kind of take me through your journey to where you are today over
[23:13] the last few years uh well you know first i you know i gotta thank vivek randy for giving me an
[23:21] opportunity and obviously it didn't work out and when when i when i got fired i really didn't think
[23:28] much about anything i uh my wife and i were row and i shoot we went to sydney australia to see usc 313
[23:35] we went to puerto vallarta mexico uh we went to st bart's fantastic island man i i can't wait to go
[23:43] back uh we actually came to new york city too and ran around new york for like four days and uh
[23:50] we went to this one club and we met these young dudes that work on wall street and i was there with
[23:56] them till like five in the morning and they sent me some pictures and stuff and i'm sure i'm surprised
[24:02] that they haven't sent them to you guys yet but uh so we you know i just i just wanted to have fun
[24:07] and and you know if an opportunity came up great um if it didn't you know i should i i felt lucky
[24:15] blessed fortunate i had a good run you know and and i felt at some point i'd get another opportunity
[24:21] whether it was a head coach or an assistant coaching position and so i just kind of rolled with
[24:25] and didn't think much about it and you know obviously this opportunity came up and you know
[24:31] from afar um i just felt that this team was ready um and i'm just thrilled to death that mr dolan gave
[24:40] me an opportunity and leon rose gave me an opportunity to be a head coach again especially
[24:44] here in new york like kind of on that though like when you took the job obviously part of it was you
[24:51] you have to the deal is you should take the team to a higher place than they were last year
[24:55] um do you feel doing this now do you feel validated at all personally i never never really thought about
[25:05] it like that i mean you know again our business is funny my previous job supposedly took them to a
[25:13] point that was higher and you know it didn't work out so i you know again i i i i truly felt that this
[25:21] team was an nba finals team i i i thought i felt we had a true opportunity because some jobs you
[25:28] take you're like okay we can get better we have a chance to make the playoffs right now
[25:33] but this one i felt we legitimately had a chance if we could if we could help them figure it out the
[25:40] players can stay together during the process especially when we hit adversity because we hit
[25:45] adversity at different times during the season not just us as a whole group but even some guys
[25:50] individually including myself and so you know i did have that belief from day one um i didn't know
[25:58] how it was going to turn out but we're here and there's a lot of people to thank because of it but
[26:04] it starts with the players um coming to this series obviously one of the strengths for the cavaliers is
[26:11] mobley and alan what do you think of how cap did especially those last three games averaging 12 rebounds
[26:19] you know scoring distributing just the whole package you know you you hit it right on the head
[26:24] they're they're two bigs again i said before they're all-stars and at any time you attain that level
[26:29] uh you're going to be a handful and you know i got to give credit to again our defensive coaches
[26:36] uh brendan o'connor and darren erman first coming up with the game plan but our players executed it and
[26:42] and and cat was huge mitch was huge og was too we put og on alan quite a bit during this series
[26:50] um but then i i will end it with you know it was a team thing because we blitzed a lot and those guys
[26:58] cut the ball in the pocket um and when you blitz you commit two to the ball one of those guys is a big
[27:04] and so you have to have your guards cracking back and putting their nose on these guys chests and
[27:11] backs to get them off the glass and or to not foul them and our guys did a great job on the back side
[27:18] so all five guys were always on a string or for the most part and you know obviously at the point of
[27:24] attack cat mitch and og and josh a little bit were phenomenal coach um you mentioned earlier jalen
[27:33] the leadership the names that you brought up were steph curry and tim duncan which are pretty
[27:37] impressive names um what about his leadership is special in your eyes and i guess being around
[27:44] him every day what did you know what do you know about him now that you didn't know before you took
[27:48] this job how hard how hard he works like he he's you know in most most superstars i've been around
[27:57] work extremely hard um but but his work ethic man it's it's it's it's off the charts i like he
[28:06] he goes and shoot we have shoot around usually at 10 a.m and he goes whether we're at home on the road
[28:13] every freaking day and i'm a late night guy and i had to adjust because he makes me tired because i got
[28:22] to get up now at 7 30 and meet with my coaches because we're having an early shoot around and
[28:30] not most of the time every time so his work ethic is is second to none on top of that you know he's
[28:38] pretty even killed never gets too high never gets too low and when your leader's that way which
[28:44] you need to have especially when you hit adversity it's easy to get everybody else to follow because
[28:51] i can be that way but as a coach players gonna tune me out at times but when it comes from within
[28:57] uh it's hard to tune each other out especially when it comes from your leader or your best player and so
[29:05] that in itself is special and that is similar to steph and to uh tim their their their quiet strength
[29:15] or even killed strength all the time mike the uh the number of notable alumni supporting this team
[29:24] for this entire season beyond the season of what does it mean to you that you know they're living
[29:29] vicariously through you guys and you guys have taken this franchise to heights that some of them
[29:33] haven't been able to reach it's fan it's fantastic it's man it's great to see it's great that leon and
[29:40] mr dolan had these guys around uh obviously pat he's iconic you know and then you got john starks
[29:48] and marbury and you know there's just a plethora of other guys that you see come to our games and
[29:53] and you know we encourage that we i love it and they always have a nugget or two that they can pass on to
[30:01] the guys that are actually playing now and um when again when you can hear it from different voices
[30:08] um or different people especially guys that play because i didn't play i was terrible but
[30:14] uh from guys that played it means a ton and so to see them be able to celebrate with us and joy on
[30:23] their face it's priceless for sure mike i know it's hard to start at the end and work your way in the
[30:30] beginning when you have to look back but was there a point this season where you felt like the group
[30:36] made a collective decision that they were going to come together and start and not start doing the
[30:42] right things but they were going to make a decision to get to this point like after maybe the two and
[30:47] nine stretch in january what dolan said you got to make the finals or else or whatever was there any
[30:51] point that you felt like they're starting to get it and it's less my voice and more of their voice it's a great
[30:58] question um that's good you know down the street down the stretch there was there was always a little
[31:08] bit of a question you know whether or not we'd be able to get over the hump you know but down the
[31:15] stretch of the regular season i don't like with i don't know six seven games to go uh after landry got
[31:24] back i think i started to see us play some good basketball and do some things uh do do do more
[31:32] things that were selfless or uh or more sacrificing from the group so maybe then but you know throughout
[31:41] the course of the season you have your ups and you have your downs and you have your good and your bad
[31:46] and your adversity that you have to fight through and and you know sometimes we got through it quickly
[31:52] sometimes it took us a minute to figure it out um so it probably towards the end of the season when
[31:57] i was like okay i can feel it this group is the right where we need to be at the right time of the
[32:05] year mike you talk during the year about the ups and downs you're going to go through just what you've
[32:13] done over this 11 games first is this the peak here are you seeing that peak that you uh
[32:23] uh yeah i mean again our group is they're playing good basketball and they're they're doing it in
[32:31] different ways you know um they're doing it differently depending on who our opponent is
[32:40] and when you show that type of versatility on both ends of the floor uh it just adds it adds to your belief
[32:48] and i've said it before you know the regular season you use regular season to get ready for the post
[32:55] season and our guys did a hell of a job with that thank you guys what's up you feel like this series
[33:52] ultimately came down to um i'll say shot making i think that that they made shots some obviously
[34:12] some open and some just tough shots and uh i don't think we may really any just that's something it's
[34:22] pretty much pinpointed you came here you were talking about championship for this organization
[34:31] they haven't been this far conference finals since 2018 they haven't been here without lebron in more
[34:37] than 30 years so when you look at those two realities how are you processing this um i think we we
[34:50] accomplished a lot still short of the the goal but i think we accomplished um you know getting to the
[34:59] conference finals you know and there's now there's another level to get to maybe two levels to get to
[35:05] i think a lot of that is just you know maybe our first time together and you know the first two
[35:11] series is we had opportunities to um handling handling the series is much quicker and we didn't we didn't
[35:20] take advantage of it which you know trickled down to having to go two game sevens um which is difficult to
[35:28] now face a team who's you know offensively playing extremely well and rested so uh it's a little a little
[35:36] frustrating you know but i think the um you know being here two and a half three months is uh you
[35:42] know that team's been together for some years so which you still don't get brownie points for it but
[35:48] you know i think we we've we're in a in a good space and we got some work to do but um you know
[35:55] we had a good season you mentioned them being together for a long time and you've also said since
[35:59] you got here it's such a short time for you to get acclimated to them and them to get acclimated to
[36:05] you and stuff like that is it your hope that this group remains together and do you believe that the
[36:10] outcome yeah we're a very very talented group you know like i said we you go through we don't have
[36:19] the experience with you know playing amongst each other in playoff postseason basketball so literally
[36:24] it's our first time going through whatever we were going to go through and i think we accomplished a
[36:30] lot you know winning game seven at home winning game seven on the road like and getting to the
[36:36] the conference finals now we have to take another two steps um starting this summer but taking
[36:43] another two steps and um and being even better now you get a full season of understanding what we have
[36:50] as a group and uh setting ourself up like positioning wise for better like you know being a fourth seed was
[36:56] tough you know so um yeah you just you take a step step at a time for you so personally how do you feel
[37:13] that you take away uh i think i did pretty good you know like i don't even i don't grade myself off
[37:20] shot making um you know i think coming here was just a piece to fulfill whatever needs to be fulfilled
[37:29] and you know defensively being extremely solid offensively you know getting guy shots and fitting
[37:36] into a system that was already in place you know so i think i did uh i think i did good you know obviously
[37:43] i could have been better i feel like i always could be better you know but i know one thing that i
[37:47] work extremely hard you know what i'm saying like and things just don't go the way you you would like
[37:55] them to you know i mean as far as shot making but i think you you know is being as seasoned i that i am
[38:02] and experienced that i am i try to impact the game in other ways just because i know that we are capable
[38:07] and you know when i'm not making shots we're still capable of winning games and we did that so um
[38:13] you know also just you know from you know regular season playing you know 34 minutes to you know i don't
[38:22] know if i led the playoffs in minutes but you know close to you know playing a lot of minutes a game so
[38:27] the transition was was was uh was was a little different and um i got to prepare myself for it
[38:35] hey hey james um kenny's taking a lot of criticism you guys getting swept what have you learned about
[38:44] him in your time with them and how do you think he did as a coach for you guys uh ultimate players
[38:50] coach like he gets it he understands um he understands his team and uh yeah of course somebody's
[39:02] going to have to take the criticism whether it's you know myself or kenny or like whoever the entire
[39:06] team whoever like somebody's gonna they're going to put the put it on somebody but i think for for
[39:12] kenny he did an unbelievable job of uh getting me acclimated as fast as possible to you know
[39:19] understanding what i'm supposed to be doing out there and um you know it's just an unfortunate
[39:25] situation you know i mean like any team coming off a a tough two two series against two defensive
[39:33] monsters um it would have been challenging and i don't necessarily like maybe the first three quarters
[39:39] we play well i don't even know if i don't even know if the first half in the first game game one
[39:44] i think maybe that third quarter we play well we actually made shots and then other than that i
[39:48] don't necessarily can't remember a quarter where we actually made shots like as a group which is
[39:53] like you're not gonna win because any team so uh it's just uh that's a little frustrating because we
[40:01] did we did play so well and we put our put ourselves in positions to to be successful um you know it just
[40:09] didn't it just didn't it just didn't end up that way in this series thinking the nicks have all this
[40:17] rest we don't we've been to two game sevens like this could affect you know we could have dead legs
[40:25] it could affect our shooting or were you surprised by all that you said was i thinking it were you
[40:29] were you concerned that could be a result of the consequence of the way the first two rounds went i mean
[40:34] at a point you're we all have like sometimes we have concerns but you have no choice like it is what it is
[40:41] you got to go out there and figure it out and fight and i think we did an unbelievable job of
[40:44] doing that you know what i'm saying like you look at this film and we had unlimited open looks and we
[40:51] just didn't make them and they made them you know i mean like if we make shots then this this is a
[40:54] completely different series if they miss shots it's a completely different series you know but they made
[40:58] them so this league this league is a make or miss league and you make shots it makes it a little bit
[41:02] easier you know especially defensively so um you know it's a little frustrating in that aspect that
[41:08] we did get some really good looks you know but yeah new stuff about yourself as a play you feel like
[41:24] this season coming to cleveland you learned something new about yourself yeah like i've been i've been
[41:29] fortunate to be in different situations different roles um and so just this last few months has just
[41:38] been an opportunity to learn how can i implement myself into a situation that's already you know
[41:44] put together and figure out um figure out other ways to impact the game instead of going into a
[41:54] situation where i'm just i'm already comfortable i'm or it's it's evolved around me like you know me
[42:01] coming here is and i was an opportunity to like adjust and figure out how to play with you know all these
[42:07] other guys on the team that already had a system that's been in play for a few years so it was it
[42:12] was uh it's it's challenging you know i mean but it's it's a it's a it's an um it's like a opportunity
[42:20] to just to learn you know learn yourself learn the team learn you know what benefits what works for
[42:27] you what doesn't work um and it was still that like you go you go what 15 to 20 regular season games
[42:33] and then you get right to the postseason so um i think i did an okay job you know i always feel like
[42:39] like i said i always feel like i can be better but um got a long way to go james obviously it took a
[42:47] heavy lift on all sides to get you here yeah um but you do have a contract option coming up do you
[42:58] and then you could decline and do some other stuff and still be here do you want to be here and do you
[43:03] expect that you'll be here uh yes 100 definitely both to answer yes want to definitely want to be
[43:11] here i think we um i think we found some i think we found some like it's just it's tough just not
[43:22] ending it how we wanted to but i think we found something yeah um james how you and don were both
[43:34] ball dominant guys so how difficult will it be to improve that um when you're on the floor together next
[43:43] year um from like i said like like i just answered like for me it's you know when don has it going
[43:49] on where he's you know being aggressive you know it's opportunities for me just to you know play off
[43:53] the ball and and you know let him do his thing and um and sometimes you get caught like in a just you
[44:00] know waiting waiting and not touching the ball for a few possessions but you got to be okay with that
[44:05] and that's one of the things that you know coming from even just previous situations you know i haven't
[44:10] not that really was it was the you know was the was the uh case you know i was always and had the
[44:16] ball in my hand so like situations like that where you know internally you know it's it's sometimes
[44:23] it's better for our team but you know outside it's like okay well james isn't being aggressive
[44:27] it's like you got somebody that's averages 30 points a game who's you know who got it going so
[44:32] finding you know how to pull off the ball when to go get the ball when to search myself when to be
[44:37] aggressive when to play make like all that happens possession by possession you know so you got to
[44:41] just figure out and i think for the most part we did a pretty good job um you know so i think you
[44:47] know going into the summer and going into next season figure ways to make it even better and then um
[44:54] reflecting on this series how much better if they're better are the next thing than you guys um
[45:04] i mean i can't even like i can't even answer that question honestly you know i mean like yeah it was
[45:11] 4-0 but i don't think we get we had a chance as far as our best shot um you know from from a standpoint
[45:21] of the circumstances you know obviously they just they they dominated us uh 4-0 but um yeah i don't
[45:31] know if i can necessarily answer that question just because genuinely i do feel like we we are we are the
[45:36] better team but you know series wise you know i didn't show it so it's a tough question to answer
[45:43] james i know you referenced that donovan talked about it multiple the other night too i guess
[45:53] looking back on this series how much do you think you guys are going to reflect on that as a missed
[45:59] opportunity that's probably one opportunity but you know there's a handful of opportunities off the
[46:06] top of my head that i can think that that uh that if it would if it were to go different we wouldn't
[46:14] be in in the position where we are right now you know i'm like you take for instance the first series
[46:20] in toronto i think it's toronto had opportunities two times to to win up in toronto um we go to game
[46:28] seven there got an opportunity to close out detroit we have two opportunities to win in detroit the first
[46:35] two games have opportunity to close out in game six you know go to game seven like all that compounds
[46:41] for now we're playing extra games and extra minutes and now we go into a situation where
[46:46] you know we and then you know we grab up a 22 point lead so just a few things a few
[46:50] you know for all of us that you know i feel like if we were taking care of business we're not in
[46:55] this situation but in reality you know we are where we are right now yeah donovan will be eligible to
[47:03] sign an extension in the summer and there's all kinds of big picture questions that come along with
[47:07] that what what is your level of confidence that he can be you know a one-a guy that can lead a team to
[47:13] a championship what was the uh what was the second part what's your comp what's your level oh i'm very
[47:20] very confident very confident like you know this team is is not even where we are where we at without
[47:27] him so um and this is his first time making it to the conference you know finals and you know i'm sure
[47:33] he he wants to to improve and do things um so we can so we can advance and get even further and um you
[47:40] know so um i think as a team we get better individually and you know we let front office you know do what they
[47:49] do and we just focus on what we can control and um and just keep pushing yeah obviously that says
[48:05] about a lot about the success that you've had it says and you still haven't gotten to the pinnacle
[48:08] how does how does that hit you um still here right still alive still going like that's all i can do
[48:17] like as much as we want to like um feel sorry or you know or doubt like our journeys or our paths in
[48:29] life whether i'm whether it's me whether it's you guys like you know you got to just keep pushing
[48:35] you got to keep putting the work in like i was in the gym 8 30 this morning like putting up shots and
[48:41] didn't make a three today you know what i'm saying but like it's a part of life so it's like
[48:46] you know i can't i'm the one that has to sit here and and live in it so i'm i'm more and overly
[48:53] confident who i am as a person the work that i put in and the dedication that i have to this game
[48:58] and that's why i'm still playing you know at a high level so you know i'll keep pushing and keep
[49:02] pushing and keep pushing until you know until i can't play anymore and um you know we'll see when
[49:09] that happens james you mentioned that you believe that you guys are still the better team even after
[49:16] this series what makes you believe that we are i feel like we didn't have a fair chance honestly you
[49:21] know i mean like we didn't play not one a quarter of of just calves basketball like offensively
[49:28] and that right there is the frustrating part because we did play well you know from from
[49:33] since i've been here like we've had stints we played extremely well we made shots and that gave
[49:38] us a chance and you know it's only so much you can do defensively so many so many stops you can you can
[49:43] get especially against a great offensive team you know i mean so if you're not making shots like i
[49:47] said before you're not going to beat anybody what is it that you're going to take from this season
[49:54] into this summer your time with the caps nothing for me i'm going to focus on
[50:00] and preparing myself and my body to come back for 18th season and and figure out you know what
[50:09] best fits this team and how i need to play and what what i need to do individually to be the to be
[50:15] better than i was and and go from there like um i let everything else play out and handle itself but
[50:23] i think now in just my space and where i am i gotta you know always focus on how can i be better how
[50:28] can i get back to um just being in better shape being a better leader being a better
[50:35] just basketball player you know i mean that's that's the most important thing for me um so yeah
[50:41] thank you guys i know you's the one too who did that last time yeah i guess for both of you just the
[51:09] feelings that you guys have talked so many times about you know not letting go of the rope not
[51:13] celebrating early to now be out on that court surrounded by knicks legends and getting that
[51:19] trophy just kind of the feelings of what you had out there i mean it feels good i mean we're excited
[51:24] we're happy we won but we're also not satisfied and just now we're going to celebrate tonight but
[51:29] then once tomorrow comes start resting and preparing for the next round what oh oh i mean what he said but
[51:39] this seems hungry and that's the most important thing even with an amazing historical win we had
[51:45] tonight um the celebrations were minimal you know we really want to get back to work ask coach can we
[51:51] get back to work quick um we know what happened last time we had a long layoff so we're uh we already
[51:57] talked after the game right away about preparing you know getting to practice getting back to the work
[52:03] uh it's what's made us special and it's what's gonna give us a chance to win the next series
[52:06] carl speaking of that that long layoff you're going to be in a similar situation where in the
[52:11] west you have two teams it's all tied up they're going to be battling it out in a long series and
[52:15] you guys are going to be waiting and you saw sort of that early letdown in game one of this series
[52:20] what specifically did you learn that's not going to happen this time around i mean we just you know
[52:27] obviously rust will be a thing uh just not having shot in an nba game in a while but um we'll do a
[52:33] better job this time around of just preparing for that kind of situation to happen i think that
[52:39] obviously the coaches have done an amazing job getting us ready for game one but obviously we
[52:42] just didn't go out there and shoot well i think that looked up one point we were at four percent
[52:46] from three so we just got to figure out a way to get those kind of game like reps um i think the
[52:53] coaching staff heard us clear loud and clear we want to get back to work to keep the rhythm and also
[52:58] maybe change up the philosophy of how we have those uh i guess scrimmages that we we had last time
[53:03] that we didn't do last time so i think we'll be better prepared but at the end of the day
[53:08] it's all about execution desperation energy we got to bring it game one guys congratulations um jalen
[53:15] wins eastern conference finals mvp um what is it about what a wild surprise um what is it about uh his
[53:24] style of leadership mike compared him to steph curry to tim duncan just like when you guys see him day to
[53:29] day what what about his leadership is special i think he just puts the work in you know he has a
[53:33] like we always talk about that's what i think not only makes it makes all of us special because all of
[53:38] us are putting work but he he also really really puts the work in and um i know if you know jb's
[53:44] you know merch line and everything like that it's always about the magics and the work uh he is a
[53:48] testament of that he believes in that he showcases that every single day to all of us and it uh
[53:53] drives us all to be better what he said i mean he works hard every day and then the results speak for
[53:59] himself carl you guys are basically statistically the best playoff team of all time shooting playoff
[54:08] team of all time has there been any point in this stretch where you're like taking it back or shaking
[54:15] your head and just how well you guys are shooting or how well you guys are playing or just kind of
[54:20] amazed at how well this has gotten so far i mean no because we put the work in you know me and og up here
[54:28] uh we we see each other putting that work in every single day countless hours the hours that
[54:33] don't get documented the hours you don't see on social media um you know the hours we dedicate
[54:39] away from our families from our for a lot of the guys in the locker room their kids their wives you
[54:43] know it's it's it's it's it's adamant you know it shows it shows in these in this run we've had
[54:49] that a culmination of uh all the hours dedicated to our crafts have uh led us to be in this moment
[54:56] hey og congratulations on making final day um eight years ago in this arena lebron hit the game
[55:05] winner over you with um when you were still with toronto now with this team you're on the other side
[55:12] of a sweep against cleveland is it a full circle moment for you what does it mean for you for this week
[55:20] to you like personally oh not really a full circle moment because it's a different team different
[55:25] situation but i mean it's amazing to you know we have a great team amazing for us to come out and
[55:30] play the way we played you know we put in a lot of work we're very well coached and very well prepared
[55:35] and it's showing on the court you know the way we're playing offensively defensively the way we're
[55:39] executing and we play for each other we're a very together team and we just want to see each other
[55:44] succeed og you had an injury early on in this postseason you were able to come back you're playing
[55:53] i think the best basketball that i've ever seen you play what is it that's that's different with
[55:59] your body is this the best you felt the deepest into the season and what's that yielding um yeah i
[56:06] mean i prepare like i'm like cat said like just hours in the gym in the weight room preparing you know
[56:12] we have a great medical staff my work extensively with andrew bar andy bar um andrew small and anthony chico
[56:21] our trainer and i'm just always with them always getting extra treatment and then in the weight
[56:25] room preparing you know ty and shimon you know we we work really hard and i feel great i feel amazing
[56:32] and yeah carl a couple of us were talking to clyde on the court after and he was talking about
[56:38] that you you guys remind him of the championship teams because it can be anybody on any night
[56:44] that so many pieces are clicking right now just kind of what do you see in that that jalen got the mvp but
[56:50] talks immediately about teammates how is all of you i mean we've got we've gotten to this point
[56:56] because we we've worked together we've been a team we've been unified the collective group has shown up
[57:03] in in in spots when we need to landry shaman of course you bring up deuce mcbride uh mitchell
[57:08] robinson uh you could go down the list of players on our team that at special moments in the playoff run
[57:14] have showed up and and been huge contributors to our success so jalen of course deserves mvp had an
[57:23] amazing series um do what he always does but it's it's it's been a team that's won these games because
[57:30] the defense we've played as a team has been phenomenal and um as a team we've hit shots you
[57:35] know and like he said you know uh as we've we've put each other in positions to succeed and excel and
[57:42] because of that we're finding ourselves with this hat this trophy the shirt and having a chance to uh
[57:48] cement ourselves in history for last two carl what what does it mean for you to not only get to the
[57:56] finals but do it for you know the hometown your hometown team in a way and can you grow up rooting
[58:01] forward yeah i mean it means the world um i've grew up a knicks fan as is documented and i think what's
[58:10] more of an honor is growing up in the area i feel like the word hope has been gone from the new york
[58:17] knicks name for a long time and to for me and og to be part of this team that revives the word hope in
[58:23] the city um it's it's something special it's something really really special and it's an honor
[58:29] and it's um it's one of those things you know when i was growing up watching the knicks it was
[58:35] just hoping one day you could just put the jersey on i never knew i'd be in this position at this mic
[58:40] talking about us going to the finals and the city believing in us and that speaks a lot to
[58:47] the camaraderie of this team that the character of this team the willingness to sacrifice everyone's
[58:52] been willing to put forward for the betterment of the team and like you said there's nowhere better
[58:58] in the world when the garden has hope just to follow up on that for both of you um how do you
[59:06] walk the line because there is so much hunger here for people to win a championship how do you walk
[59:11] that line between being focused on winning four more um still appreciating the moment but knowing
[59:17] that you gotta you still have to focus on yeah yeah i mean experience experience teaches you a lot
[59:25] i've this is my third conference finals in a row and it finally got over the hump you know finally got to
[59:31] the finals and for me i'm gonna enjoy this moment i'm gonna enjoy tonight i'm gonna enjoy this moment
[59:38] flying back with my teammates um you know having that this you know understanding what we've done
[59:46] it's a magical thing it's a historical thing it's something that new york has been dying for for a long
[59:50] long time and we'll enjoy that plane ride but once we get in those cars to go to our respective homes
[59:56] it's gonna be back to business you know so we're gonna get back to it tomorrow i already know how this team
[1:00:02] works and how all of us are already already talking we're all gonna be in the gym tomorrow
[1:00:06] probably getting shots up getting treatment doing what we need to do to get ready for the next series
[1:00:11] already and you know we'll enjoy this moment tonight and it's okay it's okay for new york the fans us
[1:00:18] our families to enjoy this moment and be jubilant about this but for us as the players we understand
[1:00:23] that the job's not done and we got to get back to work tomorrow and there's no better day to start
[1:00:29] than tomorrow with the next series all right guys thank you appreciate it hey donovan every time
[1:01:14] we've we've sat up here and reflected back on a playoff series loss you've always said that it's
[1:01:19] come down to something that you've been able to pinpoint what do you feel like this series against
[1:01:24] the next game down to the toronto and the detroit series i mean y'all asked me a thousand times if
[1:01:29] we retired i can't tell you yes but i mean we did this to ourselves and that's not an excuse they're a
[1:01:35] hungry team they beat us right they beat us swept us so i don't want to diminish that but we didn't
[1:01:41] give ourselves a chance because we didn't handle business i told them guys in the locker room i said
[1:01:45] now we know like for a lot of us we've never been here um you can't play with your food we had an
[1:01:51] opportunity to close both series and give ourselves some rest um and we weren't and then obviously
[1:01:57] there's things in this series you can point to whether it's all turnovers defense whatever but you
[1:02:02] got to be able to give yourself a chance and we had an opportunity game one and then we blew that so
[1:02:05] um the two series before having to go seven and that and it's our fault like we did that to
[1:02:15] ourselves and that puts you in a tough position against a team that's um not only been to the
[1:02:20] conference finals knows what that takes but also has the rest mental preparation um and then on top
[1:02:27] of that having game one happen and we didn't execute that's it's on us um and we couldn't control
[1:02:32] that and that's what happened you guys the first conference finals like this and how do you process
[1:02:45] the reality of taking that step in your career but i think honestly the first thing my mind jumped to
[1:02:55] was just those two series it's like that's my learning lesson that's our learning lesson um as much as
[1:03:04] i'm grateful for overcoming something that's been an obstacle for me personally for for nine years
[1:03:11] um there was an opportunity for us before that um and whether it's a missed blockout bad shooting night
[1:03:24] um a bad decision um happened two consecutive series um and that put us behind the eight ball and that's
[1:03:34] my biggest my biggest um my biggest thing is just like you gotta give yourself a chance and then you go
[1:03:45] to this series and we're up 22 and you lose like that's that's where my head is at i mean yeah i
[1:03:54] mean the conference finals woohoo you know i mean but we had an opportunity and you give credit where
[1:03:59] credit's due they they are playing really well and they they're hitting some shots like you know i mean
[1:04:05] they're playing well they're doing they're hungry but when you have an opportunity to to to to put your
[1:04:11] foot on somebody's neck you have to do it in this league you have to otherwise this is the result
[1:04:16] group stay together yeah i have no no uh no doubt that this group can can get there i've said that
[1:04:28] all year um i think the the biggest thing is you just use as a learning lesson it's a it's a
[1:04:34] it's a tough learning lesson um but now we know right i mean that's not how i like to say things but
[1:04:43] you know i mean we know like you know what i mean and this team that we just faced had to go through
[1:04:48] this maybe not this way right but um every they've been together they've been a core group
[1:04:54] and had to had to go through this tough experience so this is it's our turn um and
[1:05:02] i'm sorry for for the city of cleveland for us to for it to be like this in a sweep like that's ass
[1:05:09] like you know what i'm saying but i told y'all last year and i'll say again we'll be back and we'll
[1:05:14] be ready we'll be hungry we'll be locked in um but yeah i hate to copy what i said last year we took a
[1:05:37] major step mentally like i hoped um as a group but there's another level um when i don't mean
[1:05:46] necessarily maybe in game maybe it's um in your training in your nutrition uh rest um but i think
[1:05:57] the biggest thing is to be able to play this long the one thing i've learned is it's as much mental as
[1:06:02] it is physical i think physically yeah we're all beat up everybody's beat up but i'm gonna keep hammering
[1:06:07] to the point if we put teams away in those first two series i'm not saying you know like i give i
[1:06:16] gotta give my respect to to them for sweeping us but you know we didn't do that and i think that's
[1:06:23] that's the biggest thing and that comes down to mental focus like you look at me an eight second
[1:06:29] violation against the raptors can't happen right like you know i'm saying shooting six of 20 in game
[1:06:36] six against detroit can't happen right like so you know the turnovers for all of us to miss blockouts
[1:06:45] the that's all mental it's all stuff we can control and being able to control what you can control
[1:06:50] individually um you know if it's two mistakes for for max and it's two for me and it's two for james
[1:06:56] that's two forever that's eight right there you know i mean god forbid those aren't threes like you
[1:07:00] know i'm saying so um that's the biggest thing is being able to mentally stay locked in at every
[1:07:07] second and you see you saw it with with this team right they've been doing this since really since
[1:07:11] they got hit in the mouth against atlanta um you know so use it as fuel and get better and we'll be
[1:07:18] ready for next year i've said the same thing danny just i love it here um i don't know how else to
[1:07:34] say it i've said it before i signed the other extension like i love it here and i have no doubt
[1:07:40] this group can can get there um but you know reports are going to be reports people are going to be
[1:07:46] people but i said the same thing we have unfinished business um it's great energy to see the city you
[1:07:55] know when we got to the conference files just to feel that like that's amazing you know what i mean
[1:07:59] and that's why getting swept like this sucks because you know you feel what like even driving in like
[1:08:05] people are going crazy like i love that i love that about this place man like it's it's the city
[1:08:12] deserves a ring and we just we just got to keep going and and um yeah that's the same
[1:08:21] question did they take that next step yeah and no i mean the ultimate goal is a championship right
[1:08:39] so in that perspective we failed but we were 17 and 16 at one point there was conversations from all
[1:08:50] of y'all right um and i want to and i said this in the locker room and i wanted to hear it to that to
[1:08:57] that point naquan tomlin tyrese proctor craig porter i'm missing somebody please jaylen tyson we're not
[1:09:07] here without those four right like there's this the success part comes from stuff like that like
[1:09:15] we started jaylen for like 30 some games started tyrese started kwan started craig like that's huge
[1:09:25] that's a big part of why we're able to be in this position alone um and they didn't know that coming
[1:09:31] into the season shoot i didn't know that you know what i mean and they worked out they worked their
[1:09:35] tails off um so when i say yes their success it's little things like that right like just seeing
[1:09:41] the growth from a lot of individuals in this locker room i'm very proud of that the the locker room for
[1:09:47] that um but a lot of the young guys man like they don't get enough credit they held us afloat um we had
[1:09:53] injuries upon injuries upon adversity and jaylen tyson's getting 40 races getting 15 and 20 points
[1:10:01] kwan doing windmills people comparing him to brahan like craig it's been for not like you know what
[1:10:06] i mean like that i love that for that for those guys man like that that is huge and that's where
[1:10:11] this i i think there's success because you know that that's what this is about and you know for us
[1:10:19] the guys that have been there the the we we understand like we got to we got to a point um but
[1:10:23] we don't get here without that and without them um so i think that's where the success comes in
[1:10:47] i would hope he wants to be back um but yeah i i there's so much um he's helped this group and
[1:10:58] myself get to somewhere i've never been um and with that being said that's with three months of work
[1:11:04] three months of prep three months of whatever now we have a full summer um of conversations of film
[1:11:11] of working out together training camp like you have a whole year now right now we have a whole
[1:11:16] year to kind of go over certain things and what we see um and that's tough you know you don't always
[1:11:21] make moves at the deadline statistically and kind of improve a lot of championship teams don't really
[1:11:26] do that and for us to do that it was impressive um for sure but ultimately it wasn't enough and um
[1:11:34] he he he wants to to get back to that that mountaintop i do i want to get there for the first time
[1:11:40] this group does and what he's been able to do not just for me but for this group um special it's just
[1:11:58] hilarious um we've done something that we haven't done since 2018 and we're still going like there's
[1:12:08] gonna be criticism everywhere like we're we're on kenny right but why we got here like some people not
[1:12:15] saying kenny or us believe but some people consider it's like oh this is this is great we we did it
[1:12:20] but we did it with kenny we didn't just go out there and coach ourselves right so then people are going
[1:12:26] to be people people probably criticize me just as much and james and but i love kenny we love kenny
[1:12:34] we ride with kenny and ultimately that's all that matters right like i don't i know for a fact he's from
[1:12:40] long island he don't give a damn like you know i'm saying but it's it's it's just the world we live in
[1:12:47] we could have made it to the finals and got swept somebody's gonna say something i told you
[1:12:51] that even if we won there's gonna be something like can we do it like it's always going to be
[1:12:54] something right and it's always gonna be something for people to say um but ultimately we're in the
[1:12:59] thick of it we're we're in it together um and that that's my biggest thing it's just people are
[1:13:05] gonna be people and honestly who cares you know i'm saying we're wearing this together everybody's
[1:13:22] beat up though well everybody's got something is what it is i look fine today all right so if you're
[1:13:33] out there between those lines it don't really matter man i'm fine yeah this is the second second
[1:14:00] time we've lost on our home floor in a row um to end the season um you know i made the comment about
[1:14:10] the knicks fans in our building and all that yesterday or the game when and we didn't shut them
[1:14:17] up so you have to look inward what more can we do right um so that's the biggest motivation um
[1:14:26] that and the fact that i gotta go home and hear about it for probably the next i don't know three
[1:14:31] or four months so i'm a pretty motivated guy but that'll probably be a little bit more um but i have
[1:14:38] no doubt for the group that you know this will take this on the chin and we got to take our lumps we've
[1:14:42] got swept and got to own it that's what happened but what are you going to do about it like how are you
[1:14:48] going to respond i've been saying this all year how are we going to respond and i would say our response
[1:14:52] from last season was pretty good can we do it again and i have no doubt we will we just ended
[1:15:15] the game joe i don't know when i'll see you again um that is not for me i don't i'm not trying to get
[1:15:24] a headline that's not for me um i'm not going to answer that's not for me that's a kobe altman
[1:15:30] question that's a mike gansey question because i know no matter what i say no matter how i say it and
[1:15:35] how i try to navigate it um it's going to be a thing so i'm sorry joe i'm not going to give you
[1:15:42] anything you have to ask kobe and and them all i know is what we got in the locker room and i go
[1:15:47] to ride with those guys every single day of the week that's all i got last couple years there's been
[1:15:56] a lot of questions about the bigs what did evan and jared show you throughout this playoff i mean
[1:16:03] they showed who we believe them to be and we know them to be i think the questions really came
[1:16:08] externally as for as opposed to internally um i told j man i'm really proud of him you know what i mean
[1:16:14] because not that he sees what y'all say but like for him just continuing to to to battle to to do his
[1:16:20] thing and be quite the unsung hero in a lot of cases and really have a i don't call it a breakout year
[1:16:27] but like really just be able to kind of shut people up and i know like i said i know he doesn't care and
[1:16:30] i said it in detroit like he doesn't give it he doesn't care i've been cursing too much but i think
[1:16:38] for us we knew we knew how talented they are we know how talented they are um and just to see the
[1:16:43] progression especially jay but also evan right like two injuries back to back um he didn't make
[1:16:49] the all-star team and didn't make an all defensive team which is it's his own thing um i don't know if
[1:16:55] he qualified but like if he did it's his own thing um he should have but i just i just really love the
[1:17:01] fact that those guys continue to to take the steps that we know they're capable of taking and they have
[1:17:06] and it's it's great to see did this run give you um if i said we weren't hungry enough then i i must
[1:17:26] have misspoke i don't want to put that on my my teammates at all um but i will say like we showed
[1:17:34] a lot we could have folded a few times right like especially the second round like that's a big game
[1:17:41] six was tough um shut my phone off but i assume it was it was a lot one in the world right like so
[1:17:50] that's a organization altering series let's just keep it a stack let's be honest right and for us to
[1:17:57] rally around each other um and and go out there and execute on the road um that tells you everything
[1:18:04] you need to know and that's just one game um toronto coming back home taking care of business after
[1:18:09] the rj shot goes in like you could fold there and be like damn right like that's also a serious
[1:18:16] organization altering shot like you know i mean so i have no doubt that we are hungry and want to
[1:18:21] continue um in a loss like this this fashion um definitely help for sure turnovers just enormous in
[1:18:38] every series and 22 more tonight is that on you guys is that uh them defensively where does that
[1:18:46] want that's on us and that's part of the stuff you learn it's like all right you got to value
[1:18:52] every possession you give those possessions away it's tough it's tough to come back from that so
[1:18:58] um i'm not going to say i'm going to go look at the film tonight but we'll look at it at some point
[1:19:05] and and figure those things out but it's on us it's definitely on us it's not on kenny it's not on
[1:19:11] what the other teams do you give other teams credit but we got to be better and some of them are careless
[1:19:17] some of them are you know they just play good defense you know i mean or you lose the ball
[1:19:21] it slips right but some of them it's it's it's mental it's a mental focus and you got to be you
[1:19:26] know you got to be stronger with the ball and we'll go back and look at it and use it as fuel for the
[1:19:33] summer it seemed like you guys had to get punched in the mouth the effort was really there the focus
[1:19:41] was really there and you brought your best game why do you think tonight or in general what's that
[1:19:45] you talking about tonight you're talking about in general in general there there have been games
[1:19:48] where you know it took you guys getting down 10 12 points and then all of a sudden we see this we
[1:19:53] okay there's the team a lot of people thought you would why do you think that was the case throughout
[1:19:58] it's a great question um part of that is mine i made the comment of now you know it's unfortunate
[1:20:10] that this is my answer i don't like that this is my answer um but it's that that that's a learning
[1:20:15] lesson for us um just as much as i said not closing the door right like when you're up 22
[1:20:21] it's the same thing um i don't have that answer for you right now um but i will say that's something
[1:20:31] that we will address in the summer and talk about because you're right it shouldn't take that if we
[1:20:37] want to be a championship team right it's it shouldn't um and there's so many variables that
[1:20:43] go into it right it's not just like coming out just me just trying to go shoot like you know
[1:20:47] i mean trying to figure it out or whatever it is right but that can't happen if we want to be the
[1:20:53] team we want to be and we skated by we were able to navigate through it but now you know and i hate
[1:21:01] that that's my answer i'm sorry i do but it's just something that we will figure out and address and be
[1:21:07] ready for next year obviously looking ahead a little bit next season boston's going to be healthier
[1:21:14] indiana's going to be healthier detroit's going to be back new york's going to still be who they are
[1:21:18] how does that fuel the preparation that you're going to have knowing that the east is not only going to
[1:21:22] be as good as it was but potentially stronger we're still here matters
[1:21:51] i mean i think this year is a prime example of that right like i think i challenged everybody last
[1:21:57] year to use last year's motivation and i can confidently say one through 15 16 that we have
[1:22:04] it looks a little different it looked different this year like it wasn't as seamless um but for
[1:22:10] us to overcome we overcame this regular season to get to this point is a lot a lot of mental fortitude
[1:22:16] that i'm really really happy with um so as much as i talk about what we need to improve when i really do
[1:22:21] want to show love and appreciation for what we've done as a group what guys have been able to push to
[1:22:27] whether it's injuries whether it's you know some guys have been in the gym getting treatment more than i've
[1:22:32] ever seen them since i've been here like you know what i'm saying so i don't want it to seem like
[1:22:36] i'm just saying all this negative stuff right like there's a lot that this group has the step has been
[1:22:42] taken um i will say that um we talked about it last media day this year we talked about it at the end
[1:22:48] of the season last year um and i think that that the biggest thing now is you gotta double down
[1:22:54] you gotta do more um but i do think mental fortitude is there um and we just gotta double down on it
[1:23:01] i think there's a lot to that um i think we ignore leadership by him i think we ignore
[1:23:54] the human character of who he is um all positive things by the way um i think we ignore the empowerment
[1:24:03] that he gives people um i think we also ignore his greatness in a major way i say we i really mean
[1:24:12] y'all sorry um like this man changed the game of basketball like changed the game of basketball um
[1:24:26] in ways that we've never seen before and we live in such a ring dominant culture that we're willing to
[1:24:34] write a guy off because he hasn't gotten there god it's transcended basketball right like
[1:24:41] in 75 years no one's been able to do what he does you can say the same thing about steph curry
[1:24:46] alan iverson right like michael jordan james harden's in that so yeah like obviously i can relate to
[1:24:55] not having reached a certain point but i do also feel like we we don't talk about his greatness enough
[1:25:02] um we don't talk about the the the person he is he played alongside joellen beat and joellen be one
[1:25:08] mvp he was two inches away from a conference finals finals with the brooklyn nets like some of
[1:25:18] that is just unlock unlucky stuff like can't control that and he was on a bad hamstring we don't talk
[1:25:24] about him playing through this man i don't know if his thumb is still messed up he hasn't said nothing
[1:25:28] since the report came out we haven't heard nothing about it like we don't talk about the mental fortitude
[1:25:33] to deal with that like i don't know what what it is if he's if he's healthy or not i wouldn't be able to
[1:25:38] know because i i he has the same way every he could he could have one leg and he'd be the same
[1:25:44] and i think it's really truly unfair to be honest um now more than ever now that i see it on a daily
[1:25:50] basis um but that's just the society we live in that's the world we live in we we're a ring cultured
[1:25:57] that's just how we are so like i said yeah i can't we can't we can't fight it it just is what it is but
[1:26:03] i do think people overlook the greatness 17 years stark like it's a long time that's a long time and
[1:26:12] i think we are so quick to jump on him and and get on him about what he's doing at 36 at 36 right like
[1:26:23] let's not forget this man had he ran into a really good golden state team two or three times a team
[1:26:29] like so um it's unfortunate but i know that's what drives him and that's ultimately as a teammate
[1:26:37] it's what drives me um but we sometimes lose the plot on the greatness of that that individual
[1:26:43] and what he brings to the game of basketball to the brand of basketball um so yeah i don't think
[1:27:15] so in the moment i don't think in games two three and four we were like damn if we would have just
[1:27:20] i think it was something we knew but i don't think it was something that really was with us mentally
[1:27:24] um to be honest i didn't feel that at least from the group thank you appreciate you guys appreciate
[1:27:40] you guys thank you thank you thank you um jalen you guys have talked throughout the whole playoffs
[1:28:07] how hard closeout games are specifically um i think you guys won the three closeout games by
[1:28:12] a combined 118 points i mean what does that say that you've handled these closeout games in such
[1:28:18] dominant fashion um i mean obviously we've been playing hard uh mixing a little luck as well but um
[1:28:27] i think most importantly we're becoming unfocused and um just focusing one position at a time and
[1:28:35] then just playing hard for that possession and worrying about the stuff um the future later and
[1:28:40] um we've been locked in on the moment and i think we need to continue to do that talking to mike earlier
[1:28:49] when he was on the podium and he said the last maybe handful of regular season games he felt like you
[1:28:55] guys started to turn a corner making a collective decision to play championship habits did you guys feel
[1:29:02] it the same way or did you feel like just a switch flipped after game three in atlanta um i don't
[1:29:12] think a switch flipped you know per se um i just think that was the start of the habits that we were
[1:29:20] building really starting to show um you know this team is a very selfless uh selfless uh group and
[1:29:29] at the end of the day we know we're willing to sacrifice our own individual performance or stats or
[1:29:34] accolades for the betterment of the team and when you have um not just one two or three but a whole
[1:29:40] team of those kind of guys and that kind of character um it puts you in a position to be
[1:29:45] successful um don't say anything don't i see it don't say anything i know and then you don't come in
[1:29:55] sucking your fingers you got you got chicken wings you're supposed to be asking questions you
[1:30:00] wouldn't got chicken wings no no you don't get none oh man them wings are hitting though they're
[1:30:13] hitting yeah yeah for any of you guys um clive was talking a couple something cool talking about
[1:30:21] you guys remind him of his champion can be anybody on a night and jaylen got the mvp a special feel
[1:30:34] uh yeah 100 i think it's important that you got the mvp no no no no no no he hasn't he's there no
[1:30:48] he's there you got why'd you ruin it why'd you ruin that no prior what jayle was about to say but yeah
[1:30:56] we all agree um and it's great and josh said we selfless and i think everybody out there who's just
[1:31:03] trying to do one thing is win so no matter who's scoring you know who's doing anything i think we're
[1:31:09] all just trying to play hard and at the end of the day just trying to get a next one
[1:31:14] i guess this for whoever wants to answer the the story of alumni that have supported you all the
[1:31:20] way through from clive to starks i mean from mellow to marbury they all say that they're living
[1:31:25] vicariously through you guys some of them haven't been able to reach this stage just what does it
[1:31:29] mean to you guys to be able to represent that level of alumni and make this make it this far
[1:31:33] you got it you're the mvp he's the captain it truly means a lot because of um when they're out
[1:31:52] that when when they're on the sidelines or baselines or whatever uh they make their presence known and
[1:31:59] they're full of energy um and that's just who they are they just want the best for us and it's
[1:32:04] it's a really cool sight to see um it's an honor playing for this organization and the history it
[1:32:10] has and then seeing the former players around all the time and um that makes it even more special
[1:32:15] jalen for you personally you know your dad obviously was a nick and you came here at a time
[1:32:22] when the franchise wasn't the greatest of spots to see where they are now and the fact that you kind
[1:32:28] of led the way what does that mean that for someone who kind of grew up grew up part of part of his
[1:32:33] childhood in the area to kind of be the face of this re-emergence um i think first and foremost it
[1:32:44] means a lot uh that the the belief that the organization has to me from mr dolan down to leon
[1:32:50] west uh coaching staff and obviously my teammates um it means a lot and it's something i haven't really
[1:32:59] put into perspective and thought about because uh as i said before now we're still writing our story
[1:33:05] and so um i think in due time i'll be able to answer that in full entirety but i just i like
[1:33:11] the journey that we're on right now i have two questions one for jalen and then one for either
[1:33:17] mikhail or josh jalen um pat and clyde handed you the both trophies i know you've got to know them both
[1:33:25] very well but i guess in that moment are you able to kind of like internalize just how cool that was
[1:33:34] um not really until you said it um i think it's it's really cool like i said before like having all the
[1:33:44] former players around and um their presence is known and um they don't say a lot but like they're
[1:33:51] just always around to to support and so it's um it's really cool to have those guys around especially
[1:33:57] guys with those caliber and um but it's not even just them it's everybody if you played here for a
[1:34:02] week and now you're known and it's it's once a nick always a nick and so um it's really special to
[1:34:09] have the the camaraderie that we have around the current and former players for josh or mikhail i'm
[1:34:15] sure you have thought about just that table you guys won national titles together just the correct
[1:34:25] me and kale won two and josh won one but continue well i was going to ask is it pretty cool is it
[1:34:33] pretty cool to have this moment i know it's not the final trophy but the trophy sitting up there once
[1:34:39] again um yeah it's something that is surreal um whenever you're in when you're in college and you're in
[1:34:52] that locker room you always kind of um you know the goal is the nba and you know the percent chance
[1:34:59] that you guys are going to be on the same team is very slim if not none and you know it's always
[1:35:06] something you talk about and dream about but you know reality is almost impossible um so the fact that
[1:35:13] it actually came to fruition is super cool because i know you know the time that these guys put in i know
[1:35:19] where their hearts are um and you know we already share a bond and a brotherhood for life and um this
[1:35:26] is just another step there obviously this is not the ultimate goal but um you know you just keep
[1:35:34] adding memories to that and that you know these are memories that we'll have for a lifetime i appreciate
[1:35:43] jalen one for you and michael and josh i thought you said one question it's going to roll into one
[1:35:49] true okay i guarantee you jaylen jaylen you were the first domino to fall as far as coming here like
[1:35:56] in like this old school way the nicks made a decision to essentially build the franchise around
[1:36:04] your skills your unique talents like what does that mean to you and for josh and michael you guys were
[1:36:11] brought in to supplement that and to protect him and you know and to back him up what does that mean for
[1:36:18] you guys to be part of this story with him um like i said before i mean like the belief that the
[1:36:28] organization has in me has been amazing and it's something i don't take for granted and it's something
[1:36:34] that uh not a lot of people get the opportunity to uh to do so so i'm very thankful and it's um
[1:36:43] it's honored to be here in the city and um for this organization and this uh with my teammates and um
[1:36:52] yeah obviously these guys on my back and they've always had it and um wouldn't share that for the world
[1:36:58] um no it's definitely i think it's definitely a blessing to be you know a piece of the puzzle
[1:37:05] especially in this organization um you know like jb's saying just just grateful to be in this position
[1:37:11] you know the organization believing in you know me personally you know bring me over here but um yeah
[1:37:18] like no other no other player no other guard that i want to you know be belong besides jb so like
[1:37:27] i'm just very grateful to be in this position and you know just got to keep it going thanks guys
[1:37:34] or joshua or joshua or joshua same
[1:37:38] or joshua or joshua same