![]() I asked, on my first day, "Do you think I have a chance?" And he goes, "I don't know, man. Just the guys who were there to keep the program at bay until we took off. Have you ever seen the movie, 'The Replacements', with Keanu Reeves? That's kind of what it felt like. "I talk about this with my one of my best friends Nik Stauskas all the time. ![]() I'll go back to what I just said: if Markelle can help you win a championship, then I'm all in for it. ![]() "That thought definitely creeped into my mind, but I also knew the Sixers wanted to keep me. On whether he thought the Sixers drafting Markelle Fultz meant he would be gone: Now we're a Game 7 away from the Eastern Conference Finals." Philly basketball four years ago, we were winning 10 games. "Being in Philly for four years, I would like to see Tobias and Jimmy and JJ come back, because it's fun. It's unfortunate, but like I said, I definitely think we should playing Milwaukee, and it's unfortunate, but it just didn't work out for us." "You see a guy like Joel Embiid's reaction after the game, which is - you don't see that a lot in professional sports, and it showed, in my opinion, the opportunity that we missed. I'm not liking where this is going.' Then it hits the other side of the rim, and that thought creeps into your mind, like, 'My goodness, this shot's going in.' And then it falls. "And then it hits the rim again, and you're like, 'Oh, wait a minute. So from the view that I had, it hits the front of the rim and it bounces up, and I'm like, 'Okay, we have some free basketball. "It's hard, because you've got a guy like Joel Embiid who, I think, could be the Defensive Player of the Year, contesting that shot. If you can't listen at the moment, or just prefer to read my delightful transcriptions, here's some other stuff McConnell touched on: You can listen to the full podcast below: Of all the point guards in the league, Thomas - who stands five inches shorter than McConnell - sticks out in his mind. Outside of laughing at Stevens going full Herb Brooks on McConnell in his debut, there's also something insanely funny about McConnell calling Isaiah Thomas, of all players, one of the most un-guardable players he's ever faced. I look over at Brad, he goes, 'Again.' I'm like, "Oh my goodness gracious." Isaiah scores again, and I think I got subbed out after that. I come back down, Boston brings the ball back down, I look over at Brad and he goes, 'Again.' And Isaiah gets someone a lob. They called a play, as soon as I checked in. "You've got Isaiah Thomas, in my opinion one of the most un-guardable guys I've played against, and you've got a coach like Brad Stevens. "Honestly, I've said this to JJ before: it was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life, and kind of one of those gut-check moments. There's a lot of pretty funny stuff in there for real-deal Sixers fans, but one of the best stories comes when McConnell looks back on his first NBA game against the Boston Celtics: The two go back and forth about plenty of stuff, from McConnell's path to the league, his draft process, and his last four years of playing basketball in Philadelphia.
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