The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Hour 2: Mike Schur's Victory Lap

Episode Date: May 2, 2024

Mike Schur is soaring through the sky and has landed in our universe to take a victory lap after his Celtics took down the Heat. Despite being deathly afraid of them for three years, he is locked-and-loaded with Top 5 lists to troll Jeremy, Tyler Herro and the Heat following their disappointing season. Amin has finally arrived in the studio after he traveled from last night's game and has some takeaways straight from the urinals at TD Garden. He also has some extremely hot takes from his family's Knicks group chat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to Giraffe King's Network. This is the Don LeBattor Show with the StuGuts Podcast. Oh, look who all of a sudden isn't too busy doing some big Hollywood show to be on our little show anymore Mike sure I've been asking every day. Hey, when you coming back on when you coming back on every day for like a month Hey, I've got a big Hollywood show I do not your little show and I'm very busy But for some reason today some time freed up on the schedule. Weird.

Weird, isn't it? Mike Ryan. Have the timing worked out? Mike Ryan is in Cancun. He has left the country. Here, I will tell you, I will reveal this for the first time, okay? What Jeremy Tashay and Mike Schur

have done the last part of this regular season on my phone by text string has ruined basketball for me. And my love of sports has been diminished because what has happened in them dorking out on my phone in a way that has been uncomfortably unpleasant late into the night for a long time, because the worst thing that you can do with Jeremy

is give him the number of a celebrity he admires. Whoa! There is a little stugatz in everybody. Mike Schor, welcome to the show, and go ahead, have at it. Thank you, Dan. I don't know what you have all talked about today and what you haven't,

because I can't listen to the show, because it doesn't get posted before I come on. So I don't want what you have all talked about today and what you haven't because I can't listen to the show because it doesn't get posted before I come on. So I don't want to repeat anything. So if I repeat anything that you've already talked about, just wave your hand or something and I'll change subjects. I do want to talk about the series though because I understand that the final scores of these games made it seem like a very lopsided series, you 34 point win in game five all that sort of stuff, but the reason that a lot of Celtics fans were nervous going in and Charlie can probably speak to this is because Spolstra and the Heat always do things in these series

That seemed to change the calculus doesn't matter what the rosters look like who's hurt who isn't hurt They always do things that drive you crazy. That's what game two was all about. And so I thought as a jumping off point for discussion, I can make a top five list, and then we can use some of what I say here to maybe analyze the series, looking backward and discuss the heat.

So this is Top Five Things That the heat do if you're ready for this are you ready for this I don't think Charlotte's quite ready for I was gonna say you know you said why Celtics fans are so stressed and I wanted to add because we're just neurotic people from New England who are a little broken but also yes they totally yes a hundred percent but I think this is specific to the heat so here we go top five things that he do all i suck number five

lose number four miss out on big names in the trade market number three play dirty never to phone it in during the regular season. And the number one thing that the heat does, blow. I don't know which of those you want to talk about. That sounds the same as... I don't know if you want to like, jump, take any of those as a jumping off line into further discussion.

I think sucks and blow are synonyms in this context. I strongly disagree. Yeah, same. I think they're the same thing. What just strongly disagree. Yeah, I think they're the same thing What do you mean? You don't think they're the same thing at regardless? I have it. I have another top five list for you. Okay, great Go ahead Top five things that Jeremy Tashay might have meant when he said that Tyler hero was gonna do the thing in the playoffs Just to refresh everyone's memory, the actual tweet was, Tyler Hero is going to do the thing this postseason. I can feel it in my bones. And how poetic would that be?

I believe in my friend Tyler. An actual thing he tweeted. So here we go. Top five things Jeremy might have believed Tyler Hero was going to do. O.L.I. Suck. Top five things Jeremy might have believed Tyler Hero was going to do Oli suck Number five go six of 19 from the floor in an elimination game Number four tank is already very low trade value Number three just kind of throw the ball to no one over and over again. Number two, full on dressed like Jamiroquai

in a post-game press conference. I couldn't believe that. I could not believe that. I am like, I watched that and felt hurt in my heart for Pat Riley and everything that's been done to his legacy. And the number one thing that Jeremy might have believed Tyler Hero was going to do when he said he was going to do the thing,

play 35 minutes in an elimination game and get outscored by Sam Houser, even though Houser only played 20 minutes. If those are the things that Jeremy believed Tyler Hero was going to do in the postseason. He would have been right. I'm fine, Mike. I'm fine.

I have known Mike now for a little while, and I will just tell you, I have never seen him this radiant. He is glowing, and it's not. He, when is the last? This is my literal hell. when is the last time? This is my literal hell. When is the last time, I know I wanna know when I win,

when is the last time sports made you feel this good? Oh, he's crying. No, because I hear that the little boy in him, this is as happy as I've ever seen my friend because he knows good and well that it's not just that Boston wins, it's that Boston has a championship chance and also that you closed the Jimmy window.

And so at the end of the five years, you've been scared of this team and you can finally shake free of your shackles. I have another top five list for you. Do it. These top five most delusional heat fan beliefs heading into the series. Here we go. Oh, I we don't suck Number five BAM is ready to step up and lead this team Number four Nikola Jovich is length could really cause some matchup problems for the cell Number four, Nikolaj Jović's length could really cause some match up problems for the Celtics.

Number three, Kevin Love could play a huge role for us because of how he spaces the floor. Number two, the X factor in the series just might be Paddy Mills. And the number one most delusional Heat fan believe heading into the series are the Celtics. Tyler Hero is going to do the thing yeah How many more top five lists do you have I have one more

Top five things the heat should do this offseason Here we go. Oh, I stop sucking Number five extend Kevin love Number four extend Jimmy Butler Number three, extend Tyler Hero. Number two, extend Patty Mills. And the number one thing the Heat should do this off season, run it back.

Bring the whole team back, run it back. I think you guys, you're close. You're close, you're this close. You look so radiant. I don't know if this post is postcoital. I don't know. I can't imagine a scenario under, under, this feels like the happiness that you were spewing

probably when the Red Sox won their first world series. Like where, where do you feel? I feel like this feels a bit like a historic feeling for you, a championship feeling for you. Nothing beats that. Nothing will ever beat that. But, uh, I checked the, uh, I checked the game. I was working yesterday cause I'm making a big Hollywood program and, uh, I was checking the score periodically and just enjoying myself.

And at the very end of the game, like a minute left, I checked the gamecast and I saw an update that was oh shade brissette makes two-foot dunk Assist by Svema high look and it was the greatest series of words And I immediately texted it to Charlotte It was it was like I couldn't have dreamed a better sentence structure than that. Oh, Shabers that makes dunk assisted by Svema Highlook

with one minute left. Oh God, it was so glorious. He texted it to me and said, that's basically porn to me. Yeah, that's porn. That was like porn to me. That's not safe for work. We shouldn't be saying that here. True, it's true. I'm sorry. I apologize to your listeners for doing something pornographic

Do we want to do stat of the day or have you now outgrown this if you now now that Hollywood is back in business Do you even have a stat of the day or was it all just Celtics? Talk and Dan for the last time I always come with a stat of the day You don't have to ask me this always come with a stat of the day. You don't have to ask me this. I always have a stat of the day. Start of the day, start of the day, and this is the start of the day.

Start of the day, start of the day, and this is the start of the day. Start of the day, start of the day, and this is the start of the day. Start of the day, start of the day, and this is the start of the day. Start of the day, start of the day. And this is the't hear the music. Oh, sorry, Mike. Do you want me to sing it to you?

Here's your stat of the day, courtesy of Statmuse. Derek White has more points in this playoff run than the following players. Shay Gilgis Alexander, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, James Harden, Paul George, Tyrese Halliburton, Carl Anthony Towns, and Jason Tatum. I love him so much. I love him. He is my, he and Mookie Betts are my two favorite living human beings, including my own family. I swear to God, Mike, if they let him go,

if they let him go the way that they let Mookie go, I'm still not over it. I'm not over it. to God Mike, if they let him go, if they let him go the way that they let Mookie go, I'm still not over it, I'm not over it. Derek White is a salve to that wound. He really is, he is. He's a pure ray of cosmic light that has been brought into our lives just to make us happy.

It's interesting how quickly both of you turned your back on Marcus Spar to love him. For the record, for the record quickly? I did that no no no I did not turn my back on Marcus smart when we had this discussion in Los Angeles with Amin and Charlotte I said and you can check the tape. I said I love that guy that guy was great. I loved him on my team I loved watching him play and I mean tried to tell me and Charlotte and you, Dan, that they shouldn't have let him and Grant Williams go because, and I quote, he had that dog in him.

And at the time I said, yeah, okay, fine. But you know who's really good at basketball is Christophe Sporzingis and also Drew Holliday. And maybe it's a good idea to just get the guys who are good at basketball on your team. And I had I was the only one in that room that had faith in those moves. And now Brad is the executive of the year deservedly so. And this team just absolutely tore the eight seed heat into tiny little pieces and discarded

them in a waste bin in a way that they did not last year because their roster is better and I feel like I've been vindicated. You know you could say, Derek White has that dog in him Dan. You could say that. You could say that Mike. You might be able to say that. I wish you had. I don't think you needed to say that. You continue to say that dog in him, you love saying that dog in him. I've rarely had harder times in my life than seeing him smile this way. My brother just died. This is harder, this is harder. This has been harder than that. This has been harder than that.

Too soon? Too soon, and also unfair. Also, where's Mike Ryan? This is the word Mike Ryan is in here. Total coward. At least Jeremy had the guts to show up. Right? Thank you. Right?

I can't believe your year started. While taking a victory lap. While taking a victory lap on Twitter so he can hide in the, there's a Mexican fugitive. I can't believe Mike Schur's year began with a literal nightmare of Jimmy Butler dropping him into an apocalyptic vortex and ends with me wearing eyeliners. Emo Jeremy.

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Visit BetterHelp.com slash DLB today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash D-L-B. That's the sound of fried chicken with a spicy history. Thornton Prince was a ladies' man. To get revenge, his girlfriend hid spices in his fried chicken. He loved it so much, he opened Prince's Hot Chicken. Hot chicken in the window.

This is one of many sounds in Tennessee with a story to tell. To hear them in person, plan your trip at tnvacation.com. Tennessee sounds perfect. Don Lebatard. Amino Hasson. Stugats. Amino Hasson. This is the Don Lebatard show with the Stugats. Amin has finally landed. I can't wait to get to all of his basketball expertise. He was boots on the ground in Boston. He is covering the hell out of the NBA playoffs. Oddball every day except Monday. If you've been watching and listening recently, I am urging you very strongly to do so because they have found their voice, they have found their chemistry, that stuff can take some time, and they are galloping now.

Oddball is a roaring force, Charlotte Wilder and Amin Elhassen, but Amin, before we get to you, can you guys explain to me what you were talking about with Chris Brown? I heard you guys talking about everything going on with Quavo and Chris Brown, and I didn't know what that story was. I thought you guys were talking with Chris Brown Oh, yeah, Chris Brown on the show. Oh, I'm not here. Oh, I'm not here No, so Chris Brown and Quavo been having basically the undercard beef between Drake and Kendrick. This is like that's the main event This is kind of like the coming right now, but um there was a I don't know if we have the video of it

There was a concert that Quavo had in Connecticut that apparently again. We don't know if we have the video of it. There was a concert that Quavo had in Connecticut that apparently, again, we don't know if this has been confirmed or not, allegedly, Chris Brown did the, Michael Rubin, I bought all the tickets. So there was like 30 people. This looks like a Marlins game. That's when I saw it on the screen, I was like, oh damn, a lot of people in the Marlins game. And then I was like, oh wait a second.

So that, this is the view of a Quavo concert at the XL Center in Hartford, right next to where the yard goats play, by the way, Dan, I don't know if you've been there, a beautiful little setup. I did not know all of that. I did not, it looked to me at the beginning like this aquarium, like a real sadness there

in the seating arrangement. So it hasn't been confirmed though that this was done to Quavo. By Chris Brown that by Chris that be pretty funny as a move i'd i've never been able to verify this story but i've heard a lot in comedy circles that one time there's supposed to be a night at a club somewhere for dame cook and chapelle was a part of the night but he was opening and when chapelle got there somebody told him that he had to keep it to 10 minutes because it was Dane Cook's night.

And Chappelle was at the height of being Chappelle, and it's Dane Cook. And so he's like, okay, I'll respect that. I've never been able to confirm this or not. And he did 10 minutes, but at the end he said, hey, I'll be out front if you wanna take pictures or anything with me, and then we'll hang out and we'll talk about stuff, and I'll be out front with you.

And so Dane Cook came out There was no Right, I'd love to know if that was true and I get on that for me Would you now this has not been the first time this has happened back in our past and hip-hop lore? 50 did this to Ja Rule where Ja Rule came out and it was like Guys anybody hello sound check it is in fact called the 50 cent when you do that. When you buy up the tickets to your rival's event and then make sure no one goes. That is 50's signature move that he did years and years ago.

It's also what the K-pop fans did to Donald Trump. Yes. The BTS fans, they bought all those tickets to the rally and then there was no one there. It really is like a mighty gesture of like, I'm so rich, I'll give you money just for you to be embarrassed. That's the thing, it's like, I got the money on the back end anyway, so it's like, did I really lose?

I maybe don't even have to perform, there's four people here. But it's embarrassing, and it's, the most embarrassing part isn't just that I performed in front of four people or did not perform in front of four people, it's the line from a Bronx tale where after they beat up the bikers, he picks one of them up and says, look at me, look at me, I did this to you. That's the embarrassing part. If it was a mystery, why did no one show up?

I don't know, but they bought tickets, it'd be fine, but it's like, I did this to you, that's the part. I mean, isn't A Bronx Tale the movie that Joe Mazzullo told us he was watching this year? Yes, I don't know if he watches it every day. A long ass movie. It is a long movie. It's a good movie, but it is a long movie.

He was like, have you seen it? And I was like, no. And that was the end of the press conference. I've listened to two clips trying to get to the bottom of whether the Chappelle thing really happened. And every one does the same thing you did of, I can't confirm this, but I heard this happened.

So it's like, I have multiple interviews where people are telling this story, but everyone is kind of just being like, I think this happened. Gotta get Neal Brennan on and ask him. I think he's our only source that might be able to make it happen. I think if you're Chappelle, you don't want it confirmed.

You just want it like a rumor or a whisper in the corner. Like I heard Chappelle exercise his power this way. And it's like like did I make his brain explode by just blinking? Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, who knows? But you'll walk with caution around me, right? I would like, I mean, since you are here to cover some of the things from last night that we had not covered.

James Harden now has more playoff games where he has shot under 20% than any player ever. The Clippers really needed that game against dallas it's a weird team at time uh... a weird construct for the clippers on are they successful or are they not successful the kawaii lennard era because he can't get out there anymore that's a championship worthy team when they're healthy but russell westbrook yesterday if you're looking at everything that's a championship worthy team when they're healthy but Russell Westbrook yesterday if you're looking at everything that's happening around there since game two he was seven fouls six turnovers and six baskets on 17%

shooting the Clippers what do you do with Clippers Mavericks so we don't want to talk about the heat I just want to be clear on the game that I actually was at and saw and witnessed what we've done a lot of that so far today I mean you've gotten here a I don't want to talk about the heat. I just want to be clear on the game that I actually was at and saw and witnessed. Well, we've done a lot of that so far today, Amin, and you've gotten here a little bit late. I'm sorry. No, but if you have, let's see, I'd prefer to do it your way.

Do you guys think that Amin can tell us only things that have not been said around here without having heard the show? That he can give us analysis that is not redundant with anything that's been said so far? I think Amin will come in here with a story about who he talked to before the game on the court side that we will not have heard because he is the mayor of Schmoozing. Okay, well I would like all of the good information that Amin has. Like he's flying back and forth,

Metal Arch Media, he's doing greg cody said earlier this week it has not been said until i've said it that was great document he comes in on tuesdays or like we've covered all of the things that you're saying and he's like yes but it has not been said until i say it this is a new segment i'm debuting right now with a mean alhassan called it has not been said until i say it uh... Let's see if you can do six minutes of heat analysis

that has not been done, or Celtics heat analysis that has not been done around here. Alright, I'm gonna start strong with things that I know for a fact have not been said. While waiting in line for a urinal, I heard fans discussing whether they'd trade for Jimmy Butler. One of them said, I'd trade him to get rid of Brown

and a bag of balls. These are Celtics fans. Celtics fans. Dressed out head to toe in green, which is the only color they were. At the urinal, where you were doing your reporting. Yes, yes, at the urinal. Also, this was an observation.

The Celtics emptied their bench early in the fourth quarter. They tried to do that, except they didn't have a bench to empty. OK, so now it's just one-liners. Yeah, something that you reported from a urinal and also. This is the good stuff. This is where you can find an oddball every day of a Monday day.

No, let's see what other gems Metalark paid for. All right, so you can either say we're gonna give up all threes and not allow anything in the paint, or say we're gonna protect the paint and live and die by their threes. What you cannot do is fail to do either of those things. It's good analysis. The Celtics shot 16 of 40 from three

and shot, I wanna say 25 of 35 inside the three point line. Wow. It is weird to me still to see so many easy baskets in the playoff, just layups, but you have to defend the three, you have to. Derek White is the new Al Horford. Whoa. Yeah.

Whoa. Like, you know how Stugats is always like, Al Horford, I'm afraid of Al Horford, he's always there and it doesn't matter how old he is. I think Derek White is now that guy. You weren't here just a second ago. Mike Schur and Charlotte, round one, they've fallen in love, they are deeply in love.

So I heard the tail end where Mike tells this very, very adulterated story about me, him and Charlotte, and having a conversation about the Celtics missing Marcus Smart and Grant Williams. There's a couple of things. Number one, he was touting the Porzingis part, and my rebuttal wasn't that Porzingis isn't good,

it's that he's not reliable, and guess what? Guess what? Guess what, now as it turns out, it probably won't matter because they've got an easy side of the bracket but it happened number one number two I think Derek White is the biggest part of the Celtic success this year yes everyone keeps it true holiday true holiday doesn't do what that dude does that dude locks up everybody and then here's the thing Dan it went from Derek White let him shoot to Derek White let him shoot to

Derek White alright guys he's a pretty good shooter now make sure you close out to him to Derek White okay he'll put it on the floor to now Derek White dribble cross tween step back behind I'm like whoa who is this guy dude Tatum didn't give him problems Brown didn't give him problems Derek White's ass uh... he was incredible incredible to a level where i'm like okay hold on at what point we start calling him the third best player on this team yeah or dare i say even higher he also after the game he he's so humble and he's so chill all the time when he talks and he is like well you know if they're gonna have a lot of guys on uh...

JB and JT i gotta step up hold on he should have been a finalist for defensive player of the year. Hold on. Yes, but please don't do not do this to Amin. Dare you say it? Dare I? Dare you say it? I dare. No, we are here. Wait a minute. Did I ask you a question?

No, wait a minute. You did not say it. I'm asking you to dare to say it. You have not yet said it. I want it said Are you Amin Elhassan flying from Boston on a plane? Paid for to get information near the urinals coming back to South Florida With the dispatch that you are ready to pronounce that Derek White is better than Jalen Brown I'm gonna say that Derek White was better than Jalen Brown in I'm gonna say that Derek White was better than Jalen Brown in this series for sure.

Dare I say it, you didn't dare say it. Say it, say you didn't dare say it. I said dare. Jalen Brown's a really good player, guys. What are we doing here? No, just you're- Highest paid player in basketball. You just dared I say and I dared ya.

And what'd you give me? You didn't give me Derek White. You know what you could say about Derek White? That he double dog dared them. He has that dog in his mouth. I thought you were gonna go with Dare and Derek. I thought that was so, the lane was right there. It was right there.

Call me Tyler Hero. I missed it. You were galvanized in the moment. I was galvanized, I was so there. Call me Tyler Hero. I missed it. You were galvanized in the moment. I was galvanized. I was so galvanized. What is happening to her, and I will tell you what's happening to her, she's like, look, I can make a coast to coast joke

that unspools over months of that dog in him. And she just got lightheaded and just loved the idea of living a cross country joke about this dog in him. Her and Mike sure giggled over that. Nobody knew what the they were talking about. Because they're making a joke from seven months ago. No, that dog in him's funny either way. You could say that joke is Jump the Shark.

I heard whispers and rumors like the Chappelle story about you and the term Jump the Shark. What'd you hear? It's all not true. While you were flying in, you heard, you've heard already that she didn't know what Jump the Shark was? He's got people everywhere, Dan.

He's at the urinal and he's reporting stuff. He's got people everywhere. Jalen Brown and a bag of balls for Jimmy Butler. Do you realize that you could have, you're gun shy now, I think think since that jump shot that went viral viral viral Okay, but you You're you're gun shy because and any other point in your life

You would have just said Derek white is better than Jalen Brown you would have you would have dared Don LeBattard number three Chick-fil-a waffle fries Love it. I mean, nah, I think it's an overrated you guys go ketchup or chick-fil-a sauce when you have the chick-fil-a That's my brother right there good call you're my brother stoo guts. Oh my god, what a weird interaction Oh my God. What a weird interaction. White guys, white, white, white, white, white. Wow. This is the Don LeBattar Show with the StuGats.

That's right. It's time for Thursday Thunder and it is sponsored by DraftKings. Stay tuned because you'll hear about all that DraftKings has to offer throughout the show. DraftKings, the crown is yours. DraftKings, Stay tuned because you'll hear about all that DraftKings has to offer throughout the show.

DraftKings, the crown is yours. Thursday Thunder, cooked up by Juju. Go ahead, Tony. All right, we're gonna start. We're actually all the way in the association tonight. We've got Obie Toppin over 8.5 points. Mike also still has a top shot of Obie Toppin if you wanna get rich.

He has that for sale. Easy flip, very quick flip for Obi Toppin. Over 8.5 points for Mr. Toppin. Second leg, over 30.5 points for Joel Embiid, Big Night tonight. Sixers, Knicks, 30.5 points over. Based on what? Based on they need it. Just believing in all and be things.

Okay. Based on based on they need it. If they lose tonight, season's over. So you got to have 31 points for the Thursday Thunder Parlay. Last one here over 9.5 points for Deuce McBride of the Knicks. So nice little back and forth and then we got Ovi Toppen, former Knick. I mean, you know. I mean, how excited are you about this game

as someone who knows the history of the Knicks and someone who knows what it feels like when New York is believing in something? Well, I mean, that's the wonderful part, is before game five, I talked about this on Oddball with Charlotte, I like to throw bombs into my little group chat of friends and family who are all Nick fans.

And so I was like, hey guys, LeBron to the Knicks, who says no? Oh wow. And the reaction was so vehemently, hell no. Disturb this chemistry? We're going to, like, they truly believed they were gonna ride this roommates podcast to the sky. Right?

Shout out to the roommates podcast. It's a good podcast. It is a good podcast. They're lovable, they're lovable. The Knicks are lovable, how about that, right? And so, it was absolutely not. And then game five happens, and what, I gotta give a shout out to our producer,

Gabe Goodwin, who is a Knicks fan, said, there's a thing about the Knicks, he's like, yeah, we're the best, da da da. But then inside grows this seed that turns into this beautiful flower of, oh my god, this is how we eff this up one more time. And they're thinking that right now. They're walk, I'm not talking about the Knicks players,

I'm talking about the Knicks fan base. It's not gonna be this beautiful celebration it was for games three and four in Philadelphia. This one is, ah, we don't win this one, it's gonna get real ugly. Yeah, game seven strikes fear into the hearts of Knicks fans nationwide. That is the worst possible thing that could happen

to Knicks fans because as Amin likes to say, then it's a one game series. Patrick Ewing missing the finger roll against the Pacers. The Heat hitting eight billion threes in game seven while half the Knicks are suspended for fighting, right? Like all the games, Hakeem Olajuwon going nuts. Yeah, John starts going two for 18 four eighteen right which is what the heat shot i believe in the first quarter uh...

that it's it this is this is all the things that their nightmares are made of those two words game seven they've got a couple games seven when but they don't remember the game seven wins there on the game seven failures i feel like what were presently witnessing with the Knicks fan base is a little bit unlike anything that I've seen before it because they've gotten plenty loud over nothing when it was just Carmelo winning a game in the first round when we had the the fun of Trey Young in a postseason but they've had

precious few moments they've had precious few moments. They've had not a lot of belief or time to fall in love with guys who felt like winners, and this is the loudest and most hopeful and most in love I have seen this market in a long time with a basketball team of overachievers, because I don't believe that that roster is that good. And I remember, I mean, the first time I ever learned of how it is that a fan base falls in love with something that's not that good and makes itself crazy irrational. The Miami Heat of Dwayne Wade were 42 and 40 with Bryan Grant and Lamar Odom.

And I saw Miami fall in love with a team that could not win a road game because they were not good enough and I saw them fall in love with a 42 and 40 team so much that people were yelling at me, you don't trade for Shaq. Don't trade for Shaq. Bryan Grant is important. He's part of the chemistry of the culture. And it's the first time I saw it and they they're gonna do it with this Knicks team too, where they fall in love with the pieces

right up until they run into a team that has a LeBron when they don't have a LeBron. Dan, do you wanna get into the more blasphemous kind of conversations I've had in this group chat? Ooh, I do. Where does Jalen Brunson rank among greatest Knicks of all time? Wow.

Is that blasphemous? When Patrick Ewing is behind Jalen Brunson, I had to talk to him often. I said, guys, Patrick Ewing, how many conference finals, how many NBA finals, how many years of being a 20 and 10 guy, right, year after, and the response to me was, yeah, but Jalen Brunson got here when it was terrible

and made it good, and I was like, so did Patrick Ewing! He was the number one pick of the draft. The problem right now for Knicks fans is that they have hope that is backed up by evidence. This is over 50 wins, this team. They won on the road. They won at home. They won in bad situations. They were down over and over over the course of the season. And they had a, I think the Sixers have had a double-digit lead in every game this series and the Knicks have come back this is the most dangerous thing you can give to Knicks fans because it's a hey things might be bad right now but they

can get better and then the team has made them better I told them you guys aren't just being prisoners of the moment on this one you guys are doing a life bid at Pelican Bay Moment Correctional Facility. 23 hour lockdown, shoot program. There it is. All right, well wait a minute though. You are now bringing back your group texts and information from a urinal as you're,

you're just reading your texts now. That's right. You just got here, we need the better stuff. We need the best you've got on basketball. You came here late. We've got to get it condensed. Not to stand up for my co-host, but reporting from the urinal is about as inside the building as you can get, Dan.

Dude, I'm telling you, Celtics fans would entertain a Jimmy Butler deal. I thought this was going to get everybody going. The Knicks fan will get lightheaded and will forget, and it's okay to forget this, but I just think that the delusion that sinks in about winning a championship that team if Philadelphia or Miami had been healthy this season that next team is not good enough to be at the top of this conference it happened I disagree okay I disagree I they are legitimately good I agree they are legitimate they are agree with that. Wait a minute

Where's the disagreement because I know they're legitimately good but healthy Healthy Philadelphia healthy Miami would have had a better regular season record and you would have thought them Favorites in a series against the Knicks betting favorites the Knicks weren't healthy either The Knicks didn't have Julius Randall the Knicks, betting favorites. The Knicks weren't healthy either. The Knicks didn't have Julius Randall, the Knicks didn't have Mitch Robinson, the Knicks didn't have OG Andernoby for a while, and then Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart hung in there, and now they're doing, like at a certain point, not being good. It's like, oh, they're not good, they're overachieving. It's like, what point do you believe it?

Because I sort of believe it now. They are, you know what's funny is, this is the funniest part, is that you don't even see when you're looking in a mirror they are very miami heat like team execution meet not making mistakes guys being stars in their roles and a guy at the center of this at the beginning of all of this experiment with this team many words that

he's not a superstar does that sound familiar you remember a conversation about you guys acquired a guy and i'm telling that guys a super so he's not a superstar and what he does is not flashy and it's not high-flying pretty flashy who jimmy i it no or are you in brunson is it to i don't think it's jaylen brunson to me is a flashy player i don't what why is he not flashy whatever exciting watch old man game flashy exactly so the nba fan is conditioned this is all michael jordan's fault the nba fan is conditioned is what is a superstar looks like six six and flying through the air right dazzling with moves aerial acrobatics and anyone who doesn't do that so j Jimmy Butler is 6'6", but it's ground and pound.

It takes you down to the block. It's get to the free throw line. It's the stuff that Mike sure hates, right? It eats him up inside because it's just so methodical. Jalen Brunson, same thing. It's footwork, it's up and unders. It's not flashy like Allen Iverson crossovers. It's definitely not soaring through the air.

And so when we see that, we say, well, he's all right, but he's not on the same level. Like how many times do we hear this year people say, he's a nice little player, but he's not on the level of these greats. And the way he's played, he is. It is similar actually to the year that this Heat Corps was the one seed, because they had the regular season that they took seriously They missed a huge chunk of games from Bama to bio that year who was obviously one of their best players But they got to the postseason after taking the regular season very seriously getting a high seed They ultimately lost to the Celtics in seven that season and you might see a similar result for the Knicks who their superstar took a leap they had a really great regular season and maybe they make their

run to the Eastern Conference Finals I don't know if they'll be as competitive against the Celtics as the Heat were in that series because Celtics look more overwhelming but it's a similar look of regular season taking it seriously playing all those guys a lot of minutes. As someone married to a Knicks fan an Eastern Conference Finals Celtics Knicks might be the best content we could possibly get. A house divided. Dun, dun, dun.

Love that. Miami Heat fans will not enjoy watching that, but we'll get the benefit of one of them will have their season ended. So you are guaranteed to be able to make fun of one of the fan bases. And then they'll lose the Jokic, right? Whoever comes up.

That's the best case scenario. That's the best case scenario.