The Kid Mero Celebrates The Knicks Finals Win | Hour 3

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz

Episode: The Kid Mero Celebrates The Knicks Finals Win | Hour 3
Release Date: June 16, 2026

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Overview

This high-energy episode features The Kid Mero live from New York, joining Dan Le Batard, Stugotz, and the crew to bask in the long-awaited glory of the New York Knicks’ 2026 NBA Finals victory. The discussion dives into the emotional highs of winning, the meaning for New Yorkers, the cultural impact of the Knicks’ championship, rankings of New York sports icons, and the wild citywide celebration. The tone is boisterous, irreverent, and filled with Mero’s signature blend of nostalgia, comedy, and New York bravado.

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Main Topics & Key Insights

1. The Joy of a Knicks Championship (01:27 – 04:10)

• Mero describes the victory as unprecedented sports joy, comparing it to Yankees and Giants championships but describing the Knicks’ win as an unmatched, cathartic experience for lifelong fans.
  • “The closest that I have ever come to this level of post-coital orgasmic joy as it pertains to Sports was 1996… But nothing like this.” — Mero [02:06]
• Mero uses a relationship metaphor to express the decades-long anticipation Knicks fans have endured.
  • “It’s like when you’re dating, you know, like eventually it’s going to happen. We’re working towards something, you know what I’m saying?” — Mero [03:17]

2. Victor Wembanyama’s Villain Turn and Finals Impact (04:10 – 06:56)

• Mero shares how his opinion on Wemby changed during the Finals from seeing him as the league’s future to starting his "villain arc."
  • “He started playing the New York Knicks and he decided to start his villain arc by saying stuff like ‘I’m in your head, Mitchell Robinson,’... And then he goes to the line and bang, bang, misses two free throws…” — Mero [05:14]
• Details Wemby’s on-court antics, apparent dirty plays, and the theatrical flair that made him easy to root against during the Finals.

3. Jalen Brunson: All-Time New York Ranking (06:56 – 11:36)

• Where does Brunson rank among New York athletes?

  • Mero puts Brunson at #2 all-time among Knicks, behind Patrick Ewing, but on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore:
    • “Patrick Ewing is and always will be the greatest Knick of all time. Jalen Brunson, you got it to chip, and he’s on the Mount Rushmore.” — Mero [07:01]
  • In terms of all New York sports heroes, Mero puts Brunson alongside Jeter, Eli, Mantle, and Ruth [09:50]

• Playful banter about Brunson’s physical features and humility as reasons he isn’t seen as the face of the NBA.

  • “Brunson is not tall... he’s also very humble. People like to be sports and entertainment guys… he’s a humble guy who’s there to hoop.” — Mero [08:23]
  • “Yeah, you got hairy shoulders. I got hairy shoulders too. It’s the mark of a champion.” — Mero [08:33]

• Memorable Question:

  • If you’re at a bar, do you buy a drink for Brunson or Derek Jeter? Mero picks Jeter, keeping Brunson "safe" for more athletic triumphs [11:01]

4. OG Anunoby and Championship Vibes (11:36 – 13:03)

• Mero jokes about OG Anunoby’s quiet persona and his appearance on Good Morning America, humorously attributing it to potentially being too "relaxed."
  • “I know that face, and I’ve made that face after I took more than one 250 milligram punch bar… 500 milligrams will have you looking like that.” — Mero [12:41]

5. The James Dolan “No Sex” Speech (16:42 – 20:12)

• Dan plays audio of team owner James Dolan giving awkward, quasi-inspirational speeches about giving up sex for an "edge" during the playoffs.
  • Mero and the crew mock Dolan’s motivational tactics, likening them to boxing/MMA superstitions.
  • “I didn’t know that basketball was a combat sport… Basketball shorts are way too loose for you to not have sex for 10 weeks.” — Mero [17:59]

6. Mero’s Media Tour & Being a Knicks Fan Now (20:58 – 24:21)

• Mero reflects on his recent rise in media, citing his bold on-air prediction that the Knicks would sweep the playoffs as a personal highlight.
  • “The highlight for me was going on TV and saying confidently, the Knicks are going to run the table all the way to the finals…” — Mero [21:30]
• Jokes about scheduling naps now that Morning Radio has aged him a decade.
  • “I have coordinated a ceasefire with my wife. We are opening up the Strait of Naps…” — Mero [23:26]

7. The “Embarrassment of Riches” & New York’s Unified Glee (24:21 – End)

• Dan and the crew reflect on the unifying power of sports, especially how New Yorkers of all classes converge in the streets to celebrate.
  • “When the televisions are up on the side of buildings... New York, which I do not think of as a unified place, feels unified.” — Dan [34:42]
• Discussion of whether other cities could replicate this level of celebration, with comparisons to Boston, Chicago, and Miami.
  • “I just think New York is by itself different than other major cities. I don’t think this happens in LA or Chicago.” — Sasson [34:24]
• Playful debates on city pride, the resentment from non-New Yorkers, and the power of decades of shared sports suffering turned to euphoria.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Knicks Fans’ Pent-up Joy:
  • “It’s been 50 years. I’m a proud citizen of Mom Daddy style.” — Mero [25:34]
• On Wemby’s Villain Arc:
  • “He tried to destroy multiple of OG Anunoby’s ligaments in one shot. Let’s be real. He tried to kill Jalen Brunson on the court…” — Mero [05:44]
• On the Power of Sports in New York:
  • “There really is nothing like it. I can go through all forms of entertainment throughout history and not find anything that creates what sports teams do…” — Dan LeBatard [34:42]
• On Dolan’s Speech:
  • “Now you got five guys on the floor at the same time. They’re all super bricked up... now you’re creating division because somebody’s gonna be like, yo, cat is bigger than you. And I don’t mean height.” — Mero [18:15]

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Timeline of Important Segments

• 01:27 – Mero joins, expresses his sports joy and Knicks fan experience
• 04:10 – Opinion on Wembanyama post-Finals, his performance, villain narrative
• 06:56 – Debate: Where does Brunson rank among Knicks and all NY athletes?
• 09:34 – Brunson vs. Jeter: “Who gets the drink at the bar?”
• 11:36 – OG Anunoby’s GMA appearance and Mero’s cannabis-comedy take
• 16:42 – James Dolan’s motivational awkwardness examined
• 20:58 – Mero’s media rounds, the highlight: bold Knicks predictions
• 23:00 – The toll of morning radio, “the Strait of Naps” peace accord
• 24:21 – Dan reflects on NY’s celebration, sports as unifier
• 34:24 – Sasson argues NYC’s unique sports fervor compared to other US cities
• 34:42 – Dan’s reflections on the emotional power of sports
• 38:44 – Crew discusses sports fandom versus music concerts, emotional impact
• 41:12 – Comparisons to other historical city celebrations (Cubs, Red Sox, Marlins)
• 42:49 – Episode close, praise for the resilience of the show’s internet connection

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Tone & Energy

The episode bursts with celebratory energy, rapid-fire humor, and deep New York sports nostalgia. Mero and the hosts riff freely, balancing sincere reflection on what the Knicks' win means with their signature irreverence and banter. Joy, catharsis, and city pride are front and center, setting the tone for a historic moment in New York sports culture.

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For New Listeners

If you missed the Knicks' title run, this episode delivers a window into the collective euphoria, the culture clash of old versus new New York, and the unique ways sports can bind a city. Through Mero's lens, you’ll experience the historic win as both a triumph and a deeply personal, citywide release — all with humor and an unfiltered New York voice.

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Transcript

[Mero]

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[Dan LeBatard]

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[Mero]

This is the Dan Levator show with the Stugats podcast.

[Dan LeBatard]

Look at who we have there. The radiant. I have never seen him looking quite this post coital. The kid Marrow is in the center of a New York. This is a good time to have a morning show in New York. Hot 97 mornings with Merow. I can't even imagine how good he feels right now. So tell me. Please stop doing that. Mero. This is a. You're doing that a little bit too well, I gotta be honest. So can you explain to me whether or not you have ever had a sports joy like what it is that you experienced with this basketball team? And thank you for joining us.

[Mero]

Thank you Dan. Thanks for having me. Shout out to the guys, man, Roy, the whole gang. Listen. No. The short answer is no. You know what I'm saying? The closest that I have ever come to this level of post coital orgasmic joy as it pertains to Sports was 1996. Derek Jeter had the shaggy Charlie Hayes. Hayes waits. The Yankees are champions of baseball. Like that is like laser into my memory. And OG and the no tip is laser edged into my memory forever. Like the Larry Johnson four point play. You know what I'm saying? Like there is nothing.

[Dan LeBatard]

You know what you're saying?

[Mero]

Listen Watch the Giants do it twice against Tom Brady. Watch the Yankees had have success 3 Pete do all that stuff, you know what I'm saying? Like, you know, I'm not even a hockey guy, but I watched the Rangers do it when I was in the fifth grade in 1994. Like every new year, the ladies have been holding it down. The Liberty Gotham fc. Like they've been doing the thing. The only team that hasn't had success in this century has been the New York Knicks. So it's like, man, I don't know, man. Okay, so look, I'll say this much because I don't want to get you, you know, I mean, I don't want you to lose sponsors. It's like when you're dating, you know, I'm saying. And you know, like eventually it's going to happen, you know, I'm saying we like each other, you know, you know, things are going good, you know, hey, we made out last night for 20 minutes, you know, I mean, nothing happened after that. I went home, you know, I'm saying, and went on the tube site. But we're working towards something, you know what I'm saying? We're working towards something.

[Dan LeBatard]

I think I do know what you're saying. I think I know where you're headed with this Mero.

[Mero]

You know, I'm saying we're headed towards something. 24, 25, 26. We got in there, we sent it, you know what I'm saying? And we sent it into the eight foot depth of Victor Wembayahu. Which by the way, is what my co host, Lizbeth Ortiz on victorylight calls him. She does not know how to say Wembayama. She says Wembayahu. So that's what he's called from now on.

[Dan LeBatard]

How do you feel about Wemby? I've got a lot of questions, but how do you feel about Wemby right now?

[Mero]

My opinion on Wemby has done a total 180 after this series, okay? Because before this series, like we beat them in the NBA cup, which by the way, nobody talks about the NBA cup like this. Like what, like what is it for if y' all not going to talk about it? We won, we won both championships. And when they see that I got the balloons for that. We've been. We won both championships in the season in 2026 and we beat the alien, the guy who's supposed to change the league forever, okay? The guy who's better than Kevin Durant, better than any guy ever to play in the, in the NBA, we whooped his ass, you know, I'm saying twice in the cup and in the finals. So my opinion of him has changed from, okay, this guy is really good. He's just young, he needs some experience and he's going to be the face of the league very soon. He's a serious guy, he's competitive. He has that like Kobe, Mike's stuff about him where he's like, he hates to lose. You know, he has like that little Jimmy Butler energy which is like, ah, but it's French. So it's. So it's a little more, you know, je ne sais quoi. I'm angry about losing the game. You know, I'm very upset about this. You know, so he's got that and you know, the Emily in Paris, all that, you know, which is the show stinks. But like it's the only French thing I could think of at this moment. So he was a good guy. He was going to be on his way to be the face of the league and he started playing the New York Knicks and he decided to start his villain arc by saying stuff like I'm in your head. I'm in your head, Mitchell Robinson. I'm inside of your cranium. You can have to hit a few throws and then he goes to the line and bang, bang, misses two free throws a la Mitch Robinson. Okay, so Carmen's a bitch. Also he tried to destroy multiple of Wembley of OG Adenobi's ligaments in one shot. Let's be real. He tried to kill Jalen Brunson on the court and then he also tried to injure OG Anunoby on the court as well with a weird kind of like Sonic the Hedgehog looking drop kick. I don't know what the hell he was thinking. But he's also telling his guys like he's a bro. He's like a quarterback talking to his offensive lineman like yo, good, good, good. Like get that guy next play, get that guy face man.

[Greg Cody]

Do something.

[Mero]

And it's just like dog, hold on. You were a very clean cut French guy that was very talented and could. You were 8ft tall and you could shoot and you could put the ball on the floor and that's what you were about. And being competitive now you're like a die hard villain. Like what are we doing? So yeah, nah, I'm out on Wendy. He is not the face of the league. Anthony Edwards should be the face of the league.

[Zaz]

Mero, where does Jalen Brunson rank all time New York athletes? Don't dance around this question. Where does he rank?

[Mero]

I'm not going to surround it. I'm not going to dance around that. I'm not going to dance around it. I'm not going to dance around it. I'm going to put him at number two. Because Patrick Ewing is and always will be the greatest snake of all time. First round pick, frozen envelope. You know, I'm saying, might have did it in 99. If Pat would have been there, maybe it could happen. You know, I'm saying, like. But Patrick Ewing is synonymous with the Knicks. It's like, listen, somebody could come and play for the bulls and win 12 championships. Michael Jordan is always going to be synonymous with the Bulls. That's just what it is. You know what I mean? And Patrick Ewing is always going to be synonymous with the Knicks. Jalen Brunson, you got it to Chip, and he's on the Mount Rushmore. I said this on first take. I was like, yo, listen, dog, you can't have a one best of all time with the Knicks. The Knicks is. They're too old. They're from, like, the 1930s. They're like a World War II franchise. So it's like, there's been so many guys from, like, Earl the Pearl to Clyde to Pat to Mellow to now Brunson, where it's just like, you got to make a Mount Rushmore of Knicks. You can't have one greatest thing of all time. Even though I know I just contradicted myself.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, what is Mero doing, though? Why would you make Anthony Edwards the face of the league instead of Brunson? Like, what do you. What exactly are you doing? If. If Knicks fans were to select a face of the league, shouldn't they be asking, why doesn't Brunson get to be the guy now?

[Sasson]

Shoulders.

[Mero]

I think it's because Brunson is not tall.

[Dan LeBatard]

Okay.

[Zaz]

Do you think it has anything to do with that he has hairy shoulders?

[Mero]

I think so. I think that, too.

[Zaz]

He also.

[Mero]

He does. He's also very humble. People like. Like, people like to be sports and entertainment guys. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, he's a humble guy who's there to hoop, you know what I'm saying? Like, he's never gonna be. I know you guys heard that quote where they were like, hey, Jalen, as the star of the team, does it, you know, get to you when you don't have as many touches as you're used to? And he goes, I'm not a star. Yeah, you got hairy shoulders. I Got hairy shoulders, too. It's the mark of a champion.

[Dan LeBatard]

It's not the market.

[Mero]

I made four kids with those hairy shoulders.

[Dan LeBatard]

That's inaccurate. You can have four kids. It's not the mark of a champion. Put it on the pole at Lebaton. It's the mark at Lebatard Show. Are hairy shoulders the mark of a champion?

[H]

Made four kids.

[Mero]

The answer is yes.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, it is not. There's no.

[Mero]

And. Yeah, and I trained Edwin Diaz. His cock, you know what I'm saying, that he was using in Puerto Rico. That's the bird.

[I]

Okay?

[Dan LeBatard]

Yes, a rooster is what he was saying there.

[Sasson]

Yeah. Cock, rooster. So put Brunson in the context of all New York, all time sports heroes, not just Knicks. Include. Include Derek Jeter. Include everybody who's a hero to New York sports fans. Where does Brunson rank now?

[Mero]

He's in there with Derek. He's in there with Eli. He's in there. You know what I mean? With, like, who else? Guys, we're talking about black and white era, you know what I'm saying? Like Mickey Mantle, you know what I'm saying? Like, type of date, you know?

[Dan LeBatard]

But he's definitely Maggio. Babe Ruth.

[Sasson]

Yeah, there you go.

[Mero]

You know what I'm saying? This is New York. This is New York. It's like, bro, there is so. There was the bucket of like elite, you know what I mean? Athletes that have played here is. It's too much. It's like, it's an embarrassment of riches. Like, you know, Miro, like you could say, like you could. You could say any four names and not be wrong.

[Zaz]

Okay, Miro, you're at the bar.

[J]

You.

[Zaz]

There's. You only have enough money for one drink. You're buying a drink for Jalen Brunson or Derek Jeter.

[Mero]

Oh, don't do this to me.

[Zaz]

I did it.

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, it's been done.

[Mero]

I'm have to say, like, I did like the zots, right? Like, I give you a little flair. You made it Hispanic.

[Dan LeBatard]

You put an accent. It's Zas with an accent.

[Mero]

So instead of Sasson, it's Zason.

[I]

I will.

[Mero]

I would buy the drink for Derek because Derek is retired and he already fulfilled my dreams as a Yankee. He's done what he needs to do. So he could go get. He could go get lit. I do not want Jalen Brunson drinking with me before he has to do anything athletic, you know what I'm saying? Also, I don't want him drinking with me before he has to do anything because I don't want him accidentally doing, like, you know, a cesspit, his move and like, tearing his acl, like riding a horse or like, riding his, you know, on a peloton or something like. I don't want anything like that to happen to Jalen Brussels. So we are keeping him safe and away from any substances.

[Dan LeBatard]

I want to get your thoughts here on OG Anunoby's appearance on Good Morning America. You are an expert on the smoking of marijuana, so walk me through here, what you think might be happening. O.J. anunoby famously does not speak. He does not say much to anybody about anything. I told you yesterday that on his list of dating preferences, a woman has to be comfortable with silence because he doesn't say anything. What's happening here, Mero on Good Morning America.

[Zaz]

Talk about the difference Coach Brown made and how he brought you all together.

[Mero]

He's been great.

[I]

He's been great.

[Mero]

Mike's been great.

[Dan LeBatard]

And what he's been awesome at doing

[Mero]

this too, is listening to us and just hearing us out.

[Dan LeBatard]

And that is Carl Anthony Towns being a good teammate.

[Zaz]

He is on another planet.

[Dan LeBatard]

What is happening there, Mara? Why is anobi just straight ahead?

[Mero]

Listen, man, I don't want to speculate, but I know that face, and I've made that face after I took

[K]

more

[Mero]

than one 250 milligram punch bar against my. The advice of my friends, you know, 500 milligrams will have you looking like that. What the gate.

[Dan LeBatard]

That's lunacy. 500 milligrams is waiting for your flight to LA.

[Mero]

It is. You know, but I like to ride the lightning, Dan. You know what I'm saying? I don't play out here.

[J]

Tony, you know that moment at a party or at a tailgate where everything just sort of clicks?

[K]

I know it well. It's usually when I show up, everybody goes crazy.

[J]

Yeah, you usually take all the credit for it, but it's because Tony usually walks in with Cuervo.

[Mero]

Walk in like this.

[J]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cuervo is a thing that turns hanging out into this is the night.

[K]

It has that effect on people.

[J]

It does. You usually take the credit for it, but again, it's the Cuervo effect. It's like that moment in a big game where everyone in the crowd just starts standing up, hootin and hollerin'.

[Mero]

Keep it Cuervo.

[K]

Keep it Cuervo, baby.

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[Sasson]

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[Mero]

Don LeBatard I'm just here to say one thing. The Knicks are back. Stugats. Tyree Halliburton six points Fraud. Everybody was like, yo, he's better than Jalen Brunson. He's better than Janick. Should attracted him.

[Greg Cody]

Fraud.

[Mero]

This is the Dan Levatar show with the Stugats.

[Dan LeBatard]

Let me play some sound here from James Dolan. Some awkward sound. Very hard to root for. I don't believe you're rooting for him. I don't believe you're happy for him. Here he is in Front of the team, being awkward and saying, guys, make sure that you do not do anything sensual for months at a time.

[I]

I had this idea that maybe you should give up sex for the next 10 weeks. You don't have to give up sex for the next 10 weeks. But. But like, Spartans. You know what? Spartans are right. They denied themselves, right? So that they could have an edge. Get the edge. Go home, talk to your wives. Tell them, don't tell me you're not gonna have sex. And don't tell them it was my idea. But. But let them know what this is going to be like, what your commitment is going to be like, and how they're going to have to sacrifice to those concerns at home. They can't come on the court. They can't come into the practice for the next 10 weeks. This has just got to be all about us and about how we play.

[Dan LeBatard]

That's not off the cuff. He's reading notes there. He decided to take that into the locker room. Your thoughts, Merrill?

[Mero]

I didn't know that basketball was a combat sport, you know what I'm saying? Like, I've heard that for boxers, like, yo, you know, don't do any sexy things. Like, I told you, you do the MMA stuff a lot. Like, they apparently restrained from or refrain from doing these types of things.

[K]

Got to hold in the testosterone to

[Mero]

do that, to hit a jumper. That's crazy. Like, now you got a bunch of dudes break up, running up and down the court. That's nuts. Basketball shorts are way too loose for you to not have sex for 10 weeks. As soon as you hit the scores table. If you brush up against the scores table the wrong way now, you're offending everybody that's watching in H. You know what I'm saying? So that's not. You know what I mean? Also, like, you got. Now, you know, you're creating. Now you're creating chaos in the locker room because you got, you know, five guys on the floor at the same time. They're all super bricked up. Everybody could tell, like, who's got what. You know, I'm saying now you're creating division and sewing. You know, I'm saying beef in the locker room because somebody's gonna be like, yo, cat is bigger than you. You know what I'm saying? And I don't mean hype, so.

[Dan LeBatard]

No, you meant beef.

[Mero]

You're so in division while you do

[Zaz]

that, Dan, you know about that. Bricked up.

[Sasson]

Literal.

[Mero]

Literal beef. Yeah, yeah.

[Dan LeBatard]

The part that I think is right about both boxing. I hate The Internet today, the boxing analogy and basketball, I think that's all about your legs. So I do think it's applicable. It's not about the combat. It's about whether or not you have. Have your legs. Let's. Let's hear some more sound from Dolan here. He awkwardly tries to motivate the team. This gets to be a champion forever.

[I]

Can you do it? Can you focus for 10 weeks? If you do that, at the end of 10 weeks, we're walking out of here with rings, right? And we're walking out of here with a moniker on ourselves that will never, ever go away.

[Mero]

Me too.

[I]

Do it.

[Mero]

Yeah. Hey, commit to it. I thought he paused for the next year.

[Sasson]

Yeah. Rock is applause.

[Dan LeBatard]

He was.

[Mero]

He was petered out there.

[Dan LeBatard]

Buffering.

[Mero]

Yeah, yeah. What was that? That was the like of NBA owners. Yo, listen, at this point, man, like I can't his name. So look, then I am a lifelong Knicks fan. They finally won a championship in my lifetime, right? The only thing I have never done as a lifelong Knicks fan is sit courtside. You know that if you say bad things about James Dolan, you will never sit courtside. So I have to measure myself very much when I speak about this, man, because my dream is to sit next to Spike Lee and talk about basketball. I don't care who we're playing. We could be playing the Pelicans. I don't care. I just want to be sitting courtside like Larry David, where I could trip. You know what I'm saying? Somebody on the opposing team.

[Dan LeBatard]

In the last few months, Mero, as I've told people, I'm very happy for you. Hot 97 mornings with Mero, weekdays 6 to 10am he's the host of Victory Light with the Kid. Mero from iheartradio. New episodes twice a week. Wherever it is that you get your podcasts. But the last few months, you've been on the Daily show, you've been on First Take, you've been making the rounds in some rarefied spaces. What has been the highlight from among all of them, all of the things that you've gotten to do over. I'm going to say the last six months.

[Mero]

Listen, Dan, I'm going to tell you right now what the highlight was. The highlight for me was going on TV and saying confidently, the Knicks are going to run the table all the way to the finals. After the Philly series and or during the Philly series, I said, they're going to sweep the Sixers. They're going to sweep whoever comes out of Detroit, Cleveland, and they're going to sweep the finals. And if it wasn't for one guy messing up the vibes at the Garden, I would have been a hundred percent right. I don't even. Listen, you guys are sponsored by Am I. I don't want to message DraftKings sponsored by DraftKings. If I would have put that on a DraftKings ticket in the beginning of the year. The knickers are. The Knicks are gonna sweep and they're gonna win the championship.

[Dan LeBatard]

You got to be careful.

[Mero]

That was a CK he put in there.

[Dan LeBatard]

You gotta be careful there.

[Mero]

Yeah, Knickerbockers, man. Come on. Stop it. Come on. We got the bakkers at the end. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on. I was with Jose Alvarado yesterday at the Knickerbocker Parade with all the Puerto Ricans.

[Dan LeBatard]

Put it on the drink a balo viejo. Do you always have to remember the Bikers at LeBatard show? So how is the morning radio thing treating you? Because I've told you before that whether you have four kids or not, whether you have hairy shoulders or not, that it's going, going to eat you up. That you are going to age.

[Zaz]

Look at me.

[Dan LeBatard]

10 years for every year because of morning radio. How is it going? You are.

[Zaz]

Look at me.

[Dan LeBatard]

It is a great time to be the morning show in New York.

[Zaz]

This is what happened.

[Mero]

Yo, listen, as the Sasson, baby, you look like a. You look like a. You got the skin of a K Pop star.

[Zaz]

Morning radio. Morning radio. Seven years. That's what it did.

[Mero]

That's what happens exclusive to me.

[Zaz]

It's not just me.

[Mero]

That's what you're gonna look like. You look amazing. Look at me. You look great.

[Sasson]

K Pop.

[Mero]

Yeah. Listen, stop. I'm. I'm bolder than you, if you could believe it. Okay? So relax. You're good. You look great, Sasson. Okay? That's why you say, all right, everybody, the morning show is, is. I'm. I'm actually used to it now. I'm not mad. I used to be very upset, you know, about waking up at 4 in the morning and blah, blah, blah. But now, you know, I have coordinated a ceasefire with my wife. We are opening up the Strait of Naps and we are going to continue to have naps going through the Strait of napping. Really happy about this geopolitical, you know, agreement that I've come to with my wife and, you know, so yeah, naps are allowed now. I don't have to get right into fifth grade math as soon as I get home, I can take a nap, take my shoes off, take a shower, and then get re energized.

[Dan LeBatard]

You can't.

[Mero]

Also, I'm not going to bed at

[Dan LeBatard]

4am you can't teach fifth grade math correct. I've learned from my adult friends that when you have kids these days, they're teaching math differently. So you're simply incapable of correctly teaching 5th grade math.

[Mero]

100. My kids all think I'm very dumb because I don't know how to use 88 different boxes and symbols to to signify 5 times 5 equals 25. I was like, I just know that, like I'm smarter than you actually. And I'm smarter than your dumb teacher because I just know my times tables, bro. I memorize them. So get Miss. You know, I'm saying I'm not gonna say her name because that's her real name. I almost said my kids teacher's real name on tv. I'm not gonna do that. But I'm smarter than you.

[Dan LeBatard]

Put it on the poll, please. Does Zaz have the skin of a K pop star? And also put on the poll is Mero's kids teacher called Ms. You know what I'm saying? Thank you, Mero. Nice seeing you. Hot 97 mornings with Mero. Happy for him in general. He is winning and it is nice to see. Thank you, sir.

[Mero]

Come on, baby, let's go.

[Sasson]

Next.

[Mero]

You know what I'm saying? And listen, first championship in 50 years. Thank you to mom daddy. You know what I'm saying? I'm a proud citizen of mom daddy style. I'm gonna piss so many people off. I had to get that one off.

[Dan LeBatard]

All right, see you later.

[Mero]

Mix it 5. Inshallah.

[I]

Peace.

[Dan LeBatard]

See you later. I want to ask you guys if something that's been happening with my adult friends is happening with you guys as well. Do you see a very subtle shift seeing New York elites, New York celebrities this happy makes you turn on New York? Yes or no? Is it happening to anybody in this room where you might want to get behind the team, but seeing New Yorkers this happy and New York celebrity elite this happy? I have had a number of my friends be like, look, I was rooting for New York during this series, but given now what's happened, I find myself hating what is happening in New York where we've got a happy New York. Do you feel that is happening anywhere around here?

[Sasson]

Yeah, I do. I'm enough already with Chalamet. Enough already with with everybody. Even the old school fans like Spike Lee and everything. Enough showing these guys with their $5,000 front row seats. I don't need to see it anymore.

[K]

5,000 times 10.

[Sasson]

Too little.

[Dan LeBatard]

Oh, yeah, way too little. 5,000 didn't get you into the upper deck. 5,000 you had. You had to get 9,000. I'll sit on the floor for 9,000. Merrill was listening to that, though, and since he's still there, I'll just go right back to him and continue to test my luck with this crappy Internet today. Merrill, what were your thoughts on on what Cody just said there? You didn't seem bothered. You seem to be laughing in the face of the haters.

[Mero]

Yeah, that's what it is, man. It's just hate. You know what I mean? Like the thing that everybody from every other city had over New York City was, yo, the Knicks suck.

[I]

Ha ha.

[Mero]

Now the Knicks are good. We're champions. So everybody else is just mad that they can't go get whatever they want to eat at 3am that's the real deal.

[Zaz]

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[M]

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[N]

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[Mero]

Don LeBatard, and he was doing all kind of wild stuff when he threw the ball off the glass to himself and yambed it. I was like, wow, that's crazy. You're on perks, stugats.

[Dan LeBatard]

You know what I mean?

[I]

That.

[Mero]

Allegedly. Allegedly. Allegedly. Allegedly. Allegedly. This is the Dan lebatar show with the Stugach.

[O]

My big issue here though, Miro, is like, I thought New York was all

[P]

about, you know, like in, In.

[O]

In Mamdani's New York. We're talking about the. The proletariat and you've got the bourgeoisie. All these rich New Yorkers taking over other towns like San Antonio. And we're applauding these investment bankers for being able to outspend the working class. This is not Mamdani's New York that I was told about Miro. So for me, yeah, he's helping out. But I thought that ultimately, like the. We were supposed to help the working class here, and instead we're charging, you know, all this money for tickets. I don't know, I just don't feel like that's the New Yorker that, That I want to root for.

[Mero]

Hey, look, you know, to your point, you know, Zoran is a democratic socialist and, you know, maybe eventually Madison Square Garden becomes New York City public. Madison Square Garden. You know what I'm saying?

[K]

And you're definitely not gonna sit courtside with that kind of conversation.

[I]

Woof.

[Mero]

Condolent.

[K]

Okay,

[Dan LeBatard]

see you later, Mero.

[Greg Cody]

Good.

[Dan LeBatard]

Good seeing you.

[H]

How about that Internet? Just hanging out.

[Dan LeBatard]

Love you too.

[Sasson]

Fighting.

[Mero]

Yes, Fighting the good fight.

[Dan LeBatard]

This has been rough today. This has been. We have been testing, we have been skirting, walking right on the line of live stuff here because it doesn't seem like this happens to other professional programs. I don't.

[H]

It happens on first take all the time. Bad Internet. Yeah.

[Greg Cody]

Does it?

[Mero]

Yeah, Internet.

[Dan LeBatard]

I feel like this only happens around here. But that's maybe me just delving into my insecurities and self involvement because we have had some real issues today. Just fighting through The Internet. But I think what it is that is happening, Zaz, and I'm curious what your thoughts are because when there is an alleged Iran cease fire, the Daily show is doing their whole Jon Stewart Monday show on. The Knicks have won the championship and the city is so big and so populated that the video coming out of New York is unlike any that I've seen outside of foreign World cup countries. Like, this is not something that happens in America at this size. Maybe people gather for the parade, but the spilling into the streets where you have just thousands and thousands of people. The last time that I saw anything that resembled that was when the Minnesota Twins won the championship in like 1991. Because Minnesota never gets to win at anything. Where all of a sudden everybody is in the streets, but it pales in size and scope to the. To the city of New York where you just have this rampant, riotous happiness that is a bunch of people like Jon Stewart just taking to the streets. A bunch of famous people who are in the streets surrounded by just thousands and thousands of people. Do I have it wrong when I say that this is unusual in size and scope?

[Zaz]

Yeah. And I think what also played a major role was it felt like there was this expectation that if the day ever comes when New York City wins a championship, that they have to. It's going to be so crazy. And so I think there became this expectation that we have to come through and like we have to be the craziest and we have to light shit on fire and we have to totally act a fool to. It was like a self fulfilling prophecy. I think is what wound up happening with New York City.

[K]

I think the other thing too is it's a chico and you have 20 million people living on top of each other. When everybody can just go outside and there's thousands of people outside because like,

[Mero]

it is what it is.

[K]

And it's like, all right, I live next to this guy who's worth 200 million bucks and I've got 20 bucks to my name. We're all standing on the same street because he owns the building and I rent.

[Sasson]

I just think New York is by itself different than other major cities. I don't think this happens in LA or Chicago. I don't think if the Dolphins finally win another super bowl for the first time in about that distance of time, I don't think there's that celebration in Miami. I think it's New York.

[Dan LeBatard]

I do marvel still, even being in this profession for as long as I've been at the unifying power of sports. Because the sheer number of people who were watching Knicks basketball in the streets when the televisions are up on the side of buildings, and the size of the fan base that gathered around to make New York, which I do not think of as a unified place, feel unified. I just don't think there's anything like it. And I'm including patriotism there. I'm including the best thing in sports, which is patriotic pride in your team during the World Cup. I don't believe that there's anything like the unifying power of sports with people who would otherwise be strangers, who can have a shortcut to the fluency of commonalities in language, even if you don't speak the same language. Because joy can be shared. I've talked about this before. Whatever you view as the happiest moments in your life, the birth of your children, you weren't jumping up and down in the hotel room or in the hospital room. Rather, you weren't screaming and crazed and hugging strangers. Whatever are the happiest moments of your life, sports tends to elevate the emotions of that in a way that connects people that obviously I'm super grateful for because it pays for everything around here, the way people care about sports. But there really is nothing like it. Like, there is just. I can go through all forms of entertainment throughout history and not find anything that creates what sports teams do. Because think about the things in Jon Stewart's life. I don't know how much of a Knicks fan he actually is. I can't even imagine what's going on in Ben Stiller's life right now where he's making a documentary about this, because he makes documentaries and things about everything. And so he wants to share this with people. And I'm sure that what he makes will be great because everybody, everything that he makes is great. I don't know if you guys know the depths of his neuroses, but because Zoolander 2 didn't do what he wanted it to do, in terms of his expectations, I think he sort of vanished for like six or seven years on making things. Because his standard is where severance is right. His standard is above where any reasonable standard is to see Jon Stewart in the streets howling with delight while surrounded by strangers. I just don't think there's anything else that would create that in him. Even though he's a passionate person about many different things. And he'll get emotional talking about how poorly we treat veterans in this country, but there is just nothing like sports in that regard.

[Zaz]

But there is an answer to why? It's because, you know, and like you say, we don't jump up and down like that when our child is born. And the thing that Jon Stewart is, is jumping up and down now and crying about and howling about is a thing that gave him massive disappointment for many, many, many, many years. And then finally, that thing that you love, that gave you all of this disappointment, gave you the joy, you know, you don't have years and years and years and years of disappointment and then your son is born or your daughter's one. It's like, no, here, here's the thing. Like, here's the great thing. This is it. We're giving it to you.

[Sasson]

I agree with you on the power of sports that we're seeing in New York right now. And that's one of the many things I love about the World cup, where in the stadium last night, I'm looking at 60,000 Uruguayan fans, all wearing the blue stripes, all cheering for the same thing, the power of sports. The only thing I might liken sports to is in a. In a certain music concert where you have 50,000 music fans in a stadium with tears in their eyes, all cheering for the same whether.

[Zaz]

But you know, going there, though, it's going to be a positive experience. You don't necessarily know that with sports.

[Sasson]

That's true. Yeah. With sports, you feel like you have a part of it being a positive experience. You feel like the fan matters. You matter in whether or not your team wins, even though you don't. But that's part of the power of sports is you have that feeling and you're right. You go into a music concert knowing you're going to hear all your favorite songs and knowing what to expect, whereas you don't.

[Dan LeBatard]

In sport, what other concerts are there other than music concerts? Like, are you doing other concerts that you're making the music concert a specific.

[Sasson]

Well, I'm thinking of. When I say that I'm thinking of pop music, I'm not thinking of a classical music concert.

[Dan LeBatard]

Well, but okay. At Lebatard show, is music concert redundant? Yes or no? At Le Batard show. Did I ask the question? Yes, I think I did already. We got to update a lot of people polls today because we got yesterday's polls as well. Again, I want to reiterate, does ZAs have the skin of a K pop star? When you think about sports stories that would create a rampant spilling into the streets. The Cubs winning the title because they're waiting 100 years. Right. The reason this one's different isn't just because it's New York. It's because of how long New York has been waiting, and it's because of what New York means to this team. It means to this city. I'm sorry, what the Knicks mean to this city. But can you guys tell me what's the comp in terms of. I know Darren Revelle said this. The Canadiens winning in Montreal would be the least feel. The Leafs more than Montreal.

[Zaz]

Well, because at least Montreal, they, like, we've been alive. The Leafs haven't won, like, 100 years like it's been. The Leafs have been the longest, and they care just as much as Montreal does. At least Montreal. It's nice to 1993. All right, I kind of remember that was Boston.

[Dan LeBatard]

Like, this was Boston. Did they spill into the streets when Boston won the championship because of how they care about basketball? But Boston's not quite as congested, right? Like, Boston isn't quite as this many people living on top of each other so that you just have streets and city blocks upon city blocks, just rampant chaos.

[P]

It is just different because of the way that it's structured. Like, that's what Tony was talking about. Like, everybody is on top of each other in New York. And so there. There's an ability for everyone to be there. But when the Red Sox won the World Series, like, that's what Boston looked like, at least to my memory. I know I was, you know, nine years old, but, like, I remember seeing on SportsCenter the videos coming out of Boston of, you know, people hugging strangers in the streets in a way that was different than anything else I've seen.

[H]

This all makes me feel sad now, thinking back to 03, when I alone ran outside in my front yard and ran in circles when the Marlins won a World Series.

[P]

My dad had bough, like, apple cider, sparkling apple cider, that we went outside in our front lawn. That's a party sprayed that.

[H]

Me and my friend just got in our car and started driving around, like, honking and, like, drive then.

[P]

Well, Yeah, I was 8.

[H]

I was like, in 03. I was like, 16.

[Dan LeBatard]

You were wearing tighty whitey driving around.

[H]

Yeah, my buddy was driving to Tony's point. I don't think I was driving yet. My older friend was driving. We just drove around, honked the horn. No one was out there with him.

[K]

It was Radkey's kid.

[Dan LeBatard]

You think it was like Greg Cody's Panther parade across the street here, where he's just driving on the back.

[H]

Very similar convertible.

[Dan LeBatard]

And it's just one sad, lonely person because you. You running around the neighborhood by yourself shouting while everyone's indoors saying, quiet down. I'm watching Golden Girls after Beckett made that tag.

[Zaz]

What?

[H]

It wasn't the same as what I saw on the streets of New York.

[Dan LeBatard]

We do have occasional people spill into the streets banging pants.

[K]

And it's only one place on Bird Road.

[H]

Not in Weston.

[Greg Cody]

Oh, I was also in Weston.

[Mero]

Pots and pans.

[P]

Suburbia is a little bit different.

[Dan LeBatard]

I think there is something about the idea that the Cubs and the Red Sox had waited 100 years and the Knicks felt like they had been waiting that long. Right. They'd only been waiting 50 by comparison, but it felt like it had been that long.

[P]

It was our second in 10 years.

[H]

We just get it up for the Internet today, though. Good job, Internet.

[Mero]

Way to hang tough. Way to hang tough.