Longtime NBA center and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins takes a shot at Q&A before the season tips off this week.
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season → take → Q&A
The East has caught up with the West.
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East → catch → West
You have the 76ers, obviously, you have the Toronto Raptors, you have Giannis [Antetokounmpo] with Miami, I think they’re still a few pieces away.
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they → have → Miami
But to me, if I had to pick one, it would be the 76ers.
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it → have → one
Nick Nurse won a championship [as coach of the Raptors in 2019].
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Nurse → win → 2019
Nick Nurse had to figure how pieces worked when he was in Toronto.
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he → have → Toronto
And when you have guys that have high IQs — Jaylen Brown is a Finals MVP, LeBron James is [not just] arguably the greatest player but one of the smartest players to play the game of basketball.
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James → have → basketball
That’s not going to be a hard adjustment. …
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That → go → ?
Offensively I see them getting out and running.
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them → see → ?
I could see them being probably the best transition team offensively in the league.
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them → see → league
But I also could see them figuring things out on the fly while they’re still winning games during the regular season.
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they → see → season
And I also see LeBron James bringing out the best in Joel Embiid.
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James → see → Embiid
So do you think the Sixers are the biggest threat to the Knicks?
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Sixers → think → Knicks
A: I do.
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I → do → ?
Q: Do you think they could overtake the Knicks?
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they → think → Knicks
I do.
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I → do → ?
I’m ready to see what Indiana looks like with their new center Ivica Zubac, I believe he’s a top 10 big in the league.
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he → ’m → league
Can they pick up where they left off two years ago?
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they → pick → ?
I feel like Kawhi Leonard is the most feared, most dangerous player in the East.
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Leonard → feel → East
He’s a guy that’s going to bring out a different version of Scottie Barnes.
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that → ’ → Barnes
They’re well-coached.
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They → ’re → ?
They’re going to play with an edge defensively.
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They → go → edge
They’re going to play nasty defensively.
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They → go → ?
They’re going to play with a lot of physicality.
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They → go → physicality
And now he’s back home where he won a championship and where he wants to be at.
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he → ’ → where
They’re my darkhorse to come out of the East and win it all.
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They → ’re → it
A: We saw the Knicks snatch their souls in a conference finals and they never recovered.
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they → see → finals
I got to see that they have the heart to get it done.
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it → get → heart
Q: What advice would you give Mike Brown dealing with the Karl Anthony-Towns contract issue?
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you → give → issue
And if I’m Mike Brown, the biggest thing is from a personal side, I would just want Towns to know that he’s loved on a day-to-day basis.
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he → ’m → basis
That don’t mean that there’s not going to be times where you have to call him out in film, but if I’m Mike Brown, I’d go the extra mile to extend my love, whether that’s on the road, him meeting him for breakfast before shootaround, maybe dinners, just to let him know his value.
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him → mean → value
And to let him know that he’s a huge and the most important part of this team.
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he → let → team
A: I think it’s going to be a mixture.
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it → think → ?
But I know he will be highlighted even more, and KAT is going to want to be highlighted even more.
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KAT → know → ?
Because you could hear through his frustrations about his contract extension that he’s like, “Hey what else do I have to do?”
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I → hear → what
And so when a player gets to that type of mindset, the next thing is, “I’m going to show you what I’m going to go do, and I’m going to do it between the lines.”
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I → get → lines
You won the 2008 NBA championship with the Celtics.
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You → win → Celtics
What are the challenges of defending an NBA championship?
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challenges → defend → championship
The second thing is getting through the regular season knowing that everywhere in every game that you play, you’re going to get everyone’s best shot.
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you → get → shot
But last but not least is having everyone continue to lose themselves in the team and play agenda-free basketball.
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everyone → have → basketball
…and 83 more, not listed.
The Aporia
