Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for December 22nd, 2025. I'm Dave DeFore. Here with Zena Keita and Espera Henning. Coming up, ooh, are the Thunder frauds? They dropped another game, guys. I don't know. We got to look into it. Rockets and Nuggets is shaping up like a real rivalry. And we're going to talk about Zena's interview with Steve Kerr for The Athletic Show.
Good morning, everybody. What's up, guys? Good to see you. We had a good weekend. Long time no see, guys.
I know.
It's been a minute, huh?
Chapter 2: Why are the Thunder struggling this season?
Yeah. I was excited to see you guys, though. It's been a couple days. You know, we were hanging out all last week. Had a great time at the NBA Cup.
Chapter 3: What makes the Rockets and Nuggets rivalry significant?
You know, I was worried about the Knicks and Spurs and us having NBA Cup hangovers. But, man, this was a really good weekend of basketball, including, all right, maybe the Thunder. are hung over from Vegas.
Chapter 4: What insights did Zena gain from her interview with Steve Kerr?
Yeah. Guys, look, not to hit the panic button, but they've dropped two of their last three. They're struggling a little bit, guys. Okay, let's be real here.
I was about to say, if you're going to go with the fraud stuff, that's crazy.
There are frauds, but there definitely is a little bit of fatigue, maybe, that we're seeing from the NBA Cup, but we'll see.
I would say this. Look, they lose a game against the Timberwolves, second night of a back-to-back, and the Wolves have been really good lately, and I think that being full strength
Chapter 5: Is this Steve Kerr's last season with the Warriors?
like they have been. Anthony Edwards just hit so many big shots and made huge plays, actually, on both ends. There was that sequence where he gets the block, hits the big step-back three, and then picks Shea Gildress-Alexander's dribble and ends the game. That's how you close the door on a team like OKC. So it was a huge win for the Wolves. I don't want to really just focus on the Thunder losing.
But I will say they have looked like, you know, hey, teams are able to meet their level of competition, which we hadn't quite seen all season. And it does help. We're watching them play maybe better competition. You know, the Spurs, we feel like they're pretty good. They're now third in the West, which is interesting in its own right.
And obviously this Timberwolves team has been really good and seen playoff success. So, you know, this isn't like a shocking turn of events.
Well, as long as you catch the thunder on the second night of a back-to-back, you should be good. You should be in good position.
Or as long as you're Minnesota. I mean, even though Minnesota, yes, they got the win recently, let's not forget that when they matched up with them back on, what, November 26th, they were pretty well matched as well. That was an incredibly tight game. And so there's something to it in terms of OKC's particular matchup with Minnesota.
But yeah, the back end of the back-to-back is always a time you can catch a team slacking. And most teams outside of the Thunder sometimes look at it as a scheduled loss. Like, it's cool if we drop that one. It makes sense. But I'm not looking too much into the fraud alert, Dave. Yeah.
I know Aaron Wiggins was out, and I know that that's going to be a point that comes up. But the Thunder are healthy now. And they lost. And so I do think, you know, look, we're going to watch this and we're going to watch every Thunder game because this is the sort of competition that we see every night. But this is a reminder that they're not a perfect team. You can beat them.
Yeah, absolutely. Also, like, I don't think they're, you know, you did say they're healthy now or they're healthier. I don't think Jalen Williams is particularly healthy yet.
Yeah.
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Chapter 6: How are injuries affecting the Thunder's performance?
Oh, I would go Denver, especially full strength. I think that's the fair answer. I think that's a fair answer.
What would be more high-flying and acrobatic and fun and dunks on everybody's heads, just torching folks? What, does Aaron Gordon not exist? Christian Brown doesn't exist? Well, well, well, you know. Well, they don't right now. They don't get there. They don't right now, exactly. So, you know, looking at the eye test right now, I feel like Houston would be a lot of fun.
I will say the Rockets are similar in the sense that, like, great defensive team, offensive team that's still trying to figure it out. I mean, they've been good offensively this year.
Half court looks interesting.
yeah exactly it's very similar so they'd clash heads more than the Nuggets which is a very different brand of basketball compared to OKC I don't know yeah you would see two different exactly two different brands of basketball in Denver and OKC which would make for a more intriguing game but just pure like excitement up and down pace would be crazy athletic unbelievable plays
And also buttery scoring out of Kevin Durant and A. Shea. Like, I don't know. It'd be a nice game, too, out of Houston, though.
Guys, stick around. After the break, we're going to talk about Zena's interview with Steve Kerr for The Athletic Show. And I'm trying to figure out, is this his last season coaching the Warriors? You guys might not know this, but Zena is the busiest person in sports media. I make that joke all the time, but it's legitimate. It's true. Yeah, we actually have a television show on Amazon Prime.
It's called The Athletic Show, and we're very proud that Zena is on that show with Robert Mays and Jason Goff. It's a great show. Sam Amick made an appearance on the most recent episode, but also... Zena had an exclusive interview with Steve Kerr and it was, it's worth your time. Zena, first of all, tell me about the athletic show and like, what are you guys doing over there?
Yeah, we shoot out of Chicago and it's a show that one, it gives the athletic vibe that you get within the app of cool stories, maybe some stories that you wouldn't have expected to see make headlines. But because we have a very vast newsroom, we get the access and we get the opportunity to kind of dive into some of those offbeat and topic type of stories.
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Chapter 7: What does the Timberwolves' recent success mean for the Thunder?
Because I think that Tim Duncan, Greg Popovich is a wonderful example. And the difference is, and this is what Steve has not seen yet. Kawhi Leonard.
Right.
Right.
Like, yeah, that's true.
Tim Duncan retires in 2016. Spurs won a championship in 2014. Right. With Kawhi. Like there was a next generation. There was a direction in which the Spurs aren't done yet. We're not quite finished yet. We still have something to squeeze out of this. And right now, there is no clarity as to what... Yeah, he's not staying.
It was really LaMarcus Aldridge, though, guys. It was like, he promised LaMarcus Aldridge he wouldn't leave. Okay, but he's also not staying to coach Brandon Pajemski, guys. Is Jimmy Butler the LaMarcus Aldridge of this situation? Is that where we're at? Where, A, as long as Jimmy...
Yeah, I don't know about that. No, I don't think so. I don't think so. But either way, there was a shift in, there's still something there. And I think that that's the only reason.
And by the way, that's one of the best coaches of all time. Yeah.
If we're talking about rings and success. And look, How many times have, and Zena, you'll know this, Dave, you'll know this, how many times have the Warriors themselves cited two timelines in direct conversation with the San Antonio Spurs? They have been trying so hard to toggle the exact same line the Spurs did and did successfully, but they haven't been able to do that.
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