Stephen A. has a BREAKDOWN talking about his New York Knicks 😂

Pretty good year for Stephen A's Knicks. Jalen Brunson showed he was worth that big contract and took the Knicks to the playoffs as a 5-seed. They then beat Donovan Mitchell's Cavs to win their first playoff series in a decade before losing to the eventual Eastern Conference champs, the Heat. Julius Randle was on Paul George's podcast and talked about his chemistry with Brunson. He made the game so much easier. And I wasn't relied on every single possession to make plays. It was just like instantly like chemistry. And the crazy thing about it is like we can get a lot better, bro. We can get a lot better. Yeah, y'all one year in. Yeah. So it's like I'm excited to see how it keep going. You know, Stephen A, I'm excited too. I'm excited to see how it can keep going. Orange and blue skies, babe. Well, it's actually gray skies right now, but whatever. Tell me this. How much better can the Knicks be next season? Not much better. Why? It's not how I feel. Not how I feel. Now listen, let me speak to America here about my New York Knicks. You know, I boycotted them last year. I was so disgusted. It was just management. But I'm over it. I'm over it. OK? But I just get disgusted when, you know, you seem to fight the media more than you seem to fight opponents. This past season, the team fought opponents. And I respect the job that Tom Thibodeau has done. Although I stand by my assertion that Ty Lue would be a better coach, it doesn't take away from the fact that I think that Tom Thibodeau has done a damn good job. And I respect the hell out of him. And I'm looking at this squad. Here's where I'm coming from. When I saw Julius Randle, this are my mixed emotions, perp. You can laugh at me, perp, and I don't blame you, damn it. I would laugh at me, too, if I was looking at me. I love my Knicks. And I'm just, damn it. I look at them and I'm tired of them. I'm tired of seeing the period at the end of the sentence. I'm tired of seeing. I know they're not getting past the conference semifinals. I know these things. And I'm just trying to be cool. But I see them on Paul George's podcast. And that's one of the things I don't like about these damn podcasts, because it's like they all buddy-buddy. You know what I'm saying? I want enemies. I miss those good old days. They could go on your podcast to have enemies. Well, they could come on my podcast kind of fly, in case y'all haven't noticed. Big Perkins watched it. And I got more coming down the pike. But we'll talk about that another time. Here's the deal, y'all. Julius Randle averaged 25 and 10. If you look at the numbers, y'all, 25 and 10, 45.9% shooting, 34% from three-point range. All-star. Relatively impressive. But come postseason time, you know, put a taller defender on him, contest his shots. He's going to dribble too much. He's going to force shots he don't need to force. And he's not going to be nearly as effective during the postseason as he is in a regular season. You know this is coming. And the thing about me, Perk, is this. Perk, is it fair for me to say these brothers getting paid a lot of money. And that is really your only job that you need to have. You can't learn to use your right hand. Is it that much for me to ask that you can become a bit ambidextrous, that you can actually remember that God gave you two hands and two arms, that you actually don't have to always use your left, that you can come up with something else? I'm looking at Julius Randle's game. Hard worker. Very reliable. Played first 77 games before he got injured. Would have played all 82 if he wasn't hurt because that's the kind of guy he is. Very reliable and durable for the most part. You get all of that. He doesn't quit on you. Gives you tremendous effort. The numbers are decent. But when postseason time comes, he can't be the dude. And I know we saw Jaylen Brunson, but I got news for you. I love Jaylen Brunson. Very, very proud of the job that he did to steal a free agency. We'll have to see what he does in the future now that he can't sneak up on people even though he didn't really do it because he did what he did in Donchick's absence during the postseason before they collaborated together and got to the conference finals the year before he arrived in New York. But now that he's put on the show that he put on in New York this year, we're going to see what he does next year. But I don't look at either one of them and say, that can propel me to the conference finals. That could propel me to the NBA finals. Because ultimately, to me, it comes down to Julius. And as hard as he works and as much as he cares and as much effort as he gives you, his game doesn't change. It's the same game I've seen him have for years. I'm wondering where's the improvement? Here's the thing, S.A. I think you're going to like this from me. Okay, okay. I love what the Knicks did this season. In the postseason, I saw a growth, okay? I saw a growth out of Mitchell Robinson at times throughout the postseason, Quentin Grimes, O.B. Toppin. I saw a growth out of R.J. Barrett. When you challenged him, he rose to the occasion. Although he said he didn't hear what you said, that was a damn lie. He heard every single word. Because every single person watched ESPN, watched what people are saying about him. You can't hide from it. I'm glad you did challenge him. Jalen Brunson has showed us in two consecutive years that he could be a 1A, 1B type player. He showed us that with Luka and this season. This season and the postseason, he shined. Julius Randle, when he said about the chemistry and everything, I don't believe it. Because actions speak louder than words. And for the second time in the postseason, his body language, forget his game, his body language was horrible. The hanging of the head, the not sprinting back, the pouting, things to that nature. You can't have that. When I'm looking at the Knicks, right now I'm saying, what could you get back for Julius Randle? Could you actually propose something out there? You can't really get back. You're not going to be able to get back a Giannis. You're not going to be able to get back a Joel Embiid. But a person that you could get back that I think could help elevate the Knicks is a guy like Pascal Siakam. Should have made an all-NBA team, in my opinion. Pascal Siakam, as a second or third option, I love. Especially if R.J. Barrett is going to continue to grow. We have to remember now, Pascal Siakam is the NBA champion. On the biggest stage, I did watch Pascal Siakam, I believe, drop a 32-ball on Draymond in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, if I'm not mistaken. He could play, but here's the thing. He shot 48% from the field. He's going to get you great shots. He has worked on his three-ball. All the things that you're asking out of Julius Randle, Pascal Siakam can give you that essay, and I think that gives him a little bit of leap. He's not a superstar, but what else are y'all going to go get at this moment? You can't have it all. First of all, I'm glad Molly brought that up. That is the worst nickname in the history of the NBA. Spicy P. I mean, please. That's just ridiculous. That annoys me. But we don't know how he earned the nickname. Yeah! Tell him, Perk! Every time I hear that nickname, Spicy P., I think about my man Cedric the Entertainer on Kings of Comedy talking about that brother wanting somebody to call him delicious. Nah, I ain't calling no grown man delicious. Every time I think about Spicy P., I think about that. He doesn't want you calling him delicious. He wanted other people calling him delicious. No, no, no. Cedric the Entertainer, he don't want that, and I agree with him, okay? Spicy P. is whack. But I will tell you, the nickname is whack. Not him. His game is really good. Pascal Siakam can play. He's good. And, as my producer, Tom DeCordi, said, he is right-handed. So we care about that, because good Lord. Jaylen Brunson, R.J. Barrett, and Julius Randle. Well, I know, because you're behind me every day. At least Jaylen Brunson gives you an indication he might go in another direction. R.J. and Julius, they're always going left. And R.J.'s got to work on his shot. Having said all of that, I say this to you, Perk. That workhorse that is Julius Randle, listen. Do I think that they need to move him? Yeah, but let's not discard him like he's not a damn good player. I'm not saying you're not doing it. But Julius Randle is a damn good player, and I know that. He is. I will tell you this. If I'm going to move him, it's going to be for a Zion. It's going to be for a Dane Dollar. Damian Lillard and Zion Winfield. It's going to be for people like that. I'm not trying to. I'm going to package him with a bunch of pick and another player. I ain't losing Julius Randle for Pascal Siakam. I can't go there. Okay. We'll talk about Spicy Pete later. We've got some other things to get into.