HoS: Kevin O'Connor

In a way it’s been too long because we should have had Kevin O'Connor on sooner. The man delivers coverage that’s both comprehensive and prolific, plus he amiably powers through any backlash. I’m curious about how he does his thing and so I asked. Oh, and we discussed Elon Musk too.

The following outline comes courtesy of our resident intern, the astute Sam Schuette:

1. What’s the best way to watch games as an analyst?

   1. Watching one by one in the morning vs watching five different monitors all at once

   2. Clips vs full games

2. Reacting to draft hits and misses

   1. Killian “The French Cam Payne” Hayes

   2. How to react to a miss on a prediction/ranking

3. Going from covering one team to becoming the NBA generalist

   1. The added pressure of knowing everything about all 30 teams

4. Getting thick skin by growing up on the internet

   1. How arguments on online forums and comment sections can teach mental resilience

5. Yes, the goddamn Lillard trade standoff we can’t avoid in any pod

   1. Similar situation to Durant in Brooklyn

   2. Waiting it out is more appealing to Portland than it seems

6. Changing team allegiances as a journalist

   1. Rooting for the Lakers and Heat as a Celtics fan?

   2. The temptation to root based on how the outcome validates a take

7. Controversy over KOC’s Elon tweet

   1. When Musk responded to a troll tweet about Kawhi Leonard’s trade destination

8. Separating what a person does from what they say

   1. Liking someone’s actions more than their words

9. Kevin Garnett as a basketball muse

   1. The power of the individual player in changing a team’s culture

10. J. Kyle Mann, Caitlin Cooper, and underrated NBA writers

11. KOC’s on-air partners

    1. Big Wos the “takesman”

    2. Chris Vernon’s Dolan-Putin analogy