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Night Sky. This is Winner Take All. And it's all happening now on the home of the NBA Finals. Don't miss it, June 3rd on ABC and the ESPN app. This is The Rich Eisen Show.
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Now, on with the show. But I've never seen the Knicks play this way. It's unbelievable. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Rich Eisen?
Oh, that's Susie Eisen Heltons. With guest host, Susie Schuster. Today's guests, sports radio legend, Christopher Mad Dog Russo, senior NBA writer for the ringer, Howard Beck. Basketball Hall of Famer, Shaquille O'Neal. And now, sitting in for Rich, it's Susie Schuster.
Well, hello, everybody. Happy to be with you. Susie Schuster in Farich Isen is currently 60,000 feet over somewhere on his way to New York. He's presenting at the Emmys tonight in New York, so time to hold our breath, guys, as I sit here and agonize over the best sports host category, if you know what I'm talking about. If you know what I'm talking about, TJ Jefferson, good morning, sir.
The candle is lit. Good to see you. Candle's barely lit, you know, because there's three wicks here and only one's working, so we got to work on this. You got to do something. Are we out?
Can we get a new one? What are we doing over there? You messed up how I was going to start the show, though. I was going to start off by going, What's up, what's up, what's up? Good morning.
Good afternoon. Did I throw you by going to you before Chris Brockman? Is that what happened? Yeah, I wasn't used to it. I was going to go counterclockwise today.
He's going to change things up, see if you're paying attention. Yeah, that was just a big what's up, what's up, what's up? What's up, what's up, what's up? If you know, you know. He threw me off.
Mikey, I tried to keep you on your toes here, okay? I was ready for Brockman, me, TJ. TJ wasn't ready. I think he did basically did throw TJ off. Yeah, because normally everyone goes that way.
Guys, I'm like that. I try to keep it fresh here. I'm here. I like it. I'm trying to keep it fresh.
Christopher, how are you this morning? Hey, I'm Wandafo. How's your mom? 60,000 feet? That's high.
I don't think he's that high, right? I mean, it depends on.
Well, he's probably still high based on his performance yesterday at the barbecue. But hey, great to see you. Great to be here. What's happening? I thought that was your segue.
But he's still high off of the win the Knicks win. I mean, you guys, that game yesterday, let's just have a quick conversation about this. 130 to 93. A lot of times, I mean, Hey, Cleveland was up 8-2, guys. It was 8-2.
Analytically, the Cavs looked great. Analytically, they did great. Analytically, they were balling. Game 5, analytically, by the way, coming up on Thursday. We're going to come over and watch that game.
Analytically is happening on Thursday. Coming over to watch the analytic game five on Thursday. Look, I said it here last week. You guys called me crazy. It was over after game one.
The series was over after game one, after Cleveland blew the 22-point lead with seven and changed to go. It was done. Absolute toast. This series went exactly how we all thought. Knicks in four, and now they're going to the finals, and now they have eight days off, TJ, before game one on June 3rd.
And they're just going to sit back, sit back like Red Hour back in the lounge chair with a cigar. They're going to sit back. They're going to relax. But they're already healthy. They're going to get, oh, there's always time for an ice bath.
I guess. I guess. But when you're hot, like these Knicks have been in the last 11 games, a historic run to the NBA Finals, a point margin we've never seen in the history of basketball. They've won 11 straight games. I don't know if you want eight days off.
You want to keep the good times rolling here. Yeah. But we got at least two more games in the West. We got Spurs and Thunder tonight. That is going to be epic.
I imagine this series has been fantastic, but this is all about New York right now. A very likable group, TJ. Mm-hmm. Happy for them. Happy for their fans.
They've got a really well-known and passionate fan base. And, you know, they're. Are you really happy for their fan base? No, I hate all of them, but I am happy for them because everyone should get to experience the joy of their favorite team winning a championship, regardless of my personal feelings for them. It is the coolest thing as a sports fan that you can experience.
And, you know. Hopefully, they get to do that, and I'm going to go vomit now. Yeah, and Rocket Arena really did sound like New York City last night. It was exciting for them to watch. And the way those fans travel, because we know that those New York fans travel.
They're Chalamé, baby. Yeah. I mean, I think I myself pay attention, of course, because Jenner was there. Who are you kidding? We know who makes the money.
But it's been a wild ride. TJ, we obviously we've never seen anything like this. I mean, what what was your reaction to watching these games?
Well, like you said, I I always say this, and Rich kind of rolls his eyes. I'm like, sometimes a story has already been written, and now we're just reading it. The Knicks are winning the Larry O.B. this year, man. There's not a doubt in my mind.
I'm just going to call it. Putting it out there. And what you said, Chris, right? They've got this time off. But what else the Knicks have going for them, Suze?
I don't love the time off. Is health. They're healthy. No hamstrings. No Spurs and the Thunder are going to beat the crap out of each other for the next week or so, right?
Fox's ankle won't get better. Jalen Williams' hammy won't get better. All the little injuries that they have are not going to get better. The Knicks are healthy and they're sitting there chilling. I don't know, man.
I feel like this is... I feel like this is the Knicks year. And I've got a lot of friends from New York. I love New York. It's my favorite city.
A lot of my friends are Knicks fans. I'm happy for them. It was another reason, TJ, that I went to the bad phone to call up Dr. Shaquille O'Neal because he knows about sweeps and he knows about sitting there waiting as he sat and waited in 2000 and was it 2001 with a series of sweeps before they went on to the game they went 15-1 in that playoffs right that just won game one that was their only loss of the playoffs yeah i was there yeah it was back in the day where you have to go find a like everybody wants you to do a stand-up holding a broom You know what I mean? Like it's like all the local.
Well guys, the Lakers got out their brooms last night sweeping their way. I mean like all that like all the shtick that goes with like, you know, that kind of coverage. It's great. Can't wait to see all the brooms in New York. Local.
But yeah, I mean, let me tell you something. Phil Jackson would got into his Jed A. mind tricks trying to keep the guys entertained and focused while they had days off. And that's exactly what Mike Brown's going to have to do. But I I think you're right.
I think that You can say, and it is true. Like, you really want to have the competition, but I'm going to tell you right now, I'd rather have a healthy team than a short amount of time, no matter what. Yeah, four days off, though. Eight's a lot. It's a lot, but eight's a lot.
I would almost schedule some scrimmages against the boys at Rucker Park, bring in the Globetrotters. Is there a select team you can? I mean, I can round up some of my boys. We can go play. I'm sure Shakespeare's going to be a good player.
That'd be great. That'd be great. Jalen Brunson would really love to, you know, they need to get some run. You need to hang out with a bunch of like five foot ten guys. I was watching Coop play with his boys.
They could, yesterday, they could hoop a little bit. I don't know. I feel like eight's a long day, a long rest, but we'll see how the rest of the West. A shakes out, maybe. Because I've got two weeks off for my undefeated team in Goldies League.
I mean, what am I supposed to do? What are you going to do? You got to keep the girls stressing out. Yeah, you got to keep the fires burning. I'm taking them to UCLA.
Corey Close is going to let us do a scrimmage over there. There you go. Against the Brooks. See, that's what I mean. That's what Mike Brown should be doing.
That's not like your friends. Find some AAU teams. Yeah. You know? Remember that they had nine days off after they swept the Sixers and they swept the calves.
So these got their asses kicked in game one until the last seven minutes.
So the rust was real until Brunson just took over. For about 36 minutes, I guess. Let's talk about Brunson. Let's talk about him being the third highest paid player on this team. And his unselfish play and what he represents and him just He is, he's exactly representative of who this team is.
I would say, your friend Cat, too, by the way, you might want to send him a gift for making it. You should send Kat a gift. You should send him a gift. I don't know how to get in touch with Kat. I'll hook you up.
We know Kat was all paling on me, but when the Cowboys beat the Eagles, I couldn't get in touch with Kat. Would you like me to help you out, TJ? No, I don't want to mess with him, man. I'm going to leave his mind right. He's got big now.
You sound like Rich. That's preposterous. By the way, that's yeah. That's it. You're not wrong.
Because I'm always thinking about. Oh, I don't want to bother Dusty May. He's going on every other show except ours. I don't want to bother him. Should I see if I can have Dusty May call in tomorrow?
He'd be so mad. I mean, we talked. Yeah, we talked about it. It was kind of funny. We talked to him after the natty, but my point is: while they were on their run, can't come on the show.
I don't want to bother him. Really? I think he can take 10 minutes to talk to us. I'm always talking about it. I think Cat can take 10 minutes to answer whatever you want to send him answer.
That's what I'm saying. Cat's going to day off tomorrow. Yeah, I mean, why can't he zoom in? That's what I'm saying. Okay, we get on it.
Let's go. Let me make it happen. Let's go. Just to annoy you guys.
Now it's a flex thing. And Richard's so jealous. Why would that annoy us? It might annoy the other person that sits in that chair. Yeah.
He'd be very annoyed. And that's a shame. And. Has he told you this, that the last time the Knicks won, it was his thirtieth birthday? Yeah, he made a video yesterday.
Did he? Yeah, last time they went to the finals. Last time they went to the finals. Last time they won, he was four. Pardon me.
Yeah. He had a party in downtown Manhattan at a place called Denial. Good sign. A lot of ESPN people coming in. Good omen.
The Nile was a river in Egypt. It was. It was. Yeah. I mean, I'm just saying.
It it was a big day for him. It let him forget about how average the Inkies are for right now.
So it was a nice way for him to concentrate on the positive and yeah, I mean. We've got a big game coming up. Do you really think it's going to be The SPURS and not OKC. I'm curious about what your prognostication is. Is that a question?
For now, I thought you were teasing. I don't know. I prefer the way San Antonio plays basketball as opposed to the other team that they're playing, and I'm rooting for them. Yeah. I think that I'm feeling the magic of pop.
I'm channeling that right now.
So I'm just saying that I just feel like that succession way that he shows up at the airport he has all season long, the way he showed up in the locker room, Darren Fox talking about how he rallied the troops, what have you. I don't know, TJ. I like what I'm seeing there. I like the fact that they're figuring out how to stop it. You can't stop Shay.
You can only hope to contain the flop. I'm pretty easy on this, right? Like, while Brockman all year and many of the NBA fans were complaining about the flopping, and I air quote, flop, because not all of it's flopping, a lot of it is. I'm starting to turn now. I'm starting to turn because I'm seeing people constantly hit the ground.
I posted a video on my Instagram, Brockman, the other day of Alan Iverson highlights. 5'11. Let's be honest: 5'11. Yard and a half. Nobody got beat up more than I got.
No one got beat up more than Alan Iverson. And yet there was a two-minute video of him driving to the rack. I said two, him driving to the rack. Not one time did Allen Iverson hit the ground. Not one time in this two-minute video that had countless clips of him going to the basket, getting hit.
Like, so this all this fall constant falling. Yeah, I'm I'm starting to now. Get on the side of everyone who's a little upset by this. This is kind of insane.
Well, it's a little bit like Caitlin Clark, I have to say. Like, after a while, you're like, okay, stop complaining and just play. It gets a little tiring. You know, I'm a huge Caitlin Clark fan. But after a while, it's like, you know what, stop going to the ref every time.
Stop going. And I think Shay's in the same boat where it's like, you know what, it's kind of like, oh, okay, oh, yeah. Like, and there are. And I snuffed out. I zoomed in a lot.
There were times where the defenders don't give him room to come down. But A lot of times. I saw a cut up yesterday, too, of his first couple years with the Clippers. Never fell. Never fell.
But he never had this many shots. He wasn't the man. But he was driving to the rack, taking step backs, all this stuff. Never went to the ground once. And someone was like, who taught him to play like this?
And by the way, if somebody taught him to play this way, regardless whether they. Taught him or not, if it works, you keep doing it, right?
Well, he's won back-to-back. He scored like this. He's won back-to-back MVPs. He's averaging 30 points a game, and there are still the favorites to win to win another championship. And he's spaghetti in space.
I mean, the body, it's so funny how you teach these kids to hold your shot. He just seems to expand in the air, right? I mean, what was it? The Onion post over the weekend of like trying to draw a foul while shooting a free throw, and it's him like flopping on the free throw line. Yeah.
Yeah, it's tough. It's tough. I'm running for the Spurs, but I mean, who knows what I think if you had Shaq, Shaq's rooting for the food. Who are you? Is this going seven?
Yeah. Or do we think it's going seven? I mean, OKC does have the two home games. That's a huge advantage, obviously. Definitely.
I'm hoping it goes seven just for more basketball. Right. We're seeing incredible basketball. I mean, we're last night was okay a blow up, but over there we're seeing incredible basketball. And it's fun.
And it's fun that everyone's watching this and it's fun to watch Wemby and it's fun to watch Wemby l like parachute a a ball from half court at a buzzer. I will ask Shaquille O'Neill today what he would do with Wemby. Oh, he would eat him alive. I mean, this is Shaq Diesel we're talking about. It is, but at the same time, when you when you have a player like him and you're coming out to guard him because you've got to come out so far out, What do you do?
And who's coming around the other side? Yeah, that would have been Ho Grant's job. They would have probably put him out there to go check. Oh, that's nice. But what, like, nobody.
How especially that, Chris, that. 99 to like 0203, Shaq. You can't do anything with that, man. No, you couldn't do it. Nobody could stop that guy in the history of the sport.
MDE, most dominant ever. Yeah, he would destroy Wemby down low. But then, you know, I don't know if Shaq's playing D on Wemby. 30 feet from the basket. That's what I'm saying.
But that's exact, that's my point, exactly. That half court. You will ask him, what do you do? That half time was so sick. Like, you could see Wemby eyeing that the whole time.
He's like, give me the ball. I'm going to take two dribbles and I'm going to shoot it from half court. And I'm going to make it. Bam! And it was like, oh, God, that was awesome.
Yeah, that was pretty dope. I love Wemby. Wemby is amazing. We need Wemby. And that is a square garden.
Doing the finals things. I saw him play at MSG at Christmas two years ago, and he nearly threw up a 50-piece. It was unbelievable, and I cannot wait to see him. He's already established himself. I think he's the best player in the league already.
And I think if he may, you know, get the finals, the national, big picture, all the casuals are going to be watching, not just the diehards like us. I think everyone's going to see how special this guy is, and he's just going to rock it into a new stratosphere in terms of fame and face of the league. And we need it, TJ. I'm done with the flopping. I'm done with OKC.
You guys are toast. Love George Kittle. Don't need to see you courtside. Let's go. I'm not going to say the thunder are toast, and I'm not going to say I'm not saying that they're toast, but like, let's go.
San Antonio, new blood. But it's time there are new blood. Yeah, but I'm already sick of them. And so is everyone else. Mad Dog will tell it will echo exactly what I'm saying.
Mad Dog always says it like it is. And that's why I called them to come on. Let's do it.
So let's take a break. When we come back, Christopher Matt. Don't go anywhere. We've got win-loss all day, guys. I'm sitting in the chair.
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And my first thought was, can I call Christopher Russo and ask him to come on, please, to spend some time with us talking about this Knicks victory? And Chris, you always answer the phone for me. I so appreciate it. I don't take it for granted. Are you as excited about this next win as my husband Rich is?
I saw the video there with Richard. I am not a Knick fan. I was rooting for the Lakers in the early 70s when the Knicks, of course, beat them two out of three.
So I am not a Knick fan per se, but I understand the euphoria that a Knick fan is dealing with right now. I mean, 27 years before they were in the final, killing everybody left and right, down 2-1 to Atlanta. They blew him out three straight games. Obviously, Philadelphia making shots. The offense, the Knicks have never at times struggled offensively.
Their offense right now looks just, you know, I mean, it's phenomenal with everybody making contributions, including the bench. I was not for firing Thibodeau. Let's give Mike Brown his bouquet. He's done a great job with, you know, moving around this offense and getting contributions from everybody besides Jalen Brunson, who did bail him out after game one.
So, I mean, listen, I certainly get the idea that the Knick fan right now feels on top of the world.
Now, I will throw a little cold water on it for a minute. Number one, the Eastern Conference is terrible. Cleveland State. Philadelphia won their game seven in Boston. No Ambi'd, 44, 45 wins, not a big team.
And Atlanta is not a good basketball team. And the Celtics were not whole or a year without Tatum.
So I will throw a little Cold Water on it. The West was much better. OKC and San Antonio, big-time teams, both won 60 games.
So I will do that. And we shall see how the Knicks handle the next round. But I wouldn't bet against them. They got too much flow right now, too much continuity, and a lot of confidence. Give them credit.
They're that hell of a job. Why do you think it's working right now? Why is it working? It's a good question. I don't know.
I mean, you know, they've been together for a couple of years. Owen Obi and Towns and Brunson and Hart and Bridges.
So they've been together a little bit.
So I think that's got a little something to do with it. You know, last year they probably, you know, they got unlucky against Indiana in game one. I think Browns, you know, offense has had some effect. They got a good draw. You know, Indiana last year was a very good team.
These group of teams were not good. They got a good draw. And sometimes God plays in the games. You know, they got a good flow going.
Sometimes it's your time for your team. You know, I've seen it in sports with a lot of teams. Start with the Giants when they beat the Phillies in a World Series and beat the Texas in a World Series in 10, won their first championship. I felt all through the playoffs the Giants were going to get lucky and win. 96 Yankees felt that.
Sometimes it's maybe just your year. And I think there's a little something to that here with this Knick team. And Brunson, of course, is, you know, he's a great clutch player in big spots. You know, he's not the greatest Knick of all time. That's ridiculous.
He's not Willis Reed, who won two championships, beat Wes Balor and Wilt Chamberlain. For crying out loud, made the first two shots in game seven. He's not Clyde, one of the all-time greats who won two titles, too. He's not on that level, but I don't even think he's on the Ewing level. Oh, but I mean, not right now, he's not.
How about winning a championship first? You know, Ewing got the two finals. How about winning a championship? Plus, Ewing had to beat Jordan, how to beat Akeem Elijah. I mean, he had to get through Jordan all the time.
One of the great plus he got burned with a terrible decision with that fight with the Heat. I mean, Ewing was star-crossed as the Knicks. He got really unlucky in his whole career.
So, I mean, again, I can understand a Knicks fan putting in ahead of Ewing. I think that is the dividing line right now. But he's not Willis and he's not Clyde. That's not fair. Those two guys won two championships.
Willis also won an MVP. And let's not forget that Willis won the first championship with Clyde in Knicks history. Plus, they beat West, Baylor, and Wilson. Three Hall of Famers, three arguably top 10, top 15 players in the history of the NBA in a seventh game.
So we got to take it easy a little bit on that. Yeah, okay, Dog. I'm glad you hit on all that because I did want to ask you about the Brunson all-time rank talk that's been kind of taking over everyone's thoughts and then all the shows right now.
So you, top five, where is a championship put on? I would put them, I mean, let's say wins a championship. How about if I grant you ahead of Ewing? Doesn't win a championship. How about if I put him fourth behind Ewing?
I mean, Ewing played for the next 15 years. Ewing is a top 50 player in the history of the NBA. Blunson is not a top 50 player in the history of the NBA.
So you got to put all that into the equation. And again, Ewing had to beat Jordan. I mean, now, geez, Jordan beat Ewing a ton of times. And then Elijah Wan, one of the great players. Did the Atlanta Hawks have Elijah Wan on the team?
I must have missed it. How about Cleveland? You think Jordan's a little better than Donovan Mitchell? Not to mention Pippen. I must have missed it.
So let's put a little break on all that. But again, if they do beat Wembayama, and I still think it's going to be Oklahoma City, if they do beat SGA, or if they beat the Spurs, and they're not going to have home court, and then I think we can have another discussion. Right now, I put them, and I have trouble putting them over to Busher, but right now I'll put him fourth to make the Knicks fan happy. Fourth. I mean, I was still going to go next, but now I want to hear about why you think it's OKC.
Yeah. I think OKC, I think they're going to beat the Spurs. I think OKC, you know, they've got to get their two players back. They got two injuries right now, Mitchell and Williams, and they both need them back. But OKC's got two centers, Holman and Hartenstein, who will make it difficult for Towns and Robinson.
SGA will be the best player on the court. They got home field, home court. They got experience. They won a championship, and they won it in a game seven. And they got a better bench than the Knicks do.
So because of those reasons, I would pick OKC. If I was a Knicks fan, I would move for the Spurs to get through this series. And they could. I don't think they will, but they could. I would moot for the Spurs only because of youth.
The Knicks played well against San Antonio in a regular year. They won two out of three.
So I would moot for the Spurs, but I do think Knicks Thunder, I think you got to give an edge to the Thunder in the final. I really do. Plus, the Conference is much better. Guys, guys, the Atlanta Hawks stink. The Cleveland Cavaliers stink.
They're not a big-time team. Jared Allen is not a big player. Moby's pretty good. Harden never wins. And Mitchell's very good.
That's it. That's their team. And Atkinson wasn't exactly red arrow back in this series. Let's be also fair there. And the Knicks also always beat Philly.
And B didn't play in a couple of games. And the Sixers pulled. They're not a great team. They won 44, 45 games.
So let's put a little break on the idea that the Knicks got through, you know, essentially, you know, they didn't beat the 86 Celtics to get to the final. Let's keep that in mind. Can we stay on Cleveland? Where does that analytics quote from Atkinson rank on the dumbest things you've ever heard? Yeah.
And he's down three. Oh, and he gives me the analytics quote. Come on, Kenny. Who, by the way, who I love because I loved him with the Brooklyn Nets. I thought he got fired unceremoniously.
And then, of course, he did a terrible job. In game one, when you have a 22-point lead with 752 to go, it is your job as a coach to figure out how to steer that plane into landing.
Okay, that's your job. You got a 22-point lead, call the right timeout, get the ball out of Brunson's hands, get the ball into Mitchell. I mean, figure out to get a basket or two or a stop or two. I don't need to hear about analytics or about fluidity or about Steve Kerr and all that nonsense. You got 752 left in the game.
You got a 22-point lead. Mix it flat as a pancake, haven't played well, win the game. That's the coach's job in that spot. He didn't do that. Throw that on top of the game three with the data, and there's your answer.
A rough series for Kenny Atkinson. Let's put it that way. Rough series. I don't know how you come back from it. I honestly don't understand when you say something.
I mean, how do you keep your job? Right, he's gonna feature. They won he's done a good j you know, he's listened, they won uh you know, they got to a conference final. Last year they won sixty something games. Uh you know, they're not a great team.
I mean, Chris, this guy's going to be a punchline for the rest of his career. They were not go for the data or the game one? Oftentimes you can be coach of the year and then you can make a have a gaff like this. And this it's not the first time a coach of the year will lose his job the year after. I agree.
I mean a title winner can lose it the next year. I agree. I mean, I wouldn't rule it out, but they did win a game seven in Detroit. They did get to a conference final last year. They lost in the second round.
You know, he comes in the curve field. I think they will keep him. But he didn't do himself any favors. He had a rough series.
Now, again. They were not beating the Knicks. I thought the Knicks would win in five before the series started. Vegas had the Knicks as minus 260-something, made him a huge favorite. Cleveland's not as good as the Knicks, so it's not like they were a huge team.
They didn't have home court. This is not an upset. I mean, the Knicks are better than the Cavs.
So you got to remember that. That's the first definition for me. Mosley blew a 24-point lead in the third quarter in game six at home against Detroit. That's fireable. That's fireable.
This is a little different.
So I don't think that they will get rid of him. I don't know. Dan Gilbert, who knows? I'm not swearing on his job security. I don't think I would fire him, but that was perplexing what happened here the last week for him.
We haven't even mentioned the fact that Harden said he still thinks that they were the better. Oh, what a stupid comment. Harden's hard. If anybody wants, Harden's a bum. Let's call it like we see it.
If anybody wants Harden on their team in a big spot, you need your life. You need your. He treats every game, whether it's game seven or a game in Sacramento, in game 36 in January. He treats every game as the same. He's so careless with the basketball.
Oh, he's. I mean, the fact that Jeff Van Gundy told me about seven years ago that he thought that Hardin was better than Jerry West. Are you kidding me? I mean, that's insulting. That's himself.
I mean, and I love Jeff, but that was a bad one. Harden is just, he's not a championship player, as simple as that. And what the Cavs do with him would be interesting, is they've got a handshake agreement that they sign him for next year, but you're not winning with James Harden as your point card. It's as simple as that. Handshake for like $43 million, though, I think.
Isn't it something crazy?
Well, he has a player option that I assume he'll opt in because it's $40-something million dollars. $43 million? He would not be on my team. If I was coaching or an owner of a team, James Harden would not be on him. He doesn't win, doesn't play well in picks boxes.
What do they do? Do they put something together for Giannis? Do they try to lure LeBron away from L.A.? What is their next step to kind of be real East contenders? Yeah.
I don't know. I don't think LeBron's ever going back to Cleveland. Why would you go back to Cleveland if you're a LeBron when you won in Cleveland? You go back to Cleveland and lose, and you're going to take away the shine of winning there eight, nine, ten years ago. I'd be shocked if LeBron goes back to Cleveland.
I wouldn't do that. I mean, I think that ship has passed. Your question though is a good one. I do not know what they do. They don't have enough pieces to get Giannis.
I think the team that can get Giannis is Oklahoma City. And Stephen A. made that point. I think he's right. You know, they got a lot of guys.
They got two picks in the draft, twelve and seventeen. They could trade Holmgren. You know, they got they got guys they could trade, they could trade guys off that bench. That is the team that I could see trading for Giannis. I don't think Cleveland's got the wherewithal to do that.
And if I'm LeBron, I'm not going to Cleveland anyway. But if your question is what happens to Cleveland, I don't have the answer for you. I read up. Tough document. I mean, I just think LeBron stays right where he is in a beautiful home here with all of his stuff.
His kids are in the schools that they want to be in. His wife is happy. He's playing with his kid. I mean, so, yeah, he still runs to. I would be shocked if LeBron likes to be the center of attention.
So, this is going to be, you know, what he does or what he doesn't do. He loves that. He loves that notoriety. But I think at the end of the day, he'll be with the Lakers. I'm with you 100%.
I was reading that article the other day about how the Lakers hired a guy from who's got like a real rocket scientist. And I'm like, oh, great. Let's get somebody with more AI in to work on a game that really should go by feel. What was your reaction to that? Yeah, it's stupid.
I I think uh Atkinson showed you there too. Too many and it just isn't in basketball. Baseball deals with this nonsense too. Uh you know, this uh this idea that, you know, computers, data, Uh, 24-year-old kids, you know, graduated from Harvard, riding a Schrin bike to the office, you know, in a sweatshirt, just watch with their hair wet after washing their hair, thinking they know more about sports than scouts or media people who've been following for 50, 60 years. Judge you're crazy.
You know, watch with your eyes. You know, that will tell you who's a great player, who isn't a great player, what team needs, what a team doesn't need. Watch the games. You know, I don't need to have a computer or data or any of that nonsense to tell me who's a good player and who isn't a good player.
So, and I do think that this era of front office analytics in all sports has really caused major, major problems. And I think it's bad for the game. And I think there's no guarantee you're going to win. How about Larry Bird? You think Larry Bird?
How did the data look for him? Too slow, can't play defense. How about Bird in a big spot? You want him playing for you in a big game? I do.
How about you? How about Magic? Can't shoot, doesn't make threes, slow, blah, blah, blah. How'd that work out? Magic Johnson.
So I don't pay attention to that nonsense. I never have. I never will. Obviously, Cleveland does because you heard that from Atkinson after game three.
So Cleveland does. Yeah, do you want to come over and watch game five with us? We're going to all get together and watch game five because Analyze anyway, it's going to be a great game. Yeah, good game tonight. You know, I think it's a seven-game series anyway.
I think even if OKC won the night, they'd win game six, and I wouldn't rule out OKC to win a road game in game six if they had to. I think we'll be sitting there fourth quarter, 10-15 Saturday night, you know, 84-82 Thunder and see if they get through the game. I still think they'll win this series. I like to see the two guys play, but I think they still will win the series. I'll pick them.
I picked him before the series started in seven. I'll stick with it. All right, then who takes it all then? I think OKC will win the final win the whole thing. I think, you know, I thought originally the Knicks would get.
You know, I would win a game.
Now I'm going to give them a lot more respect, and they will be a complete pain in the neck in the final. If Indiana could go to the seventh game, why can't the Knicks? And How Burton got hurt in game seven?
So I would say OKC in seven in the next two runs. Quick baseball question for you, by the way. Quick baseball question. What do you make of the celebration in the outfield by the San Francisco Giants? What happened there?
I didn't see it. Did you see the three outfielders with the hip thrust dance? Did you miss that one? I did miss it. Let me do you a favor.
Yeah. Let me do you a favor. Go like this. Hmm. Is that bad, huh?
You don't like it? It's ridiculous. Did you like it? The hip thrust dance? Pretty funny.
You thought so? Kind of. I thought it's like when you're 10 games below 500 and a disaster, why don't after you win a game, walk inside, shake hands with the winning pitcher and the manager, and try to win the next game? Why don't you try to do that instead of doing hip thrusts when you beat the White Sox? I mean, if that's who it was against.
Wasn't it a victory over the Dodgers the first one? They got the Dodgers. This is what I would say, too. It's like, call me when you have a ring on your hand.
Okay? Like, don't do this against the Dodgers. Act like you've been there before, correct? Absolutely right. 100%.
The Dodgers and the Giants, you know, they have nothing to be ashamed of. They won three championships there, you know, their 10, 15 years ago, but they've been terrible ever since. They got a manager from the University of Tennessee, really. You know, they've been a bad team, and they're 10 under 500, going absolutely nowhere. When you win a game, do it quietly.
Go under the managers or go into your clubhouse and try to win tuner up. That's what a team like the Giants, Mets, Red Sox, teams that are underachieved, that's what they should do. 100%. You have a good pop story for us? A what story?
Good Greg Popovich story. I'm always curious to hear if uh people have had interactions with him.
Okay. Uh well, I love what he did all those years with um The T.A., what's his last name? Craig, who passed away with the cancer. And he went to his funeral. He began with Craig Sager.
Craig Sager. Uh when he went to his funeral too, Craig Sager died an heroic death in a lot of ways. And, you know, Popovich went to his funeral and everything else. Uh yeah, I'm a I I like I've always loved Pop. I I I'll tell you a good I'll tell you a good pop story.
You know who was you know, Bennett Sabator is a good friend of mine. Mhm. Bennett, because he lives in Stanford, Connecticut, reped forever in the NBA. You know who his favorite coach was to coach? Pavovich.
Mike Mike. Yeah, he just, you know, he thought he was a no-nonsense guy, an Air Force guy. You know, only gave him grief when he thought he had a good point to make. Love Pavovich. Love them.
So I always thought that was interesting, that we really 'cause Poppage can come across as, you know, a little s uh, you know, a little gruff, hates the media, not very accommodating. I remember with the ninety nine When the Knicks got to the final 27 years ago, You know, he was, you know, whatever he was, 48, 49 years of age. You know, Mike and myself, the old Mike and Amando games, we went to every one of those games, including in San Antonio. And you know, you know me, I always got to ask the questions in the postgame. And so he would never remember it.
I would always figure out something to ask him. Three games at the Garden, two games at the hemisphere in San Antonio. It's before the new arena was built. And I was always trying to ask him something to rattle him up a question after the game. But I'm a big pop fan.
You know, the five championships. Excellent, excellent coach. No, listen, he had Robinson, then he had obviously Duncan. It helps to have the players put a great coach. And he also beat Phil Jackson when Jackson used to get on him.
You know, Jackson used to pick on Popovich because that championship they won in 99 was in a short season. I played 48 games that year. And that was his first title. And he used to kill him. Jackson used to try to tweak the Spurs on that all the time.
But Popovich is a hard guy not to like. Hard guy not to like. When I was traveling with the Lakers, it was during all those series with Phil Jackson. And I mean, a total gentleman to deal with. But man, he used to get under Phil's crawl, I think, almost worse than any coach did.
It was just like a Jedi mind trick with the two of them out there. Remember something else? Dave Stearns never let Dave Sterns never let Popovich coach the Olympic team because Popovich didn't play all his players on TV games in Miami. Larry Brown told me that. And so, as you on the air.
So, as a result, I don't believe, no, I don't follow the Olympics that carefully, Kerr. Shashevsky, he never had a chance to coach an Olympic team because that was Stearns doing, is he was mad at Popovich for doing the load management with his Spurs team, because he's really the first guy to do it. From that standpoint, Chris, thank you for your time. As always, you're always a job to us. You got it.
Keep it going. Nice to be up. Good to see you. Nice to see you. Let me come back.
Got a lot more talk about these playoff runs. This is too much fun, but God, he's the best. Gotta live a little mad dog in the morning. Love it. The Rich Eisen Show, the podcast.
Rich Eisen here. Take a second and look at your city's calendar. Everywhere I go, there's always something coming up. Games, concerts, conventions, tournaments, the kind of events that bring people in from all over. And when that happens, you can feel it.
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So join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com/slash Eisen. Terms and conditions apply. I wonder what Chris Russo does for fun. What do you think he does?
Let's make something up. What does he do? Oh, we know because he told us once. He eats gummies and he gambles. Gambles.
That's it, right? Yeah. Yeah. I think he's a baker. You think he spends time in.
Oh, you think he's like a sourdough guy? What does he do? Do you think he likes to do that? He makes muffins every morning. Right.
Let's make this up. Like cupcakes. Let's make this up. He puts on Springsteen. Oh, for sure.
For sure. He puts on Springsteen. He goes down to the local place and gets a funfeti cake. Right. Makes a muffin.
Maybe he's a muffin guy. He goes for a walk. He listens to Springsteen. He gets a muffin and a coffee. He's a bacon, egg, and cheese guy.
He's got to be, right? What do you think Mad Dog's for you page on Instagram is? Does Mad Dog even have Instagram? Oh, there's no chance. There's no chance.
He doesn't even know what Instagram is. There's no chance. Instagram, like. didn't exist in that Facebook. He's not wasting his time online.
There's no analytics. There's no analytics, right? There's none. You know, speaking of things that didn't exist in a while, I was thinking this, and I brought this up this morning. Like, the last time the Knicks went to the finals was what, 1999?
99, baby.
So. Try to like think of all the things, especially things we use today that did not exist. Like, I moved to Los Angeles in September of 1999.
Okay. But think of everything that didn't exist. For one thing, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who they might play in the finals, did not exist in 1920.
Well, they did. They were in teams. They were a different team. Yeah. And then.
iPhones didn't exist. Facebook, Instagram, like. You know, Gmail did not exist in 1999. What was the number one movie that year? Was it The Matrix?
That's a good question. I don't even know. I think. Number one song, let's say. Number one song.
Think about the like. Spotify, Reddit. Things that we use. Uber. course did not exist back then.
You still had to hail a taxi. Here we go. The top five songs of 1999. This is going to be awesome. Believe by Cher.
No, really? No Scrubs by TLC. Angel of Mine by Monica.
Okay. Heartbreak Hotel by Whitney Houston and Faith Evans? And Baby One More Time by Britney Spears. Hit Me Baby One More Time? Or is it really called Baby One May?
It's dot, dot, dot, baby, one more time. Ah. All right, so the best film. Yes, we all know what that music video is. The best films of 99.
Oh, 99 was a killer movie year. Talented Mr. Ripley, Fight Club. American Beauty, Cruel Intentions, The Matrix, The Sixth Sense. Let's see here.
The Mummy. 10 Things I Hate About You. That was about Mike Del Tufo. Wow. Oh, Green.
Star Wars. Green Mile. Star Wars made the most money that year. Yeah, I mean so 99 man. lot of things that that we use that are Important today did not exist.
The last time the New York Knickerbockers. Guys, gas was out of control in 1999. It was $1.17. Come on. Wow.
It was $8.99 when I went to the pump. Take me back. $8.99. That's crazy. You could find a better pump, I think, than $8.99.
Yeah, I mean. I don't know, Chris. You can come take my car and go film. Let's see. Price of milk.
YouTube. Did we mention you? That's always fun. No, YouTube. Milk was $2.80.
So Yeah. A lot of interesting things about this. I was getting ready to move to Los Angeles. I was going to say, so you just got here in September, right? September, yeah.
When did you move into LA? 2000. Mike, you were already here, right? Yes. Mike, you got here in 96, right?
94. Oh, wow, okay. And when did you switch the hat from New York to LA? What you were doing? About 12 weeks ago.
No, two years ago. No, the hat we we didn't have an official hat though, like 99, sophomore at Syracuse. Let's go. Were you really? Are you that much younger are you that much younger than I am?
You are. I am. You don't look it. Oh, see, that's right. I moisturize.
I mean, I'm just saying. Don't look at it. They're not really gonna win, are they? The Knicks. Yeah, I think they are.
I'm with TJ. Ben Gundy said they're the favorites. Boy, Chris loves the East. Chris loves the East. He's like, they're terrible.
Well well, like The next I hate to say they had to go to the finals, right? But you look at the East, Halliburton's out. Yep. Tatum, we thought this was going to be a Celtic. Celtics not full string.
You're not taking the Hawks, the Sixers. Seriously.
So it's like the Knicks pretty much had to do it. Are you easy pathing the Knicks right now? No, definitely not. But I feel like at the beginning of the season, they had one mission, and it was to get to the NBA Finals. Yeah, I agree with that.
Guys, we've got a big show coming up. We've got a doctor joining the show. Dr. Shaquille O'Neal will be joining us very, very soon. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.
Mm-hmm.
