Transcript of Dan Will Be Stunned If The Knicks Repeat | Hour 3

Look, between getting up early for the show, watching hockey late at night, and everything else going on, I'm trying to do a better job of taking care of myself, but I'm not trying to take a whole bunch of different supplements every morning. That's why I started using IM8. IM8 Daily Ultimate Essentials combines 16 supplements and 90 ingredients supporting 9 major organ systems into one drink. It was co-founded by David Beckham and developed by leading doctors and researchers. I just got my package and started working it into my morning routine, and that lemon orange flavor is my favorite. That is delicious. So far, I like how simple it is. One drink and I'm not dealing with a cabinet full of bottles, and I'm looking forward to sticking with it. Go to im8health.com/DAN right now and use code DAN for a free welcome kit. That's 5 free travel sachets plus 10% off your order. That's code DAN at im8health.com/DAN. Code DAN at im8health.com/DAN. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

There is nothing casual about football season. You can tell yourself you're just gonna watch one game, and 6 hours later, you're emotionally invested in a 4th quarter between 2 teams you don't even care about. That's what I love about this time of year. The entire weekend becomes football. You're texting friends, tracking games, second-guessing coaches, convincing yourself you saw something before everybody else did. And then Monday comes around and you get to do the whole thing again. Those are the weekends you remember. And for me, some of the best ones have usually involved some good people, a great game, and a cold Miller Lite. No matter what triumphs are in store this season, legendary game days start with Miller Lite. Cold, crisp, refreshing, that clean finish. And it's part of plenty of memorable football weekends. Make game day legendary. Go to millerlite.com/dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. Game time is Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

Against the Spread is presented by DraftKings Sports. DraftKings, the crown is yours. Tony.

We're going to fast forward to Sunday Night Football. Kansas City Chiefs at Seattle. Kansas City getting +2.5 against the defending champions. I think Sam Darnold's gonna be— gonna have a lot of issues with that Kansas City pass rush. It's gonna be the Chiefs' really big first test of the season, but I think they're gonna pass plus getting the points, I wouldn't be surprised if they won outright. But I'm gonna take Kansas City plus the points at 2.5 against Seattle.

Greg, give me that spread. Okay, you can say I'm donning the Homer Cody hat here, I don't care. I like the Dolphins getting 4.5 points at the Jets in a low-scoring game that I don't think will get out of the teens. 4.5 is a big spread. I can see the Dolphins losing by a field goal, but I like them getting 4.5.

Better when he's trying.

The season is still early, but I do believe when you simply watch the first few games of this season and see the difference between Seattle and Kansas City, it is fair to wonder, is the running back that disposable? Is he as disposable? Depends on what you got. It's early. It's early yet, but Seattle looks a little bit different. Sam Darnold— I was fairly shocked to see Seahawks not considering quarterback change. Like, I was fairly shocked to see that headline. And it speaks to what it is I've been telling you when I say CJ Stroud has one interception this year. There is nothing that undoes a quarterback more on if he's throwing for 400 yards than are you someone who turns the ball over? Because we're not playing that way anymore. Like, we simply don't play football in a way anymore that allows the quarterback to have a bunch of turnovers and And Kenneth Walker helps with that. Like, he just— he alleviates. I mean, he was the Super Bowl MVP. He's available super cheap to the Kansas City Chiefs. And the Kansas City Chiefs offense looks totally different now.

They chose Rasheed Shaheed over Kenneth Walker, and that seems to be a mistake. But also, playing devil's advocate, like, Kenneth Walker was plagued by injuries during his time in Seattle and often not as productive for them. Certainly not this productive. Like, he's in the MVP conversation.

And they tried to go cheap on getting Ja'Darian Price in the draft. He hasn't really panned out.

Well, because he's been hurt.

Because he's been hurt, but he hasn't been as efficient as he was running the ball at Notre Dame. So it's like, you try to get a guy who could be under team control for a couple of years, he gets hurt, and you're running out George Helani and Emmanuel Wilson. Not really the plan.

I wouldn't discount the reigning champion after 6 games. I mean, Their 3 losses have been by 2 points, 3 points, and 3 points. They're not getting blown out. They're going to get healthier at running back. I agree Sam Darnold throws too many picks, but that's always been Sam Darnold, and they won it all with him last year.

Already 3 games back in that division. I mean, yes, it is early, but already 3 games back, down 1-0 in the tiebreak against San Francisco. Like the same thing with the Rams, it feels like the division is rapidly getting to be out of reach.

I'm not discounting them. I am, though, saying to you, it's fair It's fairly rare for a Super Bowl MVP at one of the skill positions to leave the team and end up somewhere else. And for the first 6 games of the season, for you to see, oh my God, Kansas City looks different with that guy in their backfield, and Seattle also looks different without that guy in their backfield. I am surprised to see Danny Wood is here, and I don't know if he's surprised. I don't know if he was following his picks this weekend. Were you following your picks, and did you think if you went to an 3. There's no way they're gonna invite me back because I beat Colin Cowherd going 2-3. I've clearly lost with my big chance to show my football knowledge, Danny.

I thought I might have had a chance because I switched the Buffalo pick, but I didn't pay attention and I forgot some of the games I picked anyway.

So that's the kind of— that's what we want. No, that's— no, you don't have to take it seriously. It's what we want. It's the kind of lack of care that we want defeating Colin Cowherd. You went 2-3, he went 1-4, and so congratulations. Yes. Look, Danny is celebrating. He is happy.

Yes.

Yes. I am happy for you. Their Las Vegas residency, the New Kids on the Block, just ended last week. Do you have some time off here?

Do you get a break?

It's tiring, correct? Vegas, everything you guys are putting in physically to what you're doing and then whatever it is you're doing after hours, even though you told us last week you nap during the red zone because you're an old person, it's tiring. Is there some relief involved with the residency being done for a little while? Are you going to miss it?

It's not that tiring. It's 3 shows a week. So it's not— when we're out on tour like a normal tour in arenas. We do 4 or 5 shows a week, so it's not that tiring. The schedule's kind of really cool, so I'm good. But I got the holidays off, and then next year we'll get back to it.

I meant Vegas is tiring.

Nah, because I don't gamble and I don't drink, so why go to Vegas?

Do you like fun?

The money.

Look at me, he's jacked though.

Um, performing every night over 2 hours on stage in front of 5,000, 6,000 people.

His job.

Pretty awesome. Yeah, I guess that's fun. It's more fun with a tank and tonic.

Do any of the guys— Danny, do any of your pals in the group, do they do like— any of them get after it throughout this residency, or is everyone just old and goes to sleep after the show?

We're all old. We celebrated after the first show and every guy reached for nonalcoholic champagne.

So tell me when this happened. I remember we were at a Super Bowl here in Miami and we were talking to like Adam Sandler. It was a group of people. It was like Kevin James, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, and they were all They're saying that when they're in their early 40s, they're like, we don't do Miami. We go to a steakhouse and then go to bed at night. We're not actually doing any of the stuff that is nightlife. When did that stop for you guys?

We've done— we do an annual cruise. We've done like 11 or 12 of them, and those go late. Like, we go out of Miami, and when we come back in on the 4th day, the party's still going as the sun is coming up and the boat's coming back into to dock. So that's the only time we really party. I still don't drink then, but like, we're up till 3, 4 in the morning, so I could still do it if I have to. I just don't want to.

Danny, at your wildest times, you know, when you guys were all young, we're talking like 25, 30 years ago. What, what would, what would a wild night after a show look like for you guys?

Still kind of under control. We were pretty smart as young guys coming out of Boston and we all went to public school. So, you know, we were all pretty street smart. Me and one of the guys, Donnie, used to have like reggae sunsplash parties, and we would card the girls when they would come in. We had a bartender, we had a DJ, and it'd be in a suite at like a hotel, and we'd invite everyone in but under our control. And then that would be the party. So instead of going out to a club and getting into trouble, getting drunk and, you know, ending up in the Enquirer, we did it, you know, privately.

Have you watched any of these boy band documentaries?

A few here and there.

Yes.

I'm not that interested in it because I'm in one, I guess. So it's kind of, eh.

Are you ready to pick games?

Yeah, let's go.

Let's play the music. And now it is time for Celebrity Prognosticator. Let's win some money. He's never heard such good music as our public domain old-timey ragtime crapola music. Patriots at Bears, that's tonight. The Bears are -2.5 at home.

Wednesday Night Football sounds great.

Uh, what do you like there?

Tonight or tomorrow?

It's tomorrow.

Uh, I gotta pick the Patriots always, so Patriots.

Dolphins at Jets, the Jets are -4.5. Who you got?

Can I— do I get a lifeline or something? Like, can I just ask, can you help me with this one?

It's so bad.

Yeah, I'll, I'll give you advice.

here. I will go, uh, Dolphins. They don't win, but they cover. How about that?

I'm gonna go Jets.

All right, good advice.

That is great. Bengals at Ravens, Ravens -2.5. Who you got?

Bengals at Ravens. Who's quarterback for the Ravens?

Who's playing?

We don't know yet.

It's not gonna be Hundley.

Well, I think he's asking if Jackson's gonna be ready to return yet.

Yeah, yeah, that's not a fair That's not fair to call the games.

You know what, he's right about this.

Yeah, we gotta pick another.

He's not wrong. Packers at Lions. Yeah, that was your tonight in the notes. Packers at Lions, Lions -3.5. Who you got?

I'm gonna take the Lions.

Rams at Raiders, Raiders an underdog at home by 4.5. The Rams are favored by 4.5 on the road.

I'm gonna take the Raiders 'cause I took 'em against the Bills. So I'll take the Raiders again to cover.

Yeah, fully in control of that cover. Didn't need a 40-yard backdoor at all.

Chiefs at Seahawks, Seahawks -2.5 at home.

Chiefs at Seahawks.

I'm gonna take the Seahawks 'cause the Chiefs gotta lose eventually.

Fine logic. I like his analysis. He may have been 2-3 last week, but he's gonna pay attention to his picks this week and we are beating Kyle Colin Cowherd up this season. Our celebrity prognosticators have won every week except a couple, so we're doing pretty well here. Uh, Colin Cowherd is 15-13-2 on the season. We're 19-10-1.

Hell yeah!

Uh, let's keep that going. Thank you, Danny. Good seeing you again.

See you, Danny.

Let's go! Yes. Uh, this is very exciting that we are just drubbing so far Colin Cowherd, that we're winning. Uh, Tony, you're laughing at Chris Cody and just his general shame. His, his, his—

He's been bad today.

Well, his chin is between his nipples because he can't keep his head up because of the amount of shame that's on the back of his neck.

I mean, in all honesty, I mean, you know, there's no NFL games tonight.

I should have known that. Yeah, but I was trusting the notes. And that is my—

Deflect.

Don't push that on Dan.

He's not Ron Burgundy. At some point we got to think for ourselves.

You know what? Fair enough. It's totally— it's totally fair criticism. I know that it's not Wednesday Night Football. The— my fatal flaw is that I was in Tampa yesterday celebrating the American League championship. I forgot what day it was.

the banner from a cigar shop.

Football season can make maintaining any routine difficult. You stay up for the late game, grab whatever food is nearby, and promise you'll get back on track tomorrow. Then another game arrives, and suddenly tomorrow means February. But lasting weight loss isn't simply about having more willpower. It's about finding an approach that works with your biology, habits, and lifestyle. Noom is the leading behavior change company, helping people lose weight And keep it off. The Noom GLP-1 program combines weight loss medication with psychology-based support, medical guidance, and personalized tools to help you build healthier habits and work toward lasting results. The Noom GLP-1 program starts at $39, and medication can be delivered to your door in as little as 7 days. Start your GLP-1 journey today at noom.com. That's noom.com.

Noom.

New, Lose for Keeps. Initial 1-month subscription from $39 plus tax and $99 plus tax per month thereafter. Cost of medication not included. Final pricing depends upon program selection.

Going for 2 when you're up by 5. Switching the zone when man isn't working. Oh, and building your new stadium in the state your team actually plays in. In sports, some things just make sense. You know what else makes sense? Drinking Jägermeister shots. Ice cold. Drinking it any other way would be like punting on first down, or letting your worst hitter bat first, or like going for 2 when you're down 3 with a second to go. It wouldn't make any sense. So don't let the team down when it comes to Jägermeister. Drink it cold or don't drink it at all.

Jägermeister.

Damn, that's cold.

Drink responsibly.

Jägermeister liqueur, 35% alcohol by volume, imported by Mast Jägermeister US, White Plains, New York. Down, leviathan!

Can't wait for 39.

Yeah, I can't either. 40 comes first.

Do you know what 40 is yet?

Not yet.

See, what are we doing? Greg, did you just laugh? Did you just laugh out loud at something Lewis said in your ear? Greg Cody!

Yes. I couldn't help it, it was funny.

Yeah, but dear—

Thanks, Lewis.

Yeah, but—

Gagging the goose.

Of course.

Choking the Frog. I mean, there's a million of them. Of course, half of them would sound dirty if we keep doing it.

This is the Dan Levitar Show. The games yesterday in basketball, okay, so you got the Celtics and the Pistons, and I don't know if you guys Struggling to watch how the Celtics play basketball or not, but they'll get up by 20 because they're making their 3s and Paul George is making the jumpers, and then they just squander quickly the 20-point lead because they won't stop shooting 3s.

Like, they stopped, they stopped making their 3s and now they're trailing because the Pistons are on a 23-0 run and they call timeout. And I mean, it's the timeout huddle, Joe Mazzulla's like, hey, listen, uh, we're gonna keep them shooting 3s. That's, that's, that's how we're gonna fit. We'll just keep shooting 3s.

Yeah, but you got to love Paul George scoring 38, though. I mean, we— everyone, including we in this room, were making fun when they signed him, like the ghost of Paul George. Good for him.

Well, but I would say to you and say to everybody, when these guys have an entire offseason to be healthy and look good in Game 1, like, there are no assessments to be made when the sport is breaking its players like this early in the season. It's not what Paul George looks like now. It's after a season of all of this. What is he going to look like when the sport is breaking its young players. That was the least interesting of the 3 games yesterday, Boston against Detroit, even though last year that was the top of the conference. That, that was the best that the conference had last year that was going to compete against OKC and San Antonio. The, the game with the most interest was Philadelphia and New York because New York is raising its banner and because you've got Philadelphia being a storyline team all season for a number of reasons. The criticism of them as well is going to be you cannot trust what you're getting before the workload starts and some of these bodies start breaking. But it'd be hard for the Philadelphia experience to start better than going on the road against the defending champions and taking the game from them late when Brunson is your best closer in the league statistically, and he does nothing in the game, doesn't look, uh, efficient at all.

And you've got LeBron guarding multiple positions, bothering Karl-Anthony Towns enough because he can somehow match up with someone that size playing center for the Sixers.

I think what we saw from LeBron last night is probably what it's going to look like this season. 14 points a game, but 9 rebounds, 7 assists.

Yeah.

Able to do other things. I think that's probably what he's going to be this year.

And I think the most important thing Dan had mentioned earlier was his ability to be a helpside defender. balls get put into the paint, where is he? Okay, he's there all of a sudden. He's not really a great on-ball defender at this point outside of probably guarding bigs. His ability to get quickly to the basket and protect the rim at least a little bit is, is gonna be huge for them.

LeBron had a great 12-point game, a great game. Philadelphia's got to be thrilled with acquiring him based on the opener.

Wasn't it a 14-point game? Didn't you say it was a 14-point game?

It was.

So he had a great— so it was a— for a 14-point game, it was a great 12-point game?

It was a great 12-point game when he scored those extra The extra 2 points, I thought he was showing off.

Okay.

Yeah, it was like Caminero. Yeah, it was too much for you.

It was too much.

Greg Cody was still arguing during the break, I'm okay being alone on this island condemning Caminero for a home run trot, that he was—

White Island.

Wouldn't you like— wouldn't you like, Greg— it's just funny from me, maximum narcissism guy. If I were to come over because you were enjoying yourself and something great you had done for 38 extra seconds, you would be furious with me for saying, you know what, Greg, show some decorum here. Don't enjoy yourself that much. You need to respect the opponent.

Yeah, I think you have to do both, right? Celebration has its limits. I think we would all agree with that. And when the celebration seeps over into disrespecting the game or the opponent, particularly the opponent, I mean, he's all but, but putting up a middle finger to that pitcher and the other players on the team.

Just, just to be curious, outside of sports, Are there any other games of any kind in the history of games that you insist people respect that game? Monopoly? Like, are there any games anywhere other than sports where you would deign to say the absurdity of respect the game?

Why is that absurd?

Because you don't say it about any other games.

I say it about all sports.

I know, but you don't say it about any other games that we play. Any other games that you want to choose from out there The history of people having fun. We don't say respect— you gotta respect—

People get mad over board games like Uno. Anything that's competitive.

Imagine you're at a poker table in a casino and the guy who wins the poker hand starts dancing around the table for 40 seconds. That guy's an asshole! Yeah, and you eat it.

No, I mean decorum is a pretty solid social construct.

I'm not talking about decorum. I'm talking about the need to respect something that is a game. It's fun and games and then you're throwing respect in the middle.

Yeah, what happens when some guy in blackjack starts hitting on something that you don't agree with?

No, wait, that's mathematical stupidities. That's— you're costing me money. No, you're costing me money. It's not you're disrespecting me.

Then don't put it in the game!

It is disrespectful.

It's not disrespectful.

It is disrespectful.

Maybe if they don't like you and so they like the idea that you're losing money.

It's ignorant. It's not disrespectful. It's not knowing some basic math tricks about how to play the game. But can you imagine me saying at a blackjack table to the old lady who's hitting on 16, respect the game, old lady.

In fact, yes, I could.

You don't have to be that aggressive. You just mumble, that's a bad hit.

You can't say that though at the $5 table. $5 table, that's how they're gonna play.

You know, you can ask the dealer. They'll tell you the right move. It's one of those moves.

If I want to split, I'll split. Don't get angry about it.

Roy, I'm never playing blackjack with you.

I just think it's weird that Levitard, who claims to love baseball, his first love in sports, respects the game so little that he not only approves of but really encourages the kind of 40-second home run trot that we just saw.

It's just more fun. It's more personality. It's more entertaining with my entertainment. I'm simply not someone— and you can check the entirety of my career on this— I'm not inconsistent about it. I don't police the fun of others.

You split 8s and aces. That's it.

I'm with Greg on this. You want to watch that chick, go watch the Savannah Bananas.

Thank you. And that's a good analogy. I mean, they're over the top. They're crazy. They're just—

It is a good analogy in that they sell out everywhere they go, and there's never been anything like them in the history of traveling baseball teams.

They're doing back handsprings around the entire bases.

Correct.

So you have an option.

You definitely split more than 8s and aces.

Not if you're a smart blackjack player.

If you're—

if you can play however you would like.

If the dealer is showing a 2, you can split on almost anything.

No.

Dumb.

What you just said? Dumb.

Zaz, you split 10s?

No, no, you don't split 10s.

Okay, making sure.

If the dealer's showing a 2 and I have 6s, I'm splitting.

Savannah Bananas is dummy golf.

I'm telling you, like the book, it says you're incorrect. You can play how— I'm of the belief you can play how you want. The book says 8s and aces.

Who wrote the book?

Listen, the Savannah Bananas did not invade— invent silly ball. Okay, there's a team called the Indianapolis Clowns that have been around for decades. The Harlem Globetrotters invented all that in a different sport. The Savannah Bananas are just repeating what's already been done, probably doing it better and more outlandishly, but it's making a blatant mockery of the game. But that's fine because it's not part of the game.

That's how I view them.

Caminero is part of the game.

I flip through the channels, I'm like, look at these people disrespecting the game.

Well, there's a guy in the infield on stilts.

On stilts.

But people love it.

How does he get the ground ball?

in front of the sport. They don't like it one bit.

I think when Caminero hit that home run, he should have taken 20 seconds to put on stilts and just walked around the diamond on stilts.

You see these field dimensions? It makes no sense. There's one field that they played on, 2 different baseball diamonds at the same time.

What?

Wacky. This is crazy. It's unhinged.

What a great suggestion by Greg Cody. Can you imagine how much more fun it would be and how much angrier Colin Cowherd and Cody would be if, while getting to first base, Yandy Diaz came out and handed Caminero Caminero a couple of stilts so that he could do the rest of the home run trot. So Caminero stopped between home and first. He stops at third to hug his third base coach. And then before getting to home plate, he crosses his arms because he sees Rosarena in the stands. And he was saluting an old teammate who used to do that before he got to home plate. This is an old conversation that we have around here, and it's both generational and cultural. As people get older, they tend to get more conservative. Young people make everything popular. We've been talking about the World Baseball Classic, how much personality it has because the Latin players are allowed to be fluorescent and flamboyant, and then they get sent to spring training and they've got to be more major league and play by rules that are outside of their culture, and they end up playing by those rules.

rules.

But is there a moment where you'd allow that, Greg? Like, you're saying that you— now, you don't care that much about the teams or the players, but is there a moment that you would be okay with that as the home run trot if he did it in a World Series to finish the World Series? Is that then okay, or is that also obnoxious?

Well, it's certainly more acceptable if it's a walk-off. This was far from a walk-off. This was in the middle of the game, and the game got closer after that. But it, you know, look, I—

He finished the game. He finished the game with that home run. He hit a home run off of a pitcher who was brought in to prevent him from hitting anything, and it's a pitcher who had not given up a home run on that splitter. Cade Smith does not allow home runs.

He's—

their closer was brought in the 7th inning to prevent that. Caminero has had a very tough series. He struck out 4 times in one game. He wasn't very good in the series. He, he felt relief.

I see why he was ebullient and should have Look, you have to draw a line everywhere, right? I mean, you don't, but most realistic people do. 38 seconds is ridiculous. If he's doing that same thing, but moving it along, and the home run trot is— what's a long home run trot normally? 17, 20 seconds? If he's doing half of what he did, nobody's complaining. Nobody's talking about it negatively.

It's a crappy thing to do to people that you're competing against. Don't act like you're— like, you would hate that if that's being done to you. Someone's showing you up. It's a human emotion. And there's just a certain decorum that people are held to.

I appreciate somebody else in the room backing me because Mike is exactly right. It's a matter of respect for the opponent.

You know about that golden rule? Splitting 9s is often a good move except when the dealer's up card is a 7, 10, or ace.

Yeah, you said 6s.

Obviously.

You said the last thing to split.

Okay, hold on. Splitting 7s can work well if the dealer's up card is 6 or lower. Lower, obviously.

What is that, dumbblackjack.com?

Gotcha. Hey, you're bad.

You're on dumbblackjack.com, huh?

You think you're only supposed to split on aces or 8s?

Talk to a dealer.

You're wrong.

Internet.

That's why.

It depends what the dealer's up card is.

Too many rules. I just play what I want. If I got a 15 and I want to hit, I'm gonna hit.

This is funny coming from you. Let Caminato do what he wants. Like, what— why are you— you're, you're saying let me do what I want, don't let him do what he wants.

Me, Max?

Please back me up here.

Me Maximum goes against your take on Kevin Harrell.

Me Minimum.

Dan Levitar. Hello, this is not Greg Cody.

Greg Cody.

That kind of thing, and you know it. This is the Dan Levitar Show. So before I got lost in this home run trot again, I was mentioning the 3 basketball games from last night, and, uh, I saw some of you make a face because perhaps you thought that OKC-San Antonio was more interesting than Philadelphia-New York from a storyline perspective.

I think after you see the box score and what happened with Wemby, I, I do think that, like, headed into that game, people were talking about not being the same because of the dynamic between them. But the last thing that we saw was, as Nick pointed out, a guy that started pointing to his head in the NBA Finals and was part of the biggest collapse that we had ever seen on that stage. And he was missing free throws. And I know this is recency and he's a great player and I'm sure he'll figure it out. But now you're wondering, wait, is there, is there something to this? Not that that's who he is. That's an absurd take. I'm not saying Wemby's 1-for-14 guy. But I do think it's fair to question, is Wemby the type of guy that lets things get into his head?

Yes. You should split a pair of 6s against a dealer's up card of 2 through 6. Exactly what I said.

Thanks, Grok.

How—

yes, do you know how hard it is for someone who is 11 feet tall to go 1 for 14?

Well, it's the worst shooting night of his career, and he started 0 for 12. And I want to go back to what it is that I was saying before about how the shame changes you. LeBron, you'll remember, after after the Dallas series that they lost, basically said he became a recluse. He said he looked like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, that he was too ashamed to come out of his house. He was somebody who then got to work on developing more parts of his game so that that shame would not happen again. Let's go back a second to— The San Antonio Spurs lose a Finals that is unlike any we've ever seen in the history of the sport. They're always up late. they always cough it up. Their star player goes from, oh my God, he's the face of the league, he's so young, he's gonna dominate the next 10 years, he's knocked off OKC, the only young challenge to what it is that was threatening him. He gets to the Knicks, and everything falls apart on him and his team at the end. When you hear people in sports all the time say, we're going to learn from this, learning is just, uh, failure in disguise.

Okay, or failure is just learning in disguise, if you'd prefer. These things can produce changed people hardened by circumstance. For Wemby to start the next season against Chet Holmgren, who he owns more than any other player in the league— we all saw it together. Your respect for Chet Holmgren was dissipated by what happened to Chet Holmgren. Holmgren in that series. Chet Holmgren would also be changed by whatever that experience was, being alone with your shame for an entirety of an offseason. For him to come back and keep shooting and keep shooting and not just dunk one when he is that tall and he just keeps shooting and missing, I don't think it's emblematic of much of anything. But it couldn't have started worse for him after what had to be echoing shame throughout his offseason.

Yeah, I mean, Not only that, like coming out saying, I'm not talking to the American media. Like, there's just a lot of stuff that he kind of puts in front of basketball. And Nick Wright said it earlier, hey, you're 7'7, right? You're not KD. You're not one of these— you're not Anthony Edwards. Like, go in, get the ball, and put your, your elbow in somebody's head and dunk it. Like, it's a very easy game.

Is blackjack.com okay for you? 6s or 7s should be split if the dealer's up card is weaker than those.

And now you went from one bad hand to 2 bad hands.

Okay, so I hope you write blackjack.com and you tell them they don't know shit.

Do that. Write blackjack.com and tell them they don't know shit.

I've texted Nick Wright. Okay, we'll see what he says.

You're wasting Nick Wright's time by asking him for blackjack information. He likes me.

Nick will stop whatever he's doing to answer that question though.

Greg, your hair is going straight up. What did you do during the break?

You got a date tonight or something?

Your hair was going straight up in the air. Uh, the, the game though, you guys can talk about OKC and San Antonio all you like. I was surprised by that result because San Antonio is the only team I've seen beat up OKC. Like, I think I, I, we all think San Antonio has advantages against OKC that we saw displayed last year where OKC wasn't losing, getting crushed against anybody. They were the way they were against San Antonio. But to have ring night in New York— have you guys seen those rings? Have you seen, uh, New York is celebrating in a way that's ostentatious, and those rings are really nice. The Philadelphia 76ers end up going into New York and reaffirming my belief that I'd be just as surprised if the Knicks won a second championship as I was at them winning their first. I really would be. Put it on the poll @Le BatardShow. Would you be more surprised by the Knicks winning a second championship than you were about them winning a first? Where are you on this, Sazh?

I would be more surprised with the first than this one. Like, I, I think they're the favorite in the Eastern Conference, so if I think they're the favorite in the Eastern Conference—

According to DraftKings.

Then they— I would have to be more surprised with last year than this year. year.

It's a close call, though, because nobody— I didn't think they were going to win last year. And to repeat, a team that hadn't won in 50 years to repeat championships, I think the odds are way against that.

There are a couple of things happening here that I think have changed the entire way that I look at this sport. It used to be that if the champion won, I expected the champion to get back. But because the last 8 years we've got new champions and because they've distorted the way basketball is played, it's not just the injuries, it's the number of 3s being taken make it so that you get random ball where the Indiana Pacers just start making a bunch of 3s and they knock out the Knicks the year before.

Well, here's the thing though, like obviously there have been 8 straight unique champions going back to 2019, but most of the— I would say all of these champions from 2020 on, so we're talking Lakers, Bucks, Warriors, Nuggets, and Thunder, uh, Celtics— wouldn't we have thought that all of those teams were going to repeat. You're essentially saying that the Knicks, this year's champion, are the first of this group that you don't expect to repeat.

I'd be stunned if the Knicks won the championship again, and I was plenty stunned last year. It's an amazing thing for me to say given that their postseason run is as overwhelming as any I've ever seen in the history of the sport. Like, it's not just that they were good, and it's not just that they were healthy at exactly the right time and they got a lot They earned that championship by being better than everyone else by a good distance in the playoffs and among the best things we've ever seen in the playoffs. And if they repeated, I would be stunned.

Well, now you will. You are going to get stone cold stunned if they repeat.

Boom.

You just said it.

You agree? Yeah, I have no problem. I have no problem with the idea of that because they last year to me felt like an enormous surprise. We'll revisit this moment. And, uh, the East has gotten a good deal better than it was last year. There, there's a lot more competition in the East, uh, and I, I would say Detroit being among it, because Detroit 2 years ago came very close to knocking off the Knicks. Indiana did knock off the Knicks. And I, I mentioned this earlier in the week, have you seen where Halliburton was shooting from all preseason? He's, he's now in Lillard, Steph Curry territory. of, I'm lining it up even further than where it is I used to shoot from.

But you would agree it's going to be harder for San Antonio or Oklahoma City to get to the Finals than the Knicks, right?

Because they have to go through each other.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah, that's why I wouldn't be as stunned if the Knicks made it.

But I also—

Would you be stunned though?

But I also expect both of those teams to be better because of how young they were and all the learning involved with being that kind of young. Look, man, in the history of the sport, there's never been a champion other than Isiah Thomas who does what Jalen Brunson did, where you're going for 40 5 in a closing game, and you're clearly better than everyone that you're playing against because San Antonio wasn't ready in a way that we've never seen before in the sport, where you're always leading late and you simply don't know how to finish with double-digit leads.

Uh, I'll admit that, uh, the Knicks championship didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. I was actually happy for their fans. I didn't hate it.

It didn't bother me.

It didn't bother me. I was surprised by that.

It was good for the league.

Last night bothered me enough. Can Ben Stiller wrap this thing up so I can not watch it? I'm— the only thing I'd rather watch less than this Ben Stiller documentary shot on his iPhone is baseball.

And Ben Stiller with that schmedium shirt.

Like, we got it, dude. Yeah, all right, peptide plan.

Let me know.

I want in on this game though. I will be stunned if Minnesota wins it all. If they win it all, you can get me stunned.

I'll be stunned if the Wizards win it all. Oh, I don't know.

I can't do that.

What do I want to get stunned?

this year.

Everyone pick your stun team. Dan's is the Knicks, mine's the T-Wolves.

Wizards here.

New Orleans.

Jazz.

You guys—

Kings.

No, you guys are not—

Big Ben Simmons injury, I feel good about your chances.

Go out on a limb.

I'll take the Raptors.

Clippers.

I don't like—

Dan, these are cowards. We work with cowards.

You wanted to play the game.

Miami Heat.

Good game, Chris.

Do you have another game? Do you have a different game that you'd like to play?

Give me a different game that you'd like to I would like to play a new game called Guess Who Deion Sanders Is Talking About. All right, we're going to play a clip here. Let me get the video team a second to gather it. All right, I don't want to— if you know the Colorado schedule, you might know who he's talking about here. He's talking about a coach. The team they're playing this year, he's talking about a former coach of theirs. And I just want you to listen to this clip, and then I want you to guess who he's talking about.

First year in Replacing a darn legend. Like, oh my God, if this gets back to Coach— I love you, appreciate you. You not were, you are still the man. And anytime you want to fish, let me know. He's unbelievable, the run that he had and, uh, the man that he is.

Who's he talking about? Any guesses? Think about Colorado. He's talking about Mike Gunnarsson. What a weird thing to say about Mike Gundy.

I mean, what—

I didn't even get a chance to guess.

No one was getting there.

I mean, you could have given me till the rest of the time.

I heard him talking about it. I'm like, Mike, like, stand-up gentleman.

Legend.

Mike, he had a nice career. He did the I'm 40 thing. It really should have just been, hey, Mike Gundy, the I'm 40 guy.

Stand-up guy.

Mike Van Gundy.

Just an odd praise. It's a fun game.

What do we have to stop?

You've been too hard on Greg. Yeah, I thought we pulled out of the— Mike Van Gundy is what he gave us.

Mike Van Gundy is what he gave us.

Mike Connors came in, fixed things. He's having a good show.

Yes.

Teeing off on Greg. I don't like it.

The legend Mike Van Gundy, whose punctuation on his career was so bad that they replaced 91 of his players this year.

Look, between getting up early for the show, watching hockey late at night, and everything else going on, I'm trying to do a better job of taking care of myself, but I'm not trying to take a whole bunch of different supplements every morning. That's why I started using IM8. IM8 Daily Ultimate Essentials combines 16 supplements and 90 ingredients supporting 9 major organ systems into one drink. It was co-founded by David Beckham and developed by leading doctors and researchers. I'm not a doctor. I just got my package and started working it into my morning routine, and that lemon orange flavor is my favorite. That is delicious. So far, I like how simple it is. One drink and I'm not dealing with a cabinet full of bottles, and I'm looking forward to sticking with it. Go to im8health.com/DAN right now and use code DAN for a free welcome kit. That's 5 free travel sachets plus 10% off your order. That's code DAN at im8health.com. I am 8 health. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.