Hour 3: Kendrick Perkins previews Knicks-Pacers

Summary

Don, Hahn & Rosenberg Podcast Summary Episode: Hour 3: Kendrick Perkins Previews Knicks-Pacers Release Date: May 20, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of the Don, Hahn & Rosenberg podcast, hosts Don Hahn and Peter Rosenberg welcome former NBA player and current analyst Kendrick Perkins to discuss the upcoming Eastern Conference Finals matchup between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers. The conversation delves deep into the Knicks' performance, key players, and their prospects in the series.

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Kendrick Perkins' Connection to the Knicks

[01:16] Perkins shares his longstanding relationship with the Knicks organization, highlighting his history with key figures:

Kendrick Perkins: "Worldwide west and myself been having a relationship for over 25 years now."

He emphasizes his deep-rooted connection, having won a championship with Tom Thibodeau and mentions his bond with Coach Mark Jackson from his time in Oklahoma City.

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Knicks' Performance and Playoff Prospects

Perkins provides a thorough analysis of the Knicks' performance in the playoffs, expressing strong confidence in their ability to win the Eastern Conference Finals.

[04:07] Discussing the Knicks' potential:

Perkins: "What I've seen is that they have another level when they want to get to it. ... I'm like, oh, this next team right here could win the NBA championship."

He praises the team's defense under Tom Thibodeau, their commitment to diving for loose balls, and their overall gritty playstyle.

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Key Players Impacting the Series

Mitchell Robinson

Perkins highlights Mitchell Robinson's defensive prowess and his critical role in the Knicks' strategy.

[07:23] On Robinson's defensive IQ:

Perkins: "Mitchell Robinson doesn't get enough credit for his IQ for the game of basketball defense. ... He’s a very high IQ basketball player on the defensive side of things."

He discusses Robinson's ability to guard multiple players, communicate effectively on defense, and his improvement in free-throw shooting during high-pressure moments.

Jalen Brunson

Brunson is lauded as the standout performer for the Knicks in the postseason.

[13:46] On Brunson's contributions:

Perkins: "Jalen Brunson is the best player in the postseason right now."

Brunson's increased scoring, assists, and clutch performances are credited as pivotal for the Knicks' success.

Karl-Anthony Towns

The importance of Towns in the series is underscored, especially his matchup against Pacers' Miles Turner.

[09:37] On Towns' role:

Perkins: "Karl Anthony Towns is the most important player in this series."

Perkins explains that Towns' ability to outplay Turner could determine the series' outcome.

Anthony Edwards

Edwards' need to elevate his game is a focal point.

[11:06] On Edwards' performance:

Perkins: "This series right here, he needs to average 30 to 35 points in this series, and he's capable of doing it."

He stresses the importance of Edwards stepping up to lead the team offensively.

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Home Court Advantage

The significance of home court is discussed, with Perkins emphasizing its impact on the series outcome.

[14:42] On home court:

Perkins: "Home court advantage is going to be the reason that these home court, the ones that got home court advantage are going to advance and go on to the NBA fight."

He contrasts Madison Square Garden with other arenas, highlighting its electric atmosphere and how it can tilt the series in the Knicks' favor.

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Injuries and Player Availability

Perkins addresses the health of key players and its effect on the series.

[05:32] On player health:

Perkins: "Jalen Bronson, thumb injury, Josh Hart, abdominal OG, Anunoby, hamstring. And all of a sudden those three guys are healthy."

He notes that the return of these players strengthens the Knicks' lineup, providing depth and versatility.

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Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Perkins wraps up with a confident outlook on the Knicks' chances to win the series and potentially advance to the NBA Finals.

[19:14] Final endorsement:

Perkins: "They have another level when they want to get to it. ... I got the Knicks winning that series in six games."

He reiterates his belief in the team's defensive strength, key players' performances, and overall resilience to overcome the Pacers.

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Notable Quotes

• Kendrick Perkins on Knicks' Potential:
  "[04:07] ... this next team right here could win the NBA championship."

• On Mitchell Robinson's Defense:
  "[07:23] Mitchell Robinson doesn't get enough credit for his IQ for the game of basketball defense."

• On Jalen Brunson's Impact:
  "[13:46] Jalen Brunson is the best player in the postseason right now."

• On Home Court Advantage:
  "[14:42] Home court advantage is going to be the reason that these home court ... are going to advance and go on to the NBA fight."

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Closing Remarks

The podcast concludes with the hosts expressing excitement for the upcoming games, encouraging listeners to stay tuned for live coverage, and reiterating their support for the Knicks as they aim for the championship.

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This episode provides an in-depth preview of the Knicks-Pacers series, offering listeners valuable insights from a knowledgeable insider. Kendrick Perkins' analysis highlights the strengths of the Knicks, the critical roles of key players, and the importance of home court advantage, making it a must-listen for fans eager to understand the dynamics of this pivotal playoff matchup.

Transcript

[Don Hahn]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Don Hahn]

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[Kendrick Perkins]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Kendrick Perkins]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

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[Kendrick Perkins]

That sounds like heaven to me.

[Don Hahn]

Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3.

[Peter Rosenberg]

On 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers Don.

[Don Hahn]

Hahn and Rosenberg in New York City on a big Tuesday at 5:03. Of course closing in on 24 hours from game one of your Eastern Conference finals. Your New York Knicks hosting the Indiana Pacers. And one guy who when it comes to the national media has been on this Knicks team since before this Knicks team was even fully this Knicks team is our guest right now, Kendrick Perkins. Perk. What up? It's Peter, Don and Allen. How are you?

[Ryan Reynolds]

What's up fellas? I appreciate y' all having me on.

[Don Hahn]

Now listen, I was on First Take earlier and Stephen A. Was talking about your unbelievable popularity in Oklahoma City and how you're the mayor of okc sense a little bit of jealousy as well. Pert.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's, that's, I, I got the same type of vibe, you know, I mean, you know, and look, I didn't tell him to walk in the newsroom. Matter of fact, I didn't tell him to walk in, into the arena before me. Anyway, he should have waited. He should have waited and walked in with me and then he would have got the same.

[Don Hahn]

He could have gotten the, he could have gotten the, the little extra love. No, I know, I feel that, that he's looking for but in, in talking about like your, and obviously your championship connection to the Celtics, Rip. But you, you do have a real connection now to this Knicks team. First of all, your nickname and just the way you say big body Brunson has become its own thing altogether. You've been on this team from, from jump. Do you get a special sort of satisfaction in spite of the fact that you never played for this Knicks team, seeing them thrive like this?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, absolutely. And guess what I'm trying to decide. Am I gonna be, am I going to fly from Minnesota to New York to be Sitting courtside with Tracy Morgan because he keep blowing, you know, that's my, that's my big brother. We got the same birthday. Keep blowing my phone up telling me I need to be in the building. You know, I mean, he called me the governor of New York. That's what he called. I, I didn't, I didn't give myself that name.

[Don Hahn]

You gotta do it. You can't say. You can't say no to Traymore. You gotta go.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But guess what? See, what people don't realize is it's a. I. It's a lot of history, right? When it comes down to the Knicks and myself, right? You gotta remember Worldwide west recruited me when I went with John Caliperi, when I signed with Memphis, the University of Memphis before I went to go to the league. So Worldwide west and myself been having a relationship for over going like, you know, 25, 25, 25, 26 years now. And then Tom Thibodeau and Darren, who's the assistant, you got to remember, I won the championship with both of those guys in 2008. And then the big man, coach, Coach Mark was on the bench. Coach Mark by mb he was my big man coach for four and a half years when I was in Oklahoma City.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So you have a lot of connections, perk, obviously, with this Knicks team just on a personal level.

[Kendrick Perkins]

But what.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But you also are a guy that does keep it real when it comes to what you see with a team. What have you seen out of the Knicks in the first two series that makes you believe that this is, this is not maybe where it stops for them?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Look, what I've seen is that they have another level when they want to get to it. I'm going to tell you something. That game six performance that they displayed in Madison Square, going against the Celtics was the best performance I've seen from them in the past two seasons. And that's saying a lot because Big Body Brunson has put on a performance on the road. Last year in Philly, he put on a performance in Detroit. But as a team, that was Tom Thibodeau defense, right? That was the team that I've been waiting to see. That was the team that I saw diving on the floor for loose balls, going for 50, 50 balls, chasing down block shots, getting in there and getting dirty. Karl Anthony Towns got him going early. He was into the game, he was in power. His emotions was right, his headspace was right. And I was like, oh, this next team right here could win the NBA championship.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Is it fair to say, though, they're going to have to play better against Indiana than they played in the six game series against the Celtics.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I got the Knicks and six, I got the Knicks and six. I'm telling you that I got the Knicks and six. This is a revenge series, right? We got to remember Jalen Bronson, thumb injury, Josh Hart, abdominal og, Anunoby, hamstring. And all of a sudden those three guys are healthy. You sprinkle in Corey Anthony Towns, you sprinkle in Mikhail Bridges, Big Mitch been playing some great basketball off the bench. Deuce McBride finally found his stride, his rhythm from the three point line. He's playing like a dog. I got the Knicks winning that series in six games.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I want to ask you about Mitchell Robinson, which got has to be a player for you that has some, it's got to be relatable to you. You were a tough defensive guy, defensive minded guy. You were an anchor a lot of times for the defense, especially those Celtic teams and in Oklahoma City I should say as well. And when he's healthy in that game six, I know you've seen the possession that I was, I'm talking about, which is that he guarded all five players at one time and then got Jalen Brown to turn the ball over. It was just an incredible defensive sequence. When you see him and his value out on the floor and then the opposing Joe Missoula decides to foul him on purpose. And you saw, you see him struggling at the free throw line, does he have to get like, how does he get over that? Because clearly when he's on the floor, when he's healthy, he's incredibly impactful. But if I'm Rick Carlisle, I might do the same thing just to keep him off the floor.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And guess what? You know how, you know how he gets over it? Because towards the end of the series, in the Boston series, what did he do? He started knocking down those damn free throws. That's how you get over it. You know you get over it. Make them, yo, you make them. But you have the trust of your coach, Tom Tippett. Tom Tibeto didn't give a damn. Keep following them. Guess what? I'm gonna keep them in the game. Hey, Mitch, I trust you. What you bring it to the table. I don't give a damn about them. Follow you, following you. I know you're gonna make your free throws. You have a coach that trusts you like that, so give you that confidence that you need to go up and step up to the line and knock down those free throws. And that's what we Saw towards the end of the series. Let me tell you something. Mitchell Robinson doesn't get enough credit for his IQ for the game of basketball defense. The way that he's able to anchor defense, cover space, communicate, pick and rolls, slide, hedge out, switch, do everything from top to bottom, he doesn't get enough praise. He's a very high IQ basketball player on the defensive side of things. And I think people need to recognize that and give him more flowers than what they've been giving him, not just in New York, but across the whole NBA world.

[Don Hahn]

Now, one thing that's obviously different about this year's series and last year perk is the availability of OG and unobi. And when you really go back and look at the history since they got og, they are an entirely different Knicks team. When he plays, when he scores over 20, they're essentially unstoppable, undefeated in the playoffs. I'd imagine that your your answer would be og, but besides Jalen Brunson, we saw how much injuries can affect a series with Boston in the last series and other throughout here. Besides Jalen Brunson, who would be the most backbreaking injury were it to happen, God forbid, to one of these other Knicks players?

[Ryan Reynolds]

It would be Karl Anthony Towns. Let me say this. In this series, Karl Anthony Towns is the most important player in this series. All Karl Anthony Towns has to do is outplay Miles Turner. And that's not going to be an easy task because Miles Turner has been underappreciated for what he's done in this postseason. Not only is he a big man that could stretch the floor, but he's been doing an excellent job, especially in that Cleveland series of taking advantage of mismatches in the low block area. And he's leading the post season and block shots. Carl Anthony Towns. If he dominates like we know he can and wins that battle between him and Miles Turner, the Knicks are going to win this series in great fashion. If he don't, the Knicks are going to be in trouble.

[Kendrick Perkins]

You give the T Wolves a chance against okc.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I do, I do. I do. I think this series goes settle. I think it goes seven games. I really do. It's two people in the world that I would not bet against. One is Big Body Bronson and the other one is Anthony Edwards.

[Kendrick Perkins]

And.

[Ryan Reynolds]

What I believe is this is the moment for Anthony Edwards not to be Anthony Edwards. They need Anthony Edwards to be ant man. Now, he's done a great job over the past two series of distributing the ball. He had a career high assist in game Five. Making guys around him better. I get all that. But this series right here, he needs to average 30 to 35 points in this series, and he's capable of doing it. Matter of fact, you're looking. You're going against another young superstar that's at the guard position in SGA who's probably about to win the mvp. Anthony was need to take this personal.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So perk, out of the four guards that are like the lead dogs for their teams that are left, and you mentioned two of them, Anthony Edwards, right. Shay Gilgis, Alexander, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Halliburton, if you were going to power rank them right now based on the playoffs, how would you do it?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I would go. I would go. Jalen Brunson, 1. Tyree Taliburton, 2.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Anthony Edwards, 3. SGA. 4.

[Don Hahn]

SGA 4. Man's had seven 30 point games.

[Ryan Reynolds]

We're talking. But we're talking about Napoleon. And the reason. The reason I'm saying it because is because we know he could score 30s. We know that he led the league in scoring. He led the league in scoring. I'm waiting. I'm waiting on the 50 ball. I'm waiting on the 50 ball. See, here's the thing, right? When you're a superstar, them points per game supposed to go up. Anthony Ellis, I mean, Jalen Brunson, what do you average? 25, 26 for the season?

[Don Hahn]

Yep. What?

[Ryan Reynolds]

He's averaging 32 right now?

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, right around 30. Yep.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yep.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Okay. What about Tyrese Halliburton?

[Don Hahn]

Tyrese is up. Tyrese is up a touch, but he was down to 18 this season. He didn't have a great average this season. I think he's at. I think he's at 20, 22, something like that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, okay, Cool. The assistant. The leadership was up.

[Don Hahn]

The clutch time is right for sure.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Between him and Bronson, So that's why. But all four of those players are great. I didn't really want to do that ranking, but I knew I had no choice because you're my guys and y' all wouldn't have let me off the hook if I said I didn't want to do it. But I got Jalen Brunson as number one. Matter of fact, Jalen Brunson is the best player in the postseason right now.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, I think it's tough to argue that. Honestly, when you. When you look at the numbers and you think about what he did in the biggest spot when they needed the win to close out Detroit. What did he do when they Needed to bounce back after the home loss in Game three. What did he do in game four? In every spot when he's been most needed, Brunson has delivered. And to your point, the numbers, everything's up. Assists are up, points are up. Everything's up for this guy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Everything, Everything. And guess what he just getting started does.

[Kendrick Perkins]

How big is it for the Knicks that they were at least tested, didn't face elimination against Detroit, but they tested, especially at home. And, you know, a lot of questions after the Game 5 loss before they blew the Celtics out in six. And Indiana has faced no adversity, only two losses so far in the playoffs. How much of an edge is that for the Knicks today? At least faced a couple of bumps in the road as opposed to the Pacers?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, it's definitely an edge. And I'm going to tell you what's a bigger edge, and people are going to realize it now. Now in these conference finals, home court plays a huge advantage because Madison Square Garden and outside of Madison Square Garden, I haven't been there. But just watching it from watching it on TV is lit. Oklahoma City, this arena is lit. Home court advantage is going to be the reason that these home court, the ones that got home court advantage are going to advance and go on to the NBA fight.

[Don Hahn]

It's a. It's a great take by you, Perk, because this will be the most stark contrast. No disrespect to Minnesota's crowd and no disrespect to Indiana's crowd, which is great.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They're both loud.

[Don Hahn]

They're both loud.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

But OKC and MSG are at a different level. Yeah, they really are.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You could definitely tell.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's. It's level studies, it's level cities. It's a different type of energy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So how do we get. So are we getting you to tomorrow night? Are we getting you at the Garden? Are you gonna.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Not for. Not for game one. I'm pushing for game, too.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We'll get you Friday night.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, I'm pushing for game, too.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Anything I can do? What do you need me to do?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I mean, if you want to send a pj, that would be nice.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, you know what? It's a great. Oh, you. Oh, you thought you were on the phone with Stephen.

[Peter Rosenberg]

A. See. Yeah, see, See, I'm. I'm at a. You know how you talked about how the crowds are at different levels? Easy perk. You know me, my style. I'm at a different level, too. And it's a little bit lower.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Lower.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, my bank Account is a little more like the crowd in, let's say, Indiana.

[Don Hahn]

No, more Indiana than New Orleans.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like, you know, when Zion's not playing. Yeah, Charlotte. I'm more of my. My bank accounts, like Charlotte's crowd, you know, when they're Hawks. All right, but I'm talking about once you get to the town, like, we got to get you in the building. We got to make sure everybody knows they put you on Garden vision. You know, you're going to get a standing ovation. You do know this, right?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah, I'm waiting on it.

[Kendrick Perkins]

All right, that's.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's. That's what? That's what. That's what got me tempted to, you know, say, go ahead and jump on that bird and get out there.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Let's go.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Most love Celtic in history.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We love you, Percy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Thank you, man. Pretty safe.

[Kendrick Perkins]

You know, of the four teams left, the Pacers had the worst road record during the regular season at 20 and 20. And you want to play. 500 on the road, but. But you take the.

[Peter Rosenberg]

They own Cleveland in Cleveland.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Yeah, but again, other than that. But the Thunder were just amazing in both home and away. But the Knicks played very well on the road.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now. They're actually comfortable. You know what. Again, the. I wonder how much the Pacers getting that Game seven at the Garden.

[Don Hahn]

How.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because their Game one, they got smoked. They lost game two, Game five, they got smoked in that series last year. That Game seven. That Game seven, you know, did that give them something to build off?

[Kendrick Perkins]

Right? It can't hurt you to know that you. You've been there and you win a game seven. And the thing. Listen, we're all giddy about what happened in Game 6 at the Garden, but the Garden has not been a paradise for the Knicks in these playoffs. They've had some tough, you know, the tough loss in game five in the first round, certainly Game two. What happened in.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Well, yeah, first round of game two.

[Kendrick Perkins]

First round of Game two, two, Game.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Five, and then obviously game three against the Celtics.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You know, that afternoon game. Now, here's the thing. Thank God there's no afternoon games anymore. That's.

[Kendrick Perkins]

No. That's all over.

[Peter Rosenberg]

8 o' clock. It's. Everything feels normal and so.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Time, baby.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. This is it.

[Kendrick Perkins]

It's a different world now, Nick. Fans, join Bart and Carlin tomorrow night for Game one's Eastern Conference finals viewing party at Tommy's Tavern and Tap in Clifton, N.J. hang with the guys for the game and enjoy drink specials and giveaways, including an autographed Jalen Brunson jersey. That's big Bob. It all tips off at 7:30 and goes until the final shot. That's tomorrow night at Tommy's Tavern and tap in Clifton, New Jersey with Bart Scott and Chris Carlin. Brought to you by Miller Light.

[Peter Rosenberg]

What do we think of what Perk said here that about the Knicks and what he saw? They have another level if they want to get to it. That's what he saw in Game 6. And that's why he's all in on them winning. Not only winning the series.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Yeah.

[Peter Rosenberg]

He feels pretty strongly about them doing the whole thing.

[Kendrick Perkins]

First things first. Right. And tonight. Come on. Like how juicy would it be for it to be Minnesota? I'm sure everybody. Not that you don't want to challenge this Thunder team special.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Look, we have no dog in this fight. Are we rooting for Minnesota for selfish reasons?

[Kendrick Perkins]

Because it's dead sexy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Kendrick Perkins]

And don't you want home court? Like, forget about the Magic and listen, respect the Thunder. I mean they were the best team all year. It feels like it's their year.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But Denver. Denver took them to the limit. And Denver wasn't really that good.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Here's the thing. The Thunder are the best team this year in the NBA.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No question.

[Kendrick Perkins]

But this is a new NBA where there really isn't truly any dominant teams anymore. We saw what happened. Cleveland was great in the regular season. A little bit happened in the postseason. Now it's not nothing to blow a team out in Game 7. And that was non competitive on Sunday afternoon.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It was close until the last three minutes of the first half. And then just actually Denver had an eight point.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Right. But you know, these, these points and deficits in the first half don't really do much for me.

[Don Hahn]

What is it?

[Kendrick Perkins]

What is it? You know, but these third quarters have been very, very important.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Huge.

[Kendrick Perkins]

And. And the Thunder showed me something. But you know what? The Nuggets have a heart of a champion. A lot of guys on that team that were on that championship team a couple of years ago. So. But you're right. There's no. There's no juggernaut. But that seems like it's the best team. But from a Knicks perspective, it's dead sexy having those former guys. Hardenstein's not nothing but to be able to get DiVincenzo and Randall Backstein left. This is different.

[Peter Rosenberg]

When did we ever see two teams make a blockbuster trade before the season start and then meet in the championship?

[Kendrick Perkins]

It would just be.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Have we ever seen that?

[Kendrick Perkins]

But, but the main thing that would.

[Don Hahn]

Be unblocked if you if you play.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Well at home in this series and you win.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So sel selfishly, we're rooting for the Timberwolves. As a city, we're rooting for the Timberwolves.

[Kendrick Perkins]

And it doesn't mean you're scared, it just means that I want home court. I want the best possible in my first final appearance since 1999. But again, we've got a long way to go, but it all begins tomorrow.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Back to the Soto conversation next because we have new sound Carlos Mendoza, who last night said, yeah, I'm going to talk to him about lollygagging.

[Kendrick Perkins]

So let's see what down the first base that you lolly gag.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Love that this is one of those words, right? That the minute you say that word, oh, that's the scene you think of.

[Don Hahn]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. So we have the Mets and the Red Sox again tonight right after us.

[Don Hahn]

You can't blow past Buster Rhymes birthday today, my friend.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, that's right.

[Don Hahn]

Today is Busta's birthday. Big New York Energy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

50. 54.

[Don Hahn]

You were so close. 53.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay, so I know we're in the same age range.

[Don Hahn]

That is exactly right. You're right there.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Strong Island.

[Kendrick Perkins]

And George Wendt passed away 76.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Kendrick Perkins]

On the 32nd anniversary of the series finale of Cheers.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Don Hahn]

What anniversary?

[Kendrick Perkins]

32Nd.

[Peter Rosenberg]

30. Just the fact that it was the anniversary, the date, not the. Not how many years. But still it's. That's. That's an incredible coincidence.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Second highest rated television non sports television show in history.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Is he one? Is. Is Norm one of the most beloved? Where would you like of beloved? You know, I'm not saying. What do you say? Characters. Right. Like, because he's not a main character, but he's a. He's a. He's a recurring character. He's in the show all the time. Would you say, like, he's got to be one of the most beloved. I, you know, Kramer. Right. I had gotta be one.

[Kendrick Perkins]

I had a list of the greatest television characters of all time that I want to revisit because it was before I saw Breaking Bad.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Peter, you smell that? But this is different because I smell.

[Kendrick Perkins]

It's not, you know, like you said, he's not the main character, but that show doesn't work without him.

[Don Hahn]

I just was thinking about this earlier this week. You doing a list about top characters who are not the main character. But it wasn't George Wendt that I was thinking about.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Who.

[Don Hahn]

I don't remember who inspired me.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And then you put it together. It's also Norm with Cliff. Cliff Clavin, the great Cliff Claven. That worked together as well because of the way they played off each other. And they were like this side story that really wasn't a story. Just there's a lot of things that were going on there that you can.

[Don Hahn]

They rarely had full episodes about Clifford. Norm. They happened, but it wasn't all.

[Peter Rosenberg]

There was a couple, but.

[Don Hahn]

But they were also a pivotal part of the show. They were More than furniture.

[Kendrick Perkins]

It doesn't work without them.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like, what else would you say? Like mash. Who would be that equivalent of the beloved character? Radar Klinger.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Because Radar left and it continued on.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, you're right. Clinger was probably a beloved character as well. That wasn't always a main.

[Kendrick Perkins]

And then he went from, you know, trying to get out on a section 8, and then he just became more of a serious character that became. That was a sitcom that became a melodrama by the end of it. But he was a consistent character throughout. Not a main character, not a lot of stories surrounding him, but a very pivotal part.

[Peter Rosenberg]

And beloved, to me, it's important that it's below. Again, Kramer is an obvious one. Where else we're going here? Like, where else can we go?

[Don Hahn]

So there's. There's. They're tertiary characters, but they're big.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Don Hahn]

And they're important. Trying to think other, like 80s big stuff.

[Kendrick Perkins]

You think of the biggest. You know, so who would be.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Just think of the greatest shows ever. And then you think, start there, Meathead.

[Kendrick Perkins]

And all of the family.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah. Rob Reiner.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Rob Reiner. Let's say he had a lot. He was a. You know, but he wasn't the main character. But he was.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Kendrick Perkins]

So Kramer and Seinfeld. Peter.

[Don Hahn]

I. I think Kramer is the clear one for Seinfeld. When you say, like, Seinfeld is a.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Few, but George and Elaine were more.

[Don Hahn]

They're central, regular.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Like, Kramer just popped in all the time.

[Don Hahn]

But you know what? It is hard to say Kramer because he is one of the four primary characters.

[Kendrick Perkins]

It doesn't work on Friends and it doesn't work on Seinfeld usually. Right.

[Peter Rosenberg]

So then we take out Seinfeld.

[Don Hahn]

No, but Seinfeld does have other characters. But that are pretty big.

[Kendrick Perkins]

They're big. But if you took them out. True.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It feels like it has to also be sitcom E type because the drama is a little different. Like, it's got to be. Again, beloved characters are the ones you just. Every time you sell, you just love them. Them, like. Oh, love when he's in the scene.

[Don Hahn]

Right. But, but, but, but at the same time, we're naming ones who are in every episode because Cliff and Norman. Every episode.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Every episode.

[Don Hahn]

I mean, unless something freakish happened, by the way, Norm.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Raging alcoholic.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Well, both.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That guy was in the bar every day, all day, no matter what time of day it was. He'd walk in the door. Norm. Right. And then they would always ask the question and he would always have a report.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Tomorrow's the list.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I like it.

[Kendrick Perkins]

I got to cultivate.

[Don Hahn]

You have to. You'd have to do some work. It requires some.

[Kendrick Perkins]

A lot of different directions.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Let's go.

[Don Hahn]

Main character bowl from Night Court. Sorry, continue.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That's not bad, though.

[Kendrick Perkins]

But what I did, I did the list of the greatest television characters.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Bose. Before I saw Breaking Bad, and now I'm like, I'm ashamed of that list because Walter White would have to be in the top five.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Kendrick Perkins]

But I had, like, Kramer on the list, and I got pushback from a.

[Don Hahn]

Lot of having doing to. I'll be honest, that is a list that is so hard. It is literally as subjective a thing as one could do.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Because you finish Danger.

[Don Hahn]

Because you. You finish a great show and you immediately are like, well, this is number one. This is up there.

[Kendrick Perkins]

And the lazy thing is, let's just take the top five shows of all time in their main character. Like MASH does not work with Alan Alda.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, right.

[Kendrick Perkins]

So. So that has to be on the list. Right?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Can't do. You can't do all in the Family without Archie Bunker.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Like, so it does kind of lazy list, too.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You can't do it that way. It has to be the character that is not the main character, but is recurring and clearly makes the show.

[Don Hahn]

Talk about a joke of mine that doesn't work, that did not age well, A, in terms of it not being appropriate, but B, in terms of the character not being pertinent anymore. My favorite joke that I used to say to make my friends laugh when we were. When I was trying to describe someone who was unattractive was saying, on a scale from 1 to 10, she's bull from Night Court. It just doesn't. It just doesn't hit the same anymore, though. No one knows who. Look at Anthony's face right now. He's telling you everything.

[Kendrick Perkins]

And the REM reboot of Night Court just got canceled. They did get a couple of seasons out of it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Good for them.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Reboot it.

[Kendrick Perkins]

John Larroquette was in it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Was he really?

[Kendrick Perkins]

So, yeah. So work.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Larroquette had, like, a short stint after Night Court where he was in some stuff. Not too bad. And then it just fell off.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Very good.

[Don Hahn]

How does this make you feel, Alan?

[Peter Rosenberg]

I love that. And the Tims. Look at you. It's all in.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Yeah, look at that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

She's in.

[Kendrick Perkins]

I heard those.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Imagine her first year.

[Don Hahn]

If they win the title, the Knicks win the champion. This is my daughter we took.

[Peter Rosenberg]

She'll go. The Knicks have never won a championship in my lifetime. Well, at least that I've remembered.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

Because that's what I say, right. Because I was 2, it would be the same thing. This picture I have of her wearing the Knicks gear. Thank you to our good buddy Dan Schoenberg and the Knicks who sent me great stuff for her. And she's wearing the Tims.

[Kendrick Perkins]

She's.

[Don Hahn]

She's ready for the moment.

[Kendrick Perkins]

I heard she was a diva, though, today.

[Don Hahn]

Well.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, really?

[Kendrick Perkins]

A bit of a diva.

[Don Hahn]

It turns out photo shoot's not her thing. She's great at taking photos. I'll tell you one thing, I want to be alone. I'll tell you one thing, though. She is a politician, man. We were out last night. And the amount of attention she got in public and how much she's good at giving out smiles.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, yeah. Oh, she's giving out.

[Don Hahn]

And I walked. We walked away. And I said, tonight, I'm like, oh, my God, she's made everyone feel special tonight. Cuz when you get the smile from a baby, when you go up to a little tiny baby and you're like, hi, honey, and then they just give you the big toothless smile, you feel like you did something. But she was giving them out all day long.

[Kendrick Perkins]

But you did. We want to honor the tease.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Got some Mendoza sound.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Do you want to get to the main character stuff here? And that is the Juan Soto conversation that we had at the beginning of the show. You remember that last night, Carlos Mendoza said, I have to. I'm going to talk to him about it. Meaning Juan Soto and his perceived lack of hustle on another ball. This one was hit off the Green Monster last night. What should have been a double at the very least ended up being a single. So Mendoza now, before tonight's game, was asked, did you talk to Juan Soto like you said you would?

[E]

Yeah, I'll say what I said last night, but I'm not going to get into the back and forth. Whether I talk to him or not. I want to keep that in house. The one thing I'll tell you is that as a manager, my job is to continue to coach him, continue to support him, continue to teach him. Same thing with the coaches, you know, and we will continue to do that same thing with. We've been doing since day one is our job and I'll leave it at that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I expected him to say that. We'll keep it in house line. That's a very. It's a very Yankee kind of thing to say. Right. You're not going to reveal things.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Technically, it's none of Our business. Did you talk to me? Yeah, I did, but.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But you don't need to know about it, right? We're not going to air it out now. He did say, though, got to support him, got to keep teaching. So how do you do that?

[E]

Yeah, in a lot of different ways, you know, in understanding that they're human, you know, and a lot of times the frustrations are going to get the base out of them, especially a guy like that, which is, you know, he's so talented and has so much success early in his career. And, you know, right now he feels like maybe, you know, he could do a little bit more for the team, you know, and he's part of it, and that's part of the conversation here, understanding the personnel. But at the same time, a guy like him, he wants to be challenged. He wants to be coach, and that's what makes him special.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Okay, so that's the player side of it. That's the player, coach side of it. But what about the reality of the fact that, as I mentioned this weekend, he was in a. He was in a. He was in hell in right field, Yankee Stadium. The Bleacher Creatures were surrounding him. They were all over him. They were riding him every inning. He was out there, and he had to hear all of it, no matter how hard you block it out. Then he goes to Boston. Same situation. He's got to hear it from the fans in Boston. So Mendoza was asked about how difficult that is to block out all this noise right now when you're struggling.

[E]

It starts with me as a manager. You know, my job is to block that noise. You know, there is a lot of noise right now, and it's nothing new for us, you know, and there's nothing new for the guys in there. There are a lot of guys there that were here last year, a lot of guys that got a lot of experience here in New York, and they know what it means, you know, especially when you're going through situations like this. It's all part of it. We'll be together, we'll stay together. We'll have each other's back here, and we'll block all that noise. That's all it is. It's noise. You know, we go out there, we got to win a game to win, and we got a series here with an opportunity to win a series, and that's what we'll continue to try and do. I believe on those guys, they're in a good place. And if there's a team that knows how to handle adversity, Is this team, you know, and again, it's just a little bit of noise right now.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Now we have a little bit of Soto. So this is some Soto. Now, there was no. There was no interview process. This was just somebody had a tape recorder rolling in the clubhouse. All right.

[Don Hahn]

I hate it here. I want to go home.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, boy.

[Don Hahn]

No, that's unfortunate.

[Kendrick Perkins]

He lost his accent. It was weird. Yeah.

[Don Hahn]

But it is really getting bad.

[Kendrick Perkins]

I hate it here. She's just drained of. His whole soul has been sucked out.

[Don Hahn]

Which is totally different than what he sounded like when he first got to Queens. After everything and why he decided now with everything you've heard this audio, we.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Soto first got there.

[Don Hahn]

I'm here with my family.

[Kendrick Perkins]

So again, his accent seems to change depending on the mood.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, he's weird, though.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You would think he'd have a. More of a Queen's accent. Not exactly.

[Don Hahn]

He's a chameleon.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Listen, this is all about how he plays, because the better he plays, he's going to hear it on the road. And if the Mets are good and the Mets are competing, you think they're going to be nice to him in Philadelphia?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, yeah.

[Kendrick Perkins]

You know, probably not, because you're hoping that he's raking and the team is competitive. They fell out of first place, guys. I know it's only may, like, freak out, but, you know, the big thing was, oh, look, Juan Soto's struggling, and the Mets are in first place. Well, because of the Phillies beating the Rockies last night. Rockies 31 games under.500 on May 20th. Ridiculous.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wow.

[Kendrick Perkins]

So don't expect the Rockies to help the Mets out. So if the Mets don't find it, they're going to be a couple of games out of first place. So you can't say, well, at least we're still in first place. It's changing by the day here. They're not hitting. They didn't hit the Pittsburgh series, the Yankee series, and last night in Boston. So. All right, there it is. So all eyes are gonna be on Juan Soto, and let's see if he busted down the first base line. If he doesn't, then I guess this is much ado about nothing. Let's take the opportunity to wish Richard in Manhattan a happy birthday. How are you, buddy?

[Don Hahn]

Happy birthday, Richard.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Don.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Pete.

[F]

Don. Peter Allen. I'll do a quick reference to my birthday. Seven years ago, you had Joe Namath on your show, And Joe turned 75. He said he's entering the fourth quarter of his life. 100 years football reference.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Don.

[F]

I'm going to go hockey with you. I'm going 105. So 70 represents two periods ended. I'm going into my third period of my hockey career. So hopefully I go to 105 and we'll call it a day.

[Don Hahn]

I think you can.

[F]

I hope so. Fellas, look at the schedules of the NHL and an NBA. It's unbelievable how congruous they are. They both play every night from now until Monday, June 2nd. So in other words, you can have a possibility of 28 games. 28 games amongst the four, eight teams still playing. So you can have a game every two games every night, a hockey game and a basketball game every night. If all series go seven games, I mean, it's going to be hard, but I love it. I mean, Memorial Day weekend, the day after, the day before, the Saturday before, there's going to be a hockey and basketball game. There are no two day breaks. Every game is one after another one day break. That's it. Hockey and basketball starting tonight. So we got a hockey and basketball tonight all through June 2nd, if it goes 28, if we get a seven game series. So I love it. And one last thing on Sarto, fellas, before I hang. But one thing Hosoto did is I'm sure he knew he made a mistake. He stole second base on the very next pitch. So he knew he made a mistake and he went. And by the way, he's six for six. Why does the reporter question him after the game about, you know, not running? He ran to. He stole second base right away as if to say, I'm a schmuck, I shouldn't have done it, but here I made it up. Listen, and I think Mendoza should have said something. He said he made a mistake. But did you see him steal second right away? I think that's a very, very big thing. Shows that he gets it. Fellas, pleasure. Thank you, guys.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Listen, and happy birthday, Richard. Here's this.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Didn't you bring it up? You, you said that.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Yeah, he stole second base.

[Peter Rosenberg]

At the very beginning of the show, you said that.

[Kendrick Perkins]

The coach, the manager says, I'm going to talk to him about it. And in the same breath, Soto saying he didn't think there was an issue. The original thing happened. Yes, he stole second base, but it still happened. And he hasn't been busting it down the first baseline all year.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But it's all how you handle it.

[Kendrick Perkins]

It's what if.

[Peter Rosenberg]

If Soto after that question said, yeah, the wind got me. That's on me. But I made sure to get the second the next that bat. I stole second. Just could make up for it. But I got to be better. How hard is it to just do that?

[Kendrick Perkins]

I know.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Why, why do you always. Everybody has to put up that, that, that wall. Like. What do you mean? I think I'm fine. Everything's fine. Everything. No, everything's not fine. Just humility always wins in these situations.

[Kendrick Perkins]

No, it's getting to him. We'll see if he can turn it around tonight. We're taking you up until 6 o' clock and then our coverage of the Mets and the Red Sox. Let's line up the calls to close it out at 1-800-919-3776. Don Han and Rosenberg on 880 ESPN New York and the ESPN New York app you want to get the most for your money. That's why more Mazda buyers choose Ramsey Mazda. At least the new 2025 Mazda CX50 Hybrid. All wheel drive only 249 for 36 months. Start shopping now at Ramsey Mazda dot com. Choose wisely. Choose your Ramsey Mazda. Call 833-853-2970 for details. Excludes tax, title and registration. 0 Security Deposit Fin SN 320885 MSRP 30 2002. 85 and 6225 hey there travelers.

[Don Hahn]

Kaley Cuoco here. Sorry to interrupt your music great artist.

[Kendrick Perkins]

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[Don Hahn]

Go to your happy price. Priceline. Kick off summer with Memorial Day savings at Lowe's. Right now.

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[F]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

Selection varies by location while supplies last.

[Ryan Reynolds]

See lowe's.com for more details.

[Kendrick Perkins]

This episode is brought to you by Chevy Silverado. When it's time for you to ditch the blacktop and head off road, do it in a truck that says no to nothing. The Chevy Silverado Trail Boss.

[Don Hahn]

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[Kendrick Perkins]

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[Peter Rosenberg]

Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.

[Don Hahn]

I didn't listen to anything you just said.

[Peter Rosenberg]

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

[Kendrick Perkins]

Game Time is brought to you by Televardu Irish Whiskey because when it's game time, fellas.

[Don Hahn]

It'S dolly time. It's tolly time.

[Kendrick Perkins]

The Mets continue their series with the Red Sox coverage immediately following us on 880 at 6:05 while the Yankees start a series with the Rangers over at the stadium Tullamore. Due the original triple distilled, triple blended and triple cast matured Irish Whiskey. Be sure to grab a Tullamore Dew or try the new Tullamore Dew. Honey, during tonight's action, glasses up to enjoying Tullamore Dew responsibly. So as you heard in that read, take up the Mets and Red Sox on 80. Mets losing last night 3 to 1. Senga didn't have it but kind of fought through it and they have not hit, haven't hit in a while. See if things change tonight. So you want to close out the calls.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Including Peter, Danny and Clifton, who thinks he knows how to get into Madison Square Garden.

[Don Hahn]

All right, here we go. Hold us.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Yeah, hold on.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hey, what's up, fellas?

[Don Hahn]

Hey, buddy.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's good to hear you all again.

[Don Hahn]

First off, I don't know why I.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Just realized this after I started my.

[Don Hahn]

New job where I'm driving all day. So I'm listening to ESPN radio all day from morning until night.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Now, I moved to Newton from Clifton.

[Don Hahn]

So I got a longer drive because of those sinkholes. So I get to listen to you guys even longer at nighttime, which is great.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But I just realized Alan Hahn isn't a brother. Ever since I used to listen to him with Bart Scott, I thought he was one of the. One of the brothers, you know, something about his life.

[Don Hahn]

That Alan how was a black man?

[Kendrick Perkins]

Yeah, it's about his vibe. He seems like he's got some soul.

[Peter Rosenberg]

That is not the first time I've heard that. In fact, that's not even the second time I've heard that.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Really? Well, it's hard for me to say anything because I've known you for so long, so. But how do we how do we get PD into the msg?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, okay. So based on his first take, I'm concerned, but go ahead.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Concerts, sporting events, totally legal, nothing illegal going on. So there's always scalpers.

[Don Hahn]

You know that.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So what happens is the scalpers, as the time gets closer to the game or the event, last minute, they don't.

[Don Hahn]

Want to take 100% loss, so they.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Sell the tickets back to the venue.

[Don Hahn]

And take like a 20% loss as.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Opposed to taking 100% loss.

[Kendrick Perkins]

And.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And then at the box office, you.

[Don Hahn]

Can go and get those tickets right before the event. Most times they're easy.

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, you don't like this.

[Kendrick Perkins]

He's not breaking new ground.

[Don Hahn]

What did I say on the air?

[Kendrick Perkins]

And Peter said that almost verbatim, except.

[Don Hahn]

I didn't do the back to the box office thing. You don't need to do that. You could just buy them directly from the scalpers at a much lower price.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Now here's here. Here's a.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You got to make sure it's legit, though, because some people are getting scammed.

[Kendrick Perkins]

I've been told if you're willing to miss some of the game.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Oh, yeah, that's true.

[Kendrick Perkins]

You might really get it.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, I think that if you. If you go after tip. Oh, yeah, you're in business.

[Peter Rosenberg]

This guy, always about tip.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Always about tip.

[Don Hahn]

Anthony, what were your thoughts on Alan Hahn, the black man? How do you at that effort?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Crossed your mind. You know that you've heard this before, right?

[Don Hahn]

I met Alan, so.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But Jake.

[Don Hahn]

Sorry, Jake, you've heard this before.

[Kendrick Perkins]

This is not the first time or.

[Peter Rosenberg]

The second time or the second time.

[Don Hahn]

But when you hear it, I'm just curious what your thoughts are. I immediately laughed just because I know Allen.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But if I didn't know Allen, I would probably assume he's a black man.

[Don Hahn]

Really?

[Kendrick Perkins]

I see.

[Don Hahn]

I gotta tell you, listen, in terms of like, some of his reference points, you know, interest. No, no, it doesn't.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It really bothers you.

[Don Hahn]

Your voice quality, though. It's just such an odd voice quality.

[Kendrick Perkins]

I don't hear it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yes.

[Don Hahn]

Listen, obviously judging people's race by voice is a stupid thing to do and it can be wrong, but if I were to play three seconds of Jacob's voice and three seconds of Alan's voice, you know who the black guy was? You know, the white guy was. Listen, I'm shocked to hear that people.

[Peter Rosenberg]

But I am telling you that this is not.

[Don Hahn]

I believe you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

It might even be like we might be on, like, the second hand by now, because Anthony, the Night. The night shows that I did. Anthony knows.

[Don Hahn]

We.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We. There was the same time. Sometimes we get a caller and they believe it.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Name in the.

[Don Hahn]

Han can be anything.

[Kendrick Perkins]

That is true.

[Don Hahn]

Although. Although I know black is probably the last place I would go, but I'd go. I'd go white, Jewish.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Well, that's the thing, is I can't be like, I don't. Is Alan Jewish or not? I could see that.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Is he Asian?

[Don Hahn]

I think that would be a reasonable question. Alan. Han. Okay, okay. Han Dynasty. We're having a conversation.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah, we love dynasties.

[Kendrick Perkins]

But like that Seinfeld episode where. What was her name again? That Costanza's mom was talking. He thought she was Asian because her name was. What was her name? She had, like, a Chang.

[Don Hahn]

Yeah, yeah.

[Kendrick Perkins]

And then she. So disappointed. Walking, like, can you imagine, like, talking to Alan and just being disappointed, like, wow, I really thought that you were.

[Peter Rosenberg]

A. I'm used to disappointing people when I watch.

[Don Hahn]

Good point.

[Kendrick Perkins]

But he covers basketball. He must be an African.

[Don Hahn]

But I have another. I have another pet peeve about that call. That wasn't that part. Interesting is I get a real. I get really skeevy about white when white people refer to thinking of someone as black. I thought it was a brother. I dry. There's Tom. There's like.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Wait, wait, you thought he was. You thought he was white?

[Don Hahn]

No. I don't know. Yes, I thought.

[Kendrick Perkins]

I thought he was white.

[Don Hahn]

Yes. And the way he said I thought he was a brother. He. He was. Don you feel what I'm saying?

[Kendrick Perkins]

I thought he was white. I assumed he was white. Jacob, what do you think was wrong? Yeah, I assumed he was white.

[Don Hahn]

This is super meta. Now we're going double in. But, like, if you. Assuming he was white. I don't like the whole, like, oh, I thought you were a brother. There's something. I don't like it.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I got that once at the Garden.

[Don Hahn]

Someone said, alan, are you black?

[Peter Rosenberg]

No, no. Somebody. Somebody else said it, and the guy turned around and he was like, you're Alan.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Han.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I thought she was black. I was like, sorry to disappoint again. It happened.

[Kendrick Perkins]

I've known you for so long, I can't even imagine.

[Peter Rosenberg]

I get it.

[Kendrick Perkins]

That.

[Don Hahn]

God.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Odd. Javier and Queens. You've been on hold a while. We apologize. How are you, buddy?

[Don Hahn]

What's going on, guys?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Thanks for taking my call.

[Don Hahn]

Listen, if.

[Ryan Reynolds]

If you only knew that Alan Hahn.

[Don Hahn]

Danced in the rain at Accounting Crows concert, you would know he was on a black man. By the way, end the show. That's it. There's no Javier. There is nothing else to say that'll do it. Except Alan frolicking in the rain, high as a kite at the Counting Crows concert.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right. Cannot confirm.

[Don Hahn]

That's all you need to know.

[Kendrick Perkins]

That's a great point.

[Don Hahn]

That's it. Let's go Knicks, baby.

[Kendrick Perkins]

He knew it couldn't get any better, so he just gave you a let's go Knicks and just got out of Dodge. I love that. That was great. All right. You know, tomorrow's a big day. I mean, honestly, there are people walking the earth that have never seen the Knicks in the conference final. And it's game one and it's at Madison Square Garden. We're going to be all over it beginning at 3:00. And again, you should download the ESPN app and this will not be an issue for you. Just listen on the app.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Right?

[Kendrick Perkins]

But if you consume us on 880, we're going to take you up until 6 o' clock because the Mets are going to continue their series tomorrow in Boston versus the Red Sox. But then from six to seven, we're going to be on 10:50 leading into Pat O' Keefe's coverage of the Knicks and the Pacers game one of the Eastern Conference finals. You know, we've been very fortunate here. We got the Yankees in the World Series last year. Mets made it to the final four in the league championship series last year. The Rangers made it to the conference final.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Yeah.

[Kendrick Perkins]

So I know we complain that we haven't seen a champion in a while here in New York.

[Peter Rosenberg]

We got to get one now.

[Kendrick Perkins]

But we've been, you know, it's, it's been pretty good. Yeah, it's been pretty good. You know, at least in, in three of the four sports.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Football, forget about football.

[Kendrick Perkins]

We are a ways away from a championship game from either the jets or Giants.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Ways away.

[Don Hahn]

I mean, it feels that way. Giants may have a bounce back year. Defense, I could see being much improved. I think we're still a ways away.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Remember, we were suckers. Well, we, I probably should say me two years ago when we. Every year we seem to do the like, which New York team's closest to a championship? And we were like, I think the jets can win a Super Bowl. They have Aaron Rodgers now they have a great day.

[Kendrick Perkins]

I argued on, was it Beach Bash? Was it, was it last year or two years ago? Went out, I was like, how can the jets not be number one?

[Peter Rosenberg]

Just awful.

[Kendrick Perkins]

All right, Jet boy, this all right. So three o' clock, by the way.

[Peter Rosenberg]

Everybody go on the podcast and listen to Don's. We got what was it? Talk about it Tuesday.

[Don Hahn]

Oh, yeah, Great one.

[Kendrick Perkins]

Oh, thank you.

[Peter Rosenberg]

You need to just if there's any reason to get the podcast today, it's just to hear Don talk about Olympic flag football. Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast. I don't want to know how the sausage is made, man. 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.