Bob Myers FEELS for Nuggets President Kroenke after Jokic comments 🗣️ ‘KEEP IT CALM!’ | First Take

Bob Myers FEELS for Nuggets President Kroenke after Jokic comments 🗣️ ‘KEEP IT CALM!’ | First Take

welcome back to First Take the heat didn’t stop OKC from showing out yesterday at their championship parade as temperatures approached triple digits to celebrate the franchise’s first title since moving from Seattle to Oklahoma bob Meyers is in the building this is a special treat it’s draft day here on ESPN bob you’ve been to a few parades in your day uh with the Warriors what’s that like it’s the best it’s the best it’s the height of the profession you can actually enjoy it the problem Molly is you talk about the parade with Oklahoma City the draft there you are we We had a parade oh your girls are so cool that was fun actually being with the family was great um one year Molly we had a parade and a draft workout in the same day so the parade you like to you like to drink i mean you know not everybody drinks but I I’d like to have some drinks at the parade and you know one year you know we we couldn’t drink we couldn’t celebrate because we had to go back and you can’t be drunk at a draft workout i mean you can it’s not advisable but the parade is the best day because you know why the fans and in Oakland um that was fantastic right Oakland fans you you we talk about Oakland um there was a smell there was a smell that permeated the draft i’ll let the viewers guess what that smell was uh people were having a good time people were having a good time very relaxed they were enjoying themselves no doubt that was fun to see that video beautiful family uh we’ll keep it rolling here guys the Nuggets took OKC to game seven in the West semis but the Thunder blew out Denver and uh we’ll continue on with Jokic and company are just two years removed from a title but owner Josh Kroni decided to float the possibility of moving the three-time MVP yesterday while addressing the media for us as an organization uh going into that second apron is not necessarily something that we’re scared of uh I think that there are rules around it that we needed to be very careful of with our injury history um the wrong person gets injured and very quickly you’re into a scenario where uh that I never want to have to contemplate and that’s trade number 15 um and so uh you know we’re very conscious of that pushing forward you guys have obviously been around Nola you probably I would expect be looking to offer him an extension over the course of this summer do you expect to be offering that and do you expect him to accept it uh we’re definitely going to offer it i’m not sure if he’s going to accept it or not because we’re also going to explain every financial parameter around him signing now versus signing later be completely transparent that’s the way we always are and then you know he makes the best decision for himself and his family and we’ll support him in it okay do you have any issue with Josh Kroni making those comments yeah I mean he didn’t want to make those comments uh some of us if you talk to the media you make mistakes except for I mean you would say you haven’t made any mistakes he’s made a couple i’ve been here to try to clean up yeah exactly we That’s That’s one where um you’d like to rewind the time a little bit um yeah and I’m sure he’s dealt with the aftermath already whatever that is that’s calling Jokic saying “Listen I that was stupid shouldn’t have said that.” Um Molly in those positions you want to avoid drama right sometimes you want to create your show you know do some drama today but when you’re in an executive role keep it calm and now we’re The fact that we’re talking about it which I understand why we are means he he misspoke that’s how I’m seeing that that’s how I’m looking at they’re not trading they’re not yeah but he said he’s not necessarily afraid of the second apron i think he actually is afraid of the second apron you think everybody is yes I do because they’re they’re looking at at Boston and they’re seeing that Boston is in the second apron with one of their star players injured and they’re seeing them have to train can you explain to people that don’t know what the second apron is very quickly the biggest thing that you have to understand is it used to be when you were a big spending team it just cost you money the farther you went into the the into the salaries the more you had to pay and if your owner was wealthy enough it didn’t really matter now because owners kept paying they changed the rules and so now it takes your ability to change your team away from you and that is very scary and not only that it takes away in some cases your ability to trade draft picks and even make draft picks into the future and so teams really don’t want to be into it and so you look at a team like Boston that is in the worst case scenario which is the scenario that Kroni was describing there which is in the second apron with the star player hurt and so now you’ve got Boston having to make trades where they’re essentially giving away players they gave away Chris Haps Porzingis yesterday because they had to get out of the second apron and that is what is definitely scary that is what’s scaring him he shouldn’t have said that about Jokic and my guess is we will not hear from Josh for a while in front of the media which is sad because I like when owners talk general managers are are fearful of it and I thought it was in a perverse sense kind of funny because he’s got his brand new front office sitting to his right and left his two new vice presidents Ben Tenzer and and uh John Wallace and they’re like “Oh my god this is our first day and we gota we got to deal with our star player.” But really the underscoring of this is how the entire league is reacting to these new rules and how it’s going to frame so much of what’s happening i disagree about what this really underscores i mean or rather what the concern should be yeah he should not have said that but there’s a couple of reasons why he shouldn’t have said that when you look at Jokic I’m just looking at some numbers here 29.7 points third in the NBA last year 12.8 rebounds third in the NBA last year 10.2 assist second in the league in assist all right and 1.8 steals per game which ranked third that’s that that’s f that’s second or third in those categories and he was first obviously 31 triple doubles this is Nicole Joic we’re talking about here he’s not going anywhere but should he want to stay see that’s where it gets interesting about Denver which you got an owner that opened his mouth you know obviously foolishly in that particular situation we all make mistakes it’s not the end of the world but when you look at Denver they lose in a game seven in the Western Conference semi-finals this year to Minnesota i’m sorry to OKC the year before that game seven Minnesota semi-finals well if you had kept Bruce Brown you had kept a Jeff Green you lose those games you might have won those games and so it’s not about Aaron Gordon just him being getting hurt okay or Jamal Murray and you know his health was up and down but he shows up in the postseason but you still think like there’s a little something missing from him being 100% it’s about the fact that you had to rely on your top six guys because you didn’t have depth because you didn’t want to pay if I’m Jokic I’m looking at you and I’m going like this we going to lose those kind of players i mean they ain’t that expensive you can’t because you do understand we could have won the championship we could have won at least two titles over the last three years if you don’t let that those moves occur that’s the issue it’s not about him and what you offering him what are you going to put around him and what are you going to be committed to spending to make sure he’s insulated etc because obviously you did that in Golden State it wasn’t just about Steph and Clay you made sure that there were pieces around y’all i mean Andre Godala won a finals MVP andrew Bogat had made a contribution jaza Pulia i mean I mean you got guys that you would never think would make contributions but that’s what happened so I’m just saying are you going to do that offering Jokic the money is obvious what you going to put around him question have you heard him ever say anything on along those lines i mean I’m not saying you’re wrong that’s the business of the NBA and when you find that answer out is when you offer an extension and the player goes “I’m I’m okay.” And I don’t know if his extension by waiting he gets more money sometimes players say no to that but you find out like we went through with Giannis a few times he’s going to sign it he’s going to not he signed it now he’s obviously saying “I’m good for now.” I haven’t heard Jokic and he may be in a minority of players where he says “I can deal with whatever comes.” But you’re asking the right question and that’s what the you that promise you this because I’ve done that job that’s what the organization is that’s their biggest fear it’s always the biggest fear for the star to knock on your hey you got a minute what are we doing with the roster and then as a GM you go because sometimes you can’t fix your mistakes sometimes it’s not and the guy goes look I’m doing what I’m supposed to do guy like that he can obviously say what do you what else you want me to do so he’s holding up his end of the bargain and he looks at you and he says “You got to hold up yours.” Which is why quietly LeBron has been a nightmare for executives let’s call it what it is let’s call it what it is i’m not disrespecting him i’m pointing out the obvious cuz he’s a superstar player that has the right to take the positions they take lebron will look he will look at a roster he’ll be like this what we doing with that roster well hang on hang on i don’t know i know you some would you be like that as a player what would you be 100% i’ll answer him i’ve worked with him for 10 years what would I do go ahead i want to know what Stephen A would be like as a star player 100% be a nightmare he would be calling a meeting and he would that’s exactly what he would say i’m holding up my end of the bargain what are we going to do here right and people heads but then you’re saying LeBron was I didn’t say it in a bad way i’m not I’m not having an issue with I’m saying he has the right to do it he’s not going to be somebody that sits by by all accounts everybody you talk to or whatever because they’re it’s me speaking so even if it’s the truth they’re going to deny it but it’s okay all right the fact of the matter is is that when you are a star in this league all right and you answer the call you do your job remember when Kobe Bryant said he came on my radio show years ago God rest the soul but when he wanted to get traded from the Lakers you know he came on my show and said “I’ I I’d play on Pluto first before I play for the Lakers again.” Now obviously but but what happened they traded Brown for Pal Gasol and them brothers that’s what happened all right two two years ago there was an interview that Calvin Booth the exGM gave to the Ringer it was maybe the greatest G general manager interview I’ve ever read and it was a mistake because he thought he was off the record but that’s a story for another day and he said “If we don’t mess this up we should win three or four titles.” And I agreed with him because I looked at that team well they might have messed this up because and now he’s been fired and the last two years they’ve lost game sevens with their roster slightly depleted now their injuries played a role but the roster is slightly depleted and so Josh Kroni openly said yesterday we’re going to offer him an extension okay he told the world that he goes “I don’t know if he’s going to take it.” Now the reason he said that was because he can actually get more money if he waits but when your star player gets offered an extension and says no it’s not good and so when you’re if you’re Denver who by the way I still think has a great chance to put a team together to win the title next year that’s fine but you keep saying but those are the operative words putting the team together when you said Bruce Brown remember how he looked in the in the playoffs the year they won the title i mean he was a vital piece to them you don’t let that just walk out the door especially when you know you got a superstar you want to appease see Bob your point is made like LeBron it’d be a nightmare i would I didn’t say I don’t think I could be the GM of the Stephen A star no no no you just I’m going to hold you accountable damn right and I ain’t changing i ain’t apologizing if that to a damn soul if I’m doing my job you going to do your job or you going to hear from me you damn right that is me she’s right

Brian Windhorst, Stephen A. Smith and Bob Myers join Molly Qerim on First Take to discuss what it is like to win an NBA Championship at the same time as the NBA Draft. Then, they react to Denver Nuggets President Josh Kroenke casually suggesting trading star Nikola Jokic.

0:00 That championship feeling
1:47 Josh Kroenke press conference
2:42 Myers’ perspective
4:29 Windy talks money
5:35 Stephen A. weighs in
8:04 Myers on the “business of the NBA”
9:08 LeBron James and executives
11:16 What if Jokic doesn’t want to extend?

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