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- [00:00]
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- [00:17]
Mike Wilbon
Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbond. It's I Love My Dentist Day. Tony, how you celebrate?
- [00:24]
Tony Kornheiser
I'm Tony Kornheiser. Dentists are overrated. I learned to pull teeth from YouTube. You want a tooth pulled? 100 bucks.
- [00:31]
Unknown
Wilbond.
- [00:31]
Tony Kornheiser
Hundred buc. I'll do it.
- [00:32]
Mike Wilbon
Well, you know, I can't say dentists are overrated. I love my dentist. Dr. Benjamin Watkins, best proctodontist, DMV. I love my dentist.
- [00:42]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, he's your brother in law. Yeah. Well, you should. He's your brother in law. That's right. Welcome to pti, boys and girls. In today's episode, the Knicks consider running it back. The Dodgers take two or three from the Yankees and Scottie Scheffler wins again. But we begin today with the Indiana Pacers reaching the NBA Finals by overwhelming the New York Knicks in game six. On Saturday night, the Pacers are in the finals for the first time in 25 years. They will play Oklahoma City, which led the league in victories this year with 68. Wilbon, what do you make of Indiana's win and what lies ahead?
- [01:15]
Mike Wilbon
Tony, Indiana's win. Wow. The second time in two years they eliminated the Knicks. They just seemed like, and I think you and I agree on this, we talked about it on and off camera. They seemed like a better team by a little. By a little.
- [01:29]
Tony Kornheiser
By a little.
- [01:30]
Mike Wilbon
But all you need is a little in the playoffs, especially if your little is timed out well. And the Pacers was. But Tony, they seem to be a thoroughly modern team to me, led there by their coach, Rick Carlisle, in the way they play the, you know, you people could say, well, there's no structure. Yes. And even if there's not as much apparent structure there, there's intent. They understand what it is they can do with their personnel and they've got a star, however you want to define them. Star, superstar, less than that, whatever. And Mr. Tyrese Halliburton, they know how to play off him. They have the requisite players who occupy roles. I don't, I don't want to diminish them by saying, oh, they're role players. No, they're fully formed, developed professionals. And I, I, I'm not going to take away from the Knicks. I'm not going to sit here and denigrate or criticize Jalen Brunson or Kat? I'm not. I just think the Pacers like you were just enough better kudos to them.
- [02:31]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, I'm going to say that the Pacers deserve to be where they are. They beat the Knicks in Madison Square Garden 2 to 1 and they won at home 2 to 1. They have, I think, the biggest win in terms of a series in the playoffs by beating Cleveland 4 to 1. I mean, I did not see that coming at all. And here's a good number here. Since January 1st, the Pacers are 4618 regular season and playoff games. The only team that's better than that is Oklahoma City. Two things stand out to me. One is that Oklahoma City is deservedly a large favorite in this because they won the most games in the regular season, 68 games. They deserve to be a favorite. And both of these teams are basically unknown. So my feeling is if this series only goes four or five, it will probably have the lowest ratings of any NBA final in the last 20 years. The second thing that stands out to me is this is a triumph with both teams of general manager and coach. The way these teams are built, with the exception of Chad Holmgren, who was the number two overall pick a few years ago, there's no high lottery picks. Mike, I'm going to read you some of these numbers. Gilgeous Alexander was number 11. Jalen Williams was number 12. Lou Dort was undrafted. Tyrese Halliburton, number 12. Nemhardt, 31. Neesmith 14. Miles Turner, number 11. The Pacers GM traded for Halliburton, for Siakam, for Neesmith. These are smart GMs and these are smart coaches. And these teams are built and they're not bought. They're not bought.
- [04:10]
Mike Wilbon
I like that about it, Tony. I find it appealing.
- [04:14]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, we don't have enough time for me to go into my Paul George number, but tomorrow or off the air, I'll tell you about it. Let's talk one last time about the Knicks. Wilbon, you were in Madison Square Garden for a bunch of Knicks games in the playoffs, so let's pretend you're their general manager. Should the Knicks run it back with the same cast or should they make a big move?
- [04:33]
Mike Wilbon
Tony, I don't know about big move. And I know there's so much discussion about what failed the Knicks. Game one of the Pacers series failed the Knicks. Because if you redo that, the Knicks are very much probably in the finals and or at least game seven in Madison Square Garden. And if you told me before the season started that the Knicks would get rid of the defending champion Boston Celtics, people would not say they were underachievers at all. Tony. I think I would try to make moderate changes first and I know people are going to go crazy. They're already going crazy in New York. I was just there talking about getting Giannis. Giannis famously sort of had a vacation recently in which he was spotted in Manhattan just walking around and he loves it and good for him. I love it too. And that doesn't mean I'm going to live there or work for the New York Times. But if you trade for Giannis, if you're the Knicks, I think you have to give up so much to acquire him that you don't have anything left on the other side with him and Jalen Brunson, I just don't think you have that. So I know whose name is going to come up because it's already coming up and it's Karl Anthony Townes. And where might he go to fetch you another piece? Might he go to say, even Phoenix to play with his dear friend Devin Booker? Maybe there's a thousand places and a thousand suggestions you can make. I don't know that I would make the huge deal and try to go for Giannis because I don't think the Knicks will then be the contender that they were this minute.
- [06:04]
Tony Kornheiser
I'll get to Karl Anthony Towns in a second and his defensive liabilities and why you need somebody else in that position. But that's in a minute. The Knicks had a wonderful year. They finished third in the conference and they went to the conference finals. I mean, they hadn't done that in 25 years. They have a full fledged star in Jalen Brunson. Yes, they lost to elite teams on a regular basis, but they were competitive all year. If you asked me if I would take the same people back next year without any changes, I would because I'd like to see how Towns fits in on a second year, not just the first year, but Mike, this is New York. New York and Los Angeles are different. It's bright lights in big city. You cannot stand pat. You cannot sit still. In cities like that. You are always chasing someone who or something. It's in their DNA, which is why I think they will try and do this. Let me get to Towns now. He's a seven foot tall guy. He's a fine player. He had one block in the conference finals. One block in six games. That is the worst record, defensive record in the History of the conference finals. You need interior defense to help him. Jalen Brunson's great player. He's not a great defender. That's why they're going to talk about Antetokounmpo, because he makes all the sense in the world. But you are right in this regard. They don't have any draft picks. So I, you know, how do they make the deal? How do they make the deal? But yeah, they're going to try.
- [07:25]
Mike Wilbon
Be difficult.
- [07:26]
Tony Kornheiser
They're going to try. Yeah.
- [07:28]
Mike Wilbon
Yeah. We're going to get some newsy days coming up right around the NBA draft at the end of the finals in a couple of weeks, Three weeks. The weekend series between the Yankees and Dodgers, which Tony was slurping going in, delivered immediately. Aaron Judge homer in the top of the first of game one. And Shohei followed with one of his own in the bottom of the frame. Shohei homer to get in the six. Judge Homer twice. The next day, the only two runs. The Yankees scored an 182 beatdown overall. The Dodgers won twice. The Yankees beat Yamamoto Sunday. Tony, what stood out to you about this series?
- [08:04]
Tony Kornheiser
Two things stood out. One is the greatest pitchers that each team had got rocked. Okay. Max Freed comes into this game for the Yankees 70 with a 129 ERA, the best in baseball. He gives up eight hits to the Dodgers, six earned in five innings. His ERA goes up to 192. It's still great, but it's higher. Yamamoto pitches yesterday. Last night, Yamamoto goes out with a 197 ERA. He gives up seven hits to the Yankees, four earned in less than four innings. His ERA goes up to 239. Again, a great ERA, but higher. The second thing that stood out to me is people got their money's worth. Shohei and Judge homer. Homer more than once. All right. And they homered early in the game. So if you're on the east coast and you want to go to sleep, you've already seen them hit home runs. Judge hit, as you say, those two solos for the only two runs in an 18 to 2 loss. When they get up, Mike, it's mesmerizing. You cannot really take your eyes off them. In that same 182 game, Max Muncie had two home runs and seven RBI. There was a lot of runs being scored. People say, oh, all we have is strikeouts. No. The Dodgers got 29 runs. The Yankees got 14 runs. I just thought it was wonderful to watch. And I'm going to go back to what you said on Friday when we played. Big deal, little deal. No deal. And you said no deal. How can you say no deal? It was wonderful.
- [09:25]
Mike Wilbon
I'm going to tell you what. Say what I'm going to say again. No deal. Cuz if you're in LA and I spend a lot of time in la, unlike you and you used to. You know what happens in LA in the first inning? People aren't even in their seats in LA in the first inning to see those home runs. They're having their limousine drivers drop them off and they get there in the second inning. You know that. You know I love la. I don't take cheap shots at Los Angeles, but that's the truth of the matter. When it comes to going to Dodger Stadium, what stood out to me was the home runs. It was electrifying. And then. It was nothing. It was. Let me say it again. It was electrifying. And then. 18 to 2, please. If that was the Pacers in OKC, you'd be ripping it to shreds for a week on your podcast and this show.
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Tony Kornheiser
29.
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Mike Wilbon
It was nuts.
- [10:15]
Tony Kornheiser
29 runs. 29 runs by the Dodgers. 14 runs by the Yankees.
- [10:19]
Mike Wilbon
It's not a game.
- [10:20]
Tony Kornheiser
It's. It's wonderful to watch. And now, now they get the Mets. The Dodgers get the Mets that even have a better record than the Dodgers do. That's. How about seven games in a row? Three with the Yankees, four with the Mets. That's those tough seven games. Let's take a break. Coming up, Scottie Scheffler wins the Memorial again. We'll tell you what that says to us.
- [10:41]
Mike Wilbon
And how surprising is it that Carlos Alcaraz surrendered a point that he felt he didn't earn?
- [10:48]
Tony Kornheiser
Hey, I'm gonna take 10 seconds. Quickly. Paul George, traded by both Indiana and Oklahoma City. Both teams now in the finals. Paul George, out in the street. And I know he's your boy. They're better without them both.
- [11:00]
Unknown
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- [12:21]
Tony Kornheiser
Time to get a sniff of the riff raff. Let me see what's first meal time. Here we go. What did Scotty Scheffler's second straight win at the Memorial say to you, Tony?
- [12:32]
Mike Wilbon
Not as much as I know it said to you. So you take it away. On the topic of Scottie Scheffler, okay.
- [12:38]
Tony Kornheiser
So he's been number one in the world for about 105 or 106 straight weeks. And in and around that period of time, he's won Memorial twice. He's won the Players twice. He won the Arnold Palmer. He won the PGA Tour Championship. He won the Masters. He won the PGA and the second Masters goes with the first Masters. Prior to that, he became, and we talked about this a couple of weeks ago, Since World War II, he became the third person to have at least three majors and at least 15 PGA Tour wins at the age of 29. And the other two were Tiger and Jack Nicklaus. So that's a pretty great club. He buries people, Mike. He wins by five, six, eight strokes. If he gets the 54 hole lead, he never loses. He's like Michael Jordan in the NBA Finals. He just doesn't lose five more years of that. And I know it's a long time, five years. But if he's this way for five more years, he's right there with Nicklaus and with Tiger. And Jack Nicklaus loves him and you can see it on tv. And that's Scottie Scheffler to me.
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Mike Wilbon
Well, listen, that was significant because it was Jack, period. Jack. And I don't disagree with the word you said, but it wasn't the US Open, which is what the women played this weekend.
- [13:48]
Tony Kornheiser
That's right.
- [13:49]
Mike Wilbon
Jeremiah Starr. That's right, the Swede from via, you know, Oklahoma State. How about that for a cultural change, going from Sweden to Oklahoma State and now, you know, atop the, at least temporarily, at least for now, atop the world of women's golf. And look, I, you know, I root for Nelly Corda and I was rooting for Nelly Corda to sort of Walk her down yesterday. And I thought that was going to happen when she got to seven under and Stark was at eight under, but it didn't happen. She missed about a five. I know you were tuning back and forth. I know you were. I know you were clicking a little bit. And so I wasn't clicking. I was locked in on the women. I loved it. You know, we love in Wisconsin, the place where that's played. That entire area of Aaron Hills and Whistling Straights and Kohler and all of that is a beautiful Midwestern place to play. So the attraction of all that got to me, and I. Scotty Scheffler, he'll be around in two weeks when the men play the US Open. I'll see him again.
- [14:46]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah. By the way, the 18th green at Erin Hills was so severe that. Oh, and off all day long.
- [14:55]
Mike Wilbon
Too severe. Tony.
- [14:56]
Tony Kornheiser
Thank God we weren't playing. We never would have put it out. Here we go. Are you surprised that a top player like Carlos Alcaraz voluntarily surrendered a point?
- [15:06]
Mike Wilbon
No. No, I'm not. And Alcaraz, you know, the question was whether he threw the racket or whether it slipped. I mean, regardless of that, the bigger thing here is Alcaraz knew in his heart he didn't deserve that point to be awarded the point, and so he just gave up the next one. Tony, this used to happen all the time. And, you know, this. Back before they had electronic line stuff and there was an egregious call, players would then just. The next point, they would just give it up. They hit the ball out of bounds purposely because they knew they didn't deserve the point. This went on all the time. I guess it's so rare now. I didn't think it was a big deal, but I guess others do.
- [15:50]
Tony Kornheiser
I am old, you are old. We both remember the same stuff. I'm not at all surprised he gave up the point. There's a gentleman's code of honor in tennis, as there is in golf. You call stuff on yourself. If you want to be the face of the game, that's the kind of person that you have to be. Alcaraz said. I know they would have given me the point, but I would have felt guilty, and I didn't want to do it that way. Good. I mean, that's. You know, look, tennis is different. It doesn't embrace cheating the way baseball does.
- [16:23]
Mike Wilbon
Baseball does baseball.
- [16:24]
Tony Kornheiser
You're supposed to cheat. Right. So that's why they have umpires. It's a different. It's a different function. And so when Alcaraz does that. I think to myself, good for him. He wants to be the face of the game. He knows there's a way that you behave as the face of the game. So that was. We both had the exact same reaction.
- [16:43]
Mike Wilbon
Same reaction. By the way. Real quick, before we get out of this tennis segment. Madison Keys beat Haley Baptiste in a battle of Americans, which is a big deal. There Haley Baptiste in our backyard in suburban D.C. in College Park, Maryland. She got into the fourth round. She's like 22 years old. So there's some, there's some up and coming interesting players and some Americans at that.
- [17:09]
Tony Kornheiser
Enough email. Let's take one last break. Coming up, college baseball produces two big upsets and team for the ages.
- [17:17]
Mike Wilbon
And PSG rolls over Inter Milan to win Champions League rollover Mike, to make.
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Tony Kornheiser
It even tighter, Francis, Tiafo's brother, I think coaches Baptiste, really? I think that there's a connection. There's a story in the post about that the other day. Yeah, okay. Yeah. And Tiafo's still in it.
- [17:38]
Unknown
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- [18:56]
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- [19:23]
Unknown
Pardon the Interruption is brought to you by UFC316 Saturday buy now at espnplus.com PPV.
- [19:36]
Tony Kornheiser
Happy time people. Happy 73rd birthday, Gary Bettman Bettman took over as NHL commissioner in 1993 and immediately focused on the expansion of the league. There were 24 teams when Bettman took office. There are 32 now. Under Bettman, the NHL added Nashville, Minnesota, Atlanta and Columbus. After adding Florida and Anaheim, Bettman presided over we were locations to Dallas, Denver, Phoenix, North Carolina, Winnipeg and Utah. Recently the NHL added teams in Las Vegas and Seattle. It hasn't all been rosy. Detman was a key figure in three lockouts and he is routinely booed at drafts and Stanley Cup Trophy presentations. But his four nations face off was a huge success and he's got a great matchup now for the Cup. Edmonton and Florida.
- [20:24]
Mike Wilbon
In these times we live in which most people are ignorant of history, folks don't even remember that Gary Bettman was the deputy commissioner in the NBA for 12 years and a lot of people thought at some point he might ascend to that job. Didn't happen. Other than the expansion. There's too much of it. Too much of it. Like every sport, too much in the NHL. This booing of Gary Bettman is just dumb. Gary Bettman's been a great commissioner. Come on.
- [20:50]
Tony Kornheiser
And a Cornell grad. A not so happy anniversary Spike Lee around this day 31 years ago, after continuous taunting by the boisterous filmmaker from his courtside seat, Reggie Miller heated up for one of the great shooting exhibitions ever. Miller lit up the knicks in the fourth quarter of the Eastern Conference Finals, scoring 25 of his 39 points with five three pointers. Miller single handedly outscored scored the Knicks in that quarter. After each deep shot dropped, Miller ran by Spike Lee, yelling expletives at him, at one point giving him the choke sign. Within minutes, New York's double digit lead vanished, buried by a 233 Indiana run. Afterwards, Knicks fans blamed Lee for riling up Reggie. The next day the New York Daily News ran a headline quote, Thanks a lot Spike.
- [21:39]
Mike Wilbon
I'm not going to phony this up. I spent a lot of time in the last years, couple of, couple of weeks with both these gentlemen and I am friends with them. I love them. They are friends all right. Whatever happened back then, they are friends. It's so cool to Talk about. And to see them in the same building. Spike has got to get rid of that orange and blue zoot suit. He looks like the Virginia Cavalier. You know, mascot in that thing. But it's just cool. They are good for basketball. We'll be hearing Reggie somewhere else different network next year. We will still hear him. He's great at what he does. I love them both.
- [22:16]
Tony Kornheiser
Let me remind people what it looked like. Happy trails to the two top seeds of the NCAA baseball tournament. Number one, Vanderbilt got knocked out at home by Wright State on Sunday afternoon. Number two seeded Texas got bumped by UTSA later in the day. Not a great look for Longhorns manager Jim Schlossnagelli who recently said that winning the SEC championship is harder than winning the national championship. Whoops. But the best college baseball story is LSU Shreveport winning the NAIA title by going 59 0. The first college baseball team to go unbeaten. The Pilots led the nation with a 238 ERA. They had a team batting average of.361. They had three.400 hitters.
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Mike Wilbon
Yeah. I don't care what league you're playing in, you go undefeated. Amazing. And congratulations.
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Tony Kornheiser
361. Are you kidding me? Big finish. The brewers swept the Phillies. They've won seven straight. Are you nervous?
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Mike Wilbon
Yeah. Even though they're five and a half behind the Cubbies, the Brewers and Cardinals are not giving up. That could be a hell of a three horse race this summer. Francis Diaflo, Tommy Paul are the first American men in the French Open quarter since Agassiz in 2003. Your thoughts?
- [23:32]
Tony Kornheiser
It's the first time two Americans have reached the quarter since. Hello, 1996 Lions Center Frank Ragnar, retiring at the age of 29. Your thoughts?
- [23:42]
Mike Wilbon
Wow. Four time Pro Bowler. The Lions are losing a lot of human resources. Starting with coordinators. A lot of human resources. Diamondbacks ace Corbin Burns left Sunday start against your Nats. I was watching this with elbow discomfort. Uh oh.
- [23:58]
Tony Kornheiser
Uh oh is right. First year of a six year, $210 million deal. Last one. PSG beat Inter Milan 5. Nothing for the champions League title. Your reaction?
- [24:06]
Mike Wilbon
They couldn't win with all those stars like Mbappe. And now they win. Amazing. Congratulations to psg.
- [24:14]
Tony Kornheiser
Good general managing, good coaching. We're out of time. Try to do better the next time. I'm Tony Kornheiser.
- [24:20]
Mike Wilbon
I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knucklehead.
- [24:22]
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