June 4, 2025 • 7 mins
“What happens when your best player’s dad is part of the coaching staff—and the head coach gets fired?”In this hilariously insightful episode of The Ben and Skin Show, Ben Rogers, Jeff “Skin” Wade, Kevin “KT” Turner, and Krystina Ray dive headfirst into the tangled web of NBA coaching drama, front office politics, and… yes, the potential banning of truck nuts.🚨 Key Highlights:
- NBA Gossip Unleashed: The Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau, and rumors swirl that they’re eyeing Mavericks coach Jason Kidd. The guys break down the tangled connections between Leon Rose, Rick Brunson, and Jalen Brunson in a way only they can—equal parts sports analysis and locker room storytelling.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We got some sports to get into, very much looking
forward to that. Also, some huge news for Christina because
truck nuts might soon be banned. What is she gonna do?
She's the only person I've ever known who had truck
nuts on her car. Graduated from Crandall High School with
truck nuts hanging right there.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
From the car.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
I don't remember that part. You aren't gambling in high school.
But right now it's time for this.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Now, let's go around.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
The sports KT tweets as all the sports.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Ye, so there's a little gossip going around in the
NBA world. Basically, yesterday the Knicks fired their head coach,
Tom Thibodeau Tibbs the Tibby, and then there's a little
stuff going on d LLS. The first report it that
the Knicks are interested in the Mavericks Jason Kidd to
(00:49):
be their next head coach. I guess that'd be Mark
Stein over at DLLs as well.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
They're If Stein is getting it, it's awesome, Like it's
rock solid information, especially against their how far back he
goes with Kid. I'm shocked by this because, first of all,
I didn't think you would fire your coach unless you
knew who you were gonna replace him with, so to
go ahead and fire him a guy that's gotten them
further than that anyone's gotten him in the last twenty years, right, Yeah,
(01:15):
to not know who it's gonna be or else they
think they can get kid or I don't. But how
odd is it to say we want your coach?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Like it's not that odd.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
That seems odd to me, Like it just doesn't seem
like a common practice to say, you know what, we
fired our coach. We're now going to go take your
coach and you can't stop us or a contract, I know, Yeah,
but it's like that just seems odd that that would
be the first report we want this team's coach, and
with the Mavericks even entertained that. So here's why, presumably
here's why everyone thinks this is why? Wait what? So
(01:47):
basically here's how the whole Knicks thing came about. So
the Knicks are run by a guy named Leon Rose.
We've told the Leon Rose story before. The very first
client Leon Rose had coming out of college, coming out
of Temple was a Temple point guard named Rick Brunson.
Rick Brunson had a son named Jalen Brunson, and Rick
(02:11):
Brunson was on the staff in Minnesota under head coach
Tom Thibodeau. Rick Brunson had some accusations of some sexual
improprieties and so he got sent out of the league
for a little while. But he was living in Dallas
when Jalen was here. And remember we talked about this,
he was making a lot of noise. My son's not
(02:33):
coming back here now unless you back up the brinkstruck
because he knew with Leon Rose running things in New
York and Tom Thibodeau being the coach. In fact, if
you remember, the Knicks got charged with tampering you guys
remember now, So it's all in the family. Rick Brunson
(02:53):
is an assistant coach for the New York Knicks.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I would assume.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Whoever takes over for Thibodeaux has to keep Brunson on staff,
because that'd be weird to fire your best player's dad
from the staff. But Rick Brunson was a package deal
with Tom Thibodeau. And again, Leon Rose's very first client
in the NBA before Lebron James was his client was
(03:17):
Rick Brunson. So this is all like this, So everyone's like, man,
I don't understand all this. One of the knocks on
Thibodeau is that he runs players into the ground. And
so I don't know, Like Jalen Brunson very much had
Thibodeau's back, but I don't know if Michale Bridges did.
I don't know if Karl Anthony Towns did. You know, Katie,
(03:39):
you brought up an interesting point where you were talking
about the head coach of the Stars.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, and right now there's.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
All these reports that the players are going to ownership, going, hey,
what's up with this guy? He let Otter hang out
to dry. I don't know that he's the coach for us. Well,
you can almost draw a parallel with Thibodeaux. Karl Anthony
Towns is like, how did we lose Game two with
me sitting on the bench for nine minutes in the
fourth quarter?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Right? Like?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
This is a tricky deal.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Is Thibodeaux. He gets running out of town pretty quickly
a lot of times because Dubor's got that reputation. Three
four years of a spot and then he's out. He's
a hard ass, you know what it is? It's four
and five years with Thibodeaux and the main players like him.
But the main thing is that, like Michel Bridges, I'd
have to go back to March or whatever.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
He's like, why did I play forty four minutes in
this game? I don't understand. And that happens with all
the Tibbs players. They get they get ground down. So
then who is the guy that put Jalen Brunson's well
being ahead of the overall team in his contract year?
How many times did we hear Jason kidds say my
(04:44):
job is to get him the biggest contract he can get, right, right, right,
Jay Kid and Joe and Rick Bronson knows it, okay, right,
So here's what I would say. They would have to
know that it would even be a possibility to have
I'm sure they talk. I'm sure they talk all the time.
Like I can tell you guys a story of after
a mav game before Jay Kidd coached.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Here.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Man, I was standing in the back of the tunnel
with Ja Kid Jamal Mosley about forty five minutes after
a game, and we were I was just I wasn't there.
I mean, I wasn't talking. I was listening. They were
talking strategy for like half an hour. It was amazing,
and I'm just sitting so what I'm saying is and
to be and to be clear, like it wouldn't hurt
Ja Kidd for this to be out. It was amazing
(05:25):
for Jakid. Jay kids now like and and really like
he can go. A lot of this has to do
with his relationship with Dumont, A lot of it has
to do with his relationship with his players, A lot
of it has to do with his relationship with Nico
and much how much footing do all these guys have,
right Like how ensconced are they in the Mavericks' future plans?
(05:49):
If the Mavericks are not dead set that they want
Jason Kidd for the next decade or whatever, and they're like, man,
we can do this with anybody. If Nico's thinking that
I'd love to go PIMPA first round pick out of
the Knicks, now, I'd have to go look and see
what they have because they traded everything away to put
this team together. But Jay Kidd may want to go
coach the Knicks, or he may go to Dumont and say, man, look,
(06:13):
I'm red hot right now. I'd love it if you
guys gave me an extension. And it's it's also like,
what is what do the Mavericks want moving forward? They
still have an inexperienced ownership, Yeah, they do. Is Nico
have firm ground to stand. I've heard a lot of
people like fans go, now's the time to fire Nico
start over, And I'm like, but dude, don't Ki and
ad love They love them, so you can't do that.
(06:35):
So you could do it, but I mean you might
risk losing Kyree can opt out.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
And leave now.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
He's not going to He's got a knee injury. Right,
But anyways, but the players love Jkid too, right, All
players love ja Kid right, So anyway, it's just a
fascinating situation. I think there's probably more heat there than
just wild speculator.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I had somebody reach out to me on social media
esterday and they were very upset about something I said
about Luca and coming up in just three minutes, I'm
going to tell you what that was. Don't go anywhere.
That's coming up next.
We got some sports to get into, very much looking
forward to that. Also, some huge news for Christina because
truck nuts might soon be banned. What is she gonna do?
She's the only person I've ever known who had truck
nuts on her car. Graduated from Crandall High School with
truck nuts hanging right there.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
From the car.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
I don't remember that part. You aren't gambling in high school.
But right now it's time for this.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Now, let's go around.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
The sports KT tweets as all the sports.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Ye, so there's a little gossip going around in the
NBA world. Basically, yesterday the Knicks fired their head coach,
Tom Thibodeau Tibbs the Tibby, and then there's a little
stuff going on d LLS. The first report it that
the Knicks are interested in the Mavericks Jason Kidd to
(00:49):
be their next head coach. I guess that'd be Mark
Stein over at DLLs as well.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
They're If Stein is getting it, it's awesome, Like it's
rock solid information, especially against their how far back he
goes with Kid. I'm shocked by this because, first of all,
I didn't think you would fire your coach unless you
knew who you were gonna replace him with, so to
go ahead and fire him a guy that's gotten them
further than that anyone's gotten him in the last twenty years, right, Yeah,
(01:15):
to not know who it's gonna be or else they
think they can get kid or I don't. But how
odd is it to say we want your coach?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Like it's not that odd.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
That seems odd to me, Like it just doesn't seem
like a common practice to say, you know what, we
fired our coach. We're now going to go take your
coach and you can't stop us or a contract, I know, Yeah,
but it's like that just seems odd that that would
be the first report we want this team's coach, and
with the Mavericks even entertained that. So here's why, presumably
here's why everyone thinks this is why? Wait what? So
(01:47):
basically here's how the whole Knicks thing came about. So
the Knicks are run by a guy named Leon Rose.
We've told the Leon Rose story before. The very first
client Leon Rose had coming out of college, coming out
of Temple was a Temple point guard named Rick Brunson.
Rick Brunson had a son named Jalen Brunson, and Rick
(02:11):
Brunson was on the staff in Minnesota under head coach
Tom Thibodeau. Rick Brunson had some accusations of some sexual
improprieties and so he got sent out of the league
for a little while. But he was living in Dallas
when Jalen was here. And remember we talked about this,
he was making a lot of noise. My son's not
(02:33):
coming back here now unless you back up the brinkstruck
because he knew with Leon Rose running things in New
York and Tom Thibodeau being the coach. In fact, if
you remember, the Knicks got charged with tampering you guys
remember now, So it's all in the family. Rick Brunson
(02:53):
is an assistant coach for the New York Knicks.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
I would assume.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Whoever takes over for Thibodeaux has to keep Brunson on staff,
because that'd be weird to fire your best player's dad
from the staff. But Rick Brunson was a package deal
with Tom Thibodeau. And again, Leon Rose's very first client
in the NBA before Lebron James was his client was
(03:17):
Rick Brunson. So this is all like this, So everyone's like, man,
I don't understand all this. One of the knocks on
Thibodeau is that he runs players into the ground. And
so I don't know, Like Jalen Brunson very much had
Thibodeau's back, but I don't know if Michale Bridges did.
I don't know if Karl Anthony Towns did. You know, Katie,
(03:39):
you brought up an interesting point where you were talking
about the head coach of the Stars.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yeah, and right now there's.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
All these reports that the players are going to ownership, going, hey,
what's up with this guy? He let Otter hang out
to dry. I don't know that he's the coach for us. Well,
you can almost draw a parallel with Thibodeaux. Karl Anthony
Towns is like, how did we lose Game two with
me sitting on the bench for nine minutes in the
fourth quarter?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Right? Like?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
This is a tricky deal.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Is Thibodeaux. He gets running out of town pretty quickly
a lot of times because Dubor's got that reputation. Three
four years of a spot and then he's out. He's
a hard ass, you know what it is? It's four
and five years with Thibodeaux and the main players like him.
But the main thing is that, like Michel Bridges, I'd
have to go back to March or whatever.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
He's like, why did I play forty four minutes in
this game? I don't understand. And that happens with all
the Tibbs players. They get they get ground down. So
then who is the guy that put Jalen Brunson's well
being ahead of the overall team in his contract year?
How many times did we hear Jason kidds say my
(04:44):
job is to get him the biggest contract he can get, right, right, right,
Jay Kid and Joe and Rick Bronson knows it, okay, right,
So here's what I would say. They would have to
know that it would even be a possibility to have
I'm sure they talk. I'm sure they talk all the time.
Like I can tell you guys a story of after
a mav game before Jay Kidd coached.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Here.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Man, I was standing in the back of the tunnel
with Ja Kid Jamal Mosley about forty five minutes after
a game, and we were I was just I wasn't there.
I mean, I wasn't talking. I was listening. They were
talking strategy for like half an hour. It was amazing,
and I'm just sitting so what I'm saying is and
to be and to be clear, like it wouldn't hurt
Ja Kidd for this to be out. It was amazing
(05:25):
for Jakid. Jay kids now like and and really like
he can go. A lot of this has to do
with his relationship with Dumont, A lot of it has
to do with his relationship with his players, A lot
of it has to do with his relationship with Nico
and much how much footing do all these guys have,
right Like how ensconced are they in the Mavericks' future plans?
(05:49):
If the Mavericks are not dead set that they want
Jason Kidd for the next decade or whatever, and they're like, man,
we can do this with anybody. If Nico's thinking that
I'd love to go PIMPA first round pick out of
the Knicks, now, I'd have to go look and see
what they have because they traded everything away to put
this team together. But Jay Kidd may want to go
coach the Knicks, or he may go to Dumont and say, man, look,
(06:13):
I'm red hot right now. I'd love it if you
guys gave me an extension. And it's it's also like,
what is what do the Mavericks want moving forward? They
still have an inexperienced ownership, Yeah, they do. Is Nico
have firm ground to stand. I've heard a lot of
people like fans go, now's the time to fire Nico
start over, And I'm like, but dude, don't Ki and
ad love They love them, so you can't do that.
(06:35):
So you could do it, but I mean you might
risk losing Kyree can opt out.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
And leave now.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
He's not going to He's got a knee injury. Right,
But anyways, but the players love Jkid too, right, All
players love ja Kid right, So anyway, it's just a
fascinating situation. I think there's probably more heat there than
just wild speculator.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I had somebody reach out to me on social media
esterday and they were very upset about something I said
about Luca and coming up in just three minutes, I'm
going to tell you what that was. Don't go anywhere.
That's coming up next.
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