The Knicks lost their second consecutive official scrimmage on Thursday…
…only for the organization to announce on Friday morning that nope, they ain’t budging and entering contract-extension negotiations any time soon.
Gotta love how the outside world sees this as the excrement hitting the fan while we are here resting easy still enjoying the championship.
New York Knicks
On the plans for extension-eligible Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, and Deuce McBride:
“As an organization, our entire focus is on preparing for the upcoming season and delivering another year for our fans to be proud of. As a result, we will not be negotiating contract extensions until later in the season and will remain solely focused on preparing for the start of the season.”
Mike Brown
On why the Knicks needed additional time away from basketball after winning the championship:
“If you think about it, we played a long time last year, and our summer was short. So the guys needed to get away from the game. They needed to go fill their cup, however that may be.
“And so our demands weren’t the same as other teams. Going around the league and talking to other teams since they’ve come back, some of them have been working since July and August in terms of training camps here and overseas camps and in [Los Angeles] and Miami and voluntary camps and back in the home gym.
“We encouraged our guys to get back at the end of September, but it wasn’t mandatory. We didn’t really push hard for our vets to come back. I told them to fill, whatever they wanted to do, and take some time and when you’re ready to come back, come back.”
Jordan Clarkson
On his straightforward approach to free agency:
“It was pretty chill, honestly. I knew I wanted to come back here, so it was easy.”
On not considering offers outside of New York’s:
“We really didn’t listen to anything else. I told my agent and everybody that I wanted to come back here, and if the money situation worked out, I wanted to come back. Not do anything else.”
On embracing a different role with the Knicks this season:
“I know it’s not my regular role that I’ve played before I got here. But it’s something I’ve fallen in love with, and I love playing my role and playing for this team and playing for each other. I think that was the biggest thing last year that I’ve learned.”
On prioritizing winning over individual statistics:
“For us, it’s not about numbers. It’s all about winning the game and doing anything to win the game. And I think a lot of us put things behind us to make that common goal happen.
“And that’s from the coaching staff to everybody down the line. I think we all got to understand on what it means to be a part of this team and a part of the Knicks. So I think that’s been set, and that’s why I wanted to come back. I love the standard. I love the culture here.”
Jalen Brunson
On seeing the Knicks’ three championships represented on their jerseys:
“I just liked seeing the number three at the back of the jersey, the championship number three.”
On Bruce Brown’s potential contributions to the Knicks:
“I’ve known Bruce for a while. Everything I’ve seen from afar as a competitive I’ve seen in these couple weeks here. I think the things that he can do for us can be very helpful”
Bruce Brown
On his impression of the Knicks from afar:
“They’re super tight. Great locker room. Goofy, fun crowd to be with and be around. It shows why they won last year”
On how the NBA’s second apron impacts all kind of players:
“I’m sure there is. The new CBA is good for max guys, new free agents and rookie extension guys. The middle guys, it kind of sucks for us. There’s not a lot of people getting that full mid-level”
Andre Drummond
On playing at Madison Square Garden as a Knick:
“It’s kind of surreal. Grew up a Knicks fan and the fact that I’m sitting in this locker room. I’ve always wondered what this locker room looks like”
Matt Barnes
On the Clippers’ curse and asking the franchise to change its name:
“I do think the Clippers are cursed. I told [Steve] Ballmer to change the name when he first got here and everyone kind of laughed at me.
“They definitely need to change the name. This…energy is still on this franchise.”
Nick Young
On attempting to fight D’Angelo Russell after the leaked video scandal:
“I tried to get to the arena, they had security and everything. They stopped me at the door, told me I couldn’t come in, take a couple of days off.”
“I had the whole gang with me. It was about to go crazy.”
On his reaction to D’Lo leaking the video:
“I ain’t never been in a situation like that where my teammate just snitched on me. I was like, ‘they’re gonna call me a punk in the media,’ and I’m mad for real, I gotta do something. I gotta show him. I know he’s young, 19, 18 or whatever, but still you don’t do nothing like that.”
On arranging retaliation against Russell’s brother:
“I still had to get him, so while he was playing, a couple friends of mine had to get his brother in the family lounge and all that. I had to get some type of get-back.”
On why the alleged retaliation never became public:
“It’s the Lakers. There’s a lot of things that go on in LA. LA is no place for the weak.”
Joel Embiid
On the false report that LeBron James confronted him for arriving late to practice:
“Yeah, it sucks, but what can you do? It’s unfortunate. I don’t know. One, I’m sure we can check. I don’t know where that came from. It never happened. And two, at the end of the day, I don’t know — I think we just got to focus on ourselves. There’s going to be a lot of outside noise to pull us apart from what we’re supposed to be and what we’re supposed to accomplish. So, it’s important that we stay together and we keep our eyes down.”
On feeling unfairly targeted by the report:
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. One, the question I had was, ‘Why me?’ Those type of things I can’t understand. One, it’s not true. But then again, it’s like, ‘Why me?’ But then again, I guess I’m Joel Embiid. I’ve been in that situation. I don’t usually talk when it comes to those (rumors). So, it feels like I’m an easy target. But yeah, as long as we know who we are. And we just got to stick together.”
