The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Kelly Iko From The Athletic On The Rockets Restart Of the Season

Episode Date: June 2, 2020

At home say, Alexa, play Sports Talk 790 on IHard Radio. Time is 131. We are in the midst of hopefully getting some good news from the NBA. And to talk about that and how he's been able to keep track of all the players during this off season. Let's say how to our friend and a first-time visitor to the Matt Thomas show, Kelly Iko, on the NBA and Rocket Speed for the athletic. Kelly, you have been busy chasing athletes and their routines. I feel like the one common storyline, Kelly, is we got some rockets that are losing some serious weight during this pandemic. Yeah, I'm seeing the hashtag Slim Jim and Slim Rockers going around Twitter, so it must be a good thing for this.

Well, the number one question I have for you is, are you still wearing your Turnaluck here in 1990-5-degree temperatures? Man, my turtle makes like collecting dust in the closet, man. I'm itching to pull one out. But it's June 30 right now, sir. Yeah, we invite people to, yeah, for sure. We invite people to check you out on the athletic on the NBA rocket speed. Tell me about the background a little bit behind James going to Arizona with the trainer that's here in town. And what made him think about dropping the weight to begin with?

Yeah, so obviously, you know, whenever NBA does resume, it's good to be more about endurance and fitness and X's the nose. And James is the kind of guy who knows he has a high workload. He knows he has to be in shape, you know, for those fourth quarters. for those overtime for those game six and seven. So, you know, he got with the trainer, Justin Allen in Houston, and they worked out in Houston over the sand, grass hill, different workouts, different things for his body.

And he decided to take it back to his roots in Phoenix, you know, where he went to school, went to high school, went to college there, to the mountains tops, to the sunny Phoenix heat. And, you know, over the course of the week, he wanted to improve his homework, get more explosive, trim a few pounds, you know, getting some sweat, some throw up here and there. There you have it.

Kelly Ross, Via Real here. And what is your feeling just from the guys you're talking to about, not necessarily from a physical standpoint, but kind of emotionally and just what is their thinking as far as coming back? Are most everybody just ready to come back and they want to play basketball under any circumstances? Just how are the guys feeling right now, do you think? Well, obviously, you know, there's the need to come back because, you know,

this is their job and they haven't worked in two and a half months, so there's an urgency there. But obviously what they were going on, you know, there are things that are a bit more important than, you know, NBA in sports right now. But it's kind of a weird feeling for, I guess, all athletes who have the need to come back will also have the need to speak out and protest what's going on. And that is for sure. And their voices are certainly being heard during this time especially.

Let me ask you about... this is hard to ask because there's so many different guys with so many different stories. Do you get a sense of how nervous they are about being in the bubble, about the amount of tests, about once they get there, or is it just a lot of just reading and kind of watching TV shows? And then once they get in the basketball world and they get their temperatures checked and they get cleared of any sort of COVID that they'll get their minds back on the sport of basketball, at least for a short period of time?

I think the good thing about Disney World and the facility that it's so large that even though it is a bubble, you're still able to, I guess, move around. Now, obviously, the league hasn't put out an exact plan on protocol and the date of return and what players can and can't do. But I think the sense is that they'll be able to move around. Their families will be there, even though they might not be able to bring in their entire family, but they'll be able to bring, you know, some family members to stay with them during this time because you are going to be away for three months, if you want to put that way. If you're going all the way you are, yeah, yeah. Yeah, they'll be able to do certain things.

So while it is a bubble, you know, it's not like you're going to be in super quarantine, if that makes sense. It does. Kelly Iko from Athletic with us here at 135 on Sports Talk 790. Have you running to any NBA players, maybe your colleagues that are, that don't want to say they don't want to play. I feel like there's a bunch of teams that are not on the chance of winning a championship that are like, why bother going through all this? But beyond that, is there anybody that's showing some tremendous skepticism?

And you have to say names, obviously, but are there some people that are maybe perhaps a little more nervous than they're letting out to be at least publicly? Yeah, obviously there was some skepticism about going back to, you know, the facilities too early, you know, in fear of possibly catching the virus or, if you had it spreading it to others. So there was a natural fear in some people to not just jump right back into things

after teams, you know, try to open up the facilities. But I think as the days go on and more and more tests are available to, you know, be had amongst a lot of number of people. I think those fears will come down a bit. But I think right now there is going to be some skips in between guys like Deniamer Lillard

who didn't, you know, jump to come back and play in the NBA again or other guys on the league who are on other teams who aren't in playoff contention who might try and wonder why do I have to come and play and risk my life and do all these protocol while I can just stay at home. Have you heard much about what the Rockets have been able to do? I know that some facilities, actually most of the league facilities are now open for those really small-esque type practices. What have you heard about what's happening inside TOTA Center? Well, there have been a couple of guys that have gone in. Obviously, Isaiah Hartin-Steandman has gone in. PJ Tucker has gone there and Bruno Caboclo. And those guys have been able to do, you know, one-on-one workouts. They get there.

They get the temperatures checked. They come to the court. Shooting drills only. Everything has to be sanitized from the floor to the ball. And the weight room, you know, you have to wipe down constantly, and you have to stick to lightweights. And just, it's not really a workout. More of, I think that's why they're called voluntary,

because you aren't really getting a real NBA workout, and you're just, you know, getting used to your surroundings again. But as far as the other guys, obviously, Covington and the State and Shake, Tucker, State and and and Shade, and Shade, and Eric Gordon, those guys are a state of shit, because, you know, this is a market group is an older group of guys. And the onus is going to be on them, you know, to have those legs if they do want to advance in the second round,

the conference finals and the finals. Hopefully that is the case. Kelly Iko and the athletic with us here. So what is your gut fill about Thursday's Board of Governors meetings? I know they're going to go off of the recommendation ultimately that Adam Silver says, but I'm reading so many conflicting reports about just playoff teams, 20 teams, 22, all 30. If you are a betting man right now, Kelly Ico, how many teams show up in Orlando at the end of July? I think 22. It could be 24, but I think right now, 22 is a good bet.

Just because it's kind of a sweet spot with, you know, the 16 teams and then you have the teams that are within six games of the eight seed, obviously they're going to be more in the West and the Eastern Conference because the Eastern Conference really, you know, as you all know, it's not really on par. It sucks. From top to bottom. From top to bottom. But I think 22 teams is a good number.

it gives some excitement to the fans of having to play in tournament for the 8th seed you know if you have the pelicans the blazers the spurs things like that that are kind of within that range I think it brings some kind of excitement and it will bring about you know increased competition and intensity for those to those games do matter to get into you know the 80 because who knows you know if Zion finds a way to sneak in you know anything to happen Do you think they'll get to an even number of games in the regular season before starting the playoffs?

Or do you think it'll be one situation where everybody plays five and then they figure out the records after that? I think they'll get to 70 or 72. I think that's fair. Because I think up and before the hiatus they had played what was in 60. Yeah. Give or something. Yeah. So I think 72 is a good number.

And who knows, maybe if this works, they might even, you know, shave. games off the season going forward. If this 72 playing playoffs works, this might be the plan going forward. Well, since you brought that up, I'll let you answer it then. If you're an NBA owner and you'd heard Kelly Iko on the Matt Thomas show say that,

then I want you to explain to me where I'm going to get those other 10 games of revenue that you want to kick to the side. Well, if you want to do that, take 10 games off the schedule, there are ways you can't recruit. the money. Obviously, the playing tournament will generate a lot of money. Obviously, there's if you want to even expand the playoffs, you know, 72 games doesn't mean, you know, you have to stick to 1 through 8, you know, and play, you can, you can even do how the NFL did it in and add

an extra spot in the playoffs. Well, too, there are ways to get creative if you really want to get about, you know, getting your money back and getting your money's worth. So, um, I think the biggest thing right now is to see how this works and then see if there's ways to tweak it, improve it, change it, you know, going forward. All right, last thing before I let you run, barring a new outbreak of COVID.

Yeah. What holds this season from coming into play? Because I think they obviously have done their due diligence on the Walt Disney World. It feels like the owners and the players are agreeing. Nothing to fight over finances because they know the more they play, the more they put in there. Is there anything else in your mind that you're

thinking? I hope they can overcome this so we can definitely get this season finished off in Orlando. No, I think the biggest thing was, I guess, the corona and the money. I think as you've seen all the leagues, the money isn't really a black and white issue. You know, we're seeing a lot of contention on both sides. We're looking at MLB. You can look at, you know, NHL, some contention on either side. So it's good for the NBA and the NBA players associations to have that agreement going forward

because this is a fight that we have to do together. And you aren't going to achieve anything if you keep going back and forth over some money. So there are bigger things that stay like players' health and the livelihood. Those are the biggest important things in the league as well. And as I've said, it would do the league in professional sports a terrible injustice if they don't make everything as safe as humanly possible. I mean, I almost feel like, Kelly, that if you're an NBA player, or a coach, and you're going to Orlando,

you're going to be in the safest environment humanly possible. The last thing they would want is to have anyone get any sort of outbreaks because that would ruin other sports moving along, and that the NBA, or for that matter, Major League Baseball, wants these places to be as clean and cleanses as possible, so everybody stays healthy and shows that, yes, you can recuperate and you can resume sports again. Right, and credit to the NBA for being a progressive league,

a league that really champions as players association. as we've seen in the other places, that's not always the easiest route to go. And credit to Chris Paul and Michelle Roberts and everyone who's involved with those decisions because those are pretty hard to do. And it takes one accord and it takes guys on the same page to get up with something as big as this, because it's unprecedented. Kelly, next time I'll talk, hopefully we're talking about games, my friend. I appreciate you coming on the show this afternoon.

Thank you, man. Bye, buddy. Good luck with those turn legs. We want to see him in mid-July. I swear I do. We'll see you, buddy. Kelly Nyko from the athletic with us.