This is an IHeart podcast.

You're tuned in to Heat Check with Trista Crick.

On this episode of The Heat Check, it's a bonus episode.

CBS Sports Radio Basketball Insider, one of my favorites, Bill Ryder.

Bill, he's about as connected as anyone in the NBA,

and he is here to break down Kevin Durant's debut with the Suns,

RIP Kevin Durant for the rest of the season,

and the deep dive story he wrote about the dysfunction with the Atlanta Hawks.

The interview was conducted on BedMGM tonight, my other betting show.

Get right to it, Nick.

Let's drop that generic ass beat.

Thank you. my other betting show. Get right to it, Nick. Let's drop that generic ass beat. We start the interview by asking Bill,

his assessment of the Phoenix Suns

now that Kevin Durant is playing on this team.

He had some great insight into KD

and what impact he's going to have on the Suns moving forward this year and beyond.

Yeah, how do you guys?

Great to be on.

I'm 100% with you, and I'm normally very reluctant to buy into the hype that major additions, right?

Superstars going somewhere are going to automatically click at any point early in that product, let alone in February, March, this deep, right, three quarters of the way into a season. But I saw the same thing that you saw, and certainly the same thing, that at least three GMs that I texted saw, who didn't love it since they're not, they were not the Phoenix Sun's GMs. You're right, instant chemistry. He looked like he had absolutely zero rust, which made sense. I heard they were going to wait to bring it back until he was physically able just in terms of the injury. And everything that we thought Kevin Durant would do, make life easier for Jim Booker, make it not matter if Chris Paul has an off night, and CP3 certainly did, at least from a shooting perspective make diongrey a

guy that can just do the dirty stuff and not have to be even the third most important player

on the floor and just be kevin durant if he can fit in it all went perfectly according to plan

...