Pablo Torre Finds Out - "Reverse 9/11": Celebrating These Knicks Title Vibes, with Desus Nice

Episode Date: June 17, 2026

Transcendence on the court. Dancing in the streets. And a drunk Instagram Live for the ages. Why wait 'til the parade? Pablo raises a glass (while devouring an egg-and-cheese) with Desus — his fellow New Yorker and bard of Knicks nation — to the commute of a champion and the beauty of a bandwagon; to the drip of Landry Shamet and the sweat of Patrick Ewing; to KAT and OG and Wu-Tang and, yes, even Coldplay. Just not that traitor from Sesame Street.• Subscribe to "Desus Pieces"• Subscribe to Pablo's newsletter • Subscribe to The Athletic Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Pablo Torre finds out. I am Pablo Torre, and today we're going to find out what this sound is. Sundress, no underwear. Just cheeks moving from side to side, respectfully. You know? Respectfully. Respectfully with consent. Right after this ad.

Yo. This is a... Is that Jalen's a Chipoli order? That is... Purple Doritos. There's a lot... There's a lot going on on this table. Are we...

where we are rolling? Okay, great. Have you opened a bottle of champagne recently, D's this? Um, not to my knowledge. Not to my knowledge. I don't be in classy situations like that that often. I think me opening this bottle of champagne would be a dangerous idea. It's a lot that goes into it.

You got to take the foil off. You got to take off the little mesh cage, the muzzle. That's right. I don't know the proper wine terminology. The dental dam. The dental dam. There you go. shout out of dental dance. We're bringing those back this year.

Nick's dental dance for everybody. So, Deezis, thank you for being here, by the way. Thank you for having me. We thought of you immediately. We have, can you describe the things on the table? We have what makes America great again? No, what makes New York? Because New York is no longer part of America.

We are our own sovereign nation. And these are some of the great things that you see in New York. We got bagels. We got Snapple, which is from New York. We got Chipoli, which is as close to New York as Mexico can get. You know, we're out here. This is all. All according to now, like the legend of this Knicks team.

Yes. This is Jalen Brunson's bodega order, as he described it. I already have it before you got here. Yes. And it's delicious. His bagel order is... Everything bagel with egg and cheese, hash browns and spicy mayo. Purple Doritos.

Purple Doritos. And peach and apple. The purple Doritos is surprising. And I think one thing I've seen on Twitter and social media is a lot of people are saying, hey, I eat that same breakfast. Why are not doing as much in life as Jalen Brunson's? Yeah, you know the answers. You know the answer.

Also, that same logic applies to the Chipotle order, which is Mikhail Bridges. Yeah. Yes, the same way Wembe did a full 180 on his reputation, Michael Bridges did a 180 on his reputation yesterday with that IG Live. He is literally the coolest person in New York right now. I got one word. Savages! Oh, man.

I'm going to try and call Michael Bridges, and we'll see if he has time for us. Or if he's still hungover, because... I imagine he's still hung over. What I respect, he was drinking high-level tequila. So I'm not even sure if he's getting a hangover on that. I was going to say, combining the tequila he was having with a burrito bowl with white rice and double chicken, tomatio green chili sauce, roasted chili corn salsa,

lettuce. This is a very high-protein order that he's apparently ordered every day for more than a decade, allegedly. Yes, that's what I've heard too. And this is like the idea that Chipoli, you know, people look down on Chipoli, but these are what these athletes are doing on their way to a championship.

So that means you could... That is my favorite part. You can order Chipoli now and be like, this help them win the championship is going to help me. Once you win a title, everything you did before winning that title is now justified as a strategy

for championship contention. Not just for the athletes, but also for the viewers. Like, whatever bar you went to, you got to keep going there, whatever drink. If you got the nachos from the most disgusting dive bar in New York,

you better keep eating those nachos. We're running it back. I also like that this table, uh, The food on this table looks like what you'd imagine, like OG Ananoi is eating because whenever he shows up in public, it does look like he himself is. And again, what Newark can't relate to this. It looks like he is absolutely just stoned out of his mind.

Talk about the difference Coach Brown made and how he brought you all together. I just all that. He's been great. He's been great. Mike's been great. And what he's been awesome in doing this too is listening to us

and just hearing us out. Listen, that was me when I moved to L.A. and I found that you can get 10 grams of weed at the dispensary without any limit. Just sit in there, just stoic.

So people were just like, I think he's introverted. No, he smacked. He smacked in front of George Stephanopoulos. That's a high level with smack. Like, that is the kind of smack you get in like 02 off a weed. I don't even think that's legally allowed anymore.

Yeah, that is the, If I don't move, the T-Rex can't see me level of stone. That's the kind of high where you can see your heartbeat. Y'all listening don't know what I'm talking about, but those of you who have been there like, yeah, yeah, those are the good days. By the way, just to explain what's happening here, our staff is full of Nick fans that never felt an ounce of conflict about being a Nick fan, which is to say, I can't celebrate this the way that everybody on our staff has been celebrating it,

the way that you have been celebrating it, which I want to get to. We have exclusive footage, I think, allegedly. Allegedly of Jesus. And so we're a local show. You are? And like one of the things that you said, and I say this because I didn't have the balls to say it, but this is exactly what I told in real life friends of mine. But you put it on Twitter because, of course, you are the bard of the city of New York.

and after the last now six days of celebrating, this is what you posted. This is like reverse 9-11. It was. It was. It's true. It's just true. People were just like, that's a terrible.

It's like, no, it's a beautiful idea. Yes. It kind of reminds you, do you remember that Michael Jackson song, Earth song? And in the end, like, all the animals started coming back to life. I really expected to World Trade Center to just pop out of the ground again. Like, I, anything could have happened on Saturday. I mean, I can be very sort of like emotional about this, I realize. When thinking about like, I grew up, born and raised in Murray Hill, before it was a place

where consultants went to go vomit, when it was a place for families. This is walking distance in Madison Square Garden. And the way that this city feels, I lived here for 45 years, it's never felt like this. Never. Literally just walking here, people pointing at my shirt and going, we did it. Or people on the train, they see your Nick stuff and like, good morning, champ. We really feel like we're in, like, the most New York-centric hallmark movie ever. I feel like I'm going to find my Midwestern love, and he's going to rescue me from this wretched existence.

It does feel like this is everybody's living, like, beauty and the beast. It's like that scene when Bell is, like, walking through the little town. Saying good morning. Yes. I have to get under her arm, but it's New York, so it's a bacon and cheese. Everybody, everybody feels like that. It seems. It's, the funniest part is just like.

we always kind of, you know, as Nick fans, we're always like, one day we're going to win it. We weren't ready for this. We were not ready for the fallout. Like, just the vibes, the niceness. The thing that every Nick fan always said, which is that winning a title would be different here than it is anywhere else,

it was underestimated. It really was. Also, every Nick fan, and I'm guilty of this, every time he was like, what's going to happen when the Knicks win? We're like, we're going to burn down the city. And it's literally the opposite. Everyone has become so nice. So I want to establish this.

Yes, were there a couple of school buses that were set on fire? Yes. Yeah, I mean, it happens. Was there a cab that people got on top of and I felt bad for the driver? Yes. But as a matter of like what was the betting line on how much damage there would be versus just the utter delirious sharing and feeling of community with your fellow man? I mean, it got to a point where you had to stop yourself.

and if you had destructive impulses, you couldn't go through it. Because me and myself personally, I wanted to steal the Intrepid from the West Side Highway. I wanted to drive it through Times Square. I don't care that as landlocked. And I said, you know what? We're not going to do that. We're not going to steal a warship. But if there was any day where the security guard might have been like...

Yeah. Yeah. Let's take it for a security guard. Even NYPD was standing down. They were just like, NYPD was like, hey, I don't see anything. And I was trying to think of why it is that all of this feel specifically like this. I think it's not just the NICS, although it's very clear that no... team would make New York City feel this way. And as Yankee fans, both of us, we've experienced

so many. We have. There's nothing like this. Never felt like this. Nothing like this. The thing that I think about is that there is nothing like feeling like you are David, but also Goliath. Like, it's the, I was thinking about all of the cliches that we tell ourselves that we believe and how this is now manifesting in real time. The whole thing of, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. Frank Sinatra said it. That is some real, I am the underdog, but also the favorite energy. If you're not a New Yorker just to be terrifying, it's like New Yorkers already had a battery in their back, and now it's a lithium battery.

Now it's just, we're like, oh, I'm in one of the most amazing cities on Earth. Therefore, I'm amazing. And now it's just like everything you do now is magical. Like, even just getting on the subway, like, you scan your card and there's like a rainbow behind your hand. It's just like everything just feels just 10 times better than it did before the next one. And I think it's also like it's the thaw. It's the thawing of like the pandemic shit.

Yes. Of people realizing, oh my God, it feels so good to be around humans. I think even more recent, if you remember the winter we had, the ice, the phoenix. A historic blizzard. Historic, like people were looking on social media, like, how could you survive? Do we have to survive the great Trader Joe's debate? Are you allowed to stockpile Trader Joe's food in your house? Are you a terrible person for doing that?

people wanted to kill dogs for their owners leaving dog feces on ice. And New York just, we felt like we were down bad. I remember those couple of days, people were just like, I'm not going outside. It's too cold. And I also remember people were saying, as cold as this winter is, that's how hot the summer is going to be. And then Nix have just taken that to the next level. So now it's not, you can't even have fear of missing out. You have to be outside.

Correct. Correct. It is the sort of thing where, like, the entire city feels like, you know, that day, and I will be the most, uh, The most unapologetically heteronormative I will ever be on this show. Let's go. The first day when, like, you see a sundress. Oh, yeah.

The whole city is wearing a sundress. Sundress, no underwear. Just cheeks moving from side to side, respectfully. You know? Respectfully. Respectfully. Respectfully with consent. God damn it.

Just the kind where, again, heteronorative, you make eye contact with someone else as this person. walks by on a sundress, and you say, salute my shorts. It's just, it's just incredible. It's a sort of day when you're walking around and suddenly you see Elmo's head on a spike. Yes. Jesus, can you describe what this video shows? The video shows New York City taking his revenge on a traitor. Also, a fraud who has been lying about his age for years. You know what? We've exposed him. We exposed him like a Dominican pitcher with a bad birth certificate. Elmo, you were in our hearts, And then you said, I want both teams to have fun.

Bro, you got to pick a side. You can't, you can't be halfway in, halfway out. And that's why you're on the pike. You're no longer on Sesame Street. You are, you have to, Elmo, you got to do something big for the city to get back in our good graces. How does Elmo come back from this? Because Sesame Street, for those who are not familiar, that's New York City. That is.

San Antonio, the Alamo is not a character. It's not. On Sesame Street. In a, what was it, Pee Herman's Big Adventure, the Alamo was the thing, because that's where his bike was. But other than that, no cultural references there. And now Elmo needs to do something. How would you advise, what can Elmo do to reclaim his New York credibility? Well, I saw Wembe at a children's hospital a couple days ago.

So, listen, Elmo, go see them sick kids. Do something. We need to see a PR blitz from Elmo. I want to see him helping old ladies onto the bus. I want him to be delivering hot meals to shut in seniors. Elmo, you better be doing everything for New York. So I want to see you picking up litter at Bryant Park after concerts. Elmo, you owe us so much.

Yes, we need Elmo to go a Japanese World Cup fan. Here we go, Elmo. You got to start from the bottom and work you way back in our hearts. But as a sports fan, the game that I will always consider like a core memory was game four. Mm-hmm. I've not talked about this on this show since it happened. I watched with my friends from high school at the community room of my parents' building in Murray Hill

and we watched on a projector that my dad had brought and my entire family, they're all Nick fans. It's rare to feel like you are responsible for what happened. It is a sporting event like that, but that was, that's the unmistakable feeling. Yes. is that everybody did this together.

It's every little thing, what shirt you wore, what you drank, where you watched it, what were you doing with your hands when certain plays were going on, did you hope enough? And it's little things like that. That doesn't sound real enough, but did you have enough faith in your Knicks? Because as Nick fans, we've had our hearts broken so many times that that tends to be the default. And this team is like, no, we're no longer like that. And Game 4 was like the biggest litmus test as a Nick fan.

It was like, do you believe in this team? Because the team was literally like, whether you're not you. believe in us or not, we are winning and get aboard. And again, game four, it still hasn't really hit me. Like, every now and it, I'll, listen, I'm still watching every piece of Nick content I can see. Even as somebody who can't, who doesn't have the ability to feel it the way that people who never gave up on the team have felt it, watching people watch Game 4 is like 75% of the last week for me. Just love it. I love every blurry Instagram video. I love it. I love it. I love every blurry Instagram video. I of just any kind of photo, just watching the reaction,

but then also remembering the actual moment. The largest comeback in the history of the NBA finals. In the history of the NBA finals, why would you allow the Knicks to have that statistic? Why would you allow Knicker-Bacher fans to now walk around with that knowledge that not only did we win, we had the biggest comeback in the history of the finals?

I don't think it's possible to have more fun watching a sporting event. And I've watched a lot. We've all watched a lot of sports. Yes. And this is the thing that I think radicalized people. Like I will say, like, of course, during the playoffs, the Nix had, you know, the greatest point differential in the history of, you know, the playoffs and all that stuff. But it was that moment in particular when I just sort of thought to myself, there are a lot of people here who don't otherwise care at all about sports.

And now they've gotten addicted. Listen, after that, everyone ran out, bought their Nix hats. The Nick t-shirts. People were saying, you know, if you are not a real Nick fan, you can't enjoy this. You are here for this. We can't talk like that because you have people, game four will be the start of their lifelong love for the Knicks. Who are we to gatekeep this? So much of being a New Yorker is a think piece about what qualifies.

And again, both of us are born and raised here. Not a question for us. Not a question. But the joy, the best part of both the city and the Knicks. bandwagon is watching it fill with people who make it better because they weren't here before. Yes. And now they are. And the party

is greater because of their enthusiasm. It is. And, you know, not to denigrate us actual born and raised native New Yorkers, just kind of a dust on us. We've been through so much that, you know, as a New Yorker, you know, you don't want to be cringe. You don't want to be too enthusiastic about stuff. But these, like some of these people, I was watching

game four. And this girl, she was like, this is the first Nick game I've ever watched. Right. And she was there because of her friends. And she was like, no, I'm all in. I am all in. I'm watching. This is my team now.

And it's just like, I, like, imagine that's your first Nick game you ever watch. And the tipping happens. And now you run out the bar and you high five in strangers, different ethnic groups, different social, you're like, your high five of social senior citizens. It was such a moment. And I mean, like, loki, I'm glad I got to take part of it. But then also, like, you're saying, watching. other people, like how much it meant

for other people and like older people, younger people, everyone, it was just such a great pure moment. And I think there is like, there's this tendency in sports and I get it to apply purity tests. Can you identify Ronaldo Bachman in a lineup? Yes. I mean, Joe, but

that's the thing. It's like, if everyone's having fun, do you always, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What was Ronnie Turioff's stats on Tuesday? You like, you don't want to do that. Yeah, what were you doing when Chris Dudley tried to throw a basketball is shack. Well, to which basketball player on the Knicks is nicknamed the shotmaker and the heartbreaker?

Ron Baker. Ron Baker. The bangs. The guys. Tyler Coleck. I like to think there's a little Ron Baker and Tyler. You see it. You see it.

That's why those are my guys. That's also what I love about the Knicks winning because people are just like, oh, it really felt like the end of an Avengers movie because people are just throwing out any random person that ever played for the Knicks. And like, you know, there's somebody there with either the jersey or simple. cheer coming out, or it might be them. Yo, Machet Lampé might be on a parade float on Thursday. Woof. And he will be applauded like a conquering hero. It's always funny, like which Nick fans,

which Knicks, the Nick fans have a special place in their heart for? Gallinari. Oh, Danilo Galanari. There was, there is an Italian restaurant in the Ysaville village, Via della Pache, which I don't even know if it's still open. But I remember walking in and, you know, get a charcuterie, you know, just like whatever the, what did he say? And then looking up and seeing a framed photo of Danilo Gallinari.

You love to see that. You just love to see like a random person. And you're like, well, how did this happen? How, like, there was a, I'm not even sure if it's still open. There's a pizzerie on like, I want to say in the 80s. And they have the, um, Ronaldo Bulkman. Oh, God. Like, and I was like, does he work here?

Or is his father owned this place? But listen, we love some, love some Renato Borkman. Absolutely. And by the way, Villalibatje is still open. I am being told, which is great. Also, I should include this as a journalistic effort to be very thorough. And all of this, I should point out, this is belated. So excuse me.

We here at Pablo Torre finds out did request an interview through Sesame Workshop, offering Elmo a chance to comment about all of this. And Sesame claimed that Elmo would be too busy, quote, in studio all day and unable to do any interviews, end quote. That's a lie. When on my way here, I saw Elmo. He is live on Instagram live. He's drunk like Mikel. He's a slurred.

He's a mess for the number, Elmo. Yo, I think it's really important to point out that game four was something that you decided to throw a watch party for. Yes, I did. And you don't kill me, Nick fans, because it worked out in my heart of hearts. I was like, what's you doing? I was like, you are going to break every superstition, every tradition. Like, you are going to ruin everything.

So I was like, I was kind of nervous about that. But what I really liked about that, shout to Jesus piece of my show. Yeah. The fans came out. So people were just like, I got a chance to watch the game with you. The amount of people who were just like, I didn't have anywhere else to watch the game. And I wanted to watch the game with other people. And that, like, I'm just watching people looking around and it didn't become about them being there with me.

Like, everyone's like got their fists to their mouth and just watching. I could do like a couple of jokes here. But even I'm going through it. And I was like, I got to be happy at this watch party while my team is just being utterly gutted at halftime. And there was like positivity. And I was like, yeah, I'm going to be positive. But that comeback. You know, so my, again, I'm Filipino.

My dad, my brother, my family, they're all Nick fans. And do you know how hard it is for a Filipino person to curse a Filipino basketball player? It's like Dylan Harper. Yeah. The amount of curse. I never thought I'd see that. I mean, luckily we have Jordan Clarkson representing on the Knicks. But who's now asking Twitter apparently,

what should he name, what borough should he name his child after? Didn't spell borough correctly, but you know what? You're a Nick, you don't have to spell it. That's how we're spelling it now. He really didn't spell anything correctly.

But nonetheless, I hope he chooses Staten Island. Why? Well, I mean... Is that the best? I think there's some poetry in... Little Staten Island Clarkson? An island that used to have a garbage dump on it.

Shot the fresh hills. Now being sort of renovated into the image of, of course, the real saviors of the Nick's season, which is the Woutang Clan. Wow. that is like full full circle

like Staten Island denigrated looked down upon now it's back on top like a certain team I mean Method Man said it by the way

shout out to Method man and shout out to the Wutan clan for playing half time of game four yes can you

just the we're talking about like the emotional spectrum of just like vibes yes the commitment to perform

the shit out of your songs in front of a crowd that needed desperately to feel something that was not a total depression. Especially after game three. Also, shout out to the Knicks organization for doing it right because they announced

Wu Tang was coming. And as New Yorkers and rap fans, we were like, whom in the Wu Tang is showing up? Who all is going to be there? Yes, because if it, listen, I love the Wu. We all love the Winnie, Unpredictable Talent and Natural Gang. However, if it was just like Rebel INS and You God and.

Maybe three people from Killer Army. I don't know. Wu Gambino's, Shorty Shittane. Like, Frederick Weiss. Oh, man. Papa Wu just ends it with a monologue. Does it go over the same way? No, but we had, no, they brought the A game.

They brought the A game. And Wu Tang is one of those things. It, like, transcends your race in New York City. Because everyone, white, black, everyone knows, everyone has a Wu Tang memory. Everyone grew up on Wu Tang. You got cops with Wu Tang tattoos on their arm. Yes. Everyone, M-E-T-H-O-G, man, come on.

That's quintessential New York music, and that was what was needed for Game 4. I can't even think if there was any other rapper, I guess like Jay-Z or somebody, but who else could you possibly... But there's something to the superhero, savior sequence of events in which it felt like the portals opened up

and out came the starting lineup of the Wu-Tan clan. Yes. And when Method Man says, friend of the show, when Method Man says, Nixon 5, what y'all talking about? Let's go, let's go, Nickson 5 at the end of that. It's like, that's it.

You know what's funny? Nixon 5, it's not just something from that night. Now it's still a thing. Like, you pass people and they're like, Knicks of 5. It's not before it was like. It's now God bless you. Yes, it is.

It's our new roll tide. I cannot wait to just be annoying. It's like, Nixon 5. The way that New York feels, it takes us to Saturday. Yes. You may have heard that the Knicks are NBA champions. That's the rumors. But we have video of Deezis reacting to that particular event in his life.

Yo! What y'all doing? What's y'all doing here? What y'all doing here? Yes, I saw some school buses that were unoccupied and no cops were around. around at Times Square. And I was like, let me get to the bot. I was like, let me get my Pablo on and investigate this. Let me find out what a pre-incinerated school bus looks like on.

And then very quickly, my PR training was like, boy, you're about to catch such a felony charge. If you don't get off this bus right now. So, you know, I got off. But I had to see what's going on. I had to be around the people. There's something about, it was like a rolling chaos in Times Square. That was, that was, for those, again, we're not watching, you have missed just the spirit of time. made manifest in an empty abandoned school bus.

It was like five school buses in a row right there on 42nd Street, like right in front of, you know, former iconic senior frogs. You couldn't leave Times Square because all the subways were shut down. They weren't letting anyone in or out the subway. So everyone's just kind of milling about. And I even said a tweet that it felt like a street fair, like a very rowdy street fair with no no prune juices or any kind of natural beverages. And just looking at people,

everyone wanted to climb on top of the buses and jump. jumping on top of the buses. And after that, it got a little darker. But people just wanted to just celebrate and just do stuff. And jumping on top of the buses was fun. And they started ripping the hoods off and breaking the glass. But you know, it went a little too far. But the theory of like, what do we learn about,

what did we find out about human behavior? It's that there is, I think there is a certain type of person that has encountered New York City and realized there is no improving. the concept of a city full of people. Yes. Because I want to be around people. That was the sickness after the Nicky. Everyone was like, I got to get to Massacre Garden.

Everyone said, I have to get it. And the thing is, like, NYPD was like, do not. It was like, that Kamala thing. It was like, do not come. Do not come. And we was like, no, we're going to Massacre. Even with the barricades. And you were like, no, polling.

Polling is still open? Listen, if you are online for the next championship, stay online. But we just, everyone was just trying to get closer to Masker Garden because previously for every other playoff game, we were allowed to celebrate outside, you know, all the gambling places were out there you had the little Kalshi robot. But that was the place you went.

That was like, you know, not to be sacrilegious. That was the mecca. That's where you went. You made your pilgrimage there. So everyone was like, I want to be with the other Nick fans after the Knicks win. And they were like, no. And we were like,

all right, if we can't bring the party to MSG, we're bringing a party around MSG. And that's what we did. Yes. And so you continue your commute to the institution I guess that is still technically known, although it's changed radically on the inside.

Penn Station. Yeah, yeah. Also, I didn't realize that, you know, you could do those little jokes, and NYPD is like, I know who you are, Jesus. And I was like, all right, I'm going to load my voice now. I'm not trying to get tased. But, no, that was, we were trying to get out the station,

and they were not letting anyone out the station. And so we're all there, like, what do we do? Because everyone came through the gates already. And even though, you know, we're having this time of our life. As a New Yorker, I'm like, whoa, whoa, I'm not paying two fares. Enough is enough, buddy. I didn't win the championship.

But we were just trapped there. And so what people had to do, because there was too many cops for everyone to hop the turn and start to get back out. So I think someone came, a train came in and once the door opened, the emergency exit, everyone just ran in. And we just dispersed and went to other entrances around the city to get back out because we were getting to that streets any way we could. I do want to clarify for people.

And this is a bit of Jesus' lore is that your dad, your late father. Yes. Actually did look like Patrick Ewing. He did. And also as a child, I thought Patrick Ewing was my father. Ah, rest of peace, dad. There you goes.

Look at him. This is back when as Jamaican immigrants, you could only afford smiles for your children. And that's why he's not smiling. We had to save up money for that after like he got a good job at the bank. But no, like my father loved Patrick Ewing. I remember in my neighborhood, I grew up in Wakefield, the Wakefield section of the Bronx, East 233, North East Bronx. Very Jamaican neighborhood.

Every store had up like a little Patrick Ewing poster, especially Golden Cross. Golden Cross had the biggest Patrick Ewing picture. It was like a framed picture. And as a child, I remember... That's a Jamaican Patty company, Golden Cross. And I just remember like one day my father was just... He was probably yelling at me for like not investing in stocks and bonds at 7 or something like that.

And I just remember looking at the Patchy U.A poster. And I was like, that's my real dad. And I was like, and one day he's going to rescue me. I'm going to live in the Nick Mansion, I guess. And it turned out my dad was my real dad But he always was a huge fan of Patrick Ewing And it was just like If you look at Patrick Ewing

He embodies everything being Jamaican is Hard Worker You know, left everything out there Never got the ring Still showing up Still there And now we especially appreciate Patrick Ewing Because now he dresses like an old Jamaican

Oh by the way I love it So famously The hardest working NBA player As measured in sweat Yes That we'd ever seen had braces on every joint.

On everything. The man, I have no idea if he has any fibers left in his knees because he left it all out there. And yet, Patrick Ewing, during this finals run, has sounded in a way that speaks directly to your childhood vision. Yes.

I had never heard before. Neither have I. This is A.J. DeBanza, the would-be number one pick of the draft this month, talking to, of course, Diz's dad. give me a content. Go here. Yeah?

With everything, the chat to me there, me and you're a chat, you know, the future. Yeah, ma'am. Listen, listen, I had never heard that.

We don't heard that. Everyone, like, people were just like, was Patrick, did that Patrick Ewing, the basketball player, or Patrick Ewing, my landlord, who clearly just painted over the light switch when I moved

to this apartment? It takes us to another case, perhaps, of, allegedly mistaken identity because Diz's commute continued into the night. That's Brian Park now. Yes.

That's right. That is future mayor of New York City, Timothy Shalami. Now some people are saying that it's impossible. for him to been there because he was in San Antonio in the locker room. I don't think that's true. I'm looking at, we're sort of pushing in on this video and it looks like it's pretty clearly Timothy. Look at the dance moves. That's straight LaGuardia right there.

Exactly. It sounds like he wants us to call him by his name and it is in fact Timothy Shalabat. That's the King of Dune. And look at, also, people was, he's doing the thing where he's like jumping one foot through his other leg by holding his other foot. People was, half of the New York is like, he's doing the 90s dot. He's doing like the kid and play.

Everyone else was like, he's doing an emote. So pick what you're doing. What your age? What does it look like to you? Also shout out to people. People are like, oh, they shut down traffic. No, they didn't shut down traffic. Those cars could go anywhere because traffic was just blocked.

So everyone just started having a dance party, which made things worse. I would say that one lesson we also learned about New York City is that they can't run over all of us. They can't get, they can try. But then it just gets embarrassing. Like, a car trying to run you over at two miles per hour. You're like, hey, what are you doing? Come on. That doesn't even hurt.

And also, you have to remember, the World Cup was also happening. Right. So you had Brazilians out there celebrating, and then in a couple hours we had the Puerto Rican Day parade. So this crowd is made up of Brazilians. Puerto Rican, Nick Fet. It did not feel real. It felt like... It felt like an actual Manhattan project. It did. Like creating a nuclear weapon out of a multi-ethnic melting pot. It felt like on the Avengers movies, like after they reversed when Thanos did the snap, even though if you do the logistics of that, that's not a happy situation.

Like, you moved on, you have a new family, and now your wife pops back up. up like, oh, I thought you got snapped away. But no, this was just ecstatic and just dancing and just pure jubilation. And I think the thing that the Brazilian, because I saw Brazilian, again, in their yellow jerseys, Brazilian World Cup fans testifying to how impressive it is, like Nick's fandom, how impressive that is. And I think it's worth explaining to everybody who's just, like, new to the bandwagon and to the New York sports scene.

Nick's fandom was never like this. Never. Like that's, and when we say like we welcome, again, speaking as a New Yorker, but you as, again, like the mayor of all of this, welcoming the casuals aboard. Again, you went to L.A., you came back, welcoming people into this coalition. Yes. That's, this is new. This is really new. And also shout out to the left coast next, the fan club in L.A. where they watch, like, they're at the point now.

The original members can't go to 33 taps and silver. Like, because so many new people. they're there and it's like it's the place to be you have new people in LA like I am a Knick fan now I got my jersey I have to go watch the Knicks to the point where some of the original members had to watch the Nick game at home

because they're getting pushed out of the Knicks fan club we made in Silver Lake Gentrification is a fundamental part of this whole story but like you said the beauty of the bandwagon like you can't even call them they're baby Nick fans they're baby Nick fans and they're they're going to for years talk about OG

they're going to talk about Mikel the gunpowl. Landry shamit. All they know is a version of Carl Anthony Towns. Yes. That is one of the toughest motherfuckers. It's just tough. In the NBA. To the point now, also my new thing now, if I hear any Nick Slander, I get so defensive.

Don't talk about my babies. Do not talk about my babies. I breath fed them myself. But speaking of parental relations, I do think we should point out that one noted celebrity Nick fan does seem like he found a child of his own. I mean, this is what is. It's about reuniting. It's about the children you abandon

and coming back once they've achieved greatness. John Turturro, who is at, he's at Liberty Games, he's at Nick's games, he's a true... He's a New York icon. He's everywhere. A genuine icon. Reuniting with what is obviously his own son in Landry Shamet. See, the beauty of the championship.

Listen, I get it. Sometimes if your kid doesn't accomplish enough, you can't come back until they achieve something great. And now that his son has achieved a championship, he can reclaim him. Also, shout to him. Landry Shamet, the drip god. I did not know he can dress. He's out here

quietly looking like not only every race that you mentioned combined into one. That melting pot is Landry Shammit. Landry Shamet looks like a bodega worker and the person that owns the building the bodega is in. It's incredible.

The praxis. And then I just gotta spare a thought. Because all of the now, again, the Shalamais and all of it, And Ben Stiller has been out here for a long time And credit to him. But I just, you know, it's Spike. Spike.

Spike rolling through Fort Green in his own, like, Pope Mobile. Yeah. Like standing in the sunroof. He's the Black Pope in New York because, you know, the White Pope is still Francesus. Not going anywhere. But no. Absolutely. But Spike is like, Spike is every one of us.

We've watched Spike. It's kind of hard. It makes you realize how old you are because they show baby Spike. at early Nick games. Oh my God. When his, without the grays. Skinny Mars Blackman era. Just like, just looking like the average young guy on the train.

And then they show, because they have that ad now, like, day one, day one. And everyone's like, oh, this is a great photo. It's not. It's sad. Because then you realize how many years you lost. Just waiting for this day. Like, just days you were just like, like, I remember there were times that there was like, all right, the next day finished a strong 16 wins this year, all right?

We learned from this, but Spike was always there. Spike, you can never say Spike was a Fairweather fan. Spike was there at Nick Games. He was there traveling for Nick Games. He is every one of us, if we had the money to go to every Nick game. Spike, by the way, also speaking of the Pope, also had an autographed Nick jersey signed by the Pope. By the Pope.

And the Pope then recently was seen holding on Nick's jersey because, of course, I don't know. this is the reason, but I will say that no Catholic university has gotten greater publicity than Villanova. It's so true. As a result of Mikhail Bridges and Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson. And by the way, RIP Dante DiVincenzo. We miss you, brother.

I miss him during this time also because he did post the greatest tweet, I think, of all time. When he said on August 17th, 2011 at 8.20 p.m. Quote, to my dad, I'm a p. Now. Soccer.

Question mark. Because I don't want to play fucking soccer. Question mark. I had on a Dante jersey game three. And the amount of people who just got sad when they saw it. Because the thing is, you have so many

fond memories of Dante. You have that sequence. Isaiah's heart is on the tip back to Dante. And then also, you know, like you feel like Dante should have been here. Dante was part of this group. You know, ideally in a world where there's no salary caps

and people don't have money and stuff and there's just all friendship and you can feed your family of friendship Dante doesn't leave. But, you know, Dante, he got the bigger bad, and also we had to watch Dante get injured. He was limping around. He showed up in the city and we were like, are they going to show him on screen?

And Dante, we all love Dante because Dante reminds us of if you're a native New Yorker, your white friend who went on to become an NYPD cop, he's not the best cop, but you know what? He's going to get his benefits of retire in Florida. And we love him for that. That's right. And he still will be.

be the all-time Nick's single-season record holder for three-pointers made. Dante, even though he's not, he doesn't get a ring for this, he still has a ring in our heart. And Dante is still beloved.

And even, like, when Michael was showing his jerseys off, and he put his hand. Yes. For a second day, I was like, did Dante die? Did he actually die? Yeah, no. I, I, the previous high water marks, I remember going to,

it was the David Lee double over time. Speaking of Tippins. I was there. I was there. Oh, you were there too? We didn't know each other. I was there with my sister. That was one of my favorite Nick games ever.

Speaking of just... A little white chocolate. TV shows. David Lee with fractional seconds left. That was... And that felt like it was as good as it was going to do. It was. It was...

It was... We played the f***ed bobcats. You know what's sad? I remember walking out of the garden. So elated. And just so happy. And the way it was... would work, you'd leave the garden and you'd go back to the reality of New York, and you just

pass people, and they look at you like, what do you so happy about? And they'd be like, oh, I guess the Knicks played tonight. Like, oh, the train is going to be crowded and Knicks played. Like, it wasn't, now people are Knicks. And it's like, it wasn't our Knicks. It was like, oh, you're one of those weird Nick fans, huh? And now we have Mikhail Bridges on Instagram Live talking about, hey, maybe we should build a practice facility in Manhattan. I mean, he's not, he's not wrong. But the one thing I asked the Knicks to never get rid of We need that hill You can never get rid of the hill with side basketball garden

Because that video of every opposing player Oh, struggling up the tunnel Struggling to walk up that Mount Everest It wars me Because I look at it How many high heels struggled To climb that? I'm also like, you guys are in really good shape

Why are you so weird? Everyone's like, yo, this hill is no joke I'm looking through We took notes on McHale's IG Live, incidentally. Listen, one of the greatest IG lives ever. I walked home yesterday listening to Lost by Coldplay on repeat because he reminded me of how good a song. He reminded all of us how good Coldplay used to be.

Oh, Colplay used to be fake deep. I was going to say, before Colplay got gentrified. Yes. You used to listen to Clocks and you were like, yeah, bro. Thinking about my life now. I do want to try and call McHale Bridges. Let's go. So we have mutual friends with Mikhail.

Tommy Alter, being one of them. I am in this fantasy football league with Mikhail Bridgers. And I do want to point out that his team name this past season was everyone's playing for second. And it turns out that that was true of the next season, although it wasn't true of his own fantasy league season because he did not come close. to the metal stand. But I've never called Mikhail, unannounced. We're going to put him on speaker and see what happens. He can't possibly pick up.

He don't know where his phone's at. His phone's in the bottom of the East River right now. You're going to leave a message though. Yes. The person you're trying to reach is not available. At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up. Hey, Mikhail is Pablo.

I'm here with Deezis, recording an episode of my show, and Deezis as an unrepentant and enduring Nick fan wanted to tell you something. Love you, Big Dog. Thank you for bringing a championship to us today. Thank you for being an amazing legend IG Live. F*** them picks. See you at the parade.

Watching Jalen Brunson basically win a title on Slappers Only against Victor Wembenyama, just repeatedly driving into him is incredible. The ultimate compliment to Brunson is that he makes you feel safe. He does He does It's

It's It doesn't have the weapons Doesn't have the superpowers But makes you feel safe You know Recipes to my father And I said this when he died Growing up in New York

I remember My father worked at a bank He wouldn't come home To like three or four in the morning We lived in the South Bronx Every night The building we lived They had a wooden staircase

So every night I would just hear people Coming up the wooden staircase And our front door was right at the staircase So it was like Well I knew the Bronx was bad And it was just like, you just hear these footsteps.

You never knew who was going to come. They're going to, like, kick in the door or something bad is going to happen. But then I'd hear this familiar sound of my father's keys jingling as he comes up the key. And that's when I knew I could calm down. I could go to sleep. My father's home. Nothing bad is going to happen. That's what it's like having Jalen Brunson.

Because in the past, we used to have Knicks. We've had many Knicks who the fourth quarter would come and you're like, what are we going to do now? Well, how are we going to? Because remember, I do that tweet. Exactly. I do that tweet. And it's like, Nick Game is a bit. about to start. I always tweet it at the beginning of the fourth quarter. And people

was like, yeah, because the Knicks are going to do their thing. That's not what that tweet means. For too many years, we've watched the Knicks have a lead in the third quarter and just completely squander it. And then it goes down to shot to Mike Woodson. It goes down to, you know, tit for tat, last two minutes, foul, shot, foul, and then end on a mellow shot. But now, as long as you got Jalen Brunson, you got that chance. And it's not even like, and it's not even like maybe Jaylen will hit a lucky shot. It's like, yo, Jaylin's about to take this game over. We're not losing.

That is comparing your dad to the live-in super that every New Yorker deserves is a beautiful, beautiful thing to also feel about your sports team. It's the truth. It really is. As the owner, as a guy who still somehow has, I remember I did a profile of the Mike Woodson-era Knicks for ESPN The Magazine.

And never really, returned apologies to the MSGPR department. We've never been the same since, admittedly, you and me as our dynamic is concerned. But I never returned the seven DVDs that I got from them, which are individual episodes of the Mike Woodson show on MSG. Yes. If you remember that. I do.

Listen, I consume anything on MSG. They used to have a, what was this guy, J.B. Smooth? Oh, yeah, of course. The dinner. Classic cinema. I couldn't watch enough Steve Sharpa eating at Rose. I was I was going to say, I think every episode was Steve Sharpa. You know, every now and then, a little E. Falco, you know, just throw it out there.

That's right. Four courses, shout out. Shout out to you and MSG's in-house programming. All jokes aside, one thing I really love about the Knicks winning and championship, you can see how much they internalize winning, and now they're talking about their actual struggles. Like, Mikel on the Instagram yesterday, talking about, listen to that Kendrick Lamar album, after his last loss because he said he was depressed.

Right. And this helped him just rebuild himself and get in the gym. And you know, like that's something, especially black men, but especially athletes.

You rarely hear them talk about their mental struggles. We know they had to go through stuff. Carl Anthony Towns winning this after losing so many family members to COVID. Like I recently lost my mother. I can't even imagine having to play a game

after losing. And the way he was close with his mother. Like, even him just talking about that made me tear up because that is just like he's so strong. And the idea that you have to be strong like that after you lose family, but that's also when you're at your weakest. That's when your support system isn't there.

So, and like he had a tweet and he basically was just like, we want to just win something. I said to God, just give me at least one win. And people was like, you have a hot girlfriend. You have all this money. But it's just like he doesn't have his family. He doesn't have the people closest to him. So while this championship, it's everything he worked for at the same time,

it's kind of tarnished because you can't celebrate it with the people that are there for him. But he said every time he looked up, he saw his mother was there. She was riding with him, and that's why the championship means so much to him. And that's why it means so much to all of us. So at the end of here, the thing that I'm curious about, because I have been tearing up, watching, again, other people tear up. Yeah. Talking about family that never got to see this for 53 years. Yeah.

Talking about how this is as much about the things that they miss about their loved ones as it is anything else. if your parents were around these us and they got to see all of this and they got to see you in an empty school bus in time swear

but like I'm tearing up right now like my mother loved the Knicks my father loved the Knicks when they came to New York the Knicks had just won a championship so they were bandwagon Nick fans and they made us become Nick fans me and my sister shot to Pilar

my older sister I remember it's one of the she hates his photo it's a picture of my father and my sister, they're at Master's Girl Garden and my father's in a three-piece suit and my sister is in like a church dress because my father was like anytime you go to MSG you have to dress up

which is not the case whatsoever but that's what he used to do. He would always, he instilled on us going to MSG we'd go, I remember his damn, I really am turning up, like because his boss would give him tickets from working at the bank and that's how we'd go

so we had all these memories and I remember like you know towards that Like my father and I, you know, two guys. At one time we had a little, you know, contentious relationship. And I remember he would call me and be like, my flight gets in at 420. So I have to drive to JFK pick up my father. And we sit in the car in silence.

And I remember I would turn to like 880 or turn to 10-10 wins. And they'd be talking about like local news or whatever. And he'd just listen. And then once they said anything about the teams, they say about the Yankees or they say something about the Knicks. And he'd be like, your Knicks might do it this year. Or your Knicks are terrible.

He always said your Knicks after 99 because he was just so done with them because they got so close. But he was like, I can't keep doing that. He would be ecstatic. And my mother, she would have watched every game. Well, she would have watched the first quarter for every game because these games started a little late. Like she's not saying up after nine. But they would be at the parade. They definitely would come through.

So this is for them as well. This is for them. I think a little Dan, me and my little Patrick Ewing shirt with my parents watching this. me, my family just devastated in 99, everyone crying and just like, I wish they were here to see this, but this is for them, y'all. This is for them. Deezis, aka Daniel. Yeah, the government name.

Thank you for celebrating Reverse 9-11 with me. Thank you for having me, Pablo. It's always a pleasure being here, but it means even more to be with a native New Yorker. And we did this. At the end of the day, the Knicks did this, but we did as much as they did. I like to think that when Victor Wambayama, whose name I haven't even said, until the end of this podcast, missed those two free throws. It's because the city of New York climbed inside of him and said,

boo. It was. It was also one of probably the greatest performance by Fat Joe, just behind, you know? As I say, Shaolin Mugs cannot prepare you for Fat Joe. Oh, nothing can. All right?

Even when Banyama was forced to lean back. This has been Pablo Torre finds out. A metal-larke. media production. And I'll talk to you next time.