P.K. Subban talks NBA, NHL: ‘One thing I wish hockey had’

TVA Sports analyst Ren Lavoie discusses the Montreal fans falling in love with Shea Weber, says they’ll never forget P.K. Subban, but they've definitely moved on from the trade.

Hockey fans enamoured by the Toronto Raptors‘ run to the Eastern Conference Finals last spring would’ve spotted a familiar face in the floor seats.

The life-embracing P.K. Subban, who stays busy with extra curricular activities, says that aside from his five-star vacations, being able to catch so many live NBA playoff games was the highlight of his off-season.

“That was fun,” Subban says, beaming. “I wasn’t in the playoffs and, remember, I missed the last 15 games due to injury, so just being in that game atmosphere and seeing the players that intense and being so close to the action — that’s one thing I wish hockey had.

“You’re courtside and the guys are flying by you. You could touch players. It’s a different kind of feeling than being behind glass and boards. I’d never experienced that before, so that was cool for me.”

Subban, a Toronto native, attended one game with Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista and traveled to Cleveland and Indiana to take in road games.

“I’ve had the opportunity to meet LeBron and have a relationship not just with him but his whole team, and they’re great people. He’s a champion,” the Nashville Predators defenceman says.

“It’s so different, though, between basketball and hockey. Basketball, you can have one or two [elite] players and that wins you a championship. In hockey, you need a whole team. For him, the impact he has on his team and the sport, he’s a great person to learn from. I’m a big fan of him. How could you not be? He’s so successful.”

After James fulfilled his mission and brought a championship to long-suffering Cleveland, the biggest NBA news was free agent Kevin Durant’s can’t-beat-’em, join-’em move to the Golden State Warriors.

What does Subban think of Durant’s much-criticized decision?

“In basketball, the players have more leeway and flexibility in terms of their future and where they can play. In hockey, you don’t have control over that until you’re 26 or 27 or you’ve played a certain amount of years in the league. It’s almost safe to say that when you’re drafted, the team almost owns you,” he says.

“I’d have to play in basketball to understand that move. So much talk and debate around it, but there’s no question Golden State has a lot of weapons now.”

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