00:00One of the things we got the injury reports yesterday, Kevin Durant, big O-U-T, Kevin Durant will not
00:07play in Game 5 for the Houston Rockets.
00:11Luka Doncic's not playing in Game 5, we know that.
00:13Austin Reeves listed as questionable, and so we might see him play for the first time in these playoffs for
00:20the Lakers.
00:20Are we done here?
00:22Oh boy, that's a mouthful, isn't it?
00:24There's a few ways you can get to this, right?
00:26I think that you could talk about this in the context of this series.
00:29It seems like people are starting to talk about this in the context of, are we done here with Kevin
00:32Durant?
00:33No, that's exactly what I thought you were talking about.
00:36Are we done here with Kevin Durant?
00:38I don't think it's off the table for a number of reasons.
00:42I think there's a real push, maybe is not the right word, but sentiment, that the whole EME Adoka is
00:53safe thing, that ain't the case anymore.
00:56That's just not the case anymore.
00:58And maybe Raphael Stone.
01:00Maybe.
01:02I think it's definitely on the table.
01:03They've been exposed.
01:05The whole, well, we don't have Fred Van Vliet thing has been exposed.
01:08They're two best players and still are whipping you in this series and probably will clinch the series tonight.
01:15So, so that everything, all the whole argument of, of, you know, excuses basically is kind of been thrown out
01:23the window.
01:23So if you start, if you make a major change at the top, that changes everybody's perspective, you know, as
01:29in terms of players.
01:31Because Kevin Durant does have a no trade, correct?
01:34That's, I believe so.
01:35I believe he has a no trade.
01:36I mean, if he doesn't actually have it, he effectively has it.
01:40He effectively has it, yes.
01:40The player that he is.
01:42And with him being, having that one year afterwards.
01:44Although it becomes a little bit less strong when he's 38 years old, right?
01:47So that's one perspective.
01:48If there's changes at the top, then everybody's perspective, you know, in terms of being players, changes.
01:54There's also the perspective of Kevin Durant.
01:57And let's say the hierarchy stays the same.
02:00It hasn't worked.
02:02He's been terrific.
02:04But obviously it hasn't worked in terms of development of younger players, how the offensive system is working, etc.
02:12And then there's the Kevin Durant perspective.
02:15Is he, I can't get over this one quote I read in The Ringer.
02:20I just can't get over it.
02:21Oh, Michael Pena's perspective on, and mind you, I think that there was an aggregation Twitter account that kind of
02:26made it seem like he was reporting.
02:28This was an opinion piece.
02:29It was an opinion piece, but I still can't get over it.
02:32He said, you could drive an 18-wheeler through the space between Durant's talent and how said talent positively affects
02:40his surroundings.
02:41And you just go through his history.
02:44And you can certainly make some qualifiers on why things didn't work out in Oklahoma City and Golden State Warriors
02:52and Brooklyn and Phoenix and now Houston.
02:56What was that, five teams?
02:57Now, you can certainly say, well, but this, this, and this.
03:01I get it.
03:02I think that's a fine argument.
03:04But nevertheless, if this happens five times where, you know, like mommy, mom used to tell you, you know, leave
03:09that place better than you found it.
03:11And in every case, he didn't leave that place better than he found it.
03:15That's, that can't be a coincidence, can it?
03:18And I'm the, I'm, I've been the one defending Durant this whole time.
03:20I think when, when does it come to a point where you kind of got to look in the mirror
03:25or you got to look at Kevin Durant?
03:27I think that's how I kind of look at it.
03:29That's how I'm looking at it.
03:30Like, it can't be five different times.
03:34It was, well, this happened and this happened and excuses as why, or explanations on why it wasn't left better
03:41than they found it or why it didn't reach the expectation that was had.
03:44Or why, you know, Durant, you know, moved on to the greener pastures.
03:50Why keep bouncing from team to team at this point?
03:53Him being such a star like this, a superstar like this.
03:56I mean, I will go through every single one of those and I can give you the reasons why.
04:01I do not view this as Kevin Durant issues.
04:03I think that it is quite the anomaly, though, what you say that, you know, these teams have not achieved
04:09in the ways that you would hope that they would with him at the helm of it.
04:13And even if you want to make that point and say, hey, man, it's quite a coincidence.
04:17I think we all saw what happened with this team right here because we don't have to litigate what happened
04:22with the Nets or with the Suns with him.
04:24The thing that we need to litigate is what's happening with the Rockets.
04:26And what's clear is that this has not been a him issue here.
04:31Now, I think the question would be, would he want out, right, especially if there's a change at head coach,
04:36right, because that was one of the big selling points is that he has a level of belief in Emi
04:41Odoka.
04:42Would that change something within him?
04:43I don't I think that he enjoyed he has enjoyed being here and I don't think that he would want
04:48out of this.
04:48I don't think we're done with the Kevin Durant experience.
04:51I will say that I kind of am I kind of am oddly not happy, but I'm I'm appreciative of
05:01the fact that he's not playing in this game.
05:02Because I feel like one of the things that you came into the season hoping was that Kevin Durant was
05:07not going to be the load bearing portion of the team.
05:11And that's exactly where you've landed.
05:13Yeah.
05:13And I've appreciated the moments where which are few and far between where they've had to throw out the rest
05:18of these team and see what they can do stand on their lonesome.
05:22And they actually answered the call on Sunday.
05:24I want to see what the answer is again here.
05:26And if you could find some more of these answers for this team, unfortunately, not for this season, because I
05:31don't think that even if this team can manage to win the series, they can move on against the Thunder.
05:35Let them fight like let these.
05:37This is supposed to be the toughest environment in NBA basketball is you get to the playoffs.
05:42You find out things about your team.
05:44Let's let's let's, you know, sink or swim time with the with the remainder of this core and then bring
05:48Kevin Durant next back next year when you have when you can hopefully answer some questions around it and put
05:54this team that we all reasonably had high expectations for in a circumstance to actually meet up to those expectations.
06:00What kind of changes are do you feel like they need to make for this offseason?
06:04Offseason?
06:05Oh, that's a big question.
06:06I mean, that's that's a bigger.
06:08Because our big one.
06:09It sounds like you saying you want to run it back, like run it back again.
06:12Next year.
06:13And, you know, they're gelling these last couple games in the playoffs.
06:17So let's try it again next year.
06:18All right.
06:19I don't think I mean it quite as that.
06:21Like, it's not just run everything back.
06:22For one, offense needs to be addressed in a big way.
06:25And what that's and we've talked about that.
06:26That's either.
06:27Hey, E-May, you need to bring in somebody who will handle offense or E-May will not be here
06:32in my mess in my in my feeling.
06:33Not trying to fire him.
06:34However, I know that he can be he can be my way or the highway at times.
06:37And so if he's willing to handle that because offense, it's not sufficient.
06:41Point blank, period.
06:42No one or anyone around the NFL or NBA rather will tell you that.
06:45And so offense needs to get better.
06:46But when I when we say this, how much change do you think is actually do you actually want to
06:52make to what you have with the core?
06:53Now, you do have tradable assets and you still have first round picks that you can swap.
06:56You do have dudes that I think would be interesting to people like an Alper and Shang-Goon and so
07:00on.
07:01I don't I still don't know.
07:02Like, Giannis ends up being the big conversation.
07:05Yeah.
07:05I think you go and get Giannis and you still have to make some big moves around him because you
07:09don't have the things that make it work when you have Giannis.
07:11I think that instead of doing that, make the moves that help you, one, schematically, obviously get yourself point guard
07:17play and have somebody that can put those guys in a position to be successful because you have talents.
07:22A man has demonstrated his talent.
07:23Reed Shepard, even as he's demonstrated some of the downsides, has demonstrated his talent.
07:27If you can if you can harness those things in the proper way, as opposed to this year where you
07:31didn't harness them properly, this is still a talented basketball.
07:33But you said a lot there that I think is, frankly, a dangerous game to play.
07:38It's a dangerous game to me to just to say, I'm just worried about Houston, which means you're ignoring the
07:46four other teams that were not left the same, that experienced many of the same things.
07:50It's a dangerous game to play to me to say, let's find out about these guys if they find something
07:56in these two or three games without Kevin Durant or one with Kevin Durant and ignore the 82.
08:03You know, what I'm saying is you can't ignore those other five to four teams.
08:07It was a 52 win team.
08:07You also can't ignore how they played in the 82 games.
08:11Was there any consistency whatsoever?
08:13Sure.
08:13Consistency is consistency means that there was good points in there and there's been decidedly good points in here.
08:18Right, but what I'm saying is it's dangerous to say, hey, I think they're on to something and ignore that
08:24they were not on to something for any significant amount of time over the course of the season.
08:29I think you're mischaracterizing what I'm saying here.
08:31It's not that they're on to something right now.
08:32It's that, hey, what are the finer points and what are the things that are good in here and how
08:36do we then accentuate that going forward?
08:38But you should also look at the 82.
08:41Sure.
08:41And that's why I'm saying, I'm not saying you're wrong.
08:43I'm saying, you know, just to say I'm worried about these and then like I'm worried about the Rockets.
08:48Well, what happened in those other four situations?
08:51You know, you have to look at both.
08:54And again, I'm feeling like I'm all in on Kevin Durant.
08:57I've been all in on Kevin Durant since he got here.
08:59But it's all of a sudden like, oh boy, are we, is that a bigger risk?
09:04Yeah.
09:04Is that a bigger risk to do?
09:06Wait, so you're positioning the bigger risk as staying with Kevin Durant?
09:09Staying as Kevin Durant or staying status quo with someone like Shen Goon.
09:14I think the big, to me, I think the bigger risk is running it back, thinking it was maybe one
09:19little problem.
09:20Right.
09:20And if you do, let's say you do run it back and you do got Fred Van Vliet.
09:24And let's say you're going through the same thing you're going through this year.
09:28Then I think it will be even worse than last year because now you got.
09:31You're going to be in a point where you go, man, what were we thinking?
09:34Yeah.
09:34You know.
09:35And now at that point, you definitely talking about firing the coach.
09:38Yes.
09:38Or you thinking about trading KD and burner accounts going.
09:43It's going to be worse than it was this year.
09:46Yeah.
09:46And I'm not saying it will.
09:48I'm saying.
09:49That's a risk.
09:50You know.
09:50That's the risk part of it.
09:51That's a risky thing to do.
09:52Yes.
09:53I'm not willing to say that we're running it back straight up because I don't think that I've said that
09:58in any of this.
09:58There's some changes that needs to be made.
10:00I think the conversation is to what degree of changes do you need to make?
10:03And hopefully we can see.
10:05Well, I don't know.
10:05Hopefully is an interesting word because I don't know how many people are hoping that the Rockets continue to fend
10:10off or stave off elimination.
10:12But they have the opportunity to do this.
10:13And I do hope that if for no other reason, then I think that you need to see more of
10:18what is a man in these circumstances.
10:21What is Reed Shepard in these circumstances?
10:23And unfortunately, what is Alperen Shangoon in these circumstances?
10:26Because he's had some really woeful games in this.
10:28But he did put up a 33-game double-double in this series that looked really good and like the
10:34guy that you anticipate.
10:36So which of those is more real than not?
10:38And you get another opportunity at a data point for that.
10:41If nothing else in this game in L.A. tonight at 9 p.m. on ESPN.
10:45All right.
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