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Now, on with the show. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Rich Eisen Show. I was livid with the officiated. Here we go again.
Live from the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. All the shots we took, we got fouled four times. Four times. Four times. Today's guest: CSPN senior NBA writer Vincent Goodwell.
Host of Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio. Your phone calls, latest news, and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen. That's correct. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show here on a massive sports Wednesday, right here in June 2026, here on Disney Plus, the ESPN app, ESPN Radio Series XM Channel 80.
Vince Goodwill is going to be joining us talking about the NBA finals. That's what's going down the Stanley Cup final is now two games apiece, one of the more exhilarating cup finals we've seen in a while. We'll talk about it with you if you wish it. 844-204-Rich is the number to dial. Mike Floria with everything going on in the National Football League as well.
Our three is open.
So we've got tons of time to play win-loss games or chat with you about anything that's going on in your world. Again, that number is 844-204-Rich. Number to dial. This was Sports Center. My conversation with Chris Berman has been out there for a couple of days right now.
My conversation with Dan Patrick's been out. Since last Friday, it is a labor of love for me and our coordinating producer, Mike Hoskins, just absolutely crushing it with the edits and the production. This was Sports Center presented by Gusto, is out there for everybody on Disney Plus, the ESPN app, and the show's YouTube page for you to check out. Mike Greenberg is the next episode that drops Friday, as the kids might say.
So I appreciate all the feedback, highly positive feedback that I'm seeing on all those fronts. Good to see you over there, Chris Brockman. What's going on? Hey, Rich. Good morning, man.
What's up? Jason Feller, wearing an old school Rich Eisen show lid, man. Whoa, I appreciate it. My favorite team. That is your favorite team.
I appreciate that. That's something Del Tufa would never say. I mean. His favorite team right now is whatever's one of the failers in the World Cup. I mean, the World Cup is.
Good to see you over there, TJ Jefferson. I don't know if you heard me making smooching sounds because Feller just. That's usually your lane, TJ. It's respect. Wow.
Good to see you. First of all, watch your mouth. Secondly, third hour open. I got a lot of stories so we can fill it up. Fantastic.
Fantastic. I got it's a Wednesday, which is a power rankings Wednesday. I've got the power rankings of the top NFL defenses as I see it here in the middle of June.
Now, what are you basing this on? All right. If you want to know right now, I don't know last year's numbers of total defense, total points given up. Um and then just gut and feel. I like that.
So, in other words, I have no idea. But it's my opinion, and there are many who like it, but this one is mine. Way, way too early. It doesn't matter. Defense has got it.
It's coming up. Rich, your opinion's got your name on the house. I appreciate it.
So, you know. All right. And anything to pass the time to get rid of the nerves for tonight's game four, I'll tell you that. Oh, you're feeling it already? Really?
You know, here's what I'm going to. you know, start with today. Tonight is really going to be lit because Trump's not going to be there. There's no, you know, it's going to be back to the usual of the crowd back. There is a watch party, although there's a big to-do.
James Dolan going at the mayor and a press release on Tuesday night because he just can't friggin' help himself. But the bottom line is, it's back to, if you will, regular order, and for the most part. And the narratives from game three that are resonating now. for game four. are just epic.
Absolutely, completely epic. From You know, put up the the headlines of today's New York Post. Um The front page, it's a wanted poster. And it's the photograph of Wemby shoving Brunson down, which was led to no call, right? And also led to the association.
Putting one of their the the top official, if you will. Uh on ESPN to say we're looking at it. We're looking at it. for a flagrant foul possibly and they looked at it and Said there is no flagrant foul coming. And that would be a big thing because when Bunyama is, you know.
Already has uh Two points against him if you get more than three. I said two points against him due to that thrown elbow. In the series against Minnesota, they caused them to be ejected, but not suspended. Yeah, four points, automatic suspension. Right, right.
So, um, Put that if you don't mind the front page up again. I know I'm prattling on here, but Um The wanted poster is Wembanyama shoving Brunson down for crimes against the Knicks. Alias Wemby, height 7-4, nationality French, charge flagrant foul, reward NBA trophy. And then, because, again, this is a Murdoch-run newspaper, they took a shot at the local district attorney saying even soft on crime D.A. Bragg would find him guilty.
Wow. Wow. Can't help themselves. Just can't help themselves. That's really D.A.'s name?
D.A. I believe Alvin Bragg is his name there in the city of New York. Uh page um Is uh sort of dovetailing on it, calling him skinny pop. Wow. Okay.
Angry Nick's vow to hit back tonight after Wemby's cheap shot on their captain and the pull quote as we use in the um print business. that's out there. Jose Alvarado, who might might Might. Go up to Wemby's thigh. Says he got away with that one, but that'll be the last time.
So. Here's the issue. If Jose Alvarado is going to be the Knicks enforcer, that's a problem. This is my point yesterday. Lemby could just knock him over with a stare.
And. You know, that has been the narrative. Al Harrington has chimed in on it. That sound bites. Wherever he said it, I believe he's on a podcast somewhere saying that this is outrageous, that the Knicks let Wembenyama get away with it.
Jaymond Green says if Wemby shoved Steph over, Like he shoved Brunson over. He said he would have gotten ejected on the spot. And so that's built up. going into tonight. That there is a certain sensibility that the old school Knicks would never have Let go, countenanced, however you want to put it.
you know, Anthony Ramason or Oakley would have put somebody on their ass if anybody did that to Well, no one's going to do that to Ewing. But the best player of the Knicks is 6'2 as listed. Right. And so Who's gonna, like, if anybody goes in the direction of Jalen Brunson, right? Who's gonna back the play?
Now obviously it would be helpful If the ones that would just Back the play. Would be the actual referees who are in charge of making sure this stuff is either A, not happening, or B, if it does, is properly. Charging A foul to whomever does this. That would help because the video that you see also shows Cat being mugged at the same time. Yeah, but they always show the video right when Wemby shoves.
Back it up a few seconds, and Brunson has him in a bear hug.
Well, Brunson also, when he got shoved down, did have a grasp of Wembanyama's jersey.
So, yeah, the guy's just like, get off me.
Well, then that brings into the point of like, how are you calling it in both ways? 24 free throws for the Spurs in the second half of game three, just eight for The Knicks, ten more free throws for the Spurs. On game three, the Spurs actually have Uh more than 20 free throws. And it's an advantage in this series by this point. The officiating for tonight, the officials have been named.
Oh, hold on. I've got it for you. You got it? Pop it up. Zach Zarbo, who, if I'm not mistaken, is number one, was ranked number one by players in a vote, right?
Yeah, he's the best official in the league.
Okay, James Williams and Courtney Kirkland.
So. Series extender Scott Foster and also Um The most memed official of the day, Tony Brothers, neither are going to be on. The court tonight. Yeah, Mark Davis, who was the lead official last game, is the replay center at ref tonight.
So Eyes on that because every single time a Nick gets touched tonight. The garden crowd is going to go Absolutely nuts. It will be a hyper-aware Mix Crowd this evening in Madison Square Garden, hyper-aware of what's going on. And it will be a cauldron from jump. in that regard this evening.
Who is getting fouled? Is it being called both ways? And then if somebody dares to shove Brunson over. Who's going to go chest to chest? What's going to happen here?
So it's going to be an extremely tense. evening in Madison Square Garden, especially because The Spurs are four quarters away. From Getting home court advantage back. On a Wednesday night. After A Friday night Gave the Knicks a two games to none lead with two road wins and a ton of cushion going back into Madison Square Garden.
If the Spurs respond by taking two, In the garden? I said two games in the garden. To make it a best of three series with the Spurs having a home court advantage, meaning the Knicks need to win once on their home floor. to mean they don't need another win in San Antonio. That's what's at stake.
Tonight And the head coach Mike Brown was asked about I guess it's only fitting in Madison Square Garden. Where Billy Joel? is the house band talking about pressure. Obviously, it's I'm a firm believer that you can Grow and learn a lot in wins, but you can do the same as losses too. And we have a veteran group.
And uh nobody is quote unquote panicking or anything like that. Everybody is disappointed. that uh we didn't go out and execute and play to what we feel our standard is. And that's not taking anything away from from San Antonio, but we feel like we can play better a lot better than what we did. And we're looking forward to going out on the floor and showing it.
Mm-hmm. I think there's definitely going to be scuffles tonight, and I'm curious how that is officiated. How who and what are teed up, how they break it up. I think that's going to be a super interesting storyline. Uh Well, the cast of law and order is court side.
You know. And I'll just say this. If you told me going into the NBA Finals, the Knicks would have a two games to one lead going into game four, I'd sign that piece of paper with this very pen. Of uh Oh, I thought this was your mold remediation pattern.
So did I. Always first environmental. I don't know what it is. What if that's the first time? And the next Team that it just ripped off thirteen wins in a row in the playoffs.
constantly said We're O and O. These wins don't matter for tonight.
So if that's the way they approach it. Comin' off a wind. You have to approach it that way coming off of a loss. And they have that mindset coming in. And one other thing I would say.
You have to learn to pace yourself. Pressure. You're just like everybody else. No, here we go. You're just reading village old English.
Pressure. You've only had a run so far, so good. But you will come to a place where the only thing you feel. And you have to deal with. Fresh.
Because I know you love this conversation. Oh, more than anything, and Rich Isaac. Who's under the most pressure? The Knicks better win tonight.
Well I'll just say this: hold on. If the Knicks Don't win tonight. And it goes back to San Antonio.
Okay. Oh, man. Hold on a minute. Hold on a minute. And it goes back to San Antonio.
And it's all dormie. And we're now going to hear that the Spurs are in a position to be the first team to ever lose the first two games of NEA finals on their home court. Oh, pressure can shift. And then now that's been erased. And the Knicks have got to go back to a spot where they, by the way, just won two in a row.
in front of the nuns and the produce department and everybody else that's there. And their turquoise shirts. And right? And if The Spurs don't win tonight. then they've got to win three in a row.
Against a team that just Bounce back after a 13-game win streak in the playoffs? You're trying to say the Spurs had the pressure tonight? How do they not? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no, no, no.
How do they not? The pressure is all on the Knicks tonight. Why?
Okay? Why?
Because then if you lose tonight, you have blown a 2-0 lead on the road, going back to your house where you don't have to play another, you know, you can win it at home. There's none of the Trump bad vibes tonight, so you don't have that excuse. The watch parties and all that stuff is still on. There's no bad vibes. Nobody's sleeping during the games.
All on the Knicks tonight. If you lose this series tonight, lose this game tonight, all the talk tomorrow is going to be like. Spurs got it. Knicks blew it. They had their chance.
That's the only conversation. Or Thank you, TJ. As a Knick, I might think I'm going back to a place where I just won two games. Really? That is totally forgotten in everyone's mind.
How can you say that? That might as well have been a month ago. Right. You're talking about people who are yippity-yapping about the game, not the actual guys who are playing who knew that they just went to San Antonio and won two games. They already forgot about it.
How can you say that? Listen, the bottom line is the Knicks would prefer not to be in that position. Yeah, obviously. Right. And they would be now just needing one win in their final three.
games that are still, if necessary. to win a championship. And all they got to do is just win at home. I'm just saying, if the Spurs don't win it, look out, man. Right?
Look out. But this is the same position the Spurs were in. Last game, when I was telling you the Knicks had all the pressure on them, and what happened? They came out early. Wemby dominated early, down double digits early.
And then the Knicks took a seven-point lead at halftime, causing you to text the entire group saying the season, this series is over. Felt like it. And then what happened? Then the Spurs took over, and the Knicks didn't make a fourth-quarter three-pointer until it was too late. Horses out of the barn.
Spurs also missed seven free throws. I mean, that game shouldn't have been close at all.
So, Knicks.
So. Where do you stand on this? It is who's got the most pressure tonight? That's a great question. I've been sitting here listening to you guys go back and forth.
I don't know if they're really. Spurs. I like it. Poll question. Spurs, because pressure to win a nine.
Again, if you're the Knicks and you lose, it's still a tie series. You know, you're still tied. Right, you lost all the momentum that you stole. That's fine. But if you're the Spurs and you lose, this is you might as well change your name to Saran because it's a rap.
It's done. Unless Just ask the calves. Coming back from 3-1 down against, by the way, The Curry Warriors at the Zenith Okay. Of their run. Yeah, but before possible, these people are going to be able to do it.
Before Chris says it, who's going to kick Remby in the nuts? Obviously, you knew this was coming. I went to say it before he did. You know what I mean? There was a person on that team who wasn't.
No one on the Knicks is dumb enough to do that, are they? Alvarado's from Brooklyn, and I tweeted that Alvarado DGAF the other day. I get it. I don't give a. I know that.
And by the way, Sean Elliott came on our program just a couple of weeks ago and said, look out for that guy. He's always giving us problems, and he has done that. Mm-hmm. He has done that, but him as the enforcer, that's I wouldn't choose him. He would kind of be the last.
To say that. You know, but I'm glad at least somebody said it. And as far as the Knicks feeling pressure, just go into this game thinking all your life is channel 13. Sesame Street. What does it mean?
I don't know that that guys on that team are pressure. That's it. That's all it is. Embrace it. Just look up.
That's Billy Joel's name in the roster in the rafters.
Well, it's the only banner up there. Wow. That's true. That's funny. Funny.
I appreciate it.
That's a Celtic fan chiming in. Being irrelevant right now. Like I said, they're four rings. That's correct. I know.
I know Knicks fans with no rings aren't talking to me right now. You're still caping for Luke Cornette over there. Like I said, though, the vibes are back. Vibrations count. We'll see.
Vince Goodwill's next. Nick Scott. And you're with you, 844-204-Rich. Number 1, Vincent Goodwill, covering this series from NYC when we return. Yeah.
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844-204 Rich is the number to dial. We love when Vincent Goodwill stops by, and he stops by right here, suited and booted, ready for it. Yeah, boy, let's go. Good to see you, Vincent. How are you, sir?
Good morning guys. Because I had to do get up this morning, so it's been a long day and it's gonna be a l I'm excited, man.
Well, I appreciate you staying up and staying suited in Buddha. I appreciate that. Um okay. We just started the conversation, Vincent, about how. the narratives from Game 3 that are going to truly roost in Game 4.
Um I think it's the officiating. And if they just spend the first six, seven minutes just letting everything go. like game three, we're running some risks, quite frankly. Um what's been the conversation? Do you think on that front?
Vincent.
Well, it's always weird from game to game because it's a different officiating crew. Every game, Zach Zarba tonight is the league's lead official. He might be. NBA's best official, and the players respect him and they like him, and he's always communicative with those guys.
So, I think tonight during captains' meetings, it literally only takes maybe 30 seconds, guys. You bring the two captains together, the players will talk amongst themselves, they'll say, Hey, I'll let you play tonight, or hey, you know, let's watch out for this. I don't think that we are at the risk of something ugly happening. Like, this is the NBA finals. I think this.
Out of chatter, but nobody wants to get thrown out of a game. I think what happened with Victor Wimbenyama the other day, that was a little retaliatory for things that have been happening throughout the course of the series. But at least I don't think. Unless Charles Oakley gets his band lifted and comes into the garden tonight, I don't think any. Crazy is going to happen on the floor.
Well, I mean it That said, there has been a conversation that I'm sure some Knicks players have heard. is that You can't allow Jalen Brunson to be shoved over in your Garden And and be able to live to tell the tale. You shouldn't let that happen. And uh I don't know. Who's going to be the guy if it happens again?
Or if the officials will just say, we've got this, let's not have any vigilanteism here. But I I certainly know the garden crowd will be hyper aware. hyper aware from jump, as to whistles, where they are, where they aren't. For sure. Rich, it's going to be a, I won't say a desperate atmosphere, but I feel like that's the word, right?
That's so much on the line. For tonight, the pressure is all on them. If this series goes back to San Antonio, 2-2, you have done undid all of your great work throughout the course of this series.
So, as far as Jalen Brunson goes, there has to be someone that says, We have to protect our captain, we have to protect our leader. What that looks like can be on a multitude of things. It doesn't mean you go after Victor Winbinyama, Rich. It means you know what? Maybe I'll set a hard screen on Stefan Castle.
Maybe I'll set a really hard screen. Maybe it's clean, maybe it's an offensive file, but it's a physical screen that sets the tone. Like, we think of like Mano Emano, like, oh, you took out Brunson, I'm going to take out Victor Winbinyama. It doesn't work like that. The officials are going to be on so they're going to be so hypersensitive to that stuff that it has to be a little more subtle.
And here's the honest part of it, guys. The Knicks were not In the other nine. The Spurs were by far the more physical, aggressive team. And when that happens, the reps look at it and say, oh, if this. Team is playing on this tone, and you guys are not matching their physicality, don't expect us to bail you out.
So, I do think the Knicks have to, in general, take a more physical, a more aggressive tone, but they just have to know where the line is. That's always a tricky thing when there's a new officiating crew from night to night. Where is the line? It usually evens out over the course of a seven-game series, but it's going to be interesting to see who does what this evening. Vincent Goodwill here on the Rich Eisen Show.
Another narrative that you just pointed out was pressure. You just echoed what Chris Brockman said to start our broadcast: that the pressure's all on the Knicks. Um you know, obviously I I gave some push back to that being a Okay. Native of Brooklyn, who grew up in Staten Island, New York. That if the Spurs lose this, then they've got to win three in a row against a team that had won 13 in a row.
in the playoffs, including two on the Spurs home court. They have to win three in a row against that team that just bounced back.
So I'll throw that in your lap. Vincent, what do you find? You're not wrong. And clearly, there's only been one team to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals in 2016, LeBron and Steph, and everything that was dripping in that series. I think once you get to the NBA Finals, there's pressure all around.
There's nobody that says, oh, you know what? It's acceptable for us to lose tonight. We got three more games in this series. Every game is dripping with drama. I don't know if we express as media, at least those of us who sit courtside will cover the league really closely, how physical and how emotionally draining these games are.
Everybody feels that pressure. Jalen Brunson most certainly feels that pressure. We know Carl Towns feels that pressure. But playing under, like you said, you're playing at Madison Square Garden this evening. Tonight's going to be a little more of a, shall we say rich, normal atmosphere tonight.
Little abnormal. Maybe tonight's going to be a little more normal as far as you know, people who won't be there, people who ain't going to be falling asleep, stuff like that, right? Like, don't. Things.
So, with that being said, if the Knicks can get themselves into their normal rhythm, right? The normal just Game day rhythms, the normalcy of what this is going to be. I think by and large, they're going to be fine. But you're going to have 20,000 nervous New Yorkers in this building. Like, I don't think there's any doubt that the Knicks fans believe the pressure is on their team.
The San Antonio Spurs have two players in their rotation who are 19 years old. They don't know how to spell pressure. They've got. This season, the Knicks are the team that was built to win a championship or built to get to the NBA Finals. That's why I say the pressure is on them.
And you can't say, Man, we love New York, it's the Madison Square Garden, it's the Mecca, and everything else. And say, oh, no, no, no, the pressure is on somebody else. No, you got to take that. You got to take that, Rich. Vincent Goodwill here on the Rich Eisen Show.
Your favorite storyline that nobody's talking about through the first three games of this NBA Finals. It could be somebody's background story coming to the fore now. It could be on either team. What do you got for me? I don't know if you know who we work for.
We run these narratives into the ground by games, but we talk the fa If you go to kindergarten, all that type of stuff, right? But honestly, I am fascinated by Mitch Johnson, the not yet 40-year-old head coach of the San Antonio Spurs.
So much of what we talk about with the Spurs revolves around this lineage. You know, Greg Popovich and Tim Duncan and David Robinson and all that they It is franchising, getting them to this point. Mitch Johnson. took over for Greg Popovich, who had a stroke. Over a year ago, And has had to mold and meld this team into his image.
And we don't know that much about him. And he's in the NBA Finals for the very first time. Can you imagine the pressure that he feels? He's a novice in this. Mike Brown, this is his third NBA Finals.
You know, he was, excuse me, once in Cleveland almost 20 years ago, once in Golden State, you know, as the interim or acting head coach when Steve Kerr was out following back surgery, he's been through this. Mitch Johnson has not.
So I'm wondering how he feels in addition to. How he's handling the Victor Wimbinyama stuff. How you're handling the cauldron of New York City and Madison Square Garden and some of the chants. Like, I don't know if you guys have seen this. He's getting cat called and everything else when he's walking the streets of New York by Nick fans.
Saw that. Like, that's a lot. This is so enormous for someone to go through for the very first time. He's from Seattle. Like, I'm wondering what he felt about beating the Oklahoma City Thunder, being a Seattle Sonics guy, and everything else.
There's a lot there. We just haven't had the time to dive into that because we're so focused on so many other very rich storylines. Including Greg Popovich himself as well. Our colleague from the athletic, Sam Amick, reporting that Pop. popped on to the flight pregame The flight to pre-New York City and gave a speech.
and then also individually sat with players. Um which is just uh another fascinating Part of the storyline, Vincent. All of this is, all of this is, and think about it from Pop's standpoint or the Spurs' standpoint. They've had crushing losses throughout all their championship years. Remember the Ray Allen shot in 2013?
That was in game six. They could have clinched the championship and they had to go back the next day, two days later, and play at game seven, and they should have won at game seven, and it didn't break them.
So for Pop to come on after a crushing loss in game two. They very well could have packed it in and said, you know what? This is the Knicks coronation. Everybody in the NBA, everybody a part of this NBA world wants the Knicks to succeed and break this championship drought. We can just, you know what, show up and give a cursory effort, and they didn't.
They don't care and they don't scare. And I think part of that has to come from this Spurs DNA, led by Greg Popovich, who clearly. Of course, 75, 76, 77 years old, you know, is not the person not as with it as he once was, but still clairvoyant and still has experience and still has the player's ears. And I think to me, that's another one of those branches of the tree that we haven't seen much of, that level of experience that he's clearly passed down to all of these players. You want to take a crack at?
I know this is not usually your lane. You want to take a crack at what happens tonight? Vincent? A crack at what happens to that look I'll just say this Rich I want to see a long series. I don't want this NBA season to end.
It has gotten great. You know, I've covered the Knicks on the back end of the season and going into the playoffs. They've been impressive. I want to see some real diversity. That's what I want to see.
I think game four. Are usually classics. Michael Jordan's 55 against the Phoenix Suns was a game four. Magic's Jr. Jr.
Sky Hook was a game four. Shake Gilders Alexander gave you a great game four. Stephan Curry put the Warriors on his back in Boston a few years ago in game four. What I'm looking forward to seeing is either Jalen Brunson. Or Victor Wimanyama, adding their name to NBA Finals lore, because game four tells you who's winning the series and it tells you who the best team is.
And that answer may not always be the same team. Vincent, thanks for the time. Really appreciate it. Let's catch up in short order. I really appreciate it.
I know you're busy, and I know you're getting up and staying up and doing all the ups.
So thank you. Hey, this is fun, man. Thanks again, Rich. Always. That's Vincent Goodwill at VinceGoodwill to 5.
Hi, Vanya. Enjoy the game. Yeah, he's got to stay, you know, he's not a pundit. But he's there, sure. Uh, that's why I took a shot at that.
Didn't expect a history lesson, which is pretty cool. Game fours are um Usually happening for some big performances, right? You got in my ear towards the end of Vincent's history lesson. There's another big performance that's well, I'm sure Vincent would be interested to hear this. Reportedly, the Wu-Tang clan is performing tonight at halftime.
Staten Island's finest. Shout out to the woo. Staten Island's finest. I told TJ that and he said, Nick's huge tonight.
So we'll see. Is that right? All your money on the Knickerbockers. Method Man's going to lead the way. That's the sixth man.
Method Man is the sixth man? Meth. He's probably the man. He's the enforcer that the Knicks need, probably. That would be Ghostface.
He would be the one you wouldn't want to mess without. Out to Woo-Wit. All right. I mean, Meth was swole when he was here last. The Larry Sanders show, one of my favorite TV shows of all time, Artie, who was the Rip Torn.
Who was the actor who played Artie? He was also the, I believe, Patch's O'Hulahan. Speaking of Ben Stillis, correct. Dodge ball. Men in black as well.
You can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball. Dodge, duck, dodge. Dodge.
Well, the older version, I think Hank was the younger version. I'm going down a wormhole, a rip-torn wormhole. He played Artie, the The producer of the Larry Sanders show. And when. Larry once upon a time asked who is on tonight, um and Artie said it's uh Staten Island's streetwise troubadours, Hu-Tang clan.
That's how he put it.
So here we go. Let's go to Staten Island, the fifth and forgotten borough, part of uh tonight's game. And you know, I never ever thought Greg Popovich would be in the role of Yoda in his career, but that's basically what it is. Yeah, yeah. The old Jedi.
Still there. to turn the youngsters From going to the dark side.
So keep them from going to the dark side. That's basically it. You know? Does that make Wembanyama the skywalker of the equation? Pretty much, right?
You know, and they're the new hope of San Antonio. Membie feels like Kylo Wren a little bit. Got a little evil in him. Come on now. There's no, and that's the thing, too.
Nick fans, you're looking for a media. I'm a dirty player, bad guy. Come on, man. A foreigner coming to America. It's just absurd.
He doesn't have his hand on his heart for the anthem. Come on, man. Neither does anyone else.
Okay. Come on now. Wemby went to Shaolin to study with the monks. The Wu-Tang is all about the Shaolin. Sure, yeah.
It's going to be interesting. He got the nuns, the monks, and the Wu-Tang clan. That's what's going on.
So the nuns. Nuns and monks and the Wu-Tang walked into a bar. There we go. And sprinkling a little fat Joe in there. Oh, yeah.
DJ Callot on his phone? No, he may not.
Somebody put some downtime on that man's device, please. For tonight, because put it in a bag, Chappelle was there, put it in a bag if he's sitting there staring at his phone again. Oh, the Nick should kick him out and say, Just go back to South Florida and give the seat to somebody else. The whole game, he's on his phone. Give me a break, brother.
Take his phone, another one, take his phone. Yeah, he probably has another one, yeah, and another one. Take his phone and his burner, or whatever the hell he's got. Just be careful, of course. They'll run into Mayor Bloomberg.
You know what I mean? Oh, by the way, how about that, Jose Alvarado lineup? And people were going nuts because it looked like Bloomberg was. Uh drinking a soda. And if I'm not mistaken, his time in New York is he was trying to ban sodas from fast food places because of its caloric problems.
Yeah, well and look at him now, huh? In his dotage, having a soda and having Jose Alvarado sitting in his lap. You know, but basically, any he could sit in the, if you're a player, you can land in the lap of, it's just spin the wheel of, of, Law and Order stars or I mean, Tracy Morgan or anybody from 30 Rock or LD, you know, could be anybody. New York over LA, Celebrity Row, man, they came out. Eli and Jeet sitting next to each other.
Everybody's getting a ticket, except for you. To me, the hell we don't live there. I don't neither does any half of the people that are sitting around Bob Kraft. I'm sure he has many homes and many people. I think he was a guest of David Zaslov, right?
He was sitting next to him, who was sitting on the other side of Larry. Yeah. I knew I could text Larry about the game because he wasn't taping it because I could see him sitting right there. Maybe he should go up to DJ Khaled and tell him about etiquette. Text Larry.
Text Larry right now, please. Ask him if he's going to the game. I'm sure he is. Does he know DJ Khaled? Does he know who he is?
50-50. Just look for a man on his phone.
Okay. We'll take a break. 844-204-Rich is the number. Don't quite good. Mike Florio is coming up in hour number two, talking some NFL.
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Now Hanks has a line out the door. Hank makes the pizza, Copilot handles the spreadsheets. Learn more at M365copilot.com slash work. Back on ESPN Radio and SiriusXM Channel 80. Let's go to Ed in the great state of Michigan.
What's up, Ed in the great state of Michigan? What's going on, Ed? That's line six. Hey guys, what's up? Quick question.
Is the way the way these ways are going, they're posting stuff over New York City, whining about this. And and players are going to follow along. They're going to get out there and they're going to whine. And I know New York believes something else in rest of the country because rest of the country believes all New Yorkers are a bunch of whinies. Whoa, whoa, whoa with me, wine, wine, wine.
If this thing goes sideways tonight, which it could it really could, if San Antonio wins this. Yes. And they go back to San Antonio Tide two too. What's the reaction in New York going to be? First of all, let me push back on you.
The Knick players are not whining. I could play you a soundbite right now from Jalen Brunson saying, once again, we've got to stop fouling. We got to stop turning the ball over, which is was his reaction when you was asked point blank about uh About Wembanyama. He's just like, everybody saw it. And then he just started talking, you know, like, that's not whining.
The coach said one thing about the officiating. Nick fans are livid. If you root for the Pistons, you'd feel the same way, man. Wouldn't you have your boss post plastery stuff across the news. You don't think that what was me whining is going to seep into that locker room for those players?
You don't think it's gonna show up on that court? They're gonna be looking for every single little call. I mean, I'm not hearing New York fans c cry about About Cat and Brunson, they're the two biggest travelers in the NBA. Cat will take 11 steps before he puts the ball up. But nobody nobody's crying about that.
Okay. I mean, come on, man. Plays happen. Quit whining about it.
Okay. Thanks for the call. That's Ed in Michigan with his two cents prior to game four. Tonight. Ed must be seeing stuff that I'm not.
No, Ed, I know what he's saying, his point of view. But I mean The head coach, that's his job, is to say that sort of stuff and put it front and center. and we'll see if the calls are any closer to being more equitable. Yeah, and it's not like the spurs are being completely squeaky clean. We'll see.
This was Sports Center. is um Like I've mentioned, A Labor of Love. It's a new show that's out on Disney Plus, the ESPN app. You can also see it on the Rich Eisen Show YouTube channel. Dan Patrick was the first episode on Friday.
There's another one coming on Friday with Mike Greenberg. The latest one we just decided to drop in between as a special in between Fridays. Every Friday is when we're going to drop. I chat with Chris Berman live on the stage of the Strand Theater in San Francisco this past Super Bowl, talk with Chris about his Sports Center beginnings, and while he was growing that. franchise He was also creating a new Sports T V Niche.
Host of the NFL Draft. This is some fun stuff on This Was Sports Center. NFL draft. When did that first hit your. desk and Bunny.
Did you think that that was televisable when you first? Heard about it? It would have been April, maybe it was late March, but first April of 1980. There was the only one I wasn't involved in. I mean, it was rudimentary.
Right. And the meeting apparently was: you know, Pete Roselle, the commissioner, Chet Simmons, went to him. We'd like to televise the NFL draft. Hi, hello, and welcome to the New York Sheridan Hotel's Grand Ballroom, the site of the 1980 National Football League College Player Draft. I started the second one, not the host.
I mean, I had a very variety of roles. One year I was in like a New A New York, like. Yeah. Lunch pleasure. You can see the red and the white tablecloths.
Maybe a little early for some to start going, but we're at Mike Manucci's restaurant where a lot of sports folk and the Big Apple will be coming out to give their opinions on the draft. It's at Seventh Avenue and fifty second. And if you're the big apple, you want to give your opinion? By all means, stop by. The draft was like an oasis.
In the middle of a desert. Hi, everybody. I'm Chris Berman, and welcome to the 53rd National Football League. They'll call it the selection meeting. We call it the draft.
The crowd is ready. We're ready here at ESPN. And then football went into hibernation again until the training camps open.
So it was like for six months, this was the one day that. You know, we didn't have mock drafts. In November, okay, like, by the way, it's a little much, okay? But the guy who does all the mock drafts now is Mel Kuiper. Oh, I'll do him no.
I will never get. Chris, I will never forget being in college and watching him basically say, I think it's a typical Colt move. I mean, here's a team that needed a franchise quarterback. He would just go lay into it. I'm sitting in college and I'm like, wow, this guy sitting next to Berman is losing his mind.
To pass up a Trent Philford when all you have is Jim Harbaugh, give me a break. That's why the Colts are picking second every year in the draft, not battling for the Super Bowl like other clubs in the National Football League. It was wild. It just. To see moments like that and then have the general managers come on and then the coaches react.
Who in the hell is Mel Kuyper, in a way? I mean, here's a guy that criticizes everybody, whoever they take. He's got the answers to who you should take and who you shouldn't take. In my knowledge of him, he's never ever put on a jockstrap. He's never been a player.
And all of a sudden, he's an expert. He's in our papers two days ago telling us who we have to take. We don't have to take anybody that Mel Kuyper says we have to take. It was obvious that this was becoming not just something for the fans, but it was an industry must-see. Another thing.
we put it on or chat you know, they they thought of it like Because this was one day big time for us. And no way they could have thought it's become the extravaganza. I know it's been 40 plus years. Again, it was an oasis for football fans in the middle of the six-month dark period. This was Sports Center out now.
I'm telling you, it's just a. God, so perfect. Yeah, just serving it up in spoonfuls. Maybe one of seeing Mort right there with the client. Seeing Mort, and that clip never gets old.
Who the hell is Mel Kuiper? Right? And Mel looks so young.
So young. And they caught away to him while he's getting ripped, and he's just like, oh. Again, just trying to sit there and compose himself. And Berman was the ring the ringleader. And so that's just an hour-long conversation with the with Chris that is just chock full of NOSTALGIA.
From the way Sports Center began to the drafts Explosion and all the nicknames too. This was SportsCenter presented by Gusto on Disney Plus, the ESPN app and the Rich Eisen Show YouTube channel, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. That's our one here. The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. When it's time to scale your business, it's time for Shopify.
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