In this conversational YouTube segment, former NBA players Draymond Green and Baron Davis dissect the Philadelphia 76ers' precarious season and the New York Knicks' roster overhaul. They argue that the 76ers are effectively "over" before the season starts because the media narrative surrounding Joel Embiid’s drama, injuries, and a lack of championship experience creates a depressive, unfocused energy that hampers team chemistry. The duo liken the team’s situation to a "Desperate Housewives" scenario, noting the absence of a clear message or slogan and the burden of handling championship‑level scrutiny without having ever won a title. They also critique the Knicks’ acquisition of Karl‑Anthony Towns and the departure of Julius Randle, emphasizing fit, defensive liabilities, and the need for role players like OG Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart to shoulder heavy defensive responsibilities. Throughout, Green and Davis use a conversational, analytical tone, expressing concern, skepticism, and urgency about both franchises’ prospects.
Chapters
You don't think Philly can be—
Philly, it's over. It's over for Philly. It's over for Philly before it even starts. And by the way, when you have the amount of talent that Philly has, you can always put some stuff together.
Yeah.
But when, When the public take over the narrative of your team, it's hard.
Man, it's super hard.
It's hard because now it ain't just about the game. Now you dealing with all of these other things that—
You depressed. It's a depressed energy.
Yeah, absolutely. They in a tough spot, man. They in a tough spot because now everything Joel do, everything he say is gonna be picked apart.
Mm-hmm.
Like, and, and it just makes everything that much tougher. So now you, so then you ask yourself the question, none of those guys, and I repeat, none of them except Kyle Lowry has ever done it.
Yeah.
And so if you've never done it and you gotta deal with these things to try to do it.
Yeah.
It's one thing if you won a championship and you know like, all right, we won a championship and because we've won a championship, because we've won a championship, we now know that this is coming with it because of that, right? Like, but they gotta deal with stuff that, and they ain't won no championship.
I agree.
So you don't know how to win a championship and now you gotta deal with all the extracurriculars and extra things that ends up coming with a team in the spotlight that's won a championship and y'all don't even know how to do it. And you gotta do it with that weight on your shoulder. Man, that's hard, man.
It's hard to do when you know how to do it, man.
Right.
You know what they are?
It's hard to do when you know how to do it.
They are the Desperate Housewives of basketball. They, they, they got so much drama going on. It's like, goddamn, you got, You know, and then you look at, you know, you look at Kyle Lowry, he did it. You know what I mean? He trying to bring a championship pedigree. He probably, you know, older. They got young guards. These dudes are way different than how Kyle Lowry came into the league. The dues he had to pay, you know what I mean? To even be a brand and to have a name, you know? And so they gotta, you know, you look at Tyrese Maxey, he's out. But he's like, to me, he could be a superstar. Paul George, in and out, hurt. Embiid, in and out, hurt. They got so many injuries. But to your point, it ain't even that, 'cause they could just be off to a slow start. It's the energy of the media, of what's going on with Joel, of, you know, I don't play back-to-backs. Oh, I'm just trolling. All that shit is just— unfocused energy. They have the most unfocused energy. And I would say stat, like cloud around them, right? To where it's like, okay, we gonna turn the Philadelphia 76ers into this year's Desperate Housewives. This is where all the drama is gonna exist. We don't know what's going on. You know what I mean? And so like, we not talking, we not talking about Philly, about hooping.
Yeah.
Right now.
True.
You feel what I'm saying? There's nothing coming outta Philly about hoop.
And by the way, I'm gonna tell you something about that, B. That's a great point you make. I went through that last year.
Yep.
Where nothing about me— Oh, you know. And became this team was about basketball. It was about all the other shit. It's impossible to win that way.
It is.
It is impossible.
It's a depression. You know what I mean? 'Cause, you know, like I'm watching y'all last year and I'm watching you last year and it's like, y'all trying to get out of a funk, but your frustration, anytime you get to the cusp of doing something, like, "Ah, shit. I ain't got triggered." You know what I mean? And it's like, that ain't even you. You know what I mean? The cloud. It's the cloud.
Right.
You know what I mean? It's those little whispers, those secrets. The same thing you said was when Khris say something to Steph or somebody rolling their eyes, Nobody's picking up on that because that cloud is hanging. So they can't huddle and be like, come on guys, like forget what everybody else is saying. This is about us. Let's be as real and as honest as we can so we can go be the best on the court. You know what I mean?
Yeah, 100%.
But they don't have a message. They don't have a message. They don't have a slogan. Like what the hell is the, like what's the theme for the season with Philly? You know what I mean?
We don't know. That's a fact. So, so you're saying Philly need to press the panic button, correct?
Absolutely.
New York Knicks, do they need to press the panic button or will they be fine?
They gonna be fine.
Okay.
And you know the Knicks is my squad, bro. You know the Knicks is my squad.
Absolutely.
Okay. I think the problem with the Knicks, here's my issue with the Knicks. You went out and got Karl-Anthony Towns, right? It's a difference, non-difference in Julius Randle. You figured out a, you figured out the best way you played Thibodeau basketball was without Julius Randle.
Yeah. Yeah.
One dude.
Who has not been good in Minnesota, by the way.
Yeah. Who's been trying to figure his space out. So I want people to know like Carl Anthony Towns coming to New York does not guarantee anything. Julius Randle going to Minnesota does not guarantee anything. These men have to move their families, move into the city, just like you said, do all this media and then figure out like, yo, where, wait, what happened to me? And then not only that, who am I? Who am I on this team? How do I fit into the offense, the defense? Like you gotta, like, it's gonna be a learning process for New York and Cat. You gonna have some high moments, some low moments, But I think he has to adjust and Thibodeau gotta adjust into figuring out like the Julius Randle shit didn't work. That's why y'all got rid of him. So if you got Carl, uh, uh, KAT over here, like you gotta figure out how to play scrappy, play fast, and best mobilize KAT. 'Cause he a, he a better weapon for you than Julius Randle if you use him right. Yeah.
100%. Well, I think it's even less about Julius Randle though and more about other guys. Obviously Mitchell Robinson's out.
He's out.
They lost Hardenstein. Hardenstein is with Oklahoma City. Neither one of those guys can walk on the same pavement that Cat can walk on as a basketball player. I get that. But fit is everything. And what someone brings to a team is everything. And where the Knicks is going to struggle more, I think, with KAT than say last year, A, they snuck up on people last year.
Nobody thought they was gonna— Yeah, totally.
Now you're expected to be good. That's a different thing. But also where I think with KAT, you're worse defensively for sure. You know, and— Yeah. Jalen Brunson isn't a great defender, you know? So now what ends up happening is it's not so much that, it's not so much that it's like, oh, well, Cat isn't as good of a defender as Hardenstein or as a Mitchell Robinson. We get that, but it'll be fine. It's not totally and solely that more so than—
Yeah.
You had one non-defender on the court.
Mm-hmm.
Out of 5. Now you got 2 non-defenders out of 5. You know what I'm saying? And when you start adding, when you, I won't even say adding, when you start compiling—
Yep.
Non-defenders into one lineup.
Yep.
It makes a difference. It makes a huge difference. When you gotta hide one guy, it's doable. —when you gotta hide 2 guys and 3 guys— Yeah.
And they're your best play and they're your best players.
Exactly. It's impossible.
Yeah. It's a, it's a big difference.
I think that that's where the biggest struggle will be for this New York team.
Yeah.
Is it's going to require, um, OG.
Mm-hmm. Mikel. Yep.
And Josh Hart. It's gonna require them to be so good and fly around so much and try to cover so many things defensively. Defensively, that then you also then have to— once they have to do that, you then have to make sure that Jalen and Cat's attitude towards the defensive end—
Yeah, they gotta accept, they gotta take that challenge, bro.
And not only do they have to take the challenge, but their attitude towards it can't be like, ah, whatever, on that end. Because if it is that way, the guys that are doing all of the work on that side of the ball gonna be like, "Man, fuck this guy. Like, he don't wanna give me nothing on this." And like, and then you start to have these clashes and stuff. And so those are all just the little games within the game that people don't understand that you must know all of those things make a difference.
