00:15We are back at the Knicks facility, Dexter Henry, Stephen Bondy.
00:19Media Day just wrapped up, and so we are back in the fold.
00:22The short summer for both of us, short summer for the Knicks as well, too.
00:26A lot was talked about here on Media Day, Steph, but it's been good, man.
00:32You know, shorter than usual.
00:34I've never covered a championship team from start to finish, so it was different.
00:37But, you know, in the end, it was satisfying.
00:39You get to cover a championship team, so that was pretty cool.
00:42Yeah, can't be mad at that at all.
00:44Here on Media Day, a lot of big storylines, none bigger than the contract extension talks
00:50for Josh Hart and Carl T. Towns.
00:52We heard some interesting comments from both.
00:54What were your takeaways and what you heard from both of these guys?
00:56Yeah, so, you know, when you come into this, you don't expect, you don't really know how
01:00they're going to play it because there's a lot going on behind the scenes.
01:03And a lot of times you just get, you know, I'm going to leave that to my agent.
01:06Right.
01:06We didn't get that.
01:07What we got was, in my interpretation, was putting some pressure on the Knicks.
01:13Certainly with Cat, he was asked, you know, how comfortable are you if you go into the
01:18season and continue to negotiate?
01:20He was like, well, in this situation, there is no comfort, right?
01:23And so, and then Josh Hart, he likewise, he was like, I don't expect anything to get
01:28done before the season because there's been no movement.
01:31But this is something that could be hanging over us.
01:34It could be hanging over, you know, you make decisions with your family.
01:37And he had an interesting line that said, you know, if this goes until February, now
01:41it's a different conversation.
01:42And what's in February the trade deadline?
01:45So, you know, in my opinion, you know, it was putting, the players putting pressure on
01:50the organization to get something done.
01:52Yeah.
01:52And I found it interesting.
01:53I wanted to go back to Cat for a second because you're the one who brought it up to me
01:56last
01:56week when we did that video talking about his contract extension talks and the fact that
02:01he used the word comfortability and being comfortable.
02:03You brought that up saying, hey, look at what happened last year when the Giannis trade
02:07rumors came up.
02:08But the fact that he brought that up, do you think the Knicks are going to take heed
02:12to that and maybe say, hey, we don't want our guy who played very well through this championship
02:18run for us to not be comfortable?
02:19Well, I'm sure they're going to think about it, but they also are going to think about
02:23that second apron.
02:24And ultimately, it's going to be a call for James Dolan, how much she, you know, what their
02:30and their books and what it's going to look like.
02:32And are they eventually going to be willing to go in the second apron?
02:35We've talked about this already.
02:36A year from now, Jalen Brunson is up for an extension.
02:39OG and Anobi's up for an extension.
02:41So there's a lot going on.
02:43And it's not just about, all right, are you comfortable or are you not comfortable?
02:47There's a lot of elements here.
02:49And first and foremost is it's second apron.
02:52Yeah.
02:52And I thought the Josh Hart part, as you just mentioned, was very interesting in the comments
02:55about February, trade deadline February.
02:57Do I think Josh Hart's getting traded?
02:58No.
02:59But I do think, as you said, the comments of a little pressure on the Knicks was interesting.
03:03Speaking of pressure, we built, you know, repeating.
03:07I don't say rebuilding.
03:08Knicks are far from that.
03:09Repeating was the thing that was talked about a lot here at Media Day.
03:12And then Mike Brown, when we talked to him, he threw a standard a lot about the Knicks
03:17having a standard, setting a standard.
03:19You're on TV, bro.
03:22That's Rick Brunson.
03:23That was in the Eagles studies, too.
03:26You see, those are all people.
03:27All people sometimes do it to you.
03:29We're not cutting it out, but it's fine.
03:31But when you heard from Mike Brown, right, he constantly used the word standard a bunch
03:36throughout.
03:36They're talking about the Knicks standard and what they have to have.
03:39Do you feel, from what we've heard today, that this team is really focused on the standard
03:43that they've set as they have this quest to repeat?
03:45Yeah.
03:46And, you know, we talk about that Mike Brown came out and he made it an opening statement.
03:52It felt like we were getting...
03:53He brought us into the players meeting and was telling us how to handle it.
03:57And he has experience.
03:57He coached, he brought it up, he coached that Warriors team that went back to back.
04:03And they obviously came back with some hunger because they won.
04:06They weren't as good in the regular season as they were the year prior, but they came
04:09back and they won again.
04:10Yep.
04:10So he has that experience.
04:13He understands you have players that went to Villanova on the Knicks who won that championship.
04:17They had to come back and try and repeat.
04:19They eventually did it the year after that where they won the second title.
04:22So this is a veteran group.
04:24They know how to handle stuff like this.
04:26And I'm not worried about the motivational aspect.
04:28I really am not with this team.
04:30Yeah, I would not be either.
04:31But I guess I'll ask you this.
04:32What will you be looking for in the early portions of training camp and into the preseason
04:36that'll tell you this team is focused?
04:38Or I'll even stretch it out further.
04:39As they start the first couple of weeks of the season, that'll tell you this team is
04:42focused.
04:42I'm with you.
04:42I don't think hunger is an issue with this team.
04:45But the focus part of it is something I'm sure we both will be watching.
04:48But what will tell you that this group is focused?
04:50Yeah, I don't think we're going to get a good idea in preseason.
04:52I don't expect the starters to play a whole lot in preseason.
04:56Once the season starts, though, that's when we start to get a good look.
05:00And then, you know, this is a team that's built to win in May.
05:04They're not built to win in October and November.
05:07So like what we saw last season is it really took them a while to find themselves.
05:12They were a mess in January.
05:14Remember that?
05:14So, you know, it's hard for me to say this is what – this means they're on the right
05:19path and this doesn't mean it's on the right path in November.
05:23But, you know, once the playoff starts, I think that that's where we, like, focus on
05:27is this team going in the right direction.
05:29Yeah, time to see the Knicks fans a little patience.
05:31And you can be a little calm now that the team has won a championship.
05:34One other thing we saw, say, Cat comes into the press conference room where we talked
05:37about him, definitely has lost some weight.
05:40And we've talked about it.
05:41It's been looking like this from things we've seen on social media.
05:43It clearly has dropped some weight.
05:44He talked a little bit about his reasoning for doing that.
05:47What did you make of what he had to do?
05:48Yeah, he's right.
05:48I mean, the way the game has evolved – I remember maybe it was like 2015 or 2013,
05:53somewhere Tim Duncan came back and he was dropped a ton of weight.
05:57He looked like a completely different person and it changed his game.
06:00He was able – this is the way the NBA is now.
06:02There's more movement.
06:03There's less power.
06:05And Cat talked about how it makes him feel younger.
06:07It relieves the pressure on his knees.
06:09When you're a 7-footer, I think losing weight is more important now than being strong.
06:15So, you know, I think it's a good move.
06:18He said he's done it in the past, but it's clearly more dramatic this year than in years prior.
06:25I'm talking about the weight loss.
06:26The weight loss there would be interesting.
06:28Okay, so training camp starts tomorrow.
06:30You will be around for that and with the team.
06:33What's the biggest thing you're keeping your eye on in training camp, especially considering what you just said.
06:37You don't think the veterans are going to play a lot during the preseason.
06:39So, what's the biggest thing you're keeping an eye on here in training camp?
06:43What's the biggest – you know, let me rephrase that.
06:45What is the biggest question?
06:46I'm going to tell you.
06:47You might have – after going through the media day, I'm just going to be following these contract extensions.
06:52Because, like, if they're putting pressure on the organization publicly like that, you can imagine more is going on behind
07:01the scenes.
07:03This is a team that just won a championship, and the players expect to be rewarded, right?
07:07So, what happens when they enter the season and there's no, you know, firm commitments one way or another?
07:14How will that play out?
07:16I think Josh will handle it well.
07:17But we mentioned before with Cat, yep, he let that become a – being involved in trade negotiations for Giannis
07:25Antetokounmpo, that became a distraction for him.
07:27So, I'll be watching that as we enter training camp in preseason.
07:30That is going to be interesting now that you said that because I don't put us in the media.
07:35This is going to get brought up throughout training camp consistently until there is an answer.
07:41The pressure that we talked about, kind of going to go back to this, at the top, does that put
07:45pressure on the Knicks to get this done?
07:47During training camp in the preseason?
07:49Or can you really kick it down the road closer to February because I'm putting the timeline that Josh Hart
07:54put out there.
07:55Like, that pressure that we're talking about, is it real pressure, and does it put pressure on them to get
07:59something done now?
07:59Well, it depends on what happens.
08:01So, if they come out and they really struggle and Cat really struggles, then it becomes a bigger story.
08:05If they come out and they play really well and Cat, you know, Cat eventually says, you know what, I'm
08:10not – I talked about this already.
08:12I'm not going to talk about you.
08:13Either it gets done or it doesn't.
08:14It's not something I'm ready to talk about anymore.
08:16So, that can also happen where it's just like it pushes to the side.
08:20Everything in the – sorry.
08:21Everything about this league is about winning and losing.
08:23Like, you have a great chemistry and your team is in great spirits when you're winning.
08:28If you're losing, it's dysfunctional and whatever.
08:31Like, it's just the way it is.
08:32So, a lot is going to depend on what happens on the court.
08:36You're right about that, and the winning is going to take care of everything.
08:39But do you think this team, as we know it, has the mental fortitude to make this not be a
08:45distraction with Josh Hart's extension, with Cat's extension,
08:48so it does not turn into something where fans can then worry about if there is losing?
08:53Yeah, I think that they are a veteran group who's seen and done it all, and they're led by a
08:58captain, Jalen Brunson, who's able to put everything together and keep everybody in perspective.
09:02So, I think if anybody can handle stuff like that, it is these Knicks.
09:08They did it last year.
09:09They did it all.
09:11Yeah.
09:11They went through adversity.
09:13We talked about the January.
09:14We talked about how the trade talks for Giannis, those really kicked up in January and February.
09:21But, you know, in the end, they found a way and they won it all.
09:24They did find a way to win it all.
09:25A lot of things to look at with the Knicks here in training camp, including some positional battles for that
09:30final roster spot.
09:31Will they make any moves?
09:32Will there be any contract extensions?
09:34There's going to be a lot to sort out.
09:36Stefan Bondi, he'll be back on top of it, as will I.
09:39That's going to do it from here at the Knicks Training Center for the great Stefan Bondi.
09:43I'm Dexter Henry.
09:44We'll catch you next time on New York Out Game.
09:48And thanks for watching New York Out Game.
09:51Boom shakalaka!
