 Seven years ago today, Steph Curry became the first unanimous MVP today. He's in a desperate 3-1 battle. Run it back, starts now. Run it up, do run it back, yeah. Run it up, do run it back, run it back, run it up. Good morning and welcome to Run It Back. It's Wednesday, which is our Friday. Got it right this time. I want to introduce everyone who's here this morning. Shom Sharani, a stadium insider who's been busy getting the scoop. Chandler Parsons with a beanie. And Eddie Gonzalez right there on the end. We're so close, Eddie, and yet so far. And guys, more basketball happen. This is the time of year where you cannot get caught up on other shows because this is happening every single night. Hello, Sixers. What's going on in Boston? Cruisin' to a Game 5 win 115-103. You had big contributions from Embiid. Harden with 17. Maxi, big story with 30 points and seven rebounds. Tatum did Tatum things. However, the three on Sixers combined for 80 points. I don't know what's going on in Boston, Chandler. Maybe you can break it down. How are we getting here? What's wrong with this team and what's great about Philly? Well, this was super, super impressive what Philly did. And they made an early effort to obviously get Joellen beat the ball and let him dominate, get him off the block. And he was able to get to his spots. He was able to make his little jumpers. And it worked. And this was probably their most balanced team attack. Tyrese Maxi with 30 and six three-pointers. And you know what's funny here is we were all wondering what James Harden's going to do. Is he going to have a big game? If they were to lose this game, we're sitting here today criticizing James for only taking eight shots and not being aggressive. And he was mature enough last night to know that Tyrese got it going, Joelle had it going. And he was basically the floor general last night, getting everybody involved, taking care of the ball. They were all efficient. They were all 50% or close from the field. This is just an all-around team effort. They didn't need James Harden to go and have 30 and 45. And I think this is when they're this versatile and they can hurt you in so many ways like this. This is a tough team to beat. And they are showing that it's been tough for Boston. And Boston's a great defensive team. And they have the wings and the size to switch and you would think, man, maintain this Philly team. But man, this was a beautiful performance. And the score made it look closer than it was at the end of the game because it's not even close. Eddie, Michael. This is an odd game. It has to be a little disheartening if you're a Celtics fan as well because you'd expect the role players to play better at home and they played worse. The sixes role players played better. You had Daniel House finding a role on this team after a few months playing a big 15 minutes last night. You had Al Horford. Oh, a seven. Thanks for killing my parlay, buddy. But it was it was it was odd. It was disheartening. I had people around the league texting me wondering if they like Joe Missoula's. Like we're wondering this in the second round of the playoffs. But it just felt like there was less effort from the team. And people just wondering what's going on. I know our colleague Kevin O'Connor raised some concerns about Joe as well. The Celtics just look wholly unprepared. And it was frustrating to watch because this was the biggest game of the season. It's a game they absolutely need it. We mentioned yesterday, historically, you don't lose game five, like you especially at home, you should not lose that lose that game. And they got nothing outside of Tatum and Jaylin Brown yesterday. And that had to have been frustrating work. This was the best defensive team in the league last year. And there are just hemorrhaging points on that side now. James Harden mentioned it last night talking about their coverage is just packing the paint. And that had opened things up for them. And I think Chandler's right. This is the team they envisioned earlier in this season. James Harden, big game facilitating. I had 17 points still, but only took, I think, nine shots. Tyrese Maxson gets 30. The MVP looked like the MVP last night. And now they're one game away from the conference finals heading home. And this is exactly how they wanted to do it. I think the Celtics, as to start the game, just wasn't there. And that's what we've seen at different points, especially the second half of the season. This team was coasting to begin the year. And we thought everything was good. But Joe Mazzullo takes over this team after the whole Emi Udoka situation. But the second half of the year, you could start to see them fluctuate. They got booed at home a few times in the second half of the year. So the fact that the edge and the chippiness that they play with to start games, it fluctuates. I think that set them back definitely last night. And Jason Tatum, yeah, he finished strong for sure. He missed 14 straight shots in the first quarter in these playoffs. He went 0 for 6 last night to start that game. And Joe Mazzullo the other day took some fault for that game four ending where he didn't call a time out. A player like Grant Williams, his minutes have fluctuated in these playoffs as well. He's gone from 27 minutes per game under Emi Udoka last year. He started in a handful of playoff games, was a key contributor. And this is a guy that's gotten DNPs. He's been out of the rotation. And so he's thought of to be a key cog, but he hasn't been playing much. And so I'm interested, like Chandler, you've played under many, many coaches. Is this a factor, the aspect of you have a rookie head coach yet a rookie head coach last year as well. But it's a massive change that I think has probably gone under talked about this year. Well, here's my thing. I do think Mazzullo is somewhat to blame, but he's not the reason Jason Tatum's 11 of 27 or whatever he was last night. He's not the reason that the team was 12 of 38 from three, you know what I mean? So he can make adjustments. He can make different substitutions, get them to different sets, call certain timeouts that he may not be calling. But he's not the reason this team is extremely inefficient. Their stars are not having these Devin Booker type games where they're 50, 60, 65% from the field. That's not his fault. You can't blame that on him. Now, I'd like to see him, like Peyton Perture last night, he got in the game. He got it on a little run and cut this score close. I'd like to see him make an adjustment, maybe play him in game six. You got to do something different because clearly you're on the ropes, but I do believe if they get this game, this series back to Boston, that they have a high, high chance of still winning this. But yeah, it does fall a little bit on Mazzullo, but we're talking about Tatum going 11 of 27. That's not the coach's fault. Well, how about that week, Eddie? We can blame the coach all we want, but there has to be some accountability for just player effort. They just did not look ready to play. I had separate people tell me around the league, the Celtics are playing like just a regular season game, and they were. It was just lack of attention to detail, lack of effort, and that's from within. There has to be some accountability. If you can't get up for game five in round two of the playoffs against a team, you've been eyeing all season long versus the MVP versus a former MVP with a trip to the conference finals. And if you're, look, you're looking ahead, you're not saying the heat or a slouch, but you're saying, yo, we have a clear path to the finals, and you can't get up for that game. It's not because Joe Mazzullo didn't give you a nice enough speech in the locker room. It's not because he's not sure if he should play Grant Williams or Peyton Pritchard. That's something within, and you have to figure that out on yourself. They have one more game, and again, if they come out with the same effort, they're gonna probably get an even worse result on the road in Philly. So this would be, I know we don't have failures in basketball no more, but this would be a terrible follow-up to a finals run last year for the Celtics. And no, they cannot fire their coach again. They just hired him, they just gave him an extension. Brad loves him, the organization loves him, and so they have to figure that out. He's a rookie head coach. There's gonna be warts, there's gonna be lumps. Like Sam said, they fluctuated all season long, and it might be a little bit of finals hangover, but it should not be happening now. We kept saying, yo, and the playoffs, they'll turn it on, they'll turn it on. It doesn't always work like that. And so they have to figure something out this summer if they end up losing this series. I don't think it's replacing the head coach though. You just brought him in, you just gave him a massive extension, and you've watched who should have been his replacement go to another job and get a nice little fluffy deal. So Joe was the loser coach, figure it out. Okay, but I wonder what that means or like a Jalen Brown, or if you have to, because at this point, if they fizzle out of this thing, we're talking about the same team with underachieving moments. By the way, the Celtics crowd, booing and leaving early in what potentially could be it, do we have problems with that? And I'd like to start this conversation by saying, hell yeah, we have problems with that. Look, I am the meanest, most cynical person I know, and I am not booing the Spurs, even if they sort of embarrass themselves out of the playoffs. Chandler, as a player yourself, home team's booing what could be their last moment to see you, how's that feel? You're talking to a guy who signed a deal on Memphis and missed my first two free throws and got booed my first ever home game. I do have a problem with that. I think at the end of the day, fans, especially Boston Celtics fans, they have certain expectations, right? And so I understand that, but trust me, no fan, no kid, no parent wants the Celtics to win more than those players out there, given that they're all killing themselves, trying them with this game. So yes, it's part of it. And they looked awful last night. It was, I told a story once, I was a kid going to Orlando Magic Games and I would do crazy when they would play bad. And now coming to full circle moment, I hate it. And so I get it, I understand it. And last night, like I said, the score at the end of the game, it looked closer than it was, but they'd never had a chance. And they were down, they were down 21, I think 24 points at one point. They're not coming back from that. So I understand this is it. And they could never see this team again. It really closes out in six, but they won't be booing game seven. I guarantee you that if they handle their business on the road and come and bring it back home. That's a big if, Eddie. What are the chances the Celtics can pull this series out of here? I don't like what I've been seeing from them. And, you know, I had mentioned Jason Tatum having a slow start and finding ways to be effective in afterwards. I was very impressed by that, but he needs to have a consistent game. He needs to have a big game in game six. Aileen Brown as well, but they also need that from their role players, Marcus Smart, Al Horford. They did basically nothing yesterday. Derek White was just kind of getting cardio. They need those guys to step up. They were the best team in the league for about 80% of the season. Looked like they were going to cruise to the one seed. And, you know, maybe it wasn't everything that glittered out there wasn't gold, but they're going to need a huge game. So I honestly don't think we're going to get it. I mentioned yesterday, Philly knows what they have on the line right now. James Harden knows what he has on the line. Joel Embi knows what he has on the line. And I bet Joel Embi peeking across the conference too and looking at Nicola Yocas, look like an absolute monster and saying, hey, I know what I got to do. Those guys are motivated. Doc Rivers is motivated. It's not like they're going to let up in Philly. They're going to be better at home. They have the chance to make this conference finals. They kind of overcome that second round and lose, cursed it. It seems like they've had for some time now. They're going to be ready to go. So the Celtics are going to do their best game of the season. And I don't think they can. And look at Julius Randall. Go ahead, sorry. They were down three. This is the same team that was down three to two to Milwaukee as well. So is there still a chance? Yes, for sure. But like Eddie just touched on, Al Horford can't have zero points. Brogdon can't be going two, three for nine. Like they have to lock in defensively and they have to shut the water off. Two of these three guys, if possible, to get it back, but it's not looking easy. It's not looking good. And Philly is putting them in situations where they're making it hard to do. They're mixing it up. They're getting out in transition. They're going iso. They're giving the ball to the big fella. And the Celtics don't look to have any answers. I do think there'll be some adjustments. I think Grant Williams should get more time. I think he'd throw in a Peyton Pritchard. I think Missoula has to do something different to try and get this game to go seven. Sixers right now are the co-favorites to win everything with Denver. Chandler, do you agree? Yeah, I mean, yeah, it switches every day, right? Every day. Gambling's hard. Whoever wins this series, I firmly believe they will be Miami. And then whoever wins the Phoenix Denver series, I think will beat the Lakers to come back. So I get it, I think. But also as soon as Philly loses this game when it goes back to game seven, I bet you there was odd switch. So who knows? But they're playing just as good as anybody. I wish I would. Make sure we tag... Michelle, make sure we tag Jimmy Butler on what Chandler just said. The fact that he feels like whoever wins this game. Because Jimmy's going to take that person. He's listening. Yeah, he's listening. He's got tentacles out there telling him to get some so motivated going on. Okay, in this next game, I'm convinced that not winning the MVP is the greatest thing that happened to Jokic this year. He's hungry, he's mad, the team's hungry. And here we are, another triple double. They win over the Suns in game five, 118, 102. They're up now, three, two, Jokic, 29, 13 and 12. How about Murray and MPJ? They had 19 apiece. And Bruce Brown with 25 off the bench. He's not just a great dresser, you guys. Let me ask you this, Chandler, is last night more about Denver showing up and being good? Or Phoenix maybe not showing up as much? 50-50, I mean, I think, look, they have to get off to a better start. MPJ was unbelievable in the first quarter getting off to a good start and Kevin Durant wasn't. And there has to be an onus on him. They know that they need a lot from KD. They know they need a lot from Book. And both of them have to be absolutely unbelievable for them to beat this team. But you can tell last night, Denver made a collective effort to slow down Devon. They got back in transition a lot better so he couldn't play as fast. And they got a lot from their bench. I mean, 25 points from Bruce Brown is tough to overcome. Like that is very tough. And then you sprinkle in 19 and 19 from Porter and Murray and you have Jokic is just absolutely dominating. DeAndre Hayden is a very, very, very good basketball player and he is just completely outmanned here. Jokic is doing whatever he wants. But KD has got to be better early. He's got to get to the foul line. He's got to get to the hoop. He's got to be more efficient. I'm an offense guy and when I see someone struggle that much, something's got to give, right? And it's not like Denver is this tough defensive team. So I do think they'll make adjustments and I think he'll be a lot better early to get a start, but Porter was great. Porter got them off to start hitting threes. I think he had like four threes in the first quarter. It's tough when the Nuggets are hitting you with everything like this. Yeah, look, the Sun spotted the Nuggets nine, 10 points each half, they start the first quarter. Michael Porter Jr. hits two big threes and you're automatically in a hole. Then the third quarter was obviously a tragedy for the Suns. You have to come out with a better spark. And I do think it starts with KD and look, Devon Booker was always gonna come down to Earth. He wasn't gonna continue to shoot 80% every game for the rest of the series. It wasn't like he had a bad game. He just played a regular normal NBA game, but that's the point. The margin of error is so thin for those guys that they have to have great games every night. They have to have huge scoring games every night. The way the team is set up right now and what DeAndre Aitlin is giving you or not giving you, they have to be closer to 80 points combined each night. And something like 15, 18 assists between the two of them as well. They're creating all the offense. They're forced to take tough shots each chip up the court and they're gonna be expected to make them. That's what it is. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, but you gotta credit the Denver Nuggets and the game bruise round played as well on both ends of the court. He was just aggressive. He was physical against them. And that third quarter, 39-25, Mike Malone mentioned it on the telecast. They shot 70% from the floor in that quarter. They could not be stopped. And that was the game. The game was never close again after that. You cannot come out of the half that lethargic in that flat. And it's unfortunate because the Suns had a huge second quarter, Todd, the game up, took the lead, went into half time, just down three. Looked like they were in good spirits. Looked like Kevin had turned it around and then they had that third quarter. So they're gonna have to be much better at home. I think they will be, which is, you know, look, the series doesn't start till the road team wins. Road team has yet to win yet. I think this game is going seven, shocker, but the Suns will have to be much, much better at game seven on Sunday. Because if not, they're gonna be going home early and they're gonna have a lot of decisions to make this summer. But yeah, they're scrambling a bit. You can tell. You can tell the way Monty was subbing in guys. You can tell the stuff they were running. You can tell the frustrations on them, which I'm sure we'll talk about, but they're scrambling. They know what's at stake right now. Yeah, the shots of Chris Paul on the bench, it looked miserable, just angry and seething. All right, so on the Denver side, I think the collective media, probably most of us included, have sort of decided we don't believe in this team until they actually do something. And I know they're not there yet, Chandler, but have you seen enough to maybe start to think that this team's a little bit, I don't know, better than we were giving them credit for in crunch time? Yeah, especially when they make an effort to play defense like they have been doing. And they have guys that are capable of doing that. And then I know they've been tagged as soft all year long. And that starts with Yolkich. He's a classic European player. He's not this physically, you know, sexy, big, strong muscle guy to look at. He's not the classic center, you know what I mean? So people classify him as soft, which is really ignorant because he just plays the game elegant and beautifully, but some people get that mixed up. But they do have tough guys. And they have Bruce Browns. They have KCPs. I love the way Christian Brown, who knows what kind of player he's gonna be in this league, but he is smothering Kevin Durant. I think Kevin Durant can score on anybody in this league, but he's getting physical with him. He's at least contesting every fadeaway jumper that Katie's taken. And it seems to make it seem like he's contesting and he's there and he's bothering him a little bit, which he probably isn't, but that's really good defense. That's a really tough shot, even if he makes it. But they have the pieces now with the unbelievable offensive firepower to win a championship this year. But I think they know what they're gonna get on the offensive, but they have to have the defense like they did last night. KCP took an elbow right to the face early on the game, pressuring Devin, taking chances, trying to strip him at half court. That's what they have to do. They have to get in these guys. They have to be physical and they have to force them to be uncomfortable and not get to their spots. And that's what they do. And when they do that and they get the points from their star players, they're a championship team. Yeah, Michelle, I was in the bubble. Go, Sean. Yeah, Michelle, I was in the bubble. So, you know, I saw this team firsthand. I saw exactly what they did down there. And I think the last year they just have not been healthy. So Nicola Jokic last night became the first, the most triple doubles for center in playoff history. And Michelle, you made an interesting point where you said that not winning MVP might have been the best thing that ever happened to him. I heard he didn't even watch the MVP announcement last week. I don't think he cared. I think he was totally over it. He was ready to move on and focus on these playoffs. And what he's done, and Michael Porter Jr. being healthy and playing, he missed all of last season. Jamal Murray, he's healthy. He missed all of last season. He's playing at an elite level. And the reality is for the Suns, Devin, Brooker, Kevin Duran, they have to be in the 30s and 40s each, 28 and 26 is nice, but they got to be in the 30s and 40s if this team is going to have a legitimate chance to get out of this second round series. This version of Jokic is the best. If he didn't watch the MVP ceremony, it's only because he knew he wasn't winning. Don't be fooled. He wanted that thing. Yeah, I don't know. He lost on the tweet. Yeah, but in all fairness, like it was, this was so dramatic leading up. I mean, he had to hear constantly about how he doesn't deserve it. He shouldn't get three in a row. I feel like, I feel him not watching it because he's sort of like screw you guys. I don't care. And this version, I love this version of Jokic. There's a moment last night in the third quarter where he's just trying to tip toe in like a little mouse and maybe get some information and KD is not having it at all. Like by the way, Jokic, you're kind of a big dude. You're not sneaking up on anybody. KD, get out of here. Eddie, what did you think about the moment? All right, now we got a wonder. Is that a push? Is that a shove? What is that right there? Is it a elbow? Is it a flop? Like what are we doing? I'm with you guys though. I think, look, Jokic is earning more equity now with fans than he kind of ever really earned with either MVP, which is crazy how it works, but he's dominating this playoff series. He's dominating the playoff period. We haven't seen a production like this when that position since like Prime Shack. So he's getting all the flowers he deserves and I love that for him. As far as this, this is nothing. I mean, this is, look, the nuggets are up big. They know it. They're being pestered. They just got, I think it was a tech or no, they just got out of bounds foul. So it's just a weird period in the game and they're being pestered at home. They're feeling good. And Kevin's doing what he's supposed to do. At least he's pushing them out of there. He's getting them, you know, it's nothing. Double techs, nobody loses a point and we wins a point. It's fine. It's kind of waiting for some chippingness in this series in this round period. And this is the best we're gonna get. Like, come on, let's step it up this weekend guys. We need a little more, you know, a little more arguing, a little more chippingness, a little more intensity. Oh, you didn't think the Jamal Murray stare down technical was chippy enough? I really thought that was intimidating and scary. We're gonna take a quick break right now, but when we come back, get your ears ready because this man right here, super Nix fan, Michael Rappaport joins us next till we run it back returns. Our next guest is one of the most vocal Nix fans on the planet. And do you know how hard it is to be on the top of the list like that? Joining us now is actor Michael Rappaport because I believe all Nix fans are loud as hell. How are you, dude? I haven't seen you forever. I'm good, I'm good. It's good to see you. It's good to be here with you guys. We used to make magic. Me and Michelle Beatle would make magic on live television. And it was just a glorious time. And I'm glad to be back here with an HR dream. Never got in trouble, never got reported. We know how to sliver through the, exactly, exactly. But it's good to see you. It's good to be here with you guys. And the NBA isn't always will be fantastic. And it never disappoints. Well, here's the deal. I wish I was coming at you from a, the Nix were up 3-1 standpoint and coming back to the garden tonight, but obviously I'm not. This is a must win. Are you feeling confident at all? I mean, they could definitely win this game, for sure. I mean, the games have been, you know, relatively close. There was that, you know, big blowout. But, you know, in general, this is a classic Miami Nix series. You know, Jalen's gonna do what we need to do. I think defensively, we need to get them off the 3-point line. We need to, you know, if they're gonna make threes, make threes, but they can't even, we shouldn't even allow them to take so many threes. We need to be more aggressively, offensively. They're trying to, you know, all the charges that they're taking and just, we could absolutely get back in this series. We win tonight, you know, the pressures on them and, you know, two of the next three games are in the world's most famous arena. So it could be done. Do I think, you know, would I bet on it? No, but we win tonight. People are gonna get, New Yorkers are gonna get excited. You know, I think that FIBS has unfortunately been outcoached. But like I said, it could all turn around tonight because it's in the garden and things are, although it's 3-1, I think it's closer than that theoretically and the way they're, the style of the way that they're playing. You mentioned the garden, so let's talk about that. You've been upset that courtside fans are not exactly giving it up to the heat players like they should be. You know, Trevor Knoe had a moment, real friendly moment with Jimmy Butler. Would you be there with the courtside fans? Tell us about it. No, no, boo these people. These are not your friends. You're not friends. If you're sitting courtside and you're getting tickets from the Knicks, boo these people. You wanna give them dap, give them dap at the end. Send a tweet out. Like, if you're a real fan, you don't call Miami heat players. Listen, come on. Yo, you don't hug these dudes. You don't, you don't, you boo them. You make them feel uncomfortable within the boundaries of what's acceptable to be booing from courtside at the garden. You don't talk to these people. These are, these are not your friends. Kevin Love, I love Kevin Love. I was there be booing him in his face. Like, look at you. You look 57 with your gray hair. I be on him. Like, I'm not friendly with these people if you're courtside. Not now, not during the playoffs. But most of these guys are real true Knick fans or basketball fans. Oh, I love it. I love it. A lot of Knicks fans sticking with them have been real critical of Thibs, his coaching. Knicks fans, what's the question, Chandler? What's the question? How much do you think Thibs is to blame for this and their lack of effort, maybe that you're hearing around it? I mean, you know what, for a question like that, I'll ask you, Chandler, what do you think? I think it's ridiculous. I think that that's ridiculous. You know, Thibs can only do so much psychological, you know, hand-holding with Julius Randall. You know, what do you think? I mean, I don't actually divert to the expert. What do you think? We were just talking about this. People are all over now in Missoula and should he be the future coach with Boston? It's like, he's not the reason why Tatum was 11 of 27 last night. So I think a lot of it has to do with managing players, certain substitutions, critical timeouts. But if we're talking about lack of effort right now, down 3-1 to play Austin, then they got to get new guys in there as my take. That's not on the coach itself. Yo, when Julius Randall is sitting there at a press conference to say maybe they want it more, I'm just like, I don't know what to say about that. Like, first of all, I said this when he got, but Beedle, I said this when he got brought to New York and I like Julius and I'm not turning on him because he hasn't played great. I do think he's more injured, but why do the Knicks allow a player to wear number 30? See, this is all goes back to the Knicks and respecting the legacy. Bernard King's jersey should be retired. He's in the Hall of Fame. The work that he did to get in the Hall of Fame was done as a New York Knick. Bernard King should have his jersey retired. Not that it has anything to do with Julius Randall not performing during his playoffs, but maybe it does. That's all I'm saying. Mike, as you keep your GM hat on right now, if the Knicks lose the night, if they lose the night, what would you like to see them do? I know you were just talking about Julius Randall. What would you do as the Knicks GM right now if they lose the series? Would you run it back? Oh, hell no. Everybody is up. The only two people that are, I keep for sure are Jalen Brunson and I keep Josh Hart because I think Jalen loves him and I think he's a glue guy. He's a character guy. He, you know, you want a guy like that. Every single other player on that team, I would be like, yo, open for phone calls. Does that sound crazy, Shams? I mean, you have to be open for anything. And this is a Knicks team that has a lot of assets. Mike, you know, a lot of draft picks, a lot of swaps, a lot of second round picks available. They can go out and make a play for a star. No question. Do you want to see a star? Do you want them to add a Dame Lillard? Who, who, who, which star do you want to see them at? I mean, Dame and Jalen Brunson would be, that would be sick, but that's not going to get us a championship. You know, Mitchell Robinson, I don't know if there's a hand surgeon to like get his hands fixed. Maybe he could get like, I don't know, like maybe, I don't know, like he could do something because he drops the ball, pick him, go Lester Hayes, something. But Dame, Dame would be great. You know, Dame would be great. And I think it would rejuvenate him, but we're still going to need, you know, like RJ Barrett, he's not that dude. He's just not that dude. Everything he does, it looks, he's a left-handed player. Lefties are supposed to look good. It looks like everything's clunky and hard and it's hard for him to score. And Julius, you know, we had a run with him and he's got to go, man. If we're making moves and you know, he's got to go and he's a, you could get something good for Julius Randall. So that being said, I want them to win the game tonight. I want the Knicks to win the game tonight. I want Bernard King's jersey retired and I want Charles Oakley back in the garden. Yes, free Oak. Free Oak. Free Oak. You do. I'm sorry, Eddie. I'm just stepping on Eddie. Go, go. Speaking of Oak, this is actually Lisa right into the next question. When's the last time you caught a game at MSG? Because like Oak, internet, they're kind of starting to think you're banned from the garden. What's going on there? I know you've hit some games at Barclays. Are you banned? Allegedly, allegedly, I can't confirm or deny any B word. I was at a game, I was at the Laker game last season when LeBron had gotten suspended. I was disappointed and I was there courtside with a friend who had courtside seats and let's just say some of the upper management. Let's just say some of upper management without being specific, but upper management was not happy that I was the plus one to my friend that had courtside seats. As far as being banned, I'm not, honestly, I was at a UFC fight this year there, but that's all I'm gonna say. That's all I'm legally allowed to say because I'm trying to get the olive branch. I'm trying to get the, I waved the olive branch out there for some of the upper management. It hasn't been returned yet. That's all I'm saying. All right, moving off to Nick's for a bit. Nikola Jokic, he was recently fined 25,000 for the whole encounter with Ispia, the son's owner. Did you think it should have been more, should be less, should he have been suspended? What's your take on that whole encounter? It's a non-story, you know, the 25 is nothing to him. I don't count other man's pockets, but let's be realistic, the 25 is nothing to him. They should have fined the owner. You know, I think it's water under the bridge and you know, it's just kind of a, you know, weird incident. It's not anything, you know, what's more of the story is that quote unquote, one of the greatest players of all time is about to get eliminated on I don't know how many teams Durant's played on. It's like his ninth team he's playing on. He just like, he just, you know, chasing those rings, man, you lose count going here, going there, going to get those rings, and then you can't do it by yourself. You just can't do it. The greatest player of all time, the greatest player in the league, the greatest score of all time. You just can't do it when your 54 year old point guard goes out, you just can't do it. I like it. I like it a lot. Like looking in a mirror when he's on. Eddie, how do you feel about that? How are you and Kevin as of late? Is that a, is that squashed? Is that still a thing? It's nothing. It's nothing. It's nothing. It's nothing. I like, I just like my top 10 greatest players of all time to be able to win a championship by themselves. That's all I'm saying. And he just can't do it. You know what he's good at making great teams greater because he's a fantastic player. He's a big piece. He's a big piece, but he's not that dude. He's not that dude to do it by himself. He's great. He's like, you know, if you have a great house and then you redo the kitchen, he's that guy. Mike, I'm bringing you back to the Knicks. I need right now your, your, your Mount Rushmore Knicks. I need four guys. I need your Mount Rushmore right now. Well, I mean, you got to go with the late grade Willis Reed, Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, I mean, I, you know, I mean, I, I, you know, in my sack religious without saying, you know, Clyde, you know, I would go with those four. I would go with those four, you know, then, you know, Earl Monroe, but his prime wasn't there. You know, but I would, I have to go Patrick Bernard and Willis and I have to go Clyde. And there's two guys from that, those championship teams, because they did it twice. They did it twice. And, and, you know, I know it sounds like crazy, but that's all we have is those championships. Patrick was unbelievable. You know, Bernard was, I mean, God, man, he was electric Bernard King, man. And, you know, I'm so happy that I got to watch those dudes, you know, like on a random Tuesday, you know, I never got to watch, you know, Willis Reed and Clyde play. I did, when the garden was eating for that other network, the 30 for 30, but, you know, it's hard to, you know, sort of embrace players that you don't watch all the time. You know, errors, it's different. If you don't watch them on a random Tuesday or a 1pm game versus the Orlando Magic, you can't really say you saw a player play. That's just the facts. That's just the truth, especially when you go back into the 80s, the 70s, and before that, because the games, there's no full, you can't even find like a full game of Bill Russell playing. You can't find a full game of Will Chamberlain playing and all these people like, you know, they're the best. I'm like, you're just going off the statistics. So I have to go with those two guys, you know, those four guys in my Mount Rushmore. Am I forgetting anybody off the top of my head? What do you think, Champs? It's tough. Okay, so what has been your most painful memory moment as an expan? Jesus, there's been a lot. I mean, losing those championships were rough, but I'll be honest, you know, the emotional distress that Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller put me through, though, you know, and there was a bunch of times, but Michael Jordan beating us, you know, the Charles Smith, you know, 17 pump fakes, those were really tough times, and they took the wind out of me, to be honest with you. That took a lot out of me. Those years took a lot out of me, man. They were hard, and when the Knicks, you know, lost game one at the garden, it's different because I'm 53 as opposed to being in my 20s, but it conjured up those feelings of disappointment where that sort of like, it takes the air out of you, but Reggie and Michael Jordan, they did a real shove job on me, guys, a real shove job. I don't like Reggie Miller to this day. I don't like listening to him as a commentator. I respect his brilliance. I respect his legacy, but if I look at him too long, all I think about is him doing this and being there, watching those games, and they're etched in your brain because at the time, as you guys know, you didn't Instagram, you didn't get to watch it all over. So when you saw it, it was like seeing something, it was like seeing like a dead animal on the side of the road that you're going for a jog and you're like, eh, you don't forget it. That's what Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller represent to me, like it's in my soul. It's deeply in my soul. By the way, that is such a city kid reference because in Texas, we see dead animals on the side of the road every four and a half seconds. So it's like, now it's just a blur. Okay, I got one question. So Yannis' inspired question. If the nicks lose tonight, and we don't want that, but if they do, is this season a success at all? Yes. This is a season. Listen, I love Yannis and, you know, I think he's so eloquent when he speaks. I also think, you know, I've heard him say such beautiful things about winning and not, you know, and not, I love Yannis and I totally understood what he said. But yes, this season, particularly for the nicks, it's a success. You know, it'll be a disappointment to lose in five games to a team that I feel like we should be competing at least seven games with. But this is a success. But we need, there's work to be done and there's problems and puzzles that need to be figured out. And I don't think anybody on this, you know, this episode has the answers right now until the dust clears. Well, future Nick Yannis is probably a good thing to start manifesting now. I don't think it's a bad idea. You know, just an idea. We can't take that. That would be, we'd be, that would be send Nick, that would be too much. They shut down the city every home game. Oh, that would be, that would be too much. That would be way, that'd be like too, that would be too much for us to take. That would be sick. Nick fans are the best. You guys are crazy. Like I, fan bases are crazy, but Nick's fans in particular are crazy. Rap, it's been way too long, must talk more often. And we'll keep our DMs and texts on the side because they're not proper for television, sir. Thank you so much. You guys, I love, I love all for you, Eddie, just meeting you, Chandler and Shams. Oh, I'm doing my best not to call you Shams. It's just my, the way I speak. It is Shams. Shams, Shams, whatever it is. I appreciate you guys having me on and you know, keep doing your thing. And you know, let's do it tonight in the world's most famous arena. It ain't over. But to quote the great Mickey from Rocky Five and Rocky Ding Ding, I didn't hear no bell. Perfect. Thank you, Rap. Love you. See you next time. Shams, you also. Shams, Shams, Shams. It doesn't matter. He's the man. We'll see you, well Monday I guess, because today's our Friday, but the three of us, we're not going anywhere. When we come back, Lakers, Warriors, Game Five, Preview, wouldn't run it back, returns. Run it up, run it back, run it up, run it back, run it up, run it back. Well, that's right. More hoops tonight. Big game, huge game. Warriors happen to be big favorites though in this one. The Game Five between them and the Los Angeles Lakers. So I ask you, are they winning Game Five? No matter what, Chandler. I think they do. I don't think the end of this dynasty, the end of this era comes on their home court. They're a much better team at that arena. And I think they have too much pride, they're too talented, and like I said, there's too much history and tradition and too many unknown questions to be answered for it to be over tonight on their home floor. So I can't see it happening. And this is truly a one game at a time situation for them, because I still think that they think they're a better team and they can go get this one tonight and then kind of there's pressure on LA to win the next game at home. So I believe they're gonna get it done tonight. With apologies to the Corgi, I think it's over. I think it's over, I think the Corgi is wrong. Wrong. But the Lakers know what's at stake and they know that if they lose this game, all the pressure is then on them. They have to win at home after that because Game Seven is on the road and LeBron and AD more than anything, they know what's at stake. They know this is their opportunity to knock this team off. They know they got a wounded dog in front of them so they know they're dangerous and they know they gotta play their best game to the season tonight to win it. So I expect the Lakers to come out extremely sharp. I expect them to be efficient as can be and they're gonna be ready. At this point, all the chess pieces are on the board. Both teams, both coaches, they know what they're gonna do. You know, people were making a lot of fuss about LeBron knowing that the hammer play was coming. That play is always coming in with most teams. It's not a big deal, but it speaks to the fact that the Lakers and the Warriors know exactly what each other are trying to do. Kerr, he got the moody chess piece out. He's doing the pick and roll, the high screen and roll stuff. There's not much left to discover. I'm expecting the Lakers to come out sharp. I think the Warriors are a little bit rattled, truth be told. We're hearing all, you know, we have Jordan Poole all upset. We have these guys talking about all these quotes about. They know, they know, they know, and they're just frustrated. I'm expecting the Corgi to get some egg on his head today and it'll be fine. He went viral for a week. It's cool. No, no, no. To the Corgi and his or her family, Eddie only speaks for himself. I believe in your powers. I believe you will be accurate when it's all said and done. Chandler, is there a threshold for you, a markation point? Is that even a word? In tonight's game, when you would pull LeBron and give him rest? I mean, if it gets out of reach and in the middle to beginning of fourth quarter, they're down 20, 30 points. We're talking an absolute beating. I would pull them. There's no reason if they have no chance of coming back in the game, get AD off the floor, get LeBron off the floor. Let these other guys, let Lonnie Walker go do his thing again. But no, I don't think it's gonna get that ugly that quick. I think it's gonna be a competitive game. And like Eddie said, LeBron, AD, they see blood in the water. They see this as a chance right now to end it. They've had their struggles and on the flip side, the Warriors have to do everything they can to extend this year, to extend it. And Jordan Pohl's gotta be better. Clay's gotta be better. And they have to really look himself in the mirror now and realize this could be the last time we see this core play together. And it could be ended by LeBron James. So it's gonna be an awesome game. And I do think the Warriors somehow managed to push this and get another game. Yeah, you gotta play this like it's... You play this like it's normal. You play this like it's whatever. You don't play with house money. You don't play with the basketball gods and say, oh, we can throw this game. I've seen a network wondering if they should have wrested AD and LeBron. You don't do that. This is still the champs. This is still the Golden State Warriors, the dynasty that has kind of run rough shot over the league for the last decade. You don't play with your food like that. If it's there, you finish it. So look, if there's a blowout and yes, if there's three minutes left and they're down 25, yeah, yeah, you do that. You're not giving LeBron extra rest because you feel like you're spotted two games now at this point. No, you gotta get these guys out of here when you got the chance. You don't tempt the basketball gods because they come back with a vengeance. And I think some guys on that team know that as well. So play this like regular. Don't get cute. By the way, yeah, why wouldn't you end it? Finish him. That's ridiculous. You guys, we've got a little time for you buying that. LeBron's kid, Brownie, committing to USC. Okay, so that's happening, Chandler. Are you still buying this whole idea that LeBron will end up playing with his son in the NBA? I do. I think Brownie, first of all, he was getting a lot of recognition early, obviously as his son, but he's gotten a lot better. And I've actually watched him play. He's physically gifted. He can defend. He's developed a jump shot. He's extremely athletic. So I do. And I can't help but think that people in Cavaliers have a first round pick when Brownie is eligible and just be a perfect storm where he could go back home, play with his son where he grew up. That would probably be the greatest accomplishment LeBron's ever done, which is saying a lot because the guy's seen it all and done it all. But I will say at first, I was kind of rolling my eyes about the whole Brownie James thing, but the kid can play and he's athletic and he's only gonna get better. So I do think that he will be a prospect. And I do also think if LeBron continues to play the way he's playing, which I don't see him slowing down anytime, a team will take a flyer on Brownie just to get the opportunity to get LeBron for multiple reasons for his game and for everything that comes with it with Jersey sales and attendance and people coming to the game. So I think it would be really special and really, really cool if they did get this opportunity. I mean, what a spectacle that would be. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say there's millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars on the line for this to happen between multiple parties, the NBA, between Nike, between Beats by Dre, between all these things that are part of the fast and furious franchise, USC, there's a lot of powerful players at work that this would make a ton of sense. And I think Chandler mentioned the two most important factors, to be honest. Brownie is shaping up to be an NBA prospect. Maybe it takes him two years of college or even more, but he is shaping up to look like an NBA prospect. And LeBron, look, he's averaging 22 points a game in the playoffs. Doesn't sound like a lot, but we all know what year and season he's in. We all know how old he is. He averaged 29 points a game this season in the NBA. He's playing on a bum foot. He looks like an NBA player. And I always look like, he looked like a really good NBA player still. So it's going to be a while before he slows down. If this is what's LeBron, he can hold out for a couple of years, wait for Brownie. Guys, I mean it with all sincerity. When I say I can't wait. Okay. Let's take a quick break. Come back. My picks are in. Chandler, I will give you the floor when we return. Experience the NBA playoffs like never before with FanDuel. America's number one sports book. Join FanDuel today and get $150 in bonus bets. When you place your first $5 bet, that's $150 in bonus bets, win or lose. That means you can bet on the points spread, player props or any of the other bets FanDuel has to choose from. And you'll still get $150 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with FanDuel, official sports book partner of the NBA. Well, we did parlay yesterday and Chandler, would you like to accept the award? Go. Okay. That was a good speech. All right, here's tonight. Eddie, go fast. All right, I guess we're out of here. What a smooth ending to a show. Thank you for all the awards. We will win for this inevitably. Guys, see you next week.