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- [00:00]
Dave Dufour
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- [00:03]
John Krasinski
Whoa.
- [00:04]
Dave Dufour
I just found out you can earn up to 3% daily cash back on everyday purchases made with Apple Card.
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Xena Keda
Yeah, you can earn unlimited daily cash.
- [00:12]
Dave Dufour
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- [00:49]
Anthony Edwards
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- [01:25]
John Krasinski
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- [02:04]
Dave Dufour
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for May 29, 2025. Coming up, the Thunder are in the final. So John Krasinski is here to talk about that. Xena, Kate and I are going to talk a little bit about how ridiculous Shay Gilders Alexander's been. Good morning everybody. Good morning, Xena. How's it going?
- [02:25]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
It's going well. Doubling up?
- [02:27]
Dave Dufour
Yeah, going great. We're going to okc. Oh wait, some of us are going to okc. The Thunder have made the finals. The best team all year long. 68 wins. They checked every single box. They beat Jokic. They, you know, they. They've done it. They've. They've Made the finals. Are you surprised at all, Xena?
- [02:51]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
Not even in a little bit. Like, the fact that you didn't even mention Memphis is hilarious, but yes.
- [02:57]
Dave Dufour
Yeah, I was thinking the basketball team.
- [02:59]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
Took care of Jokic, now they took care of Ant man and they are on their way to the finals. Good for them.
- [03:05]
Dave Dufour
Yeah. Shay Gildas Alexander was named the conference finals mvp, which is gotta say, we've got too many awards. The Oscar Robertson. Oscar Robertson Western Conference finals trophy is for the team. The Magic Johnson Western Conference finals MVP goes to Shay Gildis Alexander. Gotta say, by the way, shout out to Clay Bennett, owner of the Thunder. He, you know, they always award these things to the owner. He immediately just turns and kind of pushes it up to the guys, like that's how you're supposed to do it. Although I gotta say, the Florida Panthers made the Stanley cup finals. And I like the hockey tradition of not touching the conference finals trophy as like. Well, we don't want that. That's not the one we want to touch. You gotta wait for the Stanley Cup. Where do you side on that? Is. Is it good? Should you celebrate every trophy or. Or should you, I don't know, celebrate the one?
- [04:04]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
No, I like. I like the thought of it in the sense of it makes me think of the Kobe quote. Right? Like, business isn't finished yet. That's cute. But that's not the goal. You don't want to get too happy with that. Like, that hardware, it doesn't mean anything when the real championship is coming. So.
- [04:20]
Dave Dufour
That's right. So Shay Gibbs Alexander, you're still a scrub until you get that finals mvp, right? Honestly, I'm just kidding. I mean, we did it to Steph, we got to do it to Shay. Okay, so. So Shay, he goes. I mean, 34 points, eight assists, seven rebounds. Another just, you know, this is run of the mill for. For Shay at this point.
- [04:41]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
Yeah. And then how else can we talk about Shay's game?
- [04:46]
Dave Dufour
I mean, we're at the point where it's about historical, like comparisons and precedents and.
- [04:52]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
Yes, okay, okay. No, listen. They've literally all I was doing right after the win because. Let's just be real, Shay, it's like watching music on. On offense. He's smooth. It's beautiful the way that he. Yo yos with the ball. He makes basketball look easy. It may. It's almost. It almost is a mockery of the game and how good he can be with the ball in his hands, but then also how good he is in setting up his teammates. So that's cool. Like we watched it. We've seen it all season. He's the scoring champ. He's the mvp. He's now this conference finals MVP that I didn't even realize existed. I forgot, I guess. But he's done all these things. So I'm, I'm scouring X Blue sky, all the, all the social media platforms. Just curious, how are other people trying to summarize Shay's game? And it's funny because everyone else is also out of words. So all they've done now is try to compare him to other players in history. So I have like at least 20 different tweets and blue sky, whatever you call them, of different ways that he measures up. I'll take you, I'll give you one First, Shay is the first player to win MVP in the regular season and then go on to win the conference finals mvp. Okay, interesting. Didn't know that.
- [06:11]
Dave Dufour
First player, new award. So.
- [06:14]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
New award. Yeah, relatively new award. First player to win the MVP and then go on to the NBA Finals since Steph Curry in 2016. Players to win MVP in and reach the NBA Finals in the last 20 years. So Steph Curry did that two times. LeBron James did that two times. Kobe Bryant. Right, Steph. LeBron, Kobe. Now Shay. Okay, that's another one. Only players to record 70 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists over any two game span in the conference finals. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, four times. Shea Gilgis, Alexander.
- [06:59]
Dave Dufour
Wow.
- [07:01]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
Just keeps going. Don't worry. Shay Gildas Alexander, first player to have four 30 point or more games in a series. Closeout games. So four series closeout games. He had 30 points or more since Steph Curry in 2017. This is all people are tweeting. They're just like trying to gather. How can we explain Steph? Let's just keep talking about all of the greats that have been completely taking over the finals and the conference finals in the last 25 years and just put them in those categories. Because that's the conversation we're talking about now. All he's missing, Dave, is a ring.
- [07:40]
Dave Dufour
Yeah. And an NBA Cup. Let's not forget that they lost the NBA cup this year. You're right. The Thunder are looking to actually become the first NBA cup final loser to win a title. How about that? I mean, hang your hat on that. Let's see these stats and info nerds. Look that one up.
- [08:01]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
Exactly, exactly. But he has one. He got mvp, first team album.
- [08:05]
Dave Dufour
He's done everything.
- [08:06]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
Western Conference mvp, scoring title, all star, and literally it's not done yet.
- [08:11]
Dave Dufour
Going to be the first player to make $80 million a year in the NBA.
- [08:15]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
Okay, I got a question for you.
- [08:16]
Dave Dufour
He's a star.
- [08:17]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
Okay. This is real. This is real. Now. Are you ready?
- [08:20]
Dave Dufour
I'm ready.
- [08:22]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
Is he a better Canadian player than Steve Nash? I mean, excuse me.
- [08:28]
Dave Dufour
Oh, that's a great question. You know, I would say his peak, what I'm looking at right now, peak, maybe higher than Nash, but career wise, you know, obviously, it's. It's a long way to go, but.
- [08:44]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
It'S a long way to go.
- [08:46]
Dave Dufour
I never saw Steve Nash do what Shea is doing right now. Respectfully. Right. Like, Nash never even made a final. So. Right. Yeah. I think, you know, if you're looking at peaks like I tend to, you know, we'll see what Shay does the next couple years. I mean, we're just. He's just hitting his stride as a player, but man, he's going to be.
- [09:06]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
What's. He's the youngest player to do what.
- [09:08]
Dave Dufour
Oh, the, the Thunder. The Thunder are the youngest team to make the finals since the 77 Blazers. Yeah. Which, yeah, like, this team is extremely young. They're built to last. I mean, we talked about it on the morning shoot around which by the way, we stream that on, on our YouTube channel every Wednesday morning. Although next week with the fight finals may have to shake it up a little bit, but we talked about that a little bit. And this team, incredibly young, well built for the future, flexible. I mean, it's just people are going to be. They're going to be the villains probably by next year if they're not already, you know, already. The tides are turning. Speaking of the other side of the coin, the Timberwolves had a rough night. Stick around after the break. We got John Krasinski here to remember their season.
- [09:57]
Xena Keda
Foreign.
- [10:02]
Dave Dufour
This message is brought to you by Apple Card. Whoa. I just found out you can earn up to 3% daily cash back on everyday purchases made with Apple Card.
- [10:11]
Xena Keda
Yeah, you can earn unlimited Daily Cash.
- [10:14]
Dave Dufour
Back with Apple Card on every purchase. No matter where you check out with Apple Pay, you always get Daily Cash. The possibilities are endless. What's better is that Daily Cash can automatically grow when you open a high yield savings account account through Apple Card. That's like endless plus one. Visit Apple Co cardcalculator today and discover just how much daily cash you can earn. Subject to credit approval, savings available to Apple Card owners. Subject to eligibility savings and Apple Card by Goldman Sachs Bank USA member FDIC terms and more at applecard.com packages by Expedia. You were made to be rechargeable. We were made to package flights, hotels and hammocks for less.
- [11:05]
John Krasinski
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- [12:16]
Dave Dufour
Game five of the Western Conference Finals it sometimes look like the Thunder was were taking a test that they knew all the answers to. And now the Minnesota Timberwolves are walking away with a bunch of questions. Here to join us, John Krasinski, you cover the Wolves for us. Probably a tough night. Just give me your impressions of the game and, and how you felt about the Wolves performance.
- [12:39]
Xena Keda
Yeah, Dave, I mean, I was really surprised, to be honest. Not, certainly not that the Thunder won on their home floor and are going to the finals. But the Timberwolves typically this season have been a team that when their backs are against the wall, when nobody believes in them, that is when they offer their best performances. And tonight was, I think their worst performance of the entire season. They did not look prepared, they did not look ready to play. They didn't look like they had any answers for what the Thunder were throwing at them. And I do think it was more than just the Thunder being a great team, which they are. It just seemed like the Wolves were not ready for this moment. And so for them to get blown out so completely, for them to be never in the game from the very start, I think it's profoundly disappointing to have a a performance like this in your most important game of the season.
- [13:33]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
I'm thinking about the leader of this team, the person that was supposed to take them to the promised land, had been in this situation last year, came up short, felt as if he had all of the chips and the queso and the guac on his shoulder to get them past this point. Anthony Edwards comes up short 19 points in this loss, 1 for 7 from 3. It was just not the performance you needed when you have your back up against the wall post game. John, he says, no one's going to work harder this summer than me. What's the lesson and the takeaway for Aunt Edwards?
- [14:11]
Xena Keda
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I think it's a couple of things. I remember last year when they lost to Dallas in the Western Conference finals. Ant said that one of his priorities was he's going to get in the best shape of his life because he wore down as those playoffs went along. And he was a little surprised at the grueling nature and the physical toll it takes to go that deep into the playoffs. I think he did wear down in this series as well. I mean, it looked like at times that he was gasping for air, that, that he was kind of huffing and puffing. I think at the end of game four, he couldn't guard Jalen Williams because he was too tired and they had to put divincenzo on him and Jalen just cooked him. And so I think that going into this offseason, he will work even more on that part of his game and be more physically prepared to play the big minutes and shoulder the big burden that he does on both ends of the floor. But the other part of it, Xena, is I think that the Wolves have to do a better job of making it easier for Ant. Yep, it was way, way, way too hard in this series. You saw what the Thunder were able to do with Shea in getting him two spots and getting him good looks against a very good defense. The Thunder are a great defense, there's no question. But I thought that Chris Finch probably didn't do a good enough job of scheming things to get Ant clean looks. But also Julius Randall, Jaden McDaniels, Nikhil Alexander, Walker, all these guys who were pretty darn good in game four were nowhere to be found in game five. Like absolute no shows for the first half. And it was five on. It was one on five for Ant and just no one's going to beat that Thunder team that way.
- [15:56]
Dave Dufour
Yeah, well, you know, the narrative after game four was that Ant somehow wasn't aggressive enough. But the truth is, I mean, they were throwing three bodies at him sometimes. And this is where Randall has to step up and, and this is why Nas Reed got the big contract, you know, and, and frankly, like Nikhil Alexander Walker kind of was keeping him in that game. That's three guys that, that the Wolves and they kind of have decisions to make this summer. I mean, you know, it feels like a team that is to a certain extent running out of time because Rudy Gobert obviously is, is getting older and, and centers just don't typically age all that well. I mean, you know, do you feel like this is a, this is a solution that is an in house solution or you feel like this is a team that's probably going to be looking at some structural changes this summer?
- [16:45]
Xena Keda
Yeah, I mean, I do think that there is room for internal improvement. I mean, with Jaden McDaniels, Nas Reed, you know, those guys are really young guys that I think upon this experience and figure things out. Jaden was, I thought, very good for most of the series, but today was obviously not very good from a shooting standpoint. But I do think that also what we have seen from this front office with Tim Connolly is he's aggressive, he will make big trades, he will tinker, he will do more than Tinker. And I do think that going forward, one of the biggest priorities that they have in this summer is to find another ball handler that can break a defense down. Ant was really the only one that had any chance of doing that against the Thunder. It seemed like Nasri, Julius, Randle, Nikhil, like they could, they forgot how to dribble sometimes. And, and so I think they need to somehow, some way, I don't know how they do it, but they, they have to prioritize getting someone who can get their own shot and, and really make that happen. And Thunder have a way of making.
- [17:50]
Dave Dufour
You forget how to dribble too.
- [17:51]
Xena Keda
Yeah, yeah, they, they know they are incredibly incred, but I mean we did see like in game three, we saw the difference it makes when you, when Ant had some, you know, someone else to help him and you know, a 40 point win. Now would they have done that all the time? No, but I think that if he had guys who were consistently making shots and were able to help carry some of the playmaking load, they would have just been so much harder to guard to. And I just think that they were way too easy to guard this, you know, in this series. And, and it made it, you know, it made Mark Dagnaut's work and job pretty easy. Like take away number five and we'll be just fine. And, and so the priority in the offseason has to be able to find someone or get that improvement internally from McDaniels. You know to get and a wingman capable of creating like from the perimeter.
- [18:52]
Shay Gilgis-Alexander
It's worth noting that yes, Minnesota absolutely lacked a consistent, balanced attack offensively, especially from the guard position, while also stating that OKC is just suffocating. They, as Anthony described them, 15 puppets on one string. I kind of look at them like a piranhas with sneakers. Like the second the food comes into the ocean, the food being the basketball, they're on it, they're collapsing, they're everywhere. And this is what has galvanized them. Not even their offense. It's their defense into offense. It's what Shea mentioned, valuing every possession, not thinking about the score. You're looking at this team, John, that's on its way to the NBA Finals. Is there any flaw that you're seeing after what you just saw them do to Minnesota?
- [19:42]
Xena Keda
Yeah, I mean they look loaded for bear for sure. And I think you hit the nail on the head, you know, with their defense is the most replicable thing any team has in this tournament. And so being able to rely on that every single night or certainly four out of every five nights like they had in this series is an incredible luxury for them. Do, do they have a weakness? I do think so. I think that a disciplined defensive team can do a better job of forcing the ball into Caruso's hands, into Wallace's hands, into the Dort's hands to shoot from the perimeter. And there are going to be nights where they make those shots, no question about it. But I think that there are also, what we saw from the Nuggets more so was that there are going to be a lot of nights where maybe those shots aren't falling. Maybe, you know, and maybe it's harder for Shay to get to his spots and, and get to that mid range or Jalen Williams. And so I think there's an element of hope that is involved in an approach like that. But I do think a well coached, disciplined, defensive minded team could at least put out a plan of we're going to zone up, we're going to do, we're going to make Shay, make things tough on Shay, get the ball out of his hands and then make some of these other guys beat us. And the Wolves just were never able to do that in this series at any consistent level. But maybe the Pacers could, maybe the Knicks could, you know, we'll see about that. But I would think that's the one way that I would look at attacking this Thunder team and trying to just say, look, the MVP is not going to beat Us. Let's find someone else who will.
- [21:25]
Dave Dufour
I just wanted to take a second, John, and thank you for being here so many nights during the season. Obviously, like we. This whole show doesn't work unless we have folks like you and you especially. I mean, you've been on so many episodes, it feels like. Can you take a look back at the year and just tell me like what you're going to remember maybe the most from it? I mean, it was an up and down season. We called this team maybe the most confusing team in the league and then they wind up in the conference finals with. With a real shot, I mean, honestly at making the finals. Just, you know, give me like walk down memory lane or whatever. You're going to think about it.
- [22:02]
Xena Keda
Sure. Yeah. I mean, you know, this is my 21st season on the Wolves beat, so I've seen the very lowest of lows and I've seen some pretty good highs. And what I'll remember most of this team is sort of the. Its willingness to get into the mud and go through it and come out on the other side. I have seen so many Wolves teams in the past who struggled in the middle of a season with injuries, with new players, with schemes that weren't working and just gave up and just gave in and headed right to the lottery and hope that, you know, he gets better that way or fired a coach and hopes that, that that gets better. This team really did stick together and really weathered a lot of difficulties in the first three months of the season and came out playing pretty darn good basketball to get all the way to the Western Conference finals. I know the fans and I know the players and coaches are really disappointed tonight with how it finished and they should be. It was an ugly, ugly finish. But to think that now with Tim Connolly, with Chris Finch, with Anthony Edwards, this sort of standard for this team is a deep playoff run is. Is you expect to get in the playoffs and you expect to win series. Considering that for 16 out of 17 years they missed the playoffs entirely, I, I think it's something that they should feel really good about that nothing came easy for this group, but yet they kept hammering away and they ultimately did get to be one of the final four teams standing and that, that to me is something that is admirable without question.
- [23:43]
Dave Dufour
Yeah. And Anthony Edwards is like doing a lot of stuff that young guys, we don't normally see them get this far in the playoffs. So more to watch there. OB actually read John Krasinski over at the Athletic. Thank you, John, for, for staying up late hanging out after the game. That's going to do it for the show for John Krasinski and Zena Keda, I'm Dave Dufour and this has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.
- [24:33]
Xena Keda
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Xena Keda
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Dave Dufour
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- [25:00]
Anthony Edwards
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