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00:15welcome back to another edition of new york got game your boy dexter henry here the knicks
00:21second straight year they are in the conference finals and i know i know this for sure my guest
00:26with me today he is absolutely happy about that native new yorker you see him on hot 97s in the
00:32morning with mero you also see him hosting on 7 p.m in brooklyn also hosting the ring of wrestling
00:39show my man is busy he is everywhere the one and only kazeem family we day joins me now kaz
00:45what's
00:45good my guy how you doing i'm doing good dex it's always good to chat with you especially uh
00:51with the orange and blue skies out here this week orange and blue everything right now man
00:56the vibes are good you have to be one of my favorite yeah there you go you know kaz got
01:03the jersey ready you know you know what hold up let me make sure i was perpetrating i was like
01:07should
01:07i wear the jerseys in poor taste you should have there you go let's go there we go let's do
01:12it
01:12let's let's do it you're rocking it nelly style with the heart yeah we're going nelly style today bro
01:17we're going straight there we go put your threes up for heart it's blue and orange everything right
01:22now you have to be one of my favorite followers of seeing nicks fans on twitter because you're
01:28going to let everybody know how you feel you're going to let the people know if they were not
01:33giving the next respect should they be giving the next respect all this stuff before we get into some
01:37things i gotta ask you because on hot 97 i love that you guys did this you guys said hey
01:43atlanta
01:43series we're not playing no atlanta hip-hop we're just done no love the atl but nah did you guys
01:51do that
01:51for the philly series so no no playing to the roots no anything else what did you do for no
01:55meek
01:55mill did you shut that down for the philly series so so we did we did right the only thing
02:00is it was
02:01definitely a lot harder for the atlanta series than it was the philly series right one it was six
02:05games across two weekends and a whole lot of artists to choose from so even when we ended up
02:11bid playing an atlanta artist that we weren't really sure of like like usher would come on i'd come
02:18on right after the break and be like yo take it off no no they'll get them out of here
02:23you know
02:23we'd have to do our googles i think mariah the scientist we really didn't know if she was like
02:27atlanta by way of young thug or not so we just figured let's just be safe we couldn't play her
02:33for the weekend and then uh you know to be fair we did the same thing with philly but we
02:39really only
02:39play a little uzi vert a lot on on rotation you know i'm saying like meek mill you know we'll
02:45probably
02:45hit him on the mix show you know i'm saying a little dream right it's not really a rotation
02:50like it used to be but still gets played a lot but make no mistake about it we definitely make
02:55sure
02:56that we are using our home the home radio advantage when it comes to you know uh the nba playoffs
03:03man
03:04atlanta and philly it was a little bit difficult because there's definitely a lot of artists that i
03:08like from there but i think next round between detroit and cleveland we'll be all right like i'm straight
03:14with no machine gun kelly or bone thugs in harmony or uh t grizzly big sean m&m like we'll
03:20be all right
03:21yeah i think i think you'll be fine i've been in solidarity with you guys i'm like all right
03:25hot 97 is not playing any hip-hop from these other regions we're keeping it straight new york this is
03:30what we're gonna do i'm a big fan of the roots black thought but i was just like not not
03:34not this
03:35week now the series was short so i can get back to my that's true yeah the knicks definitely helped
03:39us
03:39out for that they helped they helped us out there we're gonna get to the next series and where they
03:42are
03:42i gotta talk to you about this because uh you edited and you were the editor-in-chief i believe
03:49and wrote the introduction to new book out by slam uh but yeah pull it up for the people there
03:54we go
03:54we got it right there you can see it new york knicks heart of the city kaz was the editor
03:59-in-chief on
04:00that i hit you up last week and i'd say salute on that let me ask you this when i
04:05think of heart of
04:05the city i always think of you don't think of new york you don't think of the classic j song
04:09off the
04:09blueprint um what does that phrase mean to you when it comes to the knicks franchise and his fan
04:17base as a fellow new yorker what does that phrase mean to you so you know it all ties into
04:23even why
04:24i got to be guest editor-in-chief for this hardcover book because i've been a a champion of sports
04:30journalism as long as i could and slam has always been one of my dream publications to work for to
04:35write
04:36for um ever since i was a little kid so um with dennis page and adam figman uh hit me
04:42up to uh you
04:43know be guest editor-in-chief for this um it was an honor and a pleasure and you know something
04:49i took
04:50real seriously because you know um i talked to adam figman a lot i talked to dennis page a lot
04:55when
04:55they're getting done with a lot of these um uh uh cover stories uh sometimes me and adam will text
05:02and we'll go back and forth on like you know what would be a dope sort of tagline for like
05:05a cover
05:06or something like that so um you know this is no different you know new york makes heart of the
05:11city
05:11and even if you look at the book it kind of feels like you know jay-z's blueprint except in
05:17the
05:17background you kind of see instead of you know jay-z's photos in the back it's just pictures of legendary
05:24knicks in that same blueprint tip with the heart of the city as the tagline and that's exactly what
05:31the knicks are man like it's the only team that truly unites us as as a city you know um
05:37i'm sure
05:38you felt it today if you went outside with some knicks gear on like you're just talking to strangers
05:42people just excited to be like yo you think we got we're gonna do it this year like it's
05:47it sounds so cheesy and it sounds so corny and when i was a kid i didn't really understand it
05:52i would
05:52just say it a lot and just sort of felt on a surface level but there really was something
05:57really wonderful about like people from all shapes sizes and colors just like talking to each other
06:03today about how excited they are about the knicks and it's really a team that truly unites the city
06:08no matter you know what side of the tracks you live on when it comes here so um i think
06:14it's because
06:14basketball is the city's game i think it's because we're we're a starving fan base as far as uh the
06:20knicks are and championship glory and it's rare that the knicks aren't just uh you know playing
06:28competitive basketball but they're sort of playing the style of basketball that's involved right now
06:34you know a style of basketball that i don't think people really thought would be possible uh when it
06:39comes to this next team i feel like all the guys that fantasized about success about the knicks was
06:43always dream about the dream trade or the dream free agent signing or you know the the savior that
06:49gets drafted and turns into like you know this franchise player instead of you know the way
06:54we've seen like teams like the nuggets and the thunder and the celtics sort of being put together
06:59and maybe not so much the celtics because they had uh you know a lottery talent but just seeing them
07:04build through depth and build through smart business moves and build through savvy front office things
07:09so you know you know it being this book being called heart of the city is really a testament to
07:17how important this team is to the world's most important city in my opinion and you know without
07:22bias it's uh it's it's right here in new york man i can't tell you how many folks you know
07:29i ran into
07:30this week and ran into this morning and they were walking around with brooms in the city you know what
07:36i mean like just like hats on like just going to wherever they were going and it's one of those
07:42things
07:42that like you don't even have to explain it like i can walk around and see somebody with a nicks
07:47hat on
07:47with like a little mop or a little broom or something and like we're all like yeah baby
07:53nixon floor like we just it's it truly unites this place it's the most diverse city in the world
07:59and uh it's beautiful that a little kids game could do that for for somebody different folks
08:04and i agree with you nothing and i said this on the live stream the other day nothing unites the
08:09city sports wise like the nicks nothing it's not even to me it's not even close and i haven't been
08:15outside traveling in the same way recently because i you know tore my achilles and rehabbing from that
08:20but today i step out for a little bit and a neighbor's like immediately you know people see
08:27me sometimes they want to talk nicks what do you think about nicks is this real is this for real
08:31and
08:31we're gonna get into that but cas for me and i don't know about you because we're we're closer in
08:38age and we we saw a little bit of the 90s nicks right this current playoff run it feels different
08:45from past nicks moments for you how much of that is about the winning in the way we've seen it
08:50right
08:50they've won eight games now they're halfway to a championship and how much is it about what you
08:56were talking about just before like how this team connects to the city culturally that possibly makes
09:02this feel different from other playoff runs or eras of mixed basketball that we've seen man it feels
09:09different because it is different it's it's historically different like uh watching the way this next team
09:15hasn't not just come together offensively but defensively as well like it kind of feels like
09:22they're inevitable now it's not like the past years where granted as a fan it was fun to watch jalen
09:30save us basketball for a lot of uh those deep playoff runs but this year that team just comes
09:38at you in waves and like they just don't stop and especially every game that i kind of feel like
09:45okay
09:45this is going to be the game that the nicks come back to earth this is going to be the
09:47game that they
09:48truly get challenged this is going to be the game that you could sort of pencil
09:51lend the loss where we keep saying nixon six and you kind of like game plan where these losses
09:57are going to come from those are the games that the nicks have decided to play historically great
10:02basketball like when it comes to the hawks and closing them out by 50 points when it comes to the
10:09sixers and closing them out by 30 plus points hitting 11 for 11 three-pointers in the first quarter
10:15tying an nba record hitting 25 three-pointers in a playoff game tying an nba record i want to say
10:23the only and and i've tried to not live hyperbolic when it comes to talking about this team but i
10:29want
10:29to keep saying man like this feels very warriors like this feels warriors like in the way that they
10:35just have these runs that just suck the soul out of buildings and it's just like but it's the opposite
10:42right like those soul-sucking runs that the warriors to go on the nicks go on but there's no real
10:50road
10:50game for them like they go to atlanta and it's basically another home game they go to philly and
10:56it's basically another home game like we've never seen anything like this like we could keep saying
11:02like oh you know like act like you've been there before i'm like truly no one has been here before
11:07as
11:08far as like my rating as far as net rating is concerned as far as not just the winning but
11:13like
11:13the margin of victory that the knicks are winning at and it seems like they're getting healthier and
11:19everything is just sort of falling into place the way a quote-unquote team of destiny should
11:26have these moments sort of happen as far as like championships are concerned it's been incredible to
11:32watch so like as many times as we can say like all right well this feels different it's because
11:40it is different we've never seen a team shoot this well we've never seen a team defend this well
11:46and add to the fact that we have so many talking heads now when it comes to this game and
11:52not
11:53necessarily and and we could kind of see reasonably why they would pick against the knicks like i would i'm
12:01reasonably understood why folks thought the atlanta hawks would give the knicks problems
12:04and they did for like a game and a half and it was over and i watched how the sixers
12:11dismantled the
12:12boston celtics a team that taunted us throughout the entire regular season taunted us last season
12:18and came back 3-1 and dismantled dismantled the celtics
12:27there's no other way to look at this team except historically great and as far as being in the
12:36position that they are now again you're gonna hear from folks saying like yo act like you've been there
12:41before next we've been knicks fans for a long time when have we ever been the team sitting and waiting
12:47for somebody when have we ever been the team sitting and waiting and and playing again
12:56yes yes princess thank you shout out to the shout out to the young knicks fans there
13:02um when has would have the knicks ever just been sitting waiting for the rest of the playoffs to
13:07finish as we're playing this historically even i don't even think that was the case in 99 against
13:12the hawks when they swept that seven game series i know the guy was over pretty quickly that's the last
13:16time the knicks swept the seven game series and you just talked about how dominant you're right
13:21it's different in how they've dominated how they've shot the ball how they've defended i just came on
13:26came up on this stat the knicks are the fourth team to win by 30 plus points in two closeout
13:36games
13:36through a playoff run the other teams last year's thunder okay the 2008 celtics
13:45and the 87 celtics yeah yeah all those all those teams have something in common they want it all
13:51now i'm not saying it's gonna win it all i'm not trying to put that out there but then that
13:55has me
13:55thinking about what you also mentioned you're right a lot of people not a lot of people the
14:00knicks just swept the sixers team that some people thought would push this series really deep i'm not
14:07gonna say whether they said they were gonna win or not they thought it'd be a deeper series i did
14:09i thought the next one we're gonna win i watched i watched every single prediction show you can have
14:15i believe you did i believe you did nobody nobody before the series started predicted this week
14:22not even the most optimistic nicks man predicted this week that i'll be i'll be one of those guys
14:27after the second game i was like all right we gotta handle business because og's out and let's just
14:32handle them but nobody saw this i didn't see it okay how optimistic you are what is what impressed
14:38you the most in the sweep is it that part that og goes down at the end of the second
14:42game and they
14:43take the two games in philly for the weekend or what what was it is it how they blew them
14:48out in
14:48the first game how they blew them out in the last game what impressed you the most about how the
14:51knicks swept the sixes i what's impressed me the most is how quickly this team has changed its identity
14:58within the playoffs you know what i mean like they went from uh an equal opportunity sort of offense
15:04that morphs into what iso heavy offense that's led by jalen brunson to almost like this sort of amoeba
15:13version of the 2004 24 denver nuggets you know what i mean where you're playing through carl anthony towns
15:21and and like he's he's averaging seven eight assists per game and you know just absolutely
15:28spreading around all of this all these offensive weapons with no big guys in the middle while we're
15:34just getting backdoor cuts wide open shot it's just beautiful basketball to watch and the most
15:42impressive part about it is that everybody is playing well like there's nobody i can look at
15:48on the roster right now and be like man like we're gonna be good but like x has to step
15:54it up who do
15:55we say that about early in the season mikhail bridges right and now mikhail bridges has fully
16:01told us to f those picks and two you know playoffs seasons in a row if you would have told
16:06me yo
16:07we'll trade you five first round picks to two back-to-back trips to the eastern conference finals
16:12everyone's taking that so i don't want to hear that's that's a very interesting way of looking
16:18that's that's an interesting way of looking at it and i agree with you everybody would take it
16:21but everything you and you know this because we see this on social media everybody still does not view
16:26that trade in that way you're looking at what's been the return and the return is they have gotten to
16:32the eastern conference finals with him being an integral part of the team in the playoffs playing
16:36excellent basketball excellent basketball everybody saw cj mccullum dance around this nick defense and
16:43shudder to think what tyrese maxey was going to do and maxey couldn't get off at all like he was
16:51absolutely locked down and mikhail bridges it seemed like every single time the knicks needed a bucket to
16:56sort of slow down or start up any sort of momentum he seemed to get those easy ass middies in
17:02transition
17:03that just seemed like layups to him and again the committee og and anobi if he would have took a
17:10straw poll before he went down you would have said he's the mvp of the playoffs so far he goes
17:14down
17:14deuce mcbride steps in and it's a different level of savagery that the nick sends you it's like oh
17:20instead of the our three and the kawai leonard clone that's going to terrorize your offense we're going to
17:27send our six foot two pitbull who locks up your point guard and also as lights out from three you
17:32know
17:32what i mean like it was just we saw this next team show you that they're not the celtics like
17:40we can
17:40beat you in different ways we're not just gonna pray and spray and shoot threes over and over again
17:46like yo like we could we can slow you down lock you up and play a grinded out game knowing
17:52we got the
17:52best closer in basketball as our point guard we can you know if you got a dominant big man we
17:57can make
17:57him uncomfortable and play out of position and perimeter and and garden passes and offenses through
18:03him uh to do that and we could just shoot your lights out also on top of that like they
18:10they've
18:11shown the entire gamut and we haven't even really exposed like the unstoppable like pick and roll that
18:19brunston and cat figured out in the late part of the regular season when the games get close yeah exactly
18:25but because the games haven't been close that's the thing like the games haven't been close like
18:30the games that have been like nip and tuck games like the one or two games since the atlanta series
18:35have been very heavy brunson cat pick and roll action and that seemed like the play that knicks fans
18:42figured was okay they figured out that playing these two together offensively are damn near unstoppable
18:49and ever since then they've just added layers and layers and layers to that offense
18:53that really makes this knicks team feel like i trust them against anybody love spurs thunder
19:01calves oh kaz and kaz is kaz is feeling that talking that talk wow if you're if you get this
19:08far why would you not feel it why no no i agree it's that you've won eight games you're halfway
19:14there
19:14why should you not believe i don't think that's crazy to say you are you are the only team
19:19you are the only team next to the thunder in the past two years that have been to the final
19:24four
19:25the past two years like you get here you better be thinking championship definitely handle business
19:32in the conference finals but why wouldn't you think you can't handle the spurs who you beat in the nba
19:37cup
19:38why wouldn't you think you can't go talent for talent depth for depth with the oklahoma city thunder
19:44defending champions why wouldn't you think jaylen broodson can't you know uh outplay shea gilders
19:49alexander certain nights why wouldn't you think carl anthony towns can't manhandle chet holmgren and and
19:54isaiah hartenstein with uh uh mr robertson coming off the bench like if there's any team
20:01built to go up against the defending champions this this this machine of a basketball program that they
20:07built over in oklahoma city why not the knicks what other team is built better right now to take
20:14them on like jaylen williams who was their second or third best player on certain nights
20:19ain't necessarily lighting the world on fire but i i'd probably take og ananobi or or uh mikhail bridges
20:26over jaylen williams right now as far as the oklahoma city thunder is concerned i'd probably take
20:30carl anthony towns over chet holmgren right now if you're you know the new york knicks
20:35okay when they clip this it's gonna be fine fine i'm saying like look just look at it just look
20:42at
20:43how no you're talking about how they're playing right now and and these knicks are playing really
20:48good is there because you hit on a bunch of good stuff there about the knicks is there a player
20:53for
20:54you that has shocked you in a positive way with how they've played or their performance during this
21:00playoff run is there a player for you where you're just like man i didn't i didn't really see this
21:04coming
21:04this is really impressive what they've done in this playoff run i i i want to say i'm i'm surprised
21:11but i'm not it's josh hart man like josh hart is a guy who's like very much maligned a lot
21:17because
21:18last last playoffs nicks fans were giving it to him because it's shooting and not hitting certain
21:22shots but yeah he's a 40 percent three-point shooter now that makes a world of difference
21:27when you have your when you have him playing power forward essentially at six foot five you know
21:32like he's stretching the court out and still grabbing rebounds and still pushing breaks and
21:37still getting jalen brunson off the ball to have him catch it on the wing and break down defenders
21:42like he's still such a i i called him this on twitter years ago and people still refer to him
21:50that
21:50i called him the carmelo anthony of draymond greens like he's the guy who just does
21:55i like that everything you know i'm saying that a draymond green does but makes it look a little
22:00better like a carmelo anthony would you know what i'm saying i like that hello anthony draymond greens
22:04i like it yeah and and and he's been really impressive like jalen brunson at this point i i trust
22:11him with the nuclear codes man like if it's a playoff game and he's on the he's on our team
22:16and the game
22:17is close i feel like we have a good chance as long as he's on the court and has the
22:20ball in his hand
22:20carl anthony towns i don't know what come to jesus moment they all had as a team but they finally
22:26figured out that like we have nikola yokich at home if we want to play through him and make him
22:30feel like
22:31this and just make offense way easier for everybody because he's bringing every big man out 35 40 feet to
22:37come guard him at the three-point line because you have to respect this three and now you have to
22:41respect
22:41his ability to dish the ball i mean it just makes he's just making the game so much easier for
22:47guys
22:48who are supremely talented and god help us if og and ob picks up exactly where he left off left
22:55off
22:56before he went he's been amazing to the brand i mean i would say the the last thing that's probably
23:01surprised me is that now we've seen our bench players truly win games for us we've seen jose alvarado
23:09turn that series around in the atlanta in the atlanta series we've seen miles mcbride and
23:15lanchard shaman have standout playoff shooting games and now those are two other guys you have
23:19on your bench that can absolutely go off for you when you when you're gonna need them to as these
23:25playoff series get a little tougher now this is where this is where the money is made this is where
23:30mike brown and brunson and cat and everybody's legacy is made because this is why you fire tibbs this is
23:37why you put this team together this is why you went all in on these picks this is why you've
23:42done
23:42everything to get to this point right now it is to win these next four games these next four games
23:49is why you've made every single one of these moves since 2020 on is to be able to get to
23:56the nba
23:57finals and let the chips fall where they may you're already seeing how you feel you already know how you
24:04look against the the timberwolves and the spurs i like my chances against both of those guys and
24:09whereas everybody in the nba circles have already sort of predetermined that the oklahoma city thunder
24:14is going to walk to a repeat what a story it would be if these new york knicks would be
24:21the team
24:22to stop the eventual dynasty that a lot of people are seeing this thunder is is is shaping up to
24:31be how
24:32incredible would it be incredible very if this if this next team goes from ah this has to be the
24:40year
24:40or they got to break it up or they got to trade everybody as it is to oh now this
24:46is the next team
24:47that man what if they're what if they're the next you know model franchise what if they're the next team
24:53that everybody wants to you know model their game around and try and get their star players to take less
24:59money on on several years so they can go and get other pieces and like let's not let's never there's
25:06so many unselfish moves that every single one of these players made in order to get to this point
25:12that we should never ever sort of just like bypass like the mikhail bridges signing the jalen brunson
25:18signing like og aninobi being the highest paid player who is technically a role player but we all
25:25know he's not a role player like we all know he's a guy great third options one of the best
25:29options you can have in the league he's probably he probably is the best third option in the league
25:33especially in these playoffs so it's it's if i'm a nicks fan there shouldn't be any team left standing
25:40that you should fear you should feel confident winning four games against any of these teams left
25:44standing in the nba playoffs i love so i love the confidence right okay so we now and you said
25:52the
25:52nicks have never been in this position or at least we don't recall where they've had to wait
25:55on the rest of the nba now they're waiting on the next series in the east it could be detroit
26:01pistons it could be the cleveland cavaliers who do you want to see in the next round well one who
26:08do you
26:08want who do you think they match up best against because it's two different things so who do you
26:11want who do you think they match up best against i want detroit i think i i think i want
26:16detroit
26:16i i i i want them at their best um i think the next match up better with detroit um
26:27than they do
26:27cleveland i still think they they beat cleveland easily but i also think you know the way we've
26:34seen this team evolve in the past two to three weeks
26:39we've seen how you can get wins off these pistons we've seen how you can get wins off these cavaliers
26:50outside of a cj mccullough miracle two game stretch in these entire playoffs i don't know if there's a
26:56blueprint out there on how to beat these guys four times in a row or four times out of seven
27:01times you
27:02know what i'm saying like you can that we've seen jalen brunson have soap subpar games and get picked
27:07up we've seen carl anthony towns get into foul trouble and have other people light it up we've
27:12seen og and ob put the team on his back and we all kind of know the pistons go as
27:17cade cuttingham goes
27:18cade cuttingham is an outstanding player he's an incredible player one of my favorite players to watch
27:23in the league but we all know he's the head of the snake and there's nobody else out there that
27:27can
27:28create a bucket for themselves duncan robertson is not getting you no buckets off the dribble
27:31like isaiah stewart you know i mean jalen durin your boy jenkins jenkins like shout out to say john's
27:39alum you know i'm saying like i'm not i'm not worried about all that cade cut you stop cade
27:44kind of here you have cade cuttingham have a tyrese maxi like playoff series and this is also over and
27:49for like if if cade cuttingham is is going down six points per game or that like pretty much down
27:57at statistically everywhere like tyrese maxi was this is also over and for because there's nobody
28:03else in detroit that can that can do what he does and they don't play a system of basketball that
28:08can
28:08beat this version of the next four out of seven times so cas i think people are going to hear
28:13our
28:13conversation and i appreciate a couple more stuff for you but people are going to say dex you hearing
28:19cas right now he's out here drinking the orange and blue kool-aid they're gonna they're gonna think you're
28:23doing that i think you're making logical points about why you should be confident in the nicks
28:27right and i heard you you just brought up a good point about if they are able to stop cade
28:33cutting
28:33him if they see him in the next round and obviously no shade to cleveland and we think cleveland is
28:37good
28:38and the same thing would apply to you know donovan mitchell or james hardy right you saw the nicks put
28:44the
28:44clamps on tyrese maxi and you've also waxed poetic about the offense have you been what do you like more
28:53about well guess what's more impressive in your eyes in the way this team is playing defense
28:57see i'm with you the defense forget the offense and the fact that you brought up shutting down maxi
29:02and cunningham told me that so you're with me i think the defense is more impressive than the
29:06offense you give me the buck 40 that they put up on the sixers to close but the way they're
29:10playing
29:10defensively for me now that's the more press you agree that's the more that's the more impressive
29:15thing yes yes offense is gonna come and go man and you got jalen brux on your team like i
29:21don't even
29:21care if he has games where he doesn't shoot that well if it's close and he's got the ball in
29:25his
29:25hands i feel good about it but historically every great playoff team every great championship team
29:31has had a defense that is stifling and this next team has showed up with a very stifling defense we
29:37have
29:40three four guys on that team that would be the best defender on any nba team you know what i
29:46mean
29:46like you got miles mcbride who could be a best defender on a lot of nba teams you got mitchell
29:51robinson who would be the best defender on a lot of nba teams you got og and anobi who'd be
29:54the best
29:55defender a lot of nba teams well mikhail bridge did the tyrese maxi saved his legacy here in new
30:00york and in brooklyn and nationwide right and then you got jose alvarado you know what i mean off the
30:04bench as well you got jordan clarkson who has become an offensive rebounding demon you know what i mean
30:09like it's it's not just about i'm gonna lock you up right like right and possessions like you get
30:16the ball up you're not getting second and third opportunities you drive to the basket people are
30:21there to take offensive fouls you think you're getting a rebound over mitchell robinson good luck
30:27nope many have tried few have few have succeeded and quietly carl anthony towns is one of the best
30:34rebounders in basketball and now he's starting now he's turned into a defensive demon as well
30:39completely completely outplayed joelle and bead and uh yeah like that it's the defense that has
30:47impressed me i'd rather see them win you know 100 to i'd rather them i'd rather see them continue that
30:54streak of holding teams under 100 points than seeing them put up 140 points like if you i trust the
31:01hell
31:01holding teams under 100 way more than i trust them shooting nba record level greatness behind the arc
31:08like they did in these two closeout games so it's the defense is the defense is the defense i'm a
31:13new
31:13yorker we are defense first over here and buckets later yeah deep defense first of course couple more
31:20things for you going back to the book from slam heart of the city um put that book up there
31:26again for the
31:27for the people oh and i i'm gonna i gotta get that i told kaz i gotta grab the book
31:32because you know
31:33i i love books like this in the way the storytelling and the different voices at any you have some
31:37great
31:37voices in there monica mcnutt is in there alan han um who else do you have you got a book
31:43my god doug
31:44lust man like shout out to doug shout out to the show he wrote an incredible uh he wrote incredible
31:49story
31:50about the villains of new york city and like you know about trade the trey young's the reggie miller
31:56like you know this this book is really it truly is a love letter to the knicks fan like i
32:01think
32:02everybody sort of felt it in the air back in like march or february when we were putting this together
32:06that like this could really be a special season for the new york knicks so we really tried to tell
32:13the
32:13entire story of you know knicks basketball from the beginning uh to now the the up down the the
32:20great times the not so great times and if you're a slam reader some of the classic cover stories that
32:26you've seen a lot of classes throughout the years yeah you know you you know we got we got carl
32:31anthony
32:31town stories near jalen brunson stories in there josh hart stories in there um julius randall rj barrett
32:37stories there stefan marbury carmella anthony i sat down with him to talk about his next days
32:42i talked about uh uh with alan houston latrell spreewell stefan marbury patrick ewing i mean
32:48you know the great alan han talks about the history of the building and where it used to be
32:53to where it is now and sort of like the history behind that you know i sat with monica mcnell
32:57one
32:58of my longest dearest friends in this industry and we broke down player by player you know i mean as
33:03somebody who is on the plane with these guys throughout the entire season who knows them
33:08intimately when it comes to covering them for you know espn radio and just broke down the entire
33:14team player by player and it was a great story as well and it just in the introduction to this
33:22that
33:22i wrote as the guest editor um i wrote something and i'm going to paraphrase it here that uh you
33:28know
33:29knicks fans always have this sort of um uh they're always sort of waiting for this other shoe to drop
33:35they're always waiting for like you know something to to to take away from the good times and it's
33:41why like people sort of like celebrate when you know fortune uh this misfortune to fall the knicks but
33:49i i i i broke it down to two simple words man we're due we're due as a city like
33:56we're due to finally
33:57have this as 53 years 53 years is a long ass time long it's a long time long time cats
34:06but and you
34:06know in telling the story new york basketball you can't not talk about legacy right yeah and yeah
34:13the legacy of jalen brunson is growing to me in this city and it's it's happened real quick
34:19uh where do you think he sits now in the modern knicks legacy
34:25after another series win another trip to the eastern conference finals now i know you said
34:30we're not surprised about anything jalen brunson does you said you'd give him the keys to the nuclear
34:34codes and all that where do you think his legacy is now right now after he's going back to the
34:39conference finals as a next point guard captain uh you know i think his legacy right now is that of
34:47one of one of the true incredible franchise changing stories in the history of sports like
34:57i think his legacy amongst nick's greats is still being written because he's sort of in it right now
35:04but when you talk about players that have transformed legendary franchises like jalen brunson is up there
35:14with like anybody who's ever played sports and have truly transformed the team and the way that he
35:23has man like and it's it's not just the fact that they win it's that brunson has had this flair
35:30for the
35:30dramatic that is reserved for the guys that we speak to on the one name basis only you know what
35:38i mean
35:38like i'm talking about your jordans your kobe's your your larry birds your magic johnson's like
35:45these are he he performs the type of basketball that you tell your children about and being like yo
35:52i was there when he hit that game winner i was there when he dropped 40 something on in this
35:58closeout
35:58game i was there when they when they finally won the nba cup and nobody took it seriously and nobody
36:04was talking about raising that banner up because they had something else to rate like he is he's the
36:12reason why a generation of nicks fans are not going to grow up like my generation the nicks fans right
36:19like the level of pessimism the level of just the level of uncertainty that us scary millennial nicks
36:29fans have grown up as jalen brunson's generation is not going to feel that they're going to look at
36:34him as the steph curry of their franchise like a guy who came to the team and completely took them
36:41from
36:42an afterthought to a serious contender year in and year out um the fact that he plays point guard in
36:52this city and is from new jersey even though he played high school basketball in chicago and his dad played
36:58here and you know he he has roots locally around here man like that's a guy who is going to
37:07go down
37:07in history as already you know he could stop right now i don't want him to stop right now but
37:14he could
37:14stop right now and his place in nick's history is already cemented and he has an opportunity to take
37:20it to a level that is truly reserved for the immortals of our game and you know they say not
37:28not all
37:28championships are are are weighed equally a new york-sized championship ring weighs way heavier than
37:36a lot of championship rings out there so especially when the people have been waiting 53 years for it
37:41especially when when you have that last thing for me cas and and i think this will tie in well
37:48for the
37:48knicks fans um when we look back we're going to project a little bit here when we look back at
37:53this
37:54era of knicks basketball what do you think they're going to say that this team this 2026
38:01knicks playoff team represented for new york city what do you think the final world will be and i think
38:07you're the perfect person to ask this because i've been you've been very optimistic throughout this
38:11conversation you're drinking the orange and blue kool-aid and i'm there's no judgment for me on that
38:16but what do you think they're gonna when they look back what do you think they'll say about
38:19this team and how it represented for nyc i'd say this team would represent um
38:33hmm it's a good question man
38:39and this came to me because you were talking about it you said what's the nerve the nerve this team
38:46had
38:46that sometimes you need to have you need to have the nerve to be great like some people want to
38:52be
38:53great right some people say they want to be great it's true but you gotta have real nerve to
39:01truly go out and do it like when you think of everything everybody on this team has been through
39:08to sort of put this team together already before the conference finals even start
39:12every one of them were doubted in some way shape or place or form in their in their basketball career
39:18mike brown doubted because of what thibodeau did the year before and doubted because he never
39:24quote-unquote led a championship team as a head coach even though he's been on the benches for
39:30both warriors and spurs dynasties jalen brunson who was openly disrespected by the dallas mavericks and
39:38every single pundit who said he was overpaid when he got here and not only was he underpaid
39:44he's probably got the greatest contract in the history they're probably going to put that contract
39:48in like a new york sports museum like they're gonna frame it several years they're gonna frame it
39:54carl anthony towns how many how many stupid you know red pill driven narratives are are are said about
40:02carl anthony towns and his masculinity all the time which is ridiculous which is the most ridiculous
40:09thing you'll ever hear and all he does out there is bully people out rebound them drive them through
40:17the hoop dunk on them like it's it's they all have the nerve to be great like and and they
40:26could have
40:26hung up that banner but the nba cup nobody would have flinched you know what i'm saying but here's
40:31the thing they got a chance now if they win it this year you could be the first nba team
40:39to win the
40:39double right you want to come i was getting that that why not that's what maybe they'll have the
40:45nerve to do it they they have the nerve to be great because they went they the cup was something
40:50to win
40:51and they went they said they wanted it and they went after it and got it right like they could
40:56be
40:57the team that completes the sweep the first team like it's it's more than just winning a championship
41:02now now they can be the first team to make the nba cup mean something remember everybody who talked
41:08about the nba cup in years past said like oh you don't want to win the nba cup the teams
41:12that have
41:12won it before always falter in the playoffs the knicks are the first team to clean and sweep both of
41:18those
41:18and let's say they they do it and and and go through wendy two times to do it the way
41:24the nba cup is
41:25looked at for is forever changed now and the way the world looks at this dicks team is forever changed
41:31now because they'll always be solidified and and and and talk to as winners you know what i mean no
41:39matter how you slice it they'll always be looked at as the only team the first team to to take
41:45both
41:45championships in the single year and at that point you got to put both banners up after that
41:50i have to agree i have you get the you get the larry and both of them got to go
41:54up i'm sorry both
41:55got if you're the first team to get the the double get the sweep whatever you want to call it
41:59you got
41:59to put both up i'm with you 100 that was a great answer the nerve the knicks would have that's
42:05how
42:05they look back this team had the nerve nobody would have nobody would have been mad at them if they
42:09kept tibbs nobody would have been mad if they if they didn't make these trades for for the alvarados
42:14the clarksons and and these signings like every move from the front office to the 15th man has had a
42:22level of nerve to it to be great so that's how i remember this team uh in 2026 in the
42:28years i like that
42:29i love that answer man i love that answer hey everybody check out the book that's out now via slam
42:35new york knicks heart of the city uh my man kazeem famuide he guest editor not guest editor he was
42:43editor-in-chief on this project got some words in there also an intro check it out i got to
42:47pick
42:48up the book myself to have it uh kaz i appreciate you rocking me in new york guy game it
42:52had been a
42:53while you are a very busy man like me we always have our hands in different things but uh you're
42:58getting it done and um i assume you're predicting the knicks are gonna win this championship i i assume this
43:04is what you what you got you've been saying this all conversation long i assume this way you're
43:07going i said it in the beginning of the year i said it in the middle of the year and
43:11i said it in the
43:12end of the year nixon 26 just sounds too good it just sounds too good it just feels it feels
43:18right
43:19and and as the games go on i'm feeling more and more confident i ain't getting off the boat right
43:24now
43:26nicks win the east nicks handle whoever's in the west and the nicks end the 53 year droughts
43:35this year i stop it all i hear is that maybe the next time i see kaz and i should
43:40be healthier by
43:42then to be there it sounds like it'll be at the parade that's what it sounds like
43:46let's hope so let's hope so let's hope so check kaz out 7 p.m in brooklyn hot 97s in
43:52the morning
43:52with our guy miro also check him out on the ringer wrestling show and make sure you go check out
43:57that
43:58book new york knicks heart of the city my man top it on slam goods.com man go to slam
44:03goods.com you
44:04can get the book you get the children's version of the book you get all the merch you get the
44:07gold
44:08foil version of it it's it's beautiful it's hardcover support physical media y'all they're trying to
44:13delete all of our stuff off the internet get your stuff you can get your hands on all right get
44:19your
44:19hands on it there you go support physical media i as a vinyl collector i appreciate that a hundred
44:24percent definitely go support my man kaz kaz i appreciate you man i gotta catch you uh next
44:29time when you come up here i'm dexter henry and we'll catch you guys next time on another edition of
44:34new york cut game and thanks for watching new york cut game boom shakalaka
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