Speaker 1: You're tuned into Heat Check with Triste Quick On this
Speaker 1: episode of the Heat Check, so much drama happening in Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Hate to see it? Hate to see it? Oh, we
Speaker 1: had to lead the show with it the latest on
Speaker 1: the Trey Young saga. We discussed the new changes to
Speaker 1: the league as well that will allow foreign countries to
Speaker 1: own NBA teams. Say what what does that mean going forward?
Speaker 1: And we also asked the questions is the NBA looking
Speaker 1: at a lockout sooner or later? Sooner than you think, folks.
Speaker 1: We also get into various trade rumors how JB. Bickerstaff
Speaker 1: might be the most underrated coach in the league. And
Speaker 1: we also talk about Joe Missoula, head coach of the
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics, giving his first interview since the whole Emai
Speaker 1: Udoka issue went down in Boston issue. Is doing a
Speaker 1: lot of work. There so much shit to talk about, Nick,
Speaker 1: so drop that motherfucker. Oh yes, warm your hands up
Speaker 1: on this hot tea. It appears there is a power
Speaker 1: struggle going on in Atlanta again, actually between world class
Speaker 1: chucker Trey Young and head coach Nate McMillan. Nope, not
Speaker 1: Lloyd Pierce. The last coach that got fired because of
Speaker 1: his drama with Trey Young. The new coach that replaced
Speaker 1: that coach because of his drama with Trey Young. Fun
Speaker 1: fun stuff. As everyone knows. Last weekend, Trey Young had
Speaker 1: a run in with Nate McMillan that led him to
Speaker 1: ghosting the Atlanta Hawks game. Yeah, ghosting meaning not showing
Speaker 1: up for work on Sunday night, Like he just does
Speaker 1: hit it and quit it, just like literally, I'm here,
Speaker 1: where were you up? And then had a nice nothing
Speaker 1: right like nothing no response? Is what was it like?
Speaker 1: Hit him in the text go green? You know that's
Speaker 1: where it was. Why he went ghost mode is now
Speaker 1: at the heart of the story. According to Shams, looking
Speaker 1: at you camera, everybody's giving me a hard time being like,
Speaker 1: it's Shams, it's Sham Charanya, it's not what are your roop?
Speaker 1: What are you? What are you a country bumpkin? What
Speaker 1: did you fall off a log? Like? Come on now,
Speaker 1: it's Shams, Shams Sharanya. I know it's not easy to say,
Speaker 1: so you just say Shams, but don't don't murder me
Speaker 1: in my own comment section because I know the guy's name. Anyway.
Speaker 1: According to Shams, issues between Trey and Nate culminated in
Speaker 1: a telltale moment. I love that word. Telltale moment Inside
Speaker 1: the Hawks practice facility on Friday, All NBA guard Tray
Speaker 1: Young and coach Nate McMillan had an exchange at Friday
Speaker 1: shoot around that laid Trey Young choosing not to attend
Speaker 1: the team's win at home over Denver at State far Marina.
Speaker 1: Here's the tea. Warm your hands up on that not tea.
Speaker 1: While Young was receiving treatment for a sore shoulder, McMillan
Speaker 1: asked him if he was able to play. Trey literally said,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you later. I don't know. Not sure. Well,
Speaker 1: considering that you actually have to, I don't know game
Speaker 1: plan as to whether your players are going to play.
Speaker 1: Nate was not happy with that answer. Not a great answer, honestly.
Speaker 1: He said, all right, well, I'm going to plan on
Speaker 1: you not playing, and if you're okay, we'll either have
Speaker 1: you come off the bench or I don't know, just
Speaker 1: don't bother showing up for the game. That was like
Speaker 1: a loose thing, like, don't bother showing up for the game,
Speaker 1: and he didn't. He took that quite literally. Trey Young
Speaker 1: decided not only to take the night off. But I'm
Speaker 1: just not gonna go to yourina at all. And shit
Speaker 1: has hit the fan in Atlanta ever since. The Hawks
Speaker 1: have been in full damage control, as you might imagine,
Speaker 1: ever since, and separate pressures, both men had interesting reactions.
Speaker 1: Uh not shockingly, Trey was a little salty towards the reporter. Uh,
Speaker 1: this is what happened. Let's play it for you.
Speaker 2: We're all grown in here, and there's sometimes we don't
Speaker 2: always agree, and I mean it's unfortunate that private, private
Speaker 2: situations and private conversations get out to the public. But
Speaker 2: I guess that's what the where we live in now.
Speaker 2: But I mean, I'm just gonna just focus on basketball
Speaker 2: and focus on helping my team win. That's what I
Speaker 2: got to get to refocus it on.
Speaker 1: But what's public was that you not at the game?
Speaker 1: So why weren't you there? And then it gets very
Speaker 1: testy from there, Uh, maybe shit a little more. Why
Speaker 1: weren't you there?
Speaker 2: Yeah? It's use Uh so you I mean, right, uherious?
Speaker 1: I mean you're a leader of this team.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I mean it's it's hard for people who
Speaker 2: don't know the full situation to understand it.
Speaker 1: So how dare that reporter ask a follow up question?
Speaker 2: I mean, it's like I said, it's a private matter again,
Speaker 2: and it made public, which was unfortunate, and if it
Speaker 2: was stay private, it probably wouldn't have been as big
Speaker 2: of a deal.
Speaker 1: But oh, you you think you can just ghost your
Speaker 1: team and it just gets stays private. You don't think
Speaker 1: anyone's gonna be like, hey, how come that guy we're
Speaker 1: paying fifty million dollars a year or two? Isn't that
Speaker 1: the game? And he's not on the injury report? John
Speaker 1: Collins is wearing a boot, he's he's right there. We
Speaker 1: see him, We see him. Where's Trey? You don't think
Speaker 1: anyone's gonna ask about that? And all the youngsters, it's
Speaker 1: a different generation these days. I'm starting to feel older, like, oh,
Speaker 1: if that reporter he's gotten attitude, he's dehumanizing Tray by
Speaker 1: asking him where he was. Listen, when you get paid
Speaker 1: fifty million dollars, it's not just to play basketball. Let's
Speaker 1: be honest. It's it's to play basketball. It's to rep
Speaker 1: the brand. It's to answer questions from the media, it's
Speaker 1: to grow the brand. To be available, be honest, be transparent.
Speaker 1: I don't think people know that enough. It's not just
Speaker 1: to put the ball in the hoop at twenty eight
Speaker 1: point seven percent from the three point line like you're
Speaker 1: doing right now. Trey Young like gets to do a
Speaker 1: lot more than that. As in a side is is
Speaker 1: this the most salty interview in history? Tray did not
Speaker 1: want to doc to this guy. It was like Russell
Speaker 1: Westbrook and that dude from OKAC. It was like that
Speaker 1: where he's like, next question and then forever. He just
Speaker 1: ghosted that reporter until he left OKAC for good. As
Speaker 1: for Nate, uh, he's been mad as you could expect,
Speaker 1: especially at reports that he gave Trey an ultimatum. This
Speaker 1: is what he said. I address my team about that.
Speaker 1: I've talked to Trey about that. We're moving forward. The
Speaker 1: one thing I do want to respond to is there
Speaker 1: was something said about me telling Trey to not show
Speaker 1: up for the game. I will never, and I have
Speaker 1: never ever told a player to not show up for
Speaker 1: a game. That is just false. John Hollinger, who I
Speaker 1: love from the Athletic, who's covered Nate all the way
Speaker 1: back to his Blazer days when he was making Brennan
Speaker 1: Roy the most disgusting player on Earth the Watch said
Speaker 1: of him before the next game. As a longtime observer
Speaker 1: of Nate McMillan press conferences going back to Portland, I
Speaker 1: don't ever think i've seen him this animated. Yeah, Nate
Speaker 1: has pissed. There's a fracture in the locker room, head
Speaker 1: coach versus head player. Uh, what's fascinating is the fallout.
Speaker 1: If you think that the rest of the Hawks were
Speaker 1: running to come to Trey Young's defense in this feud,
Speaker 1: you are sadly mistaken. Sam Ammick was asked who was
Speaker 1: on the whose side of Raja Bell's podcast and said,
Speaker 1: I love the question, and I think the answer is
Speaker 1: pretty clear that the players, if they were picking sides
Speaker 1: on this, to be honest with you, they'd be on
Speaker 1: Nate McMillan's side. I like Trey Young as a player,
Speaker 1: M do I I don't know sometimes, but I don't
Speaker 1: know how I feel about him as a person. But
Speaker 1: Trey has done nothing but feud with teammates and coaches
Speaker 1: since he got to Atlanta, to the point where Sean
Speaker 1: Sharanya said in the article that they were looking for
Speaker 1: Trey Young to be a more positive voice in the
Speaker 1: locker room like when that's the last that's not something
Speaker 1: you just right yourself. That's a direct quote. That isn't
Speaker 1: used as a direct quote. If you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: does it. It's just evens as outsiders are weighing in,
Speaker 1: Like George Carl, who I hate, said this, I'm not
Speaker 1: liking the rumors. What astray at George Carl. George Carl
Speaker 1: spit on me accidentally one time. He's the worst. Like
Speaker 1: we'll just go that's a whole different story for a
Speaker 1: whole different day. But he's the worst. Why am I
Speaker 1: quoting him? Because I can. This is what he said.
Speaker 1: I'm not liking the rumors about Nate McMillan potentially not
Speaker 1: finishing the season with the Hawks. Nate is a hell
Speaker 1: of a coach and a person. There is too much
Speaker 1: player empowerment in this league. Sometimes there's a lot there.
Speaker 1: Remember it was Trey Young who led the rebellion against
Speaker 1: Lloyd Pierce and got him fired. And now it doesn't
Speaker 1: seem like he likes Nate anymore. Seems like everyone's the
Speaker 1: problem according to Trey Young but him. As they say
Speaker 1: in the business, sometimes you shouldn't point a finger, You
Speaker 1: should point a thumb. So problem is a whole lot
Speaker 1: of his teammates seem to think Trey jung Is act
Speaker 1: is getting old as well. And it's not the first
Speaker 1: time either, right. Remember early in the twenty twenty twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one season, there was beef between John Collins and
Speaker 1: Trey pretty much spurred the beginning of the constant John
Speaker 1: Collins trade rumors that have persisted until this very till
Speaker 1: this very day, till this day. Uh. Most people were
Speaker 1: quick to label Collins as a malcontent. But the truth is, like,
Speaker 1: it's Trey what it is. Every time there's a problem,
Speaker 1: it's Trey and someone else. Sometimes, listen, your entire organization
Speaker 1: is dick, right. Maybe you just have a bunch of
Speaker 1: terrible decision makers, a bunch of toxic people around you,
Speaker 1: and you're just maybe you're just the canary in the
Speaker 1: coal mine. I don't know if I would consider Trey
Speaker 1: Young to be the canary in the coal mine. Now,
Speaker 1: am I close to the situation? No? Do I know
Speaker 1: people close to the situation You are telling me, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Trey Young's kind of a punk sometimes. Yes. Shawan's reports
Speaker 1: that the Hawks have had multiple teammates to address the
Speaker 1: many issues facing the team. How many damn team means
Speaker 1: they have? How many? How many do you have to have? Listen,
Speaker 1: it's all hands on deck here. What's the common denominator?
Speaker 1: The canary in the coal mine? Trey Young and as not.
Speaker 1: If the Hawks are a bad team, they're the four
Speaker 1: seed in the East right now. Better teams than the
Speaker 1: Hawks have been derailed by a lack of leadership, calling,
Speaker 1: Draymond Green calling, Jordan Poole calling calling, lack of team
Speaker 1: chemistry is an issue right now for the Hawks, and
Speaker 1: Trey Young is at the center of both those issues
Speaker 1: for the Hawks at this point. What's going to happen?
Speaker 1: I don't know, Probably more toxic shit. We'll keep you informed.
Speaker 1: Let's move on. Can we take a minutes to give
Speaker 1: some respect to JB. Bickerstaff, because just three years ago
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Cavaliers were an absolute jokeville, just a jokeville
Speaker 1: of a team, a franchise reeling from lebronze departure, very
Speaker 1: little hope, it seemed for the future. Bickerstaff was hired
Speaker 1: after two straight nineteen win seasons and managed only to
Speaker 1: improve them by three games to twenty two wins in
Speaker 1: his first year and to make matters worse, Cleveland didn't
Speaker 1: even get a top two draft pick, having to settle
Speaker 1: for the three spot. They what's that saying? What's that saying? Rome?
Speaker 1: Rome wasn't built in a day, Cleveland wasn't rebuilt in
Speaker 1: a day. The twenty two win season in JB's first
Speaker 1: year turned out probably to be the best thing for him,
Speaker 1: right They ended up getting Evan Mobley. Shsh, I mean,
Speaker 1: probably the best player in that draft. Right now, You've
Speaker 1: got Jalen Green, no comment, You've got Kate Cunningham, no comment,
Speaker 1: and the rest is hit history. I like Kike Cunningham,
Speaker 1: I like Jayalen Green a lot. But you know what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. With JB retooling the team to go with
Speaker 1: Allen and Mobley and Marknen, they doubled their wins last
Speaker 1: year to forty four, and right now are sixteen and nine,
Speaker 1: firmly in the race for the East of contention with
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell by their side. Better yet, they are eleven
Speaker 1: and one at home. They are the second ranked defense
Speaker 1: in the entire league. They have a legitimate MVP candidate
Speaker 1: in my man Donovan Mitchell. Eighty to one by the year,
Speaker 1: by the way, or sixty six to one at the
Speaker 1: beginning of the year, and they may actually be starting
Speaker 1: four All Stars. Crazy Garland, Mitchell Allen already made the
Speaker 1: All Star Game, and Evan Mobley probably their best player
Speaker 1: right now. Who do they owe that success to? JB? Bickerstaff.
Speaker 1: Why haven't I bet on him to win Coach of
Speaker 1: the Year. Not sure? Who has not only ushered in
Speaker 1: a new golden age of Cavaliers basketball, He's made players
Speaker 1: absolutely blossom. This is what Jared Allen said, is how
Speaker 1: he interacts with us, How he connects with us players,
Speaker 1: making jokes, keep us in line, the way he fights
Speaker 1: for us on the court, the way he'll step up
Speaker 1: and tell a ref how it should or shouldn't be
Speaker 1: a foul. He'll never back down from anything. Love a
Speaker 1: coach that got your back. It's very important these days.
Speaker 1: Have loyalty, have people who have your back. Never forget that.
Speaker 1: Darius Garland said this about why he loves JB. He's
Speaker 1: honest with me. I don't like bsing. Just be completely
Speaker 1: honest with me. If I do something wrong, I want
Speaker 1: you to yell at me. I want you to do
Speaker 1: the same thing that you're going to do. The last
Speaker 1: person on the bench. I don't want any slack or
Speaker 1: anything like that. Just coach me really hard. That's the
Speaker 1: whole deal with me. I mean, at this at the
Speaker 1: point when they drafted Garland and they had Colin Sexton
Speaker 1: between the two, didn't everyone think it was gonna be
Speaker 1: Colin Sexton that was gonna stay. Didn't everybody think it
Speaker 1: was gonna be Colin Sexton that was the All Star
Speaker 1: at least early on, Darius Garland the All Star earlier
Speaker 1: than Sexton. And think about this too. He's developed four
Speaker 1: young players in his three years as head coach, and
Speaker 1: they've made All Stars Garland, Alan Mobley, and Markenen. It's
Speaker 1: easy to forget. JB basically saved Lori from the scrap
Speaker 1: heap in Chicago. Do you guys remember who Louri marketIn
Speaker 1: was in Chicago? He was fucking nobody he was. He
Speaker 1: was someone discardible, easily discardible, and he helped him turn
Speaker 1: into what he is today, which is I think probably
Speaker 1: all thirty teams would want Lourie market It right now.
Speaker 1: He is ridiculous. Markanen credited JB. Bickerstaff for helping him succeed.
Speaker 1: He says he wants everyone to succeed. He's a great leader.
Speaker 1: Listen like, It's not like the Calves haven't faced injury issues,
Speaker 1: injury bugs. They were a top three team last year
Speaker 1: and Ricky Rubio went down with ACL miss rest of
Speaker 1: the season, miss twenty six games last year, Alan did
Speaker 1: Garland has averaged missing twenty two games a year. Mobile
Speaker 1: missed thirteen games. He has done so much even when
Speaker 1: his best players are sidelined. I don't think we're giving
Speaker 1: him enough respect. Also, why haven't I bet on him
Speaker 1: yet for Coach of the Year. I feel like that's
Speaker 1: a really good bet. Mostly, though, what I love about
Speaker 1: JB is how he understands spacing. It's one of the
Speaker 1: reasons that the three Headed Monster worked last year with
Speaker 1: all those guys that were seven feet or above Mobley,
Speaker 1: Alan Markinen, It's a huge reason that Donovan Mitchell has
Speaker 1: been able to cook right outside the gates. People said
Speaker 1: they didn't want to see how Garland and Spider would work.
Speaker 1: They thought it was gonna be horrible, both having career
Speaker 1: years at the same time. I mean, look at Chris
Speaker 1: Finch and see what he's been up to. It's been bad.
Speaker 1: It's been very, very bad. As an aside, What does
Speaker 1: it say about Colin Sexton that he's the apparently the
Speaker 1: one player that JB. Bickerstaff couldn't find a role for,
Speaker 1: doesn't say good things, doesn't say good things. Maybe there's
Speaker 1: a reason he's getting zero run in Utah. So yeah,
Speaker 1: let's give some credit to JB. Brickerstaff and let's point
Speaker 1: the finger maybe at what's up with Colin Sexton. Right man,
Speaker 1: in the right place is what they said when he
Speaker 1: was hired. I think it's more than that though. He's
Speaker 1: been really, really good. He's been a hell of a coach,
Speaker 1: and he's made the Cavaliers the team that everyone is
Speaker 1: afraid of and that no one wants to play. Uh.