The Mismatch - Resilient Knicks Rally Past Spurs in Historic Comeback Victory

Episode Date: June 12, 2026

 The Knicks pulled off the impossible in Game 4 and are now one win away from their first championship in 53 years. Verno and Jacoby discuss just how the Knicks were able to beat the Spurs after being down 29 points. Jacoby recaps his night watching the game and his belief that the Knicks were always going to win, as well as the impact plays from both the Knicks and Spurs. They also briefly discuss their issues with Knicks celebrity row, why the Spurs aren’t playing Dylan Harper more, OG Anunoby’s block and game-winning tip-in, and their predictions for Game 5 on Saturday. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (2:32) Knicks complete the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history and take a 3-1 series lead (11:21) Jose Alvarado’s impact on the Knicks' comeback (24:38) What will be remembered more: De’Aaron Fox not running out the clock or Victor Wembanyama’s missed free throws? (34:50) Jacoby still uneasy about the Knicks (38:16) Why not more Dylan Harper? (41:04) Knicks celebrity row issues (49:08) OG Anunoby with the game of his life (54:05) Josh Hart’s miss and Karl-Anthony Towns’s fingertip block (57:50) Happy for Mike Breen (1:09:43) Aftermath of Jacoby’s dislike for Wemby (1:15:00) Game 5 predictions The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines. Visit WeatherTech.com for your Father’s Day gift today. Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! [phone] Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez, Stefan Anderson, and Jeff Shearin Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This match, I'm Chris Varnan, and joining me as he does every week from the Ringer.com is Dave Jacoby. Jacoby. Verno, it's just been a wild 24 hours. Oh, it has? It's just been wild. Wild. Allow me to tell the listeners that last night. We're going to tell them that the Knicks one game four?

We'll tell them that the Knicks one day four. No, I'm going to let them behind the curtain of the mismatch. Oh, what? I text Jacoby at the end of the first quarter, and I said, what a nightmare. His response was, F you. I said, hold on. What did I do? And he said, I'm in the bunker.

I said, okay. No. I'm embarrassed. I said, you know what? I'm going to let sleeping dogs lie. Just not going to talk to him. So then it's going on a little bit. longer and they're getting they're down by a million and he texts me out of nowhere they are going

to win or at least make it close and I said I you know what I'm not even going to respond I'm just going to let sleeping dogs lie and then the next text was the best one they are 22 these guys are 22 I'm looking at it right now these guys are 22 and they're up by 30 at that point and I'm like, they're going to win. This episode of The Mismatch is presented to you by WeatherTech. Let's face it, buying for Dad is always a bit of a guessing game. He's not dropping hints and quote unquote, I don't need anything is what he always says that it's not helpful.

But there is something he'll actually use and that is WeatherTech. Get him a gift card or if you know what he needs, a cargo liner, floor liners, sea protectors, or the cup phone. It's premium protection built to last, and it beats another tie or coffee mug. This Father's Day, take an easy win. Visit weathertech.com to secure your gift today. I was trying to commiserate with you and feel in your pain at the end of the first quarter. It's just like, hey man, what a nightmare.

For the spurs. For the spurs, it's like that meme where the guy takes the gun and flips it around. But what you're not telling them is I texted you my, uh, my live bet on fandom. You did. You did text me that. And I bet $20.54. Now, you know, why would you bet $20 and $54? No, there's only one reason. Because you're the Texas Tech quarterback. No. The second reason is because you, that's exactly what you have left in your account.

Oh, corn. Or, or, or $20. No, no. And 54 cents. And I had a, the Knicks were at plus 1,400 money line. I do that, but I'll even it out too. So if there's 30-54, I'll put 20-55. So then I've got an even $15 bet. But that hit.

I mean, you believed, you believed with your $20. No, but also, then you wrote, I wrote, these guys are 22. And then they win the game. You wrote, let's go. That was insane. I said, I called it. We have a guy. We have a close.

we have a guy. And my answer was, I've been saying it forever. And then I said you do have OG and OB. Yeah, we have a guy that'll miss the shot. And then the other guy will tip it in 10 feet away. Okay. So now that you have had not yet 24 hours as we were recording this on Thursday night to take it in. It's all shocking in the moment, right? Even last night, I got done watching that gang.

And I was like, you know what? It's like, I'm going to go to bed. I went downstairs and I said, I told my wife, I said, you know what, I'm going to go back upstairs to watch the post game because I just wanted to hear them talk about it. Because I, because ABC goes to something else. And then they go, yeah. Yeah, I didn't flip over to ESPN. It goes to local news for me. So like very quickly, it's like, well, yeah, a cold front coming in tomorrow.

I'm just like, what? I don't give it shit. Well, I went, I went back and I stayed up and I watched it because I was like, I can't. I can't fall asleep. I'm too am after that thing. That thing, I can't believe what I just watched. I can't believe the scenes around it. And so ended up just like,

you don't really until this morning start to fully comprehend everything that took place. Obviously, there's a ton of podcast. I'm reading all kinds of articles about everything that happened. But tell me about the last 20 hours and what that has been like post your team pulling off the greatest comeback in NBA finals history. We will break down the game at length, right?

But I want to take it through a little bit of my experience last night. As I mentioned, I had a 7 o'clock rec league game, right? Oh, that's right. So we played this team, and I think they're all Japanese, and they wax us constantly. They're fast. and the second we dumped into the post because we're bigger than them,

they just double and like slap the body of your hands. They're just like so fast. We're all in our late 40s. Everyone's got multiple kids and we're all just like dad bodied, like just slow old dudes. Hold on. The whole team is Japanese.

The other team, yeah. They communicate in Japanese. Yeah. And they're really good. They're good. They've owned us. But we've turned the tides lately. Anyway, they're missing.

seen their best player. We win the game, but the conditions are crazy because it's on like the second floor. It was so humid. I'm a big sweater. I'm the sweatiest person you've ever met your whole time. No. It's so humid. It's like running through mud and I'm just like soaked. And we had four people to start me to start the game with four people until Tony showed up. Anyway, we win the game. It was a good performance. We go to the bar. Meanwhile, my son just turned 13. So for the first time I put my kids in charge of the other kids. So I've got. twin 10-year-olds, a 13-year-old, and a baby. My wife is at a movie premiere for a documentary,

Shotsie Brolakey, Bongbose, and justice. And they, so the kids are in charge, and then I go to the bar at 8 o'clock, 8.10. Wait, wait, not of the baby. Of the baby. My son put the baby to bed. No parents are there. I put schedules on the fridge.

This is insane. Yeah. So then I'm getting all these baselines from my, my kids being like, Quincy's on his computer. The schedule says he's got to be off his computer by 8 o'clock. And Margo is texting and she's not supposed to. And so they're facing, the Knicks game hasn't started yet. And I have like two beers with my team because we always have a couple beers after a

wreck league game. I don't have a show that night, whatever. Right. And the game starts and it starts like every other game in this series. Like the Spurs just look better, faster, younger, better. The Knicks just don't look ready. and I looked at my teammates and I was like, I'm out of here. I'm gone.

I go home and the Knicks are getting trounced and my kids are complaining about everything. And I was like, you guys can stay up as late as you want as long as you're watching the Knicks game. They have no interest in the Knicks game, but they like to stay up. And it's summer. They're down by 20.

No, our school's not out yet. They're not by 20. They're down by 25. Wait, your school's not out yet? No, it's not out for like a couple weeks. Yeah. Because we have every holiday for every religion, ethnicity, everything off always.

Like, they never, they've been gone to school five straight days for years. Every week, me and my way, we're like, what days are you guys, do you guys have off this week? I have no idea. There's holidays I've never heard of to have off. Come to the South or never off. Yeah, yeah. I'll keep some thoughts to myself. Anyway, they're down by 25 and I'm mad dad at this point.

I'm like, go to bed. I put the girls to bed. Quincy's still awake. Like, go to bed. They all go to bed. I'm sitting there by myself in my living room, and it starts to turn. But, like, I lost my mind.

I was just by myself. My wife was out. I lost my mind right now. I'm screaming. I'm kicking things. I'm looking at the window. I was like, should I leave and go to the bar? I'm just, I don't even know what to do with myself.

I lost my mind. You're alone. You're alone. I'm alone. I'm just all alone in my living room. Everyone's asleep. I was screaming. screaming my face off.

I didn't know what to do with myself. And I've been to your house. Quincy's bedroom is on the other side of the TV. Yeah. He's out. He's gone. He's gone. He's deep sleeper.

Wow. But I rewatched the game today because I'm a serious journalist and I would like to prepare for the mismatch. And rewatching the game, like, they go out of run in the third quarter, but it's still kind of messy. Like, it wasn't like, the Knicks never looked like the sports. Spurs did in the first quarter where they can't miss, balls popping, offense is crisp, everything's looking good.

Like, they missed wide open threes. They turned the ball over. The whole second half, if you didn't watch the game, you would assume that they just kind of like flipped. Like the Knicks looked great in the second half, and the Spurs looked bad just like the first half went. But that's not how it went. Okay, well, because I couldn't text you anymore,

I was texting with my- bunker, bro. I know you were. I was texting with my buddies while the game was going on. And as an impartial observer who wanted the Knicks to win because I want you to be happy, once they didn't make a run in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, because it was 15 going into the fourth. And when they made no dent.

And there's like eight minutes left. That's when I was like, oh, this isn't going to happen. Like, you know, they needed to, in fact, I text my buddy. They needed to make a dent to start this quarter. and they didn't. And I think I can't pinpoint it. I think. Yeah.

I've got it written down here. Brunson to Deuce who misses a three. Yeah. Harper scores. Robinson misses an alleyup that was easy. And it's a timeout. And it's a time out. Yeah, Shamit pushes Wemby.

Like they didn't, yeah, they built the lead. No, right. No, it was 15. And then it went up. And then they went back down. And I text my buddies. I said, you've played these first four minutes of the fourth quarter and they haven't made a dent. It's still sitting at 15.

That's no good, right? Because now you're running out. It's just time and score stuff. And I think maybe the Alvarado three was the time that I thought, you know what? I don't know what that cut it to. I don't have it down in front of me. 9578. I have it right here.

That's when it was. Which is still 17 points. That was the, wow. The first three he hit. The first three. No, no, no, no. Okay, what was the second one? Oh, the second one?

Alvo, why are you making me do this word? Sorry. Albo three-pointed. Oh, that one cut it to 100 to 104 with three minutes left. That's the one. That's the one. No, that's the one that I thought they're going to do this. There's three minutes left.

It's a seven-point game. Yes. And then the kid from Brooklyn, who shouldn't be in the game, who never sees the floor, hits a three, and the garden just loses it. That's the one. four, but it feels like you're up 10 and just on cloud nine. Yeah, that's the, that's the exact one that I remember. Because it's a seven

point game. When he hit that, I'm like, oh my God, they're going to actually do this. Because it's four now. I mean, you're now in a two possession game. And you've got three minutes left. And you got all the momentum in the world. I mean, that place was on absolute fight.

Absolute fire. And God. Alvarado flipped that game. His presence, him, Brown playing him with Brunson, they didn't have any,

he made Wembe irrelevant. It was crazy. Alvarado? Yes. Why? Oh, because you can't put him on. There's nothing to do.

Yeah. There's no natural. And he's, he's in on every play. He's like screening off the ball. He's getting down into the lane and throwing it back out. What about that weird?

little like... He's creating so many. Like 360 triple thing he did. I've never seen that on a basketball court before. It looked like you ever go to those parties? We have to put your nose on a bat and spin around 10 times. It looked like he was doing that in the middle of the lane and then it got an easy bucket. Also, unsure if I've ever seen anybody tried the one-legged taked out.

What was that? Unbelievable. I just feel like he felt like he had to retaliate against Wembe. And he's like, I'm going to do something. He just like grabbed his leg for no reason. I was like, okay, Alvaro. All right. So now when you went back and watched it, bro.

I mean, the first half is like. There was like a, there was nonviolent hook 40 minutes. They put so hand in the game. He played 12 guys in the first half. 12. Mitch Robinson played like four consecutive minutes that had to take him out because of fatigue. I'm like, my guy, you're a professional basketball player. It's so hard.

You know, when something like that happens, it will. all get lost rather, unless you do like you do watch it back. The feeling, even though you remained hopeful that they could come back or make a run or make it a game. I bet my hard-earned money on it. I understand. I understand. But in the moment of that game, it felt, I mean, and the reactions to Robinson losing his mind.

Alvarado loses mine. It's like the spurs are killing them, and they've lost complete composure. They're on tilt. Yes, they have lost. They have lost total composure. The spurs are making everything they take, like every three.

Everything. Everything. Everything. They made it all. They made them all. Also, they're not, they're not like making crazy, tough, like fadeaway threes. They're just swing, swing, open bang.

But the Knicks cannot get a stop to save them. their life and they are like freaking out. Like they're doing things that are totally out of their personality. It was also, man, like the game starts. I'm just like, can we please just like keep it even for the first five minutes? Because they haven't done that this entire series. And what happens seven seconds into the game? Towns foul.

Fox is driving left. Towns is like, there's a little like. It's the first possession. Yeah. It's like right off the jump. Towns won one jump the series. I was so proud of him. But he does a little, like, hippie move, you know what I mean?

Yes. And it was a foul. On the replay, it's like, sure. I mean, they haven't really been calling it like that this series, but it's, it's weak, but it's a fine. You can't challenge it or argue it. It's like, you did it. And then the, then it was the, you remember the call on Wemby that's a foul.

And the black Elon Musk is like looking at his people. Oh, I know. And they're like, replay, they're like challenge it. And it's so weird to challenge something in like the first minute. you know what I mean? Because like you kind of want to keep it in your back pocket. But it's not only is it a foul on wimmy that they could take it off the board. They must have thought that perhaps they could get the foul on towns.

That I thought was really, really soft. That was game altering as well. Yeah, I mean. Because, I mean, now you've taken towns out of it. You know the play I'm talking about. Oh, yeah, yeah. When I saw the replay, when I saw the replay, it's like, that's a clean block. It'll get overturned.

Yeah. I did not think that's a clean block. They're going to call an offensive foul on towns. because he like grift his arm going to the basket. Because if you watch Townsend Wemby throughout the series, like they're like two linemen at the line of scrimmage. Like just don't grab a jersey and yank it in broad daylight and they won't call anything.

I agree with you. I thought that was insignificant. What do they call it? Marginal contact, whatever. When they reviewed that, did you think they would end up being a foul on towns? I couldn't believe it. And I don't try to be like a Homer Nick guy.

Like I'm not objective about this. I thought it was a. clean block. I was like, oh, that's going to get overturned. I also didn't think the hook was bad or created some kind of massive advantage. You know what I mean? The point of that, yeah, the point of that is did this create some kind of advantage where I hooked this guy? He got blocked. What advantage did he create?

And then so now we got Mitchell Robinson looking like, who me? You know what I mean? He's like, me? Yeah. In the game now? I swear I had. when Sohan came in and took that just God awful shot, I was like, what is happening? I mean, they put him in just like for a defensive possession,

but they weren't like trying to like work plays for Sohan. Why are you shooting? Bro, I didn't mind. Something has to happen here. It's a damn air ball. Oh, my God. Look, okay. So a couple things from this.

There was. I have a million things. I have so many notes. Let me hear him. Let me hear the biggest, the things that stood out the most, Steve. Number one, I'll give you some credit for this. He brought this to my attention.

You texted me a link to an Instagram post, because we're old, we don't TikTok, and it was the announcement that Wu-Tang Clan was performing at halftime. And that is when I was like, ooh, they could win. And they're down 27 at half. at the end of the performance, Methodman says, Nixon 5. Coincidence?

Coincidence? Just asking the question. Do you think that's coincidental? The tides turned right after Wu-Tang performed? I think that I wouldn't want to argue it in court. No. I wouldn't want to argue against it. I wouldn't want to say, that's ridiculous.

Of course, Wu-Tang had nothing to do with the basketball. ball game, but it's the Wutang Clan and it's method man. And he did say that and it didn't work out into their way. And so who am I to say that didn't have a profound impact? Especially when James Dolan, can I just, can I do a little bit of a defending real quick of my guy, Christian and Scooby, my favorite NBA halftime act, a mismatch listener who I have grown to know over the years. Christian and Scooby, he is a performer

that was on America's Got Talent. He's got the dog, his dog, Scooby, and they do unbelievable tricks. It's the crowd pleaser of all crowd pleasers, right? He's the best. And James Dolan goes on WFAN

and he said, we have had Cardi B and the reuniting of the Wu-Tang Clan. The Spurs had a dog on a balloon. or something. A dog on a beach.

Dog on a beach ball. And I immediately texted Christian. And I said, hold on. I said, are you now all in on the spurs? And he's like, no, that is legitimately hilarious. Like, legitimately hilarious. That the guy went on the radio and he said,

we had Cardi B and the reuniting of the Wu Jank clan. And they had a dog on a beach ball. It's my guy. It's a good show. It's a great show. It's a good show. Chill out, James Dolan. It was weird.

It put me in a bad spot because I was like, I love Christian and Scooby. No Wutan clan, but that's also super funny. This episode is brought to you by WeatherTech. Buying something for dad for Father's Day usually goes the same way every year, guessing, second guessing, and ending up with something that collects dust on a shelf. Well, here's a better. idea, weather tech. It's the kind of gift he'll actually use. WeatherTech offers unmatched vehicle protection from floor liners to seat protectors to the cup bone and cargo liner. And no, a gift card

isn't a cop out. It's just practical like WeatherTech. Skip the guesswork this year. Visit weathertech.com to get your father's day gift today. The mismatch is brought to you by Van Duel. It's all come down to this. Who do you think will be wearing the rings at the end of the NBA Finals? Make your call with Van Duel. Right now, new customers can hit the court with $350 in bonus bets guaranteed after betting $5 for seven straight days. Fanduel is the best place to bet all your favorite players during the finals, bet on their baskets and boards, a same game parlay for a chance at a bigger payout. Game 5 in San Antonio Saturday night,

the nation will be locked in after the dramatics of game four. This finals has captured the nation. And all eyes will be on San Antonio. And my thumbs will be opening up my Fandual app because I love the action. And let me tell you a quick story. When the Knicks were down by 29 points, I had $20.54 left in my Fanduil account,

and I put $20.54 on a plus $1,400 money-line bet for the Knicks to win. And lo and behold, O.G. Annobe, flew through the sky and tipped in a basket to win me about $308. And you can do the same at game five. I don't know if you should be betting a team that's down 29 points, but I think that Victor Wambayama, after a really bad second half, after the two miss free throws,

will bounce back. You know I'm an objective sports journalist, kind of, and I don't love Victor Wembeyanama, but I do think that he will have a great showing. So I'll be betting the over on his points. I'll be betting the next. to win. And I also think that Jalen Brunson will continue his heater that he was on at the end of

game four in the game five. So I expect the big guns, the Wembenyama and Brunson to have big games. And if you haven't noticed, sham it and deuce on the Knicks are out of favor in the rotation. So if you can get some unders on those guys, I would probably do that as well. Just visit Fandul.com slash mismatch to get started. Remember, you've got to be over 21 in select states or 18 or over in D.C., Kentucky, or Wyoming. First online real money wager only, minimum $5 wager required for seven consecutive days.

Bonus is issued as a non-withdrawable bonus bets, which expires seven days after receipt. Gambling problem, call 100 Gambler, or call 1-888-789-77-7-7. or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. Do you know what really stuck out to me on the rewatch? Because, you know, people talk to me about the game all the time, strangers, friends, whatever, like, you know, a million group chats about the Knicks. And there's so much focus on this Fox layup, right? And all day long, I've been like, how did that happen?

How do you, like, you know, you get taught to, like dribble that out in, like, high school. Like, it's such a basic thing. It was like a J.R. Smith-level, like, brain, in the moment. When I rewatch it, here's one thing you forget is he never dribbles. So it's not like he's dribbling up to the hole and he's like sizing OG up. I'm giving him some grace on this when I rewatch it. I don't know if you've seen it again, but like the ball gets tipped out. He sort of catches it in stride and then takes two steps to shoot. Okay. So number one. I understand it's a ridiculous thing to do.

When you're a 10-year veteran, you've got to know time and score and situation. Now, the best, the best excuse I have heard was actually made by, I saw this clip of Cam Johnson, who I guess now does the podcast that JJ Redick left, old man and three. And he said he was defending Fox by saying, it's Deerrin Fox. He's been playing basketball his whole lot. I'm paraphrasing. He's been playing basketballs all life.

How many times do you think Deer & Fox has ever lost a foot race? How many times do you think anybody has ever caught him? Caught up to him. So he's like, all right, he's got the lead. And he's going to go in, he's going to make the layup. I mean, well, listen, like, here's what I've been thought about it before I saw. In his mind, it's easy point. That's a bucket.

And also, like, I encourage everybody to watch it again, because you'll see what I'm saying. It's like the ball sort of like takes him to the hoop. It's weird. It's like it's in motion. He's running that way. He doesn't dribble it. In my head last night,

he was dribbling and decided to take it up. Interesting. But he does not dribble the ball. He's like, he's sort of like in motion towards the hole. However, counterpoint. The best thing that can happen, barring an and one,

is you score the layup. Your team goes up by three and there's 12 seconds left, right? If you dribble, it out, you're basically in the same scenario with less time. Right. So it's like, what do you really want out of this? Do you want two points or do you want to take off time and get two points? Obviously, the latter is the better option. Yes. But I do want everyone to watch it one more time. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do.

It's not the right thing to do. It's not as, yeah, it's not as like bad as it was in my head. Because I've been trashing him all day to like random people in subway or whatever. And I rewatch it. I was like, I kind of get it. Well, Well, look, there's no question. It's a horrible mistake that is going to hang on him forever. Like, people are not going to forget that because it's just gotten so much talk. And because it was emblematic, that's the play you think of. It actually got Wemby's Miss Free Throws off the hood.

No. Yes, it did. In terms of the play you think of when you think of like the signature play of of the collapse is that. It is. It kind of is, but really the signature play is the OG tip. That's the signature.

That's going to be the one you talk about in 10 years. Oh, no, no, no. I'm talking about on the Spurs side. Yeah. When you think of. I think it's the bigger now. Wembe Gama, the big star, he's 90% from the free throw line in the big spot,

misses the first one, and you can see it on his face. He didn't expect to miss that. You know why he missed. He had shoes on. No. She wasn't grounded. He had shoes.

I saw, I saw why he missed. Fat Joe. Fat Joe, I was doing the Humpty Tumpty. He said, I was doing the Humpty Dumpty. I was doing the Humpty Dumpty. And I was like, never even heard of that. The Humpty Dumpty. He said he was doing the Humpty Dumpty dance.

And you've seen the, you've seen the clip. He's doing something. He's right in the peripheral. He's doing the Humpty Dumpty Dance. And it threw Wemby off. Wemby, like, look, beyond the miss free throws, a second half, he's three for, three for 14, one of four from the free throw line, because he split his other pair, a minus 27. Whoa, wait, wait, in the second half? Second half.

So that's not good because they're up by 27 at the end of the first half. It's a quick math. And that's why I told you about the Alvarado thing. Alvarado is like having the extra ball handler and him, it just, it made him. Part of the reason that Wembe was getting pulled away from the basket. The other thing is he gets gassed. It's so weird. It's so weird.

It's a 29 minute per game player for an entire season. Talk to me. And now you're playing 40-something. And remember game three, the first four possessions, dunk, dunk, la, layup, and one. And it's just like in the fourth quarter, jump shot, three point, jump shot, three point, jump shot. It's just, it's hard work to go in there. He's getting tagged by little guys, pushed around by big guys. It's effort.

It's hard. You know what I mean? It's, it's hard to. do that and he looks at it and he's like well that's like work maybe this three will go in and they don't when i told you that i came back upstairs to watch the postgame show because i just wanted to see what they were talking about ernie johnson said something during the course of that postgame show that made me fall off of my couch cardi d's he did not say that was the game before he said the spurs were two of fourteen in the paint in the second half that's important

It's impossible. It's impossible. When you've got a guy who's seven foot six, it's impossible. Okay. But remember, but there was those times when me would like miss it and tip it and tip it. Those are going to inflate that a little bit. Two for 14 though. They made two baskets. But you understand what I'm saying. I think one of those possessions, Wemby missed it twice and tapped it in. And one of those possessions he tapped it three times. So it's like not that bad. It's more like two of nine. It's still, I mean, when when a third of his shots are from the three point line, that's a win for the next. Oh, hell yeah. And he took three.

25 shots and eight threes. And how many times do you remember them around the basket the second half of that game? The second half zero. Like that's just, that's just slow it down. Let's get a bucket. Let's throw it down to our guy. Let's go get a bucket because this is going the wrong way. Instead, it was just Jack three, Jack three, Jack three.

It was transition the other way. It was crazy. It's like, it's almost like hitting shots is contagious in the first half. Vesel's on fire. Castle's hitting shots. Champanis hits one or something. And then in the second half, missing shots is contagious too. And they sort of felt like all of the three points shooting from the first half was going to carry over in the second half.

But they kept feeling that way. At some point, get yourself closer to the basket. Yeah, I need to see if I, bro, if I got this. Three of seven, three of 17 from three and two of 14 in the paint, the spurs. second half. 20 shots in the third quarter, 12 of them were from three. I was, I was watching the second half. I'm watching the second half. There's this key little, the turn around starts. I think it was Bridges hits OG on a cut to the basket for a dunk, right? It cuts it to like, at that point, I think it's like 19. And then they kick the ball out from out of bounds and Champany

hits like a semi-transition pull-up three with 20 seconds on the shot clock and misses. And then Brunson comes down and hits a three. And it's those like bad three-pointer with 13 seconds on the clock from Bissell who couldn't hit anything in the second half,

who hit everything in the first half. And it's just sort of like, again, like this is very reductive. Those are like young mistakes. Oh, yeah. Shooting threes when you're up by almost 20 points with 20 seconds left on the shot clock is just bad basketball.

Well, and to me, the biggest thing is Mitch Johnson and Deerrin Fox. Those are the two guys because your other vets don't play. You should know better. They don't even play for you. Everybody on that court is young. Everybody on that court is young. And you've got a young head coach.

But, bro, that has to be on Johnson and five. It's a point guard and the coach have to settle that thing down. End of story. It has to happen. You can't be looking to, and this is the trouble with, you know, your best player and your leader being a guy that's going through it for the first time. You know, we talk about scars. These are like massive head wounds that are taking place.

When we talk about, like, I talk about, like, young teams got to take scars. This is like, this is so far beyond scars. This is two of the most horrific. endings that you could ever fathom, the throwing the ball off your teammates back, and then fouling and losing a game, and then a guy skying above your whole team and tipping it in from five feet of time. After you missed two free throws, they could like pretty much ice the game. I mean, this is the origin story if there ever was one. But let me tell you something, Verno, I remember game two was a Friday night. I just got off the plane. I told the story. You were so

excited and I woke up Saturday and I was like it would be so nix if they blew this right I had the same feeling this morning I was on cloud no you don't and I'm like you lose game five in San Antonio and then you come back here there's a lot of pressure on you in game six like who knows what happens there and then then it's game like this is series is not over in my head you got the weirdest fandom when it comes to this because you are is it weird? Yeah, it is. The team hasn't won for 53 years.

They constantly disappoint you. That's weird. No. To expect something bad has happened? Because here's what I'm telling you. You have this intense lack of confidence during non-game time. Yes. And then the most ridiculous amount of confidence during games.

Well, hold on a second. And they have paid you off. They have paid you off. Hold on a second. I've never thought of it like that, Verno. But now that you've mentioned it out loud, that makes a lot of sense. I mean, will you just please Venmo me the money you pay this stupid psychologist you go and talk to? First of all, don't disrespect, Dana.

She's lovely. She can't explain. I saw her this afternoon. She's out next week. I'm having a week off. I don't know what's going to happen. Oh, no. I don't know to be un-inced.

Off the reservation. All right. Well, look, look, look. If there was ever a team to be confident in, even when they're losing, NBA teams, here's a couple of stats for you. NBA teams were four and seven hundred and fifty, down 20 or more in the fourth quarter of a playoff game in the last. And seven hundred and fifty.

In the last, in the last 30 years, the Knicks have done it twice this postseason. But that, like the Cavs one was. a true like run. You know what I mean? It was like the Knicks couldn't miss. The Kaz fell apart. This didn't feel like that. They just kind of like scratched and clawed

25, 19. And then like, you know, someone would get an and one. It would go back on the 22. Like they did have like a 10-0 run, I think. But outside of that, it was a lot of back and forth with just like the spurs get a two and then Brunton hits a three. And you're just chipping away like that. This is also insane because it makes you think like, man, if there ever was a team that was going to pull off something like this,

it is them because teams down 20 plus in the postseason the last two years, the Knicks are 5 and 3 when they've gone down 20 plus. The rest of the NBA is 4 and 71. Jesus. And they are five and three. What? They have a winning record in the games that they have been down by 20 plus.

In the last two postseason. But Verno, like, that's two postseason. But like, I just remember them being dominant since mid-April. Dumbled. When you're a mid-sized business, you need every competitive advantage you can get. Like an AI solution that works for you, not against you. SAP Grow is built with AI embedded at its core,

working across every system, and it's ready to go from day one so you can hit the ground running. Bring it with SAP Grow, AI Cloud ERP for any size business. A couple things I want to say. I don't like, I've said this before, I'll say it again, I'll say it a million times.

I don't like questioning coaches' decisions because, again, there's like nine people that spend 60 hours a week thinking about this stuff. They know more about their roster, these decisions. They think more about it than I do. a podcaster. But man, let me tell you something. I don't want to see Dylan Harper

on the floor as a Knicks fan. And I don't understand why they don't feature him. What was the... Let me see what he shot here. He's eight for 12, three for six from three. And that's 32 minutes.

But Bissell plays 40. Champagne plays 33. Wimagnan plays 44. And Fox plays 38. Just explain to me. Why black Elon Musk is not playing Harper more? It's a, it's a Fox thing. I understand that you want a veteran point guard, a table setter, which Harper isn't.

But what about Fasel? Right. I mean, he was hot in the first half. He's six for nine. Yeah. He was hot in the first half. But I just, I just know as a Nick fan, when they take Harper out, I get happy. and when he has the ball, I get scared.

And he's also a guy that can actually get some points in the paint for you, right? In the paint. He goes to the basket. The other guys are shooters. Well, Castle is not a shooter. I don't know, I mean, like the Bessal and Champany. I don't really, I don't think he's been particularly additive over Harper. He went two for nine from the field and one per seven from three.

Like, those are the numbers. Like, I don't know. I would start Harper and I would play him like a starter and put his rotation along with everybody else. It's truly, the best players. It's truly unbelievable how awesome that guy is. Dude, he's like,

he, he, this is going to sound insane. He's obviously not there yet. But like, he finishes, when he goes up around the basket, it's the same thing when Kyrie goes up around the basket.

I'm like somehow, some way the ball's going to end up in the hoop. Yes. I don't, I don't know how, and it might not look cool, but it's going to end up in the hoop. No,

the ceiling on him. As I told you, we are going to look back at him getting fourth in rookie of the year. And that is just going to be, like, people are going to wonder if everyone in the world was insane. Like,

what happened? And it was just, it was just by virtue of the team that he was on. He was on a great team. Coupe is going to be great. No, I'm not. And Vijay Edgecold looks great against the Celtics. Like, they're all good.

Like, but this guy is like, yeah, all NBA, team USA. Like, we're going to look up and fill, Harper is a super duper star. I mean, he is a, he's, yeah, I'm more scared of him with the ball than Castle in the NBA finals and he's 20 years old. And I'm like.

Madison Square Garden. Yes. Staring down Mariska Hargatay and Larry David and Ben Stiller and Taylor and Taylor Swift. What is she doing there? I'm so upset about this. I'm so upset about this. She's a big Knicks fan. Um,

I don't know if you watched the Cavs series, but she sat courtside at the Cavs game. But that's Travis's team. I understand that. Yeah. But pick aside, Tatea, pick aside. You can't sit courtside in Cleveland cheering for the Cavs.

And then two weeks later, sit court side for the Knicks. Are you sure? Are you sure you can't? Stay on your side. You're sure you can't do that? If you're Taylor Swift, it appears you can do anything you want to do. I don't.

think so. And I hated the shirts. And I did. I did. I did. And those Hame girls, I don't really listen to their music, but I think they're from Los Angeles. They're not Knicks fans. I saw them getting canceled by the L.A. people. They said, you know, you can't do that. You're L.A. people, you don't get to do this. You know, Jimmy D. listens to the mismatch twice every episode. And I'm telling him right now, revoke her license to get married in Madison's Burgard.

Is that true? She's really getting married in Massachusetts. Yes, she's getting... Why would you get married in the garden? Why? Because she's a pig nicks fan. Think about this. You've got all the money in the world

and you want to get married in New York City. Do you know how many venues are amazing? The top of skyscrapers with views? Like, they have so many event spaces for rich people. Why would you be like, yeah, MSG, that arena they built like 100 years ago, which is kind of grimy and run down. But it's the most famous arena in the world.

Also, it's a cool story. You got to admit. What's the story? Getting married in Madison Square Garden is rather unbelievable. It's weird. If you can do it. It's weird. I mean, I got married at like some place we rented.

Like, it was like a, I don't even know what it was. Do you want me to get canceled? Do you want me to get canceled? It was like an event center. Do you want me to tell you where I got married? I'm going to camp. I'm going to anger like 70% of our listeners. They're probably going to stop the podcast.

Yeah, not unless it's like a fast food restaurant. No, it's bad. We went to a space. Where you got married? Yeah, we're paying for it ourselves. Keep that mind. Okay. And, you know, you know, so we're on a budget.

We went to this really beautiful event space with the rooftop, beautiful views of the city, downstairs, warehouse style, just beautiful. I was like, I was like, we can't afford this. When you want to get married? I'm like, Saturday in like late August or September. Like, oh, I'm not looking. She's like, we do have a. out of day in September open and it's 50% off September 11th.

No. I did it. I did it. We did not let the terrorist win. That's your anniversary? That's my anniversary. Oh, that's amazing. I don't want to sound insensitive.

I love America. I love our troops. And everyone who passed, I want to be respectful. But they gave you 50% off. It's a beautiful venue. And we didn't want to let the terrorists win. Because nobody else is that big of a creep. Nobody else.

I had this cab driver that told him. The cab driver's like, you can't do that, bro. He's like, you can't do that in New York. I was just like, oh, God, did I make a bad decision? Anyway. We got a deal on ours, too, because it was, we took a, we were like, yeah, that's too much. And they were like, all right, how about a Sunday afternoon? We were like, sure.

Sure, sure, yeah. And you know, everything, you sent out the invite, Everyone's like, why are they getting married on Sunday? It's so rude. They go to work the next day. There were no invite. I invited literally three people. That's right.

That's right. I forgot. I told her, I said, we're not doing, I said, we're not doing this. And then I looked up at the wedding and there's like, all these people there. And I was like, who are these people? She's like, my mom invited them. I was like, this is how I felt too. I was watching the courts.

I'm like, who are these people? Why are the haem sisters? I didn't even know they were the ham sisters. They've got these like Etsy T-shirts. I was so mad that they were. there. Like Stiller, Shalame. I don't like that the Jenner's there. Like, DJ Caled on his phone the whole time. It's just like,

I just, I didn't, I just feel like don't use the Knicks game as like a launch pad for your brand. You know what I mean? Like, if you go there to cheer on the game. And we have a special Knicks fan correspondence. A special

Knicks fan corresponded? Yes. That's familiar with this discussion that we're having. And she loves the mismatch. And she left. She. Now I know you're lying.

She loves the mismatch and she left us a voice message just for you, Bruno. So let's hear it. David. Hi. What's up? It's Annie. I hope you can hear this. The boys just fell asleep and we're traveling.

So I don't know how thin the walls are where we are. Sorry to be so whispery. Oh, I got your text. and thank you for wanting to hear my thoughts on this amazing moment in Nick's franchise history. I'm not quite sure I'm at like the thought level yet. I'm just so proud. I'm just so proud of our guys. Oh my gosh.

They're playing. I think they're playing like Kings. You know, just the way that they've been so, so focused. And then when it hasn't gone their way, they've been so calm and so resilient. And through it all, they've been such a gorgeous team. Like, I just, I look at them and they're all stars. They're amazing. But they play like a team.

And it's just really, it's really inspiring. Watching New York get a so united. It's just unbelievable. And I thought it was funny that you asked why I haven't been to any games. And I thought I'd tell you it's because in the beginning part of the playoffs, Prada was, you know, in theaters and I was doing press for it. So I just couldn't make it to the game scheduling-wise. And then we were on that streak. And I thought, oh my gosh, you know how the superstitious mind goes.

I was like, if this has anything to do with me not being there, I can't be there. I can't. And so I just got in my head about it. I actually got tickets to go to game three and then chickened out because I was like, no, I can't, I can't be selfish about this. And, um, anyway, that game was what it was. But now I'm just like, and then I started thinking that like, maybe even having the super, anyway, that's another thing for another day. But I'm just so proud. I'm so proud that shot, ah, I mean, that shot OG made, I'm never going to forget it. I don't think any New Yorker, I don't think any New Yorker will. Anyway, these are some of my late night whispered thoughts.

Love you, man, miss you, go next. That's a real fan. That's a real fan. I talked to her. It was her husband Adam's birthday. Shout to Adam. I love that guy. That is the great Anne Hathaway, by the way.

Yeah, yeah. For those it's just a little behind the curtain. She is my wife's college roommate. So I've known her since 2002. I didn't even know she was an actor when I met her. Like she's just like a close family friend. And she happened to have a very successful movie career, like along that path. But we are actual friends, like, not like industry friends.

And she's the sweetest person in the world. And her husband is an amazing human being. Her husband is like a perfect person. He is the like, honestly, like I ask him sometimes like, dude, do you have like evil thoughts? Because I have tons of evil thoughts. I have to like repress. And he like literally doesn't. He's the sweetest guy in the world.

I love them. so much. But that is a real fan. I talked to her. I was like, why aren't you at these games? Like, you're a fan, and her kids love the Knicks. Like, her kids are like over the moon. And you can't be more famous than her. Yeah, and she's, and she's like, they're playing so well

that I don't want to sort of like break the street. She's like, I don't want to show up and then they lose. Like, what's that look like? Like, she's like, they're playing so well that were I to go, I don't want to like ruin the vibe. Wow.

Donald Trump didn't feel the same way. That's all I have to say. He for sure did. Did not feel the same way. But that's a real fan. That's not Taylor Swift being like, let's make some new t-shirts and get on camera. She's like, I could go,

but they're on a run right now. So I'm going to watch it the same way I watched all the other games. Well, what was it? Was it a Fallon that she went on with the OG, when she was going on about OG. It was one of those shows when she was promoting Devil Does Prada and she started talking up OG and an OB. Yeah.

Her and OG have a special bond because OG once dove over the scorers table and, like, landed in her lap. And then they, like, end up winning. Yeah. Well, can we have a moment because we've gone so long in this podcast without. Discussing. I mean, maybe the greatest sequence in the history of NBA finals games. I mean, look, the block in and of itself would be, would go down in history. even if somebody else hits the shot on the other end.

But to have the block and the bucket, that's like, like, I mean, it would be the greatest play of your career if you just blocked it. And the greatest play of your career if you just got that tip in. He did both of them to win the game. The chase down block from LeBron and then when he tried to dunk on Dremont. to finish the game. That the idea that Jalen Brunson was like taking that shot

because he knew that when Mbiyama wasn't around to rebound is absolutely insane. Jalen Brunson was like, I'm going to win the game. I'm the captain. I'm Jalen Brunson. That's what I do. He was not like, he was not doing the calculation like, well, I think the Redmond Yama's out here,

which means we do have some advantages with the rebounds. He was not doing, he was like, I'm going to hit this shot and then I'm going to do my celly and we're going to win. Like that was not like a calculation. Oh, no. I saw somebody else like, It's just an unbelievable play call by Mike Brown, you know, for Oge and Adobe to be able to survive. Like, you know what the play call is?

Hustle play. Give it to 11. If it's under two minutes, it's close. It's give it to 11. That's what it is. And that was just pure, unadulterated hustle. The other thing is that is a still photo and poster that is going to hang up in every wall in New York City until the end of time. And if they win the championship.

Like, the problem with people that aren't Knicks fans is like they just acting like the series is over. did not win four games. Well, I texted you that. It felt like it. They didn't, Bruno. I got it. But I texted you the other day that hilarious tweet, I can't even remember who it was, but said that there's so many Knicks fans that are experiencing their first loss.

Because they, you know, it had been 46 days since they lost. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so game three was the first time that there's a huge force. of the next fans that for the first time they experienced loss. But man, have they, I mean, look, you're in the, you're in the mix, you're there. The way they have galvanized that city. It's crazy. What?

The video that I love the most, I'm sure you've seen it because you've seen all the videos, that one of the West Village, when he makes a shot, I mean, it is an absolute pandemonium. and they're in the street. In the streets with big trajectors on a brick wall. That's what it is. Everyone's showing the videos of them beating up Spurs fans. That's like just a few bad apples ruining the big apple.

Like, it's a lot of thousands of people together celebrating the Knicks. It's not people beat each other with bus signs and, like, beating up Spurs fans and trying to light them on fire. Like, it makes me so mad. It's a lot of, like, happiness and celebration. New York is a very safe city. I promise you. Yeah, one guy tries to send somebody on fire. And then, look at this.

Take the whole. Exactly. We're trying to set a human on fire. What are you doing? Just like hard to do. It was, it was one guy. One guy. There's 499,999 million other people in this city.

But that one guy is going to give us a reputation. There's a lot of other things I want to talk about from this game, man. Can I get one that's going to, can I give you one that's going to make you bad? Fine. Okay. I asked him to call into the show as well. But he turned me down. And that was the great Kenny Ackinson,

because I asked him to tell us. Analytically. Analytically, it's two-two. Yeah, yeah. I got the shot quality. Oh, yeah. Oh, you got them? Yeah, shot quality.

Last night, it was 109-108 spurs. So that was a spur to win. Let me tell you something. They had some great looks in the second half and just could not knock them down. Analytically, that was a Spurs win. So just in case you wondered, Kenny Ankinson's got this series two-two.

All right, I've got some things. The heart layup that almost killed Larry David. I'm sure you've seen this video. Buddy, have I ever? Oh, my God. It really almost killed. I think it really almost killed Larry Day. How about Josh Hart, who is the winner of all winners?

Like I still, I want him in every foxhole. But bro, that smoke layup and the missed box out on Castle were just all time losing plays. Those were critical. The layup I can get past, but like your whole thing is like doing the little things and being a role player. Like boxing out, it's one of the things that's supposed to be like on your strengths. Well, and he went to the podium last night and he like was a fusive and praise of OG. He's like, thank you for. bailing me out.

Oh, yeah. Like, because that would have been... I, 1,000% didn't realize this at the time, but the cat tipping the inbound was passed. Because another thing is,

is like the OG tip, there's 1.2 seconds left, and don't forget game one, game two, when Wimbunyama rose up from 15 feet with a clean look at the basket.

Again, this is like a really good jump shooter. from 15. Like anyone listening to this has been on a basketball court. That's not a really tough shot. No. You know what I mean? Like that's like an elbow jumper.

Like that's not. He can make it. He's not a step back three. And he missed it. So I'm thinking like there's still a chance they went that the, the, the, the, the Knicks foul that can happen. Or, you know, or Wemby just catches it, turns around and hits. And then they start celebrating.

Like the game wasn't one with the OG tip. And then Kat, do you see him move the fans over? To see that video? To get to get them. Closer. Closer to the endowner, who I think was, who was it, Harper? Do you know, yes, Harper's the impounder. Think about that.

Think about that. You're Miss Johnson. You're like, hey, 20-year-old kid. Like, you're going to get out the ball in the final. No, do you remember they had a chance to win earlier in the playoffs? And he underthrew it. They had Castle at the rim. Was that Oklahoma City?

I think it was Oklahoma City. And they had, they run the same, not that same play, but another one where he got free. And he told me that was the Andrew Wiggins he play because I remember that guy. I was watching that game. I think we had to show that night or something. Yep. Because we were texting about it. Because I think that was the night, there was like three different back to back to back

to back the game winner. If cat doesn't tip that ball, they win the game on that, I think. Maybe, maybe possibly, but like. He broke free. He broke free. He did. Castle was going to have a look at that. That was a great cat play.

Everyone's going to remember the OG tip. Yep. But not the OG block. Not the cat. tip because it's not a sexy play to, you know, get a fingernail on the inbound pass to blow it up. But that was, that was absolutely huge. All right. What else do I have?

I've got, oh, this, probably should have mentioned this earlier. Do you know who I was so happy for last night? Forget all the celebrity fans and obviously I was happy for you and everybody. bro Mike Breen I mean can you imagine the euphoria can you imagine

what was running through his veins to get to call that when his whole life and he's the one and he's called so many horrible teams

games for 82 like it's I don't think people understand you know hopefully hopefully those that listen to this show, understand that like when you,

because I go to every single game, but I go to every single home game. Home game, right? And when the team is awful, it is so draining. It is so, it's such a terrible feeling. And they went through 17 seasons or whatever where they had a minuscule amount of playoff wins.

And Mike Breen being the voice of that team, a team that he loves, a team that he lives and dies with. He wants him to win every single night. And now he's the guy on national television. He seems like the greatest guy in the world. I listened to that podcast. Oh, yeah.

Zach Lowe a couple weeks ago. And I was like, I can't love Mike Breen anymore. And then for him to get to call that, gang, as the Knicks announcer for so many years, but now working for ABC. And I do not think that he is, I do not think it, I do not think it in any, I, I do not I think he is impartialed the entire game. I do not. In fact, this is how you know how great he is.

There's not a world of people going. This, this feels messed up. Spurs fans aren't open arms. Yeah, they're not up in arms. No, he does, he's a, he's a pro. He's a pro, but bro, you know, I know what he must be feeling. Oh, yeah. And I can't, actually, I can't even think of them because he went through how, I mean,

how many seasons of, he's, we freaking call in Alonzo Trier games, for God's sakes, you know, with like all those seasons. And he just, like,

just totally thankless, leaving the arena every night, just like, oh my God. And there's another one, there's another one on Friday. And now, when I was,

when I was rewatching it, when he says, the garden is shaking right, I swear to God, I almost cried. I know. Because I know how it's going to end, but I was just like,

just he's seen the guard and not shake. Let's just say that. He's been to a lot of quiet basketball contests where the Knicks are down 25 and it's empty in the fourth quarter and he's just got to get to the finish line. Because I don't think it's, I don't think it's,

that is the greatest comeback that has ever happened. Ever. Ever. And it's littered with huge plays. ever. And oh, can I speak on this too? I've got another note here.

Cool. Do you want to know when I knew? This is so much bigger than our niche NBA thing that we talk about all time, right? Like, we're the ones watching all season, whatever. We talked about how it's obviously taken over New York, whatever. My mom was texting me throughout this game last night.

That's insane. My dad doesn't watch the NBA, except for, like, Grizzlies games. just because I'm on him. Like, that's it. Like, he doesn't care. Yeah. She said my dad was screaming.

My dad, when I was a little kid, my dad worked at Times Square. He wants the Knicks to win, for sure, right? And she said he's screaming in the back. I'm telling you, if my parents are watching this NBA finals, everybody is watching this NBA finals. My parents are 77 and 78. Or no, my dad just turned 79. So respectively.

They're 79 and 77. And they're not like both of them totally locked in last night. And I'm like, what is going on? What is what is going on? And the games are long, even on Central Time, they go pretty late. Yes. Oh, yeah. They could not be.

And I'm like, this is, this is different. This is different. That's never happened in my life, ever, never. Never. And everybody, and I mean, everywhere I went today. everywhere I went to them. Somebody mentioned that game last night. And I live in Memphis, by the way.

It's all anybody talks about. It's all anybody talks about. A couple of things I want to say from the ground here. And I texted you this. Monday, and again, like the city's generally just like everybody else in the world, like a little sleepy on Monday. You know what I mean? Just a little later than normal.

A little no pep in your step, the weekend kind of whatever. everyone had Nick's gear, everyone's so fired up about the game, and the loss and the Trump of it all, and I think some of those, like, violence videos just sort of like dampened some of the excitement. It's a mood killer. Yeah. I mean, the loss, obviously, number one. Sure.

I mean, they'd won 13 straight games, so it was like, and they won two on the road. So it was just like, everyone was, like, wearing their Knicks stuff. Well, because it was subdued on Wings. In fairness, you start to question the first two after you lose three. Yeah. Like you're like, oh, you know what? Actually, in fairness, there shouldn't have won. Yeah, they kind of gave away too.

One was a lot closer than the final score. Right. And I felt like Wednesday morning and Wednesday walking around the city, it seemed like a much more subdued energy about the Knicks. And today, guess what? After that game, back up, we're back. Well, the other thing that is funny is there was a, what did I say, cross the Rubicon.

They crossed the Rubicon on Wembe after three, though. Like, obviously you did your whole bit about how about you hated him. Bro. But you were not... Can we talk about that?

You were not unique, okay? Because I started to see it was like, that was the moment where, like, all of a sudden people are like, you know what, man? I don't like all this barefoot drawing, you know, phony ed.

Like, hey, it was so funny. I've been doing this. You know I've been doing this for a year. For a year, you've faded it. You went on Zach Lowe's podcast and awful announcing called it. Let me take you behind the curtain. You're on the text thread. Were you asked for comment?

No, you're on the text. No. You're on the text thread where I was like, I said, I effing hate, it's a group chat that we have. I was like, I effing hate Victor Wimb and Yama. And Zach responds. I don't want to pull it up. He responds, like, bring that energy to the pod. Keep that energy on the pod.

So he requested that. You know what I mean? And again, I had slept two hours a night before. So it wasn't my most, like, articulate take in the world because I had to do our show and then take my daughter to track in the morning. I couldn't sleep. So I do this. I saw the headline. It said, Dave Jacoby with bizarre and I went to rant.

And it's just like, I just want to say, like, the internet. internet can be so nasty. I didn't know it was going to be, I didn't know it was going to be so polarizing. It was like, it was honestly like politics or something. I just, I was just like,

I personally don't like Victor Wembeyanama. That's my, like, that's my statement. I don't like the guy. I think that he like, is a curated PR. You don't think it's,

you don't think it's all that. It just seems, it seems fake. You know what I mean? To me, it reads like that. It reads like that. It reads fake to me. You know what I mean?

And I say that, and they clip it, and they put it, out and the comments were just wild. And my wife, who doesn't know anything about anything, besides the Mitch Johnson looks like Black Elon Musk. That's her only NBA take. Her contribution.

Yes. I had to tell her who Victor Wibbenyama was like a game four of the Thunder series. She does not know who he is. And she's like, just popped up in my algorithm. And then she starts reading the comments. And then she comments like, she did not. She did. Like Ron Harper?

She's never, she's never listened to the mismatch once. She doesn't even listen to food news. She's never watched any show I've ever been on. And she was like, speak your truth for the New Yorkers or something. I was like, Joey, like, I'll fight this one myself. Don't worry about it. Oh, no. I was like, I don't need.

She got in on the comments. Paul, it's like, I fully didn't expect that to be a thing, Bruno. I fully did not. I fully did not. I just don't like the guy. And, like, some of the insults are, like, silly. Like, people calling me, like, racist or whatever. It's like, okay, fine.

But it's like, sometimes they kind of hurt my feelings. You know what I mean? They're like, this podcast is usually, like, high-level basketball analysis. Why do you have hacks like this on with clickbait? I'm kind of like, well, that kind of hurts my feelings a little bit. If you listen to the rest of the show, there was some basketball analysis. My favorite was one that I got tagged on, and it was like, this guy was all mad about it all. And would he say?

He said, typical ESPN. And I was like, we're not here. Yeah, we're not. Also, you know, blew my mind,

the sweetest man in the world, like the most measured, responsible, intelligent person, Sean Fennacy is on Bill's show being like, fuck Victor. I was just like,

oh, dude. I was like, welcome, welcome to the party. My guy. Sean Fennesse. It's got to him. He's so, like, smart.

Together. Here's what I'll tell you. And so all of this then explains that the spotlight and the magnitude of what is happening in the NBA finals, whether it is my parents watching it, whether it's something that you've been saying

for a long time. The spotlight is so bright on everything because this is the thing. It's the thing. It is. And I do not think, I can't remember the last time it was the thing. Maybe, probably LeBron and Curry, like that, honestly, back to them. Yeah.

Yeah, those were. That's what I'm saying. That was the thing. Those are epic. And Katie was involved. Yeah, those were epic. That was the thing. And also, like, the World Cup is here.

Oh, yeah. And it is, it is, I mean, I watched the Mexico game earlier today. It is a second fiddle right now. That is a third banana. Like the World Cup is happening, but no one cares. Right. We're going to have to wait for this to be over. Ah, you know what?

If the United States looks good against Paraguas. Tomorrow night, I'll be locked in. Everybody, I like the World Cup. And I, whenever says USA across the chest, there's a little more interest from David Jacoby. Like, I get a little, like, a little national pride. Well, because we also got, you know, we've had a little, we've had that communal experience with obviously what happened with Curry,

in the Olympics and then Jack Hughes, right, when they just pulled that off. We've had some really good USA USA stuff going on over the course of the last four years. Who did Curry beat in the gold medal? Oh, Victor Luzbenyama. Oh. Did he cry afterwards? The only difference was Curry hit the three. Brunson missed it, but O.G did it in.

A couple of things I do want to say. say something in defense of Victor Lusbenyama right now. Lusbenyama. Two things. The clip going around of like he's trying to kill O.G.'s knee, I just think that's just a tall, goofy guy. No, of course. You seen that clip?

I was like, and I was like, listen, like, of all people that would, like, jump on the, like, any hint of Wembenyama being dirty, you know, I'm all over that. But I watched that clip and people like sending it to me. And I was just like, guys, no, like, that's just a seven foot six dude trying to stop. Like, you know what I mean? Like, if that's not someone trying to injure somebody. And I thought the, it's a tough look to be like, I'm in your head, I'm in your head, and then not put two feet in the paint for the rest of the entire game.

Is it possible that when, if we just recall back to the beginning of the pod, is it possible that when Victor Wembeiyama saw the Wu-Tang Clan, he realized he is not true Shaolin? That's what it is. Those are the true shower. Those, those, you know, they met with Shal and Monks. They didn't have a camera crew. They were doing the Shalind thing like 20 years ago, bro.

Seriously, 20. Bro, 30. 30 plus. I think it's 94. We're old. We are old. The song Method Man and, and Wu-Tang Clan ain't nothing to bleep with. We had both of those songs super early.

Just from the first listen, it was just like, oh, this is. something like I've never heard before. Last thing before we get out of here. All right. This is my last note. We can get Anne Hathaway's thoughts on the game, but we can't get Kenny Atkinson since thoughts in the game. Is that what's happening here in the mismatch?

You came through. You reached out. That's for sure. You came through with one of the most famous people on planet Earth. I couldn't get Kenny Ackon to give us the analytical breakdown of the series. Maybe on my issue. But last thing, it dawned on me that when unbelievable historic moments happen in sports, what happened?

People get pregnant. And then nine months later, the baby, if they, if we look up it in 10 years, there's OGs everywhere. No, there's going to be Ogunwas. Ogunwas. No, OG is the best name ever. and like obviously every kid that would be named OJ. Like I want O.G to become a thing and it become a thing because, what is it, June. So whatever.

It's actually 10 months. People always say nine months. It's not nine months. Whatever. Whatever. Four kids. It's 10 months. Okay.

So what would that be? That would be six, my, maybe April, April. Yeah, right around my birthday. April. April babies. A bunch of them. OGs. Yep.

OGs. Named them OG. I would love. There's going to be so many. There's going to be so many. Oh, gee. Do you think that Meta Man should... I feel like, honestly, you know what I think?

And this is no offense to... Whatever you're about to say, you're going to offend somebody. No. I don't think so. I think it's going to be... You know what I think's going to happen? I think people are going to be a little bit timid. And it's obviously only a boy's name.

You can't do it with a girl. He can't name a girl, OG. I think what you're going to see is that every other dog in New York is named O. Oh, yeah. That's what's going to happen. Yes, there you go. It's not going to be babies. It's going to be dogs.

It's hard to, like, name your baby girl OG. Right. But the dog? But you're going to go out to the dog park and there's going to be 20 people going, oh, gee. All the dogs. Chaos. Yeah. Dog chaos.

Because every other dog in New York is named O.G. That's a great point. I would name my, I would name my dog OG. Do you really think? that 407% of the tickets being bought up from New Yorkers for the game five, I can't see it. I can't see it. I can't see it. I can't see it. I mean, on the secondary market, yes. Yeah. Really? Oh my God. If you had, if you thought just if you believed in this Nixon five thing and you thought there's a lot of money in New York. Jacoby. And if you thought, hey man, I could get on down there. I could see this team has one championship from 53 years.

Yes. I could see that. I just, I just hope they're on their best behavior. I think he's If you buy a ticket and you fly out there, you're probably not going to try to light somebody on fire. Probably not. Probably not. Because you can't fly with kerosene. Just say probably. Just say probably not. There are some gas stations around the Frostbank Center, though. We shouldn't be goofing about that, but it's so outrageous. Oh, my God. One bad apple. Happened in it. One guy. One bad apple spoils the big apple. One guy tries to lay somebody on fire. and all of a sudden it's like the Warriors.

It's every Knicks fan. Yeah, every Knicks fan. It's an arsonist. Oh, do you think they win game five? I'm nervous. No. Sorry. You don't think they do?

I told you. I told you this in our last episode. I told you that the odds were at that point that the Knicks were going to win in six and that's what I believed were the correct odds. I thought they would win game four. Now, did I ever think game four would play out? the way it did. Absolutely not.

But they did win it. I thought they'd win four, lose five, come back home and win six. I'm just, I'm nervous about everything. Hard to close them out on the road anyway. You know what I mean? They won the first two games. And psychologically, you know you've got that one. You know you get to come back home.

I'll say this. When the Cavs blew that huge lead in game one, they just didn't have their heart for the rest of the series. And I think that something like that could happen with this young team. I think the NIC could win game five on the road. Okay. Do you think it is better for the city of New York and its health and safety

if they win on the road? Yes. I think so, too. I think so, too. I think it's just better for everybody. It certainly less people set off fire. I just want, oh, man, everyone hates me already because this Wembe and Yama thing,

and now everyone's going to hate me because they got married on September 11th. I don't want the terrorists to win. I didn't want to win. want the terrorists to win. We got a huge deal on a beautiful venue. It's an outrageous anniversary. I know. It's stupid. It's so unbelievable. If I could do it again, I probably wouldn't have done it that way. But, you know, I can't change it now. I can't change it.

And also, we spent so much money on food and there's no food there and everybody went for pizza afterwards. And how many years is it? It was 2010. So we didn't do it on the 10 year anniversary, which would be too much. 10. Yeah. look and you've been married this long so it wasn't that bad of a decision didn't matter what they now she saw the comments underneath that wimbunyama rant she came to your defense she's like these people are mean i was like don't worry about it

baby it's just part of the it's part of the it's part of the game people are mean people in the internet are mega mean i can take it big shout big shout to annie for joining the mismatch unbelievable while her kids are sleeping she's whispering that's a mom she's put the kids to bed she's like i gotta call jacobi about What other NBA podcast in the world could get Aunt Hathaway on? Exactly. None. Exactly.

After she put the kids to bed. Put some respect on our name. Idiots. And next week, for Tuesday show, we'll have Kenny Ackinson bringing down the analytics. Analytical kitty. All right. For today's show. Thanks to Jeff, Steph, and Jesse.

As always, we're making it all happen. And Jacoby, I'll talk to you next. Remember you must be 21 or over and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 and over in present in D.C. Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 100 gambler or 1-800-Mai Reset or you can call 1-8879-777 or visit ccpg.g.org slash chat in Connecticut. Or you can visit MD gambling help.org in Maryland. Hope is here.

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