New Jersey, the former home of the Nets and Kansas City.

You have to be old enough for this one.

The former home of the Kings have been considered.

So tell me what's going on with the possibility of you guys playing your games this year in the United States?

Yeah, I think it's possible.

Um, we certainly wanna play here in Toronto.

Um, but, you know, the government's, uh, locked down things pretty pretty, Um, tight here.

Obviously.

You guys know the Blue Jays played in Buffalo, our soccer team Toronto FC playing Hartford.

So we're tryingto make sure we can play here in Toronto.

But we've got to make alternate plans B and C just in case we were not allowed.

Thio coach.

There's been some pushback from some players about the start line that start date that's being proposed by Adam Silver before December on December 22nd, but players not getting enough rest.

Do you think that's too early of a start date?

I do not, I do not.

I think I think I got to remember, right, But I think we had about four months off already already this year.

Ways I think we get four in another two.

I think that's six's a lot of rest for one calendar year.

Coach, What have we're ready to go?

We're ready to go, Coach.

What have the conversations been like with some of your players and executives about the possibility of starting on the 22nd or before in December?

Well, um, you know, we think that it's, Ah, realistic possibility and we're trying to make plans.

That that is, that is the date.

I mean, if things get pushed back, we can always adjust things, But we're planning on 22nd the ball going up.

So that means training camps gonna be early December.

And we're trying to make those plans to get going for that real quick coach before this fellow's jumping, I want to give you just a quick note of context.

When you guys won the championship, obviously you wanted pre pandemic.

There was 131 days between the day you and Co.

I hoisted it until the time you open the next season.

The Lakers.

In this scenario, if we start in and around December 22nd coach, they'll have just 72 days off.

So I just want to kind of mention that's almost half as much time T J coach You obviously coach all the way around the world.

Um, you know, is there any defining moment that you've had within your coaching career That's ultimately let you to this moment of So what would it be?

Well, yeah, I think I think probably, um, once I came back from from being over in Europe for a long time and getting in the D League and winning that that first championship with the Iowa Energy in Des Moines, Iowa, I thought, Okay, maybe we're maybe we're getting close to getting getting a call up to the N ba on, um, doing it at that level.

You know, in front of a lot of MBA people, I thought maybe that was probably a divine, defining moment.

I mean, listen, if I don't have that Iowa energy job, I don't think of.

I'm sitting where I am right now.

That's the one that catapulted me, probably to the MBA.

Nick Nurse, Raptors head coach joining us here on Keyshawn J.

Willens Uber and his new book, Rapture.

15 teams, four Countries one, eh?

NBA Championship and how to find a way to win damn near anywhere.

What a great title beat my title, that's for sure.

I love it.

I gotta grab this book and read up on it, because I'm sure there's some great experiences I could take from you being all over the world in winning.

How was that?

Though?

When you know that you gotta move from basically city, the city country, the country to coach something that you love.

Well, it's tough.

I think the toughest thing about it is, uh, every season ended and you always wondered where you were gonna be next year.

You know, it was there was no no multiyear deals getting signed or any of those kind of things.

You were.

You were helping some of those jobs.

I think, in the belt.

The job I had in Belgium.

It was It was I was wondering where I was gonna be week to week.

It was like, uh, it was like, You gotta win this game this Saturday.

You're you're packing your stuff up.

Several times during that season so that just the uncertainty of it was difficulty.

But man, looking back, I loved all those jobs.

You know what?

That that time in my life they meant the world to me.

And I was just trying toe better at my craft and when you know, what was it like, though being able to just taste all the different cuisines from different places.

I mean, like, that had to be, had to be great.

It was great.

That was it was probably the reason I stayed over there a little longer than I thought.

I originally went over there to just get a year of head coaching experience back in 95 end up staying 10, 11 years after that.

Um, and the travel is what was what, like you just mentioned just being able to go to all those countries so accessible we played games and, hey, one season I was coaching, we played a game in 15 different countries, you know?

So that Z uh, you know, when you're young, you're 20 twenties, early thirties and you're traveling around Europe.

Coaching basketball is pretty fun.

Coach, Let's get back into your roster for one second.

Obviously, you know, you have the Brooklyn Nets who are coming into this season with Kevin Durant and Kyrie.

Milwaukee is still be there with you.

Honest.

Miami obviously getting to the world championship.

What do you guys need to do to continue to boast of your way to the top of the Eastern Conference to get back to winning a world title?

Yeah, I mean, Jay, first of all, our team fits together really good, right?

Make proof that prove they can.

They can win a lot of games and prove they can pretty much duke it out with everybody.

So keeping most of our core together is the first key.

And then just like just like everybody else, we need toe ad add kind of the next best available players, you know?

And I always say that through the middle of the lineup, you know, I think we've got the point guards and the bigs figured out.

But you can never have too many wing players.

And that's probably, um, where I'd like to see us bolster the line up a little bit with some depth.

Nick, Speaking of wing players, Pascal Sockem a lot of people were saying that he was ready to carry the torch after CO.

I went to L.

A.

There were some struggles in the bubble.

Ah, lot of different things happen with that.

Do you think this year he is ready to become that player that we expect him to be?

Well, he's got up.

He was He was really firing on all cylinders, you know, going into March 11.

I mean, he was really playing well and continuing Thio trend up.

You know, closing games, fourth quarter clutch shots, all those things.

And then the pandemic hits and the layoff.

It's set him back for whatever reason.

Um, you know, the layoff in the bubble?

He wasn't quite the same player.

Um, I really believe in him.

He's a fantastic person.

Fantastic worker.

Um, has a great great, um, just set up, you know, just, you know, is what being a pro is.

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