NBA TODAY | Perk Reacts to Knicks’ Bench Power in 99-84 Victory Over 76ers in Preseason Match

NBA TODAY | Perk Reacts to Knicks’ Bench Power in 99-84 Victory Over 76ers in Preseason Match

Abu Dhabi, the Knicks and the Sixers. Game one of a twogame set here. This is Mike Brown’s first game as head coach of the New York Knicks. Scary situation in the preseason early for New York. Here, watch Josh Hart. He goes to the ground in pain. And as he goes to the ground, he throws the balls into the stands. He’s clearly in a lot of discomfort here. He actually would be ejected from the game for throwing that ball. But of course, the concern of injury is first and foremost here. But then you got Jaylen Brunson picking up right where you left off with the floater. Carl Anthony Towns tracking down that loose ball for the slam. Some big stuff there from Carl Anthony Towns. We should mention Mitchell Robinson was that fifth starter for the Knicks in this game. A few minutes later, Muel Bridges goes for the steal. A little reverse layup the other way. A solid opening game here for New York’s core group. Um how about the 76ers? And really by the 76ers, we’re talking about rookie BJ Edgecom. Edgecom cuts back door. He misses, but he’s fouled. He tried to send a message to Mitchell Robinson there. We saw a whole lot of that at Baylor. Look how high he gets up, but that was really uh the bright spot here for the 76ers. Edgecom showing his range. That would be the only three that the 76ers made in the first half. One of 20 from three in the first half. Oh, we are back, baby. Tyrese Maxi gets inside. Tough up and under. Maxi finishes the 14, but it’s the Knicks that win this one easily. Let’s welcome in our senior writer, Brian Winhorse, who saw that show live in Abu Dhabi. Our front office insider Bobby Marks, NBA champ, Kendrick Perkins here as well. Brian, you were in the room where it happened. So, I want to start with you. Your takeaway from just this one preseason game. Well, Josh Hart leaving with injury was obviously a worrisome thing for the Knicks. They also did not have OG Anobi in this game who was out with a sprained hand. He’s dayto day. The Knicks said that Josh Hart didn’t come back in the game because he was ejected, not because he had the injury. So, we’ll see how that might change over the next couple of days. Uh Josh Hart already dealing with a finger injury that’s going to bother him throughout the season. So, um that injury was probably the headline for the Knicks in this game. Um, one thing I would point out, VJ Edgecom has really impressed his 76ers teammates over um, the last week and a half at training camp. Um, and he didn’t shoot the ball great in this game, but he played a lot of point guard. He had 14 points. He had six rebounds. He is going to get a ton of minutes. And he is going to be um, really probably something to pay attention to because Joel Embiid and Paul George are not ready to play yet. They were already they were missing five rotation players for tonight’s game. So, I wouldn’t pay too much attention to the final score. And by the way, the final tally, three of 35 three-point shooting for the 76ers. But the good news is is that the heaves at the end of the halves did not count. So, they have that going for them. How do I follow that up there, Malikica? I think I think for me there’s two things. Yeah, you do. There there is two things here. And and it started with what New York did with their opening opening lineup. Pack home. a their first round pick started in there. And why that’s relevant is because he could be the odd man out when you look at this Knicks roster. They’re going to need to clear out some money if they want to uh keep Malcolm Brogden and Landry Sham who they’ve signed in the offseason to kind of booster that bench. He certainly struggled shooting the ball 05 and three. The second thing is Deuce is loose, right? Deuce McBride 12 points coming off the bench. Certainly is going to be an important factor for New York this season as far as where that bench goes. And you mentioned Packcom Dier. He would have to be moved before October 18th, right, if they were going to be making that sort of move. But Perk, I know it’s very early in terms of Mike Brown’s tenure as Nick Knicks head coach. But I’m hearing even in the preseason, you’re already spying something on this new look team. I’m Kendrick Perkins, better known as Big Perk, and nothing gets past me. Freeze. Just when you thought it did get past me, there I am. I spy a problem. I spy it all. Tear the hell off. [Music] Well, y’all know down in Texas they have this saying called peep game from a players position. And damn it, I know it’s preeason, but I’m peeping things from the New York Knicks in their first preseason game. New coach, new life, new system offensively. Look at Jaylen Brunson right here. Look at him outlet the ball. They’re playing with pace. They were one of the slowest playing teams offensively last season. Here’s the one that got me up off my couch while I was watching. Watch the rebounding here. Now look at Carl Anthony Towns, the big fella running up the floor using with those size 22s getting up in transition. This is how Mike Brown wants to play. This is going to help and benefit the Knicks. Getting stops, getting out run, playing with pace. They were one of the slowest paced teams in the league last season and you could tell Mike Brown has been emphasizing that in training camp because they hit the ground running in this. Yeah, it was notable how fast they were playing even in this first preseason game for the 76ers on the other side of all of this. There’s only so much to take away knowing that there was no Embiid, no George, no Grimes, no Lowry in this game here for Philadelphia. lobby. But if you’re looking if you’re looking at the silver lining of this for the 76ers, what’s your takeaway knowing that this is not the roster that they imagined? Well, I mean, listen, Tyrese Maxi is going to be as good as as anybody any guard out there. I think we saw the flashes at least in the first half here, and I I know VJ Edge certainly struggled here, but that that back court is something to build off. And when they get back to the States, they’ll have Quinton Grimes waiting for him, who signed that one-year qualifying offer on on Wednesday to to help solidify that back court. That’s that does that won’t have Jared McCain for at least the next four to six weeks. Yeah, Malikica, I think the the the mood around the Sixers right now is don’t judge them at the moment. They’re going to try to improve the players that they have um you know with them and active and they’re going to wait for their team to come together. They are optimistic that Joel Embiid is making progress. I’m going to be honest with you. When I heard that I was I was like I I don’t know what to say. Like I’m going to report that that’s what they said. But obviously you just got to be careful about trusting anything there. But he does look like he’s in very good shape. I spoke to him yesterday. He is in good spirits. Paul George is out working out on the court in pregame and around practice. There is signs that these guys are going to come back. But if you’re a Sixer fan, I could totally understand why you’re saying I got to wait and see it with my own two eyes. But they are in the Eastern Conference. They do not have to get off to a dynamite start to make the playoffs. They just have to be healthy at the right time. They are preaching patience and they are preaching that give them time. This team will come together. I I don’t think anyone wins a championship in October or November, but I don’t know that people are judging the 76ers based off of what they see right now. I think it’s a judgment of the culmination of what they’ve seen over the last season up leading into now. Perk, am I reading that correctly? You’re right. Seeing is believing and and like Wendy said, he don’t that’s what he reported what they said, but nobody want to hear that sweet nothings. We need to see it. We want to see Paul George on the floor. We want to see Joel Embiid back on the floor. Not only just healthy and in shape, but playing with the right type of mindset and showing that he wants to be there, right? He the one that went on the rant this off season, you know, when he sat down and did an interview. So again, we need to see it. We don’t want to hear anything from the 76ers. They need to show us. I think that you speak for many 76ers fans here right now. Kendrick Perkins, Brian Winhorse, it is rapidly approaching midnight in Abu Dhabi. Get to bed. We appreciate you staying up a little bit later to hang out with us. Still coming right now. That is exactly where we start our show. The Indiana Fever. They held their exit interviews today. And this is the first time that we’ve heard from Caitlyn Clark since Link star Nfisa Collier’s pointed comments about League leadership, including recounting a conversation she had with Commissioner Kathy Angelbert where Nfisa said, quote, she was asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like Caitlyn, Angel, and Paige are clearly driving massive revenue for the league and are making so little for their first four years. And Cathy’s response, according to Fee, was quote, “Caitlyn should be grateful she makes 16 million off of the court because without the platform that the WVA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.” Here is Caitlyn’s response to those comments. First of all, I have a lot of I have great respect for Fee and I think she made a lot of very valid points. And you know, I think what people need to understand, you know, we need great leadership in this time across all levels. This is straight up the most important moment in this league’s history. What this league’s been around for 25 plus years and this is a moment we have to capitalize on. Um so that’s honestly what I would say. I think there’s you know Fe said it all um with what she said and um you know I think the points she made were were very valid. Uh, had you heard that story from her before she said it publicly? And then, um, have you spoken with Kathy Angelberg or heard from her at all since then? No. Well, the voice you just heard asking Caitlyn those questions was Alexa Philipp, our WNBA insider, who joins us now. Alexa, what was your takeaway from Caitlyn’s comments there? Yeah, Malikica. Well, I know a lot of people were waiting since Nafisa Claire’s exit interview to hear from Caitlyn Clark herself. And there might have been some too that really wanted her to go further than she did, maybe be more pointed than she was. But I think it’s important to mind to keep in mind that that’s not really her style. It really hasn’t been. But still, we can listen carefully to what she said. And I still think it’s important what she stressed. You had an exchange with her where you asked about what she identifies as good in leadership. And she talked about relationships. She talked about seeking those out, being intentional in that regard and really looking to understand people and keeping that in mind and knowing that she told me that she hasn’t heard from Kathy Engleberg, I think, you know, says a lot about what she values in the leadership, not just, you know, when it comes to, you know, within the Indiana Fever organization, but in within the context of the league. And so, the fact that, you know, that’s something that she really values and we’ve heard also from other players who said they haven’t heard from leadership. It seems like there’s a little bit of a common thread that’s emerging as we’ve heard more and more players speak out over the past few days. Yeah. A sentiment we’ve heard from players repeatedly in the last couple of days is the need for quote great leadership. So I asked Caitlyn what great leadership actually looks like. And she was diplomatic. I want to read her comments directly. She said when you’re talking about the MBA or when you’re talking about corporate America, right, anywhere, she says relationships and really caring about the people you surround yourself with is what’s important. That’s what she told me. Now, Clark’s teammate, Sophie Cunningham, was a little bit more direct in her response to Kathy Inglebert’s leadership. Take a listen. I’m just tired of our league. Um, they need to step up and be better. Um, our leadership from top to bottom uh needs to be held accountable. Um, I I think that there are a lot of people in the position of powers in the WNBA who they might be really great business people, but they don’t know about basketball, and that’s got to change. Not really a fan of our leadership in the W. I just think they’re failing us um as a league. Um definitely failing us as players. Um and you know, everything said, we all feel that way and we’re all going to back her. And I think it’s pretty strong coming from her, um I think a lot of us have been saying that, but when it comes from someone to that caliber of a player that we’re we’re being serious. And so, uh, my my comment on that, um, I think it’s pretty shameful that she always makes it about her, Kathy, uh, when it should have nothing to do with her. All right, Alexa, there was a lot there and in the rest of Sophie Cunningham’s press conference, but what was the most important takeaway? Yeah. Well, I think the takeaway was that she just was really echoing a lot of these really pointed comments that we’ve heard this week from players and directly saying that leadership has failed. and she meant that in part she was talking too about the context of of this whole officiating conversation we’ve had around the league in in recent weeks, but also she was bringing it up in the context of CBA negotiations, which we have to remember is happening amid all of what we’re talking about with both the finals and the playoffs and obviously the offseason that’s about to go underway. Now, Sophie Cunningham actually brought up the possibility of a work stoppage and I want to quote actually what she said. She said, quote, “I promise you that we are not going to play until they give us what we deserve.” And that’s kind of where it’s headed, unfortunately, referring to a potential work stoppage. And so, I have not heard many players speak that directly about that as a possibility. So, that really stuck out to me. And she also was able to say that there is a call that’s going to be happening today uh with OWM players to get an update on negotiations, where things stand with the CBA talks. But this again was a really searing critique from yet another player who had a lot of issues with league leadership and where things stand. And that’s really important, right? We have not heard very many players so directly say that the way things are trending right now if something does not change is a work stoppage, which Sophie Cunningham said would not be good for the league. It doesn’t match with this amazing season that we have just watched and witnessed. Alexa, thank you so much for your reporting. will be changed.

NBA TODAY | Perk Reacts to Knicks’ Bench Power in 99-84 Victory Over 76ers in Preseason Match