Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • The expectation is that Wednesday's scheduled games will now be played on Saturday.

  • Thursday's games will be played on Sunday, and the league will resume tomorrow.

  • Whoa.

  • Told us that right off the show, the top of the show this morning, Mark Spears is in the bubble for us.

  • And the big fella, Kendrick Perkins with us here is Well, Mark, take us inside those conversations.

  • How did players sentiment inside the bubble shift from Wednesday night when we thought that there felt like a really good chance that everything was going to get called off to Thursday where the decision was ultimately made to continue to play?

  • Well, actually, Doc Rivers had a quote last night, Uh, television television station in L.

  • A saying that a lot of the players start the season was over.

  • There was a lot of depression in the bubble that night.

  • A lot of emotion.

  • That meeting was very energetic.

  • There was some anger there.

  • There was some great questions there, but I think after they woke up, really thought about what was going on and calm down, they didn't wanna go.

  • They worked too hard to get here.

  • And I think also these players realize that there's so much that they've been able to get from the media in terms of having access to the world on a daily basis, you know?

  • Hey, Lebron, he got a billion.

  • You know, people fall in them.

  • But now we're hearing from George Hill.

  • Now we're hearing from Floyd.

  • I mean, vanvleet.

  • Now you're hearing from Doc Rivers, who during the pandemic we didn't hear from him.

  • And also, I think they're realizing that the strength they had calmed down have their meeting.

  • And I swear that meeting must have been a really, really quick because it started in the next thing I know.

  • I've seen these dudes going to lunch.

  • They look relaxed and they voted to resume the season.

  • And yesterday, actually, it seemed like for for first time in a while, there was sense of calmness here, a sense of taking a deep breath and also a reorganization that all right, the players felt like the focus was going in the wrong direction.

  • Let's refocus.

  • And then also let's squeeze these owners form or Kendrick Perkins.

  • I know and I follow you.

  • Obviously we talk here all the time and then I follow you on social media.

  • So I know that in so many ways in your heart you still feel like one of the guys.

  • You still feel like one of the players.

  • What?

  • What are your thoughts on the way these last few days have gone on the way the players have handled it well, I love it.

  • I mean, in my opinion, when you look at the NBA players, I think they're using this bubble and this platform and rightfully so.

  • It's been huge for them, like Mike Marks.

  • Bills just said, You know, ah, lot of guys don't have that big following like a LeBron James.

  • So it's good to hear from guys like Fred VanVleet and George Hill.

  • And when you think about it, greeny, they have the power right now.

  • They have a lot of power down there in that bubble, and I thought that if they would have walked away, they was gonna give up a lot of their power.

  • And I'm glad that those guys stuck with it because for the simple fact we're hearing that powerful message after a big time win from Doc Rivers.

  • He didn't come and talk about the wind and the basketball game.

  • He came and gave us a heartfelt, a powerful speech.

  • When you look at guys like Jamal Murray, who had a big night after the game, he didn't talk about his historical night, he talked about what's going on in the world.

  • And I think right now they have a huge platform and they need to use it and and and maintain their power and just make sure that they be unified.

  • Yet unified is the big word here.

  • Unity.

  • I know that Chris Paul, the leader of the union, has talked a lot about that mark.

  • Clearly Wednesday night, they there was not a lot of unity amongst the players.

  • There seemed to be a lot of disparity in what players thought what they wanted to do.

  • How would you describe the degree to which everyone is on the same page now?

  • Um, I think that's the only way they can be going forward.

  • Chris Paul talked about being unified.

  • LeBron James talked about you being unified.

  • So did Andre Iguodala, and I think the bucks, while everybody kind of understood what they did, and it was something going on in their state.

  • The rest of the league should have been notified and it should have been a collective decision.

  • So I think going forward, if anything comes toe this level again, I think we're gonna see a group decision in the same hotel instead of one team making it themselves and perk.

  • I guess I'll finish with you here just as a player.

  • As the games resume tomorrow, after all of the emotion that we have seen and the pause brief though, it may have been how, if it all, do you expect the games to be impacted as we all get set to start watching basketball again?

  • How would you imagine this stuff will affect the players?

  • Well, I think they have done a great job green there, balancing the two.

  • When you look at this at the way that they've been competing between the lines, they have done a great job.

  • I mean, it's been a Mamba mentality all in the bubble, some of the best basketball that we've seen in a long time for us being competitive.

  • But then, outside of that, I think when you look at guys social media account, when you watch guys like Mark Spills report things and Wold and Malika Andrews.

  • When they report things for us, like you know, guys interacting outside the court.

  • It's been a beautiful thing to see.

  • So I think they'll continue to do what they've been doing, competing this, uh, in between the lines and being, you know, friends and then having great fellowship outside the court.

  • I agree It really is a remarkable line.

  • They have walked between taking both sides of this as seriously as they can be taken.

  • I think that's a really good point.

  • Mark Kendrick.

  • Thank you, guys.

  • Thank you for watching ESPN on YouTube for live streaming sports and premium content.

  • Subscribe to ESPN, plus.

The expectation is that Wednesday's scheduled games will now be played on Saturday.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it