00:02we're at the sold out and noisy oracle arena
00:06with greg anthony chris weber and david aldridge kevin harland
00:09and joining us tonight a man who once said he will never write another traditional sports column
00:15please don't say that so bill simmons don't say that
00:18well now you just have to tweet you need 280 characters and you can pretend you're a writer
00:22what do you think of social media
00:24i actually think for basketball it's been a huge advantage
00:28and it hasn't been a huge advantage for a lot of other things but i think it's made basketball
00:33a lot more fun i do worry though sometimes that people are just watching their twitter feed over
00:38the games i still think there's an advantage for people who actually are watching what's going on
00:43versus watching people's reactions to what's going on interesting a contest between conferences
00:48oracle arena oakland california where the warriors take their home floor here's the starting group
00:55for the cleveland cavaliers the forwards are osman and love
01:00sexton and smith are the guard tandem and it's thompson in at the five down low
01:05bill since they drafted steph curry the warriors fortunes have really changed would you call him the
01:10most important pick in the history of that franchise
01:15i i would veer it a different way i think it's one of the most important missed picks
01:20in the history of the nba because for two reasons one because the timberwolves had had
01:29the two picks right before and passed them both times and took two point cuts neither of whom was
01:34dave stephan curry so that was amazing the pick after him was the new york knicks and if he'd gone
01:40there you can make a case that you know he saves the knicks or you can make the case that
01:46maybe he
01:47gets hurt wherever he goes this is somebody that had really really bad ankle injuries and was lucky
01:53enough to be in an organization in silicon valley where he got the right kind of treatment and
02:00thought about these new wave ways to treat his ankles he relearned how he ran
02:05core was strengthened strengthened his core and basically took pressure off his ankles where if
02:11he'd come up in the 1980s maybe he plays five years and he's out of the league and my point
02:16is
02:16if he goes to the timberwolves he goes to the knicks he probably gets hurt and we probably know
02:22stephan curry is the guy who got hot on davidson for two years and a bust in the nba right
02:26yeah
02:26or not a bust or like a what if guy like oh man that guy got hurt and instead he
02:31goes to the
02:31warriors so yeah well said really a great what if pick he has so many bad what ifs and this
02:37was the
02:37perfect what if and stolen by cousins
02:43lets it go from 14 and that will be golden state as it goes out of bounds warriors retain possession
03:03to the point that in 2012 i wrote a long column for grantland about it was like the sixty one
03:08of the
03:08the warriors franchise really staggered yeah they staggered to the point that in 2012 i wrote
03:15a long column for grantland about it was like the sixty reasons you can't play in the warriors
03:21friends were booing their owner on chris mullin and i went through their whole history since they
03:26won the title in 74 of just all the horrible things that happened to them all the dumb moves they
03:31made
03:31all the dumb trades all the things they never should have done it was extensive and after things
03:38flipped around people mail me that article all the time like can you believe it we've won three
03:43titles in the last four years you just wrote this it feels like yesterday and it was it's one of
03:48the
03:48most amazing turnarounds of any franchise i can remember i'm assuming you're you're a fan of the
03:52front office yeah very very smart but you know the pieces were there when they bought the team
03:57everyone thought they overpaid and not to toot my own horn because i've been wrong many times but
04:03i was one of the only people who didn't think they overpaid i just felt like that market was awesome
04:07i love their fans uh it was in the heart of silicon valley it made sense that they should
04:13be a juggernaut you know and they've never really had good ownership and as we learn over and over
04:19every year at the knicks like owners matter they just do timeout is called first of the game for the
04:26cavaliers and when you take a look at that shot chart the amount of misses lately really unbelievable
04:32man this is a joke i mean there have been some glimpses of hope but they've been few and far
04:38between
04:43so
04:48so
04:54so
04:55so
05:15Grazie a tutti.
05:29Grazie a tutti.
05:56Here's Sexton.
05:58Kevin Durant picking up that last basket.
06:04Sexton with it.
06:05Curry meets him.
06:06The Cavaliers again can't hit.
06:09On offense, here are the Warriors.
06:11They're on a 14-2 run here.
06:13And stolen by Love.
06:16Smith kicks to Sexton.
06:19Back to Smith.
06:21There's a screen.
06:24It's a pick by Love.
06:25Smith off the screen.
06:27That one off the back iron and out.
06:29My goodness, how about that miss?
06:31I mean, that's two easy points that they've just given away.
06:36Pass to Curry.
06:38Thompson outside.
06:41The pass to Green.
06:45And there it is for him.
06:48Green's got his first two points of the night.
06:50Bill, you've watched the NBA evolve.
06:52talk about some of the biggest changes over the last decade you've seen.
06:56The three-point line and the threes or foul shots philosophy, I think, is the biggest thing.
07:01Just the pace of the game has really improved.
07:04And to a really pleasing way for fans, like, just what Steve Nash was doing last decade and those Suns
07:11teams, that everybody's playing that way now.
07:14I think the social media and the players basically getting rid of the wall between them and the fans using
07:22social media, using Instagram.
07:25And we just feel like we know these guys better.
07:29And their ability to control their own message now versus where they were 10 years ago.
07:34It all started with the decision and LeBron James, and it's carried through this whole decade.
07:39And these guys now, they can get whatever message out they want.
07:43They can criticize the president.
07:45They can criticize their own team.
07:46They can ask for a trade.
07:48If they get called out by some writer or somebody who writes a hit piece, they can go back at
07:52the guy and sick all their fans on the writer.
07:57Going back to our topic from a moment ago, Bill, you mentioned the interaction between players and social media and
08:02how that's become a new festival.
08:04A skill we're seeing daily from players.
08:07There's just way more accountability now.
08:09And I'm really impressed by how polished the guys are that come in the league now.
08:13And I think the LeBron generation, LeBron, Wade, some of the Chris Bosh, some of those guys from the last
08:20generation that came up and became vets and really knew how to handle their business.
08:25Now these new guys come in.
08:27They're 19, 20 years old, and they act like they're 30.
08:29I'm sure you've seen it at the games.
08:31Shocking.
08:32Whereas in the 90s, it was a free-for-all.
08:34You had these guys who gave them a live mic.
08:36You were terrified.
08:37And now these guys are 19 years old giving long interviews to reporters.
08:43It's like, how are you doing this?
08:44Tatum in particular is very impressive.
08:46Tatum's already good at being a bad interviewer.
08:49He's 19 years old.
08:50He doesn't say anything.
08:51He knows how to dodge any question.
08:53It's like, you're 19.
08:54How do you know how to do this?
08:56Here's Hill, following the score by Golden State.
09:00No good.
09:01And they can't put an end to this drought.
09:05Curry with a wide-open look.
09:08That one fall.
09:09Coming off 80 dollars feet.
09:11Curry's got five points so far.
09:14The Cavaliers trail by 19.
09:17They could use a big shot here to get this offense going.
09:20Too many empty possessions right now.
09:23They need the basket.
09:27Curry against Hill.
09:28That's the court.
09:31Five on the clock.
09:35From deep three-point range.
09:38They get it back.
09:39Nance slammed home and he draws the foul.
09:42A chance for another point at the free-throw line.
09:45It's on Kevin Durant.
09:46I tell you what.
09:47Nance plays with a force every night.
09:51Explosive, tough, fearless.
09:53And he's got his first chance at the line here.
09:56And some changes here for the Warriors.
09:59Urebko's checked in for Durant.
10:00And it's Livingston in for Klay Thompson.
10:13Shooting one.
10:23And that one misses.
10:25Warriors leading by 17.
10:28And Curry has it in the corner.
10:31No good on the three.
10:3432 seconds left in the first quarter.
10:36Shoots over Clarkson.
10:39Second shot opportunity.
10:41And the layup is up and in.
10:43Bell has got his second basket of the game.
10:45And from the opening tip, they just crushed it.
10:48Yeah, you see it now on the scoreboard.
10:51Yeah, particularly on offense, where they've been completely in sync.
10:55Terrific first quarter.
10:56And, you know, Clarkson entering the league as a second-round pick.
11:01A little unsung for most of his career, but always seems to find a way to contribute.
11:06It's his first trip to the line.
11:08And a year ago, he was an 80% shooter at the line.
11:11So that's more than acceptable.
11:35And that one misses.
11:36Former first-team all-rookie after being picked in the second round.
11:40Clarkson, a draft-day steal.
12:02He hits the second from the line.
12:06Here's Curry.
12:07He's got five.
12:20With one on the clock, and he connects with the jumper.
12:24Curry's got his third basket of the night right there.
12:27And that's it for the first quarter in what's been a very lopsided game.
12:31Warriors ahead, running away with it.
12:34It's the NBA on 2K Sports from Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
12:42And that's it for the first quarter.aha
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