SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
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SIMON: NBA playoffs set. So are the NHL's. And is the rich LIV Golf running out of money? Sports writer Howard Bryant joins us. Howard, thanks so much for being with us.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott. How are you?
SIMON: I'm fine. Well, better than the Golden State Warriors.
BRYANT: Oh, bye-bye, Golden State.
SIMON: Yeah. NBA playoffs tip off today. The Orlando Magic and the Phoenix Suns clinched their spots last night. The Suns defeated the Warriors. I don't know what - the Spurs, the Pistons, the Celtics and last year's defending champs, the Oklahoma City Thunder, do you think they all have the best shot? What do you think?
BRYANT: Well, I think the best team is the defending champs, which is Oklahoma City. They're - I think they are the favorite. I think they're the ones that everybody has to go through. I - it's going to be great to see if Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs are ready to make that leap. They won 60 games this year, and this is the future we've all been talking about.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: At what point is Wemby going to have liftoff? And this is it. The Pistons had a great year. They won 60 games as well. People don't seem to believe much in them, though. One of those teams that had a great season, but are they playoff ready? To me, the team that obviously has the most pressure on them is the New York Knicks. They fired their coach, Tom Thibodeau, last year after they didn't get to the finals. They are supposedly finals-or-bust built. And if they're going to get there, they will probably have to go through the Celtics...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Who suddenly were supposed to be rebuilding after Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles, and Tatum made a remarkable comeback, came back this season. And Boston's got to get through Philadelphia. And if we get a Celtics-Knicks second round, that will be a blockbuster. Talk about rivalry.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: Celtics-Sixers and then Celtics-Knicks. My goodness.
SIMON: Stanley Cup playoffs begin this afternoon. The Colorado Avalanche has the best record in the league, but the Carolina Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres look pretty good too, don't they?
BRYANT: And Dallas is great too. And we're got to get a new champion this year for the first time in a couple of years. Florida...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Didn't make the tournament this year, but obviously, if you look at the records, Colorado's the best team. Dallas is an excellent team. But to me, I always say that you have to - you know, you're not the champion till you beat the champions. Edmonton has gone to the last two Stanley Cups in the West. They've won the conference twice, and so let's not forget about them. But for my money, as well, the team in the East. I am not disrespecting the Buffalo Sabres.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: They've had a great season too. But I still look - and they're playing the Montreal Canadiens, but I still look at the Tampa Bay Lighting as a team to really watch out for come tournament time as well. When the postseason starts, it's a different game.
SIMON: Multiple reports this week say that Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund might be ready to pull its funding of the LIV Golf circuit. What's happened?
BRYANT: Well, what's happened is that you've got a war over there, and the world is pretty unstable. And the term force majeure, which is the act of God, is forcing this - these changes. However, there's also conversations that maybe the war is being used as the red herring to get out of a bad deal, that the LIV Golf experiment, they were printing money. But if the Saudis pull out, then it's a very, very different ball game for that tournament. It's one of the reasons why I always fear the word - I fear the word disruption.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: People like their tournaments. They like - love the players, and it's player driven, and the players made a ton of money. But it's also - let's not forget, people love their tournaments, and they love their traditions. They love the Masters and the British Open and the PGA championships as well. So you still have to have that combination as to why people watch.
SIMON: Finally, it's good to see Mike Trout of the LA Angels - one of the greatest baseball players in recent history - back in good form, isn't it?
BRYANT: It's fantastic. He'll be 35 this year. And when you look at someone like Mike Trout, he's - there was a time he was the superstar in the game, one of the greatest players who ever lived. He's only been in the playoffs once, and it was when he was 23 years old - a top five MVP, three-time MVP this first nine years in the league. And he's one of those superstars that we - whose career we've missed because the Angels just haven't been very good.
SIMON: Sports writer Howard Bryant. Thanks so much. Talk to you soon, my friend.
BRYANT: Oh, my pleasure, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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