ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill Talks Wembanyama, Draft Lottery & More with Rich Eisen | Full Interview

0:00 Vincent Goodwell was kind enough to push his you you take the Asella

0:03 I imagine right the fast train from Philadelphia to New York Vincent correct

0:07 the very fast Asella train absolutely back for you

0:11 I really appreciate that um because I I definitely wanted

0:13 to get your your two cents here the ESPN senior

0:16 NBA writer uh joining us here uh from Philadelphia uh

0:21 after the Knicks completed the sweep of the Sixers but I

0:24 do want to start with your your two cents what

0:27 you may know not know about how the NBA is

0:29 viewing ing Victor Wanyama's elbow as you and I are

0:32 chatting here just afternoon on the Monday uh in the aftermath.

0:36 What do you got?

0:38 Well, I I know some people might be clamoring.

0:40 I've seen on some of our uh ESPN shows

0:43 uh one Kendrick Perkins has been clamoring for a suspension.

0:47 I don't think that's going to happen.

0:49 I think honestly the best thing for Victor

0:51 Womenyama was that he was thrown out last night.

0:53 I think had he not been thrown or had that been a flagrant one,

0:56 the league probably would have come back and assessed

0:59 it as a flagrant two plus a suspension.

1:01 When you miss the last 30 something minutes of a playoff game,

1:04 that's almost like a full game suspension already.

1:07 The league doesn't want to come in and assess another one.

1:09 He's not a repeat offender.

1:11 I know it didn't look necessarily like the best play,

1:14 but Victor Womenyama doesn't have a history of such a thing.

1:17 We know that also he's a star.

1:19 You know, that plays a part in it, too.

1:21 But I I don't think it meets the criteria of ejection plus

1:25 next game suspension in game five of a hotly contested semi-final series.

1:30 Okay.

1:30 So, um but the conversation is being had right now.

1:33 League offices, anything like that?

1:35 Oh, yeah.

1:35 Yeah.

1:36 The conversation is being had.

1:37 It's it's always going to be under review from James Jones,

1:39 from Adam Silver, from the entire league office.

1:41 But I haven't gotten any indication as of 12:25

1:45 right now cuz anything can happen in the NBA.

1:47 You never know.

1:48 I'm sure you know as the Nick fans.

1:50 um some of the suspensions that have been handed down

1:53 to you guys over the course of the past 30 years.

1:56 Anything can happen that can alter the course of a series.

1:59 I'm just not sure that I see that happening in this case.

2:01 Well, I mean, Mitch Johnson was definitely making

2:03 his case for Wemama being uh the wronged party

2:08 uh in every second of the game with the exception

2:11 of him throwing his elbow at Nas Reed.

2:14 Where where does that conversation stand, do you think, Vincent?

2:17 Well, I I think Rich, you have to protect your player.

2:21 And I think Mitch Johnson as a this is, you know, a younger coach.

2:24 He's in his early 40s.

2:26 He's going to have a very long relationship with Victor Winyama.

2:29 This is their first time going through the playoffs.

2:31 And Victor is experiencing a level of physicality that, you know,

2:35 he's not initiating.

2:37 Vic Rudy Goar and Nas Reed and Julius Randall,

2:41 they're putting paws on him and that's the book on him so far.

2:44 So unless you have a goon and last I checked there's no Charles Oakley,

2:49 there's no Anthony Mason,

2:51 there's no Xavier McDaniel, Rick Mahorn, Bill Lambir, you know,

2:54 lying around anywhere that they can add to their roster.

2:57 He's going to have to be the guy at this point to protect himself.

3:00 I think it was more of a a macro conversation that he

3:03 was having yesterday as opposed to exactly what was happening in that moment.

3:07 And I don't have a problem with it because what better

3:10 time is there to talk about protecting your player because you

3:13 know what's going to happen in the first couple of minutes

3:15 of game five in San Antonio if Victor is allowed to play.

3:18 The Minnesota Timberwolves are going to go

3:20 at him and try to provoke him even more.

3:22 Yeah.

3:22 I mean uh to have anything on top of that Johnson

3:25 said in terms of a suspension I think that would be ridiculous.

3:29 End quote.

3:29 Are you saying uh that Luke Cornett is not going to throw his weight around?

3:34 Is that what you're saying Vincent?

3:36 I am not saying that Luke Cornet is soft.

3:39 I am merely saying that.

3:40 Okay, that's there's only two guys who are really tough

3:44 guys in today's league that I can really think of.

3:46 One is Draymond Green and the other is Isaiah Stewart.

3:49 And last I checked, the San Antonio Spurs

3:51 can't make any trades between now and then.

3:54 And we would have all called the Spurs

3:56 foolish if they would have gotten a designated goon,

4:00 so to speak, before the start of the season.

4:01 They hadn't won a playoff series.

4:03 They hadn't even gotten to the playoffs.

4:05 So for them to use a roster spot as a designated victor protector,

4:09 we all would have laughed at them and said that they gotten ahead of their skis.

4:12 It's just now I for one, Rich,

4:15 am happy that there is a level of contentiousness in the playoffs.

4:19 I'm not happy that Victor threw the elbow,

4:21 but I'm happy that we are able to see some real

4:24 hatred and physicality competitively that would

4:27 even prompt a discussion like this.

4:30 Yeah.

4:30 I mean, and so, uh, you hear what Mitch Johnson

4:33 is saying about the lack of whistles for his big guy.

4:35 Chris Finch also calling Tony Brothers

4:38 quote completely unprofessional behavior from Friday night.

4:41 Is there there was nothing no push back

4:44 from the association on this or where does that stand, Vincent?

4:47 Well, the league kind of chuckles at such things because they know

4:50 Chris Finch likes to work the officials in and out of the game.

4:54 Like, like these guys are actual normal

4:56 human beings and then when it's 48 minutes,

4:59 they all turn into maniacs that are unhinged and super competitive.

5:04 when you consider the stakes and everything else and Tony Brothers is not a guy

5:08 who's going to take a whole lot of guff from today's coaches, it doesn't look,

5:12 you know, like like sonically correct and everything else to see a coach sort

5:16 of walking or an official walk towards

5:18 a coach and look like he initiates something.

5:21 But I'm sure Tony brothers have been hearing it

5:23 all night from Chris Finch and decided to say,

5:25 "Hey, I've had enough these things." Well,

5:28 luckily you don't have the same officials for every game,

5:30 so the relationships don't carry over from game to game.

5:33 But once again, I don't mind that at all

5:35 and I don't think the league minds it either.

5:37 And then uh before we get to more of the playoffs,

5:40 u the uh draft lottery, Vincent Goodwill,

5:43 um the conversation was uh all about the body language of uh a AJ

5:50 Debansa um sitting there not seeming like uh his life has just been made,

5:55 no tears, uh as the Washington Wizards won it all.

5:58 What's your take on all of that, Vincent?

6:01 Well, Rich, these guys are trained, media trained.

6:05 They know all the cameras are going to be on them.

6:07 They are trained to be frozen.

6:09 Even if it's, you know, Cleveland and LeBron James,

6:12 if something like that were to happen,

6:14 where the hometown kid knew he was going number one

6:16 and knew he wanted to go to the hometown team,

6:19 and that's what wound up happening.

6:20 You're still going to keep a straight face.

6:22 No longer is going to be the day where uh who I

6:25 can't remember the executive's name for the uh New York Knicks went

6:28 in the in the blue uh suit when Patrick Yuing was going

6:31 to be announced as the New York Knicks number one draft pick in 1985.

6:36 That was that was the old school Nick Dave de Busher.

6:38 Man, he was Dave Busher.

6:39 Yeah, I couldn't remember which Nick it was,

6:41 but yeah, that type of reaction isn't going to happen.

6:44 These guys are so sophisticated.

6:46 I don't think it was a mark of man I

6:48 don't want to go to Washington DC because when you look

6:50 at all four teams is there a better situation than

6:54 the Wizards a team that has not won 50 games since

6:57 with John Wall they haven't won 50 games since Michael

7:00 Jackson put out off the wall like there's no better place

7:03 if you're AJ Debons that you want to turn around

7:05 a franchise cuz what the hell do they know about winning

7:10 I agree and plus the Mid-Atlantic I mean uh is is

7:13 eager for a superstar to um to just circle the wagons around.

7:19 I mean, just ask Jaden Daniels how much love he feels walking around that town.

7:23 I'm sure whenever he does.

7:25 Um so here here here comes this kid from BYU.

7:29 Let's get ready to roll.

7:31 I'm with you, Vincent.

7:32 Yeah, I think DC is one of those basketball

7:35 starved places like we all know from a sports perspective.

7:38 You just talked about Washington and how

7:40 that that whole community rallies around that football team.

7:44 The Wizards have never given their franchise much

7:47 to care about short of maybe a short stint

7:49 with Michael Jordan on the back end that that didn't

7:52 turn out to be much of a playoff experience.

7:54 Gilbert Arenas gave him a couple of years.

7:56 Like they've had splotches, but they've never had anything consistent.

8:01 And now you have a potential young piece healthy that you can build around.

8:05 They've already started the rebuild process.

8:07 Maybe they figure out what they're going to do with the Trey

8:09 Youngs of the world and Anthony Davis's and everything else.

8:11 But as Detroit has shown, as other teams have shown,

8:15 the days of the five-year rebuild is over.

8:18 You can turn around an NBA franchise in two

8:21 to three years if you get the draft right, if you get the coach right.

8:24 Like, as as much as we talk about there's a lack of dynasties

8:28 in the NBA and a lack of teams having staying power at the top.

8:31 That means teams at the bottom, if you do things right,

8:34 you're not going to stay at the bottom very long either.

8:37 Vincy Goodwill here on the Rich Eisen Show.

8:39 Okay.

8:40 What was it like in that arena in Philadelphia this weekend?

8:44 You mean Vincent?

8:44 You mean Nick South?

8:46 MSG South?

8:47 I think that's what I think it's southwest of.

8:49 Got to work on that.

8:52 Manhattan.

8:51 Got to work on that geotagging.

8:53 Got to work on it.

8:55 It was It was weird cuz you know, Rich,

8:59 this is my first year covering the Eastern Conference in full.

9:02 Like the past years when I was at Yahoo Sports,

9:04 I did a lot of Western Conference stuff

9:05 with Stephen Curry being over there and LeBron James.

9:07 I was always sent to the number one story.

9:10 I've always seen these Knicks 76ers playoff series,

9:13 but TV doesn't do it justice.

9:15 When you're in there and Joel Embiid is

9:18 at the line and he's getting booed and Tyrese

9:20 Maxi is at the line and he's getting

9:21 booed and every time a Nick does something right, the crowd just erupts.

9:26 Or what's worse, Rich,

9:28 76er fans leaving the building at some point in the third quarter.

9:33 Nick fans waving them out as if they're saying,

9:37 "Thank you for leaving this place that you've squatted for a while.

9:41 Uh, we're taking this over." And it was great that that they had

9:45 white towels cuz that's what exactly what it looked like with the 76ers.

9:48 It looked like they waved the white

9:50 towel for two consecutive games and yielding that.

9:54 I think for as much as the Knicks

9:56 have played well and they played excellent basketball.

9:58 when you hit 10 of 11 threes in the first quarter,

10:00 11 to 13 or whatever it was, you're playing a high level of basketball,

10:04 but the Philadelphia 76ers played the part of the Washington

10:07 Generals for the better part of four games in this series.

10:09 Yeah.

10:09 Uh, and I don't know, uh, we talked about it with, uh, our colleague, uh,

10:15 Brian Winhorst that putting Cat in the role of point center has

10:21 kind of cracked a code here offensively for the Knicks from, you know,

10:28 being down in the series to one to Atlanta.

10:32 Since then, pedal to the metal,

10:33 they're just blowing the doors off of everybody right now.

10:37 and they get to sit back and rest for a full week um

10:42 and root for the Cavs and the Pistons to beat each other up.

10:45 What What What's the deal with OG Anobi?

10:47 Best you can tell for the next series, Vincent?

10:51 Well, Rich Rich Eisen, do you believe that the New York Knicks will be

10:55 very forthcoming about what they would say about OG Anobi's health?

10:59 If that hamstring was falling off the bone, we wouldn't know about it, right?

11:03 Like that's just the way it goes with the Knicks.

11:05 Okay.

11:06 But I do think that the nine day potential nine additional days

11:10 of rest uh the Eastern Conference finals may not start until May 19th.

11:14 That will give Ojian Obi almost two weeks to come back

11:17 from this two years ago during the same semi-finals of the Eastern Conference.

11:21 He had a similar injury on his left hamstring.

11:24 He missed games two through six of that series against the Pacers.

11:28 Tried to come back in game seven.

11:29 It did not work.

11:30 Now, to your point about what the Knicks have done in their eight playoff wins,

11:36 they have averaged a point differential of 24.5 points per game.

11:42 None of these games have been competitive.

11:43 They've lost two games by a total of two points

11:46 and they've won these games by a total of 196.

11:50 This is a generational run that the New York Knicks are playing right now.

11:54 You said it, Carl Anthony Towns in the Draymond

11:57 Green sort of Arvdus Sabonis position of point forward.

12:02 It's almost Golden Stateesque like Mike Brown spent

12:05 a lot of years with Steve Curry and Golden State.

12:07 He picked up on some things offensively with the cutting

12:10 and the three-point shooting and it looks like it's bearing.

12:13 And maybe it took a lot of things for the Knicks to get here.

12:15 Had to change their offense at mid-season.

12:17 They had to change it again after game three of the Atlanta series.

12:20 Similar to the way that Golden State had to change how they were playing

12:23 in the lineups that they were using

12:24 in their first championship season with David

12:27 Lee and bringing in Draymond Green and then again in the finals going

12:30 to that small death lineup against LeBron

12:31 James and it yielded championships after that.

12:34 You couldn't explain it.

12:36 You just have to be in a desperate situation where boom

12:39 you in case of emergency this is what we're going to do.

12:41 I'm not saying the Knicks are going to win the championship,

12:44 but I'm saying they have unlocked something that nobody could have expected.

12:48 They could have obliterated the three-point record of threes

12:50 in a game had that game been competitive.

12:52 Instead, they had to settle for a tie at 25.

12:55 Well, and then the Philadelphia 76ers, Vincent, I mean,

13:01 you you they they came up with that um big-

13:04 time comeback to eliminate the Celtics feeling good about themselves.

13:08 then they get the doors blown off of them.

13:10 And Joel Embiid um had this to say uh after the game and the series ended.

13:19 I'm excited about you know next season.

13:21 Um I think VJ is going I know you know and you know I'm going to talk to him.

13:26 He's going to be better.

13:27 Uh and he was amazing for his first year.

13:30 Tyrese is going to be better and he's taken a step every single year.

13:34 PG that we saw the last couple weeks.

13:37 Um, you know, he still got it.

13:39 Um, and then everybody else, I I don't know who's going to be here.

13:43 I don't even know if I'm going to be here,

13:45 but you know, whatever happens happens.

13:48 Um, and, uh, but, you know, for me, uh,

13:51 I'm excited about, you know, really getting back to myself.

13:55 What does he mean by that, Vincent?

13:58 Well, first things first.

13:59 I just got a couple of texts from league

14:01 officials who said no further action on Victor Womenyama.

14:05 No suspension, no fine.

14:06 That is official.

14:07 So, he'll be available for game five.

14:09 Thank you.

14:10 Uh the second point to Joel Embiid, let me assure you,

14:14 he has a three-year extension that is kicking

14:16 in next year where he will be making, I think, an average of$ 58 million.

14:21 He's going nowhere.

14:23 He doesn't have anything to worry about on that front.

14:26 But I do think for one, the fact that he was able to end the series

14:30 on his feet rather than being the next game of operation

14:33 where his knees is getting worked on and and it's

14:36 buzzing and his hip is getting worked on and it's buzzing.

14:38 Like maybe maybe Rich, I'm old enough where I remember the game of operation.

14:43 Maybe you guys don't remember the game of operation, you young guys,

14:46 but I remember the game of operation and that's what

14:48 Joel Embiid looked like for the better part of his career.

14:51 Now to the 76ers.

14:53 Is Daryl my still going to be the guy heading up that operation?

14:58 He gave Paul George a really big contract when I'm

15:01 not sure he warranted that at this stage of his career.

15:03 He gave Joel Embiid this extension when Embiid was yes

15:07 coming off of NVP but also has been a health issue

15:11 and now you have two long-term contracts that you know you

15:14 can't get off of and I'm not sure if there's any hope.

15:17 So, I wonder if that organization,

15:20 which has Bob Myers as an adviser to the Harris Group,

15:23 is going to make significant changes in the offseason or will

15:26 at least entertain it because there's not a lot of hope in Philadelphia.

15:30 There's a lot of ifs and may.

15:31 And those ifs and may only amounted to a game

15:34 seven win and an impressive comeback over the Boston Celtics.

15:37 But we look at that Celtics team now,

15:39 they say that's a who's a team full of who.

15:43 Yeah, I'm I'm with you.

15:44 Uh I'm with you.

15:45 and the the Eastern Conference appears to be uh cracking open

15:49 for the Knicks to to you know make a move here.

15:52 Obviously the Pistons would be a very difficult team for them to handle

15:56 since they were handled by Detroit this year and obviously Cleveland who

15:59 knows what they would look like in the next round with uh

16:02 a resurgent certainly after the first two games did not go James Harden's way.

16:07 Uh the beard had a big time finish right there.

16:09 So, uh, before I let you go, the, um,

16:12 the Thunder just and I mean that's just one way to put it, right?

16:17 I just say the Thunder, you go, "Woo!" You know, um,

16:19 74 second half points and then

16:22 this whole conversation about flopping this, flopping that.

16:25 The Lakers had 15 more free throw attempts than the Thunder in game three.

16:29 15.

16:29 They had 25 to the Thunder's 10.

16:32 And they just I I don't know.

16:34 They I don't know who beats them.

16:35 I I don't know what happens.

16:37 What is the conversation on that front?

16:39 Uh, leaguewide watching the Thunder do what they're doing

16:41 is it appears they'll be closing out the Lakers tonight.

16:44 Vincent, hold on.

16:45 My phone is ringing.

16:46 I think the 2002 Sacramento Kings are calling

16:49 asking about the Lakers complaining about free throw calls.

16:52 Um, yeah, there's that.

16:53 Look at this.

16:55 Hell of a phone you have.

16:56 That's some great reception you have there.

16:58 Thank you, Rich.

16:59 Um, but no, I think Oklahoma City,

17:02 what what people are saying about them is the only

17:05 way this team doesn't wind up holding up the trophy,

17:08 A is if San Antonio, who has had their number this year,

17:11 takes them out, or B, health catches them.

17:14 Jaylen Williams, Jub, the All-Star Jub, uh,

17:17 he's been out with a hamstring injury.

17:18 He's only played less than 30 games this season and he's out right now.

17:23 You're hoping from the standpoint of competitiveness that he

17:26 gets back on the floor and that he's healthy.

17:27 Shay Gildas Alexander, they're doing all this work against the Lakers

17:31 and the presumptive MVP hasn't had one MVP like game.

17:36 They are an absolute machine right now.

17:39 I'm very much looking forward to seeing

17:40 the Western Conference Finals because I think Minnesota,

17:42 if they get there, this will be their third straight trip.

17:45 A little bit of desperation will kick in.

17:47 A little bit of this Anthony Edwards will will start to kick in.

17:51 I wonder if they'll that'll be a tougher out in San Antonio.

17:54 As I mentioned before,

17:55 Victor Wmanyama learns really quickly and he despises the Oklahoma City

18:00 Thunder in ways that a young player should not despise another team.

18:04 So I once again throughout the tone of our conversation,

18:07 Rich, in addition to Detroit and Cleveland not liking each other,

18:11 in addition to Detroit and New York hating

18:13 each other if we wind up getting that matchup, hatred is good for the NBA.

18:18 Hatred sells and so does physicality.

18:21 Let the boys play.

18:22 Vincent Goodwill, everybody.

18:25 Hey, man.

18:25 Love it.

18:26 I'm glad you did this because we couldn't do

18:28 this if you were sitting in the quiet car.

18:30 You know what I mean?

18:31 Oh, no.

18:31 I'm not sitting in no damn quiet car.

18:33 Don't you worry about that.

18:35 Nobody puts Vincent in the quiet car.

18:37 Uh, thanks again.

18:38 Uh, look for more of my texts and calls, Vincent.

18:40 I really appreciate it.

18:41 Thank you, sir.

18:41 Appreciate you, Rich.

18:42 That's Vincent Goodwill, everybody, right here on the Rich Eisen Show.

18:45 Let's go, baby.

18:45 That was great.

18:46 2002 called from San Sacramento.

18:49 That's amazing.

18:50 Wow.

18:50 Boy, that's got to rack up the data on that plan.

18:53 Hey, you made it all the way to the end.

18:55 Thanks for that.

18:56 Check us out every single day streaming live on Disney

18:59 Plus and the ESPN app 12 to 3 Eastern.