PTI - Did Ovechkin Play His Last Game?

Episode Date: April 15, 2026

Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser discuss the NBA play-in and Alex Ovechkin. Plus, Jeff Passan joins the show to break down the latest in the MLB. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, sports fans, the ESPN app has all of ESPN all in one place. The ESPN app is your home to thousands of live events, ESPN shows, and originals across every ESPN network and service. And now you can check if you already have ESPN Unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.esPN.com to learn how to access your account or sign up, then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike LeBond. Tax Day, Tony. Have you sent in your return?

I'm Tony Coronizer, no. I had my accountant tell him I died three years ago. You know what? I'd hate to spoil it for you, but there's some video evidence that says you're alive and well and earning. That's AI. Right here. AI created.

I'm not that person. I am AI generated even sitting in you. And I can be AI. AI taxis. You know, Anthony Irwin. I can do that. Welcome to PTI, boys and girls. in today's episode, The Blazers beat the Suns.

The sortie tour is on the ropes, and Jeff Passon joins us for five good minutes. But we begin today with last night's Eastern Conference play-in where Charlotte eliminated Miami in overtime. Lamello Ball had the winning basket, but back in the second quarter, ball reached out and appeared to pull Bam out of Bio by the ankle, causing him to fall in a heap,

resulting in an injury that kept out of Bayo out for the rest of the game. Afterwards, Heat Coach Eric Spolster said ball should have been thrown out of the game. The referee said they could not review the play because no original call had been made. Wilbon, do you agree that balls should have been ejected? Yep. There's no question about it.

It should have been ejected. You're watching this. And I understand what, let me just say this. I understand why any one of those officials would have let that play go because they don't like to stop a fast break for a team of something that's incidental. Yeah.

Right? Ball's going the other way. They're going to get a layup out of this. You don't want to stop the play. And if you just make that decision, which is a reasonable decision for an official, to make it real time. You can't go back and review it. So you can't give him what should have been

at minimum of flagrant one, but more likely to me. Because by the way, this isn't the first time. It's not the first time the ball has reached out and grabbed even this player. The best player on the Miami Heat, a guy who scored a million points of the game this year.

So he would have been flagrant-tued and ejected. And now the league, I guess, is examining what to do. But that doesn't help Miami. Miami's going to win that game. It was a thrilling game. And Charlotte played great, even though rookie of the year, Knappel had

no points. It had to be benched in overtime. But you got to throw them out. People who are waiting for me to disagree with you will find that's going to have to keep waiting because I'm not going to disagree. I had Brian Windhorst on my podcast this morning. And Brian said, I don't check my nose. He said he thought it was a flagrant foul by ball, and he pointed out, as you just

did, that ball has a history of doing this with this particular guy. In the moment that I saw it, I didn't think there was intent to injure, but maybe I was wrong. As you say, the league is looking at it. What does that do for Miami? Miami is out. There's nothing that can come of this that helps Miami. Eric Spolster said, look, we could have won. You know, I mean, he was, he took the high roll. Yes, he did. He said, we could have won. But again, they didn't win in that game. It was, you're right. It was a thrilling, wonderful game. And here's a really good line from Windhorst.

He talked about the fact that it showed the redemptive power of the NBA playoffs, which echoed what you're saying, which you said the other day, that the regular season fell really short. So I tuned into this game because I wanted to see Charlotte throw it up from all over. And they did. Okay. So here are some numbers, though. All right, I wanted to see ball and C Cinepple. Right.

Canipal is your rookie of the year, not my rookie to year. Canipal was 2 of 12 and 0 of 6 from 3. And it was benched. He had to be bench late in the game. He didn't move by Charles Lee. Gutsy. Okay. And Lamello Ball, 2 of 16 from 3, 2 of 16 from 3.

Kept chucking. So together, they're benched. two of 22 from three, which is just awful. You know, it's awful. It's terrible. And they won. They won. If they win more, they're in the real playoffs.

And bail them out. Tony, so that helps enormously. But ball, what now? So even if, first of all, the league doesn't have the guts to suspend him for the upcoming game against either Philly or Orlando. The league doesn't have, you know, have- Can I just say this? Not David Stern's leave.

No, David Stern would have done it. But let me just say this. No, they're not doing it. If you find that this happened and if you suspend him for the next game, to me, that feels vindictive. It does. Can you suspend them for game one if they win of the series of the playoffs? You wait till next year? I think it's gone.

I think you missed it. I think you missed it. Let's move to the Western Conference play in where Denny Avdia, let me get that right, scored 41 points, including the winning basket to lead Portland past Phoenix and into the playoffs in the seventh spot. Obdia also had 12 assists and seven rebounds. This is the same Denny Obdia that the Wizards traded for a bowl of porridge a couple of years ago. Wilbon, this one was way past my bedtime. So what did the Blazers show you and what does it say about your sons? Well, it wasn't past my bedtime and you know because you got about a thousand text messages from me this morning.

And he's good enough to go by one name now after last night, 41 points game winner. It's just Denny. I'm not going to get into Avdia, even though I finally pronouncing it correctly. The Bulls could have drafted him but decided to take Patrick Williams. That's even stupider. No, maybe not. Then the Wizards getting rid of a young star in the making. And this kid went out there, and it was on him.

And he made every play. And the sons are not a bad team. The sons are going to win the next game and get in as the eighth seed and have to go against OKC, but that's all right. This was a terrific game. Portland. Look, you mentioned this yesterday. I'll give you credit.

They came back from something that could have scarred. I'm going to go to that. their whole season. I'm going to go to that. Chauncey Billups. I'm going to go to that. Losing their coach and a guy who's a presence. I know and like Chauncee. We went over all this at the time.

But they responded. They finished better than 500. They have a star. No, they can't get more than a game. I don't think. It smells like a sweep. I'll tell you what. It does. It smells like a sweep.

This kid's worth watching. Yeah. So are you saying that the Wizards trading him? It's because they couldn't use somebody who could get 41, 12, and 7 on the road in a play-in? game. They couldn't use him to break the streak at the end of the season where they lost 26 of the last 27. They traded him because he might want to win.

And they don't want to win. So let me go to let me step back for a second. We are talking about two teams that could make the playoffs. Portland is in. Charlotte could be in. That haven't been in the real playoffs in a long time. Ten years for Charlotte and five years for Portland. We are talking

about coaches here that nobody knows. Tiago Splitter. You knew it was a player. Tiago Splitter walks into a situation because the coach, Trancy Billups, was removed because he was accused of being part of a mob-run betting scheme, and he is awaiting trial. Tiago Splitter finishes 42 and 39, their best record in five years. Charles Lee is in his second year at Charlotte.

I don't know anything about Charles Lee. He won 19 games last year. He won 44 games this year. If he walked in here right now with a t-shirt that said, I am Charles Lee, I wouldn't know. But these guys deserve a tremendous amount of credit. Tony, they do. And both those teams do.

And by the way, I'll just test you. You want to send me the coach of the Phoenix Suns? I can't. Okay, the coach of the Phoenix Suns got that team to play after saying bye-bye to Kevin Durant and Bradley Bill. Right. Yeah, I mean, yeah. Devin Booker is still there and a bunch of other guys

played their roles really well. But Phoenix, I got Phoenix still getting in. That had to be a crushing loss for them last night. And by the way, to see Chauncey Billups, no, to see Dame Lillard step off the bench and he's hugging. Now ask you a question. Avi Jop. I'll ask you a question.

In October, if I had said to you, what are the odds that by April, and it's possible, Portland is in and Charlotte could be in that day. That parlay would make the play. It's 300 to 1. It's 500 to 1. I want that deal with you. It's never going to happen.

Uh-uh. It's not going to happen. Let's move to hockey. Fans in Columbus chanted one more year at Alex Ovechkin, as he played what could have been his final game last night, notching an assist in the Capitals 2-1 win over the Blue Jackets. The loss led Columbus's 71-year-old interim head coach, Rick Bonas, to go off on his own team, saying, quote,

I don't know if I'm back, but if I'm back, I'm changing this culture. These guys, they don't care. Losing is not important enough to them. It doesn't bother them, close quote. Ouch. Yeah. Tone. There's a more intriguing headline involve OV's possible farewell or the bonus rent.

Okay. I live in Washington, D.C. I have watched Alexander O'Betchkin's entire career. As a newspaper reporter, if there is such a thing anymore, if he retires, that's the headline. Because he's the greatest goal score of all time. But last night, he gave an indication that he wasn't going to retire, and he said he wasn't. I wasn't sure. And he said, I hope it's not my last game. I don't know exactly how it's going to happen. So we'll see. So that opens the door for me to go to option B, which is Mr. Bonas and what he said, where he just had no regard whatsoever for his team. He did. He's 71 years old, so I automatically like him. He has been as an assistant or a head coach on an NHL bench more than 3,000 times. He's been around in this league. If he says my team has quit and shows that. nothing and I'm going to change everything here

if I'm here. I think you have to take that seriously. Now, he's an interim coach. He doesn't even know if he's coming back. It may be that he's not there. And in fact, I think it will be that he's not there because if there was a transfer portal in that league, every single member of the Columbus team would sign up for

the transfer board. Everyone would do it. I'm going to go to something with OV because I sometimes live here, but a long time and I've seen his entire career like you. Yeah. But I got something I can relate to this. I see Patrick Cain after winning three Stanley Cups and being as far as I'm concerned,

yes, above Robert Marvin Hull, the greatest Black Hawk of all time. He's in a Red Wings uniform. He don't want that. No, but it can happen. And so they decided, everybody decided, except me, that he should keep playing good,

and he's keep playing. Ovi can't defend. It's not his thing anymore. He can score goals. I know, but do you really think, Do you know that the Capitals want him back? Or could you see Ovechkin in a Pittsburgh uniform next year? I could not see that.

And I assume the Capitals won him back because he is a great draw. He is a great draw. And he is great for hockey. He's the all-time leading goal scorer. So, yeah, I think that they won him back. Can I just read you this one quote from Bonus? He says, because they've sort of fallen down. They only won three of their last 13 and they lost six in a row at home.

He said, of making the players cause a team to wilt because it got tough, because it got hard, everything is good as long as it's going their way. Boom. This is like the Tennessee basketball worse. Let's take a break. Coming up is the Mets seven games like temporary

or something worth worrying about. We're going to ask Jeff Passon. We'll also ask them about yet another big deal being given out to a player who's played a handful of games. So you know what? You know why the league is not going to suspend ball? They don't count that game. How do you suspend somebody for doing something in a game?

Your own damn league This didn't exist. It doesn't really exist. It's not a regular season game. It's not a playoff. That's like that championship game. We've got baseball questions for our great friend ESPN senior MLB. Out of initials there, Wilbon.

Senior MLB insider Jeff Passing. The Mets, who are the team of my youth. Not anymore. I root for the Nats, but they are the team of my youth. And Wilbon won't let me forget it. The Mets have lost seven straight and they face Shohei tonight. Does this slide feel temporary to you, or is there a real cause for concern with the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club? I think there's some cause for concern right now. Now, mind you, Tony, this is happening when Juan Soto's on the injured list. He is their best player. He's paid $765 million over 15 years to help be the anchor for that offense.

But beyond him, Francisco Lendor has gotten off to a terrible start. The guys who they brought in this offseason, whether it's Jorge Polanco, Marcus, Simeon, Boba Chet, all off the terrible starts. So it's not like the Mets offense is going to be this bad all year long, and there are some bright spots. Nolan McLean's been fantastic so far. Their bullpen's been pretty solid, but you can't dig yourself too big of a hole. Here's the thing. We're 18 games into the 2006 season.

This would be the equivalent of an NFL team's fan base being terrified after one maybe two games. So there is time for the Mets to rescue themselves because let's not forget, they were 45 and 24 last year, had the best record of Major League Baseball through 69 games and wound up not making the playoffs. So just as a hot start is not a guarantee for a playoff birth. A bad beginning is not a guarantee for doom come October. All right, enough of the Mets. Let's get to some central divisions talk. Jeff, you sat down with Tarek Schuble and Paul Skeens for your podcast.

If we set aside the injured nature of every Cubs pitcher, how do you feel about starting pitching in general? Because I am thinking it's in a crisis point all the time, but you're closer to this. How you feel about the state of starting pitching? I think starting pitching, just in terms of stuff, Mike, is better than it has ever been before.

And you see a guy like Skeens who has, seven different elite pitches and a guy like Scoobel or a guy like Nolan McLean who can go out there and throw five, six pitches all at top tier levels. The issue with starting pitching to me is the lowering of expectations out of fear from organizations that worry that these guys are going to get hurt. And, you know, there was one point in the podcast where we had a conversation about Tarek Scuba last year having the single best pitch game I saw all year long, nine innings, two hits, no walks, 13 strikeouts, last pitch was 102.6. And Paul Skeens is sitting there and he's like, I have one complete game. It went eight innings and I lost one nothing. And he was lamenting this.

And you've got this six foot six, two hundred sixty pound absolute monster who threw complete games in college and hasn't been allowed to do so in the big leagues because the Pittsburgh pirates understandably want to protect his arm. And yet guys keep getting hurt. year after year, week after week, day after day, there is nothing that they figured out to keep them healthy. So why limit them? That's the question that I ask every team. Why limit these guys who are capable of doing more? And frankly, none of them has a particularly good answer.

What a stunning development, right? Yeah, well, this is your issue. It is. I'm going to die on this hill. I understand. Kevin McGonigal of the Tigers became the latest rookie to sign a big money deal today, eight years, $150 million. Is this simply because teams, which used to want guys to prove it,

want to now get guys in the cheap before they can get a 15-year, $700 million contract after they prove themselves? It's that, Mike, but on top of that, it's knowledge. And what I mean by that is the amount of data that teams have on players now, not just going back to, you know, in Kevin McGonagall's case,

that three-week sample in the big leagues, but going back through the minor leagues, even going back to amateur times, whether you're in college or high school, everything you do is tracked. And so teams can see, is this something, whether it's quality of contact or exit velocity, that's been consistent year over year? Is the walk rate something that might just be a flash in the pan or no, we know now for sure if a guy has a good eye? So this is a function, I think, as much as anything, of teams believing that they know what what they have when players are in the minor leagues.

And because of that, they are much more willing to give out the kinds of contracts you used to see only in free agency. Like if a guy signed before he was getting to the big leagues, which is something that's only been happening in the last 10 to 15 years, he was doing so for absolute pennies on the dollar. But Kevin McGomagall getting 150 million guaranteed

and still being able to go back out into free agency before his 30th birthday, it's players trying to get the best of both worlds. We will get you out of here on this. Padres closer, Mason Miller, has not allowed to run, Wilbon, since last August 5th. That's a while. Not in the regular season, not in the postseason, not even in the world baseball classic. What are we seeing from this guy right now?

We are seeing the unholy child of Goose Gossage and Craig Kimbril, a guy who's throwing consistently over 100 miles per hour with an absolute bastard of a slider. And Mason Miller is the modern archetypal. relief pitcher. He throws really hard. He throws it over the plate. And when he does, he says to hitters, hey, come on, try and hit this. And you know what? They can't. One hit allowed in eight and a third innings this year, 20 strikeouts, which is more than almost a third of qualified starting pitchers right now. Mason Miller is the business and everyone is here just to watch him do it. That's a wow. Thank you, Jeff. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you, fellas. Appreciate you having.

Let's take one last break still to come. Will the Sixers win without Joel Embed tonight? You're picking on Joel already. We can't even get through a whole show. You know, the warrior's right to put Steph on a minute's restriction tonight. In a play-in game, come on. What? Come on.

By the way, Jeff's podcast is called Sources Tell Jeff Passon. That's good. That's a good name. We like Sources Said? Yeah, I like that. I like that. Bob Woodward would like that, wouldn't it? Yes. Happy Time, people.

Happy 79th birthday tomorrow, Karim Abdul-Jabbar. I go back with him when he was Lou Alcindor playing at Power Memorial High School in New York City. I once stood at the same Nidix lunch counter with him at the Old Garden on 50th Street. I remember when he was still Lewis, as John Wooden called him, at UCLA, where he won three national championships and three tries, because in those days, freshmen were not eligible to play. His record in college was 88 and 2. I remember when he was drafted by Milwaukee and won a championship there, and then he asked to be traded to the Lakers. He was Kareem by then and won five championships there. And I have admired his op-ed pieces.

He is a good writer. Tremendous writer. He also had the most unstoppable, the greatest weapon in the history of sport. Sky Hook. The Sky Hook. Of all time. Happy anniversary, Kevin Pilar, on this day, 11 years ago, while with the Blue Jays, Pilar made this amazing defensive play at the wall to rob Tim Beckham of a home run.

Pilar has this catch, but no gold gloves. Later that season, Pilar called the catch life-changing. Pilar said, quote, to be a guy who was fairly unknown, a guy who hadn't really made his mark in Toronto or in the league, to be able to go up and make a catch like that, but I think people in this city are going to talk about for years. It really changed my life. Explaining the catch, Pilar, said, quote,

I felt there was no risk involved. It's either a home runner, it's off the wall, but you've got a chance to do something special. Boys and girls watching, he's wearing 42, which reminds all of us is Jackie Robinson Day, April 15, when baseball used to begin. every season. Jackie Robinson, 79 years ago, changed the world, this country at least, and Rachel Robinson, 104 years old this coming July.

Happy Trails, Joel Embed. The Sixers Star will miss tonight's play-in-game against the magic as he recovers from an emergency appendix. Uh-oh. In the late game, Steph Curry, Christops, Porzingis, and Al Horford will all be on minutes restrictions against the clippers, though the restriction is pretty high. It's under 40 minutes each. Kauai Leonard rested for the final game of the Clipper season, so he should be ready to go. Who do you like tonight? I don't like anybody treating it like the NIT. Like it's just some optional invitation they can turn down.

I don't like that. Come on now. Let's go to the big finish if we could. The NFL network reports the talks between the Giants and nose tackle. Dexter Lawrence have broken off. Is that significant? The three-time pro bowler who's requested a trade, I can think of a team or two who could use him. The Financial Times reports the Saudis are on the verge of cutting funding for live.

It's done, right? It would seem so. They were throwing money into a pot, and someone said, why are we doing this? Japan beat the United States women's soccer team won nothing last night. Is that significant? No, they split games in the last few days. No. The commanders have gone back to the burgundy and gold colors of the previous hundred years in their uniforms.

You like that? Yeah, because it's the Super Bowl colors for them. I'm a little concerned about the spear on the alternate helmet. The last one. The Brewers have lost six straight. Will they snap it tonight at home against the Jays? I hope not. I hope the Brewers losing street goes off

for whatever and the Pirates to lose and everybody. Nice job out of you guys beating the Brewers last. Yeah, we're out of time. We'll try to do better the next time. I'm Tony Cornhunt. I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads.