- 8/17/2024
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00:00This is NBA Today's Emirates NBA Cup Schedule Release Special.
00:05I'm Malika Anders, and during the show, we will release all of the must-see matchups,
00:09including who has the toughest and the easiest paths to Las Vegas.
00:13Perk Legs, Andrea Carter, they will help us predict the winners.
00:17But remember in July, right, we revealed the groups.
00:20Three from the East, three from the West.
00:22So just take a look at all this. Commit it to memory.
00:24And especially take a look at that West Group C over there, right, the group of death.
00:29All five teams in that group, they have a legitimate chance at making the playoffs.
00:33But let's start with revealing some of the specific matchups, shall we?
00:36So just take a look at this, right.
00:38On November 12th, Klay Thompson, he will make his return to the Bay Area as a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
00:43Sorry, Klay, I'm covering your face up a little bit there.
00:45Remember, he spent 13 years in Golden State.
00:48He won four championships there, five All-Star selections, and of course, a plethora of memories for Dubs fans.
00:55But it won't just be a video tribute.
00:57I mean, it's going to be a documentary short or a montage, right, when Klay Thompson returns to the Bay.
01:02He was one of the best Warriors to ever do it.
01:04But it's not the only matchup that stands out.
01:06We have a playoff rematch between the two beasts of the East, Jalen Brunson and the Knicks,
01:11Joel Embiid and the new-look 76ers.
01:14And then, three days later, we have a potential passing of the torch,
01:18a little rematch between LeBron and Wemby, which could be their first matchup since the gold medal games last weekend.
01:26It's really safe to say there are plenty of primetime games during the opening week of the Emirates NBA Cup.
01:31You can see here we're going to get LeBron and Victor.
01:34So let's get into all of this, break it all down, get your pad and pen ready,
01:38because these are a lot of dates to remember.
01:40Joining me here in Los Angeles is NBA vet, our analyst, Tim Legler in the building.
01:45Beaming in from Houston is our NBA champ, Kendrick Perkins, and then our wonderful do-it-all analyst, Andrea Carter.
01:51So, Perk, I know you were taking notes on all those matchups.
01:53What's your biggest takeaway after seeing just the opening week of games for the tournament?
01:59You know, Dwight, this offseason, I know we've been talking a lot about the Boston Celtics, Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum,
02:06the Olympic team winning the gold medal with Steph Curry, KD, and Braun leading the way.
02:12But let's not forget about the guy that was the best player in the Eastern Conference last year, and that's big-body Brunson.
02:20Anytime he's on any schedule, my antenna goes up.
02:24And I'm looking at the Knicks going back to Philly, right?
02:27The Nova boys, where it all started, going back to Philly.
02:31And what Jalen Brunson did in this past postseason, averaging 35 points, nine assists and four rebounds,
02:39we know Tyrese Maxey had his come-out moment.
02:42I think when you look at the additions that both teams added, getting Philadelphia, getting Paul George,
02:49the Knicks getting Mikael Bridges, I think this is the matchup.
02:52I know this is the matchup that I want to see, especially when something is on the line.
02:57Perk, I love it. You went east, I'm going to go west.
02:59I think it's any combination, by the way, Boston, New York or Philly, any combination of those three playing each other.
03:04I'm going to go west, Phoenix OKC in that first week.
03:07And here's why. Phoenix coming off, two guys on Team USA with gold medals now playing in Phoenix.
03:12This is a team that clearly underachieved a year ago. They had a lot of reasons for that.
03:16They made a major coaching change in the offseason with Mike Budenholzer.
03:19They also added some nice pieces now with Tyrese Jones coming in, Mason Plumlee, Ryan Dunn, the rookie,
03:24who can guard just about anybody on the perimeter in the NBA, even right now, against the young guys.
03:29This young core in Oklahoma City ended up with the number one seed in the West but got eliminated in the second round.
03:35I think they have a statement to make early and near, both of these teams,
03:39in terms of how relevant are they going to be this year in terms of true title contenders, not just great regular seasons.
03:45And in the case of Phoenix, they've got to be a lot better than they were a year ago.
03:48So I'm really looking at Phoenix's statement in particular early against the number one seed in the West last year.
03:54I love it.
03:55I hear you both. Perk, I hear you. Legs, I hear you.
03:58But there is no bigger statement that needs to be made than Clay Thompson's statement to the Golden State Warriors.
04:05This man averaged 18 points on 43 percent from the field, 38 percent from three,
04:11and all the history that he has in Golden State, and they let him walk.
04:16Dallas going to Golden State, a.k.a. Clay's return to the Bay.
04:21That is the game. It is on November 12th.
04:24Malika, earlier you mentioned the plethora of performances and moments that Clay has given Golden State Warrior fans.
04:30Just think about it. 60 points on 11 dribbles. Game six, Clay.
04:34Comeback, Clay. 37 points in the third quarter.
04:37This game and this performance, Clay has a ton of reason to give these Golden State Warriors fans another performance.
04:45The motivation is opposite now, but petty Clay is going to have something to say in a statement that will be made.
04:50Absolutely. Not to mention Clay, who returned to shoot free throws after he knew his knee was not going to be able to come back,
04:56and he had two years away from the game.
04:58I mean, it is going to be electric in the Bay.
05:00Speaking of, Steph Curry, Steve Kerr, they had this to say earlier this summer when Clay officially was headed to Dallas.
05:07I'm not having Clay, man. It still hasn't really sunk in.
05:11Just because you've been doing it for 13 years together.
05:16And I kind of have this idea that in October he'll still be like, hey guys, what's up?
05:22But I know it's not happening.
05:24When the season starts next year, it's going to be really weird.
05:28And I know we're all going to have that date circled when he comes back to chase.
05:35And that will be one of the strangest, most emotional nights of all of our careers, for sure.
05:44You know what else? That was my exclusive conversation with Steph Curry, Steve Kerr, ahead of the Olympics.
05:49But this gives us, when Clay returns to the Bay November 12th, in the NBA you kind of have opening week,
05:55the first couple of games, and then it's Christmas, right?
05:58There's sort of that in-between time that no one knows what to do with.
06:01This gives us appointment viewing, Tim, in November.
06:04What do you expect to see from Clay in that game?
06:06Well, first, obviously very emotional for him.
06:08I don't think Clay Thompson ever wanted to be in another uniform.
06:10I think a lot of things led to this moment.
06:12And now he's going to make his return.
06:14It's going to be strange for all people involved.
06:16But I think for Clay Thompson, what you always think about is this.
06:19I have so much respect and admiration for him because of how competitive he is and the bar he's set for himself.
06:24And at times, I think, though, he tries to make it happen too hard.
06:28You described it as squeezing the ball too tightly when you shoot.
06:31And you can see it sometimes when you go through a shooting slump because the standard was so high, his own expectations.
06:37So let's see how he handles the emotion of that moment, knowing full well the statement he wants to make,
06:43not only about to the Golden State Warriors, but who he is as a player and who he has been historically,
06:48particularly on a team now, that can contend for a title.
06:50So I'm really looking forward to seeing Clay manage those emotions and having a big night against his former team.
06:55Absolutely. Drea, what do you think here?
06:57I fully believe Clay will come out and play with a sense of freedom on this Dallas Mavericks team
07:02because he trusts that the Mavericks wanted him.
07:05And that was the biggest piece when it came to him leaving the Warriors.
07:08The biggest thing for me, though, that I want to see in this game is what do the Warriors do for Clay?
07:13I was a sideline reporter earlier last season when Jordan Poole returned to Golden State.
07:18They had a lovely tribute video.
07:20And with all due respect to Jordan Poole, this tribute video and whatever they do for Clay should be special.
07:26It should be monumental. They should play Clay Thompson highlights at every single timeout.
07:32They should do a multitude of things to welcome him back and show how special and important he was
07:38to the dynasty that was the Golden State Warriors.
07:40So for me, it's what do the Warriors do to welcome Clay back and how do those fans welcome Clay back?
07:46If I know Raymond Ritter with the Golden State Warriors, he's going to be all over that.
07:51I mean, look, when you when you depart from your home, a team that drafted you, a team that, you know,
07:58you won four championships with, they're not just co-workers. That's your family, right?
08:03That's that's Clay's brother. And they feel the same way about Clay Thompson.
08:07And the competitive spirit in Clay is going to want to go back and bust their ass.
08:11Right. But it's going to be hard. Steve Kerr talked about the emotions of when a guy comes back,
08:17especially of Clay caliber. I got traded from Boston when I left Boston.
08:21I mean, when I went to OKC and when I got when I went back for my first game, it was emotional because you have
08:28personal connections and relationships with everybody in the arena from the security staff to the lady
08:36that's bringing out the food in the media room to the ball boys and the towel guys,
08:43like everybody across the board you have a relationship with.
08:46And this is hard to get your mentality right.
08:49And I can only imagine what Clay is going to be feeling walking back into the arena and playing against his brothers
08:55that he built so much legendary history with. It's going to be hard, but he still want to stay behind.
09:02Yeah, I mean, that's a great point. That's a great point.
09:04Because when you're seeing that the ball boys and the people, the folks who helped you be you day in and day out for years,
09:10win four championships, it's really hard to then flip that switch and go out and say, you know what?
09:14Now, between those four lines, I kind of want to kill you in here. Right.
09:18But that's going to be what Clay Thompson is going to want to do.
09:20And since things sort of dissolved toward the end of his tenure, it's going to be interesting to see how that lights
09:25maybe an extra fire here for Clay Thompson. All right.
09:28We have a lot still to reveal on our NBA Today Cup special. So let's let's dare to dream, shall we?
09:35What if we did? Steph, LeBron, NBA teammates. Why this megastar matchup?
09:40It could it could be more possible than you think.
09:43Plus, Victor Wembenyama, he called out the entire NBA after taking silver in Paris.
09:48So who will be his biggest rival? That's next.
09:51But in case you forgot how the NBA Cup works, here's Richard Jefferson.
09:56Having this in-season tournament that we've had rising on about all 30 teams
10:00and we set out to do something and we're trying to win it.
10:03Los Angeles Lakers win the first NBA Cup. They are champions.
10:07All right, everybody. We love the year one. And now the tournament continues.
10:13It's back for year two with a new name, the Emirates NBA Cup.
10:17Oh, my goodness. That's what I'm talking about.
10:21Are you not entertained, ladies and gentlemen?
10:25Now we all remember the eye catching courts and of course, the spirit of play.
10:30But let's just take a refresher course on how the tournament actually works.
10:35Just like last year, all teams will go through a group play round.
10:39They all get put into six different groups, three from the east and three from the west.
10:44The electricity in this kid's game.
10:47And each group has five teams in it.
10:49Now, those games will take place every Tuesday and Friday, beginning November 12th.
10:54The teams with the best record after those four games will advance out of their group.
10:59Now, there will also be two wildcard teams that advance to the next stage,
11:03one from the east and one from the west, making it a total of eight teams
11:08that move on to the next round, the knockout round.
11:14That means if you win, you move on.
11:17If you lose, you're knocked out.
11:21If you lose, you're knocked out.
11:23At the end of the quarterfinals, they are headed to Las Vegas, baby,
11:27where things heat up even more.
11:31Four teams in the semifinals will go head to head,
11:34and that will bring us to the second ever Emirates NBA Cup championship game
11:39where the winner takes all.
11:41The Emirates NBA Cup is up for grabs, but who's going to take it?
11:51Top of the East
11:56Top of the East is incredible. The West is still the best conference, top to bottom.
12:00The West is absolutely insane.
12:02I'm not ruling out anything.
12:04Edwards gets it.
12:07Play Thompson fixes a lot.
12:09Ja Morant is coming for all the work.
12:12Hang time, air time, fuck it.
12:14We'll not put a ceiling on Virgil Williams.
12:16It's going to be really, really exciting.
12:21All right, so it's time now for a little coast-to-coast Emirates NBA Cup edition
12:26as we continue with breaking the news of this season's schedule.
12:30We're going to start now with the Grizzlies visiting the Warriors.
12:33This one's on November 15th.
12:34Now that Ja Morant is back, Memphis is fingers crossed healthy.
12:37Perk, will this rivalry be heating up again this season?
12:42I believe so.
12:43Anytime you have two guys like Ja Morant and Draymond Green,
12:47two trash talkers, absolutely going to be smoked there.
12:50Also, you know what, Marcus Smart, Steph Curry, and Steve Curry,
12:53there's a little tension there as well.
12:55This is going to be fun. How about this?
12:57The Emirates NBA Cup continues that Friday night.
13:00The Timberwolves, they face off against the Kings.
13:02Tim, did the Kings close the gap this offseason?
13:05I definitely think they did, and they talked to Mike Brown out in Vegas.
13:08He could not have been more ecstatic over adding DeMar DeRozan to this group.
13:11It's the key piece that they needed.
13:13A big wing, a proven scorer, a playoff scorer,
13:16someone that can supplement the offense with De'Aaron Fox and some bonus.
13:20Keegan Murray also has to take a step forward,
13:22but this is all about what DeMar DeRozan brings to the Kings.
13:25How about this one?
13:26Two guys we always are talking about in the MVP conversation,
13:29Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic.
13:31Well, Friday, November 22nd, the Mavs head to Denver.
13:34These two teams, last two Western Conference Finals teams.
13:37Andrea, which team has a better chance to make a return here?
13:41Oh, this is brutal because the West is so tough,
13:44but I'm going to go with the Mavs.
13:45I felt like Denver, they had a lackluster offseason.
13:48They lose their 3-and-D guy in Contavious Caldwell Pope.
13:51I have more questions for Denver, and Klay Thompson is the ultimate answer for doubt.
13:56Well, what about this one?
13:57Now the Emirates NBA Cup, it wouldn't be complete, right,
13:59without the latest showdown between Shet Holmgren and Wemby.
14:02They each went at each other last season.
14:05Chad, of course, got the edge and wins 2-1.
14:08But, victory had better numbers.
14:0920 points, 13 rebounds, 4 blocks in 3 games.
14:12And no one's going to forget who took home the Rookie of the Year award last season.
14:16So we're going to continue the reveal of the official Emirates NBA Cup schedule.
14:20The reigning NBA champs, they have a pretty easy path in pool play, I've got to say.
14:24The only team the Celtics play that was top 6 in the East last year
14:28is the Cavaliers, which they play on November 19th.
14:32That's also, of course, a rematch of the Celtics' series win over the Cavs in the East Semifinals.
14:38So then, USA Gold Medal teammates, they'll face off on TNT Tuesday, November 26th.
14:43LeBron James, Anthony Davis, they head to Phoenix to face Kevin Booker,
14:46Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, rather.
14:49This is a rematch of last season's tournament pool play,
14:52where it was the Lakers duo who got the better, right,
14:54combining for 58 points in that win.
14:57And then I do want to stay in the West here.
14:58Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets, they will finish their group of death run
15:02against the Warriors on December 3rd.
15:04Jokic loves to play in Golden State.
15:06He leads Denver to a 4-0 season sweep with the Warriors behind us, 32 points a game.
15:12That's his averages here.
15:13So let's just take a look, a reminder of the teams in each of the Emirates NBA groups,
15:19if we could, as we play a little game of fill-in-the-blank.
15:23Out West, Group C, I think that's probably going to be the toughest one.
15:27Five potential playoff teams, the Nuggets, Mavs, Pelicans, Warriors, Grizzlies.
15:30Actually, I don't think, I know.
15:32In the East, the Knicks, the Magic, the Sixers,
15:34they have a tough battle in Group A.
15:36And then the Bucs, the Pacers, that budding rivalry, of course, headlining Group B.
15:40So let's play fill-in-the-blank now that we've sort of memorized this.
15:44I want to start with you here, Perk.
15:46Blank, which team has the easiest path to the Emirates NBA Cup?
15:52Well, you said it, Malik.
15:53It's the Boston Celtics.
15:54Look, outside of the Cavs, they have three lottery teams in their pool.
16:02The Wizards, the Hawks, and the Bulls.
16:04Are you serious?
16:05Like, I mean, what are we talking about now?
16:08The only competition they got is the Cavs.
16:10And I know they're going to be without Christopher Zinkes,
16:13but old man Al Horford is still going to rise to the occasion.
16:17And again, Jason Tatum is going to be on one this season.
16:21Yep, I agree with you on that.
16:22It is the Boston Celtics.
16:23All right, Drea, Blank has the toughest path then to the Emirates NBA Cup.
16:29That West Group C.
16:31That West Group C, like you said, is absolutely brutal.
16:35You all know this.
16:36I'm a combat sports fan.
16:37We have USC 305 coming up this weekend.
16:40I'm calling this West Group C, UFC 350,
16:43because I expect knock-down, drag-out, cage fights in the best basketball sense
16:49with these teams going up against each other.
16:51John Morant is going to have something to say to all the teams in the West.
16:55Jokic is an absolute beast.
16:56Steph Curry, I mean, just look at these teams.
16:58We've already talked about Klay Thompson
17:00and how he answers a ton of questions for the Mavs and the Pelicans.
17:03This is the toughest group by far.
17:06I don't think it's close.
17:07It's not West Group C. It's West Group UFC.
17:10All right, we're going to start with you here, Tim.
17:13This one, though, I want to hear from everyone here
17:15because it's time to make some predictions.
17:17The time has come.
17:18Who is going to win it?
17:19Who is going to win the NBA Cup?
17:20I am going with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
17:24First of all, I really like their group a lot.
17:26I think that's a group that they can win.
17:29But more importantly than that,
17:31this is a team that I think has to show progression.
17:34And they had an incredible year a year ago,
17:36but we saw that they were a little bit young,
17:39were a little bit green to make that run through the West,
17:42even though they were the 1C.
17:43They go home in the second round to Dallas.
17:45How do you make a statement to start the following season?
17:48By winning this because I think this does matter.
17:51Last year, year one was a tremendous success for this in-season tournament.
17:54One thing we saw was it matters to these guys.
17:56So if it matters to everybody and you're the Thunder
17:59and you want to make a statement about where you are now in year two of this,
18:03being relevant in the NBA title conversation,
18:06that's the way to do it.
18:08Run through your group and then run through the tournament
18:10and the playoffs in this and win the whole thing.
18:12And I think they got a great shot at it.
18:17I'm going with the Memphis Grizzlies.
18:19I think they're going to win it all when it comes down to the NBA Cup.
18:23Look, we know what John Moran,
18:25he's already said that he's going to come out on a mission
18:28and people better stay out of his way.
18:30We know what type of mindset he has.
18:32Jaron Jackson Jr., former All-Star a year ago,
18:35Defensive Player of the Year,
18:37he's going to come back with something to prove.
18:39When you look at a guy like Desmond Bain,
18:42he's going to come with something to prove.
18:44And the guy who I'm looking at the most on the Memphis Grizzlies
18:47who we don't talk about enough is Marcus Smart.
18:51Marcus Smart just witnessed a team that he was on,
18:54a team that drafted him, win the NBA championship.
18:57You don't think he's going to come back pissed off this season?
19:00You don't think he's going to come back the ultimate leader
19:03for that young Memphis Grizzlies team and lead those guys
19:06and show them the real way of how to be professional
19:09and bring a certain type of tenacity on both ends of the floor?
19:13Look, I'm telling you, that cup belongs to the Memphis Grizzlies.
19:17I hate to break it to you, Perk,
19:19but the cup belongs to the Minnesota Timberwolves
19:21because they have a favorable group when you look at their group
19:24that they have to go up against.
19:26And listen, we just watched Anthony Edwards
19:28in the back pocket of Kevin Durant through the entire Olympics.
19:33He was standing alongside and playing alongside his favorite player,
19:36two of the greatest goats in our game, Steph Curry and LeBron James.
19:40We're deferring to Anthony Edwards at times.
19:42You don't think he's going to carry that momentum to his team
19:46that was already in the Western Conference Finals,
19:48a team that retained a lot of their pieces,
19:50a team that got Rob Dillingham, who had a great summer league.
19:53They added an element of shooting to their team.
19:56Listen, I think the Minnesota Timberwolves,
19:58with what they brought back, the momentum from last season
20:01and the momentum that Anthony Edwards is bringing in from the Olympics,
20:04they're going to start off high and they're going to win the cup.
20:06Here on NBA Today, I am the judge and I am the jury.
20:11And Andrea Carter is absolutely correct.
20:13It will be the Minnesota Timberwolves
20:15that are going to win the NBA Cup this year.
20:17Just looking at the group they had,
20:19going up against the Portland Trailblazers,
20:21the Clippers are lackluster, the Sacramento Kings are good,
20:23but they're still not with them.
20:25Keep going, Malika.
20:26I'm just saying that looking at this,
20:28the Rockets are going to be a team that is going to be
20:30in that playoff play in contention.
20:32But we're talking about a Timberwolves team
20:34that could be contending for a top 1-2 seed
20:37in a really tough Western Conference.
20:39And even just looking at the competition
20:41in the groups that you all said, Andrea is absolutely correct.
20:45Malika.
20:46What about this?
20:47Malika.
20:48You know, my grandpa used to always say
20:50when some people disagree, the next word is bet.
20:53And that's our next word.
20:54Me and Andrea, you bet.
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