00:00Yesterday, of course, we wake up to the New York Knickerbockers as the Emirates Cup champions
00:06and coming home with a trophy for Friday night's game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
00:13But then there's a little side story, too, that's not very good.
00:17You know, people forgot there's a game tonight against the Indiana Pacers in Indiana,
00:23and all the Pacers are trying to get the number one seed and picking the draft for next year.
00:28The Knicks did something that I hate, I hate, I hate, I hate about basketball.
00:33So they win the championship.
00:35Every Knick fan's riding high, right?
00:37Coming home, no banner, but a big celebration.
00:41The trophy, thumb and asses, the whole thing, right?
00:44Yeah.
00:45And then the Knicks announced yesterday into this morning that pretty much the entire starting lineup
00:51and Mitchell Robinson are doubtful for tonight's game against the Indiana Pacers.
00:57Hangover.
00:58I blame the NBA for this.
00:59I do not blame my beloved Knicks.
01:01The Knicks have done nothing wrong here.
01:02This is not load management.
01:04This is called celebration management.
01:07Uh-huh.
01:07This is a franchise that hasn't won a damn thing since 1973.
01:13This is a franchise and a fan base that is desperate for something to celebrate.
01:19So the Knicks win the Emirates Cup, the in-season tournament.
01:23I'm thrilled about it.
01:24Everyone's happy about it.
01:25Celebration on Friday.
01:27In Vegas.
01:27In Vegas, yes.
01:28Just say we're going to.
01:29The NBA has to.
01:31If the NBA.
01:32Let me stop for a second and gather my thoughts here because it's very important I say this,
01:35all right?
01:36Because this is not a Knick thing.
01:38This is not a Leon Rose thing.
01:40This is not a James Dolan thing.
01:42This is not a Mike Brown thing.
01:44This is not a of the four guys that were announced may not play.
01:47It's not a them thing either.
01:49This is an Adam Silver thing.
01:51This is an NBA thing.
01:53If you want people, because not everyone has bought in yet, to this amazing, awesome, second
02:00to none, second to none, very important legacy building in-season tournament.
02:06If you want the majority of basketball fans to buy into this being special, and that's
02:15what the NBA wants, it's never going away.
02:19As long as Emirates keeps writing that check, it is not going away.
02:23And us as Knick fans, we're loving it.
02:25We're celebrating it because it's a championship, something we've not won since 73, and it's
02:30not the same, obviously, but it's still a championship, right?
02:33If you want people that are on the fence or against it to take it seriously, then you have
02:40to treat it seriously.
02:42And what I mean by that is the two teams that make it into the final game, so in this case,
02:48the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks, you have to understand that if you want them
02:55to treat it specially, you have to allow them to treat it special.
02:59Meaning, when you win the championship on a Tuesday night in Las Vegas, it's hookers,
03:08it's coke, it's marijuana, it's Hennessy, it's Grand Marnier, it's popping bottles, it's
03:17doing debauchery-type things.
03:19Yeah.
03:20Meaning, the two teams, I don't care who they are for their part.
03:24Yeah, whoever it is.
03:25For all time, when the game is on Tuesday, neither one of those teams should have a game
03:32till that earliest Friday.
03:34Yeah.
03:35I would prefer Saturday, because if you want us to treat it special, then you want the
03:41players to treat it special.
03:43And what I know about professional athletes winning a special championship is the celebration
03:51that happens immediately afterwards, and especially in Las Vegas.
Comments