OverDrive - Richardson on the Thunder's championship win, Gilgeous-Alexander's greatness and Durant's deal to the Rockets

Episode Date: June 23, 2025

ESPN NBA Analyst and Knuckleheads Podcast Quentin Richardson joined OverDrive to discuss the Thunder capturing the NBA championship, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander winning the Finals MVP and his notable season, the Thunder's emerging dynasty, Tyrese Haliburton's injury impact, Kevin Durant's trade to the Rockets and more.

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I mean, you never know, but I do. I do think they still figure out a way to weather the storm. That crowd was unbelievable at home. I felt like, you know, as they did, that the Thunder played better. You know, their reserve guys, Shea and everybody, they played better at home. And I felt like that, hated to see Hallie Burton go down, man.

Like, hated to see anybody go down like that in this situation. Prayer is up for speedy recovery, but I still think that OKC would have been able to pull that off. Is Shea the face of the NBA right now or is he sharing it with obviously multiple players? Yeah, I think he's still being shared but I think right now he's put himself where he's in that lead spot.

He's going to be featured this summer after doing the things he did with all of the MVPs hadn't been done in 25 years or whatever and scoring title MVP, finals MVP and NBA championship. So I think right now he has the upper hand on anybody else because even when those other guys had won MVPs previously, they hadn't done it in this fashion. Their team won as dominant and they hadn't clean, you know, like clean sweeped all the awards the way the SGA did. So I feel like he definitely has a one-up on everybody to even though he's

like, you know, it's kind of so to speak a shared place in the league. But I think, you know, he put himself in the forefront of all of that right now. And he got to the line 12 times last night and he was effective shooting from the line like he always is, but there is that narrative surrounding him and we take that personally because we love Shea up here and everything that he brings to the table. But he's been labeled a free throw merchant, a foul merchant. Where do you stand on that discussion surrounding Shea that the whistle seems to break his way a lot cap like

Historically great score or anybody that was a scoring leader in the NBA they got to the foul line They they those guys that's part of being a bucket knowing how to get to the foul line and know how to you know Make your opponent bite on your face and go for your moves and get them out of place and get to the foul line and knowing how to you know make your opponent bite on your face and go for your moves and get them out of place and get them in the air and different things that that's all part of being a bucket man you can't you can't name anybody you go look back at iris and jordan all of those guys they all got to the foul line in an extremely high cliff last night during the game and especially after the game you start seeing the old graphic of the paul george trade get thrown around and of course Shay was involved in that.

Like when that trade happened, did you think that it would be this consequential that Shay Gildjess Alexander would be, you know, the face of the league, the MVP and have a, you know, a Mount Rushmore worthy season in the NBA? more worthy season in the NBA? No never I mean you never think that thought you know that this would come to turn out this way I definitely don't think you know the Clippers in doing that trade felt that he would be this good I don't even know that he felt he would be this good it's just one of those things where you know the kid just kept putting me in the work and kept putting in the work and before you look at it he's moving up he's moving up and now he's had three consecutive years leading the league in scoring averaging over thirty

and he has arrived man that this is what happens when you when you put in the proper amount of work in the preparation and you get the opportunity and you seize it we're chatting with quentin richardson after oklahoma city won uh... the larry o'brien last night and you know the tyrese halliburton injury i'm curious if you've ever been in a situation like that not necessarily game seven of the NBA finals but like when when your best player or a key player in a big game goes down I was impressed with how Indiana you know got to the half like I thought they they

recovered well they played well they kept their emotions in check and then it just became too much in the second half but what do you think that that mood swing would have been like, you know, on the sideline on the bench on the court for Indiana, once you see your guy Halliburton go down the way he did? I related to what O.B. Toppin said, man, in his post game when he was just saying how, you know, like, you know, he can't he couldn't speak for everybody else, but it impacted him seeing him go down like that. He felt like that that kind of took him out of his gaming and you know

You can't control that some guys can continue to play and block things out Some people is right in the forefront of their mind is in his impact to him I appreciated his candidness and his honesty in that moment saying that that was what happened with him So in terms of projecting a lot of people are already jumping on the you know The OKC dynasty train because of how young they are how many pics they have i think they got two first rounders this year for first rounders next year they've got like prospects come who are studs

uh... how many championships do you think oklahoma city can and will win over the next five years armado i mean i i I would, I would take caution only because of, I, I thought this was going to be Boston championship. I had some Pennsylvania like, Oh, they got everybody back, blah, blah, blah. I just thought it was going to be automatic. But seeing how that has played out, knowing that it's a lot of chips still to fall. KD just moved to Houston. It's a lot of chips and there's a lot of chips that still haven't

fell in place and things don't go on. So I definitely think they have the, they have the runway and they have the ability to take off and have a dynasty and get themselves like, you know, three to four or three, two to three and five or six years and be in that conversation. But at the same time, I could see situations playing out to where they possibly won't win it next year because somebody else jumps up and gets that much better and gets on a run and goes into the playoffs and winning because

the way the NBA is structured now is that they were getting what we want. It's so much parity. You haven't had seven, eight straight years of different champions in a long time and I think it could continue. I definitely look at OKC as a threat to go on and repeat or start a dynasty. But I think that easily could they could be unseated to just by one or two things happening and then it's a different scenario. You talked about the league parity there and, you know, we just saw two teams

kind of built differently go head to head. How do you think the new CBA and the league parity will affect either of these teams or who will it affect more? A team like Indiana where there's no, I guess there's no like super superstar on that team. They're just a good team or OKC who obviously is a little more star studded. Well, I think OKC, I mean Indiana Indiana, obviously with Halliburton, that sets them back. I mean, if they had everybody back healthy, I would say that they have a legitimate shot to be back here next year.

But with Halliburton being out, likely the whole season because of the injury he got and the time he got it, next year is just like a holding place year for them. I don't know what they'll do to fill the gap, but like next year is like a gap year for them for me. So I mean, okay, see now they're a different story. I think they, you know, they're going to be right back ready to go again. They got draft picks and this and that, and they got all of their guys back. They'll sign a couple, few guys here and there, but their main guys are under contract and

going to be there moving forward. So they got a serious chance to really do something special, man. They have a special young team, guys that really actually like each other and things like that. All of the things that matter, they really got going for them over there at OKC. So it'll be exciting to watch them move forward and see how they grow and progress from this year. With longtime NBA or Quinton Richardson, so a bombshell in the NBA yesterday afternoon Kevin Durant on his way to Houston, you know, and some pretty significant pieces going the other way back to Phoenix, but this was one of the teams he reportedly wanted to go to, you know, Houston was the

the 2C this year, they got a lot of talent. Does this put Houston, where does this put Houston in terms of your hierarchy going into next season acquiring Kevin Durant are they right in the conversation man I mean when you look around the team they got they find a refind Stephen Adams they still got Shane Goon who's a big guy and then they got a plethora of young guys man they got all of these young guys at the wing positions they could do a lot of different things a lot of athleticism and then they got another champion and Jeff Green and Van Vliet at the point so I think Getting KD was literally the piece they needed they were they were

unbelievably Defensively this year they had a great coach with email. Doca. They extended him They had everything they needed except they didn't have a closer They didn't have somebody that went down the stretch we knew where our bucket was going to come from we knew that Jalen Green was a young young guy that was trying to find his way but he was he was kind of inconsistent with his shooting and with his scoring Al Parine Shane Gunner a young and up-and-coming he was an all-star last year but he was kind of inconsistent with his scoring so now what they do bringing K in the door, obviously we know that's a walking bucket.

That's the one thing you know you guys consistent scoring and shooting and being able to put the ball in the hole. So now with that being done, I'll be interested to see whatever moves they make, if they make any other and just how this team settles in. But I think they're gonna be definitely a team contending for the Western Conference and trying to get to the NBA Finals

next year. Absolutely. He is long time NBA player, Quinton Richardson. You can catch his podcast, the Knuckleheads podcast. You see him on ESPN all the time as well. Really appreciate you doing this. I know it's a busy time of year. Thank you and we'll do it again down the road.

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