 has an hour interview with Jeremy Lin and Mike Brain now has about a 20 minute interview on the Michael K show Mike it's Michael Don and Peter how are you today hi Mike hi Don oh no Peter oh no told you was listening he listens everything it was a mistake it was just a mistake Mike I can't keep a straight just too good got scared my heart's how are you doing great how are you handling quarantine oh I'm fine I'm everything's you know I'm blessed I'm at home my family's healthy and just praying that everybody that's that's smart in this country figured this out and get us back to to what we should be doing do you believe there's gonna be NBA basketball just a gut feeling I'm not asking you have any inside knowledge I don't know if anybody has inside what's your gut feeling I'll say I'm optimistic because I know that they will do everything and anything to try and and get the season resumed I think they're desperate to crown a champion but I'm also very very confident and actually quite comforted by Adam Silver being in charge because I know that if there's the slightest chance of safety issues then it won't happen they'll do everything in their power to make sure it is and then if that's the case then they'll have a season but if not he won't take any chances I just have this feeling Mike when I look at the comments from all the different commissioners they're saying the same thing I really believe that when they restart it'll be everybody baseball hockey basketball I don't know I don't know if anybody wants to take that plunge by themselves do you do you feel the same way that that when one moves the other will move alongside I do Don just like it was when one moved to postpone everybody followed soon you know obviously golf has has event scheduled fairly soon so they'll be the first ones to go and that's obviously a different a different sport in terms of contact and being outside etc etc but I do think that and most importantly so much of the decisions of all of various commissioners have nothing to do with the sports themselves it has to do with the health and medical people and what they're able to come up with in terms of vaccines easy testing etc etc so basically most of it is out of their hands and they're relying on our brilliant medical people in this country to figure something out that will enable them to make that decision all right so let's say that the NBA returns and their playoffs and let's just assume and I'm not sure this is just an assumption that the broadcasters are on site and I can't see the NBA and the NHL coming back and playing with fans in the stands so yesterday was the anniversary of the game in Baltimore that they played in front of an empty stadium because of the riots and we had Gary Thorn on like a month ago and he said that he had a call of an Adam Jones double and then Adam Jones was on second base and yelled up to the press box be quiet we can hear you will you be self-conscious if you're calling the game and the players can actually hear you I don't know because I've never done it I don't think so and quite honestly when the players are out there and they're going at it there's there is some noise I know if you remember a couple of years ago the Knicks did a promotion where they didn't play any music or anything else during the first half of the game and it was just a crowd now it had a packed house so the crowd could cheer but you could still hear more on the court if you were down by the court than you normally would there was no music there was no the promotions no announcements so that felt strange I can't imagine how it will be without the crowd I also remember in Sacramento a couple of years ago they had they had a police shooting that was being protested and there were protesters outside and they shut the building down from people coming in now some people had already been in so there were some in the crowd but very very few so there've been instances like that but nothing like like that we would experience if this is what's going to happen and I have I have no idea I hope I won't hold anything back I hope I have the same energy and enthusiasm to make a call but until you do it it's it's hard to it's hard to do by the way can I say something sure please I'm listening I've been listening a lot to you guys with all this because I'm obviously home every day and Michael your voice sounds as strong as it was before you went through the surgery do you feel that way that it's strong I do thank you yeah I do feel thank God well thank God thank your surgeon and I also think you should thank Don because now with the show with Don talking as much as he does during the show that you don't talk as much and I think it saves your voice where it's really strong really I'm really disappointed because he put you up and I at least thought that I had some respect for me that you wouldn't do it if you can't you can't possibly possibly have that opinion best appearance we've ever had from my I'm just I'm disappointed I'm really I'm really that's the word was it that obvious I didn't put you up to it Mike would never do too nice a guy he's very funny though and it's not it's not true that I talked more than you it can't possibly be that it that part's true Don 70% might be strong but you can't say it's not true then tomorrow will be very interesting promising this and he never done we've never gotten the day control himself now in his head now but don't don't do not change what I owe to Don you're fantastic do not change thank you I appreciate that I don't think this will be the case on ABC for the finals but I could see a possibility of if there are regular season games being played to finish up the schedule of announcers doing it off the monitor could you see that as a possibility yeah in fact I think that's there's a real good chance of that happening especially early when it's first returned you know as you guys said when you when you initially brought this up nobody knows so anybody saying what they think is gonna happen they just don't know and things can change so quickly it can change so quickly for the better and all of a sudden there's medical things out there that allow us to to almost get back to normal right away and then obviously things can change quickly for the worse if one player gets gets tested during the the bubble city wherever they're gonna play if that's the case and and and it goes the other way so it's impossible to tell but it does like I said it does appear at least initially there's a good chance that will be will be taken or calling have you done that before Mike you know the only time I ever did that was you know you do auditions with new analysts and they wanted to try somebody out during an offseason and I've done that a few times where you sit and you call a game off a monitor and that's that's so different because it's not a live game and you're not really broadcasting to an audience you're broadcasting to to get a feel for can this guy or gal do a you know do a game so it's completely different who was the worst that you work with they tried out that you just a while terrible yeah I'm gonna say that they were they were all wonderful in their own way oh the Rangers had a couple of games in in Europe that I called with Dave off the monitor and then the World Cup of hockey for ESPN the only thing that was different was my prep because I like the morning skate I like getting a chance to to kind of get a feel for stuff going into the game that was missed but off the monitor it wasn't bad matter of fact sometimes the angles you know could actually be better that's an interesting thought and you're right about the preparation and you know because from for most broadcasters who call games you know you can do all your preparation before you get to the arena but the majority of the stuff that you use for that particular game is is what you get when you get to the arena and talk to people it's it's incredible how much of that stuff is used as opposed to the other stuff so I agree with that and and you know it's it's when you're calling a game on television you're watching the game live but you also have to go back and forth to the monitor all the time because you have to be the eyes of what the people are at home are seeing so you can't if something's going on that's on the monitor and you're watching something else that's not good so it forces you to watch exactly what everybody is at home watching so there is some benefit from that standpoint now Don you respect Mike like so much right yes so maybe his answer to this might change your opinion so he mentioned Dave and Dave's a great analyst on the Rangers on radio but constantly steps all over Don's calls constantly Don's fine with it he said it adds flavor how would you feel if Van Gundy or Mark all over a call that you made in the finals they it's an amazing thing because most analysts when you're when you're emotional it's hard to to hold it back it's amazing Jeff and Mark have never had that problem when they first started doing the broadcasting they never did that so I it's never been a problem not not one time at the end of a game you know in a big play have they they all over the call they wait and then they come in somebody did it you would stiff arm the guy I'm pretty much certain of that no no no no but it I mean sometimes you can't help it because you were overcome by emotion and that's understandable but if it's at the end of the game and it's you know an important call you just you always have what I've done in the past is you always have talks with your analysts and you'll say hey just let me finish the call I'll get out quickly and then you can come in with whatever you want and you give them room and you have that conversation when you first start working with somebody yeah Don's afraid of Dave so he will have that that is true but I think sometimes it accentuated RJ play play one quick and tell me that he didn't the Dave didn't add to the call a long-distance shot is saved by flurry and the rebound get away and then pull it out with a rebound scores in overtime you do you do love his emotion on radio it's it's it makes it more difficult because you know sometimes you if you're listening on radio you're relying on every particular detail being told to you so it seems more egregious when it's done on radio than it was on TV oftentimes how many times have you watched a game on on television and it's a big call at the end and especially if it's a team you're rooting for and say the player on your team hits the shot you're screaming so loud you don't hear the call and I've done this where I'm going crazy and I have to rewind so go back and hear the call because I didn't hear it live because I was so excited myself as a fan yelling at the television now getting back to the finals let's say the playoffs are played at a remote location like let's just say Vegas where they have like a bio dome and ABC and ESPN said listen we we want you at the sites to call the games and you'd have to be there for month quarantine would you be okay with that yeah if that's what the job entails I would do it and I wouldn't be worried from a safety standpoint at all because I'm again confident like I said about Adams Adams sober with the NBA I'm the same with the people at ESPN they would never ask us to do something where safety wasn't 100% so yeah I mean that's you know it wouldn't be ideal certainly but if if that's the circumstances that we have to work under because of this historic time that we're in then that's my job and I'll do it the the Jeremy Lynn stuff is just so fascinating to me I don't I don't think I ever remember a regular season span of time that just seems so important it was all encompassing Mike all the phone calls we took on the cover of sports illustrated back to back weeks is there anything that you can equate to this that what it ended up being a two or three week run of just every day he was doing something special nothing compares nothing Don it was it was the most extraordinary stretch I've ever been a part of basketball I sent this a number of times now I've been I've been so blessed to call you know much more important games bigger games historic games all-time games whatever I've never had more fun calling NBA basketball than I did those and it wasn't even really three weeks in terms of the actual insanity part I mean he only played 35 games that season he wound up missing the final I think 17 games when he suffered that knee injury and it really was only about two and a half weeks when when it was at its peak and then it started going the other way but it was the ultimate rags to riches stories I said this on the air about it at the time it's why we love sports here this young man who was basically a fourth string point guard when they signed him who thought he was going to get cut if he didn't play well against the Nets that night and most likely he would have been cut and he turns into maybe at least for a two week stretch the most famous athlete not just in the country not just in the NBA but in the world I mean he was he became this global sensation overnight and I've never seen anything like it and it was so much fun because you know he was this underdog who who rose up to this incredible level but at the same time it wasn't an individual success story it was a team success story it was this team that was struggling and all of a sudden this young man leads him to seven wins in a row it had every bit it was it was the Hollywood script that people would have been sitting there saying oh this is too corny please give me a break but it was true and yeah I just I look it back it's so fondly so finally look back at it that a guy that played 35 games total in his Nick career has a special place in his heart for every Nick fan well you spoke with him for an hour and that's gonna be tomorrow on MSG anything he said that surprised you might well it was supposed to be a half hour and he was so open and candid and so into the conversation you know he clearly and I remember this when he was with the team and I've seen him quite a bit obviously when he bounced around the NBA after he left the Knicks very intelligent young man but he was always very guarded but he wasn't the other night I was I just was blown away by how open he was and there were a couple of things and one the thing that really struck me that I didn't know you know is when he left you know he was a restricted free agent so the Knicks could have matched the offer but Houston the way they constructed the contract with that poison pill it just it would have been ridiculous for the Knicks to match it it would have been an awful contract so they couldn't do it but when he after he agreed to the Rockets contract he called his agent realizing the Knicks probably aren't gonna aren't gonna match it and said to them you got to change the contract you got to make it less you got to make it less money I mean what player has ever done that and because he wanted to go he really wanted to come back to New York but that was the only deal that he was offered at the time so his agent took it and didn't want to go back on the agreement so that that was one of things that struck me and the other things he's very candid about how he handled the Linsanity because after even that first game that first game against the Nets it changed his life forever and there were things that that he he liked what he did but there were a lot of things he didn't like what he did and and that part of the the conversation I found very compelling because he he's not afraid to look in the mirror and see his flaws and see where he he failed and he feels that it it made him a better person today we talked about this the other day and Michael was talking about that you know with Knicks ownership they've seemed to hold on to a little bit of a grudge with Jeremy Lin and I'm sort of of the mindset that at some point they really have to make this right with him he's a guy who I imagine Mike would get a standing ovation in the garden for the rest of his life now well when he's returned with other teams he was always warmly greeted and and there was always a lot of lin jerseys in the stands when he would return you know there were some people that would occasionally boom because you know they thought oh he left the Knicks but it really you know it really wasn't his doing in some aspects and you can't blame the young man he got this incredible deal and you can't blame the Knicks for not resigning because of the way it was structured so but I've seen him come back Peter quite a few times where he is he's really welcome but you know maybe at some point when he comes back after he retires he's not any other than then people will do it but again it's just it's mind-boggling to me that that a player who played 35 games for a franchise is such a big part of so many people's experience when you ask them oh what are your favorite moments as a Nick fan I mean that's always for so many people who live through that that's right up near the top of the list if not at the top is there any any mention at all whatsoever Mike about Carmelo is there any animosity because I didn't make it easy on back off the injured list no and in again there's so many things that weren't I didn't ask him specifically about Carmelo I did ask him about regrets and and how difficult it was when it started going sideways and he has never mentioned Carmelo as a problem he's always said Carmelo was was always professional and good with him but it was clear that their their basketball styles the way they played the game just didn't mesh and Carmelo wouldn't budge and wouldn't play more of the way Mike Danton he wanted them to play with Jeremy Lynn hence why Mike Danton resigned and then when Mike Woodson took over he went right back to you know Carmelo Anthony or Murray Stottemire isolation more of the hero ball type stuff and you know to Woodson's defense it was it really worked I think I forget what how they finished the season but you know they finished the season strong going back to that after after they had some stumbles so and then they won 54 the next correct right so you know it's it's sometimes it's it's a systems fault sometimes it's a player's fault do I think Carmelo Anthony personally should have adjusted his game more to suit a guy that had brought so much success absolutely I think long-term they would have been better but you know it just didn't happen and unfortunately it caused a coaching change and and Jeremy Lynn's tenure with the Knicks wound up being a lot shorter than everybody thought well Mike we thank you for sharing some time with us that's tomorrow the interview at 5 30 another win game after that and I know that one of more difficult things of the quarantine is that that we can't hug it out so but we will at one point well when when there's a vaccine that's when I'll touch you really that's the first time probably yeah so if you both test negative you're not hugging them well if we both have the exact same time exact same time that I will hug him but if he test negative one day and I'm the next I'm not sure I'd risk it wow all right you're not much Mike we've gotten to know each other pretty well these seven weeks Mike it's not a pretty picture a lot of ugliness in this interview on a downer yeah well yeah you could talk to introduce you okay oh you you would hug me yeah hug me right now yeah you were yeah I'd hug you back all right you're a liar but oh one quick thing you're a big met fan right the ones that came out in an interview and said he thinks that the Mets have to bring back the alternate black uniforms that great do you agree or disagree I know Don hates that this is a generation generational thing I'm all for tradition keep the regular stuff but if you asked probably if yes my my youngest son Matt he would probably agree with Alonso and if you ask most of the people on the younger generation they would absolutely agree the old stogies like me I would say all fogeys all fogeys like me would say no we got to keep the traditional I don't like those but I get the traditional and I love the pinstripes too and I wish they keep that but I'm cool with the orange jersey I just had a problem of bringing in a color that's not even a part of the scheme with the team I mean I agree 100% but I just just give me the the traditional Mets jersey that's the only one I want but again it's it's all generational Mike stay safe my friend we'll talk soon okay guys thanks