NBA Finals Preview: Will the Pacers Force Game 7?

Summary

Podcast Summary: PTI – "NBA Finals Preview: Will the Pacers Force Game 7?"

Release Date: June 19, 2025
Hosts: Mike Wilbon and Frank Isola
Description: Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon face off in the nation's capital on the day's hottest topics.

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1. NBA Finals Preview: Pacers vs. Thunder – The Possibility of a Game 7

Timestamp: [01:21]

The hosts dive into the intense matchup of the NBA Finals, focusing on whether the Indiana Pacers can push the Oklahoma City Thunder to a decisive Game 7. Mike Wilbon highlights the stakes, noting, "With the Thunder one win from the title, Shams reports that unless there's a pregame setback, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton plans to play on that strained right calf" ([01:21]).

Frank Isola's Analysis:

Frank expresses cautious optimism about the Pacers' chances, stating, "I hope we get a game 7. Their chances improve, obviously with Halliburton playing" ([01:49]). He emphasizes Haliburton's resilience, comparing his determination to legendary players like Michael Jordan and Willis Reed who played through adversity ([01:49]). However, Frank remains skeptical about Haliburton's effectiveness, citing key moments from previous games and the Thunder's strategic advantages ([02:41]).

Mike Wilbon's Perspective:

Contrary to Frank, Mike is doubtful about the series extending to a seventh game. He asserts, "I don't think we're going to see it" ([02:41]). While he admires Haliburton's effort, Mike questions his ability to perform at the necessary level to change the series outcome, pointing to the Thunder's strong supporting cast and strategic gameplay ([03:42]).

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2. Lakers Ownership Transition: Mark Walter's Impact

Timestamp: [04:31]

The conversation shifts to the significant change in Lakers ownership, with the Buss family selling the team to Mark Walter in a deal valuing the franchise at $10 billion.

Mike Wilbon's Insights:

Mike discusses the potential parallels between Walter's management of the Los Angeles Dodgers and his approach to the Lakers. He remarks, "Mark Walter is going to put those [resources] into play" ([05:31]). Mike believes Walter's track record suggests a promising future for the Lakers, leveraging the brand's global appeal and financial muscle to build a championship-caliber team ([05:31]).

Frank Isola's Take:

Frank acknowledges the transition's complexity, noting, "It's going to take time... they're trying to improve, but they don't have as many assets" ([07:01]). He highlights the Lakers' current constraints, such as limited trade assets, and stresses the importance of acquiring draft picks and managing the salary cap effectively ([07:01]). Frank remains optimistic about the long-term benefits of Walter's leadership and the Lakers' iconic brand ([08:23]).

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3. NBA Draft Spotlight: Ace Bailey's Controversial Decisions

Timestamp: [09:12]

Ace Bailey, a prominent college star, has stirred debate by canceling his visit with the Philadelphia 76ers, who hold the third overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Frank Isola's Perspective:

Frank questions Bailey's strategy, saying, "He was a good college player, not a great college player... so why would you want to meet with [the Sixers]?" ([09:39]). He draws parallels to Josh Jackson's similar actions, suggesting that such moves can negatively impact a player's draft stock ([10:26]).

Mike Wilbon's Critique:

Mike doesn't hold back his disapproval, labeling Bailey's approach as "stupid" and attributing his misguided actions to "egomania" ([11:03]). He emphasizes the importance of humility and team contribution over personal stardom, urging Bailey to reconsider his strategy for long-term success ([11:04]).

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4. LeBron James on "Ring Culture": A Double-Edged Sword

Timestamp: [15:23]

The hosts delve into LeBron James' recent comments regarding the emphasis on championship rings as a measure of a player's greatness.

Mike Wilbon's Analysis:

Mike reflects on LeBron's nuanced stance, pointing out a contradiction: "LeBron can say now, you shouldn't do it. But how does that square with what he said when he said... that one right there makes it worthless" ([15:28]). He underscores the complexity of evaluating greatness solely based on championships, citing numerous great athletes without multiple rings ([17:15]).

Frank Isola's Reflection:

Frank concurs, adding, "He knows he's not going to get six" ([16:40]). He argues that greatness cannot be confined to ring counts, mentioning legendary players like Reggie Miller and Barry Bonds who achieved greatness without multiple championships ([17:15]).

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5. International Soccer: USA vs. Saudi Arabia Gold Cup Match

Timestamp: [17:40]

The discussion shifts to the USA's Gold Cup match against Saudi Arabia, exploring the competitiveness and implications of the game.

Frank Isola's Insights:

Frank labels the match as "competitive," acknowledging Saudi Arabia's strength by referencing their upset over Argentina in the 2022 World Cup group stage ([18:11]). He emphasizes the need for the USA to perform optimally, especially under the management of Harvey Renard, whom he humorously describes as fitting a Hollywood casting profile ([18:11]).

Mike Wilbon's Commentary:

Mike predicts a tense encounter, highlighting the high stakes and recent performances of both teams ([17:46], [17:48]).

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6. Dirk Nowitzki's 47th Birthday and Lakers Relations

Timestamp: [21:18]

Marking Dirk Nowitzki's milestone birthday, the hosts touch upon the evolving relationship between the NBA legend and the Dallas Mavericks.

Mike Wilbon's Observation:

Mike notes the Mavericks' social media birthday wishes for Dirk, suggesting it may indicate a thaw in previous tensions, especially following the controversial trade of Luka Doncic to the Lakers ([21:18]). He reminisces about Dirk's illustrious career, highlighting his loyalty and achievements with the Mavericks ([21:18]).

Frank Isola's Appreciation:

Frank praises Dirk as "a brilliant player, great guy," and admires his longstanding legacy with the Mavericks, including the symbolic statue honoring him ([21:53]).

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7. 1984 NBA Draft Class Anniversary: Celebrating Legends

Timestamp: [22:07]

The hosts celebrate the 41st anniversary of the iconic 1984 NBA Draft, which produced several Hall of Famers.

Mike Wilbon's Narration:

Mike recounts the milestones of the 1984 draft, mentioning key players like Akeem (now Hakeem) Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and John Stockton, all of whom were inducted into the Hall of Fame on their first ballot ([22:07]). He also highlights Oscar Schmidt, an exceptional Brazilian player selected by the Nets, who chose to play in Italy instead ([22:57]).

Frank Isola's Anecdote:

Frank shares a personal connection, recalling his encounter with Oscar Schmidt and recommending Mike to explore his legacy further ([23:12]).

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8. Additional Sports Highlights

Timestamp: [23:48] to [25:09]

The episode concludes with a rapid-fire segment covering various sports updates:

• MLB Drama: A heartbreaking finish in the Arkansas vs. LSU baseball game, where a misplayed grounder led to a tie game, and LSU advanced after a walk-off single by Jarrett Jones ([23:20], [23:48]).

• NFL Update: Five-time Pro Bowl linebacker C.J. Mosley announces his retirement from the NFL on his 33rd birthday, prompting reflections on his career and contributions ([24:03], [24:24]).

• Soccer and Hockey: Real Madrid's star Kylian Mbappe is hospitalized with acute gastroenteritis, and the Carolina Panthers reportedly damaged the Stanley Cup during celebrations, though Frank downplays its significance ([24:34], [24:48]).

• MLB Standings: The Nationals snap their 11-game losing streak, and the Yankees end their six-game skid, moving both teams back into contention ([25:02], [25:03]).

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Conclusion

Mike Wilbon and Frank Isola provide an engaging and comprehensive analysis of the NBA Finals, team ownership dynamics, draft strategies, and broader sports narratives. Their insightful discussions, punctuated with memorable quotes and thoughtful critiques, offer listeners a thorough understanding of the current sports landscape.

Notable Quotes:

• Frank Isola: "This is what guys do at this time of year. Michael Jordan played with the flu. Willis Reed limped out on the court. So he's trying to play." ([01:49])

• Mike Wilbon: "I don't think we're going to see it [Game 7]." ([02:41])

• Mike Wilbon: "Halliburton has my admiration for playing. You remember when Isaiah Thomas scored 25 points in the third quarter, ankles so huge you couldn't even get a shoe on." ([03:42])

• Frank Isola: "It's stupid, okay? Him and his advisors... It's stupid and counterproductive." ([11:03])

• Mike Wilbon: "LeBron can say now, you shouldn't do it. But how does that square with what he said when he said... that one right there, meaning the championship win with Cleveland over Golden State made me the greatest of all time, that makes it worthless." ([15:28])

---

This summary captures the essence of the "PTI" episode, providing a clear and detailed overview of the discussions, insights, and conclusions presented by Mike Wilbon and Frank Isola.

Transcript

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[Mike Wilbon]

Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon in Arizona and I am sad I won't be with all my hard working colleagues at tonight's game six of the finals in Indiana.

[Frank Isola]

I'm Frank Isola. One of those colleagues is here in studio because you need a co host.

[Mike Wilbon]

Oh, oh, but that's on that other guy. I can't be everywhere. He can't be any man in the studio.

[Frank Isola]

I gotta bail you out again.

[Mike Wilbon]

No, you're bailing him out. Not. And we'll get to that, I promise. But I know we both like to be in Indianapolis. Welcome to pti. Tony could only handle three shows this week, so here out of the bullpen is our great friend from the starting lineup on SiriusXM, Mr. Frank Isola.

[Frank Isola]

Wow. Live studio audience today. Live.

[Mike Wilbon]

That's a final sort of welcome there. I'm kind of jealous. Let's start speaking of with tonight's game six, the NBA Finals. With the Thunder, one win from the title, Shams reports that unless there's a pregame setback, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton plans to play on that strained right calf. Frank, what are the chances you're giving Indy to push this series back to okc for game 7?

[Frank Isola]

I hope we get a game 7 I their chances improve, obviously with Halliburton playing. How effective he's going to be, Mike, who knows? He needs to play better than he did the other night. I give him credit for being out there. I can't believe he got criticized for being out there and playing. This is what guys do at this time of year. Michael Jordan played with the flu. Willis Reed limped out on the court. So he's trying to play. But the way that Oklahoma City played the other night, what they did in the fourth quarter of game four, and I think that's where the series shifted. Remember, Indiana was up 10, 14 minutes to go in that game. Shigelis Alexander takes over the defensively, they took over. They win game four, they take care of business in game five. Indiana's had a great run, Mike, but they had never trailed yet in a series they hadn't lost two in a row until this point. I think right now Oklahoma City's proven they're the better team. I think they get it done tonight.

[Mike Wilbon]

Yeah. Frank, I would love to disagree with you and I'm not because like you, we are creatures of drama and we love drama in sports. How do you get a drama in the NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball? You get a game seven. And so I'd like that particularly in your championship round. I, I'd love to see that, but I don't think we're going to see it. I, I don't, I, you know, I don't. A 1 to 10. I don't know, maybe I give Indiana even though they're playing at home and I thought they should have been up 3:1 in this series. They had a chance to be. And maybe this turned out differently. But I might give them a, a, a, a two. But that's it. I think the two things are at work. One, Halliburton, who I flat out admire for going out there and playing and anybody who's critical of that effort to me is ridiculous. And I don't want to see them in front of me because I might take a swing at them. I don't want to see that. I don't want to hear it. So Halliburton has my admiration for playing. You remember, you remember when Isaiah Thomas scored 25 points in the third quarter, ankles so huge you couldn't even get a shoe on.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah.

[Mike Wilbon]

So people should shut up. Athletes ought to be admired when they do these kinds of things. But it doesn't mean I think Halliburton can play with that level of effectiveness. That's going to really push his team to a point where they can overcome this two headed monster now of Shai, Gilgeous, Alexander and J Dub. It's too much. Plus, with all the support, the ensemble cast that Oklahoma City has put together and they now know, they know. They've studied enough of recent history to know we need to take these dudes out. We don't need to let them have any life. And you do that by winning on the road. We've seen that's how teams become great championship teams. And I want to see a game seven, but I don't think I'm going to see one.

[Frank Isola]

And also the criticism of Halliburton for playing number one. You had people saying he was trying to be the hero. He took one shot in the second half.

[Mike Wilbon]

That's stupid.

[Frank Isola]

It's just their fool. They cut the deficit to two and Andrew Nemhardt, who's been great, especially defensively, he had three mindless turnovers in that fourth quarter. He missed two turnovers. And what we've seen, and you just touched on it, the breakout star of the Finals shaker, this Alexander, is the mvp. We expected him to play well. But Jalen Williams getting 40 points, you just see the confidence that he has. He's so darn good. I expect them to close it out tonight. All right, let's dig back into the Buss family selling the Lakers to Mark Walter in a deal that values the team at 10 billion. That's billion with a B. Luka Doncic, who can be a free agent next summer, supported the move this morning, posting that he looks forward to winning championships. That's plural. Together. Under Walters ownership. The Los Angeles Dodgers, Mike, they've made the playoffs every year, won the NL west in 11 of 12 seasons, appeared in four World Series, and they've won two of them. So Mike, is it fair to expect Walter to improve the Lakers the way that he did the Dodgers?

[Mike Wilbon]

Yeah. I don't care what Luka Doncic tweets. There's been way too much attention paid to that. What else he's supposed to say? I'm looking forward to third place finishes. People need to just get a grip. Not everything is a big deal. Luka Doncic tweets are no deal. Now to go back to this ownership change. This is what Mark Walter does and I'm not getting into the specifics of my bias in his favor. I know and respect him greatly. And this is what he does. Not just in his sports projects, but other projects I'm aware of that I'm not going to get into. This is what happens on his watch under his leadership and with his group coming in. First of all, we're talking about a level of money. All the families and people who own sports franchises are rich in the normal terms that most people live their lives. And then some are richer and richest and richer yet. And the resources that Mark has, he's going to put those into play. Yeah, he's going to. The Lakers are no, they're nobody's bare bones operation. They're not. But it has been a family, a wildly successfully successful family owned operation. That's not what Mark Walter does. Look at the Dodgers and what he's done there. That's going to happen with the Lakers. It's probably already happening. And everybody who's, who's intimately involved that has knowledge of what goes on with Mark Walters Enterprises and with the Dodgers since He took over, knows what's going to happen with the Lakers.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah, and it's going to take time. So if you, even if you look at this offseason, you know it's not going to be instant because you know, they can't even trade a first round pick. The next one they could trade is either in 20, 31 or 32. So they're trying to improve, but they don't have as many assets. And if LeBron opts into his contract, we all expect that to happen. They could spend 5.7 million on a mid level exception. So it's the assets. They still have to, you know, acquire draft picks. They have to get under the cap eventually to try to get players. The one thing that he has, he's got the Laker brand. It's in L. A. That jersey means something to a lot of people. There's a reason why every decade the Lakers get great players, whether it's Kareem, whether it's Kobe, Shaq, and then of course now most recently LeBron and Luka Doncic. What they'll do is the infrastructure around it. When Tyler comes in and they want to hire Tyler and he's looking for big money, Bark Walter is going to pay that money. He's not going to say, you know what, I'm not going to do it. So I think in the long run it'll help. But I think the one thing that people need to remember it still is the Lakers. And I get it. They've only won one title since 2013. A lot of teams would sign up to win one title since 2013. So the way it's been run has been great. My question to you would be, there's a couple of basketball guys that are with the Dodgers. Stan Castin and a guy that you know pretty well, Magic Johnson.

[Mike Wilbon]

Yeah.

[Frank Isola]

So you tell me what's going to. Are they going to come down the street and be part of the Lakers?

[Mike Wilbon]

He is going to have all the resources at his disposal from infrastructure to just the appeal of this global brand. That was, it seemed like it was. The evaluation was $6 million a couple of days ago and now it's 10 billion. 10 billion. Yes. To all your questions with what's going to happen with the Lakers? Yes. And part of it, Frank, don't forget, is just judgment. Right. The best in scouting, the best in awareness, all the things you can have at your disposal to be better with who you've got. Not to necessarily go out and get another player, but how about the players who are available to you now just, you know, other teams better be on.

[Unknown]

Whew.

[Mike Wilbon]

Better beware. And now to the curious decisions being made by Ace Bailey ahead of next week's NBA draft. Bailey reportedly canceled his visit with the Sixers, who hold the third overall pick. In fact, the Rutgers star has yet to visit with any clubs, despite predictions that he could go anywhere from third to eighth. So, Frank, how you making sense of what Bailey is doing six days from the draft?

[Frank Isola]

To me, it doesn't make a lot of sense. He was a good college player, not a great college player. He and Dylan Harper were on a team that went 15 and 17. So they forget about getting to the tournament, going to a final Four. They didn't even have a winning record. So now you're hearing that his camp, and I hear a lot of this is coming, you know, mostly from the agent. They say they see him as a top three player. Well, the Sixers have the third pick, so why would you want to meet with them? And then you're hearing he sees a clear path to stardom, and if he goes to a team like the Wizards, he sees an easier path. Mike, you've covered the NBA a long time. What is easy about being a star in the NBA? You're being somewhat delusional. If you went to a place like Philadelphia, first of all, well coached with Nick Nurse, you have good players, you might be playing in important games right from the start, right away. So I.

[Mike Wilbon]

Right away.

[Frank Isola]

I think his approach to this is. Is it. It's not the right way to do it. I'll give you a little history lesson, too. Remember the kid Jackson from Kansas? Josh Jackson. The Celtics wanted it. They wanted to meet with him. They were flying to the west coast for a workout. He canceled it. So they said, all right, well, we're not going to draft him. We'll draft Jason Tatum instead. We know where Tatum is. Where's Jackson Tatum?

[Mike Wilbon]

Speaking of good judgment.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah.

[Mike Wilbon]

Look, I'm in a crotchety mood today, so I'm going to call this what it is. It's stupid, okay? Him and his advisors and I saw what was being leaked about stardom.

[Frank Isola]

Give me a point.

[Mike Wilbon]

What that is is just egomania. I hope it's the people above him who are stupidly advising him, or so it appears to me, and not him. And I hope he can separate himself from such stupid advice that he's gonna come in and he's more worried about his own stardom than becoming a good and then a great player and. And contributing to a team. Philadelphia is a team that with health could turn things around. You could be part of something. Instead this Frank, you know, you're close to somebody that you host a podcast with sometimes that, that. That we are aware of AAU culture.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah.

[Mike Wilbon]

And the notion that you can be a star. I want to be a star. And in the pros, I. I don't want that kid anywhere near me until he can change his attitude or until he can look with some maturity at the dopes advising him, saying, I don't need to be a part of that. So this whole approach, maybe it was misguided. Maybe it's overstated. Maybe I'll leave them a little room to turn and talk and run. As stated as is, it's stupid and counterproductive. And if that person tried to advise me on anything, I would say get the hell out now.

[Frank Isola]

All right. Couple of things. Number one, it's a radio show, not a podcast. Anybody can have a podcast. Here's what worries me about, you know, not making the tour. You could say it's not a big deal, but he did have Dylan Harper on his team as well. Like, I remember Markell Foltz. Who's Markel Foltz? He went 9 and 22 at Washington his one year. Even Ben Simmons, who was the number one overall pick. LSU that year when 19 and 14. The Shruggers team. And I get it. Ace Bailey. He's young. But you're going to come into the league and you want an easy path to stardom. It's the NBA. I'm going up against men.

[Mike Wilbon]

I'm not even talking about not making it. Anybody can not make it. That's forgiven. The foolishness of talking about stardom before you even draft it. That's what I'm talking about. The obnoxiousness. Somebody needs to turn it down in that camp right now.

[Frank Isola]

You're right.

[Mike Wilbon]

Time for a break.

[Frank Isola]

Mike's fire.

[Mike Wilbon]

Coming up, we'll take a closer look at Frank's radio show. Not his podcast.

[Frank Isola]

No.

[Mike Wilbon]

At LeBron's comments about ring culture being overstated.

[Frank Isola]

And what's the word for tonight's match between the US Men and Saudi Arabia? Mike, how is that AAU culture? Sum it up in a few words, if you you could.

[Mike Wilbon]

I've seen parents arrested.

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[Mike Wilbon]

Frank and I have written millions of words in our lives, so we got plenty to choose from. And what's the word? What's first?

[Frank Isola]

LeBron's concerns about ring culture are blank.

[Mike Wilbon]

Now this is day two of us talking about LeBron and Steve Nash and I believe their podcast, not their radio show podcast. Yes, and talking about, yeah, ring culture. Frank and LeBron saying you can't just assign who's greatest by the number of championship rings. And of course, we know that LeBron's got four of them. So does Steph Curry, but Michael Jordan's got six and Bill Russell's got 11. Or whatever it is. Kobe and Shaq, you know, five and four respectively. But the reason why. And LeBron is so thoughtful in these conversations. I'm lucky to have had many of them. He's always thoughtful. He's the most thoughtful guy out there. But when you have conversations with people over 20 years, you gotta remember what you say. And because LeBron himself said that one right there, meaning the championship win with Cleveland over Golden State made me the greatest of all time, that makes it worthless. My word is worthless. You can't come back later. You got to remember what you say. You and I have to remember what we say. So LeBron can say now, you shouldn't do it. And I agree with him. But how does that square with what he said when he said, it may be the greatest of all time because I won that one there, worthless. That's what it is. As great as he is to talk to. All right.

[Frank Isola]

Mine is going to be revealing because I think he knows where he is. He's going to be 41 in December. He knows he's not going to get to six. So all the guys that you mentioned, that means something to him. Kobe, Kareem. But this is about one guy. It's about Michael Jordan, who's got six of them. He probably knows he's not going to get that. So he's saying, if you're going to view greatest, don't just look at the rings. By the way, if it was a radio show, they could have gone back on him and said, hey, you said that after you won in Cleveland. That's the difference, Mike. But who are the people going around saying, like, if you haven't won a championship, you're not an all time great? I think Dan Marino is your boy. Ernie Banks is. Barry Bonds is Ted Williams. Plenty of guys haven't won.

[Mike Wilbon]

Barkley, Malone, Stockton, Patrick, Ewan. Yes.

[Frank Isola]

Reggie Miller. They were great players. They didn't win. Reggie Miller, absolutely.

[Mike Wilbon]

We agree. And again, LeBron, I don't know how he got caught in that. Somebody need to be able to say to him, hold on, how do you square that with. Because again, he's just, he's great to talk to. But see you people with these podcasts. Oh, wait, yours is a radio show.

[Frank Isola]

That's right.

[Mike Wilbon]

What's next?

[Frank Isola]

The USA's Gold cup match tonight against Saudi Arabia should be blank.

[Mike Wilbon]

It should be tense. Frank.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah.

[Mike Wilbon]

And I'm going to let you carry the balance in this because you were paying so much attention to this particular competition and they just had a five nil win.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah.

[Mike Wilbon]

But if you come back and you lose to Saudi Arabia, who's a guest in this thing and what does Pochettino, how does he square that? And people are going to say, aha, that, that you, you need confirmation of the win by winning tonight, don't you?

[Frank Isola]

Yeah, I think you're 100% right. That's why I'm going to say competitive, because the game against Trinidad and Tobago was not competitive. But I think what that win did, it tampered down some of the. The rhetoric surrounding the team. They played really well. Alex Freeman, the son of former Green Bay Packer Antonio Freeman, was really good. Diego Luna was good. Malik Tillman. But Saudi Arabia, remember in 2022, they beat Argentina in the World Cup. Yeah, that was in the group stage. Now, Argentina went on to win the World Cup. So this is a good team. They beat them and later that year the US ended up playing them and it was a 11 draw. They played in Spain. Actually, that was before the World Cup. So Saudi Arabia is a talented team. It's going to be hot there in Austin. One thing to look out for the manager of Saudi Arabia, Harvey Renard. That's the guy who looks like he should be, you know, in Hollywood or something. And he'll wait till you see him. You'll he's right out of central casting for a soccer manager. You'll appreciate it.

[Mike Wilbon]

Frank. You, you're selling that. I mean, we got it. We got NBA. I got the Cubs in first place. I got a lot of stuff to watch.

[Frank Isola]

I don't know how much bandwidth at.

[Mike Wilbon]

Halftime you I've got available.

[Frank Isola]

Halftime, you could change.

[Mike Wilbon]

That's the final word. Let's take one last break. But still to come, Ime Udoka and the Houston Rockets appear to be happy with one another.

[Frank Isola]

And the Yankees try to end their miserable six game losing streak. Miserable because at least they scored.

[Mike Wilbon]

At least they scored last night.

[Unknown]

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[Mike Wilbon]

Time to get happy people. Happy 47th birthday, Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavericks wished Dirk a happy one on their social media accounts today, which may be a sign of easing tensions. ESPN's Tim McMahon reported two months ago that Dirk was totally turned off by the franchise, especially after trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers. In fact, Nowitzki conspicuously attended Doncic's Lakers debut in LA. Dirk played his entire 21 year career with the Mavericks, winning one title and making the All Star team 14 times.

[Frank Isola]

Brilliant player, great guy. The statue of him outside their building is beautiful as well. When they got him on that draft day trade, it was a multi team trade. They also got Steve Nash. How about getting Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash at the same time?

[Mike Wilbon]

Pretty good. They probably should have played their whole careers together instead of Nashville leave to come here to Phoenix for a long time. Happy Anniversary 1984 NBA Draft Class on this day 41 years ago, Akeem went 1 to the Rockets, Michael Jordan 3 to the Bulls, Charles Barkley 5 to the Sixers and John Stockton 16 to the Jazz. All four made the hall of Fame on the very first ballot. Often forgotten is that the Rockets only had the number one pick because because they won a coin flip with the Blazers who ended up taking Sam bowie at number two. One other player selected in the 84 draft made the Hall Oscar Schmidt of Brazil. The great Oscar whom the Nets took in the sixth round of a then 10 round draft. Oscar opted to play in Italy instead.

[Frank Isola]

Frank, you know I was researching this today because I got a chance to meet Oscar Schmidt. Do you know that in 966 you covered his last ever international game? It was at the Olympics. He wrote a really good story about him. You should go look it up. Oscar Schmidt was an unbelievable player. Should have played.

[Mike Wilbon]

I was at a historic game he played in 87 when he led the Brazil national team over the United States.

[Frank Isola]

Marcel Souza. Remember him?

[Mike Wilbon]

That's right, Marcel Souza.

[Frank Isola]

We're piano players.

[Mike Wilbon]

Arkansas. The Razorbacks went up 53 on LSU in the bottom of the 9th last night with a trip to the men's College World Series finals on the line, but was one out in the bottom of the frame. Arkansas misplayed the ground to the first one on a check swing ruling put another tiger on. A grounder to the left side. Might have turned to it into the game, but the Arkansas shortstop forced the lead runner at third instead. Luis Hernandez then hit a liner to left that could have ended it.

[Frank Isola]

Yeah.

[Mike Wilbon]

Left fielder Charles Dallavan slipped. The ball caramed off his shoulder. Tie game. Jarrett Jones had walked it off with a single off the second baseman's glove. Heartbreak. LSU 65, advances to take on Coastal Carolina in the final.

[Frank Isola]

You said at heartbreak. The hardest outs to get are those last three. Those were tough plays in the field. But make plays, you got to make those plays during the World Series.

[Mike Wilbon]

Tough to watch. And I watched some of that. Let's go to the big finish real quickly. Five time Pro bowl linebacker C.J. mosley retires from the NFL. Wow. How are you going to remember his career?

[Frank Isola]

And he announced it on his 33rd birthday. Remember, won a national championship. Two national championships at Alabama. The Rockets and Ime Udoka have agreed to a long term extension. That makes sense.

[Mike Wilbon]

Yeah. Given what Udoka has done with the Celtics and now the Rockets. Yeah, especially that two seed last year. Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe has been hospitalized with acute gastro.

[Frank Isola]

I'll tell you what, they struggled without him and this tournament needs him. So Real Madrid really could use Mbappe. He'll play at some point. The Panthers reportedly damaged the Stanley cup in their celebration. Big deal.

[Mike Wilbon]

No, that's what they do. Every team does it.

[Frank Isola]

Last one.

[Mike Wilbon]

The Nats snap their 11 game losing streak. Yanks their 6 game losing streak this afternoon. Bigger deal. Real quick.

[Frank Isola]

It's the Nats. By the way, the Mets have lost five straight entering tonight's game. Game against the Braves. We're out of time. Thanks for watching. I'm Frank Isola.

[Mike Wilbon]

I'm Mike Wilbond. Same time tomorrow, knuckleheads.

[Damian Lillard]

In case you didn't know, these young men are driven. They are prodigies, the savants, the ones we've been waiting for. Like Damian Lillard, for instance. He doesn't seek guidance or mentorship. He's a leader. He isn't waiting for the baton to be passed to him. He's taking it for himself. He's relentless in a pursuit of greatness. Always pushing to one up himself. He is accomplished, but far from satisfied. And he embodies what it means to have an unstoppable drive and are shaking up the status quo in their community and beyond. And Damian Lillard drives a Toyota. A new generation of Toyota drivers are here and they want you to know one thing. You can't stop my drive.