Hour 1: A Finals for the Ages?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Don, Hahn & Rosenberg — "A Finals for the Ages?"

ESPN New York | June 1, 2026 | Hosts: Alan Hahn, Peter Rosenberg, Don La Greca

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Episode Overview

The first hour of "Don, Hahn & Rosenberg" dives into the excitement and narrative hype around the upcoming NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. The hosts analyze the matchup’s significance, debate the idea of an “easy path” to the Finals, break down season and rivalry history, and field calls from fans to capture the pulse of New York basketball. The conversation is energetic and conversational, peppered with stats, witty banter, and deep dives into both basketball culture and the current state of parity in the NBA.

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Main Discussion Points

1. Knicks vs. Spurs: A Finals Rematch and Its Meaning

• Symmetry with 1999 Finals: The hosts mock media attempts to frame this as a "revenge" series because only Rick Brunson (now Jalen Brunson’s father) has a connection to that Knicks team.
  • "Revenge. Stop it... You're gonna have to at least have a handful of players that played in that series." (Rosenberg, 01:23)
• Historical NBA Finals rematches: Alan shares that when franchises meet for a second time in the Finals, the win history is evenly split (17-17).
  • "Of the previous 34 times... dead even. 17." (Alan, 03:11)
• Long time coming: A testament to how much has changed in nearly three decades.

2. Playoff Paths and "Parity" in the NBA

• Debate over “easy paths”: Both Knicks and Spurs are being accused of benefiting from weakened competition. The hosts flip this, pointing out the league’s overall parity.
  • "This is the price of parity... there's no more dynasties. Teams aren't repeating." (Rosenberg, 24:17)
• Injuries and attrition are cited as levellers: Spurs beat banged-up teams; Knicks’ path featured compromised opposition. But this is now the reality of the league rather than a true "easy ride."
  • "What is the path? It is sometimes luck. It's fortune. It's the teams that can get through this battle." (Alan, 27:32)

3. Knicks vs. Spurs: Recent History and Epic Games (07:43–11:13)

• Recent Regular-Season Matchups: The hosts run down several epic Knicks-Spurs clashes since Wembanyama arrived — high-scoring duels, iconic performances, and memorable endings.
  • "No team has won on the other's home floor yet. They’ve played seven times... these games have been epic." (Alan, 07:45)
• Stat highlights: Brunson’s 61-point game (despite the Knicks losing), Wemby’s 40-20 and wild 3-point shootouts.
• Expectation: If recent history holds, this Finals should be full of drama and tight games.

4. The Star Power and Storylines

• Rising stars for both sides: The Knicks’ run is powered by Jalen Brunson and deep role-player contributions. The Spurs ride the generational talent of Victor Wembanyama and a cadre of skilled young guards.
  • Cultural connections: New York-native stories on both teams, ties to local colleges, family histories.
  • ESPN/ABC’s “Dream Matchup”: Big market vs. small market with box-office stars.

5. Vegas Odds and Perception (11:14–12:15)

• Hosts question the “expert” consensus: Despite their run, the Knicks are underdogs, possibly due to Western Conference bias and public perception.
  • "If there were no odds… your naked eyes would tell you the Knicks should be a favorite. They've won 11 straight games." (Rosenberg, 11:14)

6. The Path Narrative—Parity Means No “Dominant” Champions

• No repeat champs in eight years: Framing the current climate as a positive, not a flaw.
• Injuries to opposition as the new normal: Hosts refute the idea that any Finals team should apologize for its path.
  • "At the end of the day they're going to still give you that trophy, and they're not going to ask you to have to prove in front of the crowd why you deserve it." (Rosenberg, 29:06)

7. Technical Matchup: How Will Knicks Guard Wemby? (47:32–50:13)

• Listener call: Speculation if the Knicks should avoid double-big lineups vs. Wemby, and how to leverage Carl Towns' shooting.
  • "Cat’s ability to shoot the three rather than drive is going to be a critical part of this series." (Alan, 49:01)

8. Experience vs. Adversity: Who’s Battle-Tested? (41:44–45:10)

• Spurs have faced more playoff adversity: Down 3-2 in the Conference Finals, won Game 7 on the road.
• Knicks have mostly cruised: Blowing out opponents, rarely tested in close games.
  • Is this a disadvantage, or are the Knicks simply dominant? Alan suggests the Knicks are eager for a scrap to finally test themselves.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On "Revenge" as a Media Trope:

  • “The only guy remaining from any of that [the 1999 Finals] is Rick Brunson.” (Alan, 01:33)

• On Finals Parity:

  • “This is the price of parity... This is going to be the eighth consecutive year where we don’t have a repeat champion, which is unheard of in the NBA.” (Rosenberg, 24:17)

• On the Cup Finals (comparison to hockey narratives):

  • “This should break records... But also a series that could be a lot of fun but not sexy the way Knicks and Spurs are sexy.” (Rosenberg, 14:33)

• On regular season meaning for this matchup:

  • “I just rattled off a three-year history between these two franchises... They just seem to get the best out of each other.” (Alan, 16:13)

• On technical adjustments (defending Wemby):

  • “Cat [Towns]’s ability to shoot the three... could be a critical piece in this series. Maybe even more than anything Jalen Brunson is going to do.” (Alan, 49:01)

• On paths and luck:

  • “What is the path? It is sometimes luck. It’s fortune. It’s the teams that can get through this battle... the hardest thing to do is to get to this round.” (Alan, 27:32)

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Key Timestamps

• 03:11 — Alan reveals the 17–17 split in repeat Finals matchups
• 07:43–11:13 — Detailed breakdown of Knicks-Spurs recent wild games and epic storylines
• 11:14 — Challenging the Vegas odds and public perception
• 24:17–29:06 — In-depth on “parity” and the so-called “easy path” to the Finals
• 41:44–45:10 — Spurs’ adversity vs. Knicks’ dominance: are the latter untested?
• 47:32–50:13 — Caller Q&A: Knicks’ tactical approach to Wembanyama in the series

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Listener Calls: The Fan Perspective

• Sebastian (Queens): Wanted the Spurs for basketball reasons, not fear. Now feels “a hungry team is a dangerous team.”

  • "Seeing the emotion on Wembley’s face... that's somebody I'm scared of... but no matter what, Knicks got this." (31:10–32:11)

• Manny (Flushing): Reflects on being a young fan in 1999, series nostalgia, and the deep family-legacy crossover between these franchises.

• Spike (St. Pete): Thanks MSG for coverage, advocates for Knicks’ veteran advantage over the Spurs' youth, and loves the fan experience.

• Flavio (Brooklyn): Asks about best defensive approach for Knicks against Wembanyama’s unique skill set.

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Tone and Style

Conversational, sharp, irreverent, and passionate—these three hosts combine sportswriter-level detail with a diehard fan’s perspective. The episode includes plenty of trivia, banter, self-deprecation, and direct engagement with Knicks fandom.

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Conclusion

Hour 1 sets up the Finals as a can’t-miss series defined by two ascending teams and historic parity, not just easy paths. Listeners are left with a blend of optimism, caution, and anticipation—not only for the basketball but for the stories, legends, and New York energy that the Finals will bring.

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For basketball fans and especially Knicks followers, this episode lays out everything you need to know—and challenges the easy media narratives—about why this Finals matchup could be truly special.

Transcript

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[Don Hahn]

Don.

[Rosenberg]

I'll be licking the television screen. Licking it like it's ice cream.

[Han]

Han.

[Alan]

Oh, the type of music I listen to would make you cry.

[Don Hahn]

And Rosenberg, I expect to be called ball coach.

[Rosenberg]

This isn't North Dakota, this is New York.

[Don Hahn]

This is Don Hahn and Rosenberg.

[Han]

The best threesome I've ever heard on

[Don Hahn]

ESPN New York and streaming live on YouTube.

[Rosenberg]

302 in the big city. Happy Monday, everybody. Don, Han and Rosenberg hanging out with you till 7 o'. Clock. Oh, frontal. Today, Peter is in Italy and he'll be gone for the week, but we'll hear from him tomorrow because he's got to make his predictions on the NBA Finals. How are you, buddy?

[Alan]

I'm good. We know. We now know. And, and it's. We're going to party like it's 1999. You're going to hear that over and over again.

[Rosenberg]

All right.

[Alan]

Does that, does that annoy you?

[Rosenberg]

It annoys. Well, not, not the, not the Prince reference. Just, just the whole idea of it. Revenge. Stop it.

[Alan]

Revenge.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah. You hear, though, you're hearing that the

[Alan]

only guy remaining from any of that is Rick Brunson.

[Rosenberg]

That's it.

[Alan]

Play.

[Rosenberg]

I mean, 1999, that's a long time ago, man. Yeah, that's 27 years ago. I understand that it's ironic, right? It's the same matchup that the last time they were in the NBA Finals. But like, I, I understand there's a little symmetry there, but revenge. You're gonna have to at least have a handful of players that played in that series.

[Alan]

All right? First stat to throw at you.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan]

So because it's the second time these two franchises will meet in an NBA final, it's the 35th time that's happened. Okay, okay. Of the previous 34 times. So it's not the first. It's meeting the second time.

[Rosenberg]

Oh, wow.

[Alan]

So the previous 34 times. How many times do you think the team that won the first time won again? Out of 34?

[Rosenberg]

Out of 34 again? It would just be a complete guess because we're trying to think of all of the times Repeat matchups like Celtics, Lakers, Knicks, Lakers.

[Alan]

Yeah, that was a couple of times.

[Rosenberg]

You know. How many times did the Cavs and Warriors play?

[Alan]

Oh yeah.

[Rosenberg]

So I, I know there were splits with the Lakers and Celtics. There were no splits between the Lakers and Knicks. At least not in 70 and 73. I, you know, I don't think it's that lopsided.

[Alan]

There's a mess today by the way.

[Rosenberg]

Still looks. You find a way to make it look good. I'm going to say 20, 20 times the team close that won the first one won the close.

[Han]

Yeah.

[Alan]

Believe it or not, dead even. 17.

[Rosenberg]

All right, that's. That. That doesn't surprise me. That doesn't surprise me. I was leaning on it being close, but the way you presented it, you know, especially since the Knicks had lost.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

The first one. That maybe there would be some kind of swing one way or the other. So. And listen, that doesn't apply here.

[Alan]

Like you said, there's no 27 years is like it. It's like when the, when the Celtics and Warriors met a couple of years ago, I think was 2022 when Steph Curry won and finally got his Finals MVP. Right. It was the first. Those two franchises that met twice before. Once before also when it was the Philadelphia warriors back in like, you know, whatever.

[Rosenberg]

A long time ago.

[Alan]

Yeah, forever ago. So it's, it's a long time between meetings. There is no, there's, there's no correlation, no connection. No nothing other than the fact that Rick Brunson was on the roster and now his son is the star for the Knicks.

[Rosenberg]

Man. Which all that does is tell you how long it's been since they met

[Alan]

each other in the Finals. Right.

[Rosenberg]

That it's all of 27 years. And there's a perfect example of that now we got a big show, like we said, full four hours today. The Giants went shopping.

[Alan]

Oh yeah.

[Rosenberg]

And everybody's talking about Barrios OBJ returning Smith. So they get a ton of help. Wide receiver, special teams. Obviously with Barrios.

[Alan]

We.

[Rosenberg]

We're going to get into that a little bit later on the weekend. That was with the baseball teams. Good for the Yankees, great for the Mets. They swept the Marlins as the Mets now embark on their fourth western swing. And it's just June 1st. It's kind of crazy. We'll get into the baseball 430 is our weekend headlines and another Anthony Pusick led ENN coming up at 6:00'. Clock. Tim Legler is going to join us at 6:30. So we've got lots to do baseball, football. We're going to start now as we have. And Alan, I know you were bullish and you're going to give your prediction tomorrow with the rest of us about just feeling good about the Knicks, no matter who they were going to play. But this does look like yet another string of breaks for the Knicks because they got what is looked upon to be the lesser experienced. Well, definitely the lesser team, the less experienced team. It's in the eye of the beholder whether they're the easier matchup. But I think this is what most Nick fans wanted. Forget about 1999, just that I don't want to have to face the more experienced Thunder team that had won a Game 7 in the Finals last year. Give me the more inexperienced spurs team. They got them. But I kind of feel, and I've had a chance to sit on this since Saturday, that be careful what you wish for is all I'll say.

[Alan]

Okay.

[Rosenberg]

Because I do think the spurs present some problems for the Knicks. I'm not going to say problems to the point where they can't beat them, but looking at what the Thunder were by the end of game seven, I wonder if this was the team all Nick fans should have been rooting for in the first place.

[Alan]

Yeah, I was saying it like, is it weird for me to think that I'd rather play the Thunder, the defending champs? For various reasons. One, to put away the narrative of, hey, they didn't beat anybody, so you knock off the defending champs. That's somebody, right? Also, I, I, I had this feeling of like a vibe of, you know, if the Thunder were there, after all the criticism that SGA has been taking in their style of play, you'd probably have most of the country pulling for you, which never happens for a New York team. Like right now, I want Nick fans to understand one thing. Stop worrying about what everybody's saying. Don't pay attention. Your team is in the finals. They earn their way there. Don't look for any adulation from everyone, national media and all the talking heads. Don't look for that. What you want to be is the underdog. And by the way, despite the fact that this is a very young spurs team, you're the underdog. I mean, they're not the favorite team and I didn't think they would be. So like, that's got to go away first. Start there. But also understand that the spurs and Victor Wembanyama feel like that next team, just like the Thunder last year felt like that next team. And both cases are right. These are Two teams that are going to dominate the west for many years to come because of how young they are and how good they are. So either one, you're going to face a challenge. But I'll tell you what, this Spurs Knicks matchup might be one for the ages.

[Rosenberg]

Could be.

[Alan]

And when I say that it's not just because of when by Nyama and all that stuff. It's not just because it's, it's New York big market versus the San Antonio market, which is small. And it's not even because they've met once before in 1999. It's because if you've been paying attention, the last since Wendy came in elite, the last three years when these two teams have played each other. Don, I watched back a lot of this stuff over the weekend, just like, you know, starting to do my, my prep and I called some of these games. Don, these games have been epic. Like I'll give you a rundown because first of all, no team has won on the other team's home floor yet. They've played seven times. One being what the extra being the NBA cup. The neutral site. It's. It's four and three. That's all it is. Seven times they've played. The Knicks have won four because they have the neutral site win. But it's three on the home court, three losses on the, on the road court. Brunson had a 61 point game back in March of 24. It was an overtime, unbelievable game. He went for 61 and the Knicks lost. Wemby went for 40, 20 in that game. Then there was a Christmas day game in 2024. Mikhail Bridges, breakout game. He went crazy in that game. Christmas Day national audience. It was a wild game, a lot of fun. That's a game where it's. Wembayama was hearing chants from the Garden crown of overrated. Then we go to later that season, March 25, where there's no Ahmed Yami, he was hurt, no Brunson. And this guy named Mamushked Avili went for, he went seven for seven from three. And they had this wild fourth quarter. It was just an insane shooting performance. And the spurs win. Then there's the NBA cup game. We know how that game went in Vegas, all the pomp and circumstance. A really, really exciting game. Nick Bench really played well. Tyler Colex coming out game, so to speak. Then on New Year's Eve, just a few, what a week and a half later at San Antonio, Julian Champagne, kid from New York goes 11 for 17 from three. He went crazy from downtown. The Knicks blew a double digit lead because he couldn't miss and they couldn't find him. And that was a wild ending of a game that the Knicks lost in a close game, which by the way, Brunson hits a corner three in front of the spurs bench as time expires that a five point lead became a two point loss, right? I should say a five point deficit became a two point loss. Basket meant nothing. Spurs were not happy that he took the shot and he told them to go take a walk. But there are a lot of people who put a bet, put money on that game that lost money because of that shot. And then there's the last game we saw in March, March 1 at the Garden. Spurs come in on an 11 game, as Dom would say to 11 straight, tearing up the league. Nick smoked them, blew him out, ended the streak. They took care of him by Nyama. It was a 11489 finish. They ended up only losing twice from February 1st to April 2nd. And one of those was to the Knicks, the other one was to Denver. That's it for two months. They didn't lose to anybody. But the Knicks were one of the teams that beat them. So these games, man, have just always had something going on. And it just makes you feel like this series is going to be a lot like that. Two very good teams that are playing their best right now that have really good offenses, a lot of depth. And every time they seem to play each other, crazy stuff happens.

[Rosenberg]

And I think that's gonna make for a fun series. Now listen, I'm as guilty of as anybody you look at Vegas. Cause Vegas hardly ever gets it wrong, right? At least it feels that way. But I do think sometimes Vegas can get caught in bias and stubbornness and the betting public too. There's the perception is the west was stronger than the east and they've never gotten off the fact that who was ever gonna come out of the east, the west, especially when it was spurs thunder that they're going to be the favorite against whoever came out of the east. And really have not spent in my opinion enough time looking at these two teams and what they've gone through. If there was no Vegas, if there were no odds, if there were no spreads, if there was no prognosticators, just your naked eyes would tell you the Knicks should be a favorite. They've won 11 straight games. They've got the scar tissue of what happened last year. The spurs feel like they're early to the party. We've seen that before, right? Where a team just seems to be a year ahead of schedule.

[Alan]

95, Orlando Magic, or if you want

[Rosenberg]

to say what people thought it was the 96 Yankees, especially when they lost the first two games against the Braves. But history has shown they were a little earlier to the party in 95 when they lost to the Mariners. And the scar tissue of blowing that, that series, what led to them learning from it and then being a better team in 96 and eventually winning. There's examples of being early to the party where that inexperience hurts you, and then there's times are you early to the party, but you end up being the beginning of a dynasty. Like the Patriots beating the Rams.

[Alan]

They were the Dole, they were the

[Rosenberg]

Cinderella story, but nobody knew at the time it was the beginning of an absolute dynasty. And now you look back at it, it's all right, the Patriots won a Super Bowl. So what? That's all they ever did unless they were facing an NFC East. So we could go chapter and verse. The point is, your eyeballs tell you that even with a compromised Thunder team, it still took the spurs having to come back from three two town and having to win in seven in order for them to be able to advance. And the Knicks, 11 straight wins, more than, you know, anybody else in these postseason and the most in their franchise's history. So if you look at it that way, you should feel pretty good. But at the same time, I'm sure the spurs are also thinking to themselves, all right, let's, let's have at it, man, we just beat the defending champions. We might be a year early, but we're ready.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

They just said head to head. I don't know if the regular season means anything. All of a sudden the regular season meant something in the west, right? Because the spurs pounded on the Thunder in the regular season. What happened in the postseason, they ended up winning for the seven and advancing. So pick and choose there. But still, everything is telling you that whoever you think is going to win this should be pretty, a lot of fun and be pretty epic.

[Alan]

It will be. Again. It's a. It's the next generational star who's a box office must watch player coming into play against a New York team that the whole city has fallen in love with and playing at some point in the middle of the series on the biggest stage in basketball. Right? So first and foremost, if you're espn, abc, if you're Disney, how thrilled are you to have this series? Probably kidding me. This should break record.

[Rosenberg]

Well, first of all, number one Kind of make up for last year. Right. And number two, whatever they're, whatever they're feeling on the basketball side, I can tell you it's probably the exact opposite they're feeling on the hockey side with the, with the Vegas, on the Carolina Hurricanes, but still. But also a series that I think could be a lot of fun but not sexy the way Knicks and Spurs are sexy.

[Alan]

Las Vegas, I mean, there's gotta be a little sizzle there.

[Rosenberg]

Well, maybe. Well, listen, there's sizzle, but this is maybe, and we can get into this later, maybe the most hated franchise in sports right now between how much they've won in the nine years of their existence.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

The Tortorella is a very polarizing head coach. The, the Carter Hart stuff, you know, with world juniors and what he was accused of and being allowed to play and go from that to people thinking he shouldn't be in the league to now four wins away from winning a Stanley Cup. It's kind of mounted to where there's a lot of people are like, you know what? I'm good. You know, I'm not gonna.

[Flavio]

And car.

[Rosenberg]

And listen.

[Alan]

And Carolina, the way they play can be mad.

[Rosenberg]

Carolina, the way they play, they're kind, you know, probably how people felt about the Devils back in the. Although they, they, they've got a lot of good players. It's unfair, but let's face it. Sexy. Sexy. Right. And, and some things are. And some things aren't.

[Alan]

Yeah, but it's not Connor McDavid, that's for damn sure.

[Rosenberg]

Right. Sidney Crosby. And it's not Rangers, Blackhawks. Right. It's not, not two original six teams and all smaller market teams and all. But the point is, is we went through that last year and people instead of thinking about how unsexy Pacers Thunder were, they missed a hell of a series.

[Alan]

It was a great series.

[Rosenberg]

Seven games. So as a sports fan who cares about what the world thinks about it, this, this should be unbelievable theater and

[Alan]

think it's again, like there's so much to it. And you're right about the. We always say how the regular season doesn't matter, but certain matchups, like if you like, I just rattled off a three year history between these two franchises. They only meet twice a year and this year happened to meet three. And now they're going to meet for, you know, it's at least four if we expect more games. They just seem to get the best out of each other. The games always seem to have some, some sizzle to it and that's what makes. That's what you want. You want there to be some fun. There's a lot of connection between the two. You got Dylan Harper, the number two pick, played at Rutgers, lives here in New York. You have Julian Champagne, who I mentioned, another guy from New York, played at St. John's so you have him and

[Rosenberg]

his dad win a national championship in soccer at St. John's 1996. Frank Isola was on with K earlier and told that story that his dad won a soccer championship.

[Alan]

Yeah, no, no, they're in New York 30 years ago. They're a New York family. Was the coach, Dave Mazur back then with, with St. John's was he there yet? But he was a great. We're talking about a guy that built the program. And then you have on the other side, Jordan Clarkson was a high school superstar in San Antonio from San Antonio. A lot of family there. Mike Brown family all lives in San Antonio. He, he, he's coached with all the different great coaches, Popovich being one of them. And then Jeremy Sohan, who the Knicks acquired. I think he was the signing, right. They didn't trade for him. I think he was waived and they signed him. He really hasn't played much, but he was a starter for a while with the Spurs. He was a lottery pick with them. And if you see this is a great story in the New York Post today where he. And it's smart. They pull him aside and they're like, all right, what do you know about Wemby? What do you know about the Spurs? And he's like, I've got a wealth of me. I know exactly what to do. I know his weaknesses. And so you talk about having some, like you have a sleeper cell. You got a guy on the inside that has like really a lot of notes about that team. It just, it creates a lot of fun with this series. It should be great. It's two teams that both won their games by an average of double figures. The Knicks 19 and 19.4 points per game. The Spurs 10.3 points per game. You don't often see two teams meet in the finals that are smoking teams by double figures on average. So that's, that's, like I said, this should be an all time series. It should be a lot of fun. There should be a lot of back and forth. And this is one of those series. You don't overreact to the Game 1 loss. You don't overreact to being down 2:1. Like, I don't feel like it's going to be a. I think this series is going to feel like a heavyweight fight and adjustments from game to game.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah, for sure. And the one thing you don't want to have happen if you're the Knicks is what happened in Game 1 against the Cavs because of the long layoff. Now I do. I think part of what happened in that Game one against the Cavs was the combination of the long layoff for the Knicks and the short turnaround for the Cavs. Spurs didn't have that short of a turnaround. They played Saturday, so they got Sunday, Monday, Tuesday off.

[Alan]

So they're home, they don't have to travel.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah. And so, so they're good in the sense, Alan, that, you know, that's kind of like maximum rest you'd have in a regular season. I think you're ready to play on that fourth day. So I don't think that will happen. But if they were to fall behind 20, I would think they'd be dead in game one. But still, you never know. You could have said the same thing a couple of times against Boston last year and it didn't happen. But I think it's going to be a fun series. Want to get your thoughts on it at 1-800-919-3776? We're going to do some giants in the 4 o' clock hour. Big day for them as they've added not one, not two, but three offensive weapons. 4:30. We've got the weekend headlines. Enn's at 6 o'. Clock. Tim Legolor is going to join us, fresh off his flight to San Antonio at 6:30. We're taking up until 7:00'.

[Alan]

Clock.

[Rosenberg]

Then it's Dan Grasse. Or is it going to be Dan Grassa or Ty Butler? It's Ty Butler. Ty Butler is going to be on and you know he's excited about this series. He's going to take you right up until 9 o'. Clock. But I wanted, I want, I want to get into this whole easy path stuff that the Knicks had to suffer through the last few days and now the spurs are starting to hear it and I've got a theory on it all. So we're going to dive right into it. Coming up 1-800-919-3776. We are just getting started. It's early on a Monday. Don Hanna Rosenberg till 7:00 clock here on ESPN.

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[Alan]

So good, so good, so good.

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[Don Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Rosenberg]

Don Allen, Rosenberg, up until 7 o'. Clock. We'll get to the calls in a second at 1-800-919-3776. But you know, starting to hear there's a lot of. It's Knick fans, Allen, that are trying to counteract the whole. Well, the Knicks had an easy road and now you're seeing, well, the spurs didn't play anybody either. And they finally played the Thunder. Yeah, they were the defending NBA champions, but look how banged up they were. If they were healthy, different story. So it's like the two fan bases kind of going at. No, this is an easy path. And I thought about it. You know what? This is the price of parity. This is going to be the eighth consecutive year where we don't have a repeat champion, which is unheard of in the NBA. You could pretty much predict in camp the two teams they're going to play in the final, especially when it was like LeBron was in Cleveland and, you know, Curry was doing tearing it up at Golden State. It's all right. Thunder, warriors, just a matter of, you know, who's going to have home court. Now we've got parody. And with parody comes a lack of great teams, Allen. So that's what we have here, is there's no more dynasties. Teams aren't repeating. You saw a lot of teams that were good, that were banged up. The lakers certainly weren't 100%. Thunder weren't 100% by their game seven. You know, a lot of teams were really embiid, obviously was hurt in that series against the Knicks. So the fragility of some of these players, the lack of great teams. You can make a case that anybody's path's easy because you're not really playing any great teams. You didn't have to go through a Dynasty Warrior team or a dynasty Laker team or Cavalier team or spurs back in the day or Heat back in the day. That's what parity is, is not having any super teams, not having any great teams. So you can make the case that anybody's path could be considered easy. Heck, the way people were talking about the Knicks all season long, if any of those teams have beat the Knicks, they'd say, well, you beat the Knicks, what do they ever win? That was an easy path. You see what I'm saying? I just think it's more what the league is than anybody having an easier path than anybody else.

[Alan]

It's exactly that, Don. And that's why, like Draymond Green, you Know did what Draymond Green does, which is a low hanging fruit. And you say this all the time. It's the easiest take to have is to just double down on. The Knicks aren't winning because they haven't won in 53 years. So you're. The odds are telling you you're going to be right. And if you're wrong, all you can do is say, oh, they proved me wrong. It's about time, you know, like you can. It's such an easy take to have. But he decided to do it. And I understand why. He's shrewd. He understands this is going to get a lot of clicks. It's going to piss off people in New York. It's going to get a lot of attention. And that's what you want. Because if he picked the Knicks, would anybody react? Or they go, oh, wow, even Draymond's on like nobody would care. But because he says it, and he says it with such a voice of like this authoritative voice, like, I know this. And then you have to look at his past to go, bud, hang on a second. First of all, the one Cavs team you beat was all banged up. The one time you lost because you guys got banged up. This thing's. It's a battle of attrition. So you want to. Here's your path. You ready? The spurs in the first round played the Portland Trailblazers. Don, name one player on that team and I.

[Rosenberg]

And I'm supposedly Portland's your team.

[Alan]

They beat him in five.

[Rosenberg]

Well, they did get. Lillard did go back. So there you go. He's.

[Alan]

There you go. And he didn't play. But, but they have a nice young team and they had a nice season. But I mean, come on, Portland, that's a walk.

[Rosenberg]

Stop it.

[Alan]

Okay. Second round was the Minnesota Timberwolves. That's a really good team. They've been to back to back conference finals, right? They have Anthony Edwards, but they had Anthony Edwards who was playing on a hyperextended knee who fought his way back just to play. So he wasn't right. They lost Dante DiVincenzo to an Achilles. He wasn't right. That Minnesota team got banged up going into that series and they fought him for six, but they, they had, they just ran out. But that still was not. That was a compromise Minnesota team. And then they beat a Thunder team that lost two of their most critical pieces. And the joke is they played without three main, main pieces because Chet Holmgren didn't show up in the series at all.

[Rosenberg]

At all.

[Alan]

My God, he was terrible. But AJ Mitchell was a point guard who was. They were starting him next to SGA because teams trap SGA and they want to get the ball out of his hands and not wear him down. That was working in the first two rounds and then they lost him to an injury. And of course Jalen Williams, who's an All NBA player, who's an All Star, who's a critical second piece, they didn't have him the whole series. Played five minutes or 10 minutes in game, what was it, five and he couldn't move or game six, whatever it was, couldn't move. And so they're missing key pieces. So what is the path? It is sometimes luck. It's fortune.

[Spike]

Yeah.

[Alan]

It's the teams that can get through this battle. The hardest thing to do is to get to this round. Not because you're not good enough, but because the attrition of playing every night in knockdown drag out battles. You're going to lose people along the way. And the Knicks knock on wood despite Mitchell Robinson's whatever the hell happened to him and that pinky, right. They got through this. They got. And the time off allowed them to get OG back to where he was healed from that, that hamstring. They have been fortunate. And the spurs, who had a couple of banged up guys. Darren Fox had a high ankle sprain he's fighting through. And then Dylan Harper had something as well that he fought through, a hip thing. But aside from that though, they have been relatively healthy as well. That's how you get this far.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah. And. And hockey's got it on both ways. Right. Carillon is a wagon. And they were the best team in the Eastern Conference. Deserved to be there.

[Alan]

Right.

[Rosenberg]

But Vegas came out of a weak Pacific Division, got a chance to play Colorado, swept him. But you know, McCarr missed two games and wasn't, wasn't 100%. McKinnon wasn't 100% after blocking a shot in game three. Like so. Yeah, you're going to get breaks. Sometimes you get the best team, sometimes you get. What you have here is just. This is parody and it's about getting hot at the right time and staying healthy and catching breaks and taking advantage of those breaks. And there's nothing that anybody has to apologize. Spurs don't have to apologize by the condition of the Thunder. The Knicks don't have to apologize for their perceived easy path. Now it's on. And guess what? At the end of the day they're going to still give you that trophy. And they're not going to ask you to have to prove in front of the crowd why you deserve it. The four wins in the finals is all you need to do. Now we want to get to the phone calls at 1-800-919-3776, but Anthony Pusick has something very important to tell you.

[Anthony Pusick]

Oh, absolutely. Thank you, Don. New York, you need to hear this. This summer, all lines lead to the Champs Sports Fan Central Station. A soccer pop up shop open right here in the heart of the city, 125 W. 33rd St. It opened this weekend. Chad Ochocinko was there. It's really, really cool. This is the soccer destination in New York. Jerseys for every national team you ride with, whether it be usa, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and many, many more, all under one roof. If you want to gear up, rep your country and feel the energy of the city Champs Sports fan Central Station, 125 West 33rd Street. That is where you need to be.

[Rosenberg]

Well, thank you, Anthony. Now to the busy phones at 1-800-919-3776. Sebastian in Queens, you get us started here on Don Hannah Rosenberg.

[Sebastian]

Hey, guys.

[Rosenberg]

Today, what's up, baby?

[Alan]

What's up?

[Han]

Not much.

[Sebastian]

Hope you guys had a great weekend. I just wanted to make a couple quick points. So Don, back to what you had. You made a point was Nick, fans, be careful what you wish for. And I am definitely one of those people that wanted the spurs because we had success with them in the regular season and I didn't want to play the Thunder, not because I'm scared of them, but because I wanted to watch good basketball. I don't want to hear the whistle go off every two minutes for something Shea does. I didn't want to deal with Lou Dort or Alex Caruso antics. You know, I just wanted to watch good basketball. So I wanted the Spurs. But seeing them win this past Saturday or Friday, one of those days, and seeing the emotion and expression on Wembley's face just making it to the finals, that's somebody I'm scared of. That is a kid who wants this. And a hungry team is a dangerous team. So that's just something like it's going to be a great series no matter what, and the Knicks are going to win. But seeing something like that just makes me worried because Wemby is going to go all out and just try to win and try to take over and try to push this team to the edge. But no matter what, Knicks got this. We're stronger, we're well matched against the Spurs. So I just Think it's going to be a great series, but we cannot take our foot off the gas pedal because the spurs are hungry. And I think the Thunder just took it for granted.

[Alan]

You are. When you get to the finals, there is no foot off the gas pedal. You never have to worry about that. There's no complacency. There's none of that. I have been talking about this spurs team all season because they have caught my attention. The way they play. Those four young guards, they rotate out. They are more than just wembanyama. He's. He's special. There's no question. Those four guards, man. And I. I gotta also add this part, Don. I know this and I'm not trying to like, you know, beat them while they're down, but I'm just glad it's not the Thunder for this reason. Like, nobody wants to watch that. Nobody wants to watch that. With SGA and the flopping and the like. We don't have to discuss any of that over the next two weeks. I think that's a win for the NBA and it's a win for basketball because that would be unfortunately a huge part of the conversation. Especially because you're playing a team in New York where everything gets magnified at a whole other level. We don't have to deal with any of that stuff, which I'm glad for

[Rosenberg]

a Manny and Flushing. You're on. Don Han and Rosenberg.

[Han]

Hey guys, how y' all doing?

[Rosenberg]

Good, man. You?

[Han]

I'm good, man, thank you for asking. Listen, man, I mean, I can't wait for this series. You know, the Nixon spurs, you know, reminiscent of 99. I was five years old when happen, you know, as a five year old living the Bronx, you know, the spurs beat the can really start their quote unquote, their dynasty. You know, I think they won four after that. Like most of the 2000s and the 2010s. But you know, it is what it is. But you know, I can't wait for this series because Al, you mentioned about the connect to the Spurs, Knicks. Don't forget about Harper. His daddy, Juan Harper.

[Alan]

Yep.

[Han]

Yeah, yeah, you're wanting. I won 14 with the Bulls and the Lakers and also, I mean. Yeah, and also, by the way, I'm

[Alan]

happy with a guy, by the way, that there was a game and I'm trying to remember if it was. It might have been the Knicks against the Pelicans. Well, no, I'm just saying he. Yeah, he walked past me. He was leaving the building. He was there with. He might have been there With Dylan, this was not this season. This is obviously last year. And he walks past me, just stops. He goes, I can't watch this. He was so frustrated by the flopping and all that he hated what he was watching.

[Han]

Yeah, I remember that. I remember you mentioned at the, where you went with Bart and Han, I think one of your last shows. Yeah, I remember that because he mentioned it very, very well. And also happy belated birthday to the great late Mel Blanc.

[Alan]

Mel Blanc.

[Rosenberg]

How about that? You know what's so weird? That he said that.

[Alan]

Yeah.

[Rosenberg]

Thank you for the phone call, man. I was not expecting a Mel Blanc reference.

[Alan]

No Blank.

[Rosenberg]

But do you know how especially with no NBA. Mm, Channel seven, abc to you and me.

[Alan]

Yes.

[Rosenberg]

They throw a movie on on Sundays at 8 o'. Clock. The movie they threw on last night was who Framed Roger Rabbit.

[Alan]

Oh wow.

[Rosenberg]

And I hadn't seen that since I thought saw it in the theater in 88 and so the kids were watching it. And I'm thinking Mel Blanc I think had passed away that year. So I don't think he was doing any of the voices. But his son was. So there's a lot of Warner Brothers like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck and all that. So it just, I, maybe, maybe they put it on because it was his, would have been his birthday today. But I was just interesting that I did. Who Framed Roger Rabbit was on last night.

[Alan]

Yeah, that's, you know, that's what made this, this like yesterday was such a relaxing day because it was watching the Yankees and then last night it was like, oh, there's nothing on, nothing to do.

[Rosenberg]

It's like, yeah, that's how we stumbled on it. We stumbled on it.

[Alan]

Yeah. So but Mel Blank, how about that as a reference?

[Rosenberg]

I, in this summer I read his autobiography, which I bet you did back in the early course you did. I read everything. You know that I'm a sick puppy. Let's go to Spike and St. Pete. You're on ESPN New York.

[Spike]

I am so happy. Fellas. Alan, I tried to get in. I told aunt on Friday but you had a 6:30 show. I want to personally thank everybody at MSG who gave us a perk like that. Now look person, you know, big, such a Knicks fan. I'm very biased, but my children were brought up like that. And to have an extra hour and then you said to some additional MSG content.

[Alan]

Well, we're going to start tomorrow night. We're starting tomorrow, tomorrow afternoon. So tomorrow on msg, it's in the afternoon. We're going to Have a live show from media day because tomorrow's media day in San Antonio. And so we'll have all the coverage, what the players are saying, that's live. And then 8 o' clock we start where it's on game nights. We have our game, we have the pre and post. And then on the off night starting, starting tomorrow night, we also having a separate show just breaking down everything in between the games. And so we're, we're wall to wall every night now on the network all the way to the end of the finals.

[Spike]

You're preaching to the choir. And let's not forget that Mike Brown and Ms. Johnson, former San Antonio assistants and now Mitch is the head coach. So I don't know if that's happened before with, with Pop having 15 head coaches and three general managers, the chances of that. But you know, I, I, I said before, you know, I'm crazy with this stuff, you know that that's fine. That's my hobby. And, and, and the bottom line, all the people I talked to are pretty, pretty well versed in basketball. You're at the top of the list. And by Friday everybody said that they felt San Antonio was going to beat Oklahoma City. Now she played pretty good, but the kids from Gonzaga chat just was a no show. He pulled him out of the game and I'm glad it's going down this way. You have a poised bunch of guys and Don nodded his head at me because I was watching on the video. Yeah. He says we'll make our predictions and I understand how you could feel that way, you know, corroborating what I said. Look, the 11, every statistic and every analytic, it's like held in the history of the league with the differential. Throw all that crap out. Throw the three games out and one game didn't even count statistically. I just think 28 to 30 year old toys, veterans over 21, 20, 21 and 22, the three top players. It's got to have some effect on it. Are they better athletically? Of course. Are they younger? Of course. But the Knicks have played, I think 41% fewer games in the last X amount of days. That's gotta pitch into this thing. It's gotta be a benefit. And whatever happens to Mitch, I don't care because we're deep, they're younger, they're more athletic. But those legs gotta give at some point. And I really think the Knicks are gonna win this. And they're underdogs, but I think they're too big of an underdog. And thanks for everything. Please tell the executives in MSG that one of the hundreds of thousands of people that don't miss a second of it is very grateful.

[Rosenberg]

Well, that's why they do it, Spike, for fans. They're listening and you'll be. You're someone that I'm if this, if this happens, man, I'll be happiest for you because you've been a fan for so long, not just of the Knicks, but of this radio station, of the show, man. I'm really hoping that they're able to bring it home for you.

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[Alan]

Apply.

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[Don Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Rosenberg]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Don Hahn]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.

[Rosenberg]

The one little level of concern Alan and I want, maybe you talk me off the ledge of this is, you know, the spurs faced a lot more adversity in this postseason. I mean, just what they did. The defending champions, as banged up as the Thunder were, you know, down three, two, having to win game six and then game seven on the road.

[Alan]

On the road, just like the Corgi predicted.

[Rosenberg]

And, and listen, they, they had, they had a lot of close games. They had to fight through a lot of stuff. I mean, they're in this 11 game winning streak. You know, most of these games and blowouts for the Knicks, we just talked about it being a hard struggle, classic series that means a lot of close games. And the only two close games the Knicks really played in these playoffs were the two losses they had against Atlanta. They've never faced elimination. So as much as the spurs are a little bit more inexperienced, they gained a ton of experience on this run and in this series. So I do think overall the experience is a huge advantage for the Knicks. But are they ready for this war considering because of this month of not losing, you know, they really haven't been in a struggle down late in the fourth quarter, having to hit a key shot late in the game. It's been a while since they've had to do that. And is that something that maybe can be right now, at least an advantage for the Spurs?

[Alan]

Is it crazy that I think that they're actually looking forward to it as

[Rosenberg]

much as it's especially to get out of the two times they were close. And what happened?

[Alan]

Well, because think about it like as a competitor. What, like if there's a. What, like I remember, I believe it was after the Sixers series is the last time Brunson and Hart did a podcast episode. And I remember them both like being surprised that they were waiting for the Sixers to punch back. And they're like, they're just, they're just not punching back.

[Rosenberg]

Right?

[Alan]

Like, when you're a competitor, as much as you love to just blow teams out, you kind of want to be in the fight. Like you, you want it, you want to go Back and forth. You want to see a team challenge you. They've made teams quit, Don, like this. That's what I mean about this run. We can't overlook the fact that they made three teams quit at home. Quit. And you, you can't say that that's an easy path. What you did was you made it. Somebody submit, tap out, say no mas, throw the towel in at home, at home.

[Rosenberg]

Which, if it was an easy path, that's what you should do to inferior teams, right?

[Alan]

Yes. Yes. That.

[Rosenberg]

Beat them into submission.

[Alan]

Yeah, but the fact that you were doing it, like, after every series, nobody does that. But I think sometimes, though, as a competitor, you're like, man, punch back. Let's go. Like, give me something. Because you want that. You want to feel like you're in something. And so in a weird way, I think this team will welcome playing a team that's going to punch back, that they're. They. They know will be a worthy adversary that they can now test themselves against. I think all that stuff is. Is a good thing. But you're not wrong because you can also worry about not having the calluses, the steel, like, whatever. You need that. You know, I got some scars now, I got some blood on me. And now you really. That's the scrap of your team. The spurs have had to be way more scrappy, but it's not because the Knicks weren't scrappy or tough. It's just that their opponents laid down. And so that's another thing that I'm really curious to see early in this series is are we going to get some haymakers thrown at each other and sit back and watch us going like, oh, my God, this game's unreal.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Alan]

That's what you're hoping for.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah. I mean, listen, everybody would love to see 15 straight wins win the championship. Just keep the wagon, sign up for it going down the road. That's not going to happen.

[Alan]

No, I mean.

[Rosenberg]

And one of the biggest reasons why it's not going to happen is that when you're trying to slay the dragon, you're going to face that adversity. You look at that 94 Ranger team. They ran through the first two rounds, and next thing you know, they're down 32 to the Devils, and they needed the Mato goal and ended up going seven with an inferior team in Vancouver. Why? Because you really think it was after 54 years it was going to be easy, right?

[Alan]

You think after they lost that game, it's going to be easy, right? Wasn't that. Wasn't that that they lose game five at home. They had a chance to win game five and lost it.

[Rosenberg]

Yeah, they got seriously blown out in game five. They did fight back and made it a little closer, but they were like down, like, I don't know, it was like six, three going to the third. I think they scored a couple of goals to make it interesting. Then they went to Vancouver and weren't even in the game. And everybody said, well, because they wanted to win it at home bowl, you don't want to take that chance because

[Alan]

it was a two.

[Rosenberg]

What was it, two one final in game seven, you had a face off of the defensive zone with like less than two seconds to play.

[Alan]

Yep.

[Rosenberg]

You know, because it's hard, man. It's. And that. And you just as much as you'd sign up for it to be easy, there's going to be adversity you're going to have to face here. You're going to get punched in the

[Alan]

face at some more story to tell though.

[Rosenberg]

It's right.

[Alan]

Like, come on, like, I know as a fan you want it easy, but I'm sorry, there's more story to tell when they like again, look at the spurs story. They were down 3 2. They had a must win at home in a game 6. They Weminyama never faced elimination like this before in his career. It's his first time feeling that the pressure of having to win and he played great and the spurs played great and they got to a game seven. And then you're like, well, look, defending champs at home are not losing a game seven. I certainly did not believe.

[Rosenberg]

I didn't think so. I thought, I thought the Thunder was going to blow them out.

[Alan]

Like, like the Thunder are the defending champs. They are not losing at home in a game seven. But at least the spurs pushed it to seven games. And then they came out of the gates like they had nothing to lose. That's to me what makes them scary is they play like they know this is just the beginning. I wonder if the Knicks are going to play like they know this is our window. We got to do this now.

[Rosenberg]

You want to have a little sense of urgency? For sure. Let's go to Flavio in Brooklyn. You're on espn, New York.

[Flavio]

Adan. Hey, Alan. So, Fabio, a couple of nuggets. I wanted, I wanted to say one excited for this series. I did want the Thunder. I did want the easier path as a Knicks fan, you know, considering that you had A.J. mitchell and Jalen Williams both hurt. I felt like that was going to be a lot easier opportunity compared to Wemby now in peak form. Allen, I have a question. So with Wemby being 75 or 74, whatever the. The height is. Right?

[Alan]

Right.

[Flavio]

I know he, he absorbs a lot of real estate on that court. What did he per. If you're Mike Brown are you would. Would you try to avoid having Mick Robinson and Cat at the same time considering that Cat and pull Wendy from the, from the perimeter, from the center of the court.

[Alan]

Right.

[Flavio]

And you can have your, your Michelle Bridges, OG Anunoby slashing through and you can have Cat being your, your point forward. I feel like that might be the best option to have Wemby away from the center of the court because Jalen Brunson is going to need a lot of help in this, in. In this series and he's gonna need Cat and he's gonna need his wing players to do the most out of this thing. So what would be the best game plan you would provide outside of that nugget?

[Alan]

I would. Like I said, I. I would keep. I would keep them separate. You know, they have a thing with Wembanyama and Cornet playing together. They call it French vanilla. And they didn't use it like I thought they would against the Thunder because the Thunder play Holmgren and Hartenstein two bigs together. But they didn't. They played small against it and it worked to their advantage. So I don't know. I don't expect the Knicks to try to play this double big lineup or anything like that like the Thunder did. I also think Towns, this is a critical series for Carl Anthony. Town's ability to shoot the three because you're going to see Wemmy's not going to guard him, he's going to guard Hart and Hart's got to make the threes. But we saw early in the series Chet hit. Chet hit a couple of threes and women. Yama had to go out and guard him and that pulled him away from the rim and it allowed then the Thunder to attack the rim. Now they made adjustment and Chet, by the way, was just. Didn't want to shoot, was soft, couldn't make shots like that. Was bad. But there is a strategy to what the Thunder were doing that you can use with Cat, who's a way better three point shooter than Chad Holger. And that could be a critical piece in this series. Maybe even more than anything Jalen Brunson is going to do Cat. Towns's ability to shoot the three rather than drive is going to be a critical part of this series.

[Rosenberg]

Well, we're going to take more of your calls on this at 1-800-919-3776. Big day for the Giants at 4:30 we've got the weekend headlines. 6:00 clock we got Enn led by Anthony Pusick. And then at 6:30 we'll talk to Tim Legler. Take up until 7:00 clock and then it's Ty Butler leading into Mets Mariners right here on ESPN.

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[Don Hahn]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.

[Alan]

I don't want to know how the

[Don Hahn]

sausage is made, man.

[Alan]

I just want to know it's good.

[Don Hahn]

Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.

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