Mornings have a rhythm. You can hear it. Feel it. And at Quaker, we fuel it with 100% whole grain oats and a good source of fiber in every bowl, helping you turn that rhythm into your soundtrack for a great day. Fuel to start whatever's next.
Quaker, official sponsor of FIFA World Cup 26. And play! Come together on a Windows 11 PC! And for a limited time, college students get. The best of both worlds.
Get the Unreal College deal, everything you need to study and play with select Windows 11 PCs. Eligible students get a year of Microsoft 365 Premium and a year of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with a custom color Xbox wireless controller. Learn more at windows.com/slash studentoffer. Law Supplies Last ends June 30th. Terms at aka.ms/college PC.
This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody! Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck! You can find us everywhere.
Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast, so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part, our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment.
Now, on with the show.
Okay. Check this out. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Big Bo Dega. Towns up top.
Drive on Wimp and Yama. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. The thing about Carl Anthony Towns, I just love his heart. Today's guests. ESPN NBA analyst and NBA champion Richard Jefferson.
NFL network insider Tom Pellicero. Comedian Michael Blaustein. And now, it's Rich Eisen. All right, everybody, welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show live and our usual haunts of Disney Plus and the ESPN app and ESPN radio and serious. XM channel number 80, but we are on ESPN today, and we appreciate being here along with you at 844-204-Riches.
The number to dial. Let's have a conversation about whatever you darn well, please. And I truly mean that. It's not one of those Los Angeles things, like, hey, let's hang out. And I don't really care.
And we'll never talk. And I'll never follow up. Wait, is this thing on? Am I saying this two people on Los Angeles? ESPN, too, yeah.
Oh, my gosh. Oh, am I.
Well, then. Nice little Ben Johnson drop to start things off here. Listen, I do mean it. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial on the program. And it is.
Pretty cool that we're on ESPN today because, as many of you know, that's where my career nationally started back in 1996 to 2003 hosting Sports Center. And today is the day that a show I've been talking about amongst friends and with colleagues and also with agents for quite some time is finally out. I've always wanted to do a sit-down. Interview show with old Sports Center friends of mine from back in the day. and uh stroll down memory lane.
not only along with them, but with you. Those of you watching Sports Center when I was back on the set. In that day, and just having a straight butter, as Stuart would call it, nostalgia program. And it now exists. It's called This Was Sports Center.
And my first guest is Dan Patrick. My friends at Gusto present. This was Sports Center with Rich Eisen on Disney Plus, the ESPN app. There's also the Rich Eisen Show YouTube channel if you care to watch it. Also an audio podcast.
And that is available wherever you get your podcasts. And we're going to be showing some clips of my chat with Dan Patrick. Every single Friday, a new episode is going to drop, with the exception of episode two, my chat with Chris Berman. Of course, I'm going to have Chris Berman on the first season of This With Sports Center. I recorded an episode with him in front of a live audience.
In San Francisco at the Venerable Strand Theater during the Super Bowl. That show airs on Monday, and then the next episode with Mike Greenberg. Followed by chats with Linda Cohn, Chris Fowler, and Craig Kilbourne, follow every single Friday.
So we'll be promoting that throughout today's program. 844-204-Rich is the number to dollar. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. How are you? Rich, happy Friday.
Good morning. Jason Feller, good to see you, Jason. What's up, Rich? What's going on? Doing great.
TJ Jefferson, the candle is lit. Good to see you, sir. Candle is lit. What's up, everybody? ESPN.
What up, though? What up, TJ? What up, though? Speaking of the candle being lit. Hmm.
I saw Knicks fans going crazy on the street, you know, after the Knicks won in San Antonio, and the streets were of New York City. I'm telling you, when I was there for the sports Emmy, um, The sports Emmy show um that uh I was Um leaving empty-handed from and uh leaving town At security, people are like, What do you think about the Knicks? What's going on with the Knicks? Honestly, the town is lit. One of my favorite Sound bites I saw clipped was a fan going crazy yelling at us.
Um the phone saying My mare is Muslim. My bagels are Jewish. My Christians Dior. Nixon 4. Yeah, I saw that one.
Did you see that one? Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know, off the dome of some guy.
Good one, man. On 7th Avenue. Candles lit in New York. And mixed in four, we can't have it on the launch pad. Jalen Brunsons.
Legacy. is on the launching pad right now. And What we're seeing from him. Is something else. 13 of his game high 30 points in a game one.
that caused him to leave. at one point caused him to be in the locker room. When I'm Landry Shammet. Shoved. Harrison Barnes into the knee of the superstar.
Jalen Brunson. By the way, one of the five threes I think that Champagne hit from the corner. For a four-point play opportunity. Mm-hmm. And then he rolls his ankle, and Luke Cornette steps on it inadvertently.
You know, Josh Hart's in the locker room with, not with, he's on the bench with three fouls. And, and things aren't going the next way. But once again You know, collectively, OG Ananobi in the third quarter started getting hot with Carl Anthony Towns, who had 10 of his 18 in the third quarter of game one, and then Brunson. Hero balled it. I got this.
13 of his 30 in the fourth quarter. Clutch points. Which is um in an NBA Final game of A certain Closeness. There's a metric called clutch points. In the playoffs since 2023, this is on the NBA's Twitter account.
Since 2023, Jason Tatum has 65 of those. Nice. Uh S G A You may know him for winning back-to-back MVPs. He has 84 of them. Jalen Bronson now has.
144. What? 144? That is not a misprint. A hundred and forty-four of them.
Shish. Yeah. And the Knicks thanks to the collective but Brunson. leading the charge. over their past twelve playoff games.
Have twelve wins. And the margin of victory is 272. There's never been. that large of a margin of victory over a twelve game stretch Ever by anybody at any time, regular or postseason. The guy is Unbelievable.
In his playoff career, he's averaged 1.47 points per minute in the clutch on what's called. Go for it. 63.4% true shooting. Listen, I'm not an analytics guy. I'm not a numbers guy.
I was more verbal on the SAT. Sure. Me too. And in professional. Action.
Um Yeah. I don't have the heart to tell my kids as they're grinding out their algebra and their calculus and everything going on, like, listen. You're going to need to do the use this math on as expense reports later on. And true points. And true points.
Okay. That's the true blood. Hmm. Of this vampire that's coming for everybody to drive a stake through everybody's hearts. Listen, I understand those metaphors are mixed.
I'm just excited for Jalen Brunson, being a Nick fan and seeing what's going on. He's on the launching pad. If he does it again tonight, or he does it anything close to it over the next. Three to six basketball games. The guy's going to have a statue in front of Madison Square Garden.
It's a fact. It's a fact. I can't really dispute that.
Okay, even though I don't think there are any statues in front of Madison Square Garden, that thinks it's going to last long. Like, rename Penn Station after it. Brunson Station. Yeah. Something, the statue.
I don't know. There might be somebody else in the building in game three on Monday night who might want something. Like that named after him. But He's unbelievable. And I'm a guy that revered Bernard King, and I remember being in the back.
Of my blue Pontiac Safari station wagon.
Next to my brother, Jeff. Are my parents up front? Mm. Going to Aunt Isabel in Uncle Myron's house in New Jersey. Were you facing the other way?
I keep mentioning my Uncle Myron because he was at my thirtieth birthday party with Dr. Jack Ramsey. Did it have like the wood on the side? The last time the Spurs and the Knicks. We're in the NBA Finals, and yes, there was wood paneling.
These things are hideous. I remember being in that. Yeah. Listening to 10-10 wins. Traffic and weather together.
And in between, hearing the update that the Knicks did, in fact, get Patrick Ewing in the lottery. Patrick Ewing. I was there for all of that. And then lived through the Ewing years and then Jordan standing in his way like he did in college. And I lived through Charles Smith still missing layups now.
And I lived through all of that and the hopes and the prayers of the ninety nine team that did lose. to the Spurs. I lived through all that, all these Knicks fans. As I said, the Game One win for the Knicks in San Antonio on Wednesday night was their first road win in the NBA Finals since Game two of ninety four. The last time They started in NBA Finals.
With a road win. Was winning game one of the 1953 NBA Finals against George Miken and the Minneapolis Lakers. Last time they won their first Road gaming in NBA Finals. Was when Willis Reed dropped 38 on Wilt in 1970, just up the road here in Los Angeles.
So I've been through. Not that I wasn't alive. Everything. And Jalen Brunson in this Knicks team. is on the launching pad.
And I did not know this about Jalen Brunson. Obviously, I know about the clutch, and I know about how he's a self-made man, and I know how He's come to be, and he's a Nova Nick, and everything going on. And there's a picture of him with Marcus. I'm CanBy Damnit from the 1999 season as he's a little. Young man.
I've seen all of that. I didn't know he's the right amount of insane. Yeah. Wait. That's the right amount?
Oh, yeah. Malika Andrews got this sound bite that's clanking all over ESPN today, and rightfully so. This was something listened to this exchange in her sit-down chat with Jalen Brunson. The Larry O'Brien trophy is everywhere. It's ever present.
It's on the set. It's next to the court. It's in rooms that you're asked to go and shoot promotional videos with. But you wouldn't go in. You didn't want to be near the trophy.
Why? How'd you hear about that? I know everyone. I know what's happening. Um.
It's uh He'll come up. Comment after maybe the Larry O'Brien trophy is in reach. She'll come out. He doesn't want to even be in the room. New drop.
He doesn't want to be in the room. It's kind of crazy. I like it. Screw it, I'll say it. He's going full.
A. C. Green with the trophy here. He's abstaining. It's abstaining.
Wow. You won't look. Look it up. You won't touch. He won't be anything.
I said it. Hit the Google Music. It's the right amount of nuts. That way, you don't get that one? You will.
That'll be calling in the comedy business the way homer. You'll get that on the way home. All right. Calling the nuts is crazy, too. Hey, now, I'm just saying.
Am I right or am I right? Like, that's the right amount of crazy. I won't even be in the room.
Now, I know when the NFL head coaches have their final press conference of a Super Bowl week the Friday for the weekend and they put the trophy, they put the Lombardi in between them.
Some guys are just like, don't do that to me. Yeah, they don't even look at it. And that. They're like, I don't want to even be in the same room. I don't want to look at it until you hand it to me on Sunday.
The hockey players, they don't touch the conference championship trophy. Jack said the same thing about the conference championship. You're not right. He came on our show at the Super Bowl in Caribbean. He's just like.
He got the MVP. He'd immediately give it to his dad. Like, he didn't want any. No, Belichick used to be. Belichick would get the Hunt Trophy for the AFC Championship, and he'd hand it off to Jonathan Kraft: like, here, put this on the hood of your car.
Go into the ticket. It's auto-rumid for me. Oh, and then what do the most those people do? They then win it all.
Now, then, there's the matter of. Wait a minute, I wrote this down. My favorite bit. Oh, the San Antonio Spurs being really good. Yeah, we have a very tall Frenchman that's outstanding.
Super tall Frenchman.
Okay. Wee, we. That's why I said. It's on the launching pad. It's right there.
And to go up 2-0 to go back to Madison Square Garden? In front of all those ziggies and crazies?
Okay. Must win tonight for the Spurs? Yay, nay. Yeah, 100%.
Okay, I don't know. I don't know. 100%. They just won two in a row against the defending champs. Yeah.
64 wins. But down 02, losing both games at home. Going to that zoo? Yeah, that seems like get the brooms out. All right.
Well, Richard Jefferson is first up and he's calling the game the night with Mike Breen and Tim Legler. And Lisa Salters. And we're going to chat with him about this. It's a what's more likely Friday. We've got that.
In store, With Miles Garrett coming to this town, I've got a top five. Current Los Angeles athletes list. Ooh, where am I on that list?
Okay, you are not just spoiler alert. You're not. Not in the top 10, at least. That was two of them. It's top five.
I had to tighten the rotation. Think about who's in this town. You could have been playing. Yeah. I was wondering why you were in the middle of the day.
You were looking stressed when you were trying to write this out. Yeah. So I came up with the top five. That's still to come. Tommy P.
Tom Pellicero, my colleague from NFL Network, with the latest. in the National Football League. And the phone lines are all lit, which is great. You want to play a win-loss game for your favorite NFL team? We have time for that.
The comedian Michael Blaustein is here in studio in hour number three. He's a Nick fan. How many of these comedians are Nick Finch? Did I see Sam Laurel? Didn't they see him?
I think he was in San Antonio. Yeah. I mean, this is it. Everyone knows they're on a launch pad.
So, by the way, Spurs fans, you have an opportunity to gut an entire city and nation on that front. Just gut them. Because everybody in the Knicks world is thinking this is this is happening. Yeah. The candle is about to be lit.
So, and then again, this was Sports Center on Disney Plus, the ESPN app, the Rich Eisen Show YouTube channel, wherever you get your podcasts. We're going to be promoting the heck out of this presented by gusto throughout this entire program. Dan Patrick is my first guest, and boy, do we go down memory lane. Coming up next, for those watching on ESPN and more. You'll never guess who Dan did his first sports center with.
That's next.
So is Richard Jefferson. This is the Rich Eisen Show on a busy June Friday. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent, future stars who are already turning heads at age 14. Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we.
Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. We did it when we made advanced safety standard on every vehicle and engineered EVs with ultra-fast charging capability. And we're still doing it every day because the future isn't some far-off concept. It's already here.
Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. 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. More energy, more fans, and a whole lot more people looking for a place to stay.
So here's something to think about. If your city has that kind of buzz, if big events are on the way, listing your space on Airbnb could be a great opportunity. If you're already planning to be out of town or you've got a trip coming up, Why not make your place work for you while you're gone? You've got the space and you're not using it. It could be earning you some extra cash.
I know when I travel for these big events, I'm not just looking for a place to crash. I want something comfortable and safe, a place that allows me to experience the city like a local. And that's exactly what you can do by offering to list your space. No big lifestyle change, no long-term commitment, just making smart use of the space you already have.
So the next time your city draws a crowd, think about listing your space on Airbnb. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.com slash host. Save $2 when you buy two cans of Superior Products Coverall Tire Dressing. Plus, receive 4x0 rewards points now at O'Reilly Auto Parts.
Coverall delivers long-lasting shine. Visit your O'Reilly Auto Parts store or O'ReillyAuto.com. The audience has returned. We just showed a clip of Chris Berman and Dan Patrick together. It was Dan's first sports center on This Was Sports Center.
Throughout this show, we're going to be promoting our new limited series that we're putting out here through Rich Eisen Productions. But we now return to the NBA Finals. He is calling Game two tonight with Mike Breen, Tim Legler, Lisa Salters, and the Cast of thousands that put together an outstanding broadcast for you on ABC. Uh, in San Antonio tonight, a big game two. Here he is, Richard Jefferson here on the Rich Island Show.
Good to see you, Richard. How are you? Thank you for having me, guys. Thank you for having me. You bet because ESPN needed to double the number of bald Richards on their screen.
I greatly appreciate you taking the time to be here. But you're the original, Richard. You're the original. You are. You're the original Rich Eisen.
So I'm just trying to follow you up. Stuart called me the OG. I had no idea I was the OR the entire time. Good to see you, man. What a wild playoffs we have seen.
I did not have the Knicks winning 12 playoff games in a row to the record tune of over 270. Points as a margin of victory on my bingo card, man. What has happened with this team right now? Richard. You know, so we did the Eastern Conference this year, yes, me and ABC did, and.
You know, watching this team, we called the Atlanta game where they had that crazy blowout and it was over in the first quarter.
Sometimes, certain teams, it just all comes together at the right time. You look at health, you look at they have four or five guys that are all hot. Their defense has adjusted things. Uh, Mike Brown, I'll give Mike Brown a lot of credit, and he's complimented his coaches quite a bit. You know, kind of changing that offense in the Atlanta series when they had lost a couple of games and giving Kat more of a facilitation role.
Um, I think Kat was happy to sacrifice shots and scoring, but I think at least having him more involved this year, I think that put him in that gave Kat this extra boost of confidence. And I just think overall, their team collectively, collectively, They're hitting on all cylinders in ways that we rarely see. You know, we've seen it over the course of a couple of games here and there, but every five or six years, you'll get a team that gets hot. And it's not when they say team, it's not one player, two player. The whole team is hot.
Yeah, and we started the show with the sound bite Malika Andrews. Uh elicited from Jalen Brunson not really a sound bite. because he wouldn't comment on the fact that he refuses to appear in any room. Sit down for any interview in any room where the Larry O'Brien trophy is either physically present or even graphically shown on a screen. He will not be anywhere near the trophy.
And um I I didn't know that about him. I And that being He seems to be on a different level of focus and potentially the right amount of insanity here. What makes him so great?
Well, he's the captain. He's the captain. He's the guy. And I stand by this: that, you know, a couple, couple weeks ago, I said, you can't win an NBA championship unless your best player is playing like one of the best players in the world. Like, and when I say one of, I mean the top two or three players in the world.
And currently, that's what Jalen Brunson's doing.
So you take that portion of him, you take that portion of him, and then you combine it with the way he's leading his teammates. He's, you know, they're not buying into the New York hype. They're not just out here for fun. They're not, they're out here 100% locked in. You know, these guys, they're trying to get to when people think, you think mentality.
When you look at a team, and this is all led by Jalen Brunson and obviously the collective group, but when you look at them and you think, okay, they got one on the road. They're the underdog.
So, you know, you know, you want to split. No, they've won 12 in a row. They're trying to win the next game and they believe what in their brains would say that, okay, one's good enough. What in their brain is saying that we can't sweep our opponent? And that's not being disrespectful to the Spurs.
I'm giving people an insight to their mentality. If you win 12 in a row, you're thinking you're going to win 13 and 14 and 15. You don't think it's going to stop.
Well, the first two questions and answers of our chat here, Richard, play into why Nick fans are not only out of their skulls because it feels right, it looks right, everything is happening. But that's why Nick fans also feel queasy, pit of the stomach, that a John Starks. Moment is coming that something's going to happen. Brunson, you know, left the game with a knee, and then there was an ankle, and whatever. And this conversation, we are talking, at least maybe it's from me, being the Staten Island kid.
As if the Spurs don't exist right now. They're not the Washington Generals here. You know what I mean?
So, what do we got in game two? Do you have a majority? Oh, I'm s sorry, go ahead.
Well, make no mistake, this San Antonio Spurs team was down 3-2 against the defending champions and had to go on the road and win a game seven.
So this is the part where I say, know your opponent. There's appropriate fear. They do have a player on their side, very similar to a Shaq style player.
Now, obviously, physically different. But if Wimby plays to the best of his ability, there's nothing anybody on the planet can do. That's just how special he is. If he decides that tonight is my night, I might go 40 for 20, there's not a defense, there's not a player been created.
Now, where the Knicks have done an outstanding job collectively and Carl Anthony Towns, especially, their job is to make sure he doesn't have one of those nights. But no different than stopping Steph from hitting eight threes, no different than LeBron, no different than Kobe. There are certain players that are so great that sometimes it's just their night. And that's what the Knicks and the Knicks fan base, it's appropriate fear that you're going. Against a quality opponent, and our goal is to kind of lower what their capabilities are.
And that's a big task. Know that this team doesn't quit. They had to go home and win a game. Then they had to go on the road for game seven against a defending champion against a team OKC. They won game sevens before.
They won multiple game sevens in their championship run.
So game sevens weren't foreign to them. And I say all that to say is that, you know, that is a great team on the other side. That San Antonio Spurs is a great team, but it also complements how strong the Knicks have been playing. Career highs and turnovers and missed shots for Victor Wembanyama in game one. What were the Knicks able to do to potentially bring that about?
And that could be repeatable for game two. this evening. Mm. Um The Knicks, the Knicks, what they have to do is keep understanding, you know, who, what, when, and why, right? And I know that's, no, it is.
It's like, who are the people that we want to put in a position? You know, what are the shots that we want that we're willing to concede to take away certain things? The win, when do we help? When do we go ISO? When do we sup?
There's all these little equations that go into Wimby struggling. And, you know, there's people that have been conversating about what was he fatigued? Was he tired? There's an emotional roller coaster. People have to understand your mental emotions can also make you physically drained.
And when I look at Wimby, he says he wasn't fatigued, you know, and I would agree with him. I'm not here to disagree with him, but I'm saying he didn't have his normal juice. He didn't have his normal pop. And that part, you wonder. And because of them, they had to play a game seven.
The Knicks are rested. They've been rested through this whole postseason. And so. When I look at Wimby, I look at can he recover? Can he get his emotions back in check?
Don't forget, this was game one of the finals for the 22-year-old, also. And so, for him to kind of galvanize his teammates and kind of bring them back to a level of just basketball. I think that's where the San Antonio Spurs are headed.
Okay, Richard Jefferson here on the Rich Eisen Show calling game. Number two of the NBA Finals tonight on ABC here on the Rich Eisen Show.
So Any similarities? And I understand you came in 2016 with the Cavs back from a 3-1 deficit, won the last three and took the whole darn shooting match. And Dream on hitting King James and his crown jewels certainly helped bring that about. But any similarities between your Cavs team and you mentioned that things are going right for the Knicks. Any any similarities that you could draw?
Here a bunch, a bunch of similarities. We won 10 in a row going into that postseason. You look at our Atlanta series, we broke the NBA record for most threes hit in a series, and it was only four games.
So that would have been 6-7, and we would have the record would have been maybe untouchable the way.
So we had a bunch of guys collectively shooting the ball extremely well, and we were rested. And where that helped us is that as the series progressed, they were more fatigued. You had injuries to Bogit, you had back spasms for Andre Guadala. Obviously, Draymond was famously suspended for game five.
So we were rested. And they got more fatigued as the series went on.
Now, this is a little bit different because the Knicks are jumping out in the series. We were down to 0-2. But I think when I look at this Knicks team, they have all of the pieces, they have all of the players, they have everything. They've got the city behind them. And, you know, if they can pull off another one, which I believe that they are very capable, that's their goal.
I can't imagine what the garden is going to be like for game three and four. Craziest crowd I've ever seen is game six in Cleveland. Outside of that, it was game seven in Oracle. But I am really, really excited to see what Madison Square Garden is going to look like if the Knicks are up 2-0. If the Knicks, if it's 1-1, I can't imagine what this garden is going to be like.
It doesn't matter. The Garden is going to be on another level. Yeah, because in 99, I mean, the Spurs had, you know, Duncan and they had David Robinson and they had Sean Elliott. And I could go down the list here, even though Champagne was shooting like Mario Elliott. In the first half of game one, you know, like there just wasn't.
A sense that the Knicks could hang with those 99 Spurs.
Now they're actually up 1-0 here. Uh, going into tonight, and if they come up with this wind tonight, going back into the garden like that would be. would be something and would require somebody on that team. To you know, take the bull by the horns, and I understand they're, you know, obviously they're a young team, I don't know who that might be. Did LeBron?
Turn to everybody after going down 3-1 and say something. Who said something prior to game five? For you. It was really, it was really, again, that there's when you talk about, you know. the the collective group.
Right. You look at everybody, wanted it so bad. Just like every other play, every other team in the NBA Finals, we believe we had the best player. Steph was having the best season, but we believe we had the best player. And then there was a formula.
When Draymond got suspended for game five, we were like, We got, if we win game five, we truly believed, like without even stepping out on the floor. You tell us after game four. We believed that we would win game six. We believed that we would win game six without even showing up. And when I say not showing up, I mean you could automate that game on 2K and we were going to win.
So the key for us was game five. And we got help in game five with Draymond being suspended. And so Draymond goes out. We have the most epic Kyrie, LeBron, 82 points between the two of them. And we win game five.
We go out and have our best game in game six. And our mentality was all anything can happen in game seven. Anything can happen in game seven. And it turned out to be the best series. But your mentality still has to be on the process.
When they talk about being present and being in the moment, that's what we're talking about. It's one game at a time. The Knicks are in a different position right now because they're ahead. But just like everything, one game don't get too high. One game don't get too low.
So you don't look at it from that perspective of like, we're, oh, Oh, we're going to get this done. And oh, this is the Knicks are having one of, if they're able to finish this off, in my opinion, they are having one of the top. Top five. Playoff runs. Currently, right now, they're on the top five and it'll just go up.
But if they're able to get this done, this will be one of the top runs that we've ever seen in NBA history. Yeah, they're plus 272 in this 12-game win streak coming into tonight. And again, that's why. You know, it's just tough to believe what we're seeing right now. You know, coming into this series and what we've been witnessing since they were.
You know playing Atlanta. Um but man, they just That's Wemby. This Steph Castle guy is really fine. friggin' good. And Harper My gosh, I mean uh You gotta think there's a bounce back for the Spurs tonight.
You just really have to. You have to, but from a space, again, I give that reference point because people want to start kind of imagining mental scenarios for these players. And it's like, oh, well, they're got to be nervous, or do you think this is too much for them? I stand by, and I said this: Wimby's been in big games before for his entire life. And I don't think that the Spurs are necessarily ahead of schedule.
I think last year, if Wimby had not had the blood clots, I think that team goes to the postseason. Maybe they lose in the first round, maybe they get a second round. But we know Wimby would have won defensive player of the year last year.
So you look at it as like maybe they feel like they missed an opportunity last year.
So they're looking at it like this is their year. This is their year that they were supposed to be on, if not for the injury to Wimby. But I do believe that they're going to answer. Castle won a national championship with Hurley as his coach, screaming and yelling every single game. And for youth, oh, there's my boy Richie in the corner.
But when you go and when you go do that and you see You see, Castles won a national championship. That's one and done. That's pressure. When you go look at Wimby's playing in the gold medal game, you know, at home against Steph and LeBron and the Avengers. And so these guys, these young players have been in the biggest moments in basketball.
So now, when you get into a game seven series that are a seven-game series, now you're like, oh, we have room for era.
So for these guys to be down 3-2 and then go beat the defending champs on their home in game seven, something that I'm familiar with, that is not an easy task.
So I don't look at them being down 0-1. I don't even look at them necessarily in being down 0-2, as in like this series is over. These young guys are resilient. They're a special group. And if anything can tell you, like, history can tell us something.
Oklahoma City, everybody was like, oh, they're going to win three out of the next four. They're young, this group. And then here comes the Spurs. But the Spurs know it the same thing, too. It could be one.
Injury, and next year we're not able to be in this position again.
So they're maximizing this and they're playing like it. Yeah, this series moves to Madison Square Garden next year, right? Man, I grew up in that building. It just has a different sound to it. The horn sounds different than any other building.
You know, Wembanyama. In that environment. I can't wait to see you. Do me this favor. You could use this line if you wanted, if you don't.
It is the biggest French import to New York since the Statue of Liberty. You could say that, you know. Yes, but this is the thing: the Statue of Liberty was a gift. To America. Not to the Knicks fans.
Not to the Knicks. Not to Madison Square. I don't know. This maybe the NBA, Rick Large. He's a gift.
Oh, no, no, to sports in general. To sports in general. And I look at Shohei Otani, right? He is a gift to sports in general. Like to have a player with that type of capability, Wimbinyama, you know.
that type he's one of those players that like people from all around the world should want to come see we've never seen something like this this is a marvel of of human ability that size that ability that temperament that the type of mobility so while he is a gift to america he's a gift to the world right now he is not a gift to msg he is not a gift to the new york knick so let so as a new yorker don't marvel too much because if wimby starts to be wimby you're gonna be like oh what is this guy doing here we You know, we don't want him, but he is truly a gift to sports in general, not just basketball. Yeah, after the Knicks comeback win over the Cavs in game one of the ECF, fans are out there on 7th Avenue chanting, We Want Wemby. I'm like, oh, no, no, no, we don't want to do that. But you can just use that line. Use that line if you want.
You don't have to. You can discard it. No, no. And I will cite my source. Give me your tired, your poor, your Tony Brothers.
That's what it says right there. Wait a minute. No, that's the Thunder. That's the Thunder fans saying. Oh, I don't know if I can reference Tony Brothers, though.
I might get a phone call if I reference my guy TV. I did that for you. All right. Thank you. I don't mean to drag you down to my level, but thanks for the time.
I know you're calling the game tonight. I really appreciate it. I am a big fan. I do love listening to you and Legler and Breen, who obviously I've been listening to for a very long time. And Lisa Salt is one of my favorite people on the planet.
So go for it. Keep crushing. Hey, I appreciate it. I appreciate this. I grew up watching you.
Like I said, when I was a kid, watching, you know, you and Stuart Scott and the entire crew on Sports Center. I promise you, half of the times I would dunk, I would sprint home to watch ESPN Sports Center. Just pray, just pray one of you guys would say my name. That's what I grew up on. That's how I knew I accomplished something when I made it.
And I would hear Stuart Scott say, hey, it's not a sports center unless there's a Richard Jefferson highlight. When that moment, that was the moment that I felt like I made it to the league and I was significant.
So you and your entire crew of guys that were doing sports centers in the 90s. And that was, it was a golden era of basketball. It was a golden era of sports.
So thank you. I appreciate it. Wow. Wow. I will take that.
I appreciate that. Thanks very much. And I would tell you to keep going on because you must be butter. You're on a roll, he's on a roll, he's on a roll. All right, uh, Richard, go crush it tonight.
I appreciate the time. All right, thank you, Eisen. That's Richard Jefferson right here on The Rich Eisen Show. That was a delight. It was a blast.
Let's take a break. Your phone calls 844-204-RICH. Number to dial. We're going to take some phone calls on Disney Plus. And ESPN next.
The Rich Heisen Show, the podcast. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Granger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions.
And because Granger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRANGER, clickgranger.com, or just stop by. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please for the love of everything good in this world, stop. With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just $15 a month.
Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird.
Okay, one judgment. Anyway, give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of $45 per three-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only. Then, full price plan options available.
Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com. Yeah. Back on our simulcast here on ESPN Cable and ESPN the app and Disney Plus. Um, as well as ESPN Radio Sirius XM Channel 80.
Let's take some phone calls here. Miles in Sioux Falls, Miles, South Dakota, South Dakota. We want to hear from you.
South Dakota. Oh, is which Miles? Is this Garrett? Miles? Miles, which Garrett?
Is this you, Miles? Here I am. Oh, I thought you were here in Los Angeles. No.
So yes, I'm calling from kind of Minnesota Sports fan purgatory here up in the North. It's been a particularly brutal year for Minnesota sports fans. watching Kat do his thing in the In the finals, watching Sam Darnold go in a Super Bowl. The Twins. do a fire sale of their entire team last year.
So I guess my question is, will Minnesota Sports ever get out of sports purgatory? And if so, which team is most likely to do it? How does the Minnesota Lynx sound to you right now? 8-2 atop the WNBA standings, 11-year miles, crushing it. I think she nailed 15-3-pointers.
Um listen uh Oh boy. I understand you're watching. By the way. Just understand this, Miles, and I know this isn't going to help you. But Carl Anthony Towns going from Minnesota To the Knicks to win a championship for the Knicks.
Does that make up for the Jets sending Sam Darnold elsewhere and watching him go somewhere else? Is it like a circle of life thing? Does it mean someone from Seattle or New York's got to go? To Minnesota. Maybe it will be Julius Randall.
I don't know. You could have a parade for him. I mean, when the Ray Bork won a cup finally with the Avalanche, the city of Boston threw him a parade. That's because you were so desperate for a parade at the time. That wouldn't happen now.
That wouldn't happen now. It would not happen now. But at the same time, at the time, it made perfect sense. Miles, does that help at all? I'd be happy.
It probably doesn't. Yeah, Cat. I mean, it would love to watch Cat do his thing, but I'd love I'm 28 years old and I've never seen a team in Minnesota win a championship.
So I love watching all these former players go get their flowers. But I mean, one of these days, one of our teams got to get it done. Thank you, Miles and Sue Falls here on the Rich Oisen Show. Let's go to Kenye in Washington, DC. Here on the Rich Heisen Show.
What's up, sir? How are you doing? Shaolin Rich. Hey, baby boy, how are you doing, Blair? The aforementioned Shaolin Rich baby boy is fine.
Thank you for asking. How are you? But I'm good, man. I'm good. I just wanted to.
Your guy told me I didn't have enough time to talk about the other stuff, but I'm willing to do the win-loss Eagles schedule right now.
Okay. Here we go. All right. Win-loss game for your Philadelphia Eagles, defending NFC East Champs, getting one and done by the San Francisco 49ers. You're going to have the music, please.
Jason Feller. Here we go. Here we go. Kenya, in Washington, D.C., what happens when you open up at home against Washington? That's gonna be a W.
We're gonna win that. All right, what happens when you then visit Tennessee? We're gonna win that back in my hometown of Nashville. Yes, sir. We're now 2-0 heading into Chicago, Illinois, on a Monday night.
We are gonna get our Black Friday revenge, and we're gonna win that as well. You're now 3-0, hosting the Rams. We are even going to win, even with the Miles Garrett acquisition. All right, there we go. 4-0.
Now taking on Jacksonville and Tottenham in the UK. What's happening there? We still have just a number from the Saquon League, so we're going to win that one also. That's 5-0 home for the Panthers. Gonna win that one too.
That's a 6-0 start hosting the Cowboys on a Monday night on ESPNABC. Who wins that? I think we're gonna go ahead and get those cowgirls. Yeah. That's a win.
Seven and oh out the commanders. Do you sweep 'em? Yes, we're definitely sleeping now. 8-0 after a Sunday went on in BC, home for the Giants. We are being the diaspora.
That's 9-0, home for the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers. We're beating the Steelers, baby. That's 10-0. Going into Thanksgiving in Dallas. We are gonna sweet the cow.
Yes, that's all I've ever known, TJ. At the Cardinals. Kenya's fill and it's not. That's 12-0, a home for the Colts. May we go beat the Colts too.
That's 13-0. Here come the defending champion Seahawks. On a Saturday. What's going on? We might just slow down a little bit.
We might lose that. We might lose that. Oh, wow.
Alright, now you're taking on the Texans on Christmas Eve. We're gonna win. All right, now you got the San Francisco 49ers in San Francisco. We're gonna be looking for our get back, so we will definitely win that. All right You're now 15 and 1 taking on the Giants to wrap things up in New Jersey.
We're gonna sweep the giant, also, man. 16 and 1. Kenny in Washington, D.C., thank you for the call. And I need a 16 and 1 drop. Sixteen and one, the Philadelphia Eagles.
Can you imagine? I cannot. TJ, what do you think of that? Let's see. We got a photograph of TJ.
What does he think of it? Ah, yes. That's what Carl Anthony Towns, Die Hard Eagle fan, sent you after uh the. These Eagles beat your cowboys. What do you mean delete that?
It happened. Probably Anthony Townsend. Matt Hardy voice. Delete. Hack.
Three wins. Three wins away from winning by putting a Larry O'B next to his Lombardi. That's fine. And I'm cool with that. But that the other thing I'm not cool with, you know.
Manned. Sixteen and one. Thank you so much. That's what happens in the win-loss game. You think, you know what?
I'm going to call in. I'm going to be a little, I'm going to have my head on. You know, delusional Beagles fan. And then he winds up 16 and 1 at the end of the day. Tom Pellisero coming up in our number two of the Rich Eisen Show: The Rich Eisen Show podcast.
The Stanley Cup final on ABC is more than a quest for the cup. It's 134 years of putting it all on the line and the heaviest 35 pounds ever lifted. It's broken curses and broken hearts. But for those chasing it, it's everything. The only question is, who will take it?
You just have to watch the Stanley Cup final presented by Geico on ABC and the ESPN app. Uh
