SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
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SIMON: NBA Playoffs - Game 7 in the West. But does the winner really matter when they got to play the Knicks in the finals? And make room for a new men's French Open champion. Sports writer Howard Bryant joins us. Good morning, Howard.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott Simon. How are you?
SIMON: I'm fine. Thanks, my friend. Hope you're well, too. Game 7 tonight - Western Conference Finals - the defending champions Oklahoma City Thunder host the San Antonio Spurs. What are you looking for?
BRYANT: I'm hoping for a good game. This has been a very interesting series after the - these are the two best teams in the regular season, both 60-game winners - Oklahoma City the defending champions. And, of course, the incredible Game 1...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Where Victor Wembanyama continued to introduce himself as maybe the best player we've ever seen coming up over the next several years. But after that, this series - they've really just sort of traded blowouts. And so if the pattern holds, Oklahoma City is at home, they will, you know - should win tonight. But I would like to see a classic Game 7. I think that these two teams - they came in as the favorites. They've pretty much delivered in terms of when they're at their best. They look very difficult to beat. But the team that looks the most difficult to beat is over is over in Penn Station right now in New York City.
SIMON: Boy, yes. 'Cause the Knicks finished third place in the East, but they're on 11-game winning streak in the playoffs - the new favorites, right?
BRYANT: It's incredible. And I don't think it's hyperbole to call them favorites. I don't see anybody playing better than them.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: I don't see - I don't look at them and say, oh, yeah, this is all just a fluke. It's not a fluke when, you know, you've won 11 games in a row. You were down two games to one to the Hawks in the first round, and you haven't lost since. You've won 11 games. And of those 11, 10 of them have been by double digits and half of them have been by 20 points or more. And so I think it's amazing. It's also great, you know, for - I can't believe I'm saying this - but it's actually great for the city. I mean, the Knicks haven't won...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Since 1973 - 1973. And it's fascinating because we talk about all of these teams and, you know, winning championships, and it's crazy. But thinking about it in terms of hockey, shoutout to the Carolina Hurricanes and the Vegas Golden Knights because they're back in the Stanley Cup. And the Vegas Knights have only been around a couple of years, and they're, you know, in the Stanley Cup again. The Knicks haven't won since 1973. And so it's just an example - is it - are you that bad, or is it that hard to win? It's really, really hard...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...To win, so an amazing, amazing run for them.
SIMON: Going to be a new winner in the French Men's Open, isn't there?
BRYANT: There is, and I love it. I don't love the fact that I just saw - listened to the, you know, the climate promo that you did. The heat is scorching - 90 degrees-plus temperatures in Paris. Novak Djokovic, 39 years old, goes out in a classic against the 19-year-old Joao Fonseca. It's been an amazing tournament. Jannik Sinner gets taken down by the heat. He was the overwhelming favorite.
And now we've got something, Scott, we haven't seen in a really long time. The French Open used to be the unpredictable one of the tournament, and then Rafael Nadal changed that. But we're going to get something we haven't seen in a really long time, which is not only a new major champion but a final that doesn't have Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Alcaraz or Sinner in it - on the men's side, that is, of course.
SIMON: Hockey fans mourning the loss of Claude Lemieux this week. He was found dead after, apparently, taking his life. He was only 60. How will you remember him?
BRYANT: As a hockey fan, Claude Lemieux was one of those favorites. He was that guy who if - you hated him until he was on your team, and when he was on your team, you protected him - a champion, tough, tough guy, and what a really sad, sad story.
SIMON: Howard Bryant, thanks so much.
BRYANT: Thank you, Scott.
SIMON: And if you or someone you know is in crisis or thinking about self-harm, you can call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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