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Dan Patrick
It's the rage bait.
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Dan Patrick
People. We got clear facts. Maybe we could calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting. Let's meet at the Facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America.
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Dan Patrick
Chris Manic sitting in for DP on this Friday. Good to be back with you and the boys. First two hours flying along lot to get to here in the third hour, Sam Amek, the great writer over the athletic. He's going to join us just a few minutes from now. Talk about what's going on down in San Antonio in Carolina last night we had the Hurricanes evening up their Stanley Cup Final series against the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Dan Patrick's Las Vegas Golden Knights. One of the things I first noticed was sit down and get the. Got the jersey here. Got a lot of new things here in the man cave.
Paulie
We were out there a few months ago for the F1 race and the Gold Knight sent over some swag. Really nice stuff.
Dan Patrick
Yeah, well, good jersey also got a. Was that a gong here? There's a lot of stuff in this man cave. I'm just unfamiliar with having not been here for, you know, six, seven years. The Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Hurricanes even up at one great game last night. Watch the third period. Not a lot happening. First 10 minutes to nothing, Golden Knights lead, then all of a sudden Hurricanes came to life. Score three goals in the third period, wind up winning the game four minutes into overtime. Tremendous fun. It's always fun to watch Stanley Cup Final hockey just because you never know what's going to happen. They the Hurricanes look lifeless for most of that game. They turn it around, tie the game up in regulation, win it in overtime. Game 2 of the NBA Finals is tonight. The New York Knicks with a one nothing series lead over the San Antonio Spurs. A must win game for the San Antonio Spurs. Gotta win it this time. There have been teams in NBA history that have come back from down 02. We saw the Milwaukee Bucks do it in 2021. Came back to beat the Phoenix Suns. The Cleveland Cavaliers, they came back to beat the Warriors. They were down two zip. Big win for the Cavs. The common thread with both those teams though is they lost the first two games on the road. If the spurs lose the first two games at home, it is improbable, if not impossible to believe that San Antonio can come back and beat the Knicks. With three of those next five games potentially being played at Madison Square Garden, big game for Jalen Brunson gets 30 points in Game 1. We've been talking a lot about where he's elevated himself onto that next level. Is he the greatest Knick of all time? If he wins a championship this year, does he go on the Mount Rushmore of players 6 foot 2 and under? We've had some calls, some comments about that over the last couple of hours. Some names that should be on that list. Isaiah Thomas on that List. We had Tiny Archibald added to that list. Allen Iverson of course belongs on that list. Chris Paul, a debate over Chris Paul being on that list. But Jalen Brunson winning a title in New York as the number one option on his team. Got to give him consideration to be on that list. Big game for Victor Wembanyam and the spurs as well. Wemby good stat line in Game 1. 26 points, 12 rebounds. But he was 6 of 21 from the floor and he was just a perimeter guy. You know, I love a seven foot guy, four guy that can shoot threes, but you need a guy getting the paint, two of nine of three point range. That's not going to get it done in game two. Must win game for the San Antonio spurs playing on their home floor. 8773 DP shows the phone number. Email address dpdanpatrick.com Sam Amick, senior writer over at the Athletic, he is down in San Antonio. Sam, let me ask you this. Jalen Brunson leads the Knicks to the championship. Is Jalen Brunson the greatest Knick of all time?
Sam Amick
Mr. Mannix, good to see you. Is he the greatest Nick of all time? It's maybe. I'm, you know, I mean I was quick side story from playoff road here I was at a establishment last night with the lovely daughter of one Patrick Ewing, so Randy Ewing. So she might have something to say about this debate. You know, that's a long list of great Knicks. I don't care to be honest with you, where Jalen falls in that debate. I'd like the other debate better. Like the six, two and under thing is, is wild. Chris Paul deserves to be on that list. But, but Jalen is doing the type of stuff that sparks these debates. Doing the type of stuff that you know not to have somebody catch astray. But I keep laughing about the Becky Hammond, like the whole commentary where Becky, you know, said so long ago that Jalen could not be the number one guy on a championship team and she stood on that recently, which was kind of, you know, strange. He's just been incredible, man. He's fun to watch and you know, you know, I'm west Coast based so I don't see the Knicks as much. And buddy, to watch Jalen do what he did in the fourth quarter, it was fun. It was neat to see because it was like, oh, this dude is as advertised when it matters most.
Dan Patrick
What's been the vibe around the spurs the last couple of days?
Sam Amick
Fine, they're pretty for a young group. They're they're pretty even keeled. They, you know, they're mature. You know, Wemby, I'm always really interested how he's going to handle his voice and his messaging. I did think it was interesting after game one that you know, and you know this like he kind of wasted no time sliding in quite a few comments about your confidence. And you know, I'm not worried in the slightest. You know, just projecting the kind of way you would expect for a confident guy. They seem fine. I mean, you just hit the nail on the head when you talked about game two is the like, let's do a pulse check. If they lose game two, you know, they're going to be fine if they split this thing at home and, and not to put you, you know, give you a homework assignment. I did wonder because you detailed the teams that went down O2 when they were, you know, on the road. Have we had a champion who lost the first two at home? Do we know?
Dan Patrick
I forget what the 06 he did. I know they were another team that was down oh two when they came back to beat Dallas, but that's the only one that there haven't been that many that have come back from two. It's only been a handful.
Sam Amick
Yeah. Because when you said this was must win, I was going to give you a hard time and say it was hyperbole. And then as you laid it out, it was like, ah, it's pretty important. So see what happens.
Dan Patrick
Sam, I'm fact based here on the show. Always, always fact based. I don't think it's ever happened. It didn't happen with Miami. I think they were. They lost the first two on the road and those other teams I mentioned lost on the road as well. So adjustment for San Antonio. What do you think is the biggest adjustment they're going to make going into game two?
Sam Amick
Well, it's the same thing they've battled throughout the playoffs, which is that as great as Wemby is, is part of this is youth and it's him trying to figure out the chess match. He's inconsistent. He, he has a roller coaster, you know, kind of element to his game. So they've got to, you already said this. They've got to get him inside more. Yes, it's. It was super fun when he hit that 35 footer in the last round. Game one, okay, fine. But getting pushed out by Cat, getting pushed out by OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson. The problem is I just don't know how, you know, doable that is because this is literally the roster construction that you should want to have to go at Wemby. And going into the series, I wrote a whole piece where I talked to some front office folks about the domino effect of what Victor was doing. And the reality is, and the irony is, is that like most of the people I talked to, pointed to the Knicks roster construction as what you should want. A guy like cat who's 7ft, 240 pounds, you know, Mitch, big boy, a lot of heft. You know, he can bully Webby and he's athletic enough to keep up with him. Same, you know, OG and what he brings. So getting Victor going first and foremost. Secondly, you know, the others in the west finals for the spurs, you know, dear Fox, Julian Champagne, Dylan Harper all the way down the line. Kelvin Johnson had a fantastic finish to that series. You know, those guys have got to show up because, you know, yes, Vick was 621 and, and struggled a bit, but, but the other guys weren't, weren't helping him either.
Dan Patrick
What did Kelton Johnson get like eight minutes in this. That game One that was surprising. I thought sixth man of the year. I thought he'd be a natural guy to put on towns for stretches. That surprised me a little. Min got we. You know, I thought that the fatigue Sam was a little bit overblown coming into the series because I thought three days was a long time. And I thought, thought being at home was going to be enough for San Antonio to recharge the batteries and not make fatigue as big an issue as some were. But I'm watching that game one. I'm sitting there and I'm looking at Victor Wembanyama kind of grabbing his knees in the first quarter. I'm looking at some of these other guys just not look like they had the same energy that they did early in that series in Oklahoma City. How big a factor do you think fatigue is going to be in this game too, and potentially the rest of the series?
Sam Amick
It's significant, but I'm confused, you know, again, like, I was not around Victor that much all season long. So now, you know, this is. We've done this a long time. You get in the gym with these guys and you try to study them and learn how they're wired, how they operate. Victor and the way that he crashes out from a fatigue standpoint is puzzling because, yes, I understand he's 7 foot 4, but he's not lugging around 300 pounds, you know, but he absolutely does have these moments and you just hit on it like early in the game when he's clutching at the knees or, you know, looking for a blow, that doesn't make sense. And that's where, as transcendent great, you know, and talented as he is, the inconsistency part is got to be tricky from this Johnson, you know, from a rotation standpoint, because, you know, is that tied to not having as much of a break as the Knicks coming out of the West Finals? Like, that's a little hard to believe. Like you said three days. So they got to fight through that. You didn't see any of that from the Knicks. And I don't really think that's necessarily because of, you know, that long stretch that they had to rest. But Wendy's great again. I keep kind of hitting the same point. He's great, but he comes and goes a bit.
Dan Patrick
How short a leash do you think de' Aaron Fox will be on tonight?
Sam Amick
Very curious to see it, because there are bigger picture implications of that kind of a choice. I've been asked this a couple times, and my thing is the. The spurs, from a culture standpoint, are obviously incredibly savvy, and they know that the. The moment you open the door to the Dylan Harper era and you put Darren, you know, on the bench, you know, because of the stakes of what's going on right now, like, there's going to be a domino effect. And that's very tricky for them from a planning standpoint, because, yes, they have this historical backdrop where Bono Ginobili famously agrees to go to the bench with Greg Popovich's, you know, kind of nudging, and the rest is history. He's a Hall of Famer. Mono Ginobili was not making $60 million a year, which is what De' Aaron is on track to make. And so the solution is not qu. Is easy. Even if de' Aaron at some point was willing to yield to the young fella in terms of a contract roster construction, that's an issue, so. But you got a championship on the line, so, you know, would I be shocked to see it? You know, I'd be surprised. I don't know how short the leash is. Dillon didn't show out, though. That's the other thing. He had a good first half, but four points in the second half, you know, he faded a bit, but the more pressure that he applies with his play and then with the Aaron, you know, if he keeps doing what he did in game one, which is having a hard time, then, you know, we'll see what happens.
Dan Patrick
Talking to Sam Amek, senior NBA writer, over at the Athletic in San Antonio for Game 2 of the NBA Finals tonight. Sam, we are right around three weeks away from the NBA draft, which is three weeks away from the self imposed deadline that the Milwaukee Bucks have to trade Giannis. Tendokounmpo. What have you been hearing over the last couple of days about Giannis and how likely do you think it is that Giannis is traded before the June draft?
Sam Amick
Seems very likely, admittedly. You know, that it's not often you have an owner, you know, publicly framing the timeline, and that's what Jimmy Haslem did. You know, we just saw Jimmy Haslam do a blockbuster trade with Miles Garrett in the NFL showing he's certainly ready to pull that trigger if he needs to. I do expect it to happen. Miami, as you know, is, is the loudest noise. You know, you continue to hear that. But what I tried to write the other day with my colleague Eric Naim, and, and it was interesting to get into is, yes, it appears, you know, everybody you talk to says Miami at the deadline had a deal that was close, had a deal that they thought was going to happen. The Bucks ended up backing out, and so the noise is tied to Miami. But there's also some intel discussion, you know, kind of understanding that Giannis has questions about what that Miami roster would look like on the other side of a deal. You know, it reminds me of the Carmelo Anthony dilemma when he went from Denver to the Knicks. Like, you don't want to gut the roster, go to the place that you're excited to be to, you know, be in, and then have a hard time contending for a championship. And that is where, you know, we'll see what happens in these next few weeks. Because in one of your backyards, I think the Celtics are a pretty intriguing option where, you know, in terms of being competitive, you know, if you do something with Boston, and this is what we had heard from Giannis's side, that the intrigue is real, you know, the respect for Joe Missoula, the way that he might see that roster. So do I think it changes things? I don't know yet, but, you know, I do think that's worth watching.
Dan Patrick
I could see why Giannis would want to play in Boston. I still struggle to see why Boston would give up the kind of assets it would need to give up to go and get Giannis. Not that they aren't considering it, but if I'm running the Celtics, I'm not trading Jalen Brown and a couple of draft picks for Yas Tede Compo, not in a reaction to a bad first round loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Mostly because I don't trust Giannis's health, Sam. I don't trust it. He's had multiple years of soft tissue injuries and you're going to have to give this guy a multi year contract at the full max. Now you're talking about having two full max guys on your roster in Jason Tatum and Yas Tendencampo, both of whom have dealt with significant injuries over the last couple of years. I know Jaylen Brown is not a perfect fit. I know the Celtics want to get more pressure on the rim. Brad Stevens talked about that. But to me, the risk is just too big to go all in on a player like Giannis at this stage.
Sam Amick
Well, and it's very sensitive too, like the Jalen Brown thing that you just hit on, like when, when the noise got loud a couple months ago regarding Jalen and how he saw the season and all the chatter about what he said on the live stream, that it was the most fun he'd ever had. And that was confusing because, you know, it just sent this message that he wanted his own team. As you know, the Celtics, you know, they went to great lengths to kind of massage that situation and get things back in a good place. And they're not the only team dealing with this one. Like Miami is, and this is Giannis related. Miami is, is loud with it right now. They don't care if everybody knows that they're chasing Giannis because they don't really care what Tyler Hero feels about getting traded. But, like, Boston's got to be sensitive. You know, the Knicks are unofficially out because of what they're doing. But you remember Carl Anthony Towns was not real thrilled to have his name attached to the Giannis discussion. You know, previously, like, that is where I think we could see a wild card team come on strong, you know, and, and come out of the shadows, so to speak. Because I think there's a lot of teams that are absolutely looking at this and interested here, but also have to pay attention to their own locker room dynamics.
Dan Patrick
If somebody offered you a hundred thousand dollars for your press pass for game three in New York, would you take it?
Sam Amick
I mean, journalistically? Absolutely not. I would never consider such a thing.
Dan Patrick
I think about it, I think about it.
Sam Amick
If you're a Knicks fan, I'm a Capital J journalist. If there's so. Yeah, but the, the spirit of your question, like, I mean, yeah, 100k, that's, I'm good with that. That's. You Know the production value on TV these days is pretty, pretty high. I'll hang out with some buddies and watch this thing on a big old projector screen and. And, you know, laugh all the way to the bank.
Dan Patrick
And they transcribe all the quotes for you, Sam. It's all available.
Sam Amick
You trying to get me fired now?
Dan Patrick
What are you doing covering it for you Got kids? I got a kid.
Sam Amick
Now.
Dan Patrick
It's like, you know, you gotta look out for number one there, Sam. Good.
Dylan Harper
I am.
Sam Amick
Let me add on to this. Manic. I'm fired up to go to New York, man. Like, I'm a west coaster. So I don't know if I would take that money because, like, I don't. I don't see the Garden very often. I don't see the chaos, you know, I don't really know.
Dan Patrick
Sacramento guy in New York. There we go. This is what we. Yeah, Sacramento guy takes, by the way, to. To get your take quickly on a question that came up more dysfunctional, more irrelevant right now. The Brooklyn Nets are the Sacramento Kings.
Sam Amick
I mean, I'm. The Kings have things that they're trying to work on and to get out of the ditch. I don't know what Brooklyn's doing, so I actually probably go with Brooklyn.
Dan Patrick
I think at young players in Brooklyn, though, Sam, like, at least you've got like some hope like Sacramento. Who wants to be there right now. Like, who wants to be part of that team at the moment?
Sam Amick
It is, it. Listen, it is painful. I mean, as you know, you have Mike Brown, de' Aaron Fox in the finals. You have OG Anunoby, a guy that I've contest and contend that they should have traded for to take the beam team to the next level. There's all kinds of six degrees of Sacramento pain in this NBA Finals right now.
Dan Patrick
Yeah, you gotta hate that. Sacramento. Watching their former head coach and their former star compete for a championship. One of them is going to win it at the end of the next couple of weeks. Great stuff, Sam. Good to catch up with you. And I will see you in New York City. Try to, you know, keep it under control there. These late nights in New York, they don't close in New York City.
Sam Amick
Yeah, we know about that. I met with you out there.
Dan Patrick
You got it.
Sam Amick
All right, buddy.
Dan Patrick
Good stuff, Sam. Sam Amick, senior writer over at the Athletic, joining us here on the Dan Patrick Show. I say Sacramento. I understand what he's saying about Brooklyn, but Brooklyn's got guys that want to be there. Nobody wants to be in Sacramento. Like, I would put every nickel I own that Doug Christie's not going to be the head coach of the Sacramento Kings one year from today. Not going to happen. They're going to go in a different direction. Hopefully get a good young player, see if they can win that way.
Paulie
Yeah, Paulie, imagine your Kings management thinking, you know, it's quiet, the NBA Finals going on. They're not going to talk about us and our futilities.
Dan Patrick
Just out here burying them. All right, 8773 DP shows the phone number email address dp@danpatrick.com lot to get to your phone calls. Best week in sports coming up. This is the Dan Patrick Show.
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Paulie
It feels good when the story ends with savings. It feels good to Geico.
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Dan Patrick
Charles Barkley, who is not afraid of the hot take, said a few of them over the years he was appearing on ESPN and he had this to say about Jalen Brunson in terms of his status as a free agent signing.
Charles Barkley
Listen, I said to this a few years ago, I think Brunson might turn out to be the greatest free agent signing. I'm not talking about LeBron and Kevin Durant and guys like that, but I think Bronson, if he's able to deliver a championship to New York, it'll be the greatest free agent signing in NBA history. There's nobody knew he was going to be this good. I didn't you guys, nobody. When New York signed him, they didn't think he was going to be this good. He's turned them into a perennial contender. They went from being never Being talked about to the conference finals last year. Now they're in the Finals because of Bronson. So if he's able to finish this journey, Mike, it would be the greatest free agent sign in NBA history.
Dan Patrick
So you got to go back and think about free agent signings. And free agency really came en vogue in, I'd say, the 80s 90s, when things started to open up a little bit. Now, Barkley qualified two of the biggest agent signings of the 2010s. You had LeBron James, I guess you could be talking about both LeBron James going to Miami, going back to Cleveland, going to Los Angeles, whichever one you wanted to focus on. Kevin Durant. Nobody expected Kevin Durant at the time to go sign with the Golden State Warriors. Winds up winning two championships there. Probably would have won a third if he didn't get injured in that 2019 finals. So he takes those two guys out of the picture. So Jalen Brunson signs with the Knicks. I would argue that Shaq going to the lakers in the 1990s was a bigger signing than Jalen Brunson going to the New York Knicks. Now you can argue that Brunson was a more unexpected signing. Nobody thought Jalen Brunson was going to be this guy. I agree with Barkley on that one. At best, people thought Jalen Brunson would be the kind of guard we saw at the end in Dallas. A guy that could start, be a great co star, be a serviceable top 15 point guard who can give you 82 games at that position, but never be great on either end of the floor. What he's become is nothing short of spectacular. He's on a short list for the top point guards in the NBA. We've discussed at length at this show what a championship would do for him. If he wins the championship, do we elevate Jalen Brunson to the Mount Rushmore of six, two and under guards? The list is short. Iverson's on that list. Bob Koozie's on that list. Isaiah Thomas is on that list. After that, you're talking Tiny Archibald. You're talking Chris Paul. We made the point. John Stockton, I would have him on that list. Steve Nash, six foot three doesn't count. Six foot three? Yeah.
Paulie
Paulie, you could probably put Nash on the greatest free agent signings of all time. I think he was a free agent at age 29 with Dallas.
Dan Patrick
Very simple. It's always Dallas. Why is it always Dallas screwing this up? Yeah.
Paulie
He had made two straight All Star teams with Dallas and he Was a really good player. He's averaging 15 and 8. Then he goes to the Suns and he wins back to back mvp.
Dan Patrick
So you remember the story about that was that the Mavericks didn't believe that Nash's body was going to hold up. He had the back issues that Mark Cuban, Don Nelson, they didn't believe that. Was it Nelly? I was Cuban at that time. Cuban, Nelly, were both. They didn't believe that Nash would be healthy enough to validate the kind of contract that the Phoenix Suns gave him. Whoa. Were they mistaken? Whoa. Did they miss on that one?
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Dan Patrick
I mean, just saying it out loud, like Steve Nash, let him go. Luka Doncic traded him for nothing. Jalen Brunson wouldn't give him four years and 55 million in the summer of 2021. What are we doing?
Paulie
What.
Dan Patrick
What is what. What could have been with the Dallas Mavericks, I don't know. But Steve Nash, not on that list. Steph Curry, 6 3. Not on that list either. But Jalen Brunson belongs in the conversation for the best small player under 62 of all time. And as far as best free agent signing goes, most unexpected, I would say, is the best way to put it. I think Shaq, as far as free agent signings go, led the Lakers to three championships. You knew what he was like. He was an elite player when he left the Orlando Magic. And he went to LA for a lot of the same reasons. LeBron went to LA, not LeBron. Didn't want to be in movies. I was in Train Wreck, Good movie. Shaq went there for Hollywood aspirations. In part. He wanted to be in Los Angeles on the biggest stage. We knew how good Shaq was. We didn't know how good Jalen Bronson was. Yeah, Dylan.
Sam Amick
Yeah.
Dylan Harper
I feel like Knicks fans were actually more excited about the Julius Randle signing when it happened than Jalen Brunson. And then who do they get because of Julius Randall, Carl Anthony Towns?
Dan Patrick
You might be right. You might be right about being more excited about that signing. Because look at the time. It was considered a coup that the Knicks were able to lure Brunson away from the Mavericks. But it was also questionable how much money they gave him. Like $104 million. I think it was at that time was like, whoa, Dan, this guy's had one season where he took over when Doncic was injured. Is he really worth that? Can he be that guy? Are we blowing up our salary cap because of Brunson? Turns out they made the right move.
Paulie
Yeah, Paulie, I just Went back and looked at Shaq's stats. He was 23 his last year in Orlando, but he had only played 52 games. He started getting hurt. He was down to ninth on the MVP list. His stats were down a little bit. So anyone. His first year in Los Angeles, same thing, 51 games, a bit injured. He was ninth for MVP. But then he ramped it up. Every year after that, he started playing more games and he went to like six for the mvp. First, third, third. So it started a little slow with Shaq in Los Angeles.
Dan Patrick
Yeah, he had some, some tough goes of it with Orlando. That Magic team, I mean, injuries derailed what they could have been. Shaq, Penny, Hardaway. Go back and watch that documentary, the 30 for 30 on Shaq and Penny. That's pretty, pretty revealing stuff. Yeah.
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And when we talk about the spurs, we cannot do what we did with the Thunder with Kevin Durant and those guys in the Magic with Shaq and Penny. And that's saying they'll be back. You don't know if they'll be back.
Dan Patrick
That's the thing too. You don't know the Knicks much more than San Antonio. You've got a lot of questions. Even though the Eastern Conference is a lot weaker, I think the knicks have a three year window here. You know, cat is 30 years old. Brunson's right around the same age. OG Anunoby, young guy. Mikhail Bridges, still a young guy going into next year. If Boston runs it back with a healthy Jason Tatum, you'd probably make them the favorites. If they go out and address some of the needs that they've got. Cleveland, we'll see what they do in the off season. But the Eastern Conference, like, this is, you know, people say, like, look at the Eastern Conference, like, oh, it's like the secondary conference. And it is, it's, it's a much lesser, less talented conference. But the argument for an Eastern Conference team winning a championship against a superior Western Conference team is being made right now. Because all creds, the Knicks, what they did in game one, what they might do for this series. But San Antonio is shop born. Coming in. San Antonio has taken a beating during the playoffs. They go what, six games with Minnesota, that's tough. They go seven with Oklahoma City, that's tougher. They're down three, two, like every. And look, the west is not getting any easier. Like all those teams that stunk out the joint. The bottom, they're going to get better. Like Utah. Utah tried to be bad last year, but they're not really that bad. They've Got Jaren Jackson, Jr, Lowry Market another high draft pick this year, Memphis, could they be better if they make some moves? Portland, they're a team on the rise. New Orleans, they just got a new coach. They could be better. It's not going to get any easier in the Western Conference playoffs. You could have first round series between an eight seed and a one seed going seven games. It's very possible for these things to happen and for the team that comes out of the Western Conference to be so embattled, to be so beat up that a team with lesser talent that has to go through a lot less has a chance to beat them. Yeah, Paul.
Paulie
All right, Chris. Chris Mannix joining us today. You haven't been here in a long time. Some of the guys in the back room just heard today and maybe even listeners, your first job in sports out of college was what?
Dan Patrick
My first job in sports out of college.
Paulie
In college. Out of college. What your job?
Dan Patrick
Your oh, my ball boy years.
Paulie
Your ball boy?
Dan Patrick
Yes, I was, I like to call myself, locker room attendant with the Boston Celtics for eight years. Most of the bad years.
Paulie
What years?
Dan Patrick
95. The first year the Garden opened, 95 to oh, three. I graduated college in 2003 and got the job as a fact checker with Sports Illustrated shortly thereafter.
Paulie
And part of your job, for those who don't know, you've got pictures like you helped warm up Michael Jordan or something like that.
Dan Patrick
Yes. Explain before. Well, look, things were a lot more loose back in those days. Before games. I like to engage with some of the players on visiting teams in I wouldn't say games of one on one because I really got the ball, but I played defense against them. My Jordan story was, which I've said, I think on the show before, is that Jordan was, I think it was 96, 97. Last couple of years with the Bulls, like most 6 foot 2, 6 foot 3 white point guards, I wanted to be Bobby Hurley. Like I thought that was my future. So I was a big Duke fan, had the Duke shirt on at all times. Michael before sell. This game, I think was actually the first game of the season that year, if I go back that far. Michael was walking by and he saw the shirt. Michael UNC guy, Carolina blue through and through. He said, duke sucks. And I turned around and I said, you suck. It just was kind of reflexive in that moment and he took it in the right way. He kind of dragged me over and we started to kind of go at it there a little bit one on one. He was just as good as you might expect. He was nailing turnaround jumpers on me. I was just some skinny 17, 18 year old at that time. He was kicking my butt. But it was fun. I have a lot of those stories.
Paulie
Yeah, Paulie. And I've seen a picture this year with your former Jordan's back, but he's so competitive that he had to take a ball boy with a Duke shirt on out there and say, hey, here's a reminder.
Dan Patrick
Yeah, I mean, he didn't. I was on the floor anyway. Like, I don't want to oversell it. Like, he. I did say he sucked. Like, said that in that moment, which looking back on it, maybe not the wisest maneuver, but kind of. It was kind of a reflex. It was kind of a reflex saying something like that. But great moment. He did a lot of that. Stephon Marbury was a guy that I went up against Ray Allen, when he was on multiple teams I used to go up against. And a lot of guys. It's not to digress too much. Kobe a little bit too. I did. I had some with Kobe. I was. I was a younger guy with Kobe Bryant that. We see it up on the screen there. If you're watching on Peacock, NBC Sports Network. I did that a lot with those guys. And a lot of those guys when I graduated college and they saw me walking around with a press pass on and a notebook and in the locker room as a journalist, a lot of those guys, I could tell, were wondering what they may have said to me and what I may have been. Because there were a lot of guys back in the day, one of my jobs when I was working the visiting locker room was whatever a visiting player needs, you go and you take care of. Right. A lot of times it was booze, A lot of times it was women. A lot of guys that were like, I used to be the guy that if somebody saw somebody. This is before Internet, Tinder, things like that. The hookup guy. The hookup guy. So if a guy saw someone, a girl in the crowd and he wanted to get her phone number, he'd send me up. And of course I go up because usually if I got the numbers, $100 bill in it for me at the end of the night, I'm in college and I. It's great. There was a guy, Lee Nalon was his name. Lee Nalon played back in the day. Lee Nalon said, I remember one game where he wasn't playing. He wasn't playing for this at the time. He was on the bench, but he Wasn't active or he wasn't playing. He sent me up after one girl. The girl looked down, said no, came back. So Lee went to another one point another girl up in the stand. I must have got up in the stands three times before I got somebody's phone number for my pal Lee. Dang, it was legend.
Paulie
It's hard to get numbers on the bench if you're out playing.
Dan Patrick
It's easier, I. I guess. Yeah, but I would go up there and do that. Allen Iverson, the one I've told a couple times in the past. I think I wrote a story about this once. Allen Iverson. This is after the Celtics beat the 76, I want to say, 02, first round. Beat them in five games. Kind of the rise of Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker and. And those teams after the game, Iverson gives me. I think he must have given me like $2,000, 3,000. I don't know what it was. Just told me to get as much Corona and different drinks as I can get. So. If you're familiar with the Boston Garden area, there's not a liquor store across the street. You've got to go up the hill. And I don't have a car. A and B, even if I did, like, driving around after a game in that area is impossible. You're not doing that. So I take one of those hand trucks, and I'm rolling the hand truck up the hill, and I go into the liquor store that's on top of the hill. I forget the name of the street, but it's up there. And I just start grabbing racks of Corona, grabbing mustard, 15, 20, I don't know. I grabbed a couple of bottles of what they were looking for, and I start to make my way back down the hill. As I'm making my way back down the hill, the game is letting out. So I've got people trying to grab racks off the case. I'm doing my best to play defense on them, trying to bring them in. I'm pretty successful at bringing all this booze into the garden. As I get into the arena, the Celtics start coming down the stairs. And the Celtics just advanced the second round. So I. They're coming down the stairs and they're grabbing the 30 racks. They're taking beer off the. Off the cart from me. And I'm not going to say no to Tony Bati and Paul Pierce and guys like that that are celebrating winning. So I get back to the truck or I get back to the team bus, and I'm unloading some of this And Iverson's like, you know, he didn't want the change back anyway, but he's like, this is all you got. I had like a third of my inventory by the time I got back to that truck. But I made sure there was a case on his seat and some other stuff that was there.
Paulie
How much did I tip you?
Dan Patrick
I forget. He said keep the change off of, like, whatever. Like, he didn't care. He didn't. It didn't really affect him how much money. He just wanted enough for him and his teammates to, I guess, drink away this first round series loss. Tough. I got a lot of good stuff, good gig. I got a lot of those stories. That was the best college gig anybody could ever have because you made like 200, 300 bucks a night. And you guys know in the 1990s, in college, early 2000s, 300, you might as well be a millionaire. Walking into the bar, you'd be like, oh, let's spread it around. First round's on me. Second round's on me. I was, I was feeling it during those days. All right, 8, 7, 7, 3, DP show is the phone number, email address, of course dp@danpatrick.com Game 2, spurs against Knicks tomorrow night. But I want to talk a little bit about game three and game four. How much is it going to cost to get into the building for game three and game four? We've got the poll, poll results as well. What we learned. Go around the room. That's next. Dan Patrick show.
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Dan Patrick
All right, it's Meat Friday here on the Dan Patrick Show. The new Rectech wood fire grills are fired up outside today. More heat, more consistent temp control and built like a tank. Learn more@ractech.com r e c t e q.com I don't think I've ever been here for a Meat Friday that was something else. That was like three minutes of heaven in the back. That was pretty impressive. Like that. I got to come back more for these, these Fridays. All right, Paul, you have a new. So I haven't done Best week in sports here since I've been on the show. Why don't you walk me through it?
Paulie
So it could be a person, an entity, a player, a coach, anyone who had a great week in sports for whatever reason. Your pick. I'll go first. I'll give you example. Russell Wilson retired from the NFL. Career wasn't going that great. He got a prime gig at CBS Sports on their football show. And that's a really nice gig. A lot of dough. He's living in New York City. He had a great week considering how last year went.
Dan Patrick
All right, Marvin, what do you got?
Empower Ad Voice
Miles Garrett getting traded from the lowly Cleveland Browns to the Super bowl contender, L.A. rams.
Dan Patrick
That's nice. That's nice. Going to Cleveland, La, get a lot of money. Maybe Aaron Donald comes back and wants to play with you. I don't know what can happen there. Dylan, what do you got?
Dylan Harper
I got to go with the AFC north because Myles Garrett isn't there anymore.
Dan Patrick
Okay. Ritzy recency bias.
K
I'm giving it to forward Seth Jarvis of the Carolina Hurricanes. If he doesn't get that overtime goal, they lose the first two at home and they're down 02 going to Vegas.
Dan Patrick
Yeah. You had no idea who Seth Jarvis was until last.
K
Did not.
Dan Patrick
You had no idea.
K
I knew Mike Jarvis, that, that former coach Mike.
Dan Patrick
Was he George Washington, St. Johns, deep cut. I mean, it was a long, long time ago. It's good. Mike Jarvis, I'm going to go with seven footers everywhere. And I say that because today's NBA of the last five, 10 years, it's evolved towards more small ball. And even if you are a center, you're being asked to shoot three pointers. Now, if you're seven feet and you got some muscle on you, you're going to be needed to defend Victor wembanyama the next 15 years. Like if you're a team. Like, let's use Isaiah Hartenstein as an example, Mitchell Robinson as an example. These are guys that you'd look at and be all right, 15, 20 million a year type of players now because the demand for them is going to be so high, you can get a big contract, $30 million a year, 35. I don't know. Something like that.
Empower Ad Voice
Yeah, Marvin, that's kind of like in the 90s when the spurs gave Malik Rose a big deal. Just because he could kind of deal with Shaq just a little bit.
Dan Patrick
I mean, look, three and D guys are still in vogue. They still get a lot of money. They're still popular. But now I think the days of, like, the plotting seven footer is back. The burly big man is back. Yeah.
Paulie
Paulie, you got to give Marvin a little credit for the Malik Rose poll.
Dan Patrick
I did. That is a good. It's a good pull. That's better than Mike Jarvis, I'll give him that much. That's for sure. Dylan, what do you got?
Dylan Harper
Paul actually sent this to me earlier as a poll question. We didn't get to it, but I think it's a good topic for the room. You can be seven feet tall and play in the NBA for five years as a backup and make like $20 million, but you're seven feet, you know, for the rest of your life or just stay as you are.
Dan Patrick
I'd take the $20 million.
Dylan Harper
Yeah.
Dan Patrick
I'd live with being seven feet. The discomfort in cars, planes, things like that. I mean, there's shopping.
Paulie
I know you got 20 million. So you. Custom clothes.
Dan Patrick
Yeah.
Nutrafol Ad Voice
What about.
Dylan Harper
I mean, what if you're like 7 5?
Dan Patrick
That's.
Dylan Harper
That's different.
Dan Patrick
Like, do you like Taco Fall is an example. Like a guy that didn't have a long NBA career, made a couple of bucks, made some money over in China too, so. Made a little bit of money. But he's 7 foot 5 and travel is going to be difficult for him for the rest of his natural life. Like, that's. Yeah, seven five is tough. Seven foot I could probably get around with. I'm six, three. It's a big difference, I give you, but it's, it's, it's right there. I don't know. I. Seven foot, $20 million. Seven five. I'd pass on it. Game two is tonight. Tickets are expensive, though. Knicks fans are all there in droves. That's because the get in price for games three and game four is outrageous. Outrageous in New York City. Paulie, as of today, what are the get in prices for game three and game four?
Paulie
For one ticket, bad seat. 7200 for game three. It gets better or worse for game four. $8100 for the worst seat in the house.
Dan Patrick
Can I tell you that some of these bad seats that you're talking about are really bad? Like, they're really bad. Like, they're not, they're not only high, many of them are obstructed view. Like you're Some of the ones I've looked at from the press section, which is also pretty high up. You. You watch are mostly watching on a monitor. The monitor's right in front of you. It's kind of lower down, and you get a half look at the floor. It's very difficult to watch the. In some of these seats. The idea of paying $7,500 to get in to watch game three, that's wild to me. Yeah.
Paulie
But game four, $8,000, you're buying the ability to save for the rest of your life. I was there. No one's going to ask you if you're row 400 or row 8. They may ask you. But you say, I was there forever.
Dan Patrick
Yeah, I mean, I guess I say no now, but it's like use like the goodwill hunting reference. Like being at the game at the Carlton fist game for the Red Sox. When you get the home run. Like, you don't know what's going to happen. Like, if it's just a run of the mil, you're like, I paid 7,500 bucks for. That's a car. That's a new car. I could have bought for. For something like that instead. But if it turns out to be the greatest game in NBA history, then sure, you can say that. Yeah, Fritz.
K
And if you're a big Knicks fan and it's like, I was there for the 1001379 loss or whatever, if it goes really poorly, it's that much worse that you spent all that money to see your team get kind of.
Dan Patrick
It's like the Knicks fans that, you know, you probably thought three quarters into game one of the conference finals when they're down 22 points in the fourth quarter, like, damn, what did I pay for. I probably paid five grand to get this good seat to this one game. But I guess it all depends on how the game plays out. I thought Jalen Brunson had a good answer to the question he was asked yesterday at media day. People were telling Brunson what these get in prices were right around $7,500. He was asked what he would pay $7,500 to actually go and see. There was a report that in the last row of the Garden, their seats on sale for $7,500. I'm curious, what show would you pay 7, $500 to go see? That's a good question. Alive. Michael Jackson performance. That was a good one. I think that's probably off the table at the moment, but he's not gonna go.
Paulie
See, in theory.
Dan Patrick
In theory, I guess you can go and see that. I can't. Is there anything you guys would pay 7, 500 to go and see? Go ahead, Paulie.
Paulie
If to get a ticket to gut Game 7 of the Cubs World Series, I would have paid that.
Dan Patrick
Yeah. Because of the drought.
Paulie
Once in a lifetime.
Dan Patrick
Yeah. I might have thought the same way about the Red Sox in Game four if I had the money and could afford it. Yeah, maybe I thought that. Yeah. Fritzi.
K
If I knew they were going to win the Bronco Packer Broncos First Super Bowl with the LA beating four Super Bowl 32 in San Diego, I would have dropped a few thousand dollars to be there for their very first win.
Dan Patrick
Dylan, anything for you.
Dylan Harper
It would probably be a musical act that's not around anymore.
Empower Ad Voice
And what about you, Marvin Yukon, final four.
Dan Patrick
All right, all right. Well, somebody's gonna pay 7, 500 or more six figures to get into these games. Anyway, guys, great to be here. Great to be back. Enjoyed it. See you guys in six years.
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Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability and concentration issues, it may be due to osa. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation. Learn more at don'tsleep on OSA.com this information is provided by Lilly, A medicine company. This is an I Heart Podcast.
Dan Patrick
Guaranteed human.
Date: June 5, 2026
Host: Chris Mannix (sitting in for Dan Patrick)
Guest: Sam Amick (The Athletic, Senior NBA Writer)
Network: iHeartPodcasts / Dan Patrick Podcast Network
This episode, guest-hosted by Chris Mannix, centers on the NBA Finals matchup between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs, the ongoing debate about Jalen Brunson’s place in basketball history, and the business of superstar trades (including Giannis Antetokounmpo rumors). Sam Amick joins live from San Antonio for a deep-dive on the Finals, team culture, and the brewing NBA offseason. The hour wraps with a lively discussion on the exorbitant cost of NBA Finals tickets, the economics of being tall in the NBA, and personal sports memories.
Quote – Sam Amick on Brunson:
"Jalen is doing the type of stuff that sparks these debates... I keep laughing about the Becky Hammond, like the whole commentary where Becky, you know, said so long ago that Jalen could not be the number one guy on a championship team and she stood on that recently, which was kind of, you know, strange. He's just been incredible, man. He's fun to watch… To watch Jalen do what he did in the fourth quarter, it was fun. It was neat to see because it was like, oh, this dude is as advertised when it matters most." (05:50)
Quote – Sam Amick on Wemby:
“Victor and the way that he crashes out from a fatigue standpoint is puzzling... He absolutely does have these moments and you just hit on it like early in the game when he's clutching at the knees or, you know, looking for a blow, that doesn't make sense. And that's where... as transcendent great... and talented as he is, the inconsistency part is got to be tricky.” (11:10)
Quote – Sam Amick:
"The moment you open the door to the Dylan Harper era and you put De'Aaron on the bench... there's going to be a domino effect. And that's very tricky for them.” (12:24)
Quotes:
Quote – Mannix:
“We cannot do what we did with the Thunder with Kevin Durant and those guys in the Magic with Shaq and Penny. And that's saying they'll be back. You don't know if they'll be back.” (30:23)
“This is literally the roster construction that you should want to have to go at Wemby... a lot of heft, big boys, they can bully Wemby and [are] athletic enough to keep up." (08:43)
“Ginobili was not making $60 million a year, which is what De'Aaron is on track to make. So the solution is not easy… you got a championship on the line.” (12:24)
“Some of these bad seats that you’re talking about are really bad… the monitor’s right in front of you, you get a half-look at the floor. The idea of paying $7,500 to get in to watch Game 3, that’s wild to me.” (46:20)
Reporter: “What would you pay $7,500 to go see?”
Brunson: “Alive? Michael Jackson performance.” (47:02)
“San Antonio is shopworn… every round in the West is a battle, and the team that comes out can be so embattled, so beat up, that an Eastern team with less talent can beat them. The argument is being made right now.” (31:30)
| Time | Segment / Topic | Highlights | |----------------|-----------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:22–05:50 | Finals Set-Up, Brunson, Wemby | Knicks’ leadership, historical context for 0–2 comebacks, Wemby’s stats and impact | | 05:50–08:43 | Sam Amick Interview Begins | Brunson’s place in Knicks history and among small guards; Becky Hammond reference | | 08:43–12:19 | Spurs’ Adjustments & Wemby | Knicks’ defense, roster builds, Wemby’s rollercoaster play and fatigue | | 12:19–13:50 | Spurs Rotations: Fox/Harper | The politics of benching a $60M point guard, culture vs. winning now | | 13:50–16:56 | Giannis Trade Watch | Miami vs. Boston, trade cautions, locker room dynamics | | 18:05–20:01 | Most Dysfunctional: Kings or Nets? | Perspective on Brooklyn vs. Sacramento’s front office issues; six degrees of pain for Kings | | 24:46–32:23 | Great Free Agent Signings (Barkley) | Brunson vs. Shaq, Nash, Durant, LeBron; Dallas’ history of letting stars walk | | 32:23–41:30 | Sports Media Stories, Locker Room Life | Mannix’s Celtics days: one-on-ones with MJ, running errands for Iverson, player anecdotes | | 42:12–44:29 | Best Week in Sports; Tall Men’s Value | Fun segment: who had the best week, the market for seven-footers returns | | 46:10–49:19 | Ticket Prices & Event “Buy-In Value” | Insane NY Finals ticket costs, what memories are worth, Jalen Brunson’s price choice |
Conversational, witty, and full of inside basketball chatter, with a focus on analysis, storytelling, and friendly banter. The conversations strike a balance between sports journalism and humorous reflection, with guests and hosts poking fun at each other and drawing from past experiences inside the NBA.
You’ll come away with a nuanced understanding of NBA Finals narratives—who (Brunson), how (Wemby & fatigue), and why (ticket prices, legacy, trade rumors) are at the center of this year’s storylines. The Sam Amick segment is especially insightful for roster-building and trade rumblings. The show also provides a rare media insider’s view into what it’s like behind the scenes in the NBA during the biggest moments in sports.