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Euphoria and Relief (w/ Ariel Helwani) · Stugotz and Company

0:04
Speaker 1: We have spoken with Ariel Hawani after every Nick's victory
0:08
Speaker 1: here in the NBA Finals. Fortunately they arrived at number
0:11
Speaker 1: four and Ariel's with us right now. Ariel, one of
0:16
Speaker 1: the last thirty six hours are so been like for you,
0:18
Speaker 1: I've been an emotional wreck, as his.
0:20
Speaker 2: Tailor, absolutely positively surreal. I can't think about anything else.
0:27
Speaker 2: I don't want to think about anything else. I can't
0:30
Speaker 2: stop watching it, I can't stop reliving it. I can't
0:34
Speaker 2: stop getting emotional. I used to think all the time,
0:37
Speaker 2: what would it feel like? I finally know what it
0:40
Speaker 2: feels like. And it's more emotional that I thought. I'm
0:46
Speaker 2: somewhat I'm speechless. I'm somewhat embarrassed by how I reacted
0:51
Speaker 2: because I cried so much like a baby, like a
0:55
Speaker 2: baby who was getting beaten up. Like it was part
0:58
Speaker 2: pain and part emotion. And I just, honestly, the word
1:04
Speaker 2: the two words that come to mind is euphoria and relief.
1:09
Speaker 2: I feel a sense of relief. I feel I feel healed.
1:14
Speaker 3: It's just a lot, it's a lot of stuff.
1:19
Speaker 4: Were you emotional with your family?
1:21
Speaker 1: Like put us into the moment when the Knicks actually
1:23
Speaker 1: win the NBA Championship, going back to Saturday night, I
1:27
Speaker 1: was crying in my daughter's arms. What were you doing, Aeriel.
1:32
Speaker 2: Honestly, even hearing you say that, the fact that it's
1:35
Speaker 2: a reality, I always felt like at some point the
1:39
Speaker 2: bad news was coming, the other shoe was going to
1:41
Speaker 2: drop court. And I just can't I can't get enough
1:44
Speaker 2: of the graphics of just looking at it. Twenty twenty
1:46
Speaker 2: six NBA Champions I've spent about three thousand dollars on merch.
1:52
Speaker 2: I went on the Fanatics app and I was just
1:54
Speaker 2: like at the cat at the carte at cart Oh, yeah,
1:56
Speaker 2: I definitely need the snoopy collab NBA cham be ensured, definitely,
2:01
Speaker 2: at the cart at the card at the cart I
2:03
Speaker 2: just can't get enough of it all. You know, it
2:06
Speaker 2: didn't start out great. We couldn't make a shot, but
2:09
Speaker 2: you felt down five, I'll take it down seven, and
2:13
Speaker 2: the third I'll take it. These guys come back and
2:15
Speaker 2: the other guys don't know how to close. And the
2:17
Speaker 2: fact that it was just like this slow trickle at
2:21
Speaker 2: the end and all of a sudden because there was
2:23
Speaker 2: no like the last couple of minutes, as you know,
2:26
Speaker 2: there was no like big emphatic play Josh Hart miss
2:30
Speaker 2: been opened three, that would have been it, but it
2:32
Speaker 2: was just free throw line one of two, free throw
2:35
Speaker 2: line one of two, free throw line, one of two,
2:37
Speaker 2: and so you couldn't quite like say, oh my god.
2:40
Speaker 2: But as they're bringing up the ball, Fox is bringing
2:43
Speaker 2: up the ball there and no timeouts, and he hands
2:45
Speaker 2: it off to the wee Binyama who misses up until
2:48
Speaker 2: that moment, and then I just collapsed and I started
2:51
Speaker 2: crying and I just said, I can't believe it. I
2:54
Speaker 2: can't believe it. I can't believe it. And even the
2:57
Speaker 2: guys like the way they celebrated, like, you know, we've
3:00
Speaker 2: seen emotional celebrations, we've seen elation. Like the first thing
3:06
Speaker 2: Brunson did was just walk over to Mitch Johnson and
3:08
Speaker 2: shake his hand. No one would have you know, no
3:11
Speaker 2: one would have blamed him if he stood up on
3:13
Speaker 2: the scores table or went crazy. It even just kind
3:16
Speaker 2: of it's just like all of it was just surreal, man,
3:18
Speaker 2: it was surreal.
3:19
Speaker 3: Didn't go to bed.
3:20
Speaker 2: Till like four forty five, woke up at six point thirty,
3:23
Speaker 2: jumped out of bed, drove to the nearest store to
3:26
Speaker 2: buy the New York Coast and Daily News so I
3:28
Speaker 2: can have it. Thank god they still had copies, and
3:31
Speaker 2: just the whole day, I've been in this daze. I
3:35
Speaker 2: don't know how to I don't know how to come
3:38
Speaker 2: to terms with the fact that we live in a
3:39
Speaker 2: reality where the Knicks are the NBA champions Ariel.
3:42
Speaker 5: It feels like the moment where all the Knicks fans
3:45
Speaker 5: started to believe that it could happen in Game five
3:49
Speaker 5: was the moment where Jalen Brunson absolutely worked Victor wenbin
3:52
Speaker 5: Yama on the perimeter.
3:54
Speaker 4: Yes, are we at the point where we just.
3:56
Speaker 5: Retired Jalen Brunson's jersey now, like just just just the
4:00
Speaker 5: formalities and put that thing in the rafters.
4:03
Speaker 2: Oh, it's inevitable. Yeah, it's inevitable, Like he do no wrong.
4:08
Speaker 2: I went back and looked at when when when it
4:10
Speaker 2: was first reported that they were signing him in twenty
4:13
Speaker 2: twenty two, I quote tweeted that to my credit and
4:18
Speaker 2: said steal of the century. And I went back and
4:21
Speaker 2: looked at the comments and the replies, and it's just
4:25
Speaker 2: hilarious in the aftermath, like this is why the Knicks
4:28
Speaker 2: will never win. What a stupid play overpaid. He's not
4:32
Speaker 2: a starter, blah blah, and it's just amazing, just a
4:35
Speaker 2: reminder of how dumb social media is, and how everyone
4:39
Speaker 2: you know pretends to be an expert and really knows nothing.
4:42
Speaker 2: I'll never forget that day and waking up and I'm
4:45
Speaker 2: sure you guys saw this as well, waking up and
4:47
Speaker 2: realizing it's June thirteenth and Red Holtzman's number six thirteen,
4:52
Speaker 2: and you know that number is a good luck number
4:55
Speaker 2: for Jewish people.
4:56
Speaker 3: That's the amount of.
4:57
Speaker 2: Good deeds that are in the tour. Like I was,
4:59
Speaker 2: I was looking for all all the signs in the
5:01
Speaker 2: world and for it to culminate with that, like he
5:05
Speaker 2: just he put us on his back forty five points,
5:08
Speaker 2: the rest of the team forty nine. What can you
5:11
Speaker 2: say about this guy?
5:12
Speaker 3: You know?
5:12
Speaker 2: And everyone in foul trouble or not hitting shots whatever.
5:16
Speaker 2: I just looked at my phone very briefly, and I
5:18
Speaker 2: saw there on Good Morning America, like the Knicks are champions. Man,
5:22
Speaker 2: It doesn't it doesn't make sense. It feels like all
5:25
Speaker 2: those other moments, all those other heartbreaking moments, they're like
5:29
Speaker 2: to see you in there, to see Starts there, to
5:31
Speaker 2: see Oakley there, and I know they weren't necessarily together.
5:35
Speaker 2: I wish they would have hugged it out, but like
5:37
Speaker 2: those three guys, to see them there in attendance as well,
5:40
Speaker 2: it just felt like everything is okay. Now we know
5:43
Speaker 2: how the story ends, and now we never have to
5:46
Speaker 2: worry again. And it's just it's such a great feeling.
5:48
Speaker 2: And I know, to other people who are probably not
5:51
Speaker 2: listening to this right now, but the outsiders, like it
5:53
Speaker 2: all sounds so crazy, but it just it runs so
5:56
Speaker 2: deep and it feels so damn good to not have
5:59
Speaker 2: to wonder what would feel like again.
6:01
Speaker 1: Yes, well you tempted it all to go into New
6:04
Speaker 1: York City, to go into Manhattan after the next one
6:06
Speaker 1: the title.
6:08
Speaker 2: I was too emotional and exhausted, but I also wanted
6:12
Speaker 2: to watch everything so, like, you know, like all the interviews,
6:16
Speaker 2: hearing Mike Breen that essay that he did at the end,
6:19
Speaker 2: and flipping back and forth. I was going to MSG
6:21
Speaker 2: and then ESPN and then the local news. I just
6:24
Speaker 2: wanted to take it all in, but rest assured I
6:28
Speaker 2: am going on Thursday, and I don't know what that's
6:30
Speaker 2: going to be, but I just want.
6:32
Speaker 3: To be there.
6:32
Speaker 2: I just want to be there, and I want to
6:34
Speaker 2: experience it with my kids. I think my kids honestly
6:37
Speaker 2: were like shell shocked by my reaction, Like I don't
6:40
Speaker 2: think they've ever seen their dad cry before.
6:43
Speaker 3: And I was crying like I was.
6:45
Speaker 2: Deeping, and you know, because they Yeah, I.
6:50
Speaker 3: Don't know, I don't know.
6:51
Speaker 2: How to put it all into words, but I just
6:53
Speaker 2: I can't believe they did it and the way in
6:55
Speaker 2: which they did it, and yeah, man, and I'm just honestly,
7:00
Speaker 2: you know, there have been some times where you're like
7:02
Speaker 2: the Knicks, the Knicks, the Knicks, you know, like James
7:05
Speaker 2: Dolan and the mistakes and the trades and the signings,
7:09
Speaker 2: and I'm just so proud of how they handled that
7:13
Speaker 2: compared to when Binyama leaving and not shaking their hands
7:16
Speaker 2: like every step of the way. They just they're just
7:20
Speaker 2: such a great team to root for. And and even
7:24
Speaker 2: mister Dolan himself that what he said on the mic,
7:27
Speaker 2: yeah was perfect, Like I'm sorry in New York it
7:29
Speaker 2: took so long, like even that in the moment, this
7:32
Speaker 2: guy who doesn't usually have the right things to say,
7:35
Speaker 2: I felt like he nailed it in that moment as well.
7:37
Speaker 2: It was it was magic. It was everything that we
7:41
Speaker 2: could have dreamed of then more. And you know, it
7:42
Speaker 2: was annoying me all day everyone. I had a whole
7:45
Speaker 2: bunch of people text me or see me during the
7:47
Speaker 2: day like, but don't you want to see them win
7:49
Speaker 2: at MSG? No, I don't want I end this, plead's
7:54
Speaker 2: end this. And I'm so glad that they did.
7:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what I saw at the Mecca. I
7:58
Speaker 1: saw them win game four. That's I'm fine, we'll take
8:01
Speaker 1: the title when we get the title.
8:02
Speaker 4: How's that sound? You know?
8:04
Speaker 2: Absolutely? And then you see Jalen limping after the game
8:07
Speaker 2: because of that thirty play once again from one Minyama
8:10
Speaker 2: the second time he gets away with a flagman, and
8:12
Speaker 2: you see Shammick get injured. And I was thinking to
8:14
Speaker 2: myself this morning, like we'd be in knots right now
8:17
Speaker 2: if we knew that in thirty six hours game six,
8:20
Speaker 2: with a chance to go back to sant An twenty
8:22
Speaker 2: for Game seven, they had to end it. They played
8:24
Speaker 2: like they had to end it, and I'm just I'm
8:27
Speaker 2: so proud of those guys. I'm so happy for them.
8:29
Speaker 2: They all just seem like good dudes, and I'm just
8:32
Speaker 2: so happy that the monkey is off our backs.
8:34
Speaker 1: Ariel I find myself doing crazy things. I'm in Chicago
8:37
Speaker 1: here my daughter graduated from Northwestern. The graduation ceremony was
8:41
Speaker 1: at the United Center. I walked by the Michael Jordan's
8:44
Speaker 1: statue and I spoke to it and I told them, hey, Michael,
8:48
Speaker 1: we're the champions now.
8:49
Speaker 4: And I'm talking the fucking statues. Ariel. I'm just I
8:53
Speaker 4: don't know what to do with myself. I don't know
8:54
Speaker 4: how to act.
8:55
Speaker 1: I don't know how to control my emotions. I find
8:58
Speaker 1: myself just crying. I find myself talking to strangers, and
9:01
Speaker 1: I find myself very angry for some reason because everyone
9:04
Speaker 1: mocked this team for nearly two decades.
9:06
Speaker 3: You know, Oh my god.
9:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's every video, every like essay, every edit, every photo,
9:15
Speaker 2: the ewing stuff really, like, you know, really affects me
9:19
Speaker 2: because of you know, he was my favorite athlete, is
9:21
Speaker 2: my favorite athlete, and it just kind of takes you
9:23
Speaker 2: back to being a kid to get to experience this
9:26
Speaker 2: as a as a father. Now, I'll never forget, like,
9:30
Speaker 2: you know, for down down five, yeh know, down seven
9:34
Speaker 2: or it was the office or whatever it was. And
9:38
Speaker 2: you know, my boys went up fourteen and twelve, and
9:42
Speaker 2: they usually you know they wear there if Kat Brunson,
9:45
Speaker 2: I Annobi and I they have a ewing jersey and
9:48
Speaker 2: another one has a ewing shirt and they came back
9:50
Speaker 2: wearing that for good luck. And I was like, man,
9:53
Speaker 2: this is this is a lot. This is a lot
9:55
Speaker 2: like if you would have told me back when I
9:57
Speaker 2: was their age that I would be able to experience
9:59
Speaker 2: something like And now, knowing how the story ends, I'm
10:02
Speaker 2: so happy that I get to experience it as a father.
10:07
Speaker 2: I'm just so happy they don't understand the pain. They'll
10:10
Speaker 2: never understand the pain. I'm happy they don't have to
10:12
Speaker 2: understand the pain. It's fine, but it's just it's so special.
10:17
Speaker 2: Man's sports. It's it's it's such a unifier. And to
10:20
Speaker 2: see the city come together like that, We've earned it, man,
10:24
Speaker 2: we've earned it. Like even to see the Halliburton stuff
10:26
Speaker 2: from last year and the Miller stuff, like they were
10:29
Speaker 2: no longer that cursed team, We're no longer the chokers,
10:32
Speaker 2: and it just it feels so damn good.
10:35
Speaker 4: You tell your kids you absorbed the pain so they
10:37
Speaker 4: didn't have to.
10:38
Speaker 2: Okay, yes, and I'm happy to do it. I'm knowing
10:42
Speaker 2: now how it all played out.
10:44
Speaker 3: I'm so happy to do it.
10:45
Speaker 2: It just, uh man, I really thought we you know,
10:48
Speaker 2: I thought I'd die before I'd see it, and it
10:50
Speaker 2: would just be a part of our, you know, our identity,
10:53
Speaker 2: that the Nicks are just those those guys that can't
10:56
Speaker 2: get over the hump and or that franchise that has
10:59
Speaker 2: that management, it doesn't draft well, that doesn't trade well,
11:02
Speaker 2: and it's just unbelievable. And every single move that Leon
11:06
Speaker 2: Rose made, this guy who doesn't speak to the press,
11:09
Speaker 2: who's the CDA agent, and every single move was scugnized,
11:13
Speaker 2: every single one, and every single one down to the
11:17
Speaker 2: firing Tips and hiring Mike Brown, every single one paid off,
11:21
Speaker 2: every single one works. It's truly remarkable.
11:25
Speaker 5: Harry, Oh, it's crazy that there's no statue already outside
11:28
Speaker 5: Madison Square Garden with the Knicks history, and you would
11:31
Speaker 5: think that somebody like Clyde Fraser would get one. But
11:34
Speaker 5: if you were to give a statue from this team,
11:38
Speaker 5: hopefully we don't have to choose. Hopefully they just start
11:40
Speaker 5: putting up statues left and right. But if you had
11:42
Speaker 5: to choose a statue between Jalen Brunson or the og Tippin,
11:46
Speaker 5: what would you.
11:47
Speaker 1: Choose so full extension on the og Tippin, Is that
11:49
Speaker 1: what you're saying, Yeah, okay, yeah, what.
11:53
Speaker 2: A beautiful statue that was, just because it looks so
11:56
Speaker 2: I mean, it's surreal. Ultimately, though Jay and changed everything,
12:01
Speaker 2: We're not there if not for him, We're not even
12:04
Speaker 2: in a position to be playing in the NBA Finals,
12:07
Speaker 2: to win the NBA Finals if not for him. He's
12:09
Speaker 2: just he's just such a special human being. And I've
12:13
Speaker 2: said this about him when talking about him, and maybe
12:16
Speaker 2: it's because we saw it in college, but I always
12:18
Speaker 2: just felt like he was going to hold that trophy, like.
12:20
Speaker 3: He just is a winner, and.
12:24
Speaker 2: I was just worried it wouldn't be with us. I
12:25
Speaker 2: said the same about Porzingis too. I don't know why,
12:28
Speaker 2: and it wasn't with us, and uh, I just I
12:32
Speaker 2: felt like the guy just is a winner. He's just
12:34
Speaker 2: a winner. So I never ever thought I would acknowledge
12:38
Speaker 2: that Patrick Ewing wasn't the greatest Nick But I don't
12:40
Speaker 2: know how you can say that now because of what
12:42
Speaker 2: he did, given his size and special shout out to
12:46
Speaker 2: Tyler Murray, the Knicks radio guy that call that he did.
12:49
Speaker 2: Mike Breen was phenomenal Tyler Murray's call. I heard it
12:52
Speaker 2: yesterday where he said, you know a team that found
12:56
Speaker 2: out that no lead is too big and no guard
12:58
Speaker 2: is too small, and I was like, wow, that was beautiful.
13:02
Speaker 2: I had to write to him to tell him that
13:04
Speaker 2: that was just in that moment to say, that's just
13:06
Speaker 2: absolutely beautiful.
13:07
Speaker 5: Yes, Aero, I've been keeping a running list of everything
13:11
Speaker 5: that's made me cry so far since the Knicks won
13:13
Speaker 5: the championship. You mentioned a couple see Patrick Ewing hold
13:17
Speaker 5: the trophy. The the Clyde commercial right after the game ended.
13:22
Speaker 5: It was Alvarado talking about what the city means to him.
13:24
Speaker 2: Yeah.
13:25
Speaker 5: One that hurts me the most that I was crying
13:28
Speaker 5: in a friend's arm after the title. Dante DiVincenzo should
13:32
Speaker 5: have been there.
13:33
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, yeah, you know what, I feel the same.
13:38
Speaker 2: I love Dante. To me, he's up there with Xavier McDaniel,
13:41
Speaker 2: as you know, as the best one year Nick of
13:45
Speaker 2: all time. But you know what, Dante, Dante got us
13:50
Speaker 2: Cat and I don't know if we I don't know
13:52
Speaker 2: if we win without Cat, you know what I mean?
13:54
Speaker 2: So I belonged to if I set was thinking of Dante.
13:57
Speaker 3: In that moment and love the guy and that would
13:59
Speaker 3: do anything to have him back.
14:00
Speaker 2: And I feel humful for him that.
14:02
Speaker 4: He about it.
14:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was not thinking about him. I gotta be
14:07
Speaker 3: honest with you.
14:08
Speaker 2: I was praying that Oakley and Ewing would.
14:10
Speaker 3: Hug and then and then everything would be healed. Yeah.
14:13
Speaker 2: Unfortunately that that didn't happen. Or this stuff with Dolan,
14:17
Speaker 2: that commercial, that Clyde commercial, the way he he voiced
14:20
Speaker 2: it was amazing. And what about that Nike commercial with
14:23
Speaker 2: that kid running. Someone put it beautifully, that commercial was
14:29
Speaker 2: so good, the song was so good in New York
14:31
Speaker 2: state of mind. Billy Joel but put a beautifully why
14:35
Speaker 2: this is so special? The the the Nike commercial that
14:39
Speaker 2: Nike oways does a great job getting that commercial out
14:41
Speaker 2: for the winner in that first commercial break the Nike
14:44
Speaker 2: commercial had the Spurs.
14:45
Speaker 3: One would have been all about women.
14:47
Speaker 2: Yama would have been all about the alien landing and
14:50
Speaker 2: his time starting and all that. This commercial had nothing
14:53
Speaker 2: to do with any singular player. It was about the city.
14:56
Speaker 2: It was about everyone coming together. It was about the
15:00
Speaker 2: surrealness in the euphoria attached to this victory, and it
15:03
Speaker 2: was just perfect. It was bigger than any single player,
15:06
Speaker 2: bigger than any you know, single story or anything. It
15:10
Speaker 2: was just fifty three years of pain. And so those
15:14
Speaker 2: two commercials airing back to back, Walt saying that he
15:17
Speaker 2: had to let go and pass it just it makes
15:19
Speaker 2: me very, very emotional. And man, I'll never forget June
15:24
Speaker 2: thirteenth of twenty twenty six. I'll never forget that day.
15:28
Speaker 1: Taylor thinks this is a victory for all Knicks who
15:31
Speaker 1: played before this New York Nick team. Do you agree
15:35
Speaker 1: this is a championship for every Nick who played before
15:37
Speaker 1: this team.
15:39
Speaker 2: So you know, I saw that thing where it's like
15:41
Speaker 2: this is for this guy, this is for that guy.
15:44
Speaker 3: Look, I have a.
15:45
Speaker 2: Hard time subscribing to that, Like this is like this
15:49
Speaker 2: is for Quincy Acy, Kyle O'Quinn. I mean, sure, you
15:55
Speaker 2: don't know about that, Like I know, that's like the
15:58
Speaker 2: fun thing to do on social media, social media, Like
16:00
Speaker 2: this is for Billy Hernan Gomez, Like okay, cle Anthony Early, Yeah, whatever, No, No,
16:09
Speaker 2: you want to tell me this is for Patrick and
16:11
Speaker 2: John and Charles who bled and sweat and got so
16:15
Speaker 2: freaking close. Yes, because because they have closure, they're still
16:19
Speaker 2: a part of the team.
16:20
Speaker 3: I get it.
16:21
Speaker 2: By one hundred percent get it. But the thing that
16:23
Speaker 2: we like to do on social media and look, those
16:26
Speaker 2: guys are what makes this so great because we had
16:29
Speaker 2: to suffer through those guys. They like I have a
16:32
Speaker 2: weird feeling with the Marbury stuff too, because that era
16:35
Speaker 2: was not a good era. Like I celebrate that it
16:38
Speaker 2: was awful. It was absolutely it was like a dark
16:41
Speaker 2: cloud the idea Thomas to me, it ended when Ewing
16:44
Speaker 2: got traded and then it was you know, thirteen years
16:47
Speaker 2: of misery and mellow who will always have love for
16:50
Speaker 2: And I went to Syracuse and I was there when
16:51
Speaker 2: he won. You know, he got us that Atlantic Division
16:54
Speaker 2: title in twenty thirteen and that one year and twenty
16:56
Speaker 2: thirteen was great, but then it was misery post that
16:58
Speaker 2: as well, and it wasn't all its fault. I'll never
17:00
Speaker 2: blame him till Jackson and all that stuff, but all
17:04
Speaker 2: the praise goes to these, you know, twelve to fifteen
17:07
Speaker 2: guys like I will. You know, this is for Jeremy Sohan.
17:11
Speaker 2: I don't know why he contested that free when we're
17:13
Speaker 2: up four, give me a heart attack. Why are you
17:16
Speaker 2: jumping in that moment? But this is for Mitchell Robinson
17:19
Speaker 2: getting that offensive rebound, the longest tenured nick. This is
17:23
Speaker 2: for This is for Kevin mccullor, because I feel like
17:26
Speaker 2: all those guys did a lot in practice to help
17:29
Speaker 2: us get ready for this. I mean Alvarado, Shammitt, Clarkson,
17:34
Speaker 2: Tyler Kolek. I'll never forget these guys, and I love
17:37
Speaker 2: the idea that no matter what, for the rest of
17:40
Speaker 2: their lives, they will be celebrated, just like we've heard
17:43
Speaker 2: the older generation celebrate everyone from Fraser Willis the Earl
17:48
Speaker 2: to the bus Shirt the Bradley to Phil Jackson who
17:51
Speaker 2: was at the end of the bench in the championship team.
17:54
Speaker 2: So I just can't believe we have now our own
17:57
Speaker 2: version of that.
17:58
Speaker 5: Now that I have Ariel vocalize it, it does sound
18:01
Speaker 5: more crazy that I gave Shane Larkin a title earlier.
18:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, like you wore the jersey, good for you,
18:08
Speaker 2: but you also contributed to the bad years too, uh So, No, no,
18:13
Speaker 2: no hard feelings whatsoever. But I be I mean, I'm
18:16
Speaker 2: not thinking of those guys in the slightest, you know,
18:18
Speaker 2: I'm I'm thinking of those nineties teams because they were
18:21
Speaker 2: so damn close and selfishly and I don't know if
18:25
Speaker 2: this is right or wrong, but like we suffered as
18:28
Speaker 2: a fan base. Those guys came and went and moved
18:30
Speaker 2: on with their lives. We suffered. We stayed with the team.
18:34
Speaker 2: We spent years defending them and watching games and convincing
18:39
Speaker 2: ourselves that Frank Milakina was going to help us, convincing
18:42
Speaker 2: ourselves that Porzingis was going to help us, convincing ourselves
18:45
Speaker 2: that these deals were going to pan out. Courtney Lee
18:47
Speaker 2: and Joe kin Noah and Derek Rose and Kemba Walker,
18:51
Speaker 2: like we we put in the time, and I mean, like,
18:55
Speaker 2: what more can you say about that?
18:56
Speaker 3: Like we when there was.
18:58
Speaker 2: Absolutely nothing, like right now, like our finals is coming
19:03
Speaker 2: up next week with the draft, that that's what we
19:05
Speaker 2: would celebrate or July first, Okay, who are we going
19:08
Speaker 2: to sign? Who's going to give us hope? Who's going
19:11
Speaker 2: to give us you know, like thick back guys through
19:14
Speaker 2: a year ago. Today we're we've just hired we haven't
19:19
Speaker 2: hired Mike Brown yet. Yeah, we're a laughing stock. We're
19:22
Speaker 2: a laughing stock.
19:24
Speaker 4: You guys.
19:24
Speaker 2: No one wants to come to you. And you fired
19:27
Speaker 2: the coach that brought you to Game six at the
19:28
Speaker 2: Eastern Conference Finals, Like, who could have predicted this? You know,
19:32
Speaker 2: in the Hawks series that's been talked about at nauseum.
19:35
Speaker 2: It's so improbable. And yeah, I'll just never forget it.
19:39
Speaker 2: I think, on a bad day, on a cold January,
19:43
Speaker 2: miserable day here on the East Coast, I will just
19:46
Speaker 2: pull up those highlights and relive it and it will instantly.
19:49
Speaker 2: Like the gifts that this will give us forever, the
19:52
Speaker 2: happiness that it will give us is.
19:55
Speaker 3: Immeasurable.
19:56
Speaker 1: All Right, I'll tell you feel bad about what you said.
19:58
Speaker 1: Quincy Ac does not to surfer ring today. I mean,
20:01
Speaker 1: he's right, He's totally right about this. No one's thinking
20:03
Speaker 1: about that.
20:03
Speaker 4: Only you are. I mean, yeah, definitely not. Andrea Barniani, Hella.
20:10
Speaker 1: Do you have any party shots here for one min
20:13
Speaker 1: Yama who hasn't stopped crying?
20:15
Speaker 4: I mean, he decayed.
20:16
Speaker 1: It's so funny how this works throughout the course of
20:19
Speaker 1: a five game series, but it seems like everyone turned
20:21
Speaker 1: on web min Yama and suddenly he went from superstar
20:24
Speaker 1: to cry baby.
20:25
Speaker 4: Do you have any words for Victor webin Yama?
20:29
Speaker 2: Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna lead, Sorry, I'm gonna follow
20:32
Speaker 2: in Jalen's footsteps and take the high road.
20:35
Speaker 1: But yes, yes, yes, you want a title.
20:38
Speaker 4: You don't have to say anything.
20:39
Speaker 2: Yes, exactly. Incredibly disappointing. I understand he's young, and I
20:46
Speaker 2: have no doubt that he's going to be back. I mean,
20:48
Speaker 2: Dylan Harper is going to give me nightmares now until
20:51
Speaker 2: the end of time. What a stud what an absolute
20:54
Speaker 2: outstanding young player. And the rest of their their like
20:58
Speaker 2: castle like, they'll be fine. Those and I think Mick
21:00
Speaker 2: Mitch Johnson will be fine and they'll be fine. But
21:03
Speaker 2: you know, to see whenby coming to the league and
21:06
Speaker 2: have this exuberance and this innocence to him and then
21:10
Speaker 2: it's the you know, playing chess and Washington Square Park
21:13
Speaker 2: and all this stuff, and it's like this guy can
21:14
Speaker 2: do no wrong, and even you know, dethroning the thunder,
21:18
Speaker 2: you know, can do no wrong. And just to see
21:21
Speaker 2: how he sort of didn't meet the moment and showed
21:26
Speaker 2: his true colors at least for now. And you know,
21:29
Speaker 2: the fouls are one thing, but to walk off the
21:31
Speaker 2: court like that when we are congratulating them in victory,
21:36
Speaker 2: I think Speach volumes his his like sort of you know,
21:40
Speaker 2: petulant child behavior and the press conference and saying to
21:44
Speaker 2: the media, see you never, like, what is that all about?
21:47
Speaker 2: Like these guys all they do is praise you and
21:49
Speaker 2: never scrutinize you. So incredibly you know, incredibly disappointing, but
21:57
Speaker 2: you know, nothing that will take away from the victor three.
22:00
Speaker 2: And I love the fact that our guys, you know,
22:02
Speaker 2: didn't you know, take the bait or anything like that.
22:04
Speaker 2: And yeah, imagine if that was the NIXT doing that, like,
22:10
Speaker 2: we would have gotten killed. And and I think that,
22:13
Speaker 2: you know, he's he's earned the right to get get
22:15
Speaker 2: some scrutiny and criticism now and let's see how he responds.
22:18
Speaker 2: But we'll always we'll always have that win over him.
22:21
Speaker 2: And there's nothing that you know, anyone could do to
22:23
Speaker 2: take that away from us.
22:25
Speaker 1: I've been waiting my entire life to be a cocky
22:27
Speaker 1: Nick fan, and so I will ask you this as
22:29
Speaker 1: a cocky Nick fan.
22:30
Speaker 4: Today we're NBA champions. Arel. I'm thinking back to back,
22:33
Speaker 4: what are you thinking, you know, I.
22:37
Speaker 2: Would be going against everything that I said in the
22:39
Speaker 2: build up to this, which was I just want one.
22:42
Speaker 2: I just want one. I just want one. I don't
22:44
Speaker 2: want a dynasty. I don't want anything like that. You
22:47
Speaker 2: know how many things have to break your way, like
22:49
Speaker 2: the thunder in most people's eyes had it in the bag,
22:52
Speaker 2: and and you know, a couple of injuries and now
22:54
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, you're you're rethinking everything, And so
22:58
Speaker 2: would that be great?
22:59
Speaker 3: Yes?
23:00
Speaker 2: Would it hit the same? I don't think so. And
23:02
Speaker 2: would I be upset? I don't think if I could get.
23:06
Speaker 2: The only other thing I want in life now is
23:08
Speaker 2: a sports fan is a Bills super Bowl win. Those
23:10
Speaker 2: are my teams. And if they could figure that out,
23:14
Speaker 2: I don't need multiple I don't need dynasties. I don't
23:17
Speaker 2: need any of that. So one is enough. One is
23:21
Speaker 2: enough for a lifetime. And I will never ever change
23:24
Speaker 2: my stance, and and uh, you know, shame on me
23:28
Speaker 2: if I do, because I feel like this one victory,
23:32
Speaker 2: because of all the pain, is equal to five.
23:35
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, yes, we won five titles of one evening.
23:38
Speaker 1: I guarantee you this, though, if we're in the NBA
23:39
Speaker 1: Finals a year from them and the Knicks are up
23:42
Speaker 1: three one and don't get it done, You're gonna be upset.
23:44
Speaker 4: Okay, I'll be.
23:46
Speaker 2: Upset, but I won't be as upset.
23:48
Speaker 3: Yes, you would have blown it this year.
23:50
Speaker 4: You're right, Yes, You're right. I was terrified.
23:54
Speaker 2: I was terrified of that. I was really terrified of that.
23:57
Speaker 2: I was like, it's going so well. I mean, there
24:01
Speaker 2: was a point in the in the Eastern Conference finals
24:03
Speaker 2: where I was saying, I'll be happy with the finals,
24:06
Speaker 2: birth I just want to see them in the finals.
24:07
Speaker 3: That that was the ceiling.
24:09
Speaker 2: And so to get to this point where you know,
24:13
Speaker 2: all of a sudden we start to believe, and all
24:14
Speaker 2: of a sudden, you know there's a real chance we're
24:16
Speaker 2: up at all this stuff is uh. I don't have
24:21
Speaker 2: the words, and I'll never forget it. And it's it's
24:25
Speaker 2: it's an even better feeling than I thought.
24:26
Speaker 3: It was going to be.
24:27
Speaker 2: And I'm so happy I don't have to wonder anymore.
24:30
Speaker 4: Yeah. So you're gonna go to the parade, right, Taylor's
24:32
Speaker 4: going to the parade. You're taking your kids? Is that right?
24:35
Speaker 3: Hell?
24:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, taking the kids. I don't know what to expect.
24:38
Speaker 2: I've never been to a parade. I'm expecting a total
24:41
Speaker 2: you know, shi show. I don't know if we could
24:44
Speaker 2: swear here, but I just feel like I have to
24:48
Speaker 2: feel it and I have to see it, and it's
24:51
Speaker 2: just a part of the story. I would have done
24:53
Speaker 2: anything to go as a kid, and and now I
24:55
Speaker 2: just I just want to be there. We're probably gonna
24:57
Speaker 2: see them for four seconds if we're lucky, right bias,
25:00
Speaker 2: But it's.
25:01
Speaker 1: Okay, yep, you'll take those four seconds. And you know what,
25:04
Speaker 1: your kids will take the day off from school. Well,
25:06
Speaker 1: I guess school is out, so there is no school.
25:08
Speaker 2: School ads on Wednesday. School is on Wednesday, So I
25:10
Speaker 2: don't know. I was surprised it was Thursday. Usually like
25:14
Speaker 2: it's two days later, three days.
25:15
Speaker 3: I don't know.
25:16
Speaker 2: Maybe it's the planning, who knows. Well, what about the
25:18
Speaker 2: fact that the seventy and seventy three team never got
25:22
Speaker 2: a parade? I guess because the mayor lindsay that it
25:26
Speaker 2: was too much money and what a weird thing. So
25:29
Speaker 2: the fact that this will be the first ever Knicks
25:31
Speaker 2: parade is pretty damn amazing.
25:33
Speaker 4: I think we should make up for it this week
25:35
Speaker 4: with three parades. What do you think I mean?
25:37
Speaker 6: Yes, bring out those guys on tour with us. Bring
25:42
Speaker 6: them all out, man, bring all of them out. They
25:44
Speaker 6: all deserve it to one hundred percent. And I hope
25:47
Speaker 6: you Wing's there and starts in Houston and Oakley.
25:51
Speaker 3: It would be great.
25:52
Speaker 4: Yes, you have been great. We appreciate it.
25:55
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone has been more representative you and
25:58
Speaker 1: Taylor to be honest with you of what Nick fans
26:01
Speaker 1: are going through throughout this title, Ron, and we appreciate
26:04
Speaker 1: you doing it. By the way, the last time you
26:05
Speaker 1: joined us, you were trying to get out of jury duty.
26:07
Speaker 3: Did you?
26:09
Speaker 2: Oh my god, how surreal was that?
26:12
Speaker 3: I mean, I.
26:14
Speaker 2: Need to catch up on some sleep. I feel like
26:16
Speaker 2: this is taking so much out of me. But I'm like, on,
26:19
Speaker 2: I don't know what it was two to three hours sleep,
26:20
Speaker 2: and now I'm sitting in a courtroom for a murder trial.
26:25
Speaker 2: There's a guy being accused of murder in front of me.
26:27
Speaker 2: I'm like, what is this timeline that I'm living in? Luckily,
26:31
Speaker 2: at some point they ask, they say, hey, this thing
26:34
Speaker 2: is going to last until July ninth. Does anyone have
26:36
Speaker 2: any scheduling conflicts? I raised my hand, A bunch of
26:40
Speaker 2: other people did, and they said, you're dismissed.
26:42
Speaker 3: And I was like, holy crap, Wow, it was.
26:44
Speaker 2: That easy, because I was terrified that I'd have to
26:46
Speaker 2: be there till July ninth. So you got Jerry Duty conquered,
26:50
Speaker 2: NBA conquered demons. Exercise life is good.
26:55
Speaker 1: Oh god, you're having a moment. I mean you really are.
26:58
Speaker 1: Got out of Jerry Duty the nixt one of title.
27:00
Speaker 1: What a time for you.
27:02
Speaker 4: Ariel. We appreciate this, man, Thank you for doing it.
27:05
Speaker 1: Check it out on his podcast, The Ariel Hawaii Show
27:08
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts, also on YouTube every day
27:11
Speaker 1: as well.
27:12
Speaker 4: Buddy, this has been fun. Man. I made a friend
27:13
Speaker 4: through this. I love you, dude. Thank you so much
27:15
Speaker 4: for doing Oh.
27:16
Speaker 2: My god, yes, this was therapeutic for me. Thank you
27:19
Speaker 2: so much for reaching out. I'll never forget these chats
27:21
Speaker 2: as well, and I'm happy we got to do it
27:23
Speaker 2: four times rather than less. Really really appreciate it, and
27:27
Speaker 2: I wish you guys nothing but the best. And yeah,
27:30
Speaker 2: we'll always have this and I'll remember being a part
27:33
Speaker 2: of it with you guys. So thank you, guys.
27:35
Speaker 4: Thank you, buddy.
27:35
Speaker 1: He's checking off boxes sports boxes right now, Taylor, and
27:38
Speaker 1: he's so much closer than I am to checking off
27:41
Speaker 1: that final box. He needs the Bills to win a
27:43
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. I need the Jets to win a super Bowl.
27:49
Speaker 3: You gotta believe.
27:50
Speaker 1: I don't believe when it comes to them. I believe
27:52
Speaker 1: in the Bills, I don't believe in the Jets. Thank you, buddy.
27:55
Speaker 1: I appreciate this so much. We'll talk against it. I'm
27:57
Speaker 1: thinking we do this after every win next year, regular season.
28:00
Speaker 4: What do you think.
28:01
Speaker 2: Let's do it.
28:02
Speaker 3: Let's do it yourself. I'm in.
28:05
Speaker 4: All right, man. We'll talk to you soon. Thank you.
28:07
Speaker 4: Take care, guys, all right, enjoy Thursday, buddy,