The Spurs CHOKED, Brunson Proved Everyone Wrong & The Knicks Took Their Soul | Real Hooper Show

The Knicks are champions, and we're talking about everything that led to this moment.

Did the Spurs lose this series more than the Knicks won it? Was the turning point when Wemby threw the ball off Castle's back? Did San Antonio desperately need Chris Paul in those clutch moments?

We break down Jalen Brunson's incredible underdog story, from second-round pick to champion. While stars like Luka, Trae Young, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, and others received the spotlight, Brunson just kept winning.

We also discuss why the Knicks overcame every challenge thrown their way, how Villanova chemistry changed a franchise, and whether Mike Brown deserves more credit for one of the greatest coaching jobs in recent memory.

Topics:
 • Did the Spurs choke?
 • Wemby criticism
 • Chris Paul's missing impact
 • Jalen Brunson's underdog story
 • Knicks championship run
 • Villanova brotherhood
 • Mike Brown's first-year success
 • KAT vs Julius Randle trade debate
 • The future of the Spurs

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Scores, scores. New York. That's right, New York Knicks won a championship. First in 50 plus years. Shout out to New York, man. I'm your boy Sean Sug. Amos. It's the real Hooper show. You know we gotta talk about. You know we gotta, you know we gotta talk about everything that happened this series, man. I got my guy E here. What's up, my boy? Yo, what's good, bro? You already know, man. You see your boy, hey, look, your boy Brunson proved this wrong. He proved this wrong.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Nah, nah, nah, he proved you wrong, bro.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Listen, I was with him. Nah. I was with him. All I said, listen, this is all I said. This is all I said. He don't need to play hero ball if the cape is not needed. Did you ever see Superman go in the booth for no reason?

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Bro, you were saying OG's the finals MVP, bro.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

I did say OG was the finals MVP. OG was consistent. Nah. OG listen. And I but I I did say, I did say, they gotta give it to Jalen Brunson because he averaged 10 points more than everybody else. You gotta give it to him. But it was ugly. In the first three games, it was ugly. Nah, it was looking, it was looking good to me. No, he would look like he was trying to get the finals MVP before winning the championship, bro. I don't care what nobody says. But he pulled it off. He pulled it off. And they said if they say they say you can't win with small guards, they lying. Jalen Brunson showed you they lying. If they say you can't win with a second round pick, you're lying. Jalen Brunson did it. Jalen Brunson definitely did it. Now, before we get into that, this is why I love basketball, though, bro. Like to see everybody come together. To see the streets of New York pat with different people, different races, people with different backgrounds, different ethnicity all coming together for one celebration. That's the beauty of sports. That's the beauty of music. That's the beauty of entertainment. That's the beauty of art. Seeing everyone coming together. That's the best thing about basketball, man. That's the best thing about sports, but obviously I'm a basketball guy. And the sea guys love the game. C guys represent the city. Guys like Fat Joe out there, Tracy Morgan out there. You see Nas out there. The C guys represent the city is beautiful, man. Beautiful. City Pride, man. That's what it's about, man. I'm thinking to myself, like Spike Lee. Look at Spike Lee. Spike Lee has been at the games for over 30 years. Don't no one got more dedication than Spike Lee. Nobody got more dedication than Spike Lee, Ben Stiller. All these guys waited patiently, spending their hard-earned money to watch the Knicks lose. At one point, the Knicks was so bad they had to put paper bags on their head because people was embarrassed to be Knicks fans.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

It's crazy, man.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

You think about all the good players that came through the Knicks that came through the Knicks organization, all the coaches. Phil Jackson, Isaiah Thomas, Derek Fisher. Like last year, they were trying to blame a coach. I said, no, no, no, I ain't the coach. But clearly it was. Clearly, clearly it was, man. You think about it, man. Listen, man. I'm so happy for New York. I'm from Philly. But look, I'm being from Philly, right? I remember when the Eagles won a championship in, excuse me, the Super Bowl in 2017. I cried, bro. I ain't gonna lie, I cried, bro. I never forget it. I remember driving to, I was driving to a party after they won. My brother called me. Yeah, we did it, man. We did it, man. And here's the reason why we both was crying. Because when you from a city and you understand the working class, you understand that people live for Sundays. People live to see the Eagles win. They they whole thing, we go to church, then we watch the Eagles. They want to talk about it at work for three days straight. And this to know that they did haven't won a Super Bowl since 1960 to 2017. Do you know how relentless of a fan you need to be? Same thing with the Knicks, man. You know how relentless of a fan you need to be? It ain't like that out here in LA. We got too much stuff to do. There's beaches out here. It don't matter. If it wasn't for the Lakers winning a championship, for the sake of the show, let's not count the bubble. Because it wasn't in LA. For the sake of the show, right? The Lake, LA people wouldn't even recognize that they haven't won a championship since 2010. Because it's too much fun out here. It's too much. The weather's too nice. It's too much to do. Lakers game is like casual outings. No, okay. It's casual outings, bro. Take your girl there. You downtown. You have Flemings or something. Oh, shoot, the Lakers playing. You want to buy some chickens on. Yeah, we don't gotta sit all close. I mean, this shit that we are they even winning this season? They got two teams out here, Lakers and Clippers. Some reason they hate the Clippers. I have no clue why. I don't got no clue why they hate the Clippers. Clippers ain't do nothing to them. They play in the same stadium, everything. It literally be Lakers fans booing Clipper fans. The Lakers gotta, the Clippers, when they play, and when they play at the uh crypto, they gotta cover the Lakers banners. Like, like my like it's so crazy out here, it's too chill. But to see like New York and to see the pride, I understand that pride coming from the inner city, man. I understand that pride coming from Philly, man. I understand it, bro. And I don't get me wrong, I know the Lakers got a great organization, and they got some diehard fans as well. But it's a lot of casual fans for the Lakers, too. There's a lot of casual fans for the Lakers. There's casual fans everywhere, though. Nah, but it's a New York fans, like New York, any like New York, Philly, for those people to be going all the time, spending it hard-earned money, like money comes a little easier out here in LA. Nah, I mean, it comes a little easier out here in LA. But it goes it goes easier too. Yeah, because y'all, because we do a lot of casual stuff. We do a lot of leisure stuff.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

There's a lot of leisure stuff in LA. There is. There is. There is.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

When you in New York, you gotta understand what you working with, what you're working against in the East. You working against the weather. It's cold. Okay. It's cold. Hey, A E, I got some Knicks tickets for you. It's 20 degrees outside, though. And you gotta catch the train.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

You going?

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:32

The tickets ain't on the floor, bro. The tickets, the tickets and nosebleeds.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

I'm still pubs of it. All right, you're gonna pull up.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

All right, so you might be a diehard Knicks fan. You might be a diehard Knicks fan living in LA. Let's leave it at that. The Spurs, man. Listen, I I like the Spurs. Um, I think it was a good run for them, but I think they was too young. You know, we could sit and blame a bunch of people, but it was just too young. Somebody has to lose. Somebody has to lose. That's just what it is. Somebody has to lose. And the Spurs, they play like they. They played like they was tired, bro. I I said this earlier. I think that those seven games with OKC, it just drained them. I think that seven games, it drained them, bro. You know what I'm saying? Like, I don't I don't really think um they had enough, they had they they didn't have enough gas in the tank, man. It was just, it was just it was just too much for them. They look discombobulated. They need they need a true point guard. Um it's not really no one to blame. Like, you know, we always wanted to want to blame someone. Yeah, we can get we'll get to De'Aaron Fox in a second. I was about to say, but we can get to De'Aaron Fox. We're gonna get to De'Aaron Fox. But um, they lost the series when Wemby. Look, you know when they lost the series, bro?

SPEAKER_00 8:50

When they lose it.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

When Wimby threw the ball at Castle, when Wimby threw the ball to Cat, when Wimby threw the ball off Castle back when he was uh running up the court.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

It was from it was downhill from there, bro. Like they lost the confidence. Like in that in that fourth quarter stretch, they lost that confidence. It was over at that point. They couldn't figure it out, and the New York Knicks knew it. And I felt like Mike Brown, he was holding on to his his weapons to the end. Like changing lineups at the end. Like he had different plays at the end. And and it confused him. And I don't and I just don't think they was ready for that. You know who they needed though? You know who would have made a big difference? Who? Chris Paul. Chris Paul and this. No, he he would have. Chris Paul would have made a big difference. I I Chris Paul, they traded him for De'Aaron Fox. Even if you have Chris Paul on the bench, I don't think you lose a 29-point lead.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Yeah, I could see how he would have made it a difference.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

You don't lose a 16-point lead. But you need him on the floor though. You don't always need him on the floor. You don't need him on the floor a long time. You you can you don't you he doesn't need to play 35 minutes. But in that club, like he need he could have played Jose Alvarado minutes.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

He played Jose Alvarado minutes. Yeah, yeah. He don't need to start, but you need him on the court at that time. Dylan Hartford did great. He did a great job. Fox didn't do such a good job. Look, look, look, hold up. He didn't do a good job. Yeah, I'm gonna get to him. But we gotta think about it, right? If I'm Mitch Johnson, right? Do I want to take De'Aaron Fox off the court and solely rely on my rookie?

unknown 10:38

No.

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yeah, it's hard to trust. But if you had Chris Paul, you take a Chris Paul, you take a Dylan Fox off or uh De'Aaron Fox off for Chris Paul. I was still you I Chris, I'm putting I'm putting Chris Paul on that court, bro.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

De'Aaron Fox was hooping, you're keeping De'Aaron Fox on the court. But he wasn't hooping. That's what I'm saying. That's the point. That's the only reason why you take the city. That's the point.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Yeah, like yeah, if he's hooping, sure, of course. We're gonna we're gonna rot out.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Okay, but he wasn't hooping.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

But he had no option but to keep more there because it was a thing of experience. It's a thing of experience. You put Chris Paul on the court. First off, every game, I think with the exception of one, the Spurs, the Spurs led by at least 14 points.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Every game. Chris Paul on the court, you don't lose those leads. You don't lose game four, they were up 20 points in the fourth quarter. You don't lose those leads with Chris Paul. You just don't. We've seen Chris Paul turn organizations around. We've seen Chris Paul lose, but we haven't seen him lose 29-point leads in the finals. I don't think you lose it with him. And it brings me to my next point. That's the only knock I have on the NBA. Not enough floor generals. Not enough floor generals. And or floor generals are not valued anymore. Do you still value Michael Conley? Do you still value Drew Holiday? Do you still value Fred Van Fleet? Do you still value guys like Chris Paul? Well, Chris Paul wasn't even, they shipped him on. They couldn't even find a new team for him. They couldn't find nothing for him. They just let him retire. Listen, man, you can retire at home, bro. We send you a birthday cake. We'll send you a wash or something. They gave him a severage packet. All right, bro. He's acting up. But they don't value players no more, man.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

And and you know, but I I feel like the floor generals, they gotta come with more. You know what I'm saying? Like with what? That that Chris Paul's hot floor general where he controls the ball uh 50% of the game, that's done. I think you I think that's a good I think that would have been a great thing for them. Nah, because you got like you said, you got a Wemby out there, you got a Castle out there.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

You get you he he understands where to get Wimby the ball at. He understands when to give Wimby the ball. They don't know when to give Wimby the ball. Wemby don't know when to get the ball. At the last four minutes of every game, when they of every game that they lost, they looked confused. They had no structure, they didn't know where to go. That's what De'Aaron Fox, De'Aaron Fox shot four shots, missed four shots in a row, missed a wide open three, 88 to 90 with 58 seconds on the clock to go, missing bricking. Chris Paul sets him up, Chris Paul sets him up, or Chris, or he's not in the game, and Chris Paul First off, I don't think they just lose. I don't even think they get in that predicament with Chris Paul in the court.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

Nah, but I'm saying though, like Chris Paul, he has to come with more. Like he Chris Paul, it can't just be him giving Game Women the ball. He always has to come with some type of offensive.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

No, no, no. So how I look at it is this you just don't, Chris Paul don't play the whole game. Let these guys get off, let these guys do their thing. You use Chris Paul as an equalizer. You put Chris Paul in to calm him down. Hey, hey, you to you, you let Chris Paul dictate the shots. When you up 29, or you up, and you already seen this pattern where we lose and leads, they lost, they lost a 16-point lead the last game. You gotta throw, you'll throw a Chris Paul in there to slow it down. These guys, one of the things that shocked me about the Spurs this series was these guys played at a different pace every game. Every game they played at a different pace. I didn't know what they were doing. We least knew that Jalen Brunson was gonna at least shoot 27 shots. We at least knew that. I didn't know who was gonna shoot one night. Uh I don't even got the stats up. Uh what's his name? Dylan Harper had like 25 points. Yeah, he did, he did. He had 25 points in a in a in a uh in a closeout game. So when I sit here and when I sit here and see all this, I'm just like, ah, they don't got no structure. They don't know nowhere to go. Chris Paul tell you all, Chris Paul put that put that to bed.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Now, how about them close out close out time? Like, how about never mind. We'll we'll I'll I'll say it for a moment when we get to De'Aaron Fox.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Okay. Uh Mitch Johnson. People say that Mitch Johnson didn't do a good job. Here's the thing. I don't like that. I don't like I don't like the fact that people say that Miss Johnson didn't do a good job. Because here's a guy who's a young coach. Team didn't even make the playoffs last year. Team is in the finals this year. The reality of it is, is he got out coached. He got outcoached by a veteran coach. He got outcoached. Mike James has been in the league forever. Since what 2000?

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

2000? Coach with the Wizards, coach with the Spurs, head coach of the Cavaliers, went to the championship with them. Sacramento Kings, uh, the Warriors. Yeah, he's been coaching for a minute, bro. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 16:12

Coaching for a minute, bro.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

He he he just got out coached. He got out coached, and and that's what happens, man. I just think the Spurs was just too young. They was just way too young. And they was, and and they just all need to get back in the gym. Wimby needs to get back in the gym. Wemby needs to give leave them monks alone, bro. Leave them monks alone. Go hit the weights. All the all the stuff, yeah. That's cute. That's cool. Don't we we we ain't trying to hear no bells binging at the end of winning games, none of that. Y'all dudes want to adopt this Kobe Bryant mentality, where y'all don't have fun smile and all that at the end of the games. I'd rather y'all just do that. Don't do it. Don't don't do the bell. Don't do none of that. Don't do none of that. Go ahead and go ahead and man, go lift some weights, bro. Go lift some weights, put some weight on you, man. Go get you, go get you, go get you a chick to cook, or something like that, man. He was getting knocked around. That one play when Jalen Brunson goes to the basket and he bumps him. Got the Bambi legs. He looked like he was about to fall out. You too big for that. You too big for that, bro. So when I see it, it's like, okay, cool. Cool. You gotta get in the gym. Y'all didn't deserve to win this one. De'Aaron Fox. De'Aaron Fox, man. They listen, they they up here calling the cops on De'Aaron Fox and San Antonio talks. Oh yo, he's robbing the Spurs. So somebody playing on Robin the Spurs and take your 40. Like, yo, come on, bro. Like they they all on all the social media sites calling San Antonio Spurs. Uh police department. Police department saying you gotta talk to the Spurs about that. You can't stop calling us. This is embarrassing out here, man. I'm embarrassed to say this, uh, but I'm gonna still say it because y'all probably can't even find the video anyway. We got hacked. But I'm I'm embarrassed to say this. At one point, I I had a debate going who better De'Aaron Fox or Jalen Brunson. I'm embarrassed. De'Aaron Fox, bro, you're embarrassing me, bro.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Nah, that was a real debate. It was a real debate at one point, but he put it to be.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Listen, De'Aaron Fox and Jalen Brunson have been battling since high school. He's been battling, they've been battling since high school, bro. Okay. And um, yeah, man. It's one of them things, bro. It's one of them things where you watch somebody pass you. Now, listen, he can redeem himself though. It ain't too far off. He only got one ring, bro. He only got one ring. You one ring ahead, you look at it like that. Just look at it like that. He one ring ahead. You in San Antonio, bro. It's boring down there. All you gotta do is put the work in. Just put the work in. You know what I mean? I just I just don't think De'Aaron Fox is buying into the system. Um, I but I also don't think De'Aaron Fox is the point guard that they needed for this for the championship run. I don't I don't think he not not not the run, excuse me. Not the championship run. I mean for this finals. I don't I just don't think they De'Aaron Fox was that guy. I do think they needed a floor general.

SPEAKER_00 19:15

You don't but you don't think De'Aaron Fox could have adapted into a floor general? Like, bro, it's hard.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

It is a challenge for a lot of players. That's why a lot of players that we what we grow up watching in high school and all that kind of stuff, they get to college and they get to the or they go to the NBA, and it's it is it and we don't see the same player. Because when you're not that guy on the team no more, you're not that guy. And it's hard for you to figure out why you're not that guy. And then when it when the stuff goes left, you and you're back in your mind, subconsciously, you still thinking like, I gotta be that guy. I can take over right now, I can do it right now. Then none of these dudes is hitting, I gotta go out with a bang. Because that's what you used to do. A guy like Chris Paul, he's a floor general. He don't, he's been in plenty positions or plenty uh predicaments where he got a better score on the team. And he got a pass on the ball, he got a pass on the basketball. So with De'Aaron Fox, once he's seen that Wimmy was having a hard time, once he starts seeing like me, I and I'm not gonna say he was trying to like outplay Dylan Harper, but at the end of the day, he got a score's mentality. That's hard to change.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

But even with the so it's two things, right? One, we've seen Carl Anthony Towns literally change his game in the season. Like, bro, he wasn't with the way he was operating the top of the key, he wasn't doing that last season. Right. He he he bought into what Mike Brown was saying. So De'Aaron Fosk, he could that's completely different.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Because Cat is off the ball. He's off the basketball. He can't bring the basketball up, he's not bringing the basketball up. So it's it's truly about who gives him the ball. So if he don't get the ball, he don't get the ball. And if he don't get the ball, he got to go get the ball. Meaning go get a rebound.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

No, but I'm saying some some you know how Draymond would be on top of the key, or like the Nicole Locus, they'd be on top of the key, and then all there'd be offensive sets or offensive actions going off of them with the ball at top of the key. Carn did not tell us he was doing that. Darren Fox, he does he doesn't have to play like that necessarily, but he could necessarily be that offensive engine where it's like they're playing off of Darren Fox, people are cutting off of picking roles, you know what I'm saying? Nah, no, no, no, no, no. He he that's not that's not but he can't change his game though. You can't just get it.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Anybody can change their game, but it's a matter of with a scoring guard, is a matter of if I change my game, if I change my game, is it impactful to me? Is it satisfying to me? Is it satisfying to me? Kat was drafted in 2015. He don't care, bro. He just trying to win a championship. He didn't drop 60 in the league already. He this is the second team he's been on. He'd been he's been to the Western Conference Finals already with another team. He he he he got guys like Kevin Garnett rooting for him, played with Kevin Garnett. He ain't have Kat don't got nothing to prove he got he got all-star MVP, been an all-star for many years. He has nothing to prove other than winning the championship. So if it means I average 13 points in the finals, I average 13 points in the finals. Darren Fox is his first time in the finals. Sometimes, bro, mentally, that throws you off. That throws you off when it comes to that.

SPEAKER_00 22:30

Oh, now if he's a scoring guard, if he lived in has a scoring guard, why would it scoring, bro?

SPEAKER_01 22:36

The moment was too big, bro. The moment was too big. Sometimes the moment is too big, bro. The lights is on. The lights is on, man. And the jitters is there, bro. And you see in your dream. Because listen, getting to the championship is not easy. Everyone wants to make it seem like getting to the championship is easy. It's not easy, bro. Like they did and the only reason why they do that because of the whole LeBron and Jordan debate. But the reality of it is, the New York Knicks, this is the New York Knicks' first time in the final since 1999, bro. 1999. Almost three decades, bro. Almost three decades, 1999, bro. The last time New York Knicks was in the NBA, bro, I mean in the NBA finals, Jalen Brunson's dad was playing. Rick Brunson was playing, bro. That's not easy to get, it's not easy to get to the finals. It's not. And they all know that. They all know that for a fact. So the CM, you know, and I knew, and I knew listen, bro. The Spurs, think about that. The Spurs, the last, let me see. This is off the top of the head. So if I'm wrong, correct me in the comments. The Spurs are the only team. The Spurs won the most championships since 2000. Since 1999 to 2000. Five years. They got five championships. No other team won five championships. And think about this. The last time they was in the finals was 2014, 12 years ago. That's how hard it is to get to the finals, bro. You gotta be pretty lucky. You gotta be pretty lucky to get to the finals, too. Like, think about it. Let's break this down. You get Mike James the next year. You move Mike James, you get him. Julius Randle, you move him, get Kat. Jalen Brunson is a second round pick, and we'll get to that later. Most of the people on that team wasn't drafted to the Knicks. Josh Hart wasn't drafted to the Knicks. Mikhail Bridges wasn't drafted to the Knicks. I think the only person who was drafted to the Knicks was Mitch Robinson. That was the only person. That's how lucky you gotta get. That's how lucky you gotta get. You really gotta shuffle people around and time it. And just time. They played against a young Spurs. Young Spurs, 22 years old. Time it. Just time it, man. But you know, it is what it is, man. Before we get to the next thing, make sure y'all check out Goals ActiveWare. Make sure you check out some merch, Real Hooper hoodies. 25% off. 25% off when you use code Real Hoopers at checkout. We're doing big things this summer, man. We're doing big things. Make sure y'all check it out. If you're looking for quality hoodies, you're looking for quality basketball shorts to look no further than goals to activewear. And you're 25% off. Use code Real Hoopers at checkout. And we appreciate the love. Appreciate the support. And let's talk about the Knicks. This is the Knicks' first championship in 50 plus years. Listen, I'm just the only thing I'm I was worried about is the city burning down. Is the city? I was worried. I was looking for the videos. I know they're gonna set up some building on fire. I know they're gonna set something on fire. But the the winning the championships was actually more chill than that actually winning two games in the finals, the first two games of the finals. They was up there beating people up. They was doing all types of stuff. But I'm telling, you know, but you listen, bro, they took Wimby Hart. Did you see the video when they uh threw the egg at him? Yeah. Wimby was like, yo, what the heck? He was done. You know, you know what it was? Wimby was like, I ain't going back to New York, bro. Like, we ain't going back to New York. These dudes, because they look, listen, they know. Wimby, the Wimby, they hit Wimby with an egg. Wimby just probably thinking, like, I go to New York, they gonna hit me with another egg and all that, bro. I'm gonna let me miss this last three. Because this ain't gonna work. This ain't gonna work. And like we talked about earlier, man, we was they were saying that small guards can't win. Jalen Brunson proved us all wrong.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

My boy Brunson, man. Jalen Brunson proved us wrong. I gotta admit it, man. 45 points. Yeah, 45 points, 47. 45 points, bro. 45 points. The rest of the team, 49. He he ain't he listen, he he said we end this tonight. We end in this tonight. Now, here's my question to y'all. Here's my question. Jalen Brunson wins the championship. He did it in championship fashion. Where does he rank point guards now? Is he all-time yet? Yeah, top five, all-time all-time, top five all-time? See, this is the problem with championship culture. This is the problem with championship culture, right? You win one championship, now you're just ahead of everybody. So you had a Chris Paul, you ahead of Steve Nash, you ahead of every point guard that didn't win a championship.

SPEAKER_00 28:02

Speaking of that, I got one I want to play a little game, bro. I wanna play a little game. I got some point guards in front of me. I'm gonna I'm gonna name them off, and you're gonna let me know if Jalen Brunson is better than them or not. Now that he has a finals MVP, mind you, mind you, mind you. He has a finals MVP, Easter Conference MVP, what's it called? NBA Midseason Awards MVP. He had a great year. And an NBA champion. He had a great year. So here's the list of names. We got Steve Nash. He's not better than Steve Nash. Not better than Steve Nash.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

He's better than Steve Nash.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

Okay, there you go. We got John Stockton. He better see here's the thing.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Here's the thing. Here's the thing. He just played. It's not listen. See, and this is what Yo, let me go to the list.

SPEAKER_00 28:47

Go ahead. Go ahead. Is Jalen Brown better than Jalen Brunson better than John Stockton? I don't think he's better than John Stockton. As a point guard. As a point guard. As a point guard. He's a modern day point guard too. John Stockton? No, I'm talking about Jalen Brunson.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

No, John Stockton. Listen, man, John Stockton at least went to the finals twice. He's not better. Okay, okay. He leads the all-time assist. He was a John Stockton was a traditional point guard. We got Alan Irison.

SPEAKER_00 29:11

Is Jalen Brunson Bernard and Alan Iron?

SPEAKER_02 29:12

He's not better than Alan Irison, bro.

SPEAKER_00 29:14

He's not better than Albert. Penny Hardaway, Jalen Brunson Brenner and Penny Hardaway. He might be better than Penny. Yeah, he's better than Penny. Chris Paul. Is Jalen Brunson Brandon and Chris Paul? I'm not giving him better than Chris Paul yet. Damien Lillary. Is he Jalen Brunson than Damien Lillary?

SPEAKER_01 29:33

Now that might be a little tough. Okay, okay. We might be at Jalen Brunson somewhere. But here's the thing, bro. I don't like it.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

I'm gonna still go with Damian Lillard. Uh what's the rest? What's the Russell Brook? Is Jalen Brunson better than Russell Russbrook? Nope. Last one, Derek Ross. Is Jalen Brunson better than Derrick Rose?

SPEAKER_01 29:50

I'm better than Derek Ross.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

But here's the thing. Here's the reason why I don't like it. Here's the reason why I don't like it. Because you just because I'm I don't I don't like comparing a good year to someone's legacy.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:02

You comparing a good year to someone's legacy, bro. Let me see you do that shit three more times. Okay. Let me see you do it one more time. Let me see you have historical. Let me see. And you don't even gotta do it back to back. You only gotta do it back to back. You just gotta do it again. And then keep the Knicks afloat on the on the co on your along your quest to get the next ring. Like so the next year, y'all in the Eastern Conference Finals and y'all lose to, I don't know, Cavaliers. I don't know. You know what I mean? But I just don't think, I just don't want to. He had a good year. He had a good year. I'm not Chris Paul had a great career. John Stockton had a great career. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 30:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:46

Another cool thing about this win was the father and son love. That's the best duo. That's the best father and son duo in the NBA, bro. Listen, I love Bronny. Love Bron. I think that's a great duo as well, but they ain't won a championship. They ain't win a championship, right? Right, scorers. They ain't win a championship yet. So I do like, I do like the Rick Brunson and the Jalen Brunson um father-son duo, man. And it's and it was good to see like this to know to see the last time, like I said earlier, the last time the Knicks was in the finals was 1999. Rick Brunson was playing. Well, well, he was on the team. I mean, he got in the game for a little bit, but he was on the team. And to to actually coach your son and be on the bench and coach your son all the way up to this point to win a championship and a play against the team that you lost to to win it. Talk about a full circle moment, man. Talk about a full circle moment. God is the greatest for that one. Um, and then to see the Villanova chemistry. They won a championship 2016, I believe. They won a championship for Villanova 2016. And 10 years later they won an NBA championship. I know Dante DiVincenzo's sick. I know what's that commercial, bro? When they when they when they when the commercial. I know you're talking about in a tunnel. And they in the tunnel. That's that's another full circle moment. That's another forward circle moment. Dante DiVincenzo pop, he uh ruptured his Achilles the same year they win a championship. You gotta be sick. I know you sick. To see your bros, your brothers, all four of them. What is it? Is Mikkel? Is Mikel, Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson? And that's it, right? Yeah. To see your three brothers win that championship, that's a like you gotta be sick. You gotta same thing with Julius Randle. Julius Randle's sick right now, bro. He's looking at that like, yo, could have been me. I could have I could have dealt with Kat Dorn. That's crazy. You know he's probably saying that. I could have dealt with Cat Dorn. Damn.

SPEAKER_00 33:08

Nah, bro, that wasn't the one with you. Nah, I I feel like his out in New York was it kind of ended kind of poorly. They were booing him. He was getting into the fans. The fans kind of turned on Jules Randall.

SPEAKER_01 33:21

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what I'm saying. I'm letting him know you you wouldn't have done that, bro. Oh, yeah, okay. You wouldn't have done that. Cat, he had his girl there. He you know, you know he's Dominican too. The Dominican pride out there. Yeah, yeah. You know what I'm saying? He got the mom hips. Held it down. That's the best trade that the Knicks ever made, bro. Best trade the Knicks ever made. And then Mike Brown, bro. Mike Brown, we gotta give Mike Brown his credit. Mike Brown, he came in first year, win a championship. Talk about what a what a team needed. What a team needed was a coach. And he kept his cool the whole time. Until the end. Who let the dogs out? Who let the dogs out? I said, man, yo, that's how you turn up. Speaking of turning up. Speaking of turning up. It's crazy, bro. I'm tired of y'all. I'm tired of y'all trying to imitate Kobe, bro. Like the like the way Jalen Brunson celebrated his win was it was boring, bro. So bland. The interviewer asked him, how does this feel? Words. I can't can't even put it in the words. It's everything I ever dreamed of. What?

SPEAKER_00 34:48

That's crazy, bro.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

Do you go to comedy shows? Like you don't like to laugh or nothing, bro? You don't like to have no fun? Like, strict around here, bro. Like y'all keep thinking Kobe was this dude who didn't have fun. Y'all, y'all, y'all mistaken. Y'all are so mistaken. That whole interview where he goes, job not done. Job done, I don't think so. That's like 2008, 2009. That's like ring number four and five. He had every right to feel that way. He lost to the Celtics the year before. Like, but go look at the 2000s. Go look at when he won the championship against the Pacers. He damn near, he jumped in, he jumped in Shaq's arms like he was his girl. Go look at, go, go look at the time he was jumping on the scoreboard. He was celebrating for the Western Conference Finals when they beat the Blazers. Go look at Kobe Bryant's resume off the court. He was going to the prime with Brandy. He was in he was in Moesha. He was rapping in Spanish with Tyra with Tyra Banks. He did a song with BD Siegel. You mean to tell me he was doing all that, but he was so locked in. You know why his teammates had these stories about him? About how he never partied, how he never hung with us. Because they was old. Those dudes was old. When they won a 2000 championship, Ron Harper was like in year 13. Shaq was in year 10. AC Green, year 14. Why would he be hanging with them at 18, 19, or 20 years old? Why would he be hanging with them? He ain't got nothing to do but hoop. He ain't got nothing to do but hoop and get some chicks. And the girls he gonna date, they can't date. Hopefully. Hopefully. But that wasn't his personality the entire time. Go enjoy yourself. Have fun, man. Have fun. All this cool stuff. Kevin Garnett getting Wimby here because he was crying after the finals. Yeah, I shouldn't have been so emotional. Why? Kevin Garnett was crying because he couldn't make the finals. Why you not? Why shouldn't you? Why shouldn't you been crying? You ever do it before? No. You worked your ass off to get it? Yes. Cry, bro. Cheer up. It's all good. You straight. Ain't nothing wrong with that. I guarantee you, if you would have not cried, you would have still lost the finals. You would have still lost. Not crying or crying doesn't change your game. Kevin Garnett cried when he won the championship. We all know anything is possible. That was year 13. That was year 13. He was one of the most emotional players we've ever seen. And y'all sitting there trying to tell these kids not to cry. Not to give too much emotion. Don't let these people trick y'all. Have fun. How are we gonna buy y'all sneakers? Let me ask y'all this. Put it in the comments. If Jalen Brunson dropped a sneaker tomorrow, you buying it? You buying it? Probably not. Why? Because you don't got no personality. No personality. Bland. But he won a championship. Won a championship, so shout out to him. Finals MVP, man. Well deserved. Well deserved. But on a positive note for Jalen Brunson, he is a true underdog. We're gonna wrap it up with this. Jalen Brunson was drafted in 2018. Second round pick. All his teammates, like all his teammates, well most of his teammates, all the starters on his team, was drafted before him. Mikhail Bridges was drafted 2018 and number 10. Dante DiVincenzo, he's not on the team no more. But I feel like I should mention he was drafted 2018 and number 17. Landry Shaman, number 26, 2018. Josh Hart was drafted the year before, 2017, number 30. Kat, 2015, drafted number one. OGM OG and a Manobi, 2017, number 23. The only two people that was drafted after Jalen Brunson was Mitch Robinson at number 36, Jordan Clarkson in 2014 at number 46, and Jose Alvarado was undrafted. Those only guys who the out of the guys who played a major part in this win, only three was drafted after Jalen Brunson. A true, true, true underdog story, man. So minus I despite the calm personality, he's a hooper. He's a real hooper. Shout out to New York. Shout out to all the Knicks fans out there, man. Make sure y'all tap in. Make sure y'all follow us on all social platforms, Score Society. Make sure y'all support. Make sure y'all go to our website for merch, goalsactiveware.com, 25% off. Use code Real Hoopers at checkout. Make sure y'all check out Scout Us College. If you a hooper and you want eyes on you, you want to be recruited. If your son's a hooper, your daughter's a hooper, and you're not getting enough eyeballs, check out Scout Us College. Scout Us College allows you to upload your profile, upload your videos, and hundreds of coaches can see you play, can see your skill set, and they're looking for you. And get this they also offer NIL deals. NIL deals when you upgrade your profile. You decide to upgrade your profile, make sure you Score Society. Until next time, let's continue to think elite and together. Welcome to Score Society.