The Ringer NBA Show - Steve Kerr on Why He Traded Raja Bell, Coaching the Warriors Dynasty, and Much More | Real Ones

Episode Date: March 22, 2021

First things first, Logan and Raja are joined by the Mad Hooper @DragonflyJonez, who tells them why he’s so mad (0:18). After that, Logan and Raja touch on the two injuries that rocked the NBA over the weekend, LaMelo Ball’s fractured wrist and LeBron James’s high ankle sprain (2:30), before giving their final thoughts on 'Bridgerton' (11:15). Then head coach of the Golden State Warriors Steve Kerr joins Logan and Raja to talk about why he traded Raja Bell from the Phoenix Suns (17:23), coaching the Warriors dynasty (25:53), James Wiseman (36:26), Klay Thompson’s recovery (1:01:48), and so much more Hosts: Logan Murdock and Raja Bell Guests: Steve Kerr and @DragonflyJonez Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The NBA season is heating up, and Kevin O'Connor and Chris Vernon have got you covered on the mismatch. They discuss all the news, the trends, and transactions happening around the league. They also offer their on-court analysis and occasionally get into heated debates. Check out the mismatch on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back with a mad hooper. I'm here with Tyler, aka Dragonfly Jones, and he's really mad. I'm trying to figure out why he's mad because he just got the stimulus package, the Colin Cowhart stimulus package for Jenkins and Jones.

He's doing really well. Tyler, why are you so mad? I'm gonna tell you why I'm mad. I'm here to hate on injuries today. I know injuries are quote-unquote a part of the game, but man, they are the most trash part of the game. This week, and we saw MVP frontrunner and the rookie of the year frontrunner both go down with injuries,

Brown with a high ankle sprain, lamella with the fractures, and I'm just over it, bro. I'm over. The MVP race that I think most of us had is like, you know, three-got race, you know, Bronnan and B, neck and neck, yokech, not too far behind. That shit is dead now, bro. And it says, you know, we got Mee missing time, bro, missing time.

I mean, Yokic is about to just, just, you remember MJ's homie? The security dude who would hit the shrug after he would do them. Like, Yogy is about to just hit that dude shrug all the way to MVP now. And you know what I'm saying? And no shots on Yokish, man. Yokin is a phenomenal player. And, you know, this isn't on Yokish. But it's just going to be a bizarre MVP finish with two of the top guys being sidelined due to injury.

And that's just what injuries do, bro. They make shit bizarre. They muck up everything. They leave us with a whole bunch of. empty ass, what ifs? Like, what if the 2015 finals weren't injury-stricken? What if the 2019 finals

weren't injury-stricken? What if we got a healthy penny, a healthy Grand Hill, a healthy D-Rose, a healthy Brandon Roy, but injuries don't give a damn about any of that. Injuries are rude as hell.

They don't give a damn. And another part of our root the outside, they sneak up on you. I'm watching a Saturday afternoon Lakers game, and then, bam, my goat, LeBron, has a possible MVP taken off the board. I'm just sick of this shit, bro.

I know I can't do a damn thing about injuries. But I just want to believe me in my favorite sport alone, man. Please, we're quarantining. I don't have shit else to do. And now you're forcing me to watch Wesley Matthews pick up bronze minutes at the three. Shit ain't right, man. I'm fed up.

And I know that there's absolutely nothing I can do about it but complain. But I absolutely am going to complain. And that's all I got to say about that. Ruins. Up next. What's popping? Ruins. Logan Murdoch here.

Raja Bell. Raja. Spoiler alert. We're going to talk about Bridgeton. We're going to talk about that in a second. We have Steve Kerr on the pod. We're going to get him in a second, too. But before we talk about all that stuff, I want to talk about injuries suck, my guy.

Injuries freaking suck. We're talking about lamello ball, who was my rookie of the year pick, out for the season. We're talking about LeBron James, high ankle sprain, out indefinitely. First off, it sucks for the Hornets because they weren't going to win a championship this year by any means. I was really enjoying watching Lamello ball play, Roger Bell. Yeah, look, Lamello was a show. He was must-see TV, right? We talked about him being a star in regards to when he comes down or when he's playing.

You want to tune in and see what that's going to look like. It's tough. NBA basketball, not that the injury itself has anything to do with him being slight a frame or being young or anything like that. That's not what I'm saying. But it is a really physical sport. I think that gets lost. I work with a lot of young basketball players,

and it gets lost on them and their families, just how physical those games are, unless you're up close and personal sitting, courtside, or playing in them. That's kind of lost on the general public watching it. And navigating the injury bug, Logan, is the difference between, you know, MVPs or not, rookie of the years or not,

and quite frankly, you know, championships are not. Golden State a couple years ago, they navigate that injury bug a little more smoothly. you know, that's probably another championship. Cleveland a few years before that, Kyrie and Kevin Love don't get hurt. Maybe they beat, maybe they beat Golden State on that first championship run Golden State had.

So, you know, that's the difference in the NBA. Yeah, man. And like, Lamello was playing so well. He was playing so well that when people said Mello, I had a hard time discerning if it was Carmelo Anthony or Lamello Ball. We really were approaching that point, though. Like we were, you're at the 50-50,

where an old head like me would still think, Carmelo, but anybody, you know, 10 years younger to me, you're going La Mello, right? I was thinking, like, when I saw Mello got hurt and I saw it on the alerts, I thought Carmelo Anthony got hurt initially, just when I saw the alerts and when I saw they were out for the season, because, you know, the new wave, Raja, is that, you know, they say the, the player's nickname as opposed to their actual name. So the alert said Mello, and I'm like, oh, damn, Mello's hurt. That's tough. Like, what'd that mean for the Trailblazers? Then I was like, what old did you, how old did you have to be, right?

Like, what's the line of delineation? How old do you have to have thought Mello Ball when you saw that versus you and I thinking Carmelo Anthony when you saw that? What's the age? I'd say the cutoff age, maybe 22, 23. Okay. To go towards La Mello Ball. And then, you know, my age, I'm like 27.

So you go, you know, I've seen Mello play. I've seen, I was conscious to see Mellow ball. Mello, he played during my formative years, you know what I mean? Right, right, right. And so I'll, that's why I'm having like 50-50. Someone like you probably automatically goes, that's Carmelo. Correct. So, yeah, Mello's out for the season.

That sucks. But what does that mean for LeBron James, him being out indefinitely, with AD out and definitely out for an extended period of time, too? Is it, is it, is it, is it weird to say? they might not make the playoffs if this works out. If this doesn't work out? It's aggressive. I won't say it's weird.

It's an aggressive, it's an aggressive statement, but there are chances of slipping into that six to ten or seven to ten. Is that who's in the playoff this year to get in? Seven to ten, the chances of them slipping into that, if either one of them is not available for the next month, the change is for real.

Right now they sit at 28 and 15. and the seventh place team is 22 and 17. There are only four games behind them, Logan. You're talking about a bad week and a half of basketball, and you could be sitting in seventh place. So I don't think that's without merit, the comment. The thing is you don't really know how far Anthony Davis is away. I can say pretty positively that you won't see LeBron for at least five weeks.

I don't think you're going to see him for five weeks. Like that's one of those injuries that you, you know, it doesn't come around quick. And I know LeBron is a cyborg in the way he heals. Like he heals quicker than anybody else. But four to five weeks, you're not going to see LeBron before that. The wild card is AD, and I don't have any information on when he's back. Yeah. So the latest update was on March 12th.

And it went, I was when Anthony Davis got examined by team doctors. This is from the Lakers. He is progressing in his recovery and is clear to enter the next phase of return to play process. He'll be re-evaluated by team doctors in two weeks and an update will be given at that time. So I guess there's another update coming in a few days, but that doesn't mean he's coming back. It just means there's another update.

But this is the biggest fear that I would have for the Lakers is that they drop all the way down to where they're in play-in-game status. That's what you don't want, right? Correct. You do not want, even if LeBron and AD are coming back, you want them to at least have a bit of smooth sailing in a cushion to get them back into game shape, game form. You don't want to waste that time on playing games, which is a playoff atmosphere where you don't want to lose.

That's my fear for the Lakers. That is the biggest fear for anybody in Laker Nation right now. You have a trade deadline coming up where you're going to have to really think about it if you're the Lakers as to whether or not it makes sense to make a move to protect against that taking place or if you could score something like Andre Drummond in the buyout market and be able to keep your head above water until you get those two back. You know who it really sucks for though? If you're sitting there at one and two, if you're the Utah Jazz or the Phoenix Suns, like we're going to work. We're going to secure this number one C. Typically that gets us a favorable

matchup at an 8 C. If the Lakers slip all the way into playoff contention and get a seven or an eight, that sucks for the upper the upper like echelon Western Conference teams this year. Sucks. Uh, what happens, man. I,

if I had to put a thing on, I said they dropped like six or so. We'll see what happens. And we're watching the play and, you know, it seems like Solomon Hill just rolls into LeBron's leg. What did you think that was dirty at all?

Are you saying it was dirty? No, I didn't think it. I saw all of the Laker hate towards Solomon Hill. And I get it. Like, it's an emotional time.

I don't want to see LeBron go down either. I'm a huge fan. That sucks. I don't think it was a dirty play, though. And I saw the press conferences. I know his teammates are standing up for him and stuff like that. But, you know, you're putting Solomon Hill in a tough spot as a player who's making a living being tough nose and aggressive and never really having a history of plays like that.

And you've gotten out the league probably having to look into, you know, whether it was a genuine act. Like, I just thought it was a little irresponsible. for people to be throwing out that he did it on purpose and it was dirty. Hey, Roger, I got a question for you, bro. What up? Do you see yourself in that mode? Do you see how Laker fans used to treat you?

It kind of got a little triggered there? Not really, no. I mean, because I didn't make any bones about mine. I wasn't sitting there telling you I didn't make a basketball play. I didn't give a shit. Okay. You understand what I'm saying? But Buddy was in the heat of like the play.

The ball was kind of, you could say, you know, that was, he wasn't ever going to get that steal. But, you know, in his mind, in the moment, he don't know that. But no, I did not really draw a comparison to it. My criticism was fair. I close line to men. Okay. I mean, what we talk about?

I made a conscious decision to do that. That was, I'll take the criticism. Yes, fair point. Okay. You know, I just wanted to make a point that, you know, Lager fans overreact sometimes. A lot of the time. I don't know, like Rye Cole. But, you know, we dropping names on the real ones box.

But take that with a grain of salt. We got Laker fans here like Jemey and Souser who overreact sometimes. So let's get to what I really want to talk about. I finished Bridgerton this weekend, Roger Bell. Yeah. I got some takes, bro. Give me some takes. First, can I ask you a question before we go?

Because I asked you last week about who you thought Lady Whistledown was. Who did I, I thought, who did I think Lady Whistledown was? I thought it was the... You thought it was Mrs. Featherington, right? I did think it was Mrs. Featherington. All right, go. I was close. You were close.

Spoiler alert. It was Penn, who was the biggest hater I have ever seen in a Netflix television show. Dude. She used her platform to just... She brought violence with her platform, man. Okay. So, first of all, the show made it painfully obvious before I needed to know that it was... who Lady Whistledown was.

They let us know who Lady Whistledown was in episode 8 very early when, you know, because I'll say this. Marina kind of was feeling herself a little bit too much when she was going at Penn was like, I got your man, and I got him, and everything, the whole plan is going to work because I got him. It don't matter. I'm better than you. Woo, woo.

And then Penn got it to her, her little, her, her, her, bag where she was a little, little sad, a little mad because her man who didn't even want her at the end wasn't hers. And she was like, okay, I'm going to show her. And so she got into her lady Featherington bag, her lady Whistledown bag and just took it all the way down. And I was just like, that was kind of whack. That was whack. Because one, you did never have a relationship with this dude. And he didn't even want you at the end of the day. Let that queen be happy. Let her be happy. Okay. And then um but wait but wait though let's first of all right cut it off first of all i yes let me let me just like marina thompson did not divulge to colin featherington that she was i mean that she was i mean the

colin bridgerton that she was pregnant like so how you what you want penn to just let the man get hoodwink you i mean what's there's a thing though here's a thing though under normal circumstances i would feel bad because that is out of pocket right but bro was going to take her in it wasn't like that was going to be a deal breaker. I was going to take her in if she would, all she had to do was tell the truth. But he was going to take her in her and her baby in. You didn't know that at the time.

Penn didn't know that at the time, man. That's playing Monday morning quarterback, man. There's a lot at stake there, man. Also, man, that was whack. Penn is whack for that. Penn is whack for snitch. Is that true? Is that, would you say, would you agree that it was whack

that she snitched like that? No, but you know what? No, it's not because I mean, we talked post, we talked post show about how much pressure was on these young ladies apparently during that day and time to be married and their whole existence almost depending on it, regardless of how wealthy your family was. Like it was your sole job, which is really, really sad and that sucks. But if she's sitting there with her eye on something hoping that he's got her eye back and then this isn't even her family that comes. It's taken into her house. Now she's getting all the shine and all the time she knows

that she's pregnant and not telling anybody. I'm salty too. Penn, I'm dropping a dime too. I'm like Rico in belly. I'm about to drop a dime on them. Hey, I got to drop a dime, bro. Hey. No, bro, that's out of pocket, bro.

That is out of pocket. Also, which was interesting was when Bridgeton, brough, was trying to get back with Sienna, She did the Uwop and then was like, Nah, fam, I ain't getting back with you. I'm with, bro, I was like, dang, that was, like, I was wild. I was like, she was like, hey, boo, go back upstairs. I'll be right there.

When Bridgeton, brough, was like, hey, it brought the flowers, was ready to get his thing. He was ready to get his groove back. He was ready. He was like, we're about to start a family. I claim you now. She was like, uh-uh. No.

She gave him a little Uwap. And she was like, no. I'm back. I'm gone. No. Yeah. And he likes, he likes me for me. He ain't asking me to change. So how you like that? He ain't asking. But here's a thing. This is one thing that I didn't. She didn't have to go there. You know why? Because you remember in the beginning, she was like, boo. My lord, my lord, please let me go to the ball. Let me go to the ball. I want to be a part of that. Like, I want to be in your life. No, you can't say that and then double back and be like, you wanted me to change. Because at the beginning, you wanted to be about that life. That is fair. I mean, that's a fair. That's a fair point. That is fair point, right? All right. So boom, what is, any season two predictions? What are we doing? What's going on?

Oh, I don't know. I can't, I have no predictions for that. If you do, I love, here. Whistledown gets found out, though. I love a message. I don't know how that has to get found out. Well, they're so close now, it's almost impossible that she doesn't get found out. But there's got to be some twist.

I feel like without Whistledown as the, the, the narrator of sorts of that story. Like, where do you go from there? The whole thing changes. I mean, messiness ain't going in because Lady Whistledown goes down. Okay, I don't believe that. Yeah. I think she doesn't get found out.

They're too close. They're too close to the, I mean, they know who it is at this point. Yeah, man, it's funny because I was thinking like Bridgetton has a lot of NBA connections, man, like you can't do shit in the NBA

without getting leaked. I mean, it was like, it was instead of like Lady Whistledown to be like, brother Shams or something, you know what I mean? Brother Shams. That's great. Brother Stein.

You know? Pete was, Pete Bridgetton, dude. It was dope. I'm locked in. I burn for this show. All right. I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Steve Kerr.

Next. Real ones. Holla. What's popping? Real ones. Logan Murdoch here with Raja Bell. Raja, we have a champion, a former ringer's, a co-worker.

A guy who, wears a lot of vans. He has probably every checkered vans of all time and life. Yeah, man, just an overall cool guy. Warriors coach Steve Kerr. What's popping, Steve? I'm good. I'm good. How are you guys doing?

Good, man. It's pretty good. That's the first guest that's ever asked us how we're doing, right? He really gave us, like, empathy of, like, what we're doing. It felt genuine, like, real talk. I'm good, Steve. Thank you. Good. You know, I was a little worried,

Raja coming on just because I traded you. Oh, you stole my thunder, sir. Let's get right to it. Let's get right to it. We're getting right to the shit, Steve. Right to the shit, Steve. We weren't ready.

We had this on the rundale, but you brought it. Let's get right to that. Let's get right to it. Here we go. The original plan was like just full disclosure. Logan was going to break the ice with a nice little anecdote. And then I was going to come in off the top rope.

Like, yeah, I would have learned something to, except you fucking traded me. And you blew it all up. Steve, why did you trade Raja? Let's get right to it. Why did you trade Raja Bell? Yeah, no softballs to lead it off. I guess I brought this on myself, didn't I?

You brought that on yourself. I did. I did. That was, yeah, that was an interesting time for the Sons, for sure. And when I came in, it was sort of the tail end of what was a hell of a run, amazing run. and we were we were trying to keep it together and then I think it was at the year before Raja that we traded Sean Marion for Shaq yeah the previous season and then you got traded the following season midseason yep so to be perfectly blunt you know we were I think

we were sort of chasing something that wasn't there we were on the tail end things were we're starting to to descend a little bit and we started chasing and made some moves that we were hoping could keep us going. But in retrospect, you know, I would do it differently. I wish we had been more satisfied with what we were and not been so obsessed with, we've got to win a championship, we've got to win a championship. You know, we swung for the fences.

So first with the shack deal and then things weren't going great, and we traded you and Boris for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley. All good players. Like everybody, you know, everybody involved all four of you had really good careers. J.D.'s still around amazingly enough playing for the Lakers. But it was a difficult time for the Sons for sure. And I know that was a difficult time for you because getting traded is no fun. Yeah, but it's, you know, that's part of the business.

And look, I mean, that year it didn't pan out, but you guys were right back in the Western Conference finals, you know, a year later. Steve, I did want to ask you. I know Logan's got a lot, but I just, okay, so I remember, I don't know if you remember this. When you, when you got to Phoenix, it was just an conversation we had in a hallway. And you said to me, like, when you get a new job, like, you have a small window of time to kind of affect change, you know? And, you know, when Terry came into that situation, Terry Porter. Yeah, Terry Porter, yeah.

Great, great dude. Like, great dude. Maybe a little heavy-handed on the approach of, like, changing, like, affecting change. I'm curious if like your experience with that affected the way you took over in Golden State. Like whether that was something that you drew from when you had a team, they had 151, you got them over the hump. But but like did it shape your approach when you took over that team? 100%. It affected me.

One of the best things that I was able to do to prepare for coaching was to be a GM because I had a three-year low. at, you know, how a team operates, relationships within. I did a lot. I made a lot of mistakes in Phoenix that helped prepare me for Golden State. I'm sure Sun's fans are like, oh, that's great. Thanks a lot. But I, no, I think looking back, you know, I was young and inexperienced and, you know, I wish I could have prepared Terry better. Terry was, as you said, a great guy, wonderful teammate of mine in San Antonio respected, great family man. Like everything about Terry to me said he's going to be a success. But coming in to replace Mike Dantone, who had been so successful, particularly with the

style of play, you know, that revolutionized the sport that is still being felt today in the way the game is playing, being played now, 12 years, 15 years later, whatever it is. That's a tough spot to be in. So Terry, you know, we had already made the shack trade. So now he comes in and rightfully so, he's like, well, we got to, you know, use Shaq the right way. We were going to have to adapt our style. But for you guys, it was not a fun change because you went from playing this upbeat, rhythmic style, fun style, to slowing it down, which in retrospect was too much.

And so I definitely saw that and took those lessons with me to Golden State. How does that make you feel, Roger? Well, listen, I was young. and inexperienced, to put it politely myself. Like, I too wish I had handled things different. You know what I mean? Like, you, every week, there were reasons that I got traded. Steve's being nice.

Like, I was not really happy to the point he just made about the style that was, that was being kind of changed on the fly. Like, I never dealt with change well. And I could have probably handled that a little better. But, you know, it is interesting because, I mean, I don't coach in the NBA, but just coaching with, with youth and in high, at the high school level. Like, you draw on a lot of those experience, right? Like I draw on my inexperience as a player and some of the things I did when I'm dealing with kids who aren't maybe acting as I would want them to, you know, and you kind of you live and you learn.

Yeah, no doubt. And I think one of the things that I've really learned now since I've been in coaching now for seven years and three years as a GM is that everything in the NBA is cyclical. And every team kind of has this lifespan, you know, and it seems like, oh my God, this is going to last forever. Like you came to the Sun's, what, 06, 06, 05, 06, I think. 05, 05, yeah. You know, the 04, 05 team really, you know, sort of changed the course of the Sun's path and NBA history in a lot of ways. And it just felt like that was going to go on forever. But losing to the Spurs, you know, I think three different times in the playoffs changed that dramatic rise to the top

and this feel good, joyful team to, all right, now we're near the end of the rope and everybody's getting older and we can't get over the hump and that vibe went south. And as I said, there were things I could have done better to improve that. But what I've learned too is that some of this stuff is it's just the hands of time move and things change. And every NBA team goes through these cycles. And it's really tough to navigate when you're right in the middle of it because you're quite sure, you know, is it over yet? And we're kind of, you know, we're in an interesting

spot right now with Golden State where, you know, we're clearly on the dissent. That's obvious. But we've got, you know, this great talent in James Wiseman. We got Stefan Dremont still playing at a high level. We got Clay coming back next year. We still think we can be good. But how do you navigate that? How do you get there? What moves do you have to make? Those are things Bob Myers and I talk about every day. That's what so, man. Hey, so, Raja, I covered Steve for three years, right? Okay.

The first time, my first experience with Steve, I remember, I got the gig, and my first day was the day before the Houston Rockets Warriors season opener, 17, 18. And you guys had lost that game at the buzzer. You remember that, Steve? You guys had lost the game. Yeah, KD hit a buzzer be. that everyone thought counted, and then upon replay review, it was after the buzzer. So we lost. Right.

And so in that game, you guys were winning that whole game, and they had come back in one in the final minute. And I had seen throughout my whole time intern and things like that, I seen a Marcus Thompson, Mark Spears, Chris Haynes. They all were able to get, like, Steve to the side, right? They were all able to get like an extra quote from Steve, right? So I was in the press for my first time and I'm like, hey, man, I'm going to get an extra quote from Steve or I'm going to like make him see who I am. I'm the newest guy on the beat. I'm going to at least I kind of ask him a question, right?

And so my thing was I was going to ask him, hey, I know you guys. It was a stupid question in hindsight. I'm asking, hey, do you guys think this win is going to help? This loss is going to help you because you guys weren't supposed to win this game. Do you guys think there would have been a lesson in, you know, losing this game? And I asked him this. It didn't come out that way. It was still a stupid question.

But I asked him off to the side. He was about to give me time. And I asked him that. And he goes, he gives me a flash look. The red face that you always see when he's about to give a tech. And he says, Logan, he didn't even say Logan. He said, we play to win the fucking game. And walked across it, walked across into his locker room.

Right? That's great. And I say all that to say, I remember how intense it was when you guys were winning. Granted, it was a stupid question, Steve. But I remember how intense you had to be for that time. And my question is, is it harder to coach when you're winning and in a dynasty or when you're trying to build up something that could potentially be a dynasty? What is the harder coaching job in your eyes?

I think every year is different. And so it's not as clear cut as that. I would tell you the first four years of our run, the coaching was way more fun, just because we were joyful and everything was really simple and no agendas. And then, you know, that last year, things kind of went haywire. And so even though we went to the finals, it was difficult. I enjoyed last season when we had the worst record in the league more than I enjoyed that last season when we went to the finals. Because, you know, we had young guys last year who were, you know, trying every day.

working hard. We had a great energy, great spirit, great camaraderie, and losing sucked, but, you know, what you want to want to look forward to going to the gym every day and seeing everybody. And that last year was tough. It really was tough the last year when we lost to Toronto in the finals. There was just a lot going on that you guys, some that you know about something that you don't. And that was very difficult. So it's hard, you know, every year is unique and you try to enjoy each one for what it is. The last season was great because there was also less media. So that was fun for on my end.

Maybe that was a lot. But what was it like to start that run with the Warriors, right? Because when you're about to get in as a coach right then, and I want to talk about in a minute when you, I know me and Rise want to talk about current stuff, but when you were starting that gig, it wasn't like all peaches when you got hired. Like it wasn't something where it was fanfare, but there wasn't, right? because there was a respected coach, Jamar Jackson, who had the locker room.

And did you feel, were you nervous? How did you feel those first few months coaching that team? Because do you feel like, oh, I have to get off on the right foot now? Because it's not as popular or higher as we think of it in hindsight now. How was those first few months coaching, you know, Steph and the guys right then when someone else was a big figure already before you got there? Well, I enjoyed it because we had great guys. You know, Steph makes it so easy.

to coach him and by extension to coach the team. And I hit it off immediately with Andre Godala, who, you know, my fellow Arizona Wildcat, and we both played for Coach Olson at U of A. So we shared a connection there. And I went into the job. And this kind of goes back to what you mentioned, Raja, about, you know, did I learn anything from that son's experience? I went in with full awareness of what a great job Mark Jackson had done and what the team had built over the previous few seasons. They had been in the playoffs two straight years. They had one of the best defenses in the league. So our whole thing as a staff was, you know, let's go in and respect everything these guys have done and just let them know.

We're not trying to change things. We're just trying to help them take the next step. So I think there was a sense of humility from our whole staff that the guys appreciated. We respected what Mark and his staff had done, you know, setting the table. And we had this great group of young guys, talented guys who were ready to win. And so it was really fun right from the beginning. Steve, I want to ask you, though, Steve, so like the defense is in place, right? Like, what is the tinkering offensively?

Like, what are you saying to me in the locker room, like, sit in there? Yeah. And that resonated, like, so seamlessly with the team. Like, people were buying in. It was a style that they just bought into immediately. You guys hit the bricks running. Or so it looked. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, the thing we really emphasized was that we wanted the ball to move. We wanted to play with pace, but we wanted the ball to move a little bit more. And the previous Warriors team had been pretty pick and roll heavy. and we just looked at the roster and it's not just that you have these great shooters and Steph and Clay, but you had all these great passers.

Guys like Andre, Sean Livingston, Andrew Bogot, a tremendous passer as a center. David Lee, I had no idea what a good passer Draymond was. You know, he hadn't played a whole lot before I got there. He had some big moments in the playoffs, but I wasn't aware of what a passer he was. But everybody else we knew could pass And our whole thing going in was, you know, you guys are already a top five defense.

We're going to maintain that. But we're going to move the ball. We're going to play faster and move the ball. And most players love to play fast. And they actually love to share the ball when it happens the right way. When guys are really committed to it and everybody's passing to each other, that's the most fun way to play basketball. And I think our guys understood that we could utilize all that passing to create some good shots. And they bought in right away.

What's it like now, Steve, when you're trying to balance, trying to develop a young core of Jordan Poole, Pascoe, and Wiseman, when you're trying to develop them, but also you got Steph Curry, who is, you know, he's 33 years old. He's playing like an MVP level and he's at his peak. But how do you balance those two things? One guy wants to win a title right now and then these other guys still need to develop enough to get to that level. How do you balance? that is a coach right now. Well, that's, that's the job, right? Every, every year is different, and that's the team we have. And it's actually really fun. And Steph makes it a lot easier because, you know, Steph could be the guy who's basically saying to the world, I'm 33 and I want another chance at a championship. And I'm not in, I'm not in to all this stuff. But Steph is a really mature human being and a team player. He also understands that it's one thing to say that, it's another thing to do something about it. Like if there's a move that we can make that's going to make us a championship team,

trust me, Bob's going to do it. So this theory that, you know, hey, we have to, you know, we got to win a championship while Steph's in his prime. Well, hell yeah. You know, that's what we're trying to do. Tell me the move that would allow for that, just like that. And I would offer that, you know, maybe developing James Wiseman and bringing Clay Thompson back next year and bringing along our young group and, you know, having

a, you know, another potential two first round picks next year. I would argue that's a pretty good path not only to try to win a title, but to set the team up for the next decade. And the great thing about Steph is that he's mature. He understands all. He's realistic. So, you know, we're doing what we think is best. And Steph is enjoying the process. and we're all in it together. Yeah, it's not really a question, but I actually think it's some, you know, there's blessings in disguise sometimes, right?

And the fact that you don't have Clay there gives some of those young players an opportunity to develop and develop chemistry with Steph. So when the window opens again, when Clay's back, some of that's already been taken care of. You know what I mean? Like you have a leader, like a Steph and like a Steve Nash and all the great ones,

like they're able to kind of understand the process you're going through. Yeah, no doubt. And, you know, I think back to the Sons. And, you know, you mentioned how powerful leader Steve was. I mean, there were really three different versions of those sons teams. You know, you were on the middle version. The first one with Joe Johnson at the shooting guard spot the year before you got there. I think you replaced Joe, if I'm not mistaken, right?

So that was kind of the first iteration. and then your group that included Boris Dia, who nobody knew about. But then, you know, Mari was out for the year with the knee surgery, and Boris becomes a comeback player of the year and unbelievable passer. And you guys had an amazing, like, three-year run. And a couple of near-finals births, close calls. And then after we, sorry, after we traded you, after we traded Boris. Just going to keep doing it, huh?

You keep doing it. After we're going to keep talking about, you know, and then we've made that big shift trading, you know, Sean Marion for, for Shaq. Well, we had that third iteration with Channing Frye, shooting threes, and, you know, Jay Rich at the two. And that team made the conference final. So that's the power of a leader like Steve Nash, like Steph Curry. They make it possible for you to build an new.

And whether it's an extension of your previous team or a brand new team, I mean, if you still have that guy in the lead, he's going to, he's going to turn it into something really positive. And I think that's what, what's happening with Steph. That's, that's, that's really funny. Also, Steve, just tell him to put some respect to your name. After you traded him, y'all went to a Western conference finals, okay? I said that. I said that.

I said that. I said that. I said that. I said that. I said that. You brought up, you brought up a point with, um, with, you brought up Wiseman. And, um, when you, when you were talking about him, I know that he, he is, uh, he has, uh, uh, He flashed early. He was really good. I actually hit you.

He was like, yo, I saw the coast-to-coast dunk in Detroit. And I was like, oh, this dude is next level. Gets injured. And then comes back from All-Star Break misses two tests and you have to sit him down. What went into that decision? And how do you think that that will help him in the long run? And what made you say, like, okay, I'm going to sit him down for most of the game when we get back? Well, you're only a young, impressionable player once in your career. And one of the things you have to learn right away is you got to handle your business and you got to take care of everything. And so James has basically done that, but missing those two COVID tests put us behind the eight ball

because then the league didn't let him practice the practice where you come back from All-Star Break, which is a crucial practice because everybody's, you know, been on vacation for a week and you've got to get your legs back and you got to go over some things. And so really it was him missing practice that led to that decision. And I wanted him to understand that as a player, you've got to look at that text every day. You know, if you have a team function, it's going to be on that text and you got to do it. And that's part of being a pro. Great thing with James is he is an unbelievable kid.

He's 19, but he's, he's, he's. He's really mature. He's thoughtful. We have a great relationship. We talk every day. He's so respectful and he doesn't take coaching personally, you know. And Raj, you know what I mean by that? Like some young guys, they think coaching is criticism.

And it's anything but it's, you know, my job is to help James become the very best player that he can. And our staff is committed to that. So he understands that we're just trying to help him get better. And then I think the biggest thing with James is, He's 19 big guys without any college experience. They don't come in and dominate the NBA. He's having a better year than Kevin Garnett had, for example, when Kevin was a rookie. You can look at the numbers, watch the tape.

James has had some moments. But he's got a ways to go, too, because, you know, he's experiencing all this stuff for the first time. Yeah. How does it, how is it for you to coach Wiseman when, you know, he has a way to. injury. He has a, you have to sit him down for most of a game, but he's playing, he has spurts where he's really well, but he's also seeing other rookies like Anthony Edwards and Lamello Ball having success early. And how do you make sure he's good as a young guy where he's not always comparing himself to somebody else's journey? What do you do to help him out and

help him guide him through that journey when he's seeing other guys get more success faster than he's getting? See, that's a way better question than that first one. when you asked me before that Houston game after the Houston. So you have grown. If James can develop at the same rate as you, Logan, we're going to be in great shape in a few years. So nice job. No, it really is a good question.

Because that's a big part of it. And, you know, I don't think it's ever been more difficult to be a pro athlete than right now because of the intense scrutiny and judgment that these guys get and that they have at their fingertips every day. And so I know there's no doubt James knows what Lamello's doing and knows what Anthony's doing and wants to be playing 30 minutes and, you know, the whole deal. But it's a different set of circumstances.

And as a big man, it's a much tougher transition than it is as a guard. And he's doing great. You know, he's learning every day. And I'm telling you, this guy's going to be special. not only because of his talent, but his work ethic and his character. He's he's got everything you need to become a great player. Steve, I want to ask you, like, I'm in the locker room, right? The thing I most players miss, like I know I miss is the, it's the, it's the camaraderie.

It's the locker room. It's being around the guys. It's the travel. It's being out to dinner on the road. Like, how difficult has it been and how much has changed due to COVID? Like, what's that look like now? You know, and even as it pertains to it, James Wise, it's hard enough coming into the league as a rook and figuring out what that looks like.

Now you're doing it under COVID protocols. Yeah. I mean, that's a really great point. This is a tough season for everybody, for every team. Right now we're testing two to three times a day. As we speak, we just had James and Eric declared out for the next two games in Memphis based on contact tracing. Somebody in our traveling party tested positive.

So even though they, James and Eric are fine, they can't play the next couple of games. I mean, that meant they couldn't practice today. So for James, you know, he missed all of training camp. He missed, you know, the practice coming back from break, which was the only one he had control over. Now he's missing a couple of games. He's beyond frustrated because he's a competitor because he wants it so badly. But for the rest of the guys, it's, you know, we don't, to your point, we don't have team dinners. We don't have the team building stuff.

We've, over the years, we've done all kinds of stuff on off nights. You know, we've gone bowling, we've gone to movies, a ton of team dinners, and not being able to do all that is huge because you just don't get that bonding and that stress release. Yeah. That's tough. That's, yeah, that is tough, man. I mean, you're sequestered. I'm assuming you're sequestered in your hotel room for a week, right? For the most part, I can imagine that's pretty, pretty tough.

I remember talking to you. in, I think it was Portland, 2019, after you guys had clinched to go to the playoffs. And we were, or clinched to go to the finals against Toronto. And we were talking about Dremont, and you were talking about the evolution of his leadership style and the evolution of how you have dealt with Dremond. How was it more of a partnership now? And how have you guys been able to coexist now? because at first, y'all two was out here going at it, Steve.

You guys were really like at each other's necks. We were. Yeah. So you said knockout, dragout fights to start. You know, I'm sure you're, you know what I mean? I'm not sure that wasn't that close to hyperbole, but how was it, how was it evolved now to a partnership now? Well, to understand the context, it didn't start out as a knockdown, dragout fight. It's, it quickly developed into a great relationship.

from the first day of camp and because I saw his competitiveness and his fire. And I talked to Tom Izzo quite a bit to try to get to know Draymond. I picked Tom's brain. And Tom told me this guy's the biggest winner you're ever going to come across. So I love Draymond from the first day. And we've had plenty of battles and yelling matches and all that stuff. But that doesn't mean we ever stopped loving each other. We have a great relationship.

Now it's more of a collaboration, frankly. You know, when I came in, I was expecting to start David Lee. David was a great player in his own right, All-Star. And David got hurt in camp. And so we let Draymond start the first part of the season, and he was so good that David never got his job back. And so during that whole span, you know, Draymond was so fiery and competitive.

And I was, you know, You know, I was a new coach. I was, you know, getting, I think I led the league in technicals that year. I mean, we were actually a lot of like, believe it or not. We come from different backgrounds, obviously, but we're very similar terms of our competitive nature. So we butt heads sometimes, but we're collaborating now more than ever. We've had a fantastic season together. I've never enjoyed coaching him more than I am right now just because he's got a wisdom now that's added to that fire.

and he's been a great leader for our young guys. And he's had a great year. He's playing really well. Why is, why do you think that people, I remember after you guys, when Kev left and when you guys are going on a younger, when you guys are trending younger, there was like talk that maybe Draymond is too competitive to put his arm around guys like that if they don't really, the younger guys and rookies. Will he have the patience for a rookie?

Why were, why was everyone wrong about that who thought that? with Draymond's relationship to rookies. How does he, what don't we see with him when rookies? And how has he helped with Wiseman's development and Poole's development and Pascal's development? How has he done that? He's got a good mix of pulling a guy aside and giving him advice and yelling at him if he's not doing the right thing. And in the middle of a game, he'll yell at those guys. In fact, Dremont actually got kicked out of a game this year for yelling and Wiseman.

Remember that one? I do remember that one. It was against the Knicks, and he was mad at James for not coming to meet the pass, and he started yelling at James, and the ref thought that he was yelling at him, and Dramon got tossed. But he's just got a good mix of, you know, the guys on the team love him, and they'll do anything for him. Because Draymond is the most loyal person you'll ever meet. He's a fighter. He's a winner.

He's a champion. and that's who you want to go to battle with. That's real. Look, so I know Steve Nash was coming up and he was spending a lot of time with you guys kind of like in a, I don't know, what you call it, a consultorial role or like,

I don't know what it was. But did you see the job in Brooklyn? Like, did you see him coming back to coach? And second question, I guess as a follow-up, would be like once he took it, because you guys sound a lot of like when I hear you guys talk about, you know, philosophy and how you approach things and so on and so forth.

Like, did he pick your brain at all after he took that job? After he took it, not a ton. We talked for a few times. I was surprised he took the job, first of all. So was Roger. That caught me off guard. You were too, Roger. Yeah, I mean, you know, he was loving his life in Manhattan Beach.

And he got big family, young kids. But it was a pretty intriguing spot that's not going to come around often. That kind of talent, living in New York. York and working with Sean Marks, you know, who he loves. And so he did call me like the day he took it a couple hours before it was announced. He told me I was surprised. But, you know, it did not surprise me that Sean hired him because I think Steve is perfect for for coaching. You know, how could the players not respect a guy who's a two-time MVP and yet has this humility and emotional intelligence that Steve has.

He's the perfect guy for that job because there's a lot that could go wrong there. And it seems to me he's just really running that ship smoothly and doing a great job. I think he's honestly, if it all goes right, you know, I think he is in the running for coach of the year with all the stuff he has to juggle. Yeah, no doubt. Speaking of Brooklyn, what was it like seeing Kevin come back to Chase Center? Kevin Durant? number one it was it was great to see him healthy you know um the way everything ended in golden state was so devastating you know for him to uh to put everything on the line in the finals and then

you know terris achilles was uh heartbreaking so you know we saw them opening night in brooklyn and then we saw him again at chase you know a month ago or so and i'm just you know happy happy to see him playing again and playing at a high level. I think that's the main thing. You just want guys to be healthy. You want them to be happy. Kevin looks like he's both, although he has missed the last couple weeks,

which is concerning, but hopefully it's nothing serious. But I think everybody with Golden State is genuinely happy for Kevin because of the kind of person he is and what he did for our organization. Was part of you like, yo, man, he, you know, he was supposed to play here at Chase Center, man.

Like, this is the candidate. There was no party that was like, oh, no, Ben's not at all. Not at all. Are we going to get messy? Are we getting messy now? Are we going to get messy? I think we're getting messy. We're going to get messy.

We're definitely getting messy. I had a question. I'm going to ask another one then. Sure. KD, obviously, those years, no one would trade those, right? Like, those are great years. You guys had great success and all that. Can I make a case, though, not Steve Kurt, but can I make a case that KD being there may

have to some. degree, cast a shadow on Stephs, or maybe slow down the opportunity for Steph to like squarely take the mantle. Like the league was trending. Like when I was with the calves, what was it, 14, 15, you guys beat us in the in the finals. Like, you know, it just feels like it was supposed to be the face of the league. And then maybe, you know, he got a little bit of the shine taken away by KD. And then, you know, now there are all these stars. And I still think Steph is phenomenal. like he's playing at an MVP level, but could I make the argument that Katie being there maybe did that to Steph a little bit? You could make the argument as an observer of the league, but if you knew

Steph, you would understand that he valued winning way more than any of that stuff. Sure. He, you know, he won back-to-back MVP's in 15 and 16. 16 was unanimous, but we lost game seven of the finals at home, devastating. And for Steph, it was. there was never even a doubt. Like, let's win. Like, let's give ourselves the best chance to win. And obviously, adding Kevin was just an incredible coup.

Steph, I guarantee you, didn't care one bit about can I win another MVP? Am I going to still be, you know, the face of the... I don't think that stuff really mattered to him. He had already done all that anyway, more than anything he just wanted to win. What was the biggest thing you learned about yourself trying to manage all of those personalities, right? Because you have Kevin, who is one of the best players, if not at a point in time, during his run, the best player in the league when you guys were on the Warriors. And you have Steph, who is a two-time MVP.

Then you have Draymond, who is, we both know Draymond. How do you, what did you learn about yourself coaching that group and that nucleus? Well, I didn't have all the answers, you know. I learned that. I mean, I think I knew that already, but the first few years were really smooth. The first couple of years with Kevin were really easy. You know, he transitioned so easily into our game.

Took him maybe a couple of months to feel comfortable with all the offball movement. And I think he really enjoyed it. And so those first couple of years, it was a dream. It was fun. It clicked. It was beautiful to watch. I don't think basketball has ever been played. at a higher level is that 17, was it 17, yeah, 2017, when we beat Cleveland and five,

those games were ridiculous. I mean, Kyrie and LeBron and Katie and Steph and all the talent out there shooting everywhere. I've never seen the game played at such a high level. They were incredible. Cleveland was incredible. I thought they were a lot better than they were the year before when they beat us. So it was amazing those first few years. but that last year got tough.

You know, I think it's well-documented. Kevin was not happy. Things just weren't as joyful for us on a daily basis. I think the grind, having been at the top of the mountain for three, four years, took its toll. And it was a real challenge. And it was not an easy thing to do to try to keep things light and loose, which is the way I like things to be. things to be. And so I learned I didn't have all the answers. When you got the news, hold on one second, one second.

When you got, hey man, let's just go, man, relax. I'm in my bag right now, relax. When you did get the news that he was leaving, you know, everybody kind of like since that he was going, but did you ever feel like, hey, man, there may have been something I could have done different, you know what I mean? Because I know that that comes through when something doesn't go your way, you feel like, hey, man, maybe I could have did something to change the outcome of this? Did you have those feelings when you got the official news that he's about to leave? No, no. We knew he was going to leave long before the summer came. We could just feel it. You know, he wasn't happy. I think in the end, I think he had to figure out what he wanted.

And I think in my view, I think Kevin realized he wanted to go to a new challenge, you know, that he wanted something different. And who could argue with that? So it was a foregone conclusion. And there was never a moment of, man, if I had done this, if I had done that. This was just, you know, what Kevin wanted. And as I said, everybody, team management owners, everybody wished him well because those three years, were an incredible run. Man, that's, that, now, that's really kind of, you know, fascinated because, you know,

from the outside looking in, you, we wouldn't have known, you know, as early as you all did. And at the end of the day, he still put it all out on the line, like, in that playoff series, injured the way he did, you know, and I, again, this isn't really a question. But I had a similar experience with Phoenix, having torn a calf and then having to weigh, like, you know, am I, am I all in trying to win this championship here, or is my future, you know, it's most important. And so, like, that's got to be interesting. How hard was that?

Like the decision behind the scenes, whether he played, you know, versus trying to, you know, protect his career. How hard was that for you guys? You know, the decision was not actually that difficult because we left it up to the medical professionals. And, you know, we had our team doctors. We had Kevin's own private doctor who he sought a second opinion from. we had our trainers, you know, everybody was on board feeling like it was safe.

And devastatingly, it turned out not to be the case. And it was a good reminder to me. And if there's a regret for me, that would be it, you know, in terms of, you know, Logan, you asked, you know, could I have done anything differently? That's the only regret that the reminder that you never know in medicine, you never know with the human body, right? So with, you know, all these different doctors, trainers saying he should be fine, you know, should I, should Bob and I have stepped in and said, no, we're not, we're not allowing you to play. At the time, it's, you know, it just seemed like, look, you know, I coached the team and we let the medical professionals do their. jobs. But the reminder that there's no guarantees of anything in life and health, that was a difficult lesson. All right. Let's take a quick break. Time to get messy, man. Did you feel that

in the finals, when Kevin came back, you guys are still down 3-1? Do you guys feel that you were going to win that series? Because I felt that there was a chance. The way he came out in game five in Toronto and the way you guys won that, I thought there was a chance you guys were going to win that series against the Raptors. Do you feel that way? Even when you guys came back to Oakland, I felt like if y'all won that game, you guys were going to win this series. Was there a was there a collective feeling that, hey, we still have this? We have a really good shot at winning this even down 3-1. Oh, of course. I mean, you've got to consider the context that, you know, this team had won two titles in a row and had a deep,

level of confidence. So I think everybody felt like we're going to do this. But I don't want to say that at the expense of what Toronto was able to accomplish because they were amazing. They were fantastic and they deserved it. But we all felt like we have a chance and we still felt like we had a chance. When Clay went down in game six, we were at least leading that game feeling good and we just wanted to get back on that plane and have one crack at it in in game seven but it wasn't meant to be. Man, I wanted to go back to

Toronto one more time. I was really mad at you guys. I really loved that city. What a great city. Especially at that time. It was a great city. It was beautiful. Toronto is a vibe. Hey, you got two of my favorite

people on your coaching staff now. Leandro Barbosa and Jaron Collins. Like, they had no real talk. They were two of my favorite teammates at all the time. And Jaron's been with you for a while. Yeah. Head coach soon one of these days? Is he, I mean, you know, I don't know, like how good is. He's definitely interviewed a couple of times. He came close.

Last year with Memphis when they hired Taylor Jenkins. He's, I think absolutely he should be a head coach in this league. I love Jaron. He's, he's humble. He's smart. He's funny. He's quirky. He loves the game. He loves to study the game. He's a great teammate. Absolutely. He should be in the mix for any jobless that's available. And what is LB doing? What is LB doing? Like, I just need to know. What's he doing? LB is the best. I mean, he brings the best energy. First of all, he could still play. He, you know, I don't know how long he would survive the grind of the NBA season.

but if we put him into the game tomorrow night in Memphis for 20 minutes, I guarantee you he would play well, score 10 or 12 points in transition, make a couple of steals. Like, he can still go. Right. You know, he's been playing professionally the last few years in Brazil. So, you know, he's played in the World Cup two summers ago. Like, he's still got it.

But he's transitioning, you know, into the coaching world. And he's got the best energy with our young guys. He's in player development on the court. He plays in a lot of our three-on-term. three, you know, post-practice stuff that our young guys take part in. He's just got a great way about him. And he has a current knowledge of the players who are out on the floor because he played against a lot of them, you know, three years ago. So he's doing a great job. I mean, I know Logan's got a bunch of stuff, but I imagine that's got to be really important

when you're talking about kind of, you know, a staff and kind of, you know, it getting kind of tiresome at times to have that fresh blood, especially in the coaching staff that comes in there with his type of infectious energy, because it really is infectious, right? Like, that's got to be great for you guys as a staff. You need that on a roster, and you need it on a coaching staff, too. You know, you really do need a new voice, fresh blood, however you want to put it. And so LB has provided that for us this year. He's been great.

It's crazy when we have the son's talk because, as you know, Steve and Roger knows, I grew up a Laker fan and I hated those sons' teams. but are the more stories that Roger tells me about, like we were supposed to get Boris on the pod one. Like, we're supposed to get Boris on the pod at some point. So he texts Boris and is like, yo, is this your number? Can you come on the pod? And the text back was, rah, ra, I'm on up my boat in Panama.

When do you need me? I'm like, yo, you're a legend. I love this. In hindsight, the Phoenix group is one of my favorite groups of all time in hindsight. Love that group. I'm very happy with my life, but if I could be somebody else, I think I would be Boris. Yeah. That guy lives.

He lives. What did I say to you post-show, you and Sasha, last two episodes ago? I love my life. I said the verbatim what you just said. I love my life. But if I could come back as anything else, I probably do what Boris is doing. Yeah, man. I love the Phoenix Suns in hindsight.

How is Clay doing? because I know last year, you know, he was hurt in the same position, but he wasn't around as much. He would come on the L.A. trips. I think he went to a Phoenix trip or something like that. But how was he now? I know he's going to win the team a lot more. How are his spirits? And how quirky is he right now, you know, now that he's, now that he's like not playing and but still around the team. How's he doing? He's another quirky dude? He's doing. Oh, yeah. Clay's a quirky. Clay's a quirky. He's funny. He is. Clay's got the dry a sense of humor. He's doing really well. You know, he's finally out of the boot,

which is a huge development if you have an Achilles injury because the first couple months, you know, you're just incapacitated. So he's now out of the boot. I saw him on the court the other day, just, you know, kind of taking one foot of jumpers. He's on the elliptical. He's in the, in the pool, running in the pool, that kind of stuff. So he's doing a really good job of rehab and he's ahead of schedule and he's around the team quite a bit he's he's happy and and uh the guys love having him around so it's been really good to see him what what does he be he's like fucking sleeping on boats for valentine's day and stuff man i don't know if you're on instagram like that but he was like laying on a boat he's doing like weird is he is he i remember also seeing him

um and i feel bad for him that he did that he that he um that he got injured because i remember I saw him this summer just like at a deli in Oakland. And he was just like so juiced to say like, hey, man, I was busting Steph's ass. I'm ready to go. And in a quirky way, he said he was like, yeah, man, summer's been great. I just worked out with Steph. I'm busting his ass. He's really shifty, but I think I got him a couple times.

And so, you know, like, Ben Clay. He was really excited. How have you been able to keep his spirits up now, though? Is it a everyday thing? Is he like, because he was a durable guy before this, before these last two injuries. How is it to keep it? How was he doing with his spirits? How is he doing?

Well, he's doing better now, now that he's more mobile and he's been around the team. And yeah, you mentioned the boat. He lives in Tiburon. I don't know, Roger, do you know the Bay Area at all? I know Piedmont. Yeah. All right. So, you know, Tibran is like kind of over near,

Sausalito near the closer to the Gold Gate Bridge. Boozhing and boats. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

But he lives over there. He's got a dock and he's been taking his boat right up to Chase because chase is right on the water. So he's literally taking his boat to games. Oh. So that's a hell of a commute. That's a thing. Yeah.

That's a thing. Roger, you wouldn't, some boozy Bay Area shit. You would never understand. That is a real boozy Bay Area of shit. Maybe I want to. Maybe I want to be him, not Boers. I don't know.

Clayland's a great life, too. Clayland's a great life, too. He's in the running, for sure. Is this, I know, take wins out of this and take losses out of this. This is the best you've seen, Steph? Because I've seen him, he's scoring 60. He has numbers close to his MVP level. How is this in compared to other steps?

Take wins and losses out of this, just strictly him as a player. How is this, how is this version of Steph? Kurt. Yeah, he's as good as he's ever been for sure. I mean, it's hard to compare him to four years ago because he had a different team around him. And those teams were like well-oiled machines. You know, he had been playing with those guys for years and everybody knew exactly what he was going to do and vice versa. This team, because it's more of a project, an ongoing project, it almost makes what he's doing even more impressive, you know, because we got these young guys and they're learning how to play with him and we're not nearly as good as we were. And yet he's out there doing his thing. And I think

he's stronger than he's ever been. He's finishing at the rim at an incredibly high level. And he's just, he's amazing to watch. I mean, what a treat to watch him play basketball every night. He's also popping off a little bit more, man. He's talking a little bit more shit than I'm used to seeing him. Are we seeing a bit more his competitiveness than normal? Because, you know, Steph is like, I don't know. Now he's like, I don't got to prove nothing to nobody. You know what I mean? He's getting really in his bag right now.

Have you seen this type of Steph before? Or is this something that we're just new, it's new to us? No, he's always, he's always had that, that arrogance. That's what truly makes Steph who he is. He's got the most incredible blend of arrogance and humility. Those two things are not supposed to go together, but they 100% work for Steph. You know, on the court, he is arrogant. He thinks he's the greatest player on earth.

And then off the court, he's the most humble guy. And it's one of the reasons players, you know, love him so much and look up to him. And it's one of the reasons he's so great to coach because I know that in come game time, you know, I've got the greatest shooter of all time, one of the great players of all time, leading our team. And yet in the locker room, you know, it's like dealing with a. a guy who's the 10th guy on the bench and, you know, just trying to make the league. He's amazing. That really is amazing. Look, I told a story.

I just, Steph was a rook when I got traded to Golden State. So after you traded me, Larry Brown then traded me. So now I'm in Golden State, right? And no, but to your point, Steph was super swaggy on the court, like almost one time coming out of a game and like being so into it that he doesn't even dapp you up. I've told this story before where I got to grab him and be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, Doug. like you got it you there's a app that's like it's required but like two nights later he's a rook and he's at cafe du ma grabbing benes for everybody because like he's a rook and that's what you do

you know what i mean like he's just got a great blend of the two similar to similar to step nat you know you you you brought it up um steve and steve didn't have the same uh i don't know if if arrogance is a right word for steve but steve had a similar confidence like steve was in control of the game and yet was the most humble guy off the core. They actually remind me of each other quite a bit. Steph's got a little more, a little more flare, you know, a little more stuff, but that combination is pretty powerful. Tim Duncan, I've compared Steph to Timmy. Similar, you know, that's that when you have such a great player who is so beloved in the locker room because of his humility and his humor, ability to get along with everybody, that's a, that's a

grand slam. Who's the better athlete out of Steve and Steph? Steve, not Steve Kerr. We already know that answer. That's an easy one. The better answer, better out of Steve Nash and Steph Curry. No, Steph is.

Steph is. He's, but where they're so similar, I think, Steph's a little faster, a little quicker, but where they're so similar is hand-eye. Like, I would put their hand-eye.

You know what we should do? Remember that, remember that show, Roger that Steve concocted, but that Shaq stole from him. The total of that show. Oh, the training, the training. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, give context. We need context.

We need context. Bring us context. What happened? What? Oh, shit. Steve really got messy. He got messy. What was it called, Roger?

I remember what it was called, but the premise was he was going to go train in the summers with with athletes, Olympic athletes and professional athletes. Jack took that whole shit. took the whole shit. And Shaq took it. So, no, Shaq actually did it. And I think Steve became an executive producer. Yeah, you got to credit.

Yeah, credit, right. Okay, good. Yeah. But Shaq would train against, like, NFL wide receivers and then compete against them. And it was actually a really cool concept. But my point is, I would like to see Steph and Steve compete against each other in every other sport but basketball. Like, put them on the goal. golf course, put them on the tennis court, have them go bowling.

Like, these two guys have the most incredible hand-eye. They're just the kind of athletes that if you just hand them the ball or the glove or the rack, whatever it is. Who's winning a decapulon, Steve? Who's going to win the decafalon between those two people? Yeah, put it right now. Well, Steph now. Steph now.

I mean, he's got, you know, he's got 10 fewer years on his body. All right. You took the easy way. And a lot less goodness. But I did. Like, Steph, his golfing, you know, accolades speak for themselves. But after one of those seasons,

it's probably my last year in Phoenix, like me, Sean Marks, Boris, Eric Puyakowski and Steve go out and we're playing, you know, we're playing some course out in Paradise Valley, the Phoenician probably. You know, I don't know how many beers have been, you know,

and he shoots, like, and he says he hasn't played golf in like five years. He shot like a 92, Steve Nash. You know what I mean? Like they both just have the knack. Like, they're just good at shit. I was on a green, what, two years ago with Steph and Phil Mickelson. It was up in Navajo.

It was pretty tight. It was kind of, it was definitely a bucket list. I see it was tight. But Steph was sticking with him. Now, he's not going to be Phil Mickelson, but he was holding his own as a golfer. He's a scratch golfer. He's really good. Steph is really good golfer, especially for something that he doesn't do full time.

but I have a question for you Steve one of my favorite pastimes you can ask anyone that knows me is to watch compilations of you getting ejected because it's hilarious when you get really it's hilarious when you get fucking pissed off my favorite one is in

Sacramento you remember this right when when I don't know what I think Kavana Looney got fouled or something and you were sticking up for Kavana and then I think Kevin got foul, one of the guys got fouled, and you go berserk to the point where your own players are making fun of you to get kicked out, Andrei Gwadala, and like, your four, DeMarcus is making fun of you,

Tremont is making fun of you, even though you're sticking up for your guys. When do you get to the point where you're just like, I'm going to yell at the rev to where like, fuck it, I'm going to go full out and I'm going to go full red face, and I'm going to go like, ah, what is the mindset when you get ejected, Steve? What's going on in your head, man? I don't know. I don't know. My wife has a saying about me. She said, beware the fury of a patient man. And she read it, she read it in some book. And she started laughing. And I said, what are you laughing about?

She goes, this phrase describes you. And it really does because I am extremely patient. And then I'll just snap once in a while, whether I break a clipboard or, you know, get ejected or whatever. And I don't know what happens. I just lose my mind. And yeah, I just kind of go off the cliff. I remember that one, though. DeMarcus was actually playing for the Kings at the time. Yeah. And so when I got tossed, he looked right at me and he waved. He said to see you later.

And we laughed about it, you know, a couple of years later when he came to the Warriors and joined our team. We had a good laugh over that one. My top two ejections for you is the Sacramento one and the one in Portland before the All-Star break. I have a love seeing to get ejected. I've only had three, Logan. I've only had three. Total and my two of them were in SAC, by the way. I'm not sure what it is about the Sacramento trip.

Oh, no. In an Alperger, around the corner. No, he got to go to bus. You must have gotten ejected once or twice. Oh, me, never. I was going to say, you sound just like me except without the patience. Like, I just lose my shit. Yeah.

No patience to start. Just losing shit everywhere. You say that you get, you say that you get ejected three times, but that doesn't mean like that, that just takes away all the times. You've gotten mad at a ref and you probably should have gotten. ejected. That's true. That's true. It's it. I love that. But I want to no, no, no, fact check. No, you got tossed right. Of course. Mark Ivaroni. Mark Ivaroni, one of my favorite coaches, by the way. He writes me a let this is new years. We're traveling from Detroit to Chicago. All the families are with us, right? And we're all going to go out and have a great time.

And I get to my room in Chicago and there's a note under the door, right? And so I'm like, who the hell would be like sliding a note under my door? I open it, you know, dear Raja. And it through this stuff and he he's concerned that my temper is going to eventually like cost us he's written me this whole handwritten letter to that effect right so like i was you know i'd be in the asshole i was i wrote him back like dear mark respectfully i disagree and i wrote and then i proceeded to like get kicked out clothesline and coby and almost cost us to see right yeah man he was right he was right at the end of the day mark was right you are you are you at some point steve are you going to go back to when you, when you, when you, ever you finish coaching, you're going to go back

to the booth? Is that something you're going to go back to doing? Are you going to be like Raja and like maybe do a podcast for the ringer at some point? What are you going to do when it's over? That's what I did during the, this is what I did during the pandemic, you know, Pete Carroll and I did a podcast. We had, we had so much fun with it. I have no idea what I'm going to do. You know, I'd like to keep coaching for a while. I love this job. My kids are all, you know, grown up and out of the house and everything, or at least out of college. They came back during the pandemic. So, but it's, no, this is a great, great job.

And who knows, we'll see where it all goes. Now, the most important question of this podcast, Steve, I know you watch Succession. I'm a big Succession fan. Is Kendall Roy going to take over the business one and he's going to be successful at it? I have my doubts. I want to know your answer on this. Steve, what the fuck is going to happen? We need a prediction right now.

I don't think any of the four kids are capable of taking over the company and being successful. I think that's fairly obvious, given the show's progression to this point. They're all quite flawed. So I do think that Kendall will take over, and I think all hell is going to break loose. There's my prediction. And like always, Logan is going to, and like always, a Logan is going to have to save the day. It is a great show on HBO, Raja, that you need to watch. You should catch up. Honestly, it's two seasons. By the time this happens, you should be able to catch up.

Go and lock in. Hey, Steve, we're into Bridgetton now. I'm not sure if you're into Bridgetton, but Bridgetton is a shit. You should tap into Bridgetton on Netflix. I haven't watched it. You like it? It's good. Steve, I'm a holl at you in about a month or so, and you need to watch Bridgetton, dog. All right. Being Roger, I have a fan club on the ringer right now. But yeah, I appreciate you coming on, bro. This was dope, man. We've been telling you to come on, man. We'll see you soon.

Friend of the show, bro. Come by anytime, man. We'll lock in with you soon. That was fun. I enjoyed it, guys. That's right me. The show.