SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SIMON: Remembering a NASCAR icon. NBA playoffs, Knicks roll on in the East and the Thunder take the lead in the West. The Big Ten Networks' Michele Steele joins us. Michele, thanks for being with us.
MICHELE STEELE: Sure. Good morning, Scott.
SIMON: We begin with a very sad story. Kyle Busch died Thursday - two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, the all-time record holder for the most combined race wins. He was just 41. Busch family and NASCAR said he'd been hospitalized with a severe, unspecified illness. How are you going to remember Kyle Busch?
STEELE: I'm going to remember him, Scott, as someone who was the most complete racing talent of his generation. ESPN had a beautiful piece out this week that said, if you had five laps to go and a checkered flag to win, Kyle Busch is who you'd want behind the wheel. Lots of achievements, of course, on the field, so to speak - 234 combined wins in NASCAR. That record will probably never be touched. And just last week, he was in the victory lane at Dover. He was on the radio the next day, and he talked about mentoring young drivers and being more of an arm around the shoulder type. Just 41 years old, very respected, very well liked and still in his prime. Gone far too soon.
SIMON: NBA conference finals. Oklahoma City Thunder took a 2 game to 1 lead with last night's win over the San Antonio Spurs. Has the series been what it was hyped up to be?
STEELE: I would say so. This is such a fun series between a very young team that's very good with the thunder and a really fun story in San Antonio. They've got that 7-foot-4 Frenchman Victor Wembanyama. Looks like a dynasty in the make - people say he's 7-foot-5, Scott, I should say.
SIMON: Yeah. Yeah.
STEELE: But OKC was in control. Dominant for them. But San Antonio not going quietly. There was a little bit of a shoving match in the third quarter, and that tells you something. Both teams believe they can win this series. We'll see if that shoving match was a preview of games four and five.
SIMON: In the East, New York Knicks hold a two-game lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Game 3 is tonight in Cleveland. (Chanting) Cleveland rocks. Cleveland rocks. And they better rock tonight, right? It's hard to come back from a 3-0 deficit.
STEELE: So Cleveland gets a song, but no song for Oklahoma? I'm surprised.
SIMON: (Singing) Oklahoma...
STEELE: OK. That's...
SIMON: (Singing) ...Where the wind comes - all right, go ahead. Yeah.
STEELE: That's the Scott Simon we all know and love. Yes, it is make or break for Cleveland. I would lean towards break if they don't win tonight.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: The Knicks have looked just so good....
SIMON: Yeah, they have.
STEELE: ...Since the first round. They're playing with swagger. Their defense is suffocating. They're making Cleveland look lost. This is the best Knicks team I've seen. I think, since the '90s, you know, home court really doesn't guarantee anything in the postseason, especially against this Knicks team. And if the Cavs can't protect their own building, I think New York just walks into the finals.
SIMON: Got to ask you about PCA, OK? Last Sunday, Pete Crow-Armstrong, the sensational center fielder for the Chicago Cubs, was fined for swearing at a fan who had not been nice to him. Now, he apologized, but it - I mean, Michele, where's the line between playful banter between fans and players and outright insult? By the way, you know about the T-shirt being sold at Wrigley?
STEELE: Only at Wrigley, Scott.
SIMON: PC...
STEELE: Only at Wrigley.
SIMON: PCA says S-M-F-D-B, which gives you some idea of what he said.
STEELE: It's a family show, so we won't get into it. But listen, as far as what the fans said, there is certainly a line, and every single stadium has a code of conduct, not just baseball, but every sport. And there is a line, right? You'll get escorted out by security if you cross it. What she said was far short of that line. She wasn't very nice to him, just like you characterized it, but we live in a different world now. Between social media and sports gambling, players are heckled or harassed kind of around the clock.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: You know, they don't just boo you at the ballpark. They find your Instagram at midnight. Now, that doesn't excuse what PCA did. He was actually fined by the league for what he said. But I think the breaking point, the banter, it's gotten a lot thinner for these players. A former White Sox player told me this week, when opposing fans used to heckle him, they'd say - he would say, you're in the stands. I'm on the field. See you.
SIMON: Michele Steele, thanks so much.
STEELE: See you next time. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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