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In a joint Instagram post Wednesday between James, Smith, Thompson and Frye, the caption read: "The group chat finally linked up." Another joint post between Jefferson, Love, Thompson and Frye included a video of Thompson delivering drinks to the group on the course, captioned: "We all have roles."
Channing Frye: "You know the difference between Jalen Brunson and Donovan Mitchell is Brunson is a true number one. I do not think Donovan Mitchell is a true number one take you to the NBA Finals person. Do I think he is a great player? Yes. I think he is a two also. You have to bring a one in there, a real one."
Channing Frye: Ime Udoka is a great coach. Kevin Durant does not fit on this version of the Houston Rockets. Also, Ime is a very intense coach. If you look at what the Rockets were compared to what they are now, you look at what Boston was to what they are now.
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Channing Frye on Victor Wembanyama: "He is the NBA's golden child. He's crying during regular season games. He's out reading books. He's a hooper. He be talking [ __ ] He don't like other teams. He's a dog. He plays defense. He says things out loud that everyone assumes, right? And he says them with this like, ‘Oh, I'm going to work towards it.’ He's not saying like, ‘Oh, I deserve it.’ He's saying, ‘Yes, I have to step on the gas.’” “There's humility, but then there's like the the journey of like, dude, even if you don't make it, I respect the [ __ ] out of you. That that is a goal that you have because a lot of guys wouldn't put that out there.”
Channing Frye: “Can I ask this question? Do you think the young stars in Houston think that KD came in there to elevate them, or to be like, ‘Y’all need me, and then you’re not as good without me’? Do you think they think that? Because if I were a young guy there—and this is just what I’m going to say—they were second in the West last year. KD comes to that team and says, ‘Yo, run your offense through me. I’ll take you to the promised land,’ whatever.” And they’re like, ‘Do we really need you like that?’” And then now KD goes, ‘Well, you know what? Maybe I just need to sit in a corner.’ I don’t know if this ever happened, but the burner account thing happened.” That seems very passive-aggressive. You know what I’m saying? Maybe I just need to let them dribble the ball more. If I’m a player in Houston, a young guy, I’m going, ‘Dog, I was second in the West. We were second in the West without you, and you came here.' None of that is uplifting. And I’m not saying that KD is saying that on purpose, but you can see that when things get tough, they’re like, ‘Man, you go do it. You go do it.’ And that’s a bad chemistry sign that I see.”
“Guys, who are your connectors?” Kendrick Perkins “Yeah, they’re definitely not having team dinners, I can tell you that.” Channing Frye: “Hell no.” Kendrick Perkins “You can tell that after the games, after practices, everybody goes their separate ways. There’s no camaraderie, no hangouts. Nobody’s pulling them together to do [__]. Again, I’m just looking at it overall. When I go back to the trade deadline, it’s like the Rockets put out publicly that Amen Thompson and Sengun were untouchable when you had Giannis on the table. Was that really the right message to be putting out there? They’re untouchable when you’ve got Giannis? Giannis with the Rockets—now all of a sudden he becomes Batman, and KD could be the Robin. That’s a dangerous Robin. I would say more like 1A and 1B, right? Because Giannis, the way that he applies pressure, would open up so much for KD.”
One of the most outspoken members of that Thunder team in recent years has been Kendrick Perkins who was little more than a role player on those OKC teams. During a recent appearance on ‘Road Trippin,’ with Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye, Kendrick Perkins recalled a time from those Thunder teams when Scott Brooks called out both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook for being too selfish on the court. “We’re in New York, we’re playing the Brooklyn Nets. I was in Oklahoma City and we lost. KD and Russ, we had 92 shot attempts as a team. KD and Russ took 80 of them,” Perkins said. “We walked up in the practice gym afterwards and he [Scott Brooks] told Thabo [Sefolosha], we’re all huddled up at half court. Scott Brooks gave the ball to Thabo and he said, ‘Here Thabo, shoot the ball two times.’ Thabo took two shots.”
Tomer Azarly: Tyronn Lue on game planning with a stretch-5 in Brook Lopez on the Clippers: “I’m back to my Channing Frye and Kevin Love days back in Cleveland. Just a lot of stuff that I’m comfortable with and he’s getting comfortable with now.”
Tyronn Lue on game planning with a stretch-5 in Brook Lopez on the Clippers:
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) October 14, 2025
“I’m back to my Channing Frye and Kevin Love days back in Cleveland. Just a lot of stuff that I’m comfortable with and he’s getting comfortable with now.” pic.twitter.com/bQObwSBAWk
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Who have been some of your favorite NBA colleagues to share wine with? CJ McCollum: I'm from Ohio, so I've obviously drank wine with LeBron. Kevin Love has a great palate. He drinks a variety of wine. Channing Frye. Carmelo Anthony always brings some unique wines and he’s heavy on white burgundy. Terry Stotts has a good palate. Coach Willie Green enjoys his wine. I've shared some different Pinots with him. It’s cool to drink with players, but I would say I enjoy drinking wine with my wife the most. We've got special occasion bottles. Birthday and celebratory bottles. Birth year bottles. We enjoy opening a bottle and sharing stories. We've had some unique experiences over the course of our life.
Richard Jefferson: Let me say this: I’m not accusing anybody. I'm saying there are scenarios where things like this can go on without a player’s knowledge—because it’s happened to me personally. Right, Channing? I think you had an experience early in your career too. Channing Frye: Yeah. Richard Jefferson: So we can't speak on what Kawhi did or didn’t know. There are scenarios where Kawhi did know. There are also scenarios where he didn’t know and this was a backdoor deal. We don’t know. And we might never know—because it would basically take a confession.
When the topic was first mentioned during the episode, Frye started the segment by questioning the motive behind Torre’s investigation, per ESPN’s Road Trippin. “First of all, why you snitchin? Who cares? Do you know how much this lemon perfect bottle was? Probably 28 cents. This is what Steve Ballmer thinks of $28 million. He’s oh, here you go. You want this? He don’t care,” Frye said. “Also, why you snitchin? The reporter’s snitchin.”
Co-host Richard Jefferson reminded Channing Frye that it’s Pablo Torre’s job to investigate, whereas the player — Leonard — is supposed to keep the reported endorsement deal a secret. “The reporter’s job is to snitch. Our job is to keep it quiet, right?” Ballmer didn’t tell,” Jefferson said. “Kawhi didn’t tell. So, Pablo’s doing what he’s supposed to do and he’s doing an absolute great job. Shout him out for this investigation. Again, all of these things are allegedly.”