Alan Hahn On The Knicks Championship, LeBron James Free Agency Drama & More

MSG Network's Alan Hahn joins CP The Fanchise for an in-depth conversation about the Knicks' historic championship season.

They discuss:

•  The unforgettable Finals comeback 
•  Why this championship team was different 
•  Mike Brown's coaching philosophy 
•  Jalen Brunson's Finals MVP-caliber leadership 
•  Karl-Anthony Towns' transformation 
•  Mitchell Robinson's departure 
•  The LeBron James speculation 
•  The NBA's evolving second apron rules 

If you're a lifelong Knicks fan, this is one conversation you won't want to miss. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:12

Alright, here we go. Salute to Knicks Nation and NBA Nation on this 4th of July Eve. TV the franchise here for a special edition of Next Fan TV and the NBA Report Simulcast. You know, usually my guest and I used to do these shows at the beginning of the season. A tradition unlike any other. But for the New York Knicks, a lot has changed. Okay. They are the kings of the NBA. They are the champions. And now we gotta figure out the road to repeat. Lots going on around the NBA offseason. Where's LeBron James going? What the hell are the Boston Celtics doing? And of course, we gotta talk New York Knicks with our guy, MSG Network Zone, ESPN zone, Alan Han. Hit the like button, hit the share button, and subscribe to the channel. If you guys want to call us up, call us up on the KFTV Discord or the NBA Report Discord as well. Let's get into it. Lots to talk about. Han Solo, how you feeling, man?

SPEAKER_02 1:17

I'm good. It's good to see you. Usually we do this in October, right before a season starts, and we start talking about how can they get to the promised land. And you know, when you when you said, hey, do you have time? I'm like, of course I have time, because we've been talking about this for so many years that now that they've gotten to the mountaintop, it is definitely something to celebrate, to talk about, to let it like I in my in one of the comments, I try to stay out of them, but every now and then you just take a look. And I and I I had said something, I can't remember what it was regarding the Knicks in the championship. You know, some kind of parallel I made. And somebody said, you know, it was it was two weeks ago, get over it. What I was like, hell no, hell no. You got all summer. This is all summer. This this this thing, no, no, you don't wait all this time and then say, all right, it's been a week. Yeah, I guess we can stop. No, no, this is all summer, man. So, so you know, everybody loved the whole New York vibe. And I said this right after the the parade. I said, This is really sweet, but so many of you around the country are gonna get so tired of us. Yo, yeah, it's gonna get obnoxious. You're gonna get so tired of us.

SPEAKER_03 2:23

It's gonna get obnoxious. I'm taking the show on the road to summer league in Vegas. They're gonna hear us out there, you know, all season. I mean, come on, man. I waited 30 some odd years for this. There's no way I can be quiet now.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

No, you cannot. And I don't, and I and I would hope you wouldn't. No, not you, you got a banner ceremony to be at in October. Insane. You know, come on. There's there's there's still a lot more to celebrate. It's been uh, but this has been, I don't know how you feel. Uh I'd love to hear how you feel about everything that you've built and what this has now led to. But for me, in the you know, 30 years I've covered professional sports and 20 of them covering the Knicks uh as a writer or a broadcaster, and it's like for me, this this season is the greatest experience of my professional career. And you know, game four was probably the most memorable moment being on the court after the game of my professional career. And I can't imagine you can I'll be able to top that.

SPEAKER_03 3:19

Yeah, it was insane. And and um, I'm with you, man. I mean, the the entire ride, you know, the entire playoff run um that we went on, you know, as a channel, and uh we we went on the road in Atlanta, we had a huge, huge party with John Starks, and you know, just coming along in this journey with John Starks right behind me. You know, that's what started my fandom. And so just a full circle type of situation. We went to Philly for game three, and then you know, being in the building for for game four of the NBA Finals, and I couldn't, I never experienced that big of a swing from a low to a high in sports. Never in in my wildest rooms. I mean, I went down back down to the Delta Club, pissed off. They're down by like 20 some odd points. I am heated, and uh, and I saw Baron Davis. I said, BD, I said, what do we do here? And he's like, you know what? Hey, this is the hottest they ever shot. It's it's they're gonna start missing. They're gonna start missing. So let's see what happens. So I said, all right, a little sliver of optimism, and then I kid you not, that fourth quarter comeback, I don't remember anything that happened because I blacked out, man. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

I blacked out it it but it happened so fast. That was that was for me. That that experience, like for me, was uh here I was because I got the opportunity, which is this is what's great about working at MSG, is they'll say to you, hey, do you you know, we want everyone to get an opportunity to be on a game call for the finals because you know everybody's put in so much time. And and Tyler Murray and Monica McNutt were so gracious to allow first, you know, they had Walt Frazier do the road games because he was there with the team, and then Wally Zerbiak did um game uh three. And so for me, I got to do game four. And I'm laughing with Monica because yeah, of course, the game I get, they're getting smoked in the second quarter. You know, I like they look terrible, they can't defend. They're getting like the Spurs are shooting the lights out, and it's a 27-point deficit at halftime. And I'm like, you know, thinking to myself, yeah, this is now gonna be 2-2, and we're really gonna have ourselves a series. But at halftime, as I'm going back downstairs, I saw so many fans on my way from you know the eighth floor where the radio booth is back down to the court level where I usually am during a game. And I saw a lot of fans, and I didn't see any quitting the fans. Like, like normally, like normally you get people that are just sort of disillusioned and they're just uh, you know, it's a bad night and frustrated. And you know, usually, and I remember over the years making that trek up and down sometimes when I've done some halftime, where you you know, Al, what are we doing? What are we doing? What he should sub this guy, you know, you get all that yelling. And I was getting this from people, Al, we got to get it down to 20. That's all. Just get it down to 20. If if we can get it into the teens going into the fourth, we can do that. Like, I couldn't believe the optimism, and you know, eighth floor, we're up now. This is up. This is the the salt of the earth. They're up there, right? This is not the the pre and cheese people down at the bottom. And so hearing and feeling that, like, I was like, these people are locked in. Yeah, and if the Knicks can just like they make a couple of early buckets, you never know. So I get uh back down court level. And like you, I saw a couple of former players who all said the same thing. Just get this into the teens. I'm telling you, like you gotta flip it, it's a young team. And so the optimism overwhelmed me. And so they I remember, I can't remember who hit the three. Someone hit a three, it made it from 25 to 22. It was like it was almost like it tied the tied the score. Building erupted. Spurs called timeout, and I'm going can this happen? Like, can lightning strike twice again? And by the fourth quarter, when they got it into the like it was such a blur of just bucket, bucket, bucket, bucket, and then of course, you know, uh Jalen does what Jalen does, and this still the moment of OG. So again, I'll I'll tell this story. Um, and I I'm where I am right before when the game's ending is literally on the corner of the court where the visitor's bench ends, and the baseline's right there, right? Like, so I'm waiting because when the game ends, gotta get on the floor, gotta get set up, right? You no no messing around. And just flashback, game one, Eastern Conference Finals. I'm right there last year. And the Halliburton shot goes up, and I'm watching it, and I see it bounce, and I see it go straight up, and I'm going, now it's if it misses, I'm on doing an interview. If it goes in, it's overtime, or it's game over, and I gotta do a stand-up about a loss. So I'm now in my head, what questions? Who am I talking to? That thing goes through, and I'm like, ugh, like, you know, like that was such a gut punch. So now fast forward back to that game four, and there's the shot by Brunson. Now there's a lot of people, so I can't really see the whole court because there's a ton of people standing in front of me. Luckily, I'm 6'6, I can see over a lot of people, but you still don't see the floor. So the shot goes up, and I see it hit the rim, and I'm like, oh, like here we go again, right? A hand comes out of nowhere, and I see OG's face, and I'm going, and he tips it, and I mean I turn around, and when I tell you it's like Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, they're jumping like them, and then everyone else. I'm turning around, there's like staffers, there's other, you see the Spurs, they're like this, like, oh my god. Like, I just turned like it was um, it was almost like you know, you see the camera pan around sometimes in a movie. Like that was my head. I'm like looking, and I just was catching all different reactions, and I'm like, and I look at our producer, Spencer Julian, and I go, Did that just happen? And he's like, Yeah, it did. Like, we went crazy. And so that moment, you know, was just incredible. But it was to me, and I asked the question of the players afterwards, especially Jose Alvarado, who gave me an unbelievable interview, is they said, like, like the crowd never gave up. And that's not typical of New York now. So I'll never forget that second half, that game, and the way that whole thing went. But the the thing that stays with me the most is that down 27 at halftime, there was no one in that building that was ready to give up on the game. And that that's what made that special.

SPEAKER_03 9:46

It was beautiful, and you're right. No one left. No one left. I was in 210, and not a single person left their seat. And yeah, you're right. You know, my wife's in my ear because I'm I'm tight. She's like, just chip away. It's coming, it's coming, it's coming. Just chip away, they're gonna get it done. And so she's you know, we're like yin and yang when we watch the game. She's always on the high, I'm always on the low. And um, but you're right, they just kept chipping away. And all I remember is after that OG shot, because I was recording in my phone, we're going crazy. And then when they win it, it was almost it almost looked like they people were storming the court. So I got confused. It was Rucker. I was like, did we win the championship? I was like, what is going on? I've never seen this before.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

So I can't remember who it was because and I'm not trying to be that guy, but it there was just A-listers everywhere, man. Like, and you know, you know, you saw. Like they like everywhere you turned, it was somebody where I'm like, oh my god, oh my god. Like, and then there's a whole bunch of former NBA players, not just former Knicks, but like Kevin Love. Like, there's just like a lot of former players, and so they're all on the court, like you said, ESPN setting up all the different you know, setups they have because they had to do inside the NBA, they had to do Scott Van Pelt, there was uh uh a sports center one, and then of course NBA TV had one. So now they're bringing out sets, so it was madness, and I can't remember who it was who said it. I don't think it was Spike Lee because Spike Lee came over and he started giving a dissertation about Millis Reed in game. And and I'm telling, but somebody said you might as well bring out the Larry O'Brien now. Why not just bring, like, come on, like bring it out now? Because that's that's what it felt like, that that was how they won the championship. And we all thought, how can you top this game? And then Jalen Brunson said, Hold my beer, I got a fourth quarter for the ages for you.

SPEAKER_03 11:31

And that was it, man. That's where the emotions came from because it was like once once they did it, it was like, wow, they're really going to win the championship. Is that when it hits you? That's when it hit. Is that when you really believe like this is really gonna happen? Yep, yep, yep. And so my emotions started there, and then you know, you fast-forwarded game five, the Spurs defense in the first quarter, ferocious. I mean, they Knicks couldn't even get over the half court line. So I'm like, oh I'm like, oh man. But then I'm seeing like by the second quarter, you know, Brunson has eight in the second, McCall has eight, they're chipping away. I'm like, all right, we're okay now. They're starting to break through. And that was the game where Jalen said, listen, I'll defer if I need to defer, but this is a game I gotta put the cape on and get busy. And once he starts, once he starts cooking castle, and he's cooking this guy, he puts Wemby in a blender, and once they took the lead in that fourth quarter, I start welling up because I'm like, they're not looking back. It this is happening. It's happening right now.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

Yeah, yeah. That that's funny how no one complained about Jalen taking all the shots then. You didn't see anybody, anybody tweeting about how you know he's hogging the ball. It's like, man, hog it all you want, brother. Because you're you are you have the glow right now. You are Bruce Leroy. Just go, man. Like and and and the moment too, one of the iconic moments uh of this run of the of the finals anyway, was it it was it, I call it it's it's Jalen's revenge because he got mushed. We know in game three, and there was no call, like all that stuff happened, right? And and Wemby's laughing at him. And then as Brunson is flaming hot, right? He he sees the ability to get a switch, and he's just like, come on, come on, unanimous decision, defensive player of the year. Let's go. Here, come get a slice because it's your turn now. Here's how I get my get back. And then he's got him on skates, and then instead of a fadeaway or a floater or something that a smaller guard should do against a guy 7'5 with an eight-foot reach, you know what he does? Layup. I'm gonna put a layup on you. Put him in a blender when he hits that layup, it's just we're all like we're chill. It's myself, Novak, Zerbiak, Vito in the studio watching this game, and we're children. We go back to being just like going, like we're dancing, I fight. Like, oh my god, like that's what we ended up doing. We became children in that moment. But I'll tell you what, I I went home saying to myself, they're gonna win this thing, and I got emotional twice. The first time I was emotional when it kind of hit me, when I started to kind of like have that that that feeling was going home. I was talking to my wife, and it was after game two because we had Mikhail on. I don't know if you saw the video of that interview that we had with McKay. His the he had this psychotic, obsessed, possessed look in his eye, and he was mad at himself. And then when he was done, uh again, Spencer Julian was was holding the mic during the interview, and he like, you know, Spencer was just thanking her for the interview, and he just whacked Spencer, like, come on, man. Like, and he walked away. And I'm like, I think like they're there's no way they're losing this. No, like look at look at that guy, look how psych he's psychotic right now. They won, they're up 2-0, and they're coming up. I was like, they are winning this thing, and that's the first moment I had where I started to kind of like get a little, a little like, oh my god, like this is gonna happen. And then the second time that I lost, because you know, what sucked and what was good is that game five ends, you know, throw the ball, they're on the court, reducer's going five, four, three, two. We're going online now. Live, and so there's no time to start like, you know, we Novak and I hug high five Bill. Couldn't get to Wally because we're at three, so Wally's on the other side. And so I just sit down and we got to get right to it. So I keep the motions now stay locked in, and then so we do two and two and a half hours. Sure, we did. We're up, we're out there, it's almost 3 a.m.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Uh go out to to Manhattan, it's still wild, it's still fun. We're trying to like do that. I got my kids, they went to the watch party at um Radio City, they came and found me. You know, we're all just delirious. We get home, it's like, you know, we had some fun. Get home, probably like 5 a.m. ish. Um, you know, we celebrate it. And um I I couldn't sleep because I went in the pool, sat in a pool, sat there, had the TV on with Sports Center just in the background, and I'm just like sitting and it's dead quiet, and I'm just watching, there's no sound on. And then I just it all came out like by myself, all alone by myself. That's when it was just like like yeah, like this happened. This happened. Like on my birthday, game six '94. That was on my birthday. Yeah. When John John almost won it, and Hakeem said no, and then we all know what happened in game seven. And that I never have gotten over that. Never. Everything, though, the bounce always goes against us. I always used to say that. Like the you know, the injuries always go against us, the rules go against us, everything goes. Like, I always used to feel that way as a kid. And then as I got into media covering the team, it was always just like, yeah, well, this is just this is history of this team. This is just what happens. And so that's the part that got me. Is like, you know what? For the first time, the bounces didn't go against us. Everything went the way it was supposed to go. And there I was, you know, knowing that there was going to be a parade and it was going to be the day before my birthday.

SPEAKER_03 17:01

And so, what a way to make up for that all those years later. That's where the emotions came from for me. It was like you said, the doom and gloom as a diehard fan was so heavy on you. Stark 7, the Ewing finger-old, Charles Smith, you know, uh 99, is Ewing healthy? LJ's healthy, does it make a difference? You know, not getting LeBron, the dark ages of the Starberry time, you know, could should Melo have waited, not getting like all of that. KD Kyrie, that that was a heavy, heavy burden on us as a fan base, man. And so it's like after that, seeing the entire run and how they dominated, and then, you know, the it's all got erased. It was all evaporated, it's into the ether.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

It's really amazing, and it's how, right? CP, how it was done. How it was done is also a part of the story. That it wasn't because I always said this going into the playoffs. I was saying this on my radio show. Hey, get ready, because we know with the Knicks, it's it's always excruciating. Like, you know it's gonna be a grind and painful and frustrating, but you know, they gotta fight through it, and you just gotta see if they can get and after 2-1, I mean, 13 damn straight. Like every game, it just got to a point where I honestly like was reaching a point going into the Cavs series where somebody's like, you know, you think they can win the series? I'm like, I yeah, four or five. Like, I just think they're on this heater, yeah. And if you just started to believe it, and to see them go 15 and 1 like that, and to win a lot of the earlier games just in blowout fashion, just making teams quit on their home floor, made Philly quit, made Cleveland quit, you know, took the soul from a young Spurs team on their home court three times, like that, you know. I mean, Atlanta quit. Yes, game six, they quit. So that was such an alternate universe for the experience that you were just talking about.

SPEAKER_03 19:00

Yeah, and it's it's why I had refused to just cast them off and write their tombstone before the playoffs started. Because I always felt I had nothing to lean on, just just hoping fandom. But I just said we have not seen the best of this team, we had not seen them hit that elite level, but I always felt like they were capable, they had the pieces, they had the defense, they have the wings in OG, and if you just keep it close, Jalen is the best clutch player in the NBA. And that's why I said in the playoffs, we could see a different story, and that's what they did. We saw the elite version of this team for the first time in the two years. They couldn't beat anybody, they couldn't beat the elites, and they became that elite when they hit it at the biggest stage. When it mattered the most.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

When it mattered the most, and it just also shows you that while we always over the years, you try to manufacture chemistry, you try to throw players together and create something. You got Amari Sodom, or let's add Carmelo. That'll work because they're just both great players. Throw it together, everything is throw it together and hope it works. And sometimes, you know, I got this. This is you know, Jalen's shirt, and it the magic is in the work. You know, that's a true thing, right? That's literally what it's about. Because we you had to go through game six against Miami, where it just, you know, one bad pass to force at game seven, game seven against the pacers, where just everybody was hurt, and it's just the pain. I told you about the Halliburton shot. Pain, like, but but this group as a core just kind of kept building from it, you know, like it just it wasn't something that stopped them. And I think they almost got better by it. And I saw a team that during the season at times, you know, the locker room was always a good room, but you know, there was always stuff going on. Like, you know, not everybody was thrilled with their roles and happy. There was so much happening, but they never came apart. It just sort of was like not like sticking to it and just fighting through it and figuring it out. And that's again, it's that's what makes this such a special story is that it wasn't just you know, traded for KG and traded for Ray Allen, and all of a sudden you won a chip. You know, it wasn't get LeBron and Dwayne Way, uh, get LeBron and Chris Bosch and you get a chip. It was a group that had to go through some pain and a fan base that went through it with them. And then when they figured it out, they came of age, right? Like they came of age, they're in their prime, they had that experience from the past, and leaning on that experience, we always talked about, you know, when they lost Hartenstein and they lost Di Vincenzo, man, they're not as tough as they used to be. I thought they showed you a mental toughness in this run that was, you know, unlike anything we'd seen from a Nick team in a very long time. And that's that's what made it really impressive to me.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

And that became their identity when we were looking all year, who are these guys? What are they about? You you saw it on the biggest stage. It was New York Grit. Never say die attitude. And uh it was just beautiful, man. Like, you know, the documentary is gonna be incredible whenever Stiller finishes it. All the books are gonna be incredible. Every single player has a story that that you can write about. But how about the Mike Brown story? You know, the the way that they he he lands with this team, the coaching search. How could they get rid of Tibbs? Why do they do this? This guy, Mike Brown, he's a career assistant. That's the that's the best he can do. They can't win with him. He's too much of a player's coach. You heard all of that. And but what I've found so ironic was that the way in which they won, his positives, it was exactly what the Knicks were looking for. The collaboration piece. That some poo-pooed, like, ah, you know, whatever, you know, Tibbs is still the guy. They wanted a guy who can work with everybody. And at different intervals of the playoffs, he worked with everybody to get the job done. He worked with towns. Hart comes into the office and says, I want McCullum. I'm at the games, I'm watching. First guy running the huddles, Chris Gent, the offensive coordinator. He's calling, he's the signal caller. You know, Mike always talking, giving Rick credit. He's giving these guys credit. Everything that the Knicks were looking for, this coach gave him.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Right. And he's like, and he and he came in with experience, of course, of seeing winning at the highest level as an assistant and learning from that, himself being a head coach and going through what he always talked about was the mistakes he made and learning from them, not just the successes, but the mistakes. And I thought it was, you know, I thought it was important that he showed a humility early on. He showed a humility early on that he said, I I'm not gonna have all the answers, I'm not gonna have the the the last say. And when somebody has something that they want to suggest, that I'm gonna listen to it. Because if you act like you're the smartest guy in the room as a head coach, you're not you're not leaning on the assistants. And that kind of was what happened to Tibbs. Is is the sense I got was it wasn't just the players who were frustrated, it was even some assistants who were like, My input doesn't matter. Like he, you know, he's kind of like he's he's doing it his way and he's not listening to input from other people. Um, but Mike also had to go through it too, because it wasn't as if when Mike took over, everything was was great. You mentioned it, the Josh Hart stuff. He had to learn from that and figure it out. It took almost a whole year to figure out Carl Anthony Towns. But if you notice, once once once towns got to that point later in the season, he he stopped talking about not fitting and not you know what I mean. Like all that stuff went away.

SPEAKER_03 24:47

Went away.

SPEAKER_02 24:48

And all he can't and and and I love that Kat kept mentioning, I just want to do whatever it takes for us to win. He didn't talk about shots, you know. The thing that people don't realize about towns is that we spent so much time on he only had three shots in the first half. What's going on? Why is he only taking three shots? Why is and I would one one time after interviewing him, and then we just went back and forth because he said to me, He's like, you know, why do you keep asking me about shots? I'm like, well, you only had three in the first half. Like I remember saying to him, you only had three in the first half. That doesn't make sense for you. And he's like, Well, I'm just playing the role I'm being asked to play. And I'm like, right, but don't you think you should be a bigger piece of the offense? And he said, I'm not being asked to do that. Okay. But I said, Well, well, you need to get more shots. We all feel that way. He goes, It it's not about how many shots I get. He's like, I just it's having the ball and being part of the offense. When you feel part of the offense, you know, that's the most important thing. Everybody feeling part of it. And that's when I said, See, guys are always about their FGAs. Remember a story years ago when I was in the Nick Locker room as a beat writer, uh, Al Harrington had just come to the team. We all love Al Harrington. But we knew Al Buckets, he puts them up. Yeah, and then and and I remember uh Quentin Richardson um came by and he's like, you know, they they they were joking around, and he's just like, he goes, one game in, I already know what you're about. You're all about those FGAs. Like, and that was like a passive aggressive way of saying, like, you just got here, like what? Yeah, like tone it down, man. We all got to get something, you know, and that can happen. But the fact that Kat was almost telling me, no, that's not what I'm about. And then I realized it's and then I asked him like later on when he had like a big assist game. And I remember I actually think I was in the on court interview I did with him, where I said, You you seem to thrive, you seem to enjoy passing more than you do scoring. And that's when he lit up and he's just like, Yeah, I love setting up my teammates. He wanted to show that I can do that, like I can be a hub. I can, and so that took Mike Brown time to figure out to understand. All right, I can trust him with the ball at the top. He's just not going to be a guy that when you give him the ball, he's a black hole and he's just gonna try to score, that he actually will look for teammates. He's got a good vision. He actually is a really good passer. Yeah, and so it took Mike Brown a while to get there. And so that's what I think is also part of the story is that Mike Brown, I think, evolved as a coach even this season. Yeah, it wasn't as if he came in finished, he came in with his plan and then adjusted it, which is that's to me his strength, his humility to uh to admit what I thought we should do is not what the guys want to do. So I need to tailor it. They need to, they need to adjust to me, but I need to adjust to them. And that is the value of what Mike Brown bought, brought to this franchise this season. And when you see them now, the relationship from it that was built tells you that this is not a one and done.

SPEAKER_03 27:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

Because now there's an understanding. Like one more thing, I know I'm rambling. No, one more thing I remember is one of the assistant coaches I talked to about the offense with Cat is the hub, because I said, like, wow, like this is you know, this is a new look for you guys. And he's like, You you ain't seen nothing yet. Wait till we get a full training camp with this. Like, there is so many layers, but we can't, we don't have enough time to put it in. So next year, he's like, our offense is gonna be completely bigger with many more options. He goes, but right now we're seeing the counters, so we already know when we do film in the offseason, all the counters that team showed us in the playoffs, we're gonna have answers for them all.

SPEAKER_03 28:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

So this offense, scary to say, could even be better next year.

SPEAKER_03 28:36

Yeah, I agree. With the chemistry and another year together. And the trust. And the trust. The trust. And the trust. So absolutely brilliant job uh by by Mike Brown. TB the franchise, Alan Hahn here on the ones and twos. Happy Fourth of July eve to everybody watching. I want to shout out one of my guys, Tom from Huntington. A $100 super chat says, salute CP, salute Mr. Hahn, the chat and the sponsors. Number one show for the fans, by the fans. Sorry haven't called in, but it's been a rough few months with my mom's health and surgeries. Watching the game five win with her waving the KFTV rally towel will be the highlight of my life. Let's go. Shout out to Tom from Huntington, man. And speedy recovery to your mom. There it is, man. For the fans, by the fans, the rally towel. Love that. The towel that I bring to all Knicks games, home in the road. Everybody, you know, was talking about what superstitions do you have? I've got to bring my rally towel. And then, you know, depending on the player, I might wear my Brunson jersey. I used to wear my Robinson jersey, Han. And now I don't know what to do with it. I had the original 26, I had the 23. I don't know what to do with it, man. He's gone.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

I I saw. He's gone, man. I saw the 26. I saw the 26 you had uh autographed by him. And yeah, he yeah, I I I just kind of felt like that one's one. I I don't think you're shocked, right? Like you No, I'm not shocked, not shocked. You knew, yeah, you knew that was. Disappointed, not shocked. Disappointed, not shocked. That's the best way to put it. Uh it's very disappointing that he, you know, that he went. I'm happy that he got the bag. Do I love that he went to Boston? No, don't love that. No, but again, like for him, great situation for him to go into. They're looking at him as a time lord 2.0, right? Robert, Robert Williams, and what he was able to do, I think he's the same kind of thing. I think they'll they'll try to use him the same way, but they're still gonna look a lot different without without Jalen Brown. There's you know, there's no question, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:27

Yeah, no question. And um, you know, that day of free agency, whenever it hit it, it was like two days ago. And, you know, first day of free agency, like, centers are coming off the board, they're coming off the board. And then the next day, I'm looking at guys, I see, you know, Mo Wagner goes to the Nets. Oh, because so I cross off the Nets, and then I saw Vucevic went back to the magic. I'm crossing these guys off, and you know, Marks had a table, just a clear-cut table of the the range of money that teams had to spend. So I'm looking at that mid-level, that 15 million, and I'm crossing Atlanta Jock Londale, crossover. Lakers are going big game hunting. They want Kessler, they want Durant. I'm like, is there a window here? Is there a window here? I was like, Boston? And then like five minutes later, it was Boston. I said, Oh my god. Unreal, man.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

Unreal. That was that was one that surprised me a little, only because I wasn't sure they were going to get into the business with somebody that they know you have to handle him. Yeah, like we all know, like you gotta manage the minutes, you gotta handle uh the back-to-backs and be able to live without them. But you know the value of the I know we all talk with the Celtics and Joe Missoula, three-point shooting, but I think he also is big on offensive rebounding. Like he is a proponent. I've talked to him about this where offensive that's one of the things. I did a game, did the Super Bowl Sunday game with Mark Kesser for ESPN Radio Nationally up in Boston. And talking to him before the game, he said that's one of the things he admires the most about the Knicks is that they are they're so competitive on the offensive glass, and it's not just reliant on like one big man, is that they like like the Celtics do, they send their wings in and come get them, and that's why Josh Hart is so good because he has the green light to crash on the offensive boards um when he's he's fit, rather than you know, a lot of times Tibbs was get get back on defense and recover. You know, he's got the green light to go get him. Um, so that's why I think you know Mitch does fit the way they want to play. It's just was kind of hoping it would be, you know, can he go to Sacramento? Yeah, yeah, go reunite with Scott Perry. Like, right, like Mitch, Mitch, go get the bag, go get the bag, but just get it out there. Tough to get it, yeah. So I wish him the best. He's he was so he was always good to me. He was a great personality. Guy's been through a lot, as we know, uh, as a Nick and also personally. Um, but I, you know, I loved watching him grow as a person because I remember his press conference when he showed up after he was drafted, it really showed you um his background when he showed up in jeans and like uh just a regular shirt, like untucked, you know, no tie, no nothing for his press conference. And so the Knicks had to find him a sport coat, somebody was trying to find him a tie, and they put it on. So if you want, if you go back to that, it's those are that's not his clothes. Like they just, you know, like he's a country guy, like yeah, you know, so that that that's like you see him there, and then you see him, then he had his little show for a while there that was always a lot of fun when he's interviewing teammates. Um, but then to see him how much how serious he took winning, where you know he matured into a guy that you know he cared a lot about winning. And that is the part that I've really started to appreciate him more because he was one that would speak up every now and then if he didn't like what he was seeing. Yeah, yeah, if he was annoyed or frustrated by something. So they're gonna miss him, but you know, can LeBron play center? Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_03 34:03

Well, I'm I'll I'm gonna get to that LeBron topic in a second, but I mean what what do you think in terms of backup plans, man? Like, you know, the the the Looney stuff is out there. Is it Nick Richards? Do they make a trade? I mean, Slim Pickens right now. What do you think?

SPEAKER_02 34:16

It's very, very much Slim Pickens, and you know, I mean, they're trying to get Eves Missy, obviously, from uh New Orleans. New Orleans. It does it doesn't sound like New Orleans wants to do anything, they don't want to make a deal, or if they do, they probably want to get something that the Knicks are not willing to give. So, because he'd be a good fit. He's the type of player. I mean, Musa Sise is somebody I'm keeping my eye on from Dallas. He is a restricted free agent, of course. So, you know, it's not like it'll be easy to do. Dallas does have their two centers. You know, how much are they gonna be watching their bottom line? Uh I don't know, but you know, that's a guy that I know he's raw, but he's seven feet, long reach. He had a good game against the Knicks, I think, earlier uh in the season where he was, you saw him on the boards. He blocked like a couple of shots, really effective. I I think you got to look there. I know he's not like a uh he's not a true backup two yet because he's so inexperienced, but I think you're just gonna have to go to that market and hope you can coach someone up. See, the Huckporty thing is what really gets you. Big because see, I think the Sixers were like, this is this is twofold for us. We need a better backup center that's a little more athletic because you know the guys they had were not. And and then we also what's an extra million for us to also hurt the Knicks? Because they couldn't afford it. Don't think, don't think for a minute that that wasn't part of the plan. Is you know, Huck Porti's a nice player at 3.6. I don't know, you know what I mean? But it's worth it because it's twofold. All right, we need a body that can play when Embiid can, and Huck's good, he's fine, but he's limited, but he's fine. But it also hurts the Knicks, so it's worth it to you to put that extra million on that you knew the Knicks weren't gonna be able to deal with.

SPEAKER_03 36:07

Yeah, everybody thought when they were sending that qualifying offer, oh, it's just uh you know, technicality to to avoid that no trade. Well, Philadelphia said, All right, here's here's one extra mill that you can't afford, and now he's gone, and now you need two centers.

SPEAKER_02 36:21

Yeah, well, I mean, again, is uh is Trey Jemison somebody that they're gonna bring back to the city? I like Trey. Mike liked him, he sets big screens, he's he's he's small-ish, but he's physical. But you need a third center. He's probably gonna end up having to be the guy. He's been around, he's a vet. Um I I mean, do you I this is gonna make you cringe? Andre Drummond, Mount Vernon guy. I he's a great rebounder still. I know, but he keeps defensively, I know it's a major issue. But now you're reaching that point where you got to start looking at, you know, you got to put the Instagram um filters on some of these guys now and start saying to yourself, uh, not too bad.

SPEAKER_03 37:02

Well, he he just he just came out on a pod um saying that you know he's not looking to give anybody any deals. He wants to get paid what he's worth. So he's hyping himself up. I I don't yeah, it's ain't Detroit anymore, buddy. Like we're in the second apron era.

SPEAKER_02 37:20

You're gonna have to, you know, like like Quentin Post, decent, you know, stretch five, you know, does have a little length, but limited again. Like, you know, I I don't I honestly I don't really know where you go with some of these names that that are on the list. So I I'm it's gonna be interesting to see what they do, but I think Leon Rose and and company has certainly earned your patience because of the things that we've seen them be able to pull off.

SPEAKER_03 37:49

Clock is reset on Leon and Leon I Trust, and I'm just gonna wait and see how this plays out. Uh, shout out to Jonathan Voratio, 7390100 super chat. Says turning 50 this month, been a Knicks fan my whole life. Never thought this would happen. Says, love your show. Thanks for making Knicks content for the fans, man. Happy birthday to Jonathan on the big 5-0. Shout out to Jonathan. Uh now, Solo, you you mentioned this other guy. I'm so tired of it. But here it is. This was Max Kelleman and LeBron's uh, you know, spokesman here, if you will, Rich Paul on their podcast. Speaking on LeBron to the Knicks. There it is.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

I think it's difficult, right? Because the last thing you want to do is mess up something like that, right? The Knicks has a good thing going. You know, that'll be if the Knicks hadn't won, he this wouldn't even there would be no board. He'd be going to the Knicks. He'd be going to the Knicks.

SPEAKER_01 38:46

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 38:47

But the fact that they won.

SPEAKER_01 38:49

I always thought that eliminated them. But the more I think about it, Rich. Well, you just it's see, it's a player thing, Max. The Knicks can only uh afford vet minimums right now. They got rid of Mitchell Robinson because James Dolan, in spite of the fact that it took 53 years for them to win a championship, and the reports are his front office wanted them in the second apron for Mitchell Robinson, refused to go there, and he signs away with the Celtics. I th the Knicks are have their hands tied by the second apron. They need cheap contracts. The rest of the conference got better, they have gotten a little worse. Knicks are weaker than they were. By the way, do they win that game if Mitchell Robinson doesn't get that offensive rebound, right? They don't have him anymore. They don't have his backup center anymore. They they've lost stuff. I think it's a little different than it was.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

LeBron's always judged different, though, Max. I understand what you're saying as a as a fan of the Knicks and as you know, someone who has been around sports forever, but he's just always judged different. And those are what that's that's a very fragile thing. And he's been a part of championship teams, and you've never been a here's the thing he's been a part of a championship team with people coming onto the team. When LeBron comes onto your team, I don't care if you just won a championship, I don't care if you've been the best player, it's different, man. He his his enterprise value and what he just carries is is different.

SPEAKER_01 40:23

And I and Mike Brown knows this. And I respect the fact that he wouldn't and you guys wouldn't, so I'm gonna pause that. What do you think?

SPEAKER_02 40:32

Yeah, it's yeah. Well, first of all, I appreciate Rich Paul because he makes he makes this stuff so compelling by actually talking about it and not putting any secrecy to it. So it draws you in. I saw the whiteboard with all the names and teams on it and the breakdown, like, right? Right, like, but I like it because it's it's theatrical, and I think it's you know, it's fun for this time of year is always about rumors and fun. And instead of rumors, he's just showing you, like, yeah, this is what we're doing. Like, like, I mean, because it is LeBron. There's very few teams that are gonna say no if he wants to go there, they're gonna at least listen and consider it. And and I also like the fact that because he's right. When you have a team that won and the core is almost all intact with Shamit and Alvarado and Deuce and all them, and uh, you know, even Mo Di Ora, is they look at him as a key piece going forward, of course. And their starting five is locked up going nowhere. Like LeBron comes in, it's not like just adding anybody. You're adding a guy that's a he's a corporation. That changes the dynamic of the room of the like look, Mike Brown knows that if I'm closing a game, I don't like the way Mikhail's playing, and Landry's playing well. Mikhail's gonna sit the last four minutes or last three minutes, and Mikhail's gonna live with it. We saw LeBron defend this year. There's times where I know JJ's like, I I gotta take him out, I gotta take him off the court. Yeah. But but you're not taking Mikhail Bridges off, but you're taking LeBron, you're taking LeBron Incorporated and putting him on the bench, and you know that becomes a big story. And also, farewell tour, media coverage, the lock, it just kind of creates too much of a mushroom cloud that the Knicks don't need. And so I think Rich recognizes that and sees it and just goes, like, you know, if they had lost and didn't win the championship, yeah, you can now insert yourself and it could become the piece that you needed. I think if they lost, they might have gotten Giannis, to be honest with you. Uh, yeah, if they didn't go all like if they lost in the second round, if they lost in that first round to Atlanta, I think I think Giannis would be talking about Giannis. Yeah. Right. But but because of how this season finished and how it went and the chemistry of this team, I think the thought of LeBron, while it's a fantasy, Rich Paul's smart enough to know that in reality it disrupts something that you don't want to disrupt because right now what the Knicks have is so precious. And LeBron is smart enough because he's been there to understand, yeah, me going in there, then I become the guy that might have messed it up. I don't want to be that. I don't want to be that. And so, you know, is it it's it's like A-rod going to the Yankees in 2004, right? It's like A-Rod going to the Yankees, and now the Yankees stopped winning championships. You know, like it's it's it's similar to that. Did it disrupt things as good as LeBron could be? And I think he's still very good. Yeah. So I give them respect that they acknowledged that while the Knicks would have been a perfect place for LeBron to go, it would have been a great story. Uh it it's with them winning the championship, it's like, no, it it's not it's not gonna fit. You agree?

SPEAKER_03 43:44

1,000% agree. I've been over this chase since the decision. It didn't happen then. It didn't happen when he was deciding to to to uh before he goes to LA two times. Yeah. We don't need that. We don't need the distraction. We don't need the circus. And I think, you know, decision 3.0, I've been saying it since last year. When they put the statement out there, Lakers are moving on, or Lakers are trying to build what we're trying to build. The Cleveland reunion is the only story that makes sense. He can go back there. You got the documentary going on. He can start, and that's the only team that he can reclaim as his own. Because no one has faith in Harden. No one has faith in Donovan Mitchell. The prodigal son, go home and finish your career. And it's the only one that can end on a high note, regardless of if they win a championship or not.

SPEAKER_02 44:40

Agree. Absolutely agree. That is a that that that I felt that same exact way. I think it's just a the fairy tale ending, is the way, and you're right, even if they get knocked out in the playoffs, which seems like always going to be their fate, especially when they have James Harden. Um, I just feel like you're right. It still becomes that heartwarming story. You stay on it, you cover it. I think it would be good for Cleveland. I think for Dan Gilbert, I've saw Dan Gilbert a couple of times in that in this year. I only saw him twice in that um in that conference finals. And you could see Dan, like, you know, he's his self is not great, but you could just see him also, they they they lost that 22-point lead in game one, man. He his mood swing in that game was unreal. And you could see it. He's a guy that probably would do anything to get back something for his team so he can get a chance to see it win one more time. And so you're right. And I think your second option that makes good sense and would I think to be compelling for the NBA would be Golden State. That's the other place. Put him with Steph Curry, they'll be on national TV a ton, they'll get tons of coverage, it'll be fun to watch when they're healthy, the two of them playing together. I say when they're healthy because we know the regular season for them is going to be a management type season. Remote management. But but would you want to play them in a playoff series if you're a young team in the West? Yeah. I wouldn't. Because you never know with them. That's the those two guys, you get them in a in a best of seven, and they got, you know, they got some chemistry clicking, you know, they could be real dangerous, and that could be fun. It could be, you know, um it's it. I know they're old, and everybody'll say, Oh, the Warriors were old and all that. I get that. But there's just something about it, you know, the the Schwarzenegger um uh uh Stallone movie where they got all the old action heroes together and they made those movies, right? Like that's that's what it would have a feel for, and I think that'd be fun. But Cleveland is just seems to be the most obvious place for him to land. And I expect it, to be honest with you. The most obvious. The Philly thing doesn't make sense, man. The Philly, him going to Philly, like how awkward and weird would that be if him to just drop him in Philly randomly, put him on that team, and he's supposed to do a farewell tour while they have Jalen Brown. Like he might he's like the third most important story on that team at that point, right? Like that that Philly thing makes no sense. Cleveland does, and Golden State would be kind of a fun second option if he just wants to stay in Cali.

SPEAKER_03 47:13

Speaking of uh Philly and making no sense, what are the Boston Celtics doing, man? I mean, they pushed Jalen Brown out of there, hit the plank, Paul George. Now they want to sell me. Oh, analytically, we got Paul George and he fits, and Pritchard's gonna take the next step. He's the next Brunson. What did you make of that trade?

SPEAKER_02 47:34

It was a terrible trade. And it's it's uh the first reaction I had on my radio show was uh did Brad Stevens get abducted and someone else is now running the team. Because, you know, like this is the this is this is Mookie Betts being traded to the Dodgers in Boston. It doesn't make sense on any level. First of all, let's just start with the obvious. You're trading away a guy that helped you win a championship, and he was the finals MVP. I don't care how much, I don't care how much of a pain in the ass you are. You don't you just don't give away guys like that. Now, if they would have traded him for Giannis, which I I still didn't love that either. But if they did, you you could say, well, they they got another all-time great, like a guy that's every year in the MVP conversation, who's you know, a dominant force, you know, I can I get it. If you wanted to do that, fine. But this you you traded him to the Sixers, you didn't trade him to Memphis, you didn't trade him to Dallas, you didn't trade him to Minnesota, you traded him to Philly. Like that's a mortal enemy of Boston. Why would you trade a guy like that that you know revenge factor on a hundred? You you think, right? He's as petty as they come. And you're telling me that I gotta see him four times a year now? What why would you do that? For what? You didn't even get anything out of it. And I know people are now trying to sell the idea. Well, they got two first-round picks in a draft that's supposed to be really good. But bro, those those guys are still in high school, as far as I know. Don't even tell me like this is gonna be a great draft when you tell me about 16-year-olds. But that's the like like so there's so many things about it that don't tell me Brad Stevens was at the wheel. They don't tell me he was at the wheel. Now, if you look further, remember they had an ownership change. Right. And from the ownership change, we're learning about now that you have investors now. This is a whole new world. And it's it it I I hate to feel like are the Celtics now becoming part of this world that's getting eaten alive by private equity? That now you all of a sudden have investors who are making business decisions and financial decisions, not what's best for the team. And we got to get out of one of these $300 million contracts. And if he's the disgruntled guy, why don't we move on from him? We'll get out of Paul George in two years. You know, we don't like this second apron thing, and we don't want to deal with that. It makes no sense to tell your investors that we're paying three times the tax on our payroll and we didn't win a championship. Right? So you got to now answer to all that stuff. It's a different world. So is that also now impacting the Celtics? Because if it is, Boston Celtics, as we knew them, are not going to exist anymore.

SPEAKER_03 50:21

Uh Jalen Brown on his Twitch stream last night alluded to that, thinking that it's a it seemed like this was higher than Brad Stevens. Brad Stevens is known to be a lot more open and communicative with his players if they if they're being traded. Uh Antoine Walker came out and said, This is on Chisholm. This is a business move. And I think, you know, in these last couple of years, the second apron, I think, is really having a stranglehold on teams. You heard Wick Grossbeck, the former owner of the Celtics, saying, I'm out of here. I'm selling the team first and foremost. It's very expensive to maintain. And I can't see teams being in the second apron for more than two years. The Blazers get sold by Paul Allen's heirs. Cuban backs out of the Mavericks. He talks about how, you know, ownership is not as glamorous. I think that's part of the reason Luca got the boot from Dallas, because you don't want to give him $300 million. You can't be an owner and sign off on that ridiculous trade by Nico. I mean, you can't move by yourself if you're Nico. You need ownership stamp. So I'm thinking I'm thinking ownership's like, well, Nico, if you're not buying into this guy, if he's not committed to winning, we're not gonna pony up. You know, Mary Madison and and Dumont, they're probably like, why are we gonna give this guy money? Let's start from scratch, right? The same don't situation. Everybody's like, hey, he's spending spend. Maybe he says, you know what, I'm the rabbit with the gun now. I've got the championship, and I'm tired of spending. I'm tired of paying the penalties. Maybe that's it.

SPEAKER_02 51:47

You watch Golden State because they're they're gonna sell. They're gonna sell at some point because that value, while they still have Steph Curry, is as high as it's gonna be. And at some point, it doesn't make sense to spend three times the amount of money on your on your payroll. It doesn't make sense. This is a hard cap. That's what it is. They're claiming it's not, but it really is, because it's not just the money anymore, it's also what it does to your roster, what it freezes your assets. All right, you want to talk finance? It it freezes your assets. And when I say assets, I'm talking about draft picks, the ability to make manu make moves. You are frozen as a franchise when you do this. And I also think you know, when it comes to Jim Dolan's decision to do this, I think he's also looking at it as a way of like telling the league and this decision to do this stuff. Is, you know, I am not, I'm tired of giving my money to other franchises. Like I always used to bring this up a lot, and I'm it's all starting to come to a head. When the Denver Nuggets won the championship in 2023, their owners is Dan Kronke, right? He is one of the richest people, he's part of one of the richest families in the world, and yet other billionaires in the league gave him money in revenue sharing because in his market, the Denver Nuggets were a team that needed money. How, like, wouldn't that drive you crazy? Yeah, wouldn't it make you crazy that you know there's somebody just as rich as you, maybe even more, and you had to give him money to run his franchise. And then he took it and he won a championship with your money. That'd piss you off, wouldn't it? For sure. Like, that's like when you're like, you know, you put billionaires in a room, that's a lot of egos. And and if I'm a guy that's I own a I have a ton of money, you know, I'm multi-billionaire, and I own a team in a small market, and I see another multi-billionaire, and I'm valued higher than he is, and he gave me money, I've got you to give me money, so I don't have to use my own money, but I don't have to put any more of my own money, I should say, into my franchise. I just took it from you and I won a championship. I I would I'd probably trash talk you the whole year telling you about that, right? I've been telling you all about all that. Hey, by the way, yeah, yeah, thanks for funding my championship. You want to see the Larry O? I know it's not yours, but you had a hand in it. You can go ahead and look at it, right? And on the other side, you're mad as hell. Like, I'm giving this guy money. No, I don't like these rules at all. So I do think the next time the CBA is up, this thing's gonna come to a head again. Yes, and it might benefit the players. Yes. Because even there's gonna be some owners going, you know what, that whole idea of that second apron, this is not working. This is terrible for the league. Because, like, we're finding that, yes, it's nice to have different champions every year, but why am I being penalized? And and Mitch is a great example. I I draft well, and I have to make choices about who I'm paying because that $300 million that this player's worth in his next max contract because he hit all the things that he needed to hit, he's done everything right. I drafted him, developed him, he's become a great player, he's done everything right, but because now he's worth X, that X is X times three as I build a championship team. That penalizes me. My own draft picks should not be liable or should not be counted under the second apron rules. If I bring a player in in a trade and then have to give him a contract, if I sign a player as a free agent and then we get over the second apron, different story. Yeah. But if I draft well, watch Oklahoma City too. Like that's gonna get that's gonna get weird in Oklahoma City.

SPEAKER_03 55:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:39

Because they got a new building they're coming into, they just spent a ton of money on. And they've got a lot of good players. They've drafted well, and he's got a ton of first-round picks that he's gonna have to start figuring out. What am I doing with all these picks? And I've got to keep moving guys out when they're time to get paid and keep certain guys. That's a lot of turnover, and it's staying out of the second apron for a small market team like that, who is, by the way, getting money from other franchises. But at some point, you got to get frustrated, like, I'm drafting well, I'm drafting all NBA players, all NBA selection players, and I'm getting penalized times three. That doesn't make sense. So this is gonna come to a head at some point, but Boston is an early example of it. And the Brown trade is an example of to me. This is not Brad Stevens making this decision. Brad has said he and and Jalen, they talk a lot. They've been open and honest about everything, they were in a good place. This went beyond, it was time to move on from Brown and Tatum. This this went deeper, and that's what we were just talking about. The new ownership stuff, the financial impact of the second apron, and decisions that are not made based on basketball.

SPEAKER_03 56:52

Dollars and cents, man. Absolute dollars and cents. Uh man, listen, today's session was absolutely needed, and uh, and I appreciate I appreciate the time. Uh, what do you what's the plans for the offseason, man? What are you gonna be doing?

SPEAKER_02 57:07

Well, I have the radio show, so I'm down to one job.

SPEAKER_03 57:11

Yeah, right, right.

SPEAKER_02 57:13

For a couple of months, down to one job. But uh, yeah, my my time I take off is later in the month and just completely get away and shut it down. I am intrigued in the summer league stuff. I love watching the young guys. I think there's a couple of guys, I think Nickel is a fun player to keep an eye on. I think he's a guy that can, I love the two kids that they drafted. I know the one kid, the German kid's gonna stay, um he's gonna stay overseas. He told us, he told me draft night. I host the draft for ES Ban Radio. He he came to our table and he said, I intend on playing in in New York. And I was like, Oh, you do, huh? And then we found out that the Knicks told him, not right now. We like you, but we're gonna keep you over there. It makes sense to us. So, you know, some leagues are always fun, but because we went so late, it's gonna be a short summer. And I'm really looking forward to next season and and getting into um and just seeing that banner, man. Seeing that banner. So do they put the cup banner up now? I'm with it. Do you do you put it up now? Do you go two banners on that night and say, you know what? We won it all. We took it all.

SPEAKER_03 58:17

Now I'm for it. I was not for it when they first won it. I said, we got bigger fish to fry. Now that they have it, put it all up. Put the cup trophy in the middle with the regular trophy. Put all the trophies up together. I'm with it, man. I'm totally on board right now.

SPEAKER_02 58:31

I feel like you know what? Three banners should go up: the NBA Championship, the NBA Cup, and number 11. Just put it up. Just put it up. What are we waiting for? Just put it up. Just put it up. You know what I mean? Yeah. We all know it's going up there. Just put it up, Matt. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:45

The king of New York, man. Han Solo. Thanks again for the time. Enjoy the summer, and uh, I'll see you in September, man. We'll meet again in Technology.

SPEAKER_02 58:52

Always fun. Always fun to talk to you.

SPEAKER_03 58:54

Absolutely. All right, ladies and gentlemen. That was the great Alan Hahn. Suit to everybody in the chat once again. Hit the like button, hit the share button, subscribe to the channel. Let me read some of these super chats because I got a boogie. I gotta get up out of here and get my vacation on. Uh, shout out to director Jay Hall. Welcome to the franchise channel members. Eric Horn says I'm in Jackson, Mississippi, and I lost it. He's talking about when we were recapping the Knicks NBA Finals run. Freeway Hustler, $10 Super Chats is Cup Champions. AH, JB Cat win at All-Star Weekend. A.H. mean Alan Houston. Eastern Conference Champs, NBA champ. The team just wins. What a year. Hey, put all that up in the rafters. Put it up in the rafters. Big Surge says LBJ at the four is appealing, but hard pass on the circus of a farewell tour and the distraction. Well, we put the poll up. 54% people said no, they don't want LeBron. 46 say yes. So it's pretty even. Pretty even right now. All right. 2,2500 people in the chat. Like, share, and subscribe. Remember that these shows are available in audio podcast format. Shout out to Pavi. 10 pound super chats is great coverage from both of you all year round in our favorite season in our lifetime by far. What do you guys think of trading for these sleeper bigs? Wizard Center, Trishan Vusevich, or Pelicans Matkovich. Shout out to Pat Shout out to Pavlo. I think I know why he wants those guys, but you know what? Hey, listen. Anything I trust Leon. And if he thinks those guys are worthwhile getting, they might have those guys as third string options. Life real good. 33 five-doule super chats says, I found it a little disrespectful to say Brunson, the champion to reach out to LeBron. He's talking about Rich Paul. Well, listen, you know, if they're recruiting, hey, yeah, that's how it goes, man. You know, the the L the guy who has the established uh leader is gonna make the call, right? Drago, NYC Five Dow Super Chat says, we don't want or need LeBron the drama king on this team. He brings a negative circuit and circus anywhere he goes. Shout out Jude Judar Chinette. Five hour super chat says LeBron coming here will cause chemistry issues. This is Jalen Brunson City with Cat No G. LeBron comes here. It's all about LeBron. I'm with you. Five hour Super Chat Pistol Pete says, yes, it'll be a great story for LeBron, but it is known that this is his last season. Did that did make that statement, or are we assuming that is his last? I think it's more assumption, but I mean he's 40. He's gonna be 42. Pistol Pete also says, shout out to KFTV, shout out to Alan Hahn. Always enjoy the way you guys analyze the NBA world and the reasons why people make the decisions that they make. Yeah, the second apron still is fascinating. It really is. And I think it is driving a lot of these decisions. Uh Sharon, five dial super chat, says, Who do you guys think will end up being the backup center? And what are the chances we play Philly on Banner Knight? I think Philly is gonna be the Banner Knight team unless LeBron goes to Cleveland. It could be Cleveland. But um, yeah, backup center. It could be Looney. Maybe it's Richards. I think he's gonna have to go with Looney or Drummond. You need a veteran at this backup center, and then you bring in maybe a young upstart as a third string. Knicks need a lot of help right now, man. Knicks definitely need a lot of help right now. But either way, man, you guys enjoy your holiday weekend. Salute to you guys. Like, share, subscribe. Excellent show. Thanks again to Han Solo for giving us his time. Share this video with the Knicks fan. If you're a diehard Knicks fan, share it in your group chat. Email your friend, text, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit. Put it out there, man. Number one show. You heard Tom from Huntington for the fans, buy the fans. It's a KFTV merchant shop.nixfanTV.com and we'll catch up with you guys after the weekend. Enjoy unless unless news breaks, but we'll catch up with