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00:15welcome back to another edition of new york got game dexter henry stephan bondy our fantastic
00:19beat reporter covering the new york knicks is here steph how you doing man good man how's it going
00:24going good going good uh knicks fans might be a little bit worried today a little bit concerned
00:29because uh you talked about this back on media day that a lot of the talk here in training camp
00:35and
00:35through the preseason was going to be about these extensions that are available for these players
00:38and today the knicks came out with a statement in which they basically said they will not be
00:44discussing extensions through the season and they're tabling it uh going forward what did you
00:49make of that statement and what does this mean for the knicks and the players involved primarily josh
00:56hart and crafty towns well it means a couple things one is the they were not close to obviously
01:02not close to an agreement um which every player has said that i think that's not a surprise the other
01:08thing it felt like and i've you know nobody's confirmed this but it felt like a response
01:14to what carl anthony sounds said to us on monday when i asked him you know give us some details
01:21separate fact from fiction about what's going on with your contract situation he said all i wanted
01:26all i want is um something that values me i'm willing to take a discount but obviously he was
01:33not willing to take the type of discount that the knicks were offering which was as i reported four
01:38years 200 million dollars uh cat is eligible for four years 277 million dollars so he's looking for
01:44something in the middle um and the knicks never got there and when he took some of these issues
01:51more publicly he also had a line no shit sherlock um that probably rubbed people the wrong way in
01:57with the knicks uh then then this felt like this was the knicks response all right you know this is
02:03now public well we're going to shut it down and there's going to be no negotiations and there's going
02:08to be no distractions um so you know that's my read on the situation um and you know i don't
02:15think
02:16it's a surprise at all that they are not coming to an agreement i do think that taking this so
02:22publicly
02:22and playing this out now with statements um that part is a little bit surprising to me i was a
02:28little
02:28bit surprised i just want to read the statement uh from the knicks for the people said as an organization
02:33this quote from the knicks as an organization our entire focus is on preparing for the upcoming season
02:37and delivering another year for our fans to be proud of as a result we will not be negotiating
02:41contract extensions until later in the season and will remain solely focused on preparing for the
02:46season which is october 20th at the garden against the sixers when i think about this stuff and i agree
02:55with you i'm not surprised necessarily at the knicks responding in this way but does no i am surprised
03:01in that i am yeah sorry and i'm speaking myself i am surprised i'm responding in this way right
03:07i thought there would be some response and i might be a little bit surprised to be clear
03:11about the timing of this but does the way the knicks responded here does it benefit them in any way
03:17that is i don't you know it it benefits them as a just a shot at who who they're negotiating
03:25with
03:25agents players whatever because obviously it's not going to stop the distraction like it does the
03:30opposite right um you know the player it doesn't stop the players from thinking i don't have a
03:38contract extension that's not going to stop it's not going to stop the media from asking how do you
03:42feel about not having a contract extension the knicks cannot ban players from speaking to the media
03:49they cannot ban players from speaking about their own contracts so to say that this ends the
03:56distractions and now we're going to focus on winning a championship um no i i don't agree with
04:03that and i don't think that was their true purpose in releasing it in a statement like this publicly
04:08you know if they wanted to do it where all right let's just stop the distractions and focus on the
04:14season they would have met with the um representatives of these players uh they would have come to an
04:22understanding of listen we're not close you know there's nothing you know we're not budging from
04:27this um you know we have the second apron mandate from the owner we can't pay you what you want
04:32but
04:32you know i would like for us to table this privately and um you know please don't discuss it publicly
04:40through the media that's not what happened um the representatives from these players found out about
04:45it didn't catch them by surprise they knew that the statement was coming um but it's still you know
04:51it still doesn't feel like what it says the purpose is what it says which is stopping distractions
04:57right it's not because the questions are still going to be asked the next time there's media
05:00availability carlty towns and josh hart will be asked these questions i think it'll be interesting
05:05to see how they respond to those questions speaking of their response steph both of them took to social
05:10media and had some posts on twitter x whatever we're calling it these days josh hart put in new york
05:16with a couple blue and orange hearts carlty towns had always loved blue and orange hearts i don't know if
05:20you saw this and a picture a picture of him hugging patrick ewing do you make anything of those social
05:27media posts that i mean the way you describe him is it feels like they're taking the high road
05:33and be like oh i love new york right it has nothing to do with the the the fans and
05:39you know people
05:40like patrick ewing so that that's what my read on it is just feels like they're taking the high road
05:47um when you look at yours my read was similar to that it is i think they're trying to show
05:54hey
05:55it's always love between us and the fans we know the fans love us the fans don't hate anybody on
05:59this
05:59team right now right nobody in this team could do wrong at this point after ending the 53 year
06:04drought it's yeah i agree with you taking the high road and saying we've got the love from the fans
06:09but do you guys have love from the fans with this because this is kind of where i was going
06:14to go
06:14next steph there's been a little bit of goodwill with the way things have been run with this team
06:20the last seven years or so right and obviously them getting a championship and you know this being
06:26around basketball for a long time there hasn't always been that goodwill with the knicks and how
06:30they've run business so i guess a two-part question here does this what's happened today
06:35in the statement coming out does this affect how the fans are now looking at ownership in the front
06:41office and could this also have an impact on how players down the road and agents look at dealing
06:47with business with the knicks because of this coming out uh i think players and agents know what they're
06:54getting into with the knicks ownership i don't think that is going to change um but you know
07:00how the fans feel we'll see um if they win everything is fine i've always said that it's the um
07:09what's the phrase it's the great eraser of any problem um is right that's not the phrase but whatever
07:15the phrase is that's what i meant to say um and um you know but if they struggle this is
07:23going to be
07:24the main thing that comes up at all times and it they will it will be a pinned as the
07:30reason why this
07:31team is not living up to expectations it will be pinned as the reason why this team wasn't able to
07:36uh get another championship um you know they the ownership has made a decision to
07:43run it but put the onus on themselves james don't put an onus on himself to say if this doesn't
07:50work out
07:51i'm gonna take some blame i'm gonna take the lion's share of the blame because um it's gonna be
07:59the same team that came back minus mitchell robinson who was sacrificed for the second apron and the
08:04second apron is uh james dolan's mandate and it's also going to be with players who have this contract
08:10extension on their minds and they have that contract extension on their minds because james dolan doesn't
08:16want to go into the second apron and doesn't want to pay these players um you know what they're asking
08:20for so i think we have to wait and see what the fans think because we have to wait and
08:26see how the
08:26next play we do have to wait and see how they play and how this all plays out going forward
08:31you said to
08:31me on media day we talked about this just how interesting would be to watch all these contract
08:36extensions that because of the way this team and the leadership they have particularly led by jalen
08:41brunson that this would not be a distraction now with this coming out seeing the responses
08:46has your opinion on that change do you think this can become a distraction for this team
08:51i think it can become a just well first of all for i think josh is fine i think with
08:56josh
08:56we got to remove him from the equation because he has a team option so i know he wants to
09:02be rewarded
09:02i know he wants to be paid i understand why the knicks would not even consider doing it right now
09:07it
09:07just doesn't make sense um you know unless he's willing to meet a certain price right the the cat
09:14situation um we talked about this before he had he has struggled with the idea that he's not stable
09:26and not in a stable situation and we saw that last season when he was on the trade block and
09:31you know
09:31he was being mentioned about going to milwaukee for yana center de cupo or portland or whatever
09:37and he was playing poorly and it was weighing on his mind he also didn't you know he was struggling
09:41with his role with mike brown all that stuff this could weigh on him in a similar fashion um for
09:47sure
09:48and you know this is a guy who's made it clear he wants to stay in new york he absolutely
09:52wants to
09:52stay in new york uh miles mcbride his whole career you know is feels like it's on the line right
09:59now
09:59and when i career by career i mean you know his big payday he's been on this poor contract
10:06for a while now he has not gotten any you know he has he's still waiting for his big payday
10:11so i think regardless you know unless he was to get an extension that this is going to affect his
10:17play one way or another now is he going to come out and play even better because he's now playing
10:22for
10:22big money or is it going to you know hinder his game he's going to go out there and try
10:26to do too
10:27much i i don't know the answer to that but that will be certainly weighing on mcbride's mind uh and
10:33you know i feel like it's potential that cat will also have something weighing on his mind during this
10:37season if that with no extension yeah and i think some fans are going to hear that and say well
10:42i
10:42don't like having too many guys on the team that i'm rooting for that are worried about their money
10:47right we're wondering how that can all impact things in the locker room and then i think one
10:51interesting interesting thing to note here is cat if he were to sign an in-season contract
10:56extension with the knicks he would have to decline that 61 million dollar player option
11:00that he has for next season in order to do that and it makes me wonder if you're in his
11:05position
11:05because you're right his situation is very different from josh hart because of that player option
11:10do you think cat would decline that player option just to get an extension done in season later in the
11:16season as the knicks have said they would be willing to discuss yeah i mean if the money's right for
11:20sure right like if they say yeah we'll give you whatever you know the 240 million dollars that
11:26you're asking for he would absolutely decline it but he does hold the that's his big leverage is he
11:32has the 61 million dollar player option where it's like all right you know i'll play out this season
11:37and if i get hurt or i don't play as well and then i won't hit free agency i'll just
11:42play next season
11:43on the biggest contract the biggest salary that i've ever had in my career so he has uh he has
11:49considerable leverage leverage because of that 61 million dollar player option and he's in a good
11:55position with that said you know cat is a personality that wants everybody to like him he wants everybody
12:00to be happy and kumbaya um i don't think he's he he's comfortable with the as he said being uncomfortable
12:08you know i know he said that that's that's something he you know that has to happen but
12:13cat doesn't strike me as somebody that's comfortable when it's uncomfortable yeah i think the thing for
12:19me is i'm really intrigued to see how cat and both josh hart respond to this when you know the
12:25beat
12:25writers talk to them that that's really the response on social media is one thing to me stuff
12:29the other thing will be what what do they say are they going to continue to say something in public
12:34you know we know the knicks are probably not going to say anything more on this but i'm just
12:38very intrigued to see what they say and how they carry this because the message we heard from cat
12:42earlier this week when you and i talked in philly it was you know it was a very strong tone
12:47i wonder
12:48if the stone the tone is still strong here or it softens a bit that is a good question i
12:53don't know
12:53the answer to that uh cat was not in the he was the only player that was not in the
12:59locker room after
13:00the game yesterday so he was the only player we didn't talk to so maybe he probably knew what
13:05was coming he had to know what was coming maybe he wanted to get his words right but we'll see
13:08you
13:09with the next availability our stuff and body he will be on top of that either way interesting times
13:13around the knicks we'll see if this becomes a distraction one thing we can both tell you
13:17questions aren't gonna stop coming let me look i gotta say one more thing about this yeah yeah sure um
13:24and we have said i've said this before to you the idea that the knicks can't go into the second
13:28apron for one year is just silly um they can go into the second the idea of the second apron
13:35is it it inhibits your it stops your ability to get other players and get them on your team build
13:42out your roster by signing players you can't use the mid-level exception to sign players you can't
13:48aggregate players in trades you can't take that more so whatever it's about get it's about stopping
13:52your ability to build your team from other players outside of your roster it does not stop you from
13:57keeping players on your own team the knicks have an intact championship roster they proved it they
14:04have they won the championship with the players they have on the roster they have every right they
14:09have every ability to pay their own players and go into the second apron if it doesn't work out
14:17you can then make a trade you know to get out of the second apron the boston celtics did it
14:22just recently um the cleveland cavaliers were in the second apron just recently and got out of it
14:27so it's not hard to get get out of the second apron the only problem with going into the second
14:33apron
14:33is you're paying a shit ton of money and right if that's the problem then that's the problem but
14:39to me i don't understand why there's this i can't touch the second apron it's the third rail situation
14:47you've said this to me before and i guess what i'll say to this is i don't disagree with you
14:51my thing is when are owners going to be shamed into going into second apron as long as this system
14:57exists right there's been no shame for it and you're right you saw boston do it cleveland's a great point
15:01they they had the largest penalties last season they got out of it i think denver right now yeah right
15:07and denver has not really looked the same since winning in 23 but owners are not really been willing
15:14to do this outside of outside of boston and james donan made the mandate clear hey this is not what
15:19i want to do i think it's disappointing for the fans i'm with you i think it's disappointing for
15:23the fans of a championship team but no owners have been willing phoenix did it like i just reeled off
15:28four teams and the second apron hasn't been around for that long it's been around for three years
15:34three years right when i say that it's the owners willing to do it for multiple seasons right
15:39that that that's the thing with a championship roster okay well i'm not saying do it
15:44that's my point there's no reason why you can't do it for one season i'm with you i'm with you
15:49on
15:49this yeah i'm i'm i'm with you on this but the thing i guess what i'm saying is not disagreeing
15:54with you where's the shame for james bell dolan the fans still show up to msg they're still there
16:00the seats are going to be filled right like yeah i mean i know what you're saying but like you
16:06know
16:07that's fine that's that's always been the case like the team it was terrible for a long time and
16:12they were still selling out every game but um you know the only shame that's coming is you know i
16:18turn on first take and stephen a smith and kendrick perkins are killing james dolan on it so that that's
16:24all i can think of i you can never tell the fan i can i'm not telling fans not to
16:28buy tickets
16:28yeah like they love the knicks i you know i well are you suggesting that the fans boycott the knicks
16:35i think in sports fans have probably more power than they realize but they do not use it some of
16:40the times is what i'll say but i understand after a championship i'm not expecting them to boycott them
16:44this year that's unrealistic um that you know what that's you that's the english english premier league
16:49fan and you talking because that's what they do over there yeah but but hey does it does it not
16:54work
16:55yeah you know better than me i don't follow it that closely yeah and to be fair to give the
17:00nuance in
17:01it's a little bit of a different situation because we're talking about a salary cap and a non-salary
17:04cap so i don't want to talk about it like it's exactly equal because it's not you know i'm with
17:09you though if you have a championship team particularly a team that won a championship
17:13i understand the limitations of the second apron do i think you should go into it yes i do because
17:18of
17:18what you said you can get out of it you could get it out i think this i think fans
17:22i think you
17:23and i've talked to most fans and other people around basketball that would have said they'd like to
17:27see the next goal to it and well and we're not even talking about going into the next season or
17:33this right it's in two years that the threat is there and that's why you're not giving cat an
17:40extension right it's it's a it's a lot and it's it's a larger discussion supposedly and it's a larger
17:48discussion about this you know cva current cva is it good for the nba is it good for teams
17:54i don't i don't think well the nba loves a second apron they just sent out uh statements defending
17:59it because bruce brown had the audacity to say um it's not good for me but it isn't it hasn't
18:09been
18:10it it's it's well the nba called him a liar there's more i could say on that i'll say for
18:17i'll say for another time i don't i don't necessarily agree with that not you i don't know i don't
18:21agree
18:21with their statement on that but i don't think it works for the i would say the middle and lower
18:26class player of the nba i don't think it necessarily works for them i think the numbers prove that i
18:31know it's like you said three seasons we're talking about but in a short time i think if you really
18:34look
18:34at the middle and the lower class player in the nba in terms of earnings i don't think it necessarily
18:40works for them which is why and i know you probably agree with this too steph just covering the sport
18:45this is why i don't fault a cat or a josh hart for asking for their money especially when they've
18:50won and certain things that they've accomplished i can never fault those guys for that at all
18:54whatsoever i think where we can and i appreciate you saying it and then writing it about this stuff
18:58too we can fault the owners for the penny pinching and not being willing to pay and invest in
19:05championship level teams they hey at least you're bringing some shame right you're bringing some shame
19:10i'm i'm gonna get the english premier league fan and me here with the i'm not trying to shame i'm
19:15not but i want to be i'm not trying to we're not i'm not trying to shame anybody to making
19:19any
19:19decisions i'm just this is my opinion i i you know i obviously done enough research about the second
19:24apron and the consequences about it you know bobby marks laid out an entire way that everybody on the
19:31next court everybody on the next court can get paid and you're not in the second apron and so like
19:37this is doable and so the fact that everybody's like oh you know we were you know we can't pay
19:43everybody we can't pay this guy they can't pay this guy at some point yes you eventually have
19:47to put a cap on it right but the knicks are not at that point yet right to your point
19:52you can't pay
19:52everybody forever this team is not going to stay together forever that's never been your point
19:56you're right um at some point all things are going to end in in this salary cap we're on the
20:00second
20:00apron world but could they run it back yeah they could they could have is this all disappointing
20:04that they don't want to go over it yeah i understand what the fans are coming from i
20:09understand your point on it so it's all interesting we'll see how it plays out that is the great stephan
20:13body does a fantastic job for us covering the next step i appreciate the time man i will see you
20:18on
20:18monday for next temple all right man i'll see you there all right everybody stay tuned for more on
20:23new york got game and thanks for watching new york got game boom shakalaka