← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
What's Wright - NBA Finals Game 3 REACTION: Spurs SILENCE MSG, Wemby dominates, Knicks in DANGER? | Nick Wright
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- [00:00]
Jonas Brothers
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:02]
Nick Wright
Guaranteed human, no web design experience, no problem. Wix Harmony makes it easy to create a professional website. Just describe what you want and it builds the entire site with the business tools you need. Plus an AI agent named Aria is there to help with ideas or tasks along the way. With over 20 years of innovation, Wix continues to lead in website technology. Try it for free@wix.com that's wix.com number one hits, millions of records sold, awards sold out tours. You think the Jonas Brothers are satisfied? Nope. It's podcast time. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. A Jonas is available now and their first guest is a big one, Paul Rudd.
- [00:45]
Jonas Brothers
You know Steve Carell is a great singer. Didn't he tell you not to audition the Office or something? I told him, whoa, we were filming Anchorman. Clearly I was the idiot. Thank God he, he didn't listen to me right.
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Nick Wright
Listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome in what driving the grind, episode 465. This episode of what Driving the Grid is presented to you by Boost Mobile and we officially have ourselves an NBA Finals at halftime. I did not think we were going to have ourselves in NBA Finals, but the spurs clawed back thanks to about as good of a bounce back game after the catastrophic end of game two as you're going to see from a superstar in Victor when Benyama. And all of a sudden now game four feels like the old vintage double must win. It's not the spurs need it way way more than the Knicks do. But it there will certainly be a level of anxiety and at least amongst the fans, panic if after the Knicks went to San Antonio and took the first two, if the spurs come to New York and take the next two, something that's never happened in NBA Finals history. Also today, the triumphant return of co host Damanze who is fresh off a third job which is working with complex and complex bets. I do want to save those full details for later in the show, but if you follow, you know us on social media, you saw Damanze at a golf course in Texas hanging out with J R Smith. Very cool. How are you? Good to see you.
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Damanze
Yes sir, pretty good. I've got no complaints. Life is. Life has been going pretty well the last six months.
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Nick Wright
Yeah, pretty well. I mean, hell, I mean you probably maybe want to extend that like seven. Seven months.
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Damanze
Yeah, exactly. About seven on the dot and a couple days.
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Nick Wright
Seven on the dot as of today, right? Isn't it the night.
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Damanze
No, no no. Oh crap dude it is. It is today.
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Nick Wright
So busy it is today. The old 70s baby was born seven months ago, picked up another job. You know all of that. So we will get to that later in the show but first straight to voicemail. Brought to you by Boost Mobile the US loses but I thought played awesome in their send off match to Germany. Much more on the World cup on Thursday show Caitlin Clark hits a game winning three against the Mystics as she seems to be embroiled in a bit of a slump and a little controversy and luxurious Sneed returns to Kansas City. That was the most Patriot see thing the Chiefs have ever done. As far as the Chiefs dynasty trying to duplicate the Patriots dynasty. Have a player that you pay almost nothing because he's a mid round draft pick, develop him into a star, trade him away, get a better draft pick back for him than you spent on him, see that team, give him a great contract, watch him play very poorly and very little for that new team to when they then cut him and then you once again bring him back into the fold for almost no money. The Patriots did that countless times over the course of their 20 year run. This is one of the first times the Chiefs are doing that. I wonder if they might end up also doing that with Tyree Kill when he gets healthy. But the story is game three of the finals. Damanze take it away.
- [04:35]
Damanze
So yesterday you believe that this, this series is over but this young spurs team came back with a fight, gave the Knicks a loss in their first game in 13 games. Are you still confident that the series is over?
- [04:49]
Nick Wright
I would be shocked if the spurs won the series. I at no point predicted a sweep and I you know going into game two I thought the Knicks were going to lose that game. I was pretty surprised they ended up winning that game. After game two and after the way game two ended I did think it was on the board that the spurs were going to fold and that Wimby was going to be shook and none of that happened. And so credit to the Spurs. I want to say this on the front end. I think the, the snap analysis that I'm seeing from people, whether it be just Twitter takes or clips from TV shows or podcasts, I'm seeing from people this morning I think is misguided. The, the two most popular opinions I'm seeing, I disagree vehemently with both of them. The first one is the, the whining about the officiating listen and Mike Brown, while saying repeatedly that the Knicks needed to be better blamed, you know, was very critical of the refs. I did not think that was a excellently officiated game. I also think Knicks fans blaming the officiating for that loss are misguided. And what I think is actually happening is game two was a wildly poorly officiated game and it slanted massively to the Spurs. The Knicks won anyway. And I think because that game felt like it was an 8020 officiated game in the spurs favor, this game being a 5545 officiated game in the spurs favor feels more unfair because it feels compounding. I understand that. And it is frustrating that the Knicks keep having to challenge calls that they win the challenge and then they're out of challenges and then they could have challenged a Carl Anthony Towns, you know, when he got smacked on the arm, but they scored on that possession anyway. The confusion when the spurs into the oh, well, we'll get to that. That's a separate thing. And we'll get to that. And that was just a miss. Like the refs just weren't looking, it was off the action. And I think, well, we'll get to the Wimy Brunson thing because that's a separate discussion. But the Knicks did not lose yesterday because of the officiating. The Knicks lost yesterday because much like every team in NBA history, they were unable to play 14 excellent playoff games in a row. Like they were due a bad performance and they weren't as connected defensively as they've been. Mitchell Robinson was flat footed. Carl Anthony Towns wasn't getting the ball on offense. Brunson did a little hero ball. They and despite all of that, there were moments that it looked like they might steal it in the second half with two minutes left and the Knicks all of a sudden had cut it to four and the spurs had an absolutely nothing possession going. And Wimby, late in the shot clock throws a grenade to Steph Castle, who as excellent as he's been this series has not been, is not a knockdown three point shooter. When that happened, I thought, oh my God, the Knicks are about to get the ball down for two minutes left and Castle hit the three to go up seven and that essentially ended it. Now the Knicks made a couple crazy threes late where the spurs had to hit free throws, but the the Knicks did not play well enough to win that game flatly and they didn't deserve to win that game. And I understand the frustration with the officiating, but the frustration is, should Be less about the fouls. The Knicks got this. I'm sorry, the fouls, the calls the spurs got. If you're going to be frustrated and a Knicks, as a Knicks fan, then be frustrated about the fact you think the spurs fouled a few times and it went uncalled. There were not many, if any Knicks fouls that were called that weren't fouls. The reason the spurs were in the bonus immediately because the Knicks were fouling. The reason the Knicks were fouling was because they weren't as good defensively as they had been throughout the series. So I just think the Mike Brown got it going and then this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy in modern, in consumption of modern sports media, especially if you consume it via Twitter. Because if you wake up this morning and you watch the Mike Brown press conference where he's talking about the officiating, the algorithm then knows, oh, everyone who watches this is tweeting about officiating. The refs, there's the word ref or foul or official is in their reply tweets. So then when you're scrolling Twitter you're like, holy, everyone's talking about the officiating. And it becomes, becomes the story. Because a spark was lit by Mike Brown's comments, it turned into a forest fire by the algorithm. And then, you know, I'm leading the pod with it. It's a very, you know, weird way to consume sports media or, or that the way sports media honestly is created these days. And so maybe I'm part of the problem, I don't know. But that is what I'm seeing. So I don't. The officiating was awful in game two. Awful. And had the Knicks lost that game, if I were a Knicks fan, I would have been beside myself. Game three, the Knicks did not play well. So that's the first thing I think people have wrong. Here's the second thing I think people have wrong to Monze. I think people are panicked way too much about what the spurs avoiding a sweep means for the series. I think the Knicks are totally fine. And I think the fact that there is this level of, the fact that there is seemingly a belief amongst folks that we are in a double must win in game four when one team can fall down three one and the other team, it would just be okay. It's best of three going back to San Antonio where we've already won twice, speaks to the fact that I do think there is still a level of underestimating how good this Knicks team truly can be. And, and so I, I don't think the Knicks are in trouble and I also don't think the officials cost him that game. Now, before we get to any of the follow up questions, and before we get to what it was a, is a stunning visual which is Wimby grabbing the back of Brunson's head and shoving him early in the game, by the way, that was in the first quarter. I do want to get your take on this series up to this point, last night's game, whatever you want because you've been away on other projects and where you think the spurs team that I think is the team you've adopted for this postseason, where you stand on the series last night, all of it.
- [12:48]
Damanze
Yeah, I'm surprised that the spurs have gotten themselves in this situation, but it does make sense. Like Knicks have a lot more experienced players, guys that have bounced around and been in other situations. I do think that it's strange that the Knicks lost that game last night at home. But, but yeah, I think, I mean, I think, I think if the spurs can win this next game at msg, then start to hit some panic buttons over there in New York. And it's.
- [13:19]
Nick Wright
So here's where I was, here's where I was surprised. I, I thought at the end of the first half the Knicks had won the game. I thought the Knicks had not played well in the first half. Wimby was playing great. And the fact that the Knicks were able to all of a sudden go into halftime with a seven point lead, I thought that that was, that they were going to come out of the second half on fire, knowing we can win the championship in this third quarter. If we put it on San Antonio in this third quarter and go up big. We, we can make them do what we've made every single previous opponent do in the playoffs, which is give up. And instead they came out in that third quarter and turned the ball over immediately. Squandered the lead immediately. And all of a sudden the game was being played on San Antonio's terms the rest of the way.
- [14:23]
Damanze
Nothing for. That's nothing for San Antonio either. I feel like that's a young team. You're able to do that being in that position. Like I think they'll be able to do it again. Like all these games have been pretty tight, unquestionably.
- [14:35]
Nick Wright
And so no, all the games have been. This was the only game that wasn't seemingly in the balance in the fight. Well, I know this was. I mean, it's a four point game with two minutes left and Castle has to hit the three. I do think the Knicks will win game four. I do think they're going to go up three one and I think right now I actually feel pretty good about my Nixon 6 prediction. I think the Knicks, where I sit here today, I think it goes Knicks, Spurs, Knicks the rest of the series. I think after the road team wins the first three games, I think the home team wins the next three. And I do think Mike Brown, you know, to use the phrase Sam Presti talked about yesterday, Mike Brown using the bully pulpit to try to work the refs ahead of game four is smart. I also think we cannot, we can't disregard the brilliance. Nor can we disregard the odd moment with Brunson from Wimby yesterday. We will get into that in just a moment. But first, as always, today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, Hard Rock bet, Florida's sportsbook. The NBA Finals are here, the lights are brighter, the the pressure is higher, and every possession can define a legacy. Will New York finally end a 53 year drought and bring a title to the Big Apple? Or will San Antonio's young superstar tip off the NBA's next great dynasty? However you see it playing out, head over to Hard Rock Bet and turn your picks into a payday. Because once the final buzzer sounds, that's it for hoops until next season. So shoot your shot while you can. Same game parlays allow you to get in on the action. Big team superstars, clutch performances, so many storylines to bet on, why not stack them all into a same game parlay for a bigger payout? If you're ever late to tip off, don't worry, Hard Rock Bet lets you live bet all game long from the first bucket to the final buzzer. Try your first bet on Hard Rock Bet today and you can score $150 in bonus bets. If you win, just place a $5 bet and if it hits, you get not only your winnings but but also an extra $150 in bonus bets. But the welcome offer is just the beginning. Hard Rock Bet has new promos daily, so open up the app right now to see what promo you've got today. Sure, Hard Rock Bet is Florida's only legal sportsbook, but you don't have to be in Florida to join the party. Hard Rock Bets live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado and Michigan, with more states on the way. Download the Hard Rock Bet app today and and get the party started. Offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Offered by Seminole Hard Rock Digital LLC in all other states must be 21 plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia to play, terms and conditions apply. Concern about gambling in Florida, call 1833 play wise in Indiana, if you or somebody you know has a gambling problem wants help, call 1-800-9 with it. In Arizona, Ohio, Virginia, call 1-800- My reset gambling problem, call 1-800- Gambler hey,
- [18:00]
Jonas Brothers
it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news? Huge news. We created our own podcast called hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it.
- [18:10]
Damanze
We.
- [18:10]
Jonas Brothers
We just contributed to it. First people to do podcasts. Pretty. Yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts, but this one's extra special. So how did we. How do we actually come up with the name hey Jonas? Guys, I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it and, well, we were thinking. I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes, I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, hey, Jonas. And the offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that. Guys, listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Keith Giamanca seemed like a mild mannered suburban dad, but secretly he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy, but I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double life?
- [19:42]
Nick Wright
That is not the look of an innocent man. This is gonna change my life and
- [19:47]
Damanze
my family dynamic forever.
- [19:49]
Nick Wright
Because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue.
- [19:55]
Jonas Brothers
Listen to Deep Cover the Family man on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [20:08]
Michael Rappaport
This is Michael Rapoport and my podcast, the I Am Rappaport Stereo podcast is unlike anyone you've ever heard. We're a variety show, and if you're looking for strong opinions, funny opinions about sports, entertainment, politics, pop culture and whatever else catches my attention, then subscribe now. This kid Jafar Jackson is as good as Rami Malek, as Freddie Mercury, and it's as good as Timothee Shamalay and as Bob Dylan. And I say that with love and respect for both of those actors. And I don't know how many Oscar nominations they give out. I don't know if it's 5, 6 for best actor. 150%. This kid Jafar Jackson should absolutely, positively get nominated for his portrayal as Michael Jackson. Listen to I Am rappaport on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.
- [21:02]
Nick Wright
I Am Rapaport podcast. Reminder to everybody like rate, subscribe review to the pod. It helps us out a ton. All right, Damanze, let's talk some Wimby here.
- [21:15]
Damanze
So Wimby with his best game of the series after that rough end of game two, he finished 32 points three blocks. Castles came castle came up huge with 23 points, five in clutch times. I think you could say that all the spurs players kind of showed up in their own way last night.
- [21:30]
Nick Wright
Yeah.
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Damanze
How were you impressed? How impressed were you with the spurs and their response at the Garden?
- [21:35]
Nick Wright
Well, listen, I, I want to talk Wimby here, Cat. The Castle was excellent and that he hit those free throws down the stretch and that three to put him up seven. That to me won the game. But we, we didn't do a pod after game two and it was a catastrophic finish for Wimby. There's no way around it now. It is not that is not predictive on how he's going to be in the clutch the rest of his career. It is not, you know, career altering, but it is. And it was the type of play that if they don't win the finals, people will reference for years and years and until he wins a championship. And even if the other greatest players ever, they're, you know, their tragic Johnson or LeBron in the 11 finals are any indicators it'll be referenced even if he goes on to win three, four, five championships. So Shaq won four rings. People talk about the fact that he was swept a bunch. People reference, you know, Kobe's airballs. The there are the only guy who the media collectively has decided not to reference any of his rough playoff moments before he won a title. Jordan. It's nice for him. I'm happy for him. But so but that does not mean it's you don't want to make the mistake and say that it's going to be a defining moment of his career rather than just the first giant gaff on as far as play of his career. But where that moment at the end of game two would have more resonance would be if it had looked like it affected him in game three. Instead, the opposite was the case and. Wimby coming out and doing what he did from the opening tip yesterday against a team, by the way, that the last four times he had played, he had not. He was yet to put together a complete start to finish excellent game and even game, you know, Game one, he was not very good and was wildly inefficient. Game two, he was horrible in the first half, then awesome until there were two minutes left and then bad in the, you know, closing moments. Took a bad three, I thought had a rush shot against Mitchell Robinson, had the, pardon me, turnover and foul and then miss the game winner on a pretty good look for him to come out and in the first quarter give you nine points. In the second quarter add six. In the third quarter add seven more, in the fourth quarter add ten. And just every quarter be there. Every quarter be the answer live near the rim. Catch. Oops. Not all. Not rely throughout the game on his three pointer. All of that was outstanding. That was superstar stuff. That more than the officials, more than anything else is why the spurs won the game. Because for the first time all series, the guy who was supposed to be the best player on the floor was. And his. He kept his energy up the entire series. I'm sorry, the entire game, which had been a problem for him. He did not have to mod. I thought in game one, Game two, he was modulating his energy a bit and that's why he was so passive in the first half because he wanted to have a lot left. For the second half he was just awesome and he for the first time all series, he won his matchup with Katie. For the first time all series, he wasn't just relying and settling for jump shots. He's still, he has not been as impactful rebounding really ever since game two of the conference finals. But that's the only NIT to pick. He was awesome defensively and he was spectacular. I thought he was spectacular. Unfortunately, that is not the only Wimby story from this game because of the Brunson play. So to Monze, you, you brought this up earlier. I. I don't know if you want to lay out what you thought you saw or how you want to get into it, but then I'll Discuss, you know, him shoving Bronson.
- [26:48]
Damanze
Well, yeah, it seems like the refs kind of missed. He just literally grabbed Brunson's neck, shoves him into the ground, and this is like his second or third little thing in this postseason. I feel like.
- [27:01]
Nick Wright
I think it's probably a little more than that. Yeah.
- [27:03]
Damanze
And. And I think that I think Loki has to find him on this one.
- [27:08]
Nick Wright
Well, the fine.
- [27:09]
Damanze
Or give him a flagrant. Give him a flagrant and, like, say that counts or whatever. Absolutely.
- [27:15]
Nick Wright
Listen, they. He. So here's why I think this is actually really interesting. First of all, I don't mind my big man having sharp elbows and being a bit of a tough guy. And I think Wimby's gonna have to be because he is always going to be grabbed. He's always going to be clutched. Like Shaq was fouled repeatedly. But guys knew Shaq had it in him to hurt you, and that. So did Kareem. So did Bill Russell, I think, you know, what people say is, historically, it hurt Wilt that he was not willing to go there at times. So I. Akeem was a mean guy when he needed to be. So I think that part's fine. I also, however, have to acknowledge all of the following. One is when he threw that elbow on Nas Reed, I gave him the benefit of the doubt because I said he doesn't have a track record of this. The track record this postseason is growing bit by bit. That's the first point, the second and more important point. And by the time people hear this or if they watch this on YouTube after the fact, this might be dated. But I think it is absolutely on the board that the refs, that the league, pardon me, retroactively give Wimby a flagrant foul. Not a flagrant two, but a flagrant one, which, by the way, is what happened to Draymond in 2016. Retroactively, he got a flagrant foul. Now, for Draymond, that was his fourth flagrant foul point, which triggered a suspension. Wimby is sitting at two flagrant foul points because of the elbow to Nas Reed. A third, a retroactive after the game, flagrant foul is meaningless, except for the fact it gives you one more flagrant foul point, which would mean if he were to pick up an additional flagrant in games four, five, or six, if it happened in game seven, it wouldn't matter. He would miss the following game. Now, here's why I think this is extra noteworthy. You can. Most players can basically guarantee they don't get a flagrant foul, except for on one type of play, closing out three point shooters where landing zone penalties are flagrants. Now in this game, Wimby also had what is called in today's NBA reckless closeout on Josh Hart. Josh Hart didn't fall down. Josh Hart made the 3. The refs missed it. But that would have been a. No question about it, flagrant foul had the ref seen it. Again, I actually hate that that's a flagrant foul. I certainly hate that that counts as a flagrant foul point. But the rules are the rules. Brunson I. It was a Brunson. Somebody got one on the Knicks in this game that resulted. It was Brunson on a champagne three. So I. So that's the one way you can kind of accidentally get a flagrant foul. The other way is if you're trying to block every shot because intent, intent matters a lot for a flagrant two. Intent doesn't matter that much for a flagrant one. And so with the way Wimby plays defense, if they do upgrade this after the fact to a flagrant foul penalty one, I would be very anxious if I were him or if I were a Spurs fan about all of his three point closeouts and all the times he goes for blocks to make sure that you don't make a mistake there. Now the flip side to this is the NBA Demons A has seemed to make it very clear that they are very hesitant to punish Victor when Benyama. Yeah, he did not get fined. He did not get fined for the elbow on Nas Reed. He did not get fined for skipping the media. And he. I, I don't. I have been. I, I'm very curious to see how they react to one. You know, the two faces of this series, the two right now leading candidates for Finals mvp, one of whom's a foot and a half taller than the other one, grabbing the back of the other guy's head and throw and pushing him to the ground for. And spurs fans miss me with the. Brunson was grabbing his shorts. Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure he was. But that is a flagrant foul and had the refs. Here is the other thing about Brunson's reaction that I, I think the NBA should take into account here, which is Brunson. Had Brunson gotten up and grabbed Wimby, yeah, that would have been attack but that would have. They would have stopped the game and they would have automatically reviewed what happened because Brunson and then I think Wimby would have gotten the flag right because we Brunson kept his cool play, just kept going. So if we're just calling balls and strikes and we're trying to be fair here, I think that was a flagrant foul and I think it was missed in real time. I think if Brunson had reacted negatively, they would have caught it in real time. And I think Wimby should be playing the rest of the series sitting on three flagrant foul points, which I think could have a real impact on his defensive effectiveness. We'll see what the league office does. But I think they gave Wimby the benefit of the doubt a number of times. I don't think they should on this one. I think that's a flagrant foul. It was a non basketball play. It happened to also be to the head of the neck. It was pretty obvious to me and I do wonder the impact that could have.
- [34:57]
Damanze
Is this enough to say that he would be becoming a dirty player? There's another time he like kind of ran into Alex Caruso in the last series that think anybody brings up where it looked. He clearly like looks at him, runs into him. That was the other incident.
- [35:13]
Nick Wright
And in. And in game two, he grabs Jose Alvarado and throws him to the side. I He is, he is trying to meet physicality with physicality and he clearly loses his temper. That to me is not, you know, arguable. I don't know that I want to. There's only a handful of guys in the league that I'll flatly call dirty. I think Dort is dirty. I think when Beverly was playing, he was dirty. I think that, you know, there I. He's not that, but I think Dylan Brooks certainly can be dirty and has a reputation. I'm not putting Wimy in that category. But of all. How about this? Of all the great, great players, he and Joker are the only two with bit of a rap sheet on this stuff. Like, there's none of it from Tatum, there's none of it from Shay, there's none of it from Luca. There's best I can remember, none of it from Giannis. And now I'm glad I mentioned Giannis there because this was the other positive Wimby thing I wanted to say. The last time A team was down 2:0 in the finals and came back was Giannis's bucks. Now, they didn't lose lose those first two at home, but they were down oh two and then they won four straight. Their path to coming back was Giannis in the final four games of that series, averaging 37, 12 and 6. I'm not I'm not saying Wimby, I don't think Wimby can average 37 a game over the, you know, a four game stretch. But that's the blueprint. The guy just being like, I'm just going to, every night we're out here, I'm going to be the best player on the court. And I do wonder if he's going to be able to do that. All right, let's demons a move on to Jalen Brunson who has had a very odd series.
- [37:40]
Damanze
Yeah, you could point to a lot of reasons that the Knicks lost this game. Brunson has been super inefficient. Cat did not show up for his first game in the series. Mikhail Bridges was missing as well. What do you think that the biggest reason this one got away from the Knicks was?
- [37:54]
Nick Wright
Well, listen, I just don't think as a whole they played well and I listen, Cat didn't get the ball and wasn't aggressive. Bridges made one shot in the game, he got those two early fouls and it took him out of it. But Brunson, this series, while he's been clutch, has not been excellent. And in Game 1, Brunson played 37 minutes. The Knicks were to to his credit plus 6 in those 37 and plus 4 in the 11 minutes he sat. In Game 2, Brunson played 37 minutes. The Knicks were minus 10 in those 37 and then plus 11 in the 11 minutes he saw sat yesterday, Brunson played 36 minutes. The Knicks were minus 9 in those 36 minutes and plus 5 in the 12 minutes he set. So again, just some very quick math here. He has played, there's 96. There's been 144 minutes this series. He is sat for the. Well, how many total minutes has he played? He's played in 110. So in the 110 minutes that Brunson's been on the court, the Knicks are, this is stunning. They are minus 13. And in the 34 minutes he is sat, the Knicks are plus 20. So that's a bit of an eyebrow racer. Now there is no denying that he in games one and two was incredibly clutch. And obviously the biggest reason they were able to tie the game in Game 2, the biggest reason they were able to put the game away in game one. And even yesterday I thought he was going to maybe, you know, bring them back in that fourth quarter. That is the, the confidence he plays with is almost second to none. But Castle is giving him real trouble and he is turning the ball over a little too much and he it felt like he did yesterday lean a little more into the heliocentric Brunson ball stuff that he had gotten away from some of on this brilliant Knicks run. And so I expect him to be better in Game 4. They're going to need him to be better in game four and Cat is going to have to be more assertive offensively. I and while the Knicks bench has been such a weapon for them all postseason, I do think in Game 4, assuming guys aren't in hor horrible foul trouble, you can push up the minutes of towns Og and Jalen it none of them played more than 38 minutes yesterday. None of them were playing, you know, crazy high minutes this series. Shame. It's been awesome. So you have six guys right now you really, really trust. Obviously Josh Hart was hitting threes last night. That does suck for the Knicks to lose the game. Josh Hart was hitting the threes, but I didn't see 13 Jordan Clarkson minutes coming now. He was solid. They had a very quick trigger Yesterday on Deuce McBride and I thought Mitchell Robinson played, you know, his worst game and kind of on and they were hesitant to go to Mitch in the regular rotation spots because the spurs weren't yet in foul trial or the Knicks were in the bonus and they didn't want to put him in. By the way, if you're that if the other team is that willing to play hack A Mitch, I really do think you have to consider rejiggering your rotation a bit to where Mitch plays the final two minutes and the opening few minutes of the first into the second and then the third into the fourth because the final two minutes of a quarter, you can't do the hack a Mitch and the opening minutes of a quarter, you're never in the bonus. There were some times yesterday that it did look like they wanted to put Mitch in. In fact, he went to the scorers table but they had just gotten into the bonus so they were afraid to do it. So those are, you know, small tweaks. Mikhail Bridges obviously has to be better, but Brunson does need to be better for them to get the final two wins. They need. All right, what else do we have here to monse?
- [43:24]
Damanze
Do we think Cats MVP Finals MVP Case is done?
- [43:29]
Nick Wright
I don't think so at all. Listen, I think that he wasn't by Vegas odds but I thought he was should have been the leading candidate after two games. He had one bad game and so
- [43:41]
Damanze
I don't what's o Case Case? No, it's not in there. But OG
- [43:48]
Nick Wright
he's certainly been so consistent. I don't think I. What is he. I'm looking at.
- [43:56]
Damanze
I mean, I feel he was pretty good in game one, was the only one.
- [44:00]
Nick Wright
Yeah. I mean he had 17 in game one, 17 in game two, 28 in game three. He is doing it on better than 50% from the field on nearly 50% from three. He has been excellent. He's been playing great defense. I don't, you know, I, I think right now it's a weird one because I just said about all of the, you know, finals in the. I'm sorry about all the plus minus of Brunson, but Brunson right now is the favorite to win. The favorite on the Knicks certainly because of the game Cat had again. So Brunson's plus 100, Wimby's plus 155, Cats plus 600 and OG is 40 to 1. Yeah. And so I, I don't think, I think it'll be, it'll probably be Brunson because he's going to like assuming the Knicks win because he's the best player and he's averaging the most points. But I think that, I think cattle bounce back. I just, I think the level of panic that people are trying to foist upon the Knicks because again, the last they had not lost since the first day of the NFL draft. They were a little bit due for a bad game and even in their bad game they had opportunities. Now I will say this, it does feel like a missed opportunity because as I said, I thought at halftime they were going to take full control of the game and instead they gave the lead right back to the Spurs. One more next question before we get to your weekend or your last week.
- [45:47]
Damanze
Does this loss kill any talk about an all time team or all time run?
- [45:52]
Nick Wright
Well, listen, they were, they were on an all time run. It's the second longest postseason winning streak ever. Only the 2017 warriors that won their first 15 games of the playoffs had a longer winning streak. That is in stone. They have all of the margin of victory records for three, game four, game five, game six game. That full sample that is in stone. They still have the best point per game differential of any team in playoff history. That can change obviously depending on how the next few games go. So that's not in stone. So I don't think, I think they have to win the championship for this to be remembered as an all time great run. But it still is an all time great run as of now. I don't people were discussing that if they swept. If they were the first team ever to sweep the final three rounds of the playoffs, does that make them an all time great team? Well, they now will not sweep the final three rounds of the playoffs, so that becomes somewhat moot. All right. Boost Mobile is proving you don't have to overpay for great wireless. Unlock the savings with the $25 a month forever Unlimited plan. It's a permanent price with no contracts and no price hikes. You can keep your phone and your number, but you save up to $600 a year compared to the major carriers. Stop overpaying and switch to a fair price@boostmobile.com today based on average annual single line payment of AT&T Verizon and T Mobile customers compared to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan as of January 2026. For full offer details, visit boost mobile.com
- [47:44]
Jonas Brothers
hey, it's us, the Jonas Brothers. And guess what? We have some big news. What's the news?
- [47:47]
Nick Wright
Huge news.
- [47:48]
Jonas Brothers
We created our own podcast called hey Jonas. We invented a podcast.
- [47:53]
Damanze
Podcast.
- [47:53]
Jonas Brothers
Well, we didn't invent it.
- [47:54]
Damanze
We.
- [47:54]
Jonas Brothers
We just contributed to it. First people to do podcasts. Pretty. Yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts, but this one's extra special. So how did we. How do we actually come up with the name hey Jonas? Guys, I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it and, well, we were thinking, I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes, I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing a bit for the podcast. People could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, hey Jonas. And offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that. Guys, listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Keith Giamanca seemed like a mild mannered suburban dad, but secretly he became someone else, a master of disguise who went on a crime spree. At the time, did it seem like a crazy idea? It seemed very crazy. But I felt so desperate that I felt it was the quickest, easiest way out. Did you allow yourself to think about how it could go wrong and what that might look like? No, I didn't want to manifest that. I was trying to manifest success. Every family has its secrets. But what happens when you discover that your dad has been living a double
- [49:25]
Nick Wright
life that is not the look of an innocent man. This is going to change my life
- [49:31]
Damanze
and my family dynamic forever.
- [49:33]
Nick Wright
Because everything that had existed prior in my reality is now untrue.
- [49:40]
Jonas Brothers
Listen to Deep Cover the Family man on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [49:52]
Michael Rappaport
This is Michael Rapoport and my podcast, the I Am Rappaport Stereo podcast, is unlike any one you've ever heard or a variety show. And if you're looking for strong opinions, funny opinions about sports, entertainment, politics, pop culture and whatever else catches my attention, then subscribe now. This kid, Jafar Jackson is as good as Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. And it's as good as Timothee Shamalay as Bob Dylan. And I say that with love and respect for both of those actors. And I don't know how many Oscar nominations they give out. I don't know if it's 5, 6 for best actor. 150%. This kid, Jafar Jackson should absolutely, positively get nominated for his portrayal as Michael Jackson. Listen to I Am rappaport on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
- [50:46]
Nick Wright
I Am Rappaport podcast. All right, Damanze, I want to set this up and then I'm gonna give it to you. So the reason Damanze was not here last week was because he was in Dallas hanging out with J R Smith. And that wasn't just a social engagement, that was a professional engagement. Here courtesy of Complex and complex bets is what it looked like.
- [51:19]
Damanze
Devonte Bird here with Complex. I got my guy, J.R. smith here, former NBA two time NBA champion, former six man fan of the year. What would an NBA Finals win mean to the city of New York? I mean, you got trampled after round two a game one, round two game. So imagine them winning a final stand.
- [51:35]
Nick Wright
I'll be at all the home games, so if they win one, I'll be right back out on seven.
- [51:39]
Damanze
And what are the differences between the mentality behind being a professional basketball player and a collegiate golfer? It's hard because I feel like basketball just came so naturally.
- [51:47]
Nick Wright
Golf is so much time in between
- [51:49]
Damanze
each shot, so much thinking, so many
- [51:51]
Nick Wright
times, so many, many opportunities to doubt yourself.
- [51:53]
Damanze
And basketball is so fast and it's
- [51:55]
Nick Wright
just very reactionary, if anything.
- [51:57]
Damanze
For me, it just makes my brain sharper, I think. Top three soups, chicken tortilla. I love a good wedding soup and wedding soup. Or chicken noodle. You got chicken noodles out there? Nah, lobster noodles, Lobster bisque I like lobster bisque.
- [52:13]
Nick Wright
Okay, so a lot there. So do you want to, you know, for the first time, reveal to the audience what you're going to be doing with complex bets? Do you want to get into that now? How do you want to approach this?
- [52:34]
Damanze
Yeah, I mean, we could. We could go that. Right? Yeah. I think that it's just a little weird. Well, I think it'll be during football season when it happens, just because of the timing of everything right now.
- [52:44]
Nick Wright
Okay. But at some point. Go ahead.
- [52:46]
Damanze
But, yes, at some point, I will be doing a podcast with complex, mainly focused on bets and, you know, just debating back and forth around that. So kind of like what we do when football season comes around.
- [52:59]
Nick Wright
Yeah, people saw the. Listen, people thought I was joking about the teasers. People. People saw that for a period last year, De Monze was America's, you know, foremost teaser sharp. And all of a sudden, he's got folks trying to scoop him out of the what's right podcast universe. So that's coming up down the road. That's going to be awesome. In the meantime, you know, you just did this with J R Smith. I do want you to walk the. Because that was. You've never done anything like that.
- [53:36]
Damanze
Nothing like it.
- [53:37]
Nick Wright
So what was your level of nerves? What was the prep? Who did you decide on your own you were going to ask the soup question? Did you hear that with anyone? I'm curious about all of this.
- [53:51]
Damanze
So, yeah, I did. I did. They said I could throw that one in at the end if I wanted to. I suggested that question. And, yeah, I was super nervous at every point up until the interview was over. And it was. It was. I'm really glad I did it, though. I just was expecting it to be me, junior cameraman or something. And it was me, JR cameraman, and like, 15, 20 other people behind us. So. And they're just like, yeah, get rolling. We did it and it worked out well. The golf was. I was. I was terrible. As you might assume. You can't go last in your badge.
- [54:28]
Nick Wright
You golf once in your life. You golfed once in your life before. It was with me in Hawaii. We, you know, we had nobody behind. Nobody. Nothing. Correct. We were just out there hacking it away. Had you. Did you tell him you don't golf?
- [54:46]
Damanze
No, no, no, I didn't. I did not tell him. I just. What. What happened was it was pretty obvious that I couldn't golf after my first hole. And so, you know, I. I went last. And then I just got to a point where I realized all right. I'm not going to drive it. I just kept my ball in my back pocket, and once we got to an area where we're about to be putting, I threw my ball down there and I put it.
- [55:07]
Nick Wright
Oh, that's how you did it.
- [55:09]
Damanze
Yes.
- [55:11]
Nick Wright
And was there anyone else you were golfing with that was near JR's caliber?
- [55:18]
Damanze
There was. Al Harrington was there.
- [55:22]
Nick Wright
Hold on. Al Harrington was there?
- [55:24]
Damanze
Yeah. Yeah. And Melvin Gordon.
- [55:29]
Nick Wright
Hold on. This is unbelievable. Hold on. You know what? I'm gonna do something. We've never done this. I'm gonna. Hold on. You know, Al. Al was on my show yesterday, so. Did Al know who you were to me? No.
- [55:46]
Damanze
No. He was on the hurt, too. Yeah.
- [55:49]
Nick Wright
Can I. Okay. Hold on. All right, hold on. I'm gonna FaceTime al real quick because he's not gonna. I can't believe that he was there.
- [55:57]
Damanze
Yeah, no, he was there.
- [55:58]
Nick Wright
He.
- [55:59]
Damanze
He was a really cool dude, too. Oh, my God.
- [56:01]
Nick Wright
He's the best.
- [56:02]
Damanze
Super, super cool guy. Yeah. Hold on.
- [56:05]
Nick Wright
He's gonna. He's gonna freak out. I don't know if he'll answer. Hold on. Ow. Hey, it's Nick. Just so you know, I'm live on my podcast right now, so don't. But I. But I just found something out. So you were golfing this last week with J R Smith? Y. Do you know the. The guy who doesn't know how to golf who was doing the interviews? I'm flipping the camera around. Is my son. He was the one out there with you guys.
- [56:38]
Damanze
What's. What's up, Al?
- [56:40]
Nick Wright
He just told me that. I was like, who all was there? And he's like, well, J.R. smith was there. Al Harrington was there. He's really cool. And I was like, al Harrington was there. I saw him yesterday. I didn't know you guys were out there. That's unbelievable. He was real. I'm quite the golfer. Yeah, you're quite the golfer. You know who's not Daman. He was truly terrible. Correct. Oh, he's not going to kill you all. Are you headed into the studio? All right, I'll see you then. I'll talk to you later. See you, bro. But I can't believe Al Harrington was there. That's so funny. Yeah, the monza keeps it. The monza is the opposite of.
- [57:24]
Jonas Brothers
I don't know how to say this.
- [57:26]
Nick Wright
I'm just gonna say it. Demons. A. Of a. Of someone. The term is nepo, baby. But the op. Like the somebody that does, you know, tries to throw, you know. Do you know who My dad is around to try to gain access. I think one of the. One of my funniest moments. And again, obviously, you know, there are. It's not as if, you know, our relationship hasn't helped him in certain ways along the. Along the road. But I was at. When I. Why was I out there? I was in. I was on the Fox lot. Oh, it was two months ago. It was when I babysat Mila. So that week. So whenever it was NBA all star weekend, that's when it was. It was NBA. So whenever. That was four months ago, however long. What. When did. So it was February of. Or March of 20 of this year. When did you start at Fox?
- [58:27]
Damanze
Like, in person?
- [58:29]
Nick Wright
No, just. When did you start working?
- [58:30]
Damanze
Yeah, I mean, it was probably remote of, like, 22.
- [58:33]
Nick Wright
I want to say 21 or 22. And then the. And you moved out there when you. You've been in.
- [58:42]
Damanze
It was three years.
- [58:44]
Nick Wright
Yeah, I think it's three years. Okay. So Demanz's been working on the Fox studio lot for three years. I was out there in March, and I bumped in to one of the bosses, and I'm not gonna say who. And he's like, oh, what are you doing here? And I was like, oh, you know, visiting my grandbaby and seeing my son. And the. The moral of this story is this person has worked not directly with, but with Demanze in some capacity for the whole time he's been out there and had no. I guess the guy doesn't watch the pod. It kind of hurt my feelings, but had no idea your. Our relationship. So I do give you credit for not, you know, leaning on that, but also this complex thing had nothing to do with me whatsoever. None at all. And it's really cool, and I'm really excited for it. You'll still be here with us. You'll still be doing the Fox job. And, you know, you're gonna be. You're gonna be busy, but it's really, really cool. And I was so excited.
- [59:51]
Damanze
Thank you, Pops.
- [59:52]
Nick Wright
And thank you. And the. No, and I know you were nerd. Like, it was. I know you were nervous at the beginning of that thing.
- [60:02]
Damanze
Yeah.
- [60:02]
Nick Wright
At the. The. With all.
- [60:05]
Damanze
But, hey, you know, even with the. And then even with the flight, man, like, it's like, I'm already nervous, and then this part messes up. It's like, bro, give me.
- [60:13]
Nick Wright
Oh, so the audience doesn't know that. So. Yeah. So don't. Don't Just. Just tell the flight portion of this story.
- [60:22]
Damanze
Yeah. I'm flying into Dallas. And it's, it's storming outside. So the tarmac super wet. So we fly around for an hour in the sky and then they're running out of fuel and they're like, we gotta land and refuel. We land to refuel, sit there for an hour and a half. They gave us the update. Like all the planes that are already in Dallas are priority. Next flight out of here is 6am tomorrow. Oh my.
- [60:47]
Nick Wright
So it was you. They were running out of fuel. They landed in Abilene. Correct. In the middle of Texas, by the way. About a two and a half hour drive from Dallas. Two hours, yes. And Dean's got. Was supposed to be there that night. Has to be for a briefing, dinner.
- [61:06]
Damanze
Yes. To meet Junior and all that.
- [61:08]
Nick Wright
Yeah, exactly. So he has to miss that and then ends up having to catch a ride into to Dallas. But you made it. You won't ever be that nervous again. It all worked out. It's awesome. All right, very cool. Game four Wednesday night, I expect. I think the Knicks will win. If the Knicks don't win, then being anxious is very, very legitimate. I think the Knicks will win. I think. I think they played as. Not as poorly as they can play, but close to as poorly as they can play. And they were right there yesterday. Both of these teams are very good. I think the Knicks right now are better and we didn't spend much time talking about it here today. Wimby off the one day rest. This is the last game that he'll play this postseason with only one day of rest. I wonder if his production dips a bit in game four. It's what I expect. We'll see it and then we'll be talking to you guys about it on Thursday. One other note, I should have said off the top starting on Thursday, man, I should have said this at the beginning of the pod. Bad job by me. Starting on Thursday, until the end of the World cup, our pod, the days we do the pod will stay the same. But this will become. If you watch us live on YouTube, it will bring come to you in the afternoons because starting on Thursday morning will be on the air TV wise from 10am to noon east coast time. First things first, From Thursday until July 15th will be 10:00am to noon every day. So because of that, the POD will shift to the afternoons. But aside from that, everything's the same. The way you don't have to worry about that is to subscribe to the podcast on YouTube, iTunes and Spotify. Apologies for the brief technical difficulties we had preview earlier in the day. I'm going to be on the herd in about 90 minutes. I will see you guys then. Great job, Demanze. Great job. Blued up. Great job Volume. Thank you to Boost and hard rock. Talk to you guys soon. What's right? Number one hits, millions of records sold, awards, sold out tours. You think the Jonas Brothers are satisfied? Nope. It's podcast time. We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Hey Jonas is available now and their first kick guest is a big one, Paul Rudd.
- [63:23]
Jonas Brothers
You know, Steve Carell is a great singer. Didn't he tell you not to audition the Office or something? I told him, whoa. We were filming Anchorman.
- [63:30]
Nick Wright
Clearly I was the idiot.
- [63:31]
Jonas Brothers
Thank God he didn't listen to me, right?
- [63:34]
Nick Wright
Listen to hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [63:39]
Jonas Brothers
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [63:42]
Nick Wright
Guaranteed Human.