← Don, Hahn & Rosenberg
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- [00:03]
Peter Rosenberg
In the mood for something crunchy, saucy and boneless, Try Jack's new crispy boneless wings from Jack in the Box. Get them with honey garlic, sriracha or smokeshow smoky barbecue sauce. Enjoy so much more.
- [00:20]
Don Hahn
This is the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
- [00:24]
Alan Hahn
That sounds like heaven to me.
- [00:25]
Don Hahn
Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers. So disgusted, really disgusted with Jake, disgusted with Anthony. The fact that the weekend warrior was something that I thought was a pretty, a pretty fun thing to be part of. But Don, at this point, I don't even know what the rules are anymore.
- [00:49]
Alan Hahn
I know, you know, I made it clear, but whatever. Everybody else wanted to do it, but you asked my vote. I say LeBron, I say sports.
- [00:58]
Don Hahn
The guy's 40 years old, walked into the Garden, the Knicks had won five in a row. Playing great national tv. Audience packed house, world's most famous arena. All he does is drop a 30 point triple double. And Peter's like, no, my wrestling guy, he's the guy. And then these other clowns in the, in the control room, they all agree with him.
- [01:18]
Alan Hahn
I think I, I think I. Both Jacob and Anthony, Peter can't do anything for you.
- [01:27]
Don Hahn
Exactly. You know who can do something for us though, right now?
- [01:30]
Alan Hahn
Oh, you kidding me?
- [01:32]
Don Hahn
No. The great Stephen A. Smith, who I requested. I was hesitant to ask on a day like today. A busy man, but after hearing him, he does a cat. He did a cameo on get up that had me. I stopped the middle of my workout to listen to that take and then of course, throughout first take as well on this Luka Doncic trade and how it resonates throughout the NBA and all of pro sports. So Stephen A. Kind enough to give us a few minutes here in the 4 o'clock hour. Stephen A, welcome to the new show. Good to see you.
- [02:00]
Stephen A. Smith
What's up, fellas? Congratulations. Welcome to the show. Alan, I know you have a blast. Do a great time. What's up, Don? What's up? What's going on, fellas?
- [02:07]
Alan Hahn
How are you, man?
- [02:09]
Don Hahn
So let's, let's get a reaction now that we've had almost, you know, you've had all day to talk about it and kind of digest a lot of things off this Luga Doncic trade? What? Like now, with everything you've gathered and all the people that you've talked to, how do you feel about this trade being one that was kept so silent for someone like you, that was such an insider for years, we've never seen A trade of this magnitude, but also the fact that it surprised pretty much everyone. How do you feel about seeing something like this happen in the NBA?
- [02:41]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, listen, I'm excited about it, to be quite honest with you, because, you know, listen, I understand that nobody knew, but you got to understand why. Nico Harrison, the president of basketball operations and the general manager for the Dallas Mavericks, was a former executive for Nike for 19 years. Most of that time was spent directly involved with the career of Kobe Bryant, who was one of his clients. Rob Pelinka was Kobe Bryant's agent. So the connection between Rob Kalinka and Nico Harrison spans decades. Not to mention that of Nico Harrison with Gene Buss, who looked at Kobe as a son, looked at him as family to the Buss family in the Lakers organization. And obviously Rob Linker was connected to that as well as Nico Harrison. So it's plausible why they all colluded with one another and ultimately found a way to reach an agreement on a deal of this magnitude. What's shocking is that it involves Luka Doncic. It's shocking that at 25 years of age, career 20, 28 point per game scorer, the scoring champion from last season, a five time all NBA first teamer in his first seven years, clearly one of the greatest players in the game and a global iconic basketball figure. To say sayonara to him goodbye and to basically cast them away the way that they did is shocking. They can talk about this being about Anthony Davis and what he brings to the table and how he puts them in a better position to win. They're not lying about that guys in terms of what they believe because he's going to elevate them significantly on the defensive side of the ball. He's going to do those things. We get that part. But this is Luca that we're talking about. So why would it come to this? And it came to this because according to them, you know, speaking to folks within the organization and beyond, he was perpetually out of shape. He did come into training camp once he got injured and he was 30 pounds overweight. It has been an issue with him. He does have his own team that he listens to, as opposed to Dallas Mavericks medical staff and stuff like that. But there were a lot of headaches that came with him. And that combined with knowing that you got to invest in him for the next five years at 345 million because he would do the supermax and how punitive that could be because it touched on the second, second apron and all of that stuff that we don't really need to get into that was a lot for them to contemplate and consider in terms of the investment that they would be making. They knew that he was working in terms of his abilities, but in terms of his commitment and how that would facilitate them winning the championship. When you got Oklahoma, who has arrived, Houston and Memphis, who are on the come up, Denver, who refuses to fade into the twilight, et cetera, when you got all of that going on, they said, what's our chances of really winning? And they came to the conclusion that it would be best for them to take a chance to roll the dice by going in a different direction. And that's what they do.
- [05:46]
Peter Rosenberg
Now, do you feel, Stephen, that this trade is really about the future of Luka in LA and what he can be when LeBron is gone? Or do you think there is a significant part where they believe that maybe LeBron and Luka could also do something special in the immediate?
- [06:05]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, you don't dismiss the possibility that LeBron and Luca could do something in the immediate because of how great they are. You know that you don't have the personnel, but how much personnel do you really need if you have both of them? You need another frontline player. You need a rebounder, a defender. You need a couple of those dudes who rebound and defend in the low post for you. You know what they can do. You know what Austin Reeves, how he's evolved, involved in what he's capable of doing, what the rest of them can do. Rob Link, you got to go out there and get the personnel. The difference is that the personnel that he now has to go out there and get, these are fringe players. These are people that he can go out there and get. Now that shouldn't cost you that much and may may be difficult to get, but you can still pull it off. But when you're talking about somebody of Lucas magnitude, there's a once in a generation player and you have a lot of people with their conspiracy theories out there. And I don't blame them one bit, because when you look at it, you're saying, wait a minute, one of the top five players on the planet, who is an international, global, iconic figure, not only gets traded at age 25, he hasn't even reached his time yet. Not only does he get traded, but he ends up a Los Angeles Laker. How in the hell did that happen? You do have an abundance of people that are walking around thinking just like that.
- [07:24]
Alan Hahn
Yeah, and if he had gone to the open market, we were talking about it, they probably could have Gotten a much bigger deal out of it. Was it just the fact that Kyrie wanted to play with AD and that's what stopped them from really marketing him out there besides la, it wasn't Kyrie.
- [07:41]
Stephen A. Smith
Nico Harrison has a long standing relationship with Anthony Davis. He believes that Anthony Davis is the piece that they need in order to legitimately compete for a championship. And nobody disagrees with them. They know that Anthony Davis definitely is an upgrade compared to any frontline player you have. You look at Oklahoma City, they're the number one seed in the Western Conference as we speak. We all know this, right? But who have they had problems with? Dallas, who took them out last year in six games in the semifinals and then beat them twice over the last two weeks without Luka Doncic. So their attitude is you went out and you got Isaiah Hardenstein and you obviously have Chet Holmgren. Well, who do we have? Lively and Gafford wasn't enough, but guess what? We believe that Anthony Davis would be enough. Not only that, that hands the ball to Kyrie Irving. And so now you, Kyrie Irving, the ball is in your hands. They didn't have Clay Thompson last year. They had guys like Derrick Jones, okay? You didn't have a bona fide experienced shooter to put into the lineup and to make things happen from a perimeter if you got them open shots. Clayton Thompson is having a career worst year shooting the ball from three point range. Do y'all know that's at 38? How many people in the league wish they can shoot 38 for 3 point range? And that is an off year for him, right? So people are looking at that and they're saying, look, we think we have what it takes. Now. Nobody, nobody is buying that that's all there is to this. It's kind of hard to believe that that's all there is. There's got to be so much more to this, because this is lucre. But they're not lying when they say, we believe we got a championship squad. They are not lying about that part.
- [09:33]
Don Hahn
Stephen, I know you only have a few more minutes here. I just wanted to ask you the other part of this. Now, something you did talk about this morning is, you know, the Lakers now got their Next star after LeBron James. LeBron James still on the team, but what would you expect to see from now? Whatever's left of his future in the NBA and whatever future is left with the Lakers.
- [09:52]
Stephen A. Smith
Well, we see him perform, and we got to give credit where credit is due in that regard. The brother is showing up and he's showing why he's considered one of the greatest who have ever played the game. He's age 40. He's in his 22nd season. He goes to the Garden last night, a week after John Morant came to the Garden and didn't really do anything, LeBron James shows up and shows you what stars are supposed to do on center stage. And so you look at it from that standpoint, you recognize and you're reminded of what he is, what he's all about, what he brings to the table, et cetera. And all you can do is tip your cap to him and appreciate the greatness that he puts on display. There's really nothing else you can say or do because it's just undeniable what his greatness entails and what he brings to the table. And so I think that you can expect him to continue to perform form at a very high level. And even though he's going to try to play with Luca and get along and all of this other stuff, in the end, what it really, really comes down to is that LeBron James got his own ego. He's gonna want to go out there and show the world he's not conceding anything to anybody. Yeah, he'll share the wealth and do what he got to do, but he's still one of the baddest men on the planet. He's gonna go out there and play like doubt like that. And so it can make for very interesting times, because we'll have to see how they end up, you know, playing together, because they're both bulldogs and they're both going to want to do their things, and somebody is going to have to acquiesce and adjust. And one would believe that LeBron can easily do that because he's done it before with Kyrie. He's done it to a lesser degree with D. Wade and those guys. And everybody believes that's probably what he'll do in this particular situation as well.
- [11:27]
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- [12:35]
Don Hahn
Taxact knows filing taxes can be confusing.
- [12:38]
Stephen A. Smith
So we have live experts on hand who can help answer any questions you may have. Questions like can I claim my SUV is my home office? If I answer work emails in my car? If I adopted 12 dogs this year, can I list them as dependents and am I doing this right or am.
- [12:56]
Don Hahn
I doing this very, very wrong?
- [12:58]
Stephen A. Smith
Our experts have the answers to those questions and many others. Tax Act.
- [13:03]
Don Hahn
Let's get them over with.
- [13:06]
Alan Hahn
This episode is brought to you by Love Hurts. Ki Hui Kwan has had quite a career, from childhood roles in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and the Goonies to a recent Academy Award win for Everything Everywhere all at Once. But now Keefe finally stars as a leading man in the film Love Hurts. Love Hurts is the perfect date night movie with its mix of over the top action comedy and a ton of heart. Love Hurts only at theaters February 7th.
- [13:34]
Don Hahn
Definitely going to be something to keep an eye on once Luca does come back from the injury. Stephen A, thank you so much as always for the time was great to have you on.
- [13:42]
Alan Hahn
Thanks, man.
- [13:43]
Stephen A. Smith
Same here, guys. Y'all take care. Talk to you soon.
- [13:45]
Don Hahn
All right. The great Stephen A. Smith again, it just, it's theater. That's the NBA boys. I mean, it's not over. I mean, again, the thing that got overlooked is the fact that De'Aaron Fox got traded to San Antonio, so now they're pairing him with Victor Wembanya. Those two sexy. Jimmy Butler hasn't been traded yet and who knows if Zion's going to be on the move at some point. If the Pelicans see what Dallas did and they decide, you know what, if they can do it, we can now without too much pushback anymore.
- [14:14]
Alan Hahn
And Alan, you've been saying it, you know, get your title now because eventually the spurs are going to be racking them up again.
- [14:21]
Don Hahn
Well, the Fox move is an interesting one because, yeah, okay, he's, he's a young, talented point guard, all star talent, but he hasn't won. And I'm wondering if, is he ever going to be a top five player in the league or a top 10 player in the league. That's what I'm wondering. That's a trade that a lot of people are excited about. I kind of. I got to be honest, I looked at it and I've watched Wemby closely. He's one of my favorite players to watch now, and I've seen him live. I've. I've called a couple of his games already. I think he needs somebody a little higher end. I'm wondering where that tree. Yeah, it's a good trade, but it's not one that blows my mind. I don't look at that and go, oh, that's it. Now the spurs are going to win big forever. Now. Fox has got injuries to both hands. He messed up a finger in preseason, then recently did something to his thumb. So his shooting, his numbers this year aren't very good. But I'm, you know, like I said, that's one I'm going to wait and see. They might still need to get another piece before I start thinking of them as a team that's ready to take a jump.
- [15:26]
Peter Rosenberg
I don't know, man. That's a. He's a good player.
- [15:29]
Don Hahn
Don't get me wrong. I didn't say he's a. I didn't say he's a bum. I'm just saying, like, that didn't move me.
- [15:33]
Stephen A. Smith
He's.
- [15:34]
Peter Rosenberg
He's 47% from the floor this year, 25 points a game. Yeah, six. Six assists a game. Now, you mentioned the injury problems in the middle part of his. His time in.
- [15:48]
Don Hahn
And he doesn't defend. He can't guard. Can't guard.
- [15:51]
Peter Rosenberg
But in terms of what he could look like paired with Wemby, like, my only my pushback would be this Allen. You know the game better than I do. And maybe Fox, maybe there is a level up for him, but I just think it'll be interesting to see what he becomes playing against playing alongside a big. Of that proportion. Like he could go up a level, you know, we didn't know what Jalen Brunson would be when he got to New York. Situations do change players. And you look at it for his career, 22 points, six assists. That's a nice player to add to Wemby.
- [16:19]
Don Hahn
Does Wembanyama make him better? More than the other way?
- [16:24]
Alan Hahn
Good.
- [16:24]
Don Hahn
Like a trade like this is made and it's like, oh, well, he'll be great for Wemby. I wonder if Wemby will be great for him. That's something that I'm. That's why I said, I'm going to watch and maybe I'll be wrong and hopefully I am, but, you know, like, that's one. So you got him already moved. The Jimmy Butler stuff is starting to percolate, boys. This is something Now. Thursday's a trade deadline and you have Jimmy Butler already. Now, last week, though, or a couple of weeks ago, the Grizzlies wanted to trade for him. He wants an extension. Whoever trades with him, he wants an extension with them. And so he's already told the Grizzlies, I'm all set. If you trade for me, I'm not going to sign an extension with you. So they don't want to do it, apparently. Brian Windhorse reporting this earlier today that he's told now, I can't believe this one, but I believe it because it's windy. That the Golden State warriors inquired about trading for him and he told them, yeah, I'm not going to assign an extension with you either. And so he wants to go to the Phoenix Suns. That's where he wants to be. And he's doing whatever it takes to get himself there and try to pair himself with. With Kevin Durant.
- [17:33]
Alan Hahn
Now, is that just him not wanting to be in the Bay Area long term? Like, what. What's the deal there?
- [17:38]
Stephen A. Smith
I.
- [17:38]
Don Hahn
Maybe it's because when Golden State, you know, maybe they reached out, I'm sure what the Heat are doing is letting them talk to agents and maybe go. Maybe they were like, well, he's looking for a max. And. And Golden State's like, yeah, we're not doing that. You know, we're not at that stage anymore. Like, it's going to cost trade for you now. We're going to give you 50 million a year at your age.
- [17:57]
Alan Hahn
And Phoenix will.
- [17:59]
Don Hahn
Yeah. Because their owner's a lunatic. Mattish beer is all in, man. He is all. And he's proven that with the. With the Bradley Beal trade. He's not afraid to spend money. He is desperate to win big because so many people now have thought that he doesn't know what he's doing. So now he's even more dialed into proving everyone wrong.
- [18:19]
Alan Hahn
Boy.
- [18:20]
Don Hahn
So the Jimmy Butler to Phoenix conversation, which is probably going to have to include a third team, that's something to keep an eye on the next couple of days, because that's. That could be the next big one. But I'm telling you, I don't know if the GM in New Orleans is David Griffin, and he's a good guy, but he's also been very hesitant to pull the trigger on moving Zion Williamson. I'm very curious. They're not a good team this year. I'm very curious to see if they have finally kind of grown tired enough of him that they would be willing to move him. That would be a huge one, too. That would. That would shake the league as well, moving a guy like that.
- [18:55]
Alan Hahn
If Luke is showing up. The camp at 270 ticked off Dallas. I mean, how ticked off can New Orleans be with Zion, for God's sake?
- [19:01]
Don Hahn
Well, they have been. They've been fining him. They suspended him. That they've had all. Remember, he's. Remember early in the season, this whole. It's amazing for a guy like Zion, this stuff has been swept under the rug. He has missed flights.
- [19:13]
Alan Hahn
What's left under the rug? Because nobody cares about the team he's on.
- [19:16]
Don Hahn
I think you're right. The team stinks. Like I've. I've got a couple of friends down there. I got a. Somebody I know on the team. And the stuff I've heard, it just. It makes you concerned and it just keeps staring at them going, are you guys really just going to keep enabling this? They were afraid and they ended up giving them the supermax. That was a huge mistake. They could have traded him, but they didn't. They gave him the money. They thought they'd get him. Right. He got himself his own chef and all this other stuff. And for five minutes it looked good and then it all fell apart again when he just, you know, he gets very enabled and entitled. And I think the New Orleans has to reach a point where they have to just realize they've got to move on. Now, here's the thing. When he plays, when he's in a lineup, they sell that building out. When he's not, nobody goes to the game. So I think they're afraid of that because it's something that, you know, that'll hurt that franchise. Remember, they're owned by the same owners who own the Saints. So I'm curious to see how this. This all goes. He might not get moved, but the Pelicans are bad. If there's ever a time to do it, now might be the time. But it's going to be interesting next couple of days.
- [20:24]
Alan Hahn
Yeah, a lot of big names swirling around, and then the one guy we didn't think would be moved gets moved.
- [20:30]
Peter Rosenberg
And it's already.
- [20:31]
Stephen A. Smith
Keep.
- [20:31]
Peter Rosenberg
Keep in mind, before we even got there, you've got sexy things going on. You have teams that no one expected to be this dominant. Being dominant, you have San Antonio starting to turn into a team with it, with this kid who's going to be the future of the league, the Knicks. You have these prime teams like the Celtics and Knicks who are incredibly popular, who are both dominant. The Lakers are coming on as the season goes on and getting better. It's, it's going to be a very compelling second half of the NBA season. I know there was a lot of trash talk, Allen, I'm sure you guys who cover the league, everyone certainly heard the noise. And the NFL is always such a juggernaut that everyone's always marveling with the NFL does NBA numbers are down? Oh, I don't know about the NBA. Certainly we've dogged the all star weekend because the slam dunk contest does not look good. But this trade, all it does is bolster what has already been a pretty exciting setup for a second half of the NBA season.
- [21:25]
Don Hahn
The problem is that the NBA seems more exciting when it's about the off like the business people. Like this summer in July when free agency happens. It's like that, that's when it gets its most hits. It's like the NBA would be great if they didn't play games.
- [21:38]
Alan Hahn
Well, that's the problem that the most, the least interesting thing about the NBA is their regular season games. Like everybody's waiting for the playoffs and everybody's waiting for the trade deadline. So there are people, Peter, that cares about the sport. It's just.
- [21:51]
Peter Rosenberg
But, but by the way, is baseball any different? It's these long seasons, guys.
- [21:56]
Don Hahn
Good point.
- [21:57]
Peter Rosenberg
Listen, it's true with baseball, hockey, maybe the exam, the, the, the exception. But that's almost because the fan base is so niche. But like these big mainstream sports, long ass seasons, the regular season, but kills people.
- [22:13]
Alan Hahn
Yeah, but it does. But, but the reason it does is because like hockey's a little bit different. Peter. You're right because of how niche the sport is. But also you can have a team that won the President's trophy, like the Rangers struggling to make the playoffs. Like good teams that aren't guaranteed the.
- [22:30]
Peter Rosenberg
Best team in hockey all of a sudden. Right?
- [22:31]
Alan Hahn
But, yeah, but when you have now essentially 20 of 30 teams going to the playoffs, it's hard to really tell people, big game tonight. When you've got teams that are great, like the Boston Celtics kind of play, as you always say, playing with their food because they know no matter where they end up finishing, they're still going to have a chance to win a championship. That's what does damage to it.
- [22:51]
Don Hahn
Well, we have coming up enn and in the nn we've got some amazing news breaking and troubling news coming out of baseball that you don't want to miss. That's all going to be part of ENN in just a few minutes. 800 now. 19377 is of course for the calls and hey Peter, you got some FanDuel for me?
- [23:09]
Peter Rosenberg
You know, of course I have FanDuel. It's this of all weeks, the FanDuel week. It's Super Bowl 59 week and there's no better way to make every play more exciting than with FanDuel. Sportsbook FanDuel makes it easy to place your bets and feel the thrill of every moment. Here are some of the fun bets in the app Right now you got saquon to record 25 plus rushing yards in each quarter. Either quarterback to catch a pass. Jalen hurts to score an octopus.
- [23:32]
Stephen A. Smith
What did that?
- [23:32]
Peter Rosenberg
Anthony? That means he scores the touchdown and the two point conversion.
- [23:36]
Don Hahn
Yep, that's right.
- [23:37]
Peter Rosenberg
That's, that's, that's bigly right there. An offensive lineman to score a td. So many different fun things you can play with. And guys, I need something because, you know, I desperately want both teams to lose. So betting is the way to go for me at this year's Super Bowl. That and Kendrick Lamar. Plus if you win, you get 200 bonus bets. Download the app or head to FanDuel.com Peter and bet with FanDuel official partner of Super Bowl 59, 21 and over and fizzly present New York first online real money wager only $5. First deposit required. Bonus issued as not withdrawable bonus bets which expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms@sportsbook.fanduel.com for help with a gambling problem, call 877-8-HOPE and WHO or text open wide 467-369 thanks for listening to.
- [24:16]
Don Hahn
The Don Han and Rosenberg podcast.
- [24:19]
Peter Rosenberg
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
- [24:20]
Don Hahn
Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. Let's do a little game time brought to you by Tullamore. Do Irish Whiskey because when it's game time, it is Tully time. I'm here at Madison Square Garden, so you know that means the Knicks are playing. They host the Rockets tonight with coverage immediately following us right here on 880 ESPN. Also, Don, we had, we also, you know, overlooked things. The J.T. miller trade went through over this weekend as well after our show was over on Friday. And he's played two games and all he's done is scored two goals and two assists for the Rangers. So immediate impact for J.T. miller.
- [25:01]
Alan Hahn
Yeah, they're one and one of the two games they lost to Boston and then they had a great win last night, down a goal, going to the third period, beat a Vegas team that's struggling, but still first place in the Pacific Division. And where he's going to help, there's a bunch of places going to help on the ice. He's going to help that power play. And we know how important that power play was to the Rangers last year and how it's almost non existent so far this year. But you're seeing in the two games power play is scored. Savannah Jad's awoken. So you put Miller on that first power play and it's clicking. And if that's going to happen, that the Rangers, who are right now five points out of a playoff spot with 30 games to go, if the power play is going to click like that, they're going to be in great shape. And the other thing is, Dave Maloney brought this up in the pregame against Boston. The speculation around J.T. miller, when they traded him, he was in the McDonough deal that went to Tampa, awful deal. Rangers got back Lebor Hayek. It just, it wasn't, it wasn't a good deal at all. All right, but still that the feeling was he kind of got under people's skins, he called out teammates. He was only 25 years old. He's a first round pick in 2011 and Dave's like, doesn't that sound like exactly what the Rangers need right now? Because now he's 31 and he's an established player and he scored 100 points one year, 99 another year. So he's a star now. And so if he calls out some of these players good, that's exactly what they need. He's a top line center, you can move his advantage, add to wing, gives you flexibility. And you gave up Philip Heidel, who's a talented player, but unfortunately with all the concussion problems, every time he got hit, you held your breath that he might be out for a month. And you gave up a nice defenseman but in Victor Mancini. But you know what, they got tons of defensemen and the first round pick is protected through the first 13 picks this year. I think it's a great deal. And he's under contract until he's 37, but the cap keeps going up and he's a really good player in the prime of his Career. I thought it was a great move by Drury and I think it gives not only the Rangers hope this year to try to salvage this season, but I think it makes them better for the next few years. So I think it was a terrific deal for the Rangers.
- [27:02]
Don Hahn
Man, he's got some chemistry with Trojek. They've known each other for a long time, so there's already a little connection. He's back with the Rangers, too. It's a familiarity. He loves playing here. He loved being in New York to begin with, so you're going to get that little extra juice out of him. And how about Jonathan Quick, speaking of weekend warriors finally gets 400.
- [27:17]
Peter Rosenberg
Yeah, I saw that. Congrats to Jonathan Quick.
- [27:20]
Alan Hahn
It's so. It's such a great story, Peter, because, you know, he grew up in, in, in Connecticut as a Ranger fan, of course. He won two cups with the Kings. He was on the, the Vegas team that won a Cup a couple of years ago, but didn't play in the playoffs. But he contributed during the regular season for them. Came to the Rangers and it looked like it was just all right, I'm in my late 30s, let me sign with my, my childhood team that I grew up with. And he had a terrible camp, but the Rangers took a chance on him and he backed up Igor and he won 14 games and they gave him a contract extension. And he's been good so far this year that, you know, seven wins and gets his 400th. So I think when he signed here was just kind of just to be on the Rangers to close out his career. Probably figuring he's going to come up short of 400. He's had a resurgence here. He's 39 years old, turned 39 in January. If I'm the Rangers, if he wants to, I might bring him back next year. I mean, Igor is going to play the bulk of the games and he's a professional. And here's the other thing. Everybody loves the guy. He takes the rookies under his wing. He's, he's been a champion. Loves the Rangers, he loves hockey. Great teammate, good for the room. So I don't know how he feels about wanting to come back another year. We still have this year to kind of go through, but he has been such an underrated story and I felt so good for him. First American born player to win 400 games in his National Hockey League career. So really good guy. And that was a really cool moment last night.
- [28:47]
Don Hahn
Definitely was. And he finally broke through because it had been a couple of games that he was trying to get it and didn't. That is game time. Brought to you by Telemardu the original triple distilled, triple blended, triple cast matured Irish whiskey. Be sure to grab a Tullamore Dew or try the new Tullimore Dew Honey during tonight's action or today's action as well. Glasses up to enjoying Tullamore Dew responsibly. Big five o'clock hour coming up. We get back into the Luka Doncic trade. What it means in the NBA, but also thinking about now the Knicks as well and what they need to do going forward. The trade deadline coming up in just a few days. But before we get to all that, Don, you got a little Cloth Howler for me now?
- [29:20]
Alan Hahn
Cheers to new beginnings with Cloth Holler, the premier and the pioneer of non alcoholic beer. Brewed with the finest natural ingredients, Cloth Holler delivers rich flavor that perfectly fits your active lifestyle. Kick off the year with a refreshing cloth. Whether you choose the original lager or the bold new ipa. Cloth Holler Natural Brewing, Refreshing Living. Always drink responsibly. Clausthaler is imported by Rattenberger Group USA, Norwalk, CT.
- [29:50]
Don Hahn
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast. I don't want to know how the sausage is made, but I just want to know it's good. 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.