Perk’s INITIAL REACTION to the Knicks PASSING on Kevin Durant 🗣️ ‘THE AUDACITY!’ | First Take

Perk’s INITIAL REACTION to the Knicks PASSING on Kevin Durant 🗣️ ‘THE AUDACITY!’ | First Take

up kevin Durant is narrowing his search for a new team so far he’s got Miami Houston and San Antonio on his wish list that according to our Shamstrania now according to our Mark Spears Durant was interested in joining the Knicks but the love wasn’t mutual take a listen kd wanted the New York Knicks he wanted to go there the Knicks have no interest in bringing him in which probably makes Knicks Nation I don’t know probably quite interested in why not okay Jwell I’d like to start with you the Knicks what was wrong Burke what’ you say K the Nick the Knicks the Knicks what say the Knicks have no interest in him the audacity the audacity the audacity what okay you hear Perk the audacity to pass on KD is it a mistake if the Knicks don’t want Kevin Durant it’s not a mistake if they land Giannis um look I I the only thing that’s interesting about this is how how do the values match for if you’re Madashibia do you want Caran Towns in a one for one trade or do you want more has Houston offered you more um you know for the likes of a Kevin Durant because if so then you could look at some could there be a salary dump could you create some more space and if you’re Madashibia are you going to build similar to how OKC has built with Sam Prey who might be the next Pat Riley of the NBA by the way and are you going to build like the way you know other teams have buil with assets and player development and time and space or are you willing if you’re the Knicks to say I’m willing to give you the house for Kevin Durant at 36 about to turn 37 years old i don’t question the elite scoring ability Stephen A of KD he is one of one he is an absolute beast but if the value for at this stage of his career what did DJ Khal used to always say yesterday’s price is not today’s price that could be one of those examples for what this is if you’re asking for yesterday’s price for KD I’m not sure that’s today’s price and the market is reflecting that and I think that’s why KD has tried to get ahead of it and say “Here are my teams I want to go to.” Um and to try to see maybe that’s where he can get the most value in return for him as an asset so if the Knicks don’t want to give up the house for it I can’t be mad at them like I said if they laying Giannis or if they have other moves up their sleeve but they better have other moves up their sleeve no no no no no the fact that the Knicks are being disrespectful and saying they have no interest like that’s the issue who Who the hell are you right what have you won in the last 50 what two years in the last 52 years to turn down the top 15 greatest player of all time one of the greatest scorers to ever touch the damn basketball a guy that could still give you 27 or 30 points a night in his damn sleep who are you to for the New York Knicks to say they have no interest in Kevin Durant here’s the question you got to ask yourself if it is Kevin Durant for Carl Anthony Towns is Kevin Durant a upgrade you damn right he’s a upgrade from Carl Anthony Towns see the problem is is this is now it’s not just about the business it’s about the personal relationship with Carl Anthony Town see it’s a reason that Carl Anthony Towns is with the New York Knicks it’s because of his relationship with Leon Rose and Worldwide West we know that go back to the Kentucky days with John Caliperry so it’s a special relationship there and it’s a special bond because if it was about business and the betterment of this team of the Knicks organization and who’s the better basketball player then you make the move especially with the Eastern Conference being wide open who the hell are the New York Knicks to say that they have no interest in the alltime great and Kevin Durant who can still give you buckets but Stephen A just real quick before you go i mean can’t we compartmental compartmentalize and separate business from emotion i mean there’s a lot of things that you may just not have interest in at the time i’m sorry if that hurts people’s feelings but that’s what happens in business rooms stephen A you’re a crew businessman i’ve seen the way look that’s just not it’s not the time right now it’s not the time so I don’t want to get sensitive about the words that were chosen to be selected in the reporting the reality is you could have interest in Kevin Durant but maybe right now it’s not reflective of what the market wants in return for Kevin Durant and I don’t need to say that i mean Leo RS don’t even do no press conferences we we don’t know exactly what they’re thinking what they said this is being reported jay you’re right if that’s all there was but when you take into account the history that involves Kevin Durant and how James Dolan was led to believe that KD and Kyrie were on their way to the Garden and they elected to go to Brooklyn and then KD piggybacks off of that when asked about it in the months to follow and calls the Knicks corny and how they ain’t they they’re not the happening place this is during the days of Steve Mills and and Kay Cats like that the point is what I’m saying is that residue is where you hear no interest and you’re saying “Well this can’t be just about basketball this has to be about you feeling a bit salty if you’re James Dolan.” And that’s where that kind of statement emanates from so if you if that never happens and it’s just some report that comes out there I’m with you 10,000% Jay i look at it in a vacuum i see it for what it is i understand that those exact words may not have been what they articulated etc etc and I move forward the problem is is that this is James Dolan we’re talking about and we know how petty he could be and we know what KD and Kyrie was supposed to do or really KD was supposed to do and what ended up not happening and we know how salty the Knicks were about that even before Leon Rose arrived and because of that residue you’re looking at the New York Knicks now and you’re saying “Are you really making the best business decisions?” Especially when they just fired Tibido but you don’t even have a coach in place it’s like a round robin you asking the Atlanta Hawks for permission to talk to Quinn Snyder for crying out loud i mean that’s what the hell is going on with the New York Knicks right now they’ve literally gone from being two games within the NBA finals to returning to somewhat of a basketball purgatory from the standpoint of us looking at them and saying this type of nonsense is reminiscent of what used to happen before Leon Rose and Worldwide West arrived that’s what’s alarming right now and that’s where this KD comment falls into play sga and Jaylen Williams combined for 71 points last night in the 120 109 route over the Pacers williams set a new playoff careerhigh 40 points on 14 of 25 shooting while SGA had another MVP performance scoring 31 points Tennessee’s blocking two shots in a pair of steals the Thunder took control of the series last night as they look to win their first title since moving to Oklahoma City the winner of game five at the NBA Finals that is tied 2-2 has gone on to win 74% of the time stephen A are the Pacers going to force a game seven i believe they are um don’t get me wrong OKC could beat them but I’m going to pick the Pacers to win game six i think that Hallebertton I can’t he first of all he can’t be worse he certainly will be better in game six he can’t be worse than he was in game five that’s number one i think when you take the other pieces into consideration and one of the best basketball environments I’ve ever seen um when you look at Gamebridge and you look at that arena I mean that place was made for basketball i’ll give it to them that is a phenomenal phenomenal basketball environment and as phenomenal as that crowd is OK and OKC Big Perk uh Indiana’s pretty damn close it’s special there it’s special there and I think they’re going to show up for game six and I think they’re going to show out um obviously OKC they’ll DM him up if the game is close who knows but if I had to bet my money this this series is such a pick them to me so close that I’m going to look at it and I’m going to say I could see the Indiana Pacers forcing a game seven i believe they are going to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in game six and we’re going to have a game seven right back here in OKC you lost your damn mind this series is over okay this series is over okay the the Oklahoma City Thunder have figured out the Indiana Pacers offensively and defensively they know they go dealing with some technical difficulties i don’t know what happened hold on one sec we’re just dealing with some difficulties with you i’m going to go to J Will then we’ll come back to you jay Will where are you on this you think Indie forces it messed up yeah I think we we can still hear them and that should be interesting um I’m going to go with Indiana here i I think I think OKC wins it in seven how concerned are you about injury like I get what Stephen A is saying perk thinks he they wrapped it up and it’s done but he looked pretty hobbled he did but he played he played through it and I think this is one of those situations where no one like the reality as a player is no one cares that you’re hurt and I think that’s why Harley continued to play through it and he’ll have to continue to play through it in game arguing that because he played and he was trying to help them he actually hurt them that’s how we got the guys back he He wasn’t He wasn’t getting attacked he wasn’t getting attacked well let me defensively they weren’t Go ahead go ahead yeah but first of all he was just awful he was just awful he was hurt he was awful and he can’t look worse so he’ll look better he’ll look better in game six that’s number one number two I got OKC winning this in seven anyway number three Big Perk don’t need to be rude i mean you know what i’m out my damn mind you know what you did say that the Pacers wouldn’t even be here you did say that they were going to lose to the Knicks you said we were out our damn minds then when I said it was going to be a series you thought the Knicks was going to take them out in five was were we out our damn minds then you don’t have to be disrespectful okay you can make your point respectfully that’s all I’m trying to say don’t let me sit caught on you let me sit caught on you i said I’ll get a son say your son caught i’ll get caught on you you better watch your mouth i I said “Okay seeing six and I’m standing on that right just the worst thing.” I’m telling you the worst thing that could happen that could happen for the Pacers if we’re watching this team grow up right in front of our eyes and I’m talking about Oklahoma City Thunder they they have figured out the Indiana Pacers offensively and defensively they have a go-to lineup down the stretch when the game get close they’re going to go with Alex Caruso Luke Dorts Chad Hol Grit SGA and Jay Dub jayd Dub has figured those guys out they don’t have one guy on that roster that could stop Jay Dub and he knows no concern at all when they were up 15 and Indiana pulled it to within two no and then OKC got separation we It’s a game of runs we know that it’s a game of runs that’s like We didn’t expect them to blow it what what i’m with you i’m with you she’s so animated today i love when your face just just it has the look on it cuz you all interrupt him i don’t interrupt what do you mean he’s so polite about it he just lets you go go ahead that’s my That’s my brother though kp all I would say is I I would agree with you but it feels like Indiana having their back against the wall a game six at home with Harley not playing the right way with how they dominated with points in the paint last night with the 22 turnovers that led to 32 points in transition you know for OKC i just think Rick Carile has something else up his scheme up his sleeve in order to make this a little tighter what I mean well what see what he got up his sleeve i’ll tell you one thing i’ll tell you one thing i’m going to start blitzing SJ and all these ball screens i’m not going to keep doing this next in action where the man in the weak corner and they’re just playing he’s I’mma blitz him he’s trying that they’re not listen look good luck good you can’t blitz him you know why because if you do he’s he’s such a Let me tell you why he’s such a he’s such a great like he has a high IQ and Chad Homegrred is so great out of the pick and roll at making decisions him and Isael Hardenstein so SGA is not going to fight it and then here’s the another thing right they’re not giving they’re not giving them an opportunity to blitz it they’re not running high ball screens for SGA it’s straight isolation so what are you going to do you’re going to come you’re going to Well a lot of the plays I mean I just broke down tape they had about eight or nine plays off off some pending actions into ball screens in which they were playing off those ball screens into soft switches which led to about eight of his 10 assist in the game so like they they were they had a lot of those actions though KP soft switches with who guards right with Pascal but also when they had big set the screens too okay tony Bradley was on him a couple of times bridges listen hold let me say this because he keep interrupting me you know what I’m saying jay Will is so rude today i can’t even finish what I got to say he just keep interrupting me let me but let me chime in real quick kp let me chime in real quick let me say this listen man sga is the best perimeter player in the game of basketball he’s the best scorer in today’s game knocking at the door of being the best player in the world [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

Stephen A. Smith, Kendrick Perkins and Jay Williams join Molly Qerim on First Take to discuss reports that Kevin Durant is interested in being traded to the New York Knicks, but that the Knicks are not interested. Then, they further react to Game 5 of the 2025 NBA Finals where Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder took a 3-2 lead over the Indiana Pacers.

0:00 Knicks have “no interest”
1:15 J-Will plays devil’s advocate
2:37 Perk takes major issue
4:27 J-Will’s reaction on the reporting
5:03 Stephen A. weighs in on the “pettiness”
7:37 Will the Pacers force a Game 7?
8:40 Perk thinks it’s over
10:15 “You don’t have to be disrespectful!”
11:52 J-Will’s thoughts

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