Paul Pierce sends message to Knicks after playoff elimination
If there was one person who was excited to see the New York Knicks get eliminated from the playoffs it was Paul Pierce.
The Boston Celtics legend has constantly taken shots at the franchise and hasn't been shy to share his true feelings. But after the Indiana Pacers beat the Knicks in Game 6 to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals, Pierce actually took a different approach.
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'You gotta add some pieces. Obviously, y'all gotta get some depth,' Pierce said on his Instagram story. 'But, yeah, nobody expected y'all to get this far anyway. You gotta build on this. Y'all look good. Y'all look good. Y'all made it to the Conference Final. Y'all beat the Celtics in the second round. What can I say? Y'all had a good year. But, add some pieces. Get some depth. Hopefully, y'all get some depth. Y'all be right back in it.'
Pierce didn't say everything with a straight face, though. And he posted to X after the game and said, "I walked so the Knicks can sit lmao," in reference to when he walked 20 miles to the FS1 studio after a prediction he made about the Celtics-Knicks series was wrong.
The 2008 Celtics champion also posted on Sunday, 'Laugh at the delusional Knick fans.'
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Washington Post
28 minutes ago
- Washington Post
‘Inside the NBA' was perfect. Now let it rest in peace.
It felt as if viewers attended a six-game wake for the 'Inside the NBA' brand last week. The final run at times seemed more like a long farewell to Ernie, Chuck, Shaq and Kenny than a showcase for the Eastern Conference finals. Still, someone must have cracked open the lid to the coffin, because its presence lives on. Which explains how, on Thursday night, Shaquille O'Neal could crash the set of ESPN/ABC's 'NBA Countdown' in Oklahoma City before Game 1 of the NBA Finals. 'Hello, Malika. Hello, Bob,' Shaq said in his baritone murmur to half of the crew. Then he gave his handheld microphone to Stephen A. Smith: 'Hold this,' he said, and pretended to throw body blows at former nemesis Kendrick Perkins. Through the surprised — and likely relieved — cackles from the personalities on set, viewers couldn't exactly make out what Perkins was yelling over his own laughter. Shaq's cameo caught everyone off guard and provided the most pure and authentic moment of ESPN's pregame programming. It happened live on air, of course, and reminded basketball fans of the kind of unscripted chaos that TNT had perfected over the decades. But, please, let it die already. The show and its concept worked for that four-man crew. Nobody plays the straight man quite like Ernie Johnson. No former athlete tells the truth as savagely as Charles Barkley. No analyst has the chops to play along with the gags but also provide a measure of sobriety like Kenny 'The Jet' Smith. And there is no showman like Shaq. They turned game nights into comedy hour with a side of NBA, and we ate up our sweet dessert every Thursday. But thanks in part to those years of treats, sports broadcasting too often now just wants to feed viewers the gooey stuff. For the French Open, TNT has rolled out the 'MacZone' with brothers John and Patrick McEnroe, offering a hint of the 'ManningCast' with Peyton and Eli but also a needy attempt to re-create 'Inside' on red clay. With John McEnroe playing the role of a country club version of Charles Barkley, 'MacZone' has produced a mixed bag. Some viewers clearly love the brotherly banter. Others would prefer their tennis commentary with a bit more, say, tennis (and less musing about the New York Knicks, John's favorite NBA team). In another obvious 'Inside' effort, 'NHL on TNT' feels desperate at times to create buzzy moments, with former player Paul Bissonnette as equal parts jester and analyst. Some of the biggest 'Inside' imitators are found on NBA podcasts because it seems the majority of the empty calories in sports props up the NBA conversation. It's not just that the discourse feels negative rather than celebratory, a complaint among some current players. The talk is often so shallow. How this guy couldn't play in the golden age of ball. Or that guy needs to step up and score 30 a night. 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Just more fluff about a topic that matters only to the talking heads who need to fill segments with … something. 'Countdown' waited until its final segment to show clips explaining how Gilgeous-Alexander creates separation for his midrange scoring — about six minutes before the show went off the air. That was followed by the news that the Thunder was moving Cason Wallace into the starting lineup — like, real actual news. Bob Myers, the former Golden State Warriors executive who rarely looks comfortable in ESPN's contrived attempt at on-set chemistry, tried explaining why he didn't like this adjustment, made before the teams even played one minute of the Finals. He was cut off by Perkins because there needed to be a fake debate — and for all the criticism, the 'Inside' arguments never felt contrived. 'Let me ask you this: Is Cason Wallace a setback? Absolutely not,' Perkins said. 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an hour ago
Pacers take 1-0 lead into game 2 against the Thunder
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USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
How Pacers coach Rick Carlisle helped Thunder GM Sam Presti break into NBA C-suite
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When Presti was named NBA Executive of the Year last month, he released a statement and within, mentioned several former executives: Wayne Embry, Kevin O'Connor, Jack McCloskey, Rod Thorn, Sam Schuler, Mark Warkentien, John Gabriel, Bob Whitsitt, Carroll Dawson, Scott Layden and Geoff Petrie among others. Some of those names are familiar. Some are forgotten. But not to Presti, who made sure the trailblazers are appreciated. ANALYSIS: A tale of two point guards: Thunder have MVP, Pacers have Mr. Clutch OPINION: Thunder filled with regret after fumbling NBA Finals Game 1 Presti, 47, started in this business when he was 22 – a video intern for the San Antonio Spurs in 2000. Quickly, Presti, who graduated from and played basketball at Emerson College in Boston, moved into the scouting and player personnel department. He began traveling and got to know those executives he named. Sitting with them at airports. Visiting European cities with them in search of a hidden gem. They might arrive at a gym in Ljubljana only to find out the player they wanted to scout was no good. Maybe they traded NBA apparel for a VCR cassette recording of a potential prospect. Or maybe Presti saw something in a young Tony Parker and encouraged the Spurs to draft him. Spending time with Embry, O'Connor, McCloskey, Gabriel, Dawson and others, Presti learned about team building. McCloskey's work with the Detroit Pistons' Bad Boys in the 1980s left an impression. McCloskey shipped fan favorite Adrian Dantley to the Dallas Mavericks for Mark Aguirre. The smaller trades were important, too, and acquiring Rick Mahorn helped shape Detroit's 1989 championship. Consider a couple of Presti's moves: Trading Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and trading Josh Giddey to Chicago for Alex Caruso. Embry drafted Brad Daugherty, Ron Harper and acquired Mark Price in a draft-day trade, turning the Cleveland Cavaliers into one of the top teams in the East. Think about some other moves Presti has made: drafted Aaron Wiggins No. 55 in 2021; drafted Chet Holmgren No. 2 overall, Jalen Williams No. 12 and Jaylin Williams No. 34 in 2022; selected Cason Wallace No. 10 in 2023; drafted Ajay Mitchell No. 38 in 2024; signed Isaiah Joe and Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency. Presti has found value through the three-pronged approach to team-building: trades, draft picks and free-agent signings. How Sam Presti built the Thunder for long-term success A GM's job is to win now and plan for the future. It's not easy. Since taking the Thunder job in 2007, Presti has turned the franchise into one of the best in the NBA. From 2009-10 through 2019-20, the Thunder made the playoffs 10 times in 11 seasons, reaching the NBA Finals in 2012 with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden and the Western Conference finals in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016. They averaged 51 wins in that span. After 2019-20, Presti promoted Mark Daigneault from assistant to head coach and embarked on a rebuild that has led to this Finals appearance. Presti wants another decade of 50-win seasons and championship-caliber teams. The Thunder won 57 games last season, 68 this season and are set up contractually to keep Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Jalen Williams. MORE: How Shaq 'flipped the script,' expanding fortune after retirement ANALYSIS: Unsung heroes? Underrated players who could make a difference in NBA Finals 'I didn't know much about professional basketball before I came here, and so my entire philosophy in professional basketball was underneath the umbrella of the Thunder organization,' said Daigneault, who was an assistant for Billy Donovan at Florida before joining the franchise in 2014. 'Our philosophical alignment is so tight because of that, because this is the only place I've ever worked and this is the only way I've ever done it, and a lot of it is stuff I've learned from Sam and learned from being in this organization in terms of understanding that these organizations are robust. 'It's not just you coaching your team. You're part of a large ecosystem of developing players and developing a team, and you're executing a large strategy for an organization. Those are things that have to exist in order to be a sustainably successful team in the NBA.' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle first met Presti 25 years ago, and Carlisle told reporters that after the Pacers fired him in 2000, he spent time around the Spurs. 'He is from the Boston area. So, he had grown up a Celtics fan,' Carlisle said. 'He actually remembered when I played, which was miraculous to me. Seemed like he was probably way too young for that. We had a couple of dinners together. He asked me, 'What can I do? I got to somehow get a job out of this.' 'I said, 'Just become a guy they can't live without.' ' Presti has done that – first with the Spurs and now during nearly two decades with the Thunder. He has an expert eye for talent, a special knack for roster construction and a clear understanding of the collective bargaining agreement/salary cap machinations. He has the vision to see where the league is headed. 'Sam is a great demonstration of resourcefulness and wherewithal and stuff like that,' Carlisle said. 'He's forged himself a great career. He and (Indiana's) Kevin Pritchard are two of the best franchise builders around.' Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Sam Presti: 'Seemed like a guy I can trust' Presti also has built relationships with players. It's not a one-way transaction. When the Thunder traded for George, Presti ‒ who has forged relationships with city leaders through philanthropy and commitment to Oklahoma City ‒ kept an open dialogue and when the time came, found a deal that worked for both sides. And he may have found an even better one for the Thunder and Gilgeous-Alexander, this season's NBA MVP. 'He's honest and upfront with me from day one,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'That helped our relationship right away. You don't get that very often, especially that early. Seemed like a guy I can trust. He's been that. I just try to be the same back to him. Nothing more than just two guys with good character trusting each other and have one common goal in mind.' You won't hear much from Presti during the Finals. TV cameras may catch him watching a home game from a tunnel near the Thunder's bench. He does two interviews a year, at the start of the season and after it's over, preferring the focus go to players and coaches. And other GMs who came before him and did the job with fewer resources financially, technologically and personnel-wise. Presti has learned from the past while creating his vision for what a team that wants to capitalize on its NBA Finals window should look like today - and in the future. Follow NBA columnist Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt
