The Right Time with Bomani Jones - Shannon Penn on Why This Knicks Team Feels Different + Trump Potentially Getting Booed at MSG | 05.28

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

Bomani Jones is joined by Shannon Penn to break down why this New York Knicks playoff run feels different, how Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns have changed the ceiling for this team, and why Knicks fans are finally starting to believe this could be a real NBA Finals moment. They dig into what makes this Knicks team more likable than past versions, how Brunson became the guy, why KAT’s fit has improved, and what this run means for New York basketball right now. Bomani and Shannon also talk Oklahoma City Thunder basketball, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and why the Thunder can look elite while still feeling like the team NBA fans love to argue about. And yes, they get into the wild Trump-at-the-Knicks-game possibility, what that would mean inside Madison Square Garden, and why it would instantly become part of the story if it actually happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 26 Chevrolet Tracks is the stylish SUV for those on the move. And with the standard Chevy Safety Assist package, you have the backup to handle every turn with confidence. The 26 tracks, start your build at Chevrolet.ca. Wave. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the right time. A Wave Original presented by Fandual Predicts. My name is Beaumani Jones. Thanks for listening wherever you get your podcast.

Thanks for watching us on YouTube. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater. It is Shannon Penn on a Thursday. Shannon Penn, check about ESPA radio. And look, man, for those who don't know, me and Shannon now go back about 20 years.

It really lands when you start looking on television and seeing that the Carolina hurricanes look like they're about to walk into the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in 20 years. But anyway, me and Shannon go back, been doing this a long time. Chances to, I don't know if the biggest

Knicks fan I know is appropriate because the Knicks fans get really big, but I will say this. I have always found you to be the most reasonable Knicks fan that I have known. Appreciate that. It's funny, I was talking with somebody about this yesterday.

I think for most Nick fans and people who know Nick fans, their Nick fan that they know is the biggest Nick fan that they know. So I'll take that as a compliment. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It could be anybody, man. Like, once it gets going,

y'all really be there. but I've never found you, however, to be the Knicks fan that all they take is a little bit and all of a sudden you're putting them into finals. You know what I'm saying? Like, you've not been that Nick fan. And while I've known you, for these 20 years, the Giants snuck a couple of championships

in the Super Bowl. The Yankees got one world series. But otherwise, you have had misery inflicted upon you as a New York sports fan in general, and as a Knicks fan in particular. There's been very little cause for optimism in the time that I've known you, but you have played that damn go New York,

go New York, go song, which the most 90-sounding thing that has ever existed is that song. I did not realize when you used to play it on our show that I would get here and they was playing it at the building. Like I didn't know that y'all had adopted this as y'all's classic forever,

but I guess those were the good old days for y'all. Right. I guess it's since it's all about nostalgia and 90s nostalgia, like there's no song that sounds as 90s and as cheesy as that Nix Go New York song. So hey, why not? Like adopt it, why? Like, you

weaponize it, you know? Instead of it being corny, that's how thing. No, y'all ain't even bothered to try to get a new one. And that's because nothing ever felt better. Although that sounds too early for 94. That sounds like a 90 or 91 sort of situation. You know what I'm saying?

But that's y'all's jam. That's y'all's time. And now I've said this, they've played literally one of the best months of basketball in the history of the NBA. It is the craziest thing I've ever seen. It was funny. After the Knicks game four sweep of Cleveland.

So I was watching the game, and my wife started recording me, of course, because she wanted to see my reaction would be after they won. And she was kind of disappointed with how subdued I was. And she was like, I thought you would be more emotional, more happy and I'm just like, I'm like, I'm in shock. Like, I really can't believe it.

Like, because, like, as you know, but like, Nick's fandom is built on trauma and and all the bad things that happened. So I was like, I was still waiting. Like, I was, so when they swept, when they swept Cleveland, like, I'm still in disbelief. Like, I'm still, here we are almost a week later. Like, I'm still in disbelief. Like, all right, when's the rug going to get pulled out?

Like, when is somebody going to get, when is OG's hamstring going to go? Like, when is something bad going to have, when are they going to be the first team in NBA history to blow a 3-0 series lead. Like, I was still waiting for nothing to happen, and it never did. So, like, even these many days later, I'm still in shock. Like, hold on. Like, to quote John Starks, did this dude really did this? Like, I'm still like, hold on, did this really happen?

I'm still in shock. I think one of the biggest misunderstandings people have about Knicks fans. And again, it's because, and Shannon, you left New York young enough that you got over this. But y'all don't send you out, like, when y'all send people out, man, they just talk a little bit too much about being from New York and got to hype that shit up. up too much that they get to lying, right? I think the greatest misunderstanding about Knicks fans is that

Knicks fans don't understand what the Knicks are or are not. Right? Like, I think Knicks fans, and I've realized that once I got here, they have not been pretending like being, like rooting for the Knicks is like rooting for the Yankees. There is no misunderstanding about this. They understand that they have been consistently let down. The point I've made for the longest, when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994,

it had been 54 years. and that year, 1940 was plastered everywhere. It's been 53 for these guys, right? Like with the Rangers, it was called a curse. With the Knicks, it's just what y'all were. Like, y'all know that this is what it is. People so happy walk around here, in part, because, you know, y'all got a team that, you know,

some fairly likable guys. Right, not to mention, too, it's like the difference between the Yankees and the Knicks, because the Yankees has had so much success, like there's an arrogance that Yankee fans have. Yeah. that the Knicks fans haven't been afforded. And of course, I know Nick fans, but as a Nick fan,

you haven't been afforded that level of arrogance. So it's like, so yeah, you have this false hope. And like, oh, maybe this person will be the savior, or this executive, or this coach, or this superstar, or this person because that's all you had. Because you didn't have anything that was tangible on the court. So it was always hope. It was always hope.

And then it's interesting that the guy who actually brought you hope was somebody who, when they brought Brunton in, it wasn't looked at as the savior. It was just looked at as another guy. And it turns out that the other guy became that quote unquote savior up until this point. Yo, Brunson kind of like, well, if John Starks was really good.

Right. Like, not exactly, right? It's not a one-to-one comparison here. But New York, New York like a gritty underdog situation, right? Brunson, despite his dad being a former player, despite his dad being the coach, that shit is still weird. um like despite those things he still has that kind of like up from the bottom sort of situation but i

ask you this because this dawned on me yesterday when i was thinking about kind of the personality of this team the NBA now has a lot more good kids in it right like a lot more nice respectful young men might say yes ma'am no ma'am but maybe not because these motherfuckers these days don't know they ain't been taught right but you know they have guys that seem like they might you know, come kick it that way. You can take Carl Anthony Towns to meet your Abuela, right? Like, you could do all this. Do you prefer having this team, and by the way,

everybody seems to like each other, they vibes are good, they seem to joke a lot on the podcast, or, or was it more fun when you had the team that nobody wanted to fight? See, that's the thing. I think the beauty of it is because I got to experience both. So it's like me personally, like, absolutely, I would prefer a team that everybody wants to fight.

Like, come on. Like, who wouldn't want to have a bully? But at the same time, I got to experience that with those 90s teams and they only took a spot so far. So, like, it's weird. Like, it's weird. Hold on. They took you as far as they're as far as.

So far, right. But the weird thing about it now is that, like, to have a team with the Knicks, that are a bunch of nice guys that people really don't dislike. Like, it's weird. Like, Knicks team's over the past, like they've had a player or style of play or whatever it is that people can say,

hey, I don't like this Knicks team because of X. I don't like this Knicks because they try to be bullies or mellow, Iso ball, whatever the case may be over the course of the years. Now, like, they really haven't given you a reason to dislike them because it's a bunch of these nice guys. It's because of the Jalen Brunton's and the McEl Bridges and the OG and Carl Anthony Towns and Josh Hart being an Eagle Scout. It's like a bunch of these dudes that are like nice guys

that people really can't latch on to a reason outside of just Nick fans find a reason to hate or dislike this team. But I hadn't thought about this, right? Not just the Pat Riley era of Nicks, right? Look, Pat Riley era of Nix. I don't know if it ain't ever going to be like this again in the NBA. First of all, it was the era where guys didn't necessarily have to be good at basketball to be good basketball players.

I understand that that doesn't make sense to a lot of people. I have long said, I kind of like the NBA a little better when the guys worked quite as good because they had to figure it out one way or another. But them teams had like John Starts, who was really just kind of in spirit like the other guys. But Charles Oakley, Anthony Mason, Xavier McDaniel, can't forget that that was there for a while. Then you get to later and you start picking up guys like Spreewell, right?

Sneaky in there, Hartford's old Marcus Camby, right? Who did he try to take out? Was it, was it Danny Ferry? Did he try to take out that time? Yeah, it was Danny Ferry? Yeah. Yeah. But like then even if you continue on into the 2000s and get to like not so much the same kind of edge on them,

but the vibes they gave other people like your Mello, Imod, Schumpert, J.R. Smith, that whole run to do. Nick's tape, the Knicks tape run. Yeah. There's a word I might use if I was just talking to you and Ryan wasn't sitting over there. You know what I mean? But there's been a, there's been an aesthetic. Right. Right.

A mad aesthetic that has run through for this franchise for like nearly 30 years. Now it's the cul-de-sac boys. Mm-hmm. Like, and it's totally different. It's like they're not really because of their background and, you know, private schools and the whole thing. It's not, they don't kick it like a lot of the, like the out-the-mud type situation. Like, yeah, so high, bruntz it in his height, underdog or whatever. but they didn't really grow up in that same way.

Their path, like you said, their paths to the NBA weren't the same as a John Starks or Anthony Mason or even a Charles Oakley coming from a Virginia Union. It's a little different, but it's interesting how, with that being said, the city has still been able to embrace this team, though. Because they still play like that, though, right? So, like, Brunson, we could go on and on about that.

But, like, Josh Hart having that run where he was playing power forward at his size, right? towns. Hey man, Townsend raises a level of game up, man. I'm proud of myself. Can I just say this right now? Proud of myself, I tell you. Because you can vouch for this

because we talk about the Knicks periodically. I didn't try to hold on to the old towns any longer than necessary. Once it became clear that something was different, I was like, oh, okay, something is different. And now the something is different is I felt like the only way they could win is if he was their best player.

And he has been their best player. and they're running it through him and then they turn into like the juggernaut. Yeah. Yeah. And I'll go back. I'll raise my hand. I had a lot of questions about the Towns acquisition when they first brought him in.

I wasn't sure how it was going to work with him in the city because we know like New York fans are tough. And Towns is a nice guy. And so I didn't know how he was going to come back, especially when he would go through his periods of not playing well. And then you saw that early in the season two when Mike Brown came. came along and brought in the new offense and Towns was essentially trying to find himself

or find his place in this offense. And then once now they've unlocked this, the term that's been used as, you know, towns being the hub, now that they've unlocked this, it's been really interesting to watch too. And about that too, I think more, more, and I'm going all over the place, we have to, excuse me, but more with the running offense through towns, I think that's something that Brown want to do the entire time. He did. But I think more than getting a buy-in from towns, it was really getting a buy-in

from Brunson. Because you got Brunson being ball dominant, and it's like Brown, I don't think wanted to come in right away and say, hey, hey, Jaylen, we're taking the ball out of your hand, we're running it through towns. That wouldn't have went over as well. So I think he tried to incorporate it slowly, maybe got some pushback early, kind of left it on the table there for most of mid-season. And it was like, all right, now that we're in the playoffs, it's time to ramp this up and give teams a look that they haven't really seen from us this season. I think that's what happened, especially in game, what is that, game four against the Atlanta Hawks. I think it was like, all right, DefCon one.

It's time to press the button. We tried it your way. Now we got to do it my way. Well, I think the other thing, too, that is interesting is that running it through Towns has been, ironically meant fewer shots for Towns and fewer shots for Brunson. Like, it's everybody, it's everybody getting it right, right? And so they're there. And Towns has also stopped playing like the dumbest man in the NBA.

I don't know what happened. I don't know what part of it. Because he was still playing like a moron for much of his tenure. I think it also helped him in New York. And I had really underrated how important this was. Not so much how important it was that he beat Carl Anthony Towns, but how important it was that he not be Julius Randall. That part.

Just don't be Julius Randall. Because Carl do all that weird stuff and change all his voices and everything else. But he'll be out there crying. Right. I mean, you'll still get the, that's a foul from him as he's driving before even his shot attempt. But, you know, a lot of the layups be going in. So it was like, all right, I'm going with it. You know, but like you said, not being Jewish Randall was key, too. Like, we've heard you all the reports about his moodiness with New York, with Minnesota. It's like not being like not being that. And, you know, sometimes he would sulk and roll his eyes,

speaking of towns when he wasn't involved and you had the quotes of him, you know, I'm not trying to still trying to figure it out. Essentially him saying, I'm still trying to figure out was I'm just waiting for Mike Brown to put the ball in my hands. And apparently, so I don't know if it was a kumbaya or some come to Jesus moment between towns and Brunson, but at some point, it was like, all right, look, in order for us to win, we're going to have to do this. And if you want to, if you want to get to where we think we can get to, it can't just be ISO Brunson. And so far, that's what they've been able to do. Yeah, so here's the thing I don't think I've talked about on here. And I'm curious what you think about this, given, you know, this is your squad. But, um,

I kind of feel like we're not giving Jim Dolan enough credit for what's going on here. So, bro, we got to give Jim, we got to give Jim Dolan credit for not getting in the way. Is that what we do? We got to give Jim Dolan the, I take care of my kids credit. Hold on. That an absentee father would, like, we got to give him that kind of credit. I have seen people make the point that the best thing to ever happen to the Knicks was the sphere. Yeah.

The argument is that since the sphere opened in Vegas and he has. dedicated his attention to the sphere, that that's been better for the team. But quiet as kept. He's working on the second spear in D.C. too. Oh, well, I think that's a bad idea. That may stress him out a little bit. But this is where I do think he gets some credit.

I can't speak for you. I thought that it was a bit unrealistic to fire Tibido last year after they made the conference finals with a team that I thought was a conference final sort of team. Now, this year, everything was different in terms of what was going on with Tatea being hurt and everything else. There was no reason for them not to be able to make it to the NBA finals and they have made it.

But Dolan looked at the team and said, this is a team that should have gone to the NBA finals and we didn't. And so now we're going to hire a coach to get us in the NBA finals. And he fired the coach and he hired a coach and they made it to the NBA finals. Like that was not a move that he had to make. And he made the decision and it has turned out to be the right one. This is the front office that he had. has put in place. Even if you say that it's him getting out of the way, he decided to go with Leon Rose, right? He decided to go with William Wesley. They have put this, they put this thing together,

and it's not, it's not like they put it together where they won the ping pong lottery and they just had guys that all you had to do is figure out what you do around them. Like they had to put, they had to figure out who to set up and put together. They made the mood to get Carl Anthony Tows, right? Which I wouldn't have made. They did that. They did all the things. Now, I mean, now they're in the NBA finals. And to answer that point, it's been a level. I think the big word has been disciplined as well. Yeah. Like, it's been disciplined from Dolan, not getting in the way.

It's been disciplined from Leon Rose, not to bite on, because you even go back and we just saw, like, even after signing Jalen Brunson, the Knicks had been in talks with still trying to acquire Donovan Mitchell at that time from Utah. And then, you know, Danny Aange was asking for, of course, Danny Ains multiple draft, multiple first round picks, R.J. Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, what have you. and Leon Rose was like, nah, I'm good. Like, think about how disastrous that possibly would have been if you would have had two ball-dominate, six to a shorter guards in your back court. Like, so to have that discipline from Rose, or to have that discipline from him, like you said,

to make the Carl Anthony Towns move, or to say, all right, tips took us as long as far as he could. We got to change some things on the offense because we're skilled enough and have the personnel already here without really bringing in another player, yeah, Jordan Clarkson on the bench. Outside us, this is the same team that they had last year.

So to identify to say, all right, we have the talent, we just need more from the talent that we have already on this roster and to be able to make that move from Mike Brown, you've got to give Leon Rose's credit there. Hey, speaking of Mitchell Robinson, should he be allowed to wear a number 23? Like, I don't think, I was talking the other day about how I think Landry Shavitt should be allowed to wear number 44.

Like, I think that there's a baseline level of goods. you got to be to wear number 44 no matter what team it is. And I just don't think, like, unless you wore it in college and maybe you wore it in college, I don't know. But like John Wallace, he was grandfathered into 44. I get it. It was even the same colors.

You understand what I'm saying? And then somebody in the comments on YouTube made the point, well, what about Mitchell Robinson wearing 23? And I was like, damn, I honestly can't believe they allowed that to happen. You got to at least be able to dribble a shoe in order to be number 23. But to Mitch's credit now, I mean, He's the longest tenured, longest tenured New York Nick.

Like how crazy is how crazy is that? He and Kevin Knox were drafted the same year. Like, just to put, just to put that in perspective. He's the longest tenured New York Nick. When's the last time you thought of Kevin Knox? And number two, imagine if you had told Kevin Knox in the year, wow, how do you think Kevin Knox is? 27?

He is all of 26. Oh, my gosh. Yes. And that's a lifetime ago. Yeah, right, right, right. So this is eight years ago. Can you imagine eight years ago telling Kevin Knox that he would be playing for the Windy City Bulls and Mitchell Robinson would be in the NBA finals?

Exactly. And Kevin Knox's name has come up recently because all the Nick fans now, everybody on line is like, hey, I've been out, we've been out the mud. We've been down bad so long. I was going to those games when I used to have to watch X player, when I used to have to watch Kevin Knox. So if I used to watch Langston Galloway, no disrespect. Well, I was going to these games and we had Emmanuel Moudier or whatever the case like me.

Frank Nilequina. You know, I was out here seeing Andreas Bart Niani. He's trying to dump from the free throw line. Like, it's all of those examples. And I think that, like I mentioned before, like that's part of the Nick fandom is built on that trauma. So it's like, all right, hey, we drafted this player. And then the guy right after him becomes, you know, whomever, Donald Mitchell or. Well, the thing with y'all is, is y'all some optimists, right?

Like, that's the other part I think that people miss. It's less that you guys get are arrogant than you guys are optimist. Right. And so you bought hard on Frank Nilakina, right? You bought in hard on the rooster, Danilo Galanari. We could go through it. Like you got to believe. Like Phil Jackson, you know, and the triangle.

And, hey, if Steve Kerr had this success in Golden State, well, maybe Dirk Fisher in the triangle can do the same or Kurt Rambis or maybe Jeff Hornaceck. Wow, I forgot about Jeff Hortes. or David Fisdale or you name it. Do you know the next three picks after Kevin Knox off the top of your head? Well, the next two. See, I always mix this up because it was the Nilakina and the Knox where it was like guys like SG. Donovan Mitchell was in one of those, right?

Okay, so Donovan Mitchell is in the year before. It was Mikhail Bridges, who eventually found his way home and Shade Gilders-Alex, were the next two picks after Kevin Knox. I almost took it to three. Don't even say that that way. Say that slower so the people can hear you. Who were the next two picks after Kevin Knox? Mikhail Bridges and Shay Gilgis Alexander.

Yeah. I almost took it to three, but that would have got us into the tricky case of Miles Bridges, and I didn't want to do that. Let me see. Donovan Mitchell was in 2017. Yes, that's when the Knicks took Frank Nilakina. But to be fair,

it was a while before you got to the better play. players. It went from Frayton and Lechita to Dennis Smith, Jr., to Dennis Smith Jr., to Luke Conard, then to Donovan Mitchell, and then to Bam out of Iowa. And you mentioned Dennis Smith Jr., who we then traded for as part of the Porzenghis trade. So we got him too. He eventually found his way home. See? Well, we got him.

I don't know. Like, the NBA contributes itself so much better than any other sport to random games of name that dude. right just some dude that and it ain't even necessarily a guy that played there a long time it's not necessarily a guy that was a draft bus it's just sometimes for whatever reason that dude was on your team right and for you have some association with something that that dude did when he was on your team and you just won't forget it who's that dude it could be anybody right exactly like for nick fed you say marty collins and you like marty collins oh that's the dude that was in the mellow fight there we go you guys you guys Oh my God. Nate Robinson and Marty Collins and Melo when he's still in Denver you go Marty Collins from Temple.

Yeah, the dude who's in the Mello fight? There you go. Once and a Niko, isn't it? Those were the, that fight that wasn't a fight, but was such a big deal because it came close to after the palace. And so it was treated with a different situation where Mello did his

well, we know what Mitch Blood Green would have said to Mello did. Good reference. Yeah, yeah. Look, that was, that was, hey, what if, what if 6-8, 200 and some odd Power 4 was playing safety in NFL? That's right. That's right. He hit him and then da-da-da.

Yeah. Hashtag. I-Y-K. Uh-K. Harlem's own. Bitch. Bitch. Bitch.

Like the idea that in the 80s, things happened like the heavyweight champion and another boxer. would get into a fight outside of dapper dance. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Like, that's a whole different world of athletics. That's a whole different New York. It's a whole different everything, just to the idea that these cats

were just getting into fights on the street. And too, like, that's, like, Tyson was making big money then, too. Like, we say, like, it wasn't just like regular dude. This is the heavyweight champion of the world making huge money, the biggest draw, and pay-per-view at the time, getting into fist fight outside of a game. Dapper Dan's in Arlo. How crazy is that? What if I told you?

What do I tell you? That's its own thing. Well, also having to explain, like, fully explain the Dapper Dan situation. Right. Because on what head, I understand people's argument that, you know, it's the same that these brands did not want us in their clothes. They felt like we were bringing down a property value, so forth and so on. On the other hand, what flagrant trademark infringement this was. blatant. It was blatant. It was blatant. People act like the folks was wrong. What are you talking about?

It was so preposterous. I don't care how fly it was. You figured out something else. It's a shame these people wouldn't give you a job. But no, you can't do that. No, no, you're straight ripping off their patterns. It was slapping it on a jacket. Like, what are we doing? It's like, there's got to be a way that we can be happy for him and not lie about it. Right? This got to be.

But coming up next, I got to tell you about it looked like we might have a new celebrity coming to the next game in the NBA finals. I don't know Shannon, I heard about this, but we talk about it coming up next. Oh, he's hurt. He's hurt. You can predict the playoff action all the way to the finals with Fan Duil predicts. All you have to do is sign up to get your $25 bonus. Follow all the playoff dishes, swish, wishes and misses. Every move is a potential plot twist.

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All right, we are back with Shaddy Pied. Check about ESPN Radio. Your man say that he got invited by Jim Dolan to come to the NBA. NBA finals, Trump, say he going to come to the game. All right, look, I know he and Dolan are boys. And I get it. Like, Trump used to be at Nick Games in the 80s and 90s or what have you. But my man ain't been to a game in like 20-some odd years.

So now you hopping back on, right? Like, come on. Like, you ain't been. We ain't, look, these games on TV, we ain't seen you there. Like, don't start now. Like, I'm saying, like, don't start now. Like, we talked about the absentee father. Like, that's like the apt team father who ain't been there.

but now he found out his son got on and now he's trying to get back in his son's life because he needs a positive male role model in his life. Now you ain't been there. The Knicks have been the Antoine Fisher's of the damn NBA and now you're trying to get back in the other life. How come you don't want me, man?

I'm still standing. I don't. I think the part that confuses me about this is Trump normally does not go to what I would term away games, right? Trump is trying to go to NFL games where they're doing something for the veterans. Trump trying to go down there to them SEC games. Trump is understandably,

he wants to go places where he feel like people like him. I don't think that room is the room that he wants to go in. like that's going to be loud, throaty booze. Yeah, it is. I don't know, maybe he can go with his, with his J6 quarterback. Jackson's dark. Maybe he can go together.

I mean, that's how he, if you want to appeal to New York fans. Just like, have Jackson come with him. The tone of your voice. We've been texting through that football season too. You was a little exciting. It felt like you had a quarterback, somebody that you can believe it.

Now all of a sudden, no expression. on your face, man. What happened? What's all? What's up as your man? What's up with your fault? Look, I'm going to try to be my best to be an active NFL player

in the locker room. It's like, hey, as long as you can help my team win, we're going to rot it out. But I don't have to agree with the stuff you do outside the locker room. How's that? But yeah, but to your point, like, it'll be,

it's going to be interesting to see how this goes down if Trump does, you know, come to one of these home games. Because like you said, it's a little bit different in the NFL's, different going to these SEC football games. The NBA and the NBA fans,

they don't kick it the same way. And it's going to be interesting. And, of course, he's going to want to be seen. So I don't know if that's a courtside seat or what. Because also, too, at these venues, he's in a suite somewhere. NBA, is he going to be court side? I don't know. I just, I don't want that to then, like, overshadow

from what we've been able to see from this team and this experience and just the overall joy that this run has brought to New York and you being there, like, beat New York and New York Nick fans, you know? Like it seems bigger than just, hey, somebody trying to capitalize on the moment right now. I just like, I can't believe that he wants to go there. I will say this, though. Have you seen this that between June 25th and July 10th, they are having what they call the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.,

and they sent out a flyer with, well, flyers on Twitter, with some of the talent. And some of this talent has already said that they ain't got nothing to do with this. They were invited to it under different pretenses, but now it's being called Trump backed. But the feature performers that are on this are Martina McBride, I'm aware of her, but I don't know none of her songs. I can only assume that she has one or two songs. You may be asking why. I'll give you the rest of the bill.

Young MC, who has said that he is. not showing up, but that's one or two songs, right? Like, everybody on this list, it's out like halftime at an NBA game. C&C Music Factory, one or two songs. That boy from C&C Music Factory, he cut that ponytail and he looks swollen as hell in his picture, by the way. Vanilla Ice, one or two songs. Go Ninja, go Ninja, go.

Millie Vanilli, but it's just the one that's left. We just got Millie. Yeah, or vanilla. You could convince me either way. The Commodores, who, like, not to be confused with Lotta Ritchie, and I don't know if this picture of the Commodores would tie into a picture of the Commodores from, say, 1983. I don't know what version of the Commodores. They have more than one or two songs, but, you know, no Lada Richie.

Morris Day of the Time, and Morris already said he ain't going to be there. Yeah, I did see that. Morris is like, nah, they say me. Fellow Ryder? Feel like one or two songs? Yeah. I know he has more, but I show ain't heard him. And Brett Michaels, and I don't know how familiar you are with poison.

But they're really bad. They're really, really bad. So all these people are one or two songs. And I feel like what happy here is that Trump done got so many miles out of this YMC, that he's just like, can we get the one or two hit wonders of the whole world to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, and to, to, to, to, you can't imagine getting on a plane to go see no goddamn milly or Vanilly.

Yeah. The, look, look, for who for what? What? Yo, so this is, this is the thing with Millie Vanilli and you and I are of age. Yeah. Right. And we were, like, like, you remember, like, like, like, like, Do you like in real time remember the controversy

when they found out that they was lip-saint? I remember it was a thing. Yeah, yeah, because it's like right at, it's right at like the turnover age, right? Like our like two-year age difference, that's in the two years that matters, right? For me, for me, it was more than the controversy itself. It was the jokes that came from the controversy.

It was the Arsenio Hall. It was the In Living Color skits. For me, that's what it was more about. They were such a big deal. when that happened. Like, they won best new artists at the Grammys, everything else. They were such a big deal.

I'll never forget. They came to Houston and they had them on the radio and it was so funny because Houston was at its country as best because everybody was calling and being like, hello? Is this Millie or is this Vanilli? They both there and they would be like, no, it's Rob and Fobb. So which one is Millie and which one is Vanilly?

Like, I don't know how people have just decided that it couldn't just be the name of the group that they had to be Millie and Vanillae. Anyway. I don't know the last time anybody listened to Millie Vanilly, but that shit sucks. I can't believe that that was ever a thing. And not only does it suck,

the idea that those vocals required you to get somebody else to sing them. Like, they didn't even pay a lot of money for it. Like, this isn't like Martha Wash, when she was singing on the CSE Music Factory stuff, right? She got really, really singing. They just thought she was too big, so they ain't want to put her out there individuals.

These motherfuckers that were singing and pretending to be milly binnilly, I would want to go get some singers to pretend to be better than that. But I think that also speaks to what as fans as listeners, we were able to accept at the time. Because you mentioned,

I'm glad you brought up the CNC music factor. We accepted that shit too. No one, we looked at the video and saw the skinny girl singing in the video. No one that wasn't her. No one at the same time. Think about it. We were listening to the,

to snap in power, right? I got the power. We knew the girl in the video wasn't singing those songs, but we accepted it. It was the same deal with Mila Vili. It was all the same. Millie Vanilli, Snap, CNC Music Factory. It was all the same. It was like, think about it. Music, very much, and I'll make this correlation all the time.

Music is professional wrestling. And that's exactly what it was. We were able to, we just accepted it. It was like, hey, just don't ask a question. Just accept it. Like, I got the power. Great. Go right ahead. But with Millie Vanilli, people did not. People felt like they were truly betrayed.

And again, this was not substantial music. Like there was not a depth to what it is that they were doing. You weren't blaming it on the rain man. That's the closest one. That is the closest thing they had to a song that was like, okay. But baby, don't you lose my number? It was like, yo, Phil College just did a don't lose my number song two years ago. and that thing was jamming.

This, this does not jam. Like, I just can't imagine they set that tape in and the label was like, yo, this is really good. But we got to get the right faces on this. And then they just go get these dudes with the extensions because that was that era with them and Terrence Trent Darby and all these cats, like where it hit the 80s was wild, man.

Like, to be such a homophobic time, cats were really free in the choices they was making. Well, yeah, that was, yeah. And too, the other things, think about it too, and that goes back to, you know, folks ripping off the influence and the fluidity and the imaging of a prince, you know?

And trying to be Prince-like. Like, we can't do what Prince does, but maybe we can take some elements or what Prince does, slap it on this artist, get somebody else to sing for him, and there we go. But I ask you, like, I see very much similar correlations to what happens with music now, where because the expectations are not that these artists

are going to put out great albums or whatever, It's like, what can we do to go viral? In the same way with those artists back then, what can we do to get a number one hit or smash it? It's the same way now. It's like, like, you look it now, like they're starting to have concerts now for these, because like the big thing this year was,

hey, this is like 20, 26 is the new 2016. So with that, you had all of these one-hit wonders from, you know, from whipping and Neyne and all of that stuff from 10 years ago. And it's the same thing. You got a bunch of these folks, even within the last decade now, there's just a bunch of, I'm not even going to say,

one hit one. It's just a bunch of folks who got viral and then, and they didn't even have their 15 minutes of fame. Literally, it was like, hey, one week and hey, we're on to the next one. Well, is anybody going to see them at concert? Because concert tickets done got so ridiculous. Have you seen this thing? This is the best line I've seen about all these people canceling these concerts because they suffer for what they call blue dot fever. Yeah. Where you go to the, where you go to the website and you go to get tickets and it's all them blue dots. Blue dot, blue dot fever rampant, man. I think I got one concert I'm going to. and CMAX people charge too much money, man.

I'm trying to go to the U.S. open for tennis, dog. I'm going to be up there with Bob Uker, baby. I can't pay that money to be sitting down there and pay $1,000 for no first round. Yeah, my daughter Shannon, like, she's very much in the concert age at 17. So like 17.

Yeah, exactly. So, of course, she did, you know, the Beyonce thing recently and wanted to do Chris Brown. Chris Brown to Usher, I think the summer, I think her and Brayland are probably going to make their way too. But we're going to look, we're going to the cheaper ticket. We're going to the Syracuse concert because it gets too expensive in MetLife. So we go to Syracuse.

Dude, everywhere is too expensive. Man, I told you, I had to get back with the people at these concerts, man. When I was like, really riding high, baby, I was down. I was riding high and the prices hadn't jumped up so much. I was right up close to everybody. Now, I'm like, wow, you can see the whole screen from back here. This is how the conserv is truly intended to be appreciated. Like the fact that you in the seats,

where you can see the house band, like, oh, they jamming back there. That's right, that's right, man. I had to step it back, man. Like, I had a couple things where I was just like, I'm not paying the price to get down there and I stepped back. And I had to be honest, man. It was pretty cool back there.

You know what I'm saying? It's sound to say. That's what I bid it for. I was like, yeah, with the U.S. open last year, boy. I was up there, dog. But you know what? I could see if the ball was in and out. You know what I'm saying?

I could, it didn't feel as different. All right. I got another question for you too, since we're talking these new dudes, right? Getting, getting back to sport. How am I supposed to feel about how the Oklahoma City Thunder get down, Bo? Because I've been, I've been struggling with this. Like, I really have. Channing, you haven't struggled at all.

You've been calling them dorks for over a year. See, that's the thing. I'm trying to be better, bro. I'm trying. I know, but I don't know why you thought I was going to assist you all this. I got your receipts on this. You're just like, I can't get with these dorks, man. Exactly.

That's why I'm coming to you now. Like, I'm trying to, I'm trying to be a better person, be a better role model, be a better father for my kids. And like, hey, hey, I just got to accept everybody for their differences. And how they get down is how they get down. is how they get the, I can't do it. They're the Oklahoma City Blue Devils. Now, once I say it like that,

don't you feel a little better about staying entrenched on your principles? I'm just, I'm just waiting for them to slap the floor. Like, I'm just waiting for Luke Dorrit or Casey Wallace to slap the floor on defense. I mean, they got Jeremy Kane. He know how to do it. Oh, my God.

Yeah, he's a double devil. He's a, he's the one where they're like, he's the cat I try to like. and it just becomes incredibly difficult because it's all of it. You know what I'm saying? It's the Drake.

It's like his clear affection for musicals. I appreciate, though, that he go hard on the court, right? Like, once I saw what his off the court get down was I should have immediately known he must be a beast on the court because that's the only way that you can get away with this. But the way that he just completely rides for Drake, like, I'm friends with some OVos, so I need to be kind of.

careful in the way that I look at it. But at the same time, they make it very difficult for me. Like, how are I supposed to tell other people that you okay? You know what I mean? Like, how I'm supposed to tell other people you cool? Right. And you are OV. Ho. And he, Jeremy Kaye is an OV.

Ho and then everything else. That's the one that's difficult. But now he played for the Devils. And so it's like, cool, I didn't even got to think about this no more. I'm just kind of out on all of y'all right now. Right. And I'm trying, like, and it should be, and it should be celebrated. Like it's like all the things that all the things that they say is right with sports and they like each other and they genuinely like each other on and off the court on selfishness next man up all the cliches all the you know get rid all the cliches that you hear and it's like all the stuff that should be celebrating.

But it's something about I just can't I can't quite just don't just don't and I'm trying not to even harp on ethical basketballs. But it's some like it's honestly it's a level of punctual. shit that goes on with the style of play. It should be focusing on how dope SGA is as an offense player or the fact that defensively they can put the clamps down on anybody. That's what we should be talking about, but it's hard to do so when you see some of the stuff that they be doing. Like, I get it.

All great players draw fouls. SGA does the same. That's great. But some of the stuff he does when landing and trying to always land on the opponent, the defender's foot so he can get the flagrant foul. Like that's not a natural basketball motion. And I get it. Maybe you're usurping the rule.

or whatever the case, but it's like, like, dog, like, I get it. It's recreational basketball, but 99% of the stuff that they get away with, get down with wouldn't be called and pick up and get your ass whooped on the, in the black top. I'm just being honest with you. I'm just, I'm just keeping it above. And I get it. It's two different sports, but maybe that's it.

But I'm trying to, bro, I'm trying to, I'm trying to appreciate it because I'm going to tell you this right now, but I said this to my wife today. Look, if the thunder gets in NBA finals, this is going to be some agaily things, it's going to be said about that Oklahoma City Theta Squad coming from me watching the Knicks. I'm going to lean on the camera. I'm going to tell you this right now, but if they play the Knicks, it's going to be some nasty stuff and I'm going to be saying about these boys. I'm just

let you know that right now. I kind of want to come to the house and watch, to be honest. If it was just a little bit closer, I'd have to watch myself. Let me ask you this, though. The Thunder guy to former Nick, Isaiah Hardinstein, and I listen to how loud the ovation is when he come into the games at Oklahoma City, and I have one question for you. You think they know?

No, that's Isaiah. That's Isaiah. You don't know. Look, for the Oklahoma City fans, that's Isaiah. That's Isaiah. I think they leading in on the Hartenstein. Isaiah might get them a little too close to the truth. That's Isaiah Hartnstein.

But for us that know, for us that know when he was in New York, oh, that's Zay. That's Zay. I bet you the team don't even call him Zay. Look, he left Zay. When he left New York, he left Zay there. Let me tell you something. He keeps us up.

and he keep it quiet and don't make a big deal about it, they'll put his jersey up there right next to Nick Collison's. Like, if he just lay low, he... All the grit and determination, huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's like, look, man, I don't need to talk about it anymore. He's already said it. But I heard the way they was clapping.

I don't think they know. I've been watching basketball for a long time. I know what it is. They clap for him like he checked. And that's the thing, too. It's like, you hear Chet, talk still to this day. Oh my God. I tell you this, though. Chet, Chet,

Chet got, Vick'll keep destroying Chet like he has and Chet go come back here. Chad going to come out here like Travis Kelsey going to bring his ass right back home. Like, I feel like, I feel like, I feel like Chudoo to him. He's going to ride this out like all the way. Eminem, the only one that ain't really let us down when it all came back down to it. But all the rest of them, you got to pick up a goddamn acoustic guitar, you know what I'm saying? Or all that stuff, right? They go right back. And it's always, and it's always the tails, too, because you know, what happens. happens for it, they get a different haircut.

Like, I get a different haircut. The beard going to be a little different. It's not going to be as sharp. It's going to be a different beard. It's going to be a different beard. It might even cut the beard off. It's going to be a different hair. Right now, he's still rocking a mohawk,

but there's going to be a thing. And put some product in it. Yeah. A little gel to differentiate from what it used to look like. Yeah. You know? But he might be true to it, though. Look, I hope so because I'm not going to lie.

I was disappointed. Once Travis Kelsey left and got rid of the fade, then you knew what the time it was. He left. You went on home, huh? Okay. He didn't just go home. He went home with the whitest woman in America.

After we had seen his movies, he was like, no, I got to take it all the way. All the way. And she made you sign a pre-nup. Yeah. It's like Travis Kelsey went to an intervention, though. Yes. Yeah. Hey, hey, hey, hey, enough.

Enough. Enough. Okay. Like, look, you can keep smoking the weed, but the fade got to go. No matter how hard I try, I still love you. Had to go. Hey, last thing before we get out of here, would you rather see the thunder or the spurs? I want to see Wembe.

Like, I want to see Wembe on that, I want to see Wembe on that stage. And I want to see Wembe on that stage. I think it would be great as an NBA fan. I think it would be great to see him on that stage. I think I feel better about the Knicks chances now than I did maybe three weeks ago against either of these teams. So I think it would be a good series. I don't think it's going to be looked at as the Western Conference Finals being the fact of NBA finals like people sold a week ago. So I think it would be a good series either way.

But I would love to see Wembe on that stage, man. Hey, I'm going to do one last thing while I got you here is we got all our. friends of the program together. Today is Joel Anderson's birthday. And he says that his birthday isn't a big deal. He don't even do nothing. So I think we all need to just tell Joel, happy birthday. Let's see if you pick up to fuck.

And if he don't, we'll just edit it out. It's a motherfucker just sent me a text one minute ago. I know he sees this ringing. Your call has been forwarded to me. Fuck Joel birthday. You know what I'm saying? You should keep that in it. Fuck Joe birthday.

Yeah. We ain't know. We know we try to spread in some cheer. You know what I'm saying? Well, happy birthday, Joel. Everybody go tell Joe a happy birthday because I don't like him acting like his birthday don't matter.

So he needs to hear how much we love a hater around these parts. And not just any hater, just that one. The rest of them, we already so much fuck with. But Joel, that's our hater. There we go. That's our hater. That's Shannon Pinn. Check him out afternoons, ESPN Radio.

Reddy and Harry, my brother, I appreciate you. I'm going to say some ungodly things about the Thunder if they win this year. Oh, my God. I think you're going to say ungodly things about the win or lose. Well, that is true. Yes. All right, man. Ladies and gentlemen, thanks so much for joining us here on the right time.

We do this four days a week. Ryan Bremley handled everything behind the scenes. Thank you, sir. Hit the voicemail line 3, 2, 3,000, 67767. Remember, follow the right time. Subscribe, like, rate us, review us, give us five stars. You only give us four stars. I'm inclined to believe you are a hater.

We'll talk to you guys in a couple of days. Take it easy.