But I think it is going to be a Boozer Wilson race for the most part.

Jacoby, who do you have? Yeah, I have Wilson because of the opportunity.

I think Peterson, DeMansa, I don't know who's going to be the best player, but I think Wilson's going to have an opportunity to put up more shots, and he's going to be on everyone's algorithm because he's going to have a fancy dunk or a great block or hit four threes.

I just think that Wilson's going to jump off the television into your living room more than Boozer or DeMansa or Peterson.

I think that...

He's also going to put up the numbers because they're going to get to 100 points somehow.

And I can see the other guys just not getting the opportunity to do it.

What two teams do you see making it to the end?

I could send something.

Not accepting it.

He must have gotten too many since that story came out, so I'll just say it to the microphone on Game Over.

Rich, it's time for LeBron to pass the torch.

It's time for LeBron to be happy, play for a championship team, find joy in basketball, and pass the torch.

There's only one place that he can do that, Rich.

San Antonio with the Spurs.

I agree.

I had a couple of moments when I thought in the fourth quarter even that the Spurs had a lead, "Oh my God, are, are the Knicks gonna do this and go up 3-0, and it really is gonna be a party?" Did you have moments where you thought the Knicks were gonna pull the game out?

You've actually already mentioned it.

It was that Wembanyama possession, I think it was over a minute, with Cast- before Castle hit the three.

That possession, like, wasn't going anywhere.

It kind of, kind of felt like he just wanted to, like, dribble out the shot clock and just, like, take 24 seconds off the clock and not even attempt to shot at the basket.

They didn't have...

No one was moving.

Like, they're the guys who it always seems to come back to them.

Pick by pick

... like, this, you know, Jacoby the TV producer, I've gotta put my producer hat on here.

Like, this is now a television event.

Instead of, like, them doing it in some back room and then, like, a host reading it.

That, to me, is the biggest thing, is like, it'll be a really fun thing to watch franchises change, like, right there in the moment, instead of, like...

It is a little stale when, like, Ersan Yurtseven has it in a briefcase or whatever, and it's, like, in this secret room.

I, I like the idea that it's going to happen live on television.

They, they did win 40 years ago, though

What was the exchange exactly for those comeback wins?" Jacoby, do you, do you believe in the sell your soul theory, the Haliburton shot going up in the air? Like, do you, do you think the karmic forces have to, like, balance each other out?

Um, I have good news and bad news for Derek.

Um, the bad news is absolutely yes.

I mean, like, absolutely yes.

The shingles thing and the weight thing because of the medication, and they tr- this big trade for Zubac, who was, like, great two years ago, but this year Clipper Zubac was not, like, tearing it up.

And then lose the pick.

But the good news for Derek is he'll be the super fan representing the Pacers at next year's draft lottery.

That's what I said.

his

alley.

Literally, this guy, our boss, has an idiot's guide to the gold club investigation, and it is the first hit on Google.

I'm not gonna tell you all about this, but I will say there were four Knicks involved, and just walk with me through this.

Allegedly, there were some owners of a strip club in Atlanta that had some mafia ties, and they were charged by prosecutors for all the mafia shit that you think that someone who owned a strip club would get charged for.

Four Knicks were involved, right? Larry Johnson, allegedly something happened in the club.

Okay, John Starks, allegedly something happened in the club.

Yeah, Bill just texted me and he was like, stop.

Who do you got, Jacoby?

So this is...

This one is, is less sort of, uh, how do I explain? It's not like a star player.

This person's not a first-time All-Star.

But I love seeing Keon Ellis in this Cleveland environment.

Like I- obviously dead at Harden, dead at Schroder, but I've always liked Keon Ellis in Sacramento, and Sacramento was, has, you know, for years and years and years just made head-scratching decisions.

But having Keon Ellis come to the Cavs and doing what he does, it's only been 12 games, but he's playing 23 minutes a game, six more than he did with Sacramento this year.

[laughs]

By the way, it got three days of traction

... over and over and over again.

I was like, "This is not gonna work." But one of my favorite hypothetical scenarios in this, um, hypothetical game is the white team jumps out to, like, a 10-point lead in the first three minutes.

Black team calls a timeout, and in that huddle, the discussion that black team has is just to be a fly on the wall to listen to that.

And I think if you have a, a Caucasian head coach, you don't get that same conversation.

Counterpoint is the ceiling's still high.

Well, it's not only that.

It is, uh, his style of play.

Yeah.

You were just talking about, like, it was, uh, I think it was, I think it was the...

Uh, I can't remember if it was the bubble year or the year after the bubble.

But you were talking during the playoffs, around this time of year, uh, just about like, "Hey man, with these windows, like, you think you got a chance next year, but, like, you really don't." Like, this, like, uh, sometimes it's a six-month window, sometimes it's a two-year window.

And I think that this injury and this moment is just a, a good example of that.

The Celtics are favorites to win the East, if not the championship.

They're, they're, uh, the what, number two seed, but we all, like, secretly know that they're the be- this, uh, the best team in the Eastern Conference.

To show people that they were there, yeah.