-Very nice to have you here in studio.
We wanted to give you a taste of what it's like
to be in an arena again. [ Laughter ]
-Thank you. It feels good.
-It feels good. -I missed it.
I missed it. -You missed that.
You had your first preseason game.
You didn't play. -Did not.
-But you guys played against the Lakers.
So it's officially starting up again.
How are you feeling?
-I feel great.
It was crazy to come out.
We had fans during the playoffs, but it still felt different.
You know, like the benches are all spread apart,
our seats on the benches were spread apart.
Now they're just like -- Two months later they're like,
"Nah, okay, we'll just get everybody back together.
Let's sell those tickets next to the bench."
So it was just good to be out there again, you know?
-As a veteran, how important is preseason basketball to you?
-It's -- It's necessary. -Okay.
-But, you know, playing a game that doesn't count is --
it's always a little weird, but it's just nice to, like --
after doing training camp and scrimmaging
against your teammates the whole time,
it's nice to play against other people.
-You joined the Nets halfway through last season.
You had a chance then to sign a contract anywhere.
You chose to stay in New York.
I know you spent a lot of time here
and it's your first time playing here.
How have you enjoyed it so far?
-It was great, man. It was nice to --
You know, I had that stint last year
and really got to know the organization.
You never really know until you actually spend time there,
and top to bottom, everybody in the organization is incredible,
from the owners down to the players, the staff, everything.
So that was the reason.
Also, the fans here in New York are unbelievable.
So it was a no-brainer for me.
-So it's kind of crazy the level of talent and fame on this team.
Kyrie, Durant, Harden, yourself.
You're a vet, as we've established,
but you were, you know, new to this team.
Do they haze you at all?
Is there any like, "you're the new guy,"
or do they kind of -- do you have the respect that
comes with being someone who's been a multi-time All-Star?
-No, since it was like --
I've been in the NBA for 12 years now.
I actually got to skip the hazing part.
We keep that for the rookies. But it's light. It's fun.
It's like carry a Dora the Explorer backpack.
That's what I had to do.
-When you were a rookie you had to carry
a Dora the Explorer backpack? -Everywhere we went,
I carried a pink Dora the Explorer backpack
into the arena, hotels, everywhere.
So that's the type of stuff we do.
-I would imagine -- I'm surprised there was one
that would even fit on your back.
-Well, you undo the strap all the way.
-Okay. [ Laughter ]
-And you throw it on one shoulder,
and I would always just put one shoe in there.
-Alright. Gotcha. [ Laughter ]
I imagine that's about all you could fit.
One thing I also want to ask about being a 12-year vet,
is you get to know the referees.
And you sort of have a reputation for someone
who's going to talk a little trash to the refs.
But there are times we've seen you actually laugh at
what a ref has said back to you.
What's happening in those moments?
-My relationship with the refs has -- It's been a rocky one.
A few years back I had a camp for kids,
and I had to ref one of the kids' games.
And I was doing so bad
that even the 7-year-olds were yelling at me.
And that's when I realized I should be easier on the refs.
Now, it's just like, I play kind of two games a night,
where I'm playing basketball
but I'm also trying to make the meanest ref laugh.
So I'm just working out ref-based puns before the game.
You know, watching film but also going over some jokes.
But it's -- I don't know.
They have such a hard job. Such a hard job.
No matter what, somebody is going to hate you.
Half of the audience is going to hate you.
-Yeah, and I would imagine, too, again, having to basically
police people who are beloved and famous
is a really tough job to have.
-It can't be easy, and the best ones are the ones who are like,
if they mess up, they're like, "I messed up that one."
Because it's all happening so fast,
and they're just trying their best,
and if any of you refs are watching, I'm so sorry.
[ Laughter ]
I will try to do better this season, but we all mess up.
-I like that you -- you realized that reffing a camp
because I went -- after I left, I went and I hosted "SNL,"
and hosting "SNL," I immediately had --
I felt like I wanted to go back to all of the hosts
that I had worked with over the years and apologize to them
because anytime a host didn't want to do something
that we wrote for them, I thought, "You don't know."
And then I want back and I'm like, "Oh, no, they knew."
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
Yeah, that's basically my relationship
with the refs in a nutshell. -You guys get to tip off
against the Bucks, the world champs.
Does it make it a little more exciting?
I mean, obviously it's a long season,
and you can't get too high or low,
I would imagine, for specific games.
But does opening night have an extra element of excitement
when you do something like that?
-Yeah, it is.
Opening night is always just fun
just because it's the start of a new season.
You don't know where you're going to go.
Also, playing the defending champions,
it kind of sucks 'cause you have to sit there
and watch them get their rings.
So there's that aspect, but they deserved it.
Grueling season last season
and came out on top, so it'll be fun.
-I mean, you mentioned everybody being back.
Does it seems like, for the first time in two years,
"Oh, this is going to be the kind of basketball season
that I was used to before the pandemic hit"?
-I hope so. Yeah.
I mean, the playoffs felt pretty normal.
But like I said, there were still a few things.
Like last night's game in L.A. felt very normal,
besides being a preseason game.
So hopefully we're back
and people get vaccinated and come to games.