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Now, on with the show. I scary but no one. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Big fans, this is not a dream. The Rich Eisen Show.
My entire life I've been waiting for this moment. Earlier on the show. ESPN NBA broadcaster Mike Green. Coming up. Host of ESPN's Get Up Mike Greenberg.
ESPN host Jeremy Schaff. Two-time national championship head coach Jay Wright. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Part two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air here on Disney Plus, the ESPN at ESPN Radio Series XM channel. 80-844-204 Rich is the number to dial.
If you're on hold, stand hold, we will take your calls this very hour. Mike Greenberg of Get Up is, and also he is the guest on this week's episode of This Was Sports Center, my new nostalgia series that you can check out on Disney Plus and the Rich Eisen Show YouTube page as well. He's going to join us, but here in studio is one of my dear friends. We go way back in the day. I loved working with him.
He was at Susie's. Susie's and I's wedding. We went on vacation with this man. His name is Jeremy Schapp of ESPN. What's going on, Jeremy Schapp?
How are you? It's great to be here, Rich. It's been a little while. I think the last time I was in this chair was about 10 or 11 years ago. Was that that long?
Because I know you remember these things. I do. You have steel trap.
So let's just play this game. The first. World Cup game you attended? Yes, which was it was uh up at the Rose Bowl, okay, Pasadena, yes, uh, June 22nd, 1994. That was the infamous U.S.
victory over Colombia, the own goal scored by Andres Escobar, who was killed 10 days later. Uh, in Colombia. And it was also the day of the seventh game of the NBA Finals, the Knicks and the Rockets.
Okay. Yeah, so I remember I went to the game, excuse me, as a fan. Yes. And then I ended up, I have no idea where I had dinner. I don't know if I was still up in Pasadena, but I was with a buddy of mine and we watched, was it Starks went 2 for 18?
Yes. And I remember a lot of people were wondering if what was going on with Jon Starks that night and that the famed 30 for 30 happened. All right.
So then the first U.S. men's national team World Cup game that you covered. It would have been the first game four years later in Paris when they got hammered by Germany at the Parc des Prince, you know, the smaller Football stadium in Paris. But I feel like, Rich, I actually go back to the very beginnings. You know, the U.S.
qualified in 1989 for the 1990 World Cup. That was the first time in 40 years they reached the World Cup final. And my father was the host of the going away party for the U.S. team as it was heading off to Italian 90 at a little place. You might remember, it was there for a long time in little Italy in New York called SPQR.
Of course. Yeah. Sure. And the party was there. And, you know, I tagged along.
I was still in college. And you think about it, right? That was 36 years ago. And it's been kind of a. You know, uh A rocky road in many ways over the last 36 years, but the trajectory, the arc, is basically like this.
There have been dips along the way. But I was there in 98 in France, which was. catastrophe for the US team. And then in 2010 in South Africa, where they got to the knockout stage, lost to Ghana. In 2014, they got to the knockout stage, lost to Belgium.
Tim Howard made all those incredible saves. And then they didn't qualify in 2018, which was shocking coming out of CONCACAF. And here we are now with it was like a surreal experience on Friday night. Yeah, I was watching what they were. Go for it.
What was that? I mean, what a performance. Best one you've ever seen, correct? Oh, no doubt. I mean, it's not even close.
You know, it's not like I've been to all the qualifiers over the last 30 years, not by any means or covering all the gold cups or any of that stuff. But, you know, I've been there for a lot of the World Cup games and. It was just a different level. It was really like an out-of-body experience. Like, this is, now we knew there's great individual talent on this team.
In a way that we haven't had before. Guys who are playing for some of the best clubs in the world and the best leagues in the world, so you know they are capable of it. But seeing them gel the way that they did, taking on a very tough team to play in Paraguay that basically gave up no goals in qualifying in South America. Uh, it was it was astounding. I mean, it was just bizarre, yeah, and um.
to see the way they came out. Interestingly enough, here in Los Angeles, an own goal starting it. That's right. And then, you know. Eerie echoes.
what ensued after that, before half time, Was jarring because it was, as I mentioned, they were faster than the other team. They were crisper than the other team. They were better coached than the other team. They were also more aggressive than the other team. And they were Spectacular.
They did everything better. They did everything better. Pulissic was brilliant. McKinney was brilliant. Chris Richards had a great game.
Balogun. Tyler Adams, of course, Baligan was the man of the match. Um You know, a a and a guy like Balogan, right? Um You know, who's what 23, 24 years old, playing for Monaco, had a great season in Monaco, scored about 20 goals across all competitions, had a streak where he scored in eight consecutive games, which is an impressive streak. You know, a great league, but if one out of 100 American sports fans knew the name Balogun before Friday night, Flo Balagun, I'd be surprised, right?
or Chris Richards or Weston McKenney, I mean, uh to a greater extent than than Baloguin, but um You know, now these guys have this opportunity. to do something Very special. To do it here at home. For these guys, it isn't exactly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Many of them will play multiple, but a World Cup at home.
Is a once-in-a-career opportunity, right? And to have the country's attention on them, 25 million people watch that game. against Paraguay. You know, we're not at the knockout stages. It certainly has changed everybody's perspective on what the ceiling for this team could be.
Well, I have a follow-up question uh on that, but we've reached the uh hydration break. I'm all for hydration. Great bit. Yeah. It's 70 degrees out.
We don't need a water break. What are you going to do, though? Are you going to say, you know, if you make it discretionary, then you're going to have complaints, right? If you make it discretionary, it's like, oh, it's going to benefit this team and not that team. Those guys look gassed.
You know, it's like the Super Bowl black jacket. At least in the farm, it was 110. Excuse me. We have the graphic up. We have the graphic up.
On top of it, I I I care about this man's hydration. We can't have you cramping up. Thank you. You're right. I was about to.
Hold on a minute. I'm not cramping up. You get some commercials in, you know. Yeah. You can bring the mic back to your face.
Oh, thank you. That's part of the hydration break. All right, now hold on a minute.
Now we're done. Go ahead.
Now we're done. I mean, I guess you could, you know, you could say, look, if it's going to be a certain heat index or humidity level or something like that beforehand, so you couldn't have complaints about it benefiting one over the other, but. It just doesn't bother me that much.
Well, come on. We all know it's to put commercials in there. How much is Fox spending on this? Half a B? Isn't that how much they're spending on this?
Well, they got a discount on it, of course, because of what happened in 2022 with Qatar.
Okay. So that's that's that's that's neither here nor there. But yeah. But now see, now you're going to be. Fresher to answer my follow-up question.
'Cause you know where this sort of stuff works in in our world, in our business, where we're now breaking down what we saw and what's real and what's not, and the idea that Paraguay was. you know, a steam rollable team. Yeah, well, that's certainly what it's ridiculous. I mean, that was certainly not the way any of the analysts I was working with who were much smarter about this stuff than I am. Not the Hercules Gomez's or the Casey Kellers or the Jeff Carr.
You know, Paraguay had a terrific qualifying campaign, the last two-thirds of it, after they hired Gustavo Alfaro, who's from the same project. Province in Argentina is Maurizio Pochitino. Ah, the coach of the U.S. men's national team. And they were very tough to score against.
They were very determined. They were a formidable opponent. And by the way. When even if the opposite is true. Right.
When has the United States been so damn good where they where they were able to then steamroll a team that is steamrolling? Ever. Right. Ever. I've been going to these games for thirty two years and there's never been anything like that.
The last time You know, they won by multiple goals, was in the round of 16 in 2002 in Korea against Mexico. Um You know, this is a team. A national team that has won one knockout stage game. Ever that game against Mexico.
So, you know, we do have to. We have every right now to uh rejoice and to be uh Positive about this, even a bullion, but we do have to keep things in perspective. It's one game. Jeremy Schapp here on the Rich Eisen Show. What is tonight with Iran versus New Zealand going to look like, you think, in SoFi State?
I think it's so-or pardon me, the Los Angeles state. Los Angeles Stadium. Yeah, all the signage is gone. There's not even an article up there now. It's just stadium.
Okay. We've got our position. We've got our position across from it. You need some hydration to get through that conversation. Drink something, Chris.
Get some hydration. There will be no free advertising on FIFA's time. You know, in terms of the game, that's really not what I'm focusing on. You know, we'll see there are going to be some protests outside the stadium. You know, the Iranian diaspora, there are huge numbers of People who grew up in Iran, who live in LA, first generation, second generation, a huge community here.
I think the largest outside of Iran itself. And it's going to be interesting. I was at the U.S.-Iran game in 98. In Lyon, and the U.S. lost that game, was knocked out of the tournament, finished last in that tournament, 32nd out of 32 teams.
And there were a lot of people there that night, as I recall, again, it's been 28 years who were anti-regime, but they were also rooting for the team.
So we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. That's tonight. You're a fellow New Yorker. You mentioned your dad earlier.
What do you think? your dad would think about the Knicks winning at all fifty-three years after The last time, Jeremy. What do you think? Well, you know, he'd be thinking about those guys that he was so close to. You know, he he wrote a book about the 1969-70s season with Dave DeBusher, the open man.
You know, when I was a kid, we lived near DeBuscher, or and we lived near Jerry Lucas, who was on the 73 team. Um, you know, I remember Earl Monroe coming over to the house and Bill Jackson and those guys. Bill Jackson came over to your house? Bill Jackson came over. Did he bring something?
I was very young, but my mother was very fond of him, which leads me to believe all these years later that he probably did. Very good. At least some cookies.
Okay, good.
Something like that. He's got a good job. You know, Frasier and Reed. I mean, all those guys. Yeah, of course.
You know my dad.
Well, you knew my dad the way that he had those relationships with those teams. And he was working with them. You know, Dave was. His partner. And Bradley, and you know, you know, my mom came my mom knew nothing about sports, you know, and the story was, you know, she came home one night and Debusher and Bradley are sitting in the living room and, you know.
Where we were at 56th Street at that point. Yes. And she's like, who are those two tall guys in the living room? And my dad says, Well, you know, one is Dave DeBusher, and he used to be a Major League pitcher, and the other is going to be president of the United States someday. And of course, that was Bill.
Yes. And so, you know, he'd be thinking about those guys and Reddy. He'd be thinking about Holtzman and. You know, he loved he loved Reddy, he loved that team, he loved all those guys, and it was a you know, it's It was maybe up until a couple of nights ago, arguably the most beloved team in the history of New York, that 70 team. This one is up there with them.
I mean, and we had Mike Breen on. You were in the conversation. Him saying that Clyde never. talks about other teams. They're on par with his.
And that this one he was already talking about. This team and Brunson. Like, Jalen Brunson is now a top five athlete in the history of New York sports. Jeremy Shapp? Ooh, that's tough.
Come on now. That's tough on one championship? All right, well, if you're going to say that. It is off the top of my head. Yes, sir.
You talked about Babe Ruth.
Okay. You talk about Lawrence Taylor. You're talking about Mickey Mantle. I am. You're talking about Tom Seaver.
Okay, that's for it. We're talking about Joe Namath. We're talking about Mark Messier. How many of them been in your living room? Uh Reggie Jackson.
Uh not Messier.
Okay, not Messier. Um not babe, not the babe. The babe was not in your living room. Eric never got there. Nameth?
Nameth in your living room? Oh, yeah.
Okay. Seaver in your living room. Absolutely. Yeah. Seaver, you know, Seaver, we lived for a while near the Seavers as well in Greenwich, and we had cats from the same litter.
Wow. And so our cats were brothers, and. And there were two Himalayan cats.
So, my dad came home with these two Himalayan cats in 1972. Yes. And And we named ours because my father didn't have the greatest grasp of geography, but Himalayan, so vaguely connected to India.
So we named ours Gandhi.
Okay. We just called him Gandhi, but Seaver named his. Fergie after Jenkins because he just lost the Cy Young Award to him. They finished second.
So he was naming a cat as like a competitive inspiration? Is that what he's named his cat? I think that was it. Yeah, and then Fergie.
So this cat's walking around reminding him to keep an edge as a pitcher? You know, I never asked Seaver about it, but I was sure that was it, or maybe it was just pure bitterness that he had lost.
So he's gonna take his bitterness out of naming his cat. Yeah, well, that's it's true. Oh my. You should do a documentary called Growing Up Shadow. I would watch that.
It would be fun. There were there were some p uh, you know. Reggie uh You know, Reggie would come over a lot. I mean, there were so top five. I'd he wins another one, then he's top five.
He's cracking it? Come on now. Well, hold on.
Okay, so and I don't want to be, you know, just a contrarian, but you got to wait. There have been some great, great champions in New York. Jalen Brunson. We all love him. He's great.
What he did was fantastic. But again, you've got just from the Yankees, Mantle, DiMaggio, Ruth, Garrett. Not to mention Ford and Jeter and Rivera.
So of the last than 50 years. Yeah. Right? Yeah, well, now we're taking the previous Knicks out. That's right.
We're taking the previous Knicks out. You got the 70s Yankees. You got the Jeter.
Now, so you're not in the city. You got some Mexicans. You know, Brian Trottier and Marc Messier. They don't count as the city. I'm sorry, Brian Trottier and Mike Bossi.
You don't count the island. Long Island, man, but it's the metropolitan area, I guess.
Okay, look at you going. What about the team? What about Julius Irving as a net? Come on. Is it the greatest New York championship team?
Where does that rank?
Well, in what respect? I mean, in terms of what you thought they were going to achieve. You know, the way coming into the playoffs, what were they probably the third pick in the East coming into the playoffs? Right, maybe.
Okay, so Um yeah, I could see that a And then the way they actually, of course, perform to the playoffs elevates them. But if you're talking about just You know, all-time great teams. Are they a better team? I mean, they're better than the Giants team that won Super Bowl 21. And up there with the 94 Rangers.
They're up there with the 98 Yankees that went 125 and 50. They're up there with them. They absolutely have to be up there with them. Yeah. Are they better than the Jets?
The Jets shimmy. All right, this guy. Very good. Jets championship is one of those moments, right? It's one of those.
It's not only, I mean, I'm telling you guys, you hear this all the time from Rich, but it's not just about winning Super Bowl III, it's about. You know, the bigger picture validating the AFL and, you know, basically, you know, the merger at that point. It was done, but it looked, you know, after the two Packers wins in one and two. We don't have to get into all the details, but the Super Bowl 3 is one of the most important games ever played.
So, speaking of the Super Bowl, the Biggest Game podcast serves as a central pillar of ESPN's Year of the Super Bowl storytelling narrative: the biggest game in you. Are hosting this. Yes, it's fun. And you're sitting me down on Wednesday for this thing. Very excited about it.
Who have you talked to for this?
So far, so we're doing like 50 of these. I mean, we did Jimmy Johnson specifically about how the Herschel Walker trade made the three Super Bowl wins in the 90s possible for the Cowboys. We did Desmond Howard about Super Bowl XXXXI, the incredible game he had, only special teams player to win Super Bowl MVP. Uh Chris Russo, Chris Berman, Mina Times, star-studded guest appearances on the biggest game. It's a lot of fun.
You know I love the history stuff. Yes, you do. Diving deep into it. I'm watching all the old Super Bowls over, and the broadcasts are great. That's a great element of it.
Just you can pretty much watch, other than Super Bowl one, really the broadcast of everything just on YouTube. And It's amazing, like which one which one was I watching recently? And you know, the. You know, the productions are so much, as you would expect, so much less sophisticated. Oh, sure.
And they'll come on the air, though. It'll be six straight minutes of like. You know, who is it? Like Jack Whitaker just flurry a monologue for like six minutes with no cutaways. Imagine that happened now.
It's unbelievable. You know, and you, and then you start watching, and you're like, what's the score? How much time's left in the game? And you're wondering, why am I not just seeing it on the screen? Right.
You know, I'm with you on that. We've reached the end of the regulation portion of this conversation. How much time do I have left with Jeremy Schapp? Do we have it? Hold on a minute.
Two minutes of extra time right there. Got two minutes of minimum-ish right. Right, too much of extra time. I like the suspense. By the way, do you see what he took out on the why do you have your passport with you?
Are you going on a slow-speed chase down to 405 after this? Is that what this is about? That's in two days, that's two-day anniversary. That's on the 17th. Is that right?
Yeah. Why do you have your passport with you? Actually, I needed it to get my FIFA credential at SoFi when I landed last week because my passport was the document I had used. when I applied for the credential and you had to show up with it. But the U.S., there is a possibility the U.S.
could end up in Vancouver, I think, in the round of 32. It's highly unlikely.
Okay. So you need it. I guess I need it. He sat down. He took out his wallet and his passport.
It's bold.
Okay. I thought you were going through the magnometer here that we don't have. Like, what's going on? You took all that out of your pocket.
Okay. Can we talk about your wedding? That was great. Sure. We got about one minute left in extra time.
Well, you brought it up. That was a great wedding. I'd say it again. It was a great wedding. It was fun.
It was fun. Why aren't you in that photograph? Were you at a different table than the ESPN people? Which photograph? The photograph that we showed in the Dan Patrick episode of This Was Sports Center.
I don't remember the photograph. Yeah, there's a picture of everybody. You're not in it, I don't think. I was mostly shut up. See, I didn't get to really enjoy all of the party.
Remember, I was the chauffeur. What? It was pouring rain, Rex, remember? That is right. And nobody could get to the boathouse.
So I was like the only person in the wedding party with a car in New York. Because you have New York press plates, you could park wherever the hell. No, you won't have to talk about it all. Oh, by the way, this guy. Hold on, this guy.
I'm a member of the media. I'm a member of the press. Why are you talking about the pressure? The reason why he doesn't want to talk about it right now is because he doesn't have them and he doesn't want them taking it. I want to talk about it.
But no, you know why I'm not in the picture? Because I was driving all the people from the hotel. To the boathouse because no one could get a cab because of the pouring rain. I think I did like, I'm not kidding, I did like 10-round trips. He could park anywhere in New York City.
Seriously, here's what you need to do. If you still have those plates, go into the Canyon of Heroes and dare them to kick you out of that parade on Thursday. Just right there. Just park right there, right? Just park.
Just Fowler loved Fowler always loved. Fowler always loved. Yeah, Fowler would be like, park wherever you want, man. Unbelievable. Wow.
All right, we're out of time. Thank you. Are you hydrated? I will hydrate further. Everybody, check out where can they check out the year of the Super Bowl?
Is it out yet? Yes. It's on, you know, the NFL on ESPN YouTube channel.
Okay, very good.
Sometimes on two. Very popular.
Okay. Very popular.
Jeremy Schapp here on the Rich Eisen Show. When you come back here. Let's do this again. It's next week, are you sure? Yes, of course.
We'll take another hydration break right in the middle. Right in the middle. All right.
Um, 844-204-Rich is the number to dial right here on the program. Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one, well, that helps your business grow. The challenge is finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in.
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Scraping the ceiling. With the Knicks being NBA champions Mike Greenberg next on the Rich Eisen Show. Yeah. A bandwagon fan, the biggest insult in sports. But this summer, during the FIFA World Cup, it's an invitation, America.
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Now we're talking.
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Talking. The evolution of my haircuts was hilarious. It went from like sort of small to very, very big to sideburns. I don't know what the hell I was thinking then, to any number of other. I mean, sideburns long after sideburns were cool.
It's not like we're going back to the 70s when, you know. I don't know, deep purple was a popular band. This was like me in the 90s and the 2000s.
So it's very, very amusing. And my kids got a big kick out of it, actually, as well, because that's a person sitting up there that they don't have any recollection of.
So it was. It was just terrific. You guys did a terrific job, and I really, really, really enjoyed it. I appreciate that. And, you know, you told me that you got texts from Michael Kim and Chuck Garfine.
And I got one from Larry Beale, who was our shared first, if you will. He was the other anchor in our first sports centers. He texted me, must be dementia setting in. I don't even remember Greene's first show. Who am I and what am I doing here?
is also a quote of what I said on my first show. And I told him, You broke in so many, Larry. You know, I mean, he's. That's what this is about, again, is recollections and having those moments. Mike Greenberg here on the Rich Eyes and Show fresh off the get-up set.
All right, man. I know you spoke about it today, and you've been speaking about it for weeks. It finally happened. I can't believe this is the second day of my life that I can remember waking up and saying the Knicks are NBA champions. Unreal.
Unreal. In all honesty, I don't know what to do.
So, growing up, both of my parents are from the Bronx.
So, when it came to baseball, we were a Yankee household. And so, I did see the Yankees win the World Series in 1977 and 78, and then a few more times, of course. As an adult. And I was very happy about that. But baseball has never been sort of in my blood the way basketball and football were.
In my family, we grew up loving, living and dying with the Knicks and the Jets. And we spoke names like Namath. DeBusher, Bradley, Reed, Fraser, like they were gods. These people were gods in my childhood. And I'm not old enough to have seen any of them at their apex.
I remember seeing them sort of at the very ends of their careers.
So I don't have any idea how you're supposed to act when your team wins the whole thing. I now really regret not going to San Antonio because I have quite a few friends who went on Saturday. And they were there, and they were able to sort of share in the celebration and something that was sort of shared with other people. I was sitting in my apartment by myself, my stace had gone to sleep. And I'm sitting there by myself, and the game ends.
I could actually feel my building shake a little bit. And I listened, I opened my windows, and I could hear the, I could hear people yelling. I mean, I could hear the celebrations. But then I thought to myself, now what do I do? Like, who am I if my teams don't suck?
I don't know how to function in a world in which the Knicks have won the championship.
So I've had a day and a half to think about it. And here's the number one most important thing I think I would say. I think it is a pleasure because this is a very easy team to like. And I don't think that is a New York-centric perspective. I wonder if people listening to or watching this conversation all across the country feel the same way.
I feel like this Knicks team is easy to root for. They're a collection of largely egoless or comparatively egoless. Players, almost all of whom had been cast away and given up on by other franchises, who came together and really truly played as a team. And I think that's kind of what we all want in sports.
So, if there's one thing that stands out above all else right now for me, Rich, it's I think this is a really, really great team to see finally do it because they're very, very easy to like. Yeah, I'm with you too. And, you know. You're right. They are easy to like, and I don't know how the rest of the country's taking it to the point where You know, we as New York fans might be viewed as less obnoxious, with the exception of the ones that you and I both called out throwing stuff and being total idiots, right?
But um You and I having a shared experience of living through and dying. figuratively, uh, with the Knicks teams that came up short. This photograph is what really got me in all the fields of youing. Standing there with a trophy. It's like his wounds.
potentially cauterized. His Lifelong resume. being known for what he is and who he is and how great he is and that he's got this as a ring in his mind, And the kid who he's known since he was two. being the one to make it happen. He's standing next to him and Brunson like, yeah.
Knicks fans, this is going down. I got you. Uh it hit me so hard, Mike, seeing this photograph.
So my brother and I live, grew up in a building. Where they did not allow dogs.
So our pets were hamsters. And we had two hamsters. One of them, the first hamster we got was named Bernard for Bernard King. And the second hamster we got was named Patrick for Patrick Ewing. Those were our pets.
It was the closest thing I could come to naming a dog after my favorite players.
So, yes, to see Patrick Ewing finally win, like, This is the part where we probably, as fans, tend to over-romanticize stuff. But I thought back to being a little kid, and when I first got old enough that my parents would let me watch on Channel 9, when Marv Elbert and Butch Beard would be doing the nicknames, and the team when Huby Brown became the coach and they had finally got good, and you have to be a little older to remember these teams, but they finally got good. They had Bill Cart right before he got traded for Charles Oakley. And they had Truck Robinson. Yes.
They had Bernard King, who, in my opinion, was the best player in the league at that time. And until now, maybe the best player the Knicks have had aside from Ewing since the championship teams.
So that's what I was thinking about. I was thinking about all those nights and all those times and how long I have spent watching this team play. The moments that we celebrate when your team never wins the whole thing, but you celebrate things that are less than championships. I mean, John Starks is a god in this city because he once dunked left-handed over Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen at the same time. People forget the Knicks were leading two games to none in that series and wound up losing in six.
Those are the closest things that Knicks fans have had to celebration, really, over the last 50 years.
So, Bernard King scoring all those points against the Celtics and taking that great team to seven games. We've always had to celebrate something a little less than the ultimate prize.
So, yes, for Ewing to be there, and I will say this too. For James Dolan, who obviously has been a figure of much scorn in New York City, and I think justifiably so. The one thing he has always done is a good job of is keeping the former players a part of it. The Charles Oakley thing, obviously, notwithstanding. But to see those guys have been as much a part of this as they were, Ewing and Alan Houston and Walt Frazier and all those guys who've been at all the games, it really has created that bond for those of us who are old enough to remember all these generations of Knicks.
So everything about it, again, this may just be a very Nick-centric way of looking at it, but everything about it has felt very good to me.
Well, speaking of Nick-centric, I mean, my conversations all day have been, because obviously that's personal to me. What was the get-up conversation about the Spurs? Mike, what's the general consensus? There is a very strong anti-Wemby feeling here in New York. He became the arch villain.
In New York. And so the conversation about them was: how do we feel they handled it? Do we feel like Wembanyama? The walking off the floor without the shaking hands, some of the comments that seemed a little bit arrogant in the moment. How did people feel about that?
I'll tell you generally how I felt about it. And that is that, with the exception of the walking off the floor without shaking hands part, which I will never defend. I kind of like My NBA stars a little testy. I kind of like them a little edgy. I don't think we all need to love each other all the time.
I think a little more nastiness is not such a terrible thing in sports than we generally tend to get. I think Wembinyama is going to be ridiculously good. In fact, I think this is a great championship for the Knicks to have won.
So there was a little window in the 90s when you had a chance to win a championship because Michael Jordan wasn't there, he was playing baseball. And the Knicks came within one game of doing it. Instead, it was the Rockets that actually capitalized and won both of them while Michael was gone. This might be that little lull as well. Because that combination of Dylan Harper, Stefan Castle, and Victor Wembanyama is going to be.
Unbelievably tough to beat in the next few years.
So I think the conversation was that they're going to be really good, that Wen Binyama's immaturity was to some degree on display here. That I think Mike Brown out-coached Mitch Johnson in the series in a variety of ways. A lot of the disappointment of De'Aaron Fox, who I remember thinking when they got him was an absolutely fantastic pickup. And I don't know just how bad his ankle was, but he, I think, proved to be a real detriment. In the series for San Antonio.
That was the guy they should have been going to for late buckets and they just couldn't do it because he couldn't do it. But most of the conversation was about Wembinyama.
Some of his comments afterwards that felt as though they were a little missed to the moment a little bit. His walking off the floor without shaking hands and then ultimately circling all the way back to how ridiculously good they're ultimately going to be. Mike Greenberg, again, I appreciate you back in December taking the time to sit down. For this was Sports Center, and Makes me very happy to hear that your kids saw it and you consider it a personal scrapbook. Of your career.
That's another reason why I'm asking. Um, old school colleagues of mine to sit down and You know, you didn't have to rub it in about going through the history of your hairline. Speaking on behalf of Scott Van Pelton, yours truly.
Some of us don't have those options. You know what I mean? But great, great stuff in that. And I appreciate the time here, brother. You look 12.
I mean, in the first clip, when it's you and Larry Beal, and you're like, who am I? I'm Rich Eisen. I'm making my national TV debut and I'm a lot of fun at parties. Oh, my God. You literally look like a 15-year-old kid sitting there.
It is incredible to look back. Those are things that I would never otherwise have gone back and seen.
So thank you and Mike and everyone else involved for a stroll down memory lane. It was a delight for me. Yeah, as you might imagine, Susie has played that for our children many times. And so my kids, on occasion, I'll just walk in the kitchen. They're like, who am I?
And how did I get here? And I'm like, oh, God. Not great. Take care of yourself, Mike. You'll be well back.
You too. See you soon, guys. Ladies and gentlemen, get up. It's Mike Greenberg and so much for your SPN. Here he is on The Richard Show.
How I start my morning every day. How you start your morning every day. And again, our chat, this was Sports Center. We did go a little deep on the conversation about what television sports has become and how technology has changed this and changed that. You know, and he feels the same way about the Knicks as I do, man.
This is the thing. Bernard King and Patrick Ewing were my guys. That was it. I told you, I remember I was sitting in the back of the Pontiac Blues. Carolina blue collared Pontiac station wagon, uh, hearing on 10-10 wins or CBS or whatever it was that uh the Knicks had gotten.
the first overall pick and the NBA draft, and it was Ewing. And it's the graph that general manager is a guy who. whose name has been invoked many times on the show today, Dave DeBusher. We'll come back. Phone lines are lit.
We'll take some phone calls. Jay Wright is going to be joining us on top of hour number three to talk about the Nova Nicks version of this team coming up. While the world watches the stars of 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.
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You're seeing Hyundai signs all over these World Cup games, aren't you? Because when the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup, Hyundai's got its eyes on the next generation of talent. The future stars already turning heads at age 14 because NEXT doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we. Hyundai's always move the future within reach, and 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.
The future isn't some far-off concept, it's already here.
Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. Let's go to Spencer in Chicago, Illinois. What's up, Spencer? Hello?
Yeah, you're on the air, Spencer. How are you? I am great. It is Monday, june fifteenth, and for the first time in my life, I can say one of my teams won a championship, the New York Knicks. I cannot be any happier right now.
But I just want to tell a story.
So Growing up, most kids when they're get told uh bedtime stories. They're to whatever, but my dad used to tell me stories of Willis coming out Out of the tunnel of game seven, I always thought one day maybe I'll be able to reach it, but As I've gotten older, It just felt it was going to be more and more impossible. But Wednesday, After game four, I'm in Chicago. My Folks are in New York. I gave my dad a call and said, I think we got to do it.
We got to go down to San Antonio and. Whoa. You took a minute. And then he said, Yeah, let's do it.
So Blew down. got to be there and saw it in person with my dad and That's awesome. Yeah, it's just truly incredible. It's just one of those things that you uh As I've gotten older, I just emphasize see the day, and then you know. Hoping one day I'll be able to tell my kids the s the the stories of me and my my dad.
Going together to San Antonio to see the Knicks finally win a championship after 53 years. Just truly special. Way to carpe that DM. That's so good.
Well done. And send my best to your dad. Thanks for calling in to share that story. Of course. Yeah, it didn't look good though.
That was every game. Man, oh man, oh man You know. Put that I saw you just popped it up. Put that up on the screen here. This is unbelievable.
According to ESPN Analytics. The four games the Spurs lost in the NBA Finals. They were up thirteen points through the third quarter. ESPN and Analytics had them a ninety-one point six percent chance of winning. Up two points with a minute left in the fourth in game two.
They had 72.8% chance of winning. Obviously, up 20 with 933 left in the fourth in game four. They were almost 100%. And then up 10 with 7.54 left in the fourth of game five, they had a 95.4% chance. Of winning game five.
They lost all of them. And Michael Mulvihill, who works for Fox, he's their analytics guy and their stat, their. Ratings guy as well. He said the odds on the Knicks coming back to win in all four of these scenarios. Combine them all.
two hundred thirty seven thousand eight hundred sixty seven to one.
So you're telling me that you're not going to be able to do it. a dollar on that, you've got a quarter of a million dollars. Wild. You parlay that whole thing together. Yeah, the stat I saw the running time, the Spurs led for 72% of the NBA finals.
I mean, they outplayed him in every game. But they didn't finish is the problem. Yeah. Yeah, came to 48 minutes. You have this one bunyama soundbite all queued up on this?
Hit it, hit it. I learned the ma uh one of many things I learned is the margin of error is very, very thin. Are you domination stints? Or absolute. We absolutely absolutely dominated for most of the series.
But our our errors, our mistakes. are punished so hard. That we can have ups and downs like this so much, you know. The ups are okay. The downs, it's We lost.
Yeah. You know what? I doubt about it. And this is the other thing I still can't fathom. It's the Knicks who are the ones who took advantage of other people's mistakes rather than being in the position of Wembunyama to lament.
Because that's been the Knicks way of having results go of the last fifty-three years. Any time, you know, throughout the urban meyer era and all that other stuff, Michigan going against Ohio State. I would turn to Cooper or whomever I was with, Any mistake that you make against this team is an opportunity that they're most likely going to take advantage of and beat you over the head with, and that's what championship teams do. And that's what the Knicks did. That's what the Knicks did.
You know. And that is truly A stunning turn of events. You know, and I take this to say that the Spurs Have a team. As Mike Greenberg pointed out, that the Knicks took advantage of now and Potentially, as you're going to see. I mean Sports are littered with teams filled with young people.
That overachieve, if you will, or arrive early. That's a better way to put it, right? And you go, oh, they're going to be back. And then they're never back. Never back.
I mean, the photograph of. Of Westbrook, Harden, and Durant in Thunder uniforms have been all over the place the last two days. You know But there is a sense that Now would be the time to take advantage of it. 'Cause they're so good and so is Wembanyama. He's just completely different from anybody else.
So I understand that, but The Knicks were that team that just took advantage of every mistake and destroyed their opponent with it, which is new. For them. Uh The Rich Eisen Show Podcast. Mm-hmm.
