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00:16Welcome back to another episode of New York Got Game. I'm Dexter Henry. You know the words,
00:21Knicks are NBA champions. And in talking to Knicks fans everywhere this summer, some say
00:26that it's still a sentence that doesn't feel real. And look, I get it. After 53 years of waiting,
00:31this franchise has finally climbed back to the top of the mountain. And now that some time has
00:36passed, we can start to appreciate just how special that this run really was. Now, Jalen Brunson,
00:40he recently revealed that he played through an injured wrist for the final stretch of the playoffs.
00:45So what we're going to do is we're going to go to the film, break down how he was still
00:48able to
00:48dominate on the biggest stage on a new edition of Dexter's clipboard. But first, we're going to take
00:54a look back at the Knicks special run through the eyes of someone who lived just about every chapter
00:58of modern Knicks history. So we're going to talk with somebody who spent 23 seasons covering the
01:03team. We'll chat about what it was like watching the Knicks win their first championship in more
01:08than five decades after leaving the Knicks beat and so much more. It's my former colleague. Some of
01:13you call him BOTP, aka Birmingham Post. The one and only Mark Berman joins New York Got Game. Mark,
01:21what is going on? How are you doing? You are down in Florida now. You can just see by looking
01:26at you
01:26that Florida sun has been treating you well. How's it going, man? Oh, it's great. Yeah, the
01:31sunshine state, the sun never stops. I'm out on the tennis court quite a bit, coaching, playing,
01:38giving lessons. So I'm having a great time. But that June was spectacular. I just enjoyed it
01:46immensely. I never expected it as you may expect from some of my prior tweets. But yeah, just it was
01:55it was marvelous theater. No, it was. Look, when they won, you were among, in the weeks that followed,
02:02you were among one of the first people I thought about. And I said, look, I have to have Mark
02:06on the
02:06show. We did a lot of work together. We covered the Knicks together when there were not a lot of
02:11good
02:11days. So I was like, I have to hear from Mark about this. So let me start here, Mark, because
02:17you spent 23 seasons covering the Knicks, mostly during years when the championship felt, I would
02:23say, impossible. So when that final buzzer sounded in San Antonio, did the former beat reporter in you
02:28react first? Or did you simply get to experience it as somebody who had become emotionally invested
02:33in this franchise now that you no longer covered the team?
02:37Yeah, I will say my beat writing instincts kicked in. And I was, again, in the final couple of minutes,
02:43when it looked like they were going to hang on, I was like shaking, thinking like, oh, my God,
02:49imagine if I was behind the computer having to write this up, what I'd be feeling. And, you know,
02:54I really, you know, thought about the current beat writers and Bonds and Popper, Ian Begley.
03:02Yeah, it was just a lot of emotion for me because 23 seasons and I'm thinking about all the players
03:08and coaches I had covered. I think I covered a dozen or 13 coaches, a few hundred players. I mean,
03:17guys, I was thinking about guys like LeVar Postel, Earl Barron, Ron Baker, Ricky Lede, all these guys I've
03:25written all these stories about. And here they are, you know, two minutes away or a minute away from the
03:31championship breaking the curse. It was very emotional for me. And part of me, it was mixed emotions. Part of
03:39me
03:39wanted to be behind the laptop typing this up for a historic story that would, you know, be forever read.
03:47And
03:48another part of me was like, you know, I'm glad to be sitting here, you know, watching it as a
03:53fan.
03:54And I happened to lay the biggest bet I ever made. I bet my entire balance of my hard rack
04:03app on the game because the Knicks were getting like four points. And I figured there's no way,
04:10like if they lose the game, it's going to be in the last few seconds. Then they're not going to
04:13lose
04:13by more than four points with the championship trophy in the building. So I was also happy to
04:19win a few bucks. Well, now, now you can do that. And now you can enjoy that, that you no
04:24longer
04:24cover the team. You can enjoy and partake in the betting there. So I'm happy that you were able
04:28to win a couple of bucks. So you talked about the emotion. You talked about the emotion there,
04:32Mark, right? That was kind of contrasting for you. Were you relieved, even though part of you
04:37wanted to write about the story, were you relieved that you didn't have to write on deadline and,
04:41you know, not write something there? Or did you feel kind of lost that, you know,
04:46you won't have this byline that from the story that people would read forever, which emotion
04:51ultimately won for you? And let me also ask you this, had you been sitting courtside or wherever
04:56you are in San Antonio, what would have been the opening line of your championship story? What do
05:01you think it would have been? Yeah, it was probably be something very quick and simple, like
05:07the curse is over, you know, very short and simple first sentence. Uh, yeah, again, I wouldn't want
05:15to, I don't think I would have wanted to cover the entire run because I felt badly for those beat
05:22writers. Some of those Knicks comebacks, although they're so thrilling for the fans as a beat writer,
05:28you're like ripping up your entire story. You know, that Cleveland comeback and the San Antonio
05:33historic comeback, uh, it's very difficult to have to rewrite the entire thing because you're
05:40writing, uh, throughout the game. But yeah, for that one night, I probably would have wanted to
05:46be behind the computer and, and see that championship we won, uh, but not the whole
05:52marathon run. And, you know, these beat writers, again, they go from the championship to the championship
05:59parade to free, uh, draft free agency. I think bond bonds went out to Las Vegas for this first part
06:08of
06:08the summer league. Hopefully he's going to get some well-earned time off, but for that one night, I
06:14would have, uh, definitely wanted to be writing up that story. No, as yet, no, bondy was at summer
06:20league. He got back, uh, earlier last week, uh, and it got, got, he's getting so much need to rest.
06:25See that, that is happening, but it is good to know you would have wanted to write that story. And
06:29I'll go to this Mark, because one of the things that I've heard from Knicks fans is that
06:33in the final moments of game five, they thought about their entire fandom. Like every, you just
06:38mentioned some of the players in all the years that you covered with the Knicks as a former beat
06:42reporter for you, you covered so many players. What was the most bizarre story? I know there's a lot,
06:48but if you could pick one, what's the most bizarre story that you covered during your time around the
06:52Knicks? Yeah, it's actually not about a player. If you have to take one of the most bizarre
06:59stories from that horrible James Dolan era, it has to be that Larry Brown saga. When I think for 40
07:08days, because I remember saying 40 days in the wilderness for Larry Brown for 40 days, the Knicks
07:14knew Dolan and Isaiah knew they were going to fire Larry. I think it was 2006 and they made him
07:21still
07:21work, still do pre-draft workouts. And the beat writers, we would be outside the complex in Westchester
07:31on the road, kind of blocking traffic, waiting for Larry to show up because they weren't giving us
07:38access to him. And for a few days, we staked them out on the road and we got him to
07:43come out of the car
07:44as he drove. He was driving by and we stopped him and he came out of the car and talked
07:50about the weird
07:52situation he was in. You know, he wouldn't admit that he was getting fired, but I think he kind of
07:57knew from all the reports out there, but that was probably the craziest of the Dolan era. So, but
08:05there's been a lot of weird stuff. Isaiah took over. I mean, like I said, the amount of coaches I
08:11covered, Fisdale, Harnasek, Mike Miller, Rambus. I mean, it's just incredible when I, and I was
08:18thinking about all those things in the final minute, thinking about all those thousands and
08:24thousands of stories I had written. And then I couldn't write the breaking of the championship
08:29curse.
08:30Oh, I don't, I don't want to say this, but maybe, maybe you had to get away for the beat
08:34for the Knicks to win. Maybe that's what had to happen. Maybe that's what had to happen.
08:37Berman had to get away from the beat for all this to go down. But you're right. There
08:42was so much madness, Mark, that we've seen over the years. And I think for decades, it
08:46felt like every break had gone against the Knicks. But during this postseason run, things
08:51actually started going their way. So when you look at the comebacks that they had, right,
08:56the clutch shots, and then the moments that could have ended differently for a lot of Knicks
09:00fans, do you look at this as a magical Knicks run? Or was it simply a great team repeatedly
09:05creating its own luck during the postseason?
09:09Yeah, I wouldn't say they're a great team. I think they did get a lot of luck. But you'd
09:14rather, my father always said, and my father was a great Knicks fan, unfortunately, did
09:18not last long enough, died four years ago, did not last long enough to see them win another
09:24title. But they got, listen, I thought if they played Oklahoma City, and I tweeted this,
09:31during the Oklahoma City-San Antonio series, I tweeted, Knicks fans need to be rooting for
09:37San Antonio. It's a much better matchup. I think OKC may have taken them. So they got
09:44lucky there. They got Philadelphia coming off of their grueling seven-game series. They
09:50got the Cavaliers off a grueling seven-game series. So they got the matchups they wanted.
09:56You know, they didn't have to face the Celtics who were, you know, would have a lot of revenge
10:02on their minds. But listen, you can't take anything away from the magic they woke. They
10:09got hot at the right time. And that's what Mike Brown had told insiders. I spoke to someone
10:16early in the season when they were struggling. Someone, because once in a while I'll talk to
10:20someone within the Knicks family. And they were struggling. And he said, listen, Mike Brown's
10:25experimenting. He's just figuring out what's going to work best in the playoffs. And he
10:32experimented and experimented and he found out what worked wonderfully. And they just had
10:38this beautiful run after, you know, they got through those early Hawks shaky games. And
10:46it was just, you know, and Brunson, you can't say, doing it with a wrist injury also. I mean,
10:54it's just absolutely remarkable. The problem is that they're going to be able to repeat this
10:59magic. You know, I'm just reading the book, a classic book, The Breaks of the Game, back
11:05from the early 80s by David Havelstram about the Portland Trail Blazers. And it was kind
11:12of humbling to see them win the championship in like 77 and see the dismantling of their
11:19team and how tough it is to repeat. Every player thinks they're the greatest player in
11:24the world. I do think this Knicks team, though, has a lot of character. And I think their mindset
11:30will be in the right place. But the Blazers, they win the championship. It was one and
11:35done. They never got there again. Naturally, Bill Walton's injuries, you know, kind of hurt
11:41also.
11:42Yeah, hurt that team. Bill Walton's getting hurt really hurt that team's chances. They
11:46didn't get back to the finals right until 1992. You didn't see them back in the finals again
11:51there. I want to follow up on something because you mentioned what you, you know, heard talking
11:55to people about Coach Brown and how he experimented. And from afar, I wonder what you thought of
12:01his coaching through the season because I actually really liked it. I found it very refreshing.
12:05I liked the way he experimented with the team. I thought it was very refreshing. I thought
12:08it was something that Knicks needed. Did you look at it the same way? What did you think
12:11of how he coached a team through the regular season and then the results that you obviously
12:15ended up seeing in the playoffs?
12:19Listen, obviously, I was against the firing of Tom Thibodeau. I thought it was an overreaction
12:26and I didn't and Mike Brown was not their first choice. Right. So they get lucky there.
12:31Leon Rose gets lucky there. Jason Kidd was their first choice. And thankfully, you know,
12:36Jason has a lot of his own issues and I'm very happy that he never came to New York. I
12:45Mike turned out to be the right guy at the right time. Listen, could Thibodeau have won
12:52the championship this year? Yes, he could have. They were that Halliburton, you know, lucky
12:59three-pointer at the buzzer turned that conference finals around. The Knicks could have made the
13:05finals a year ago. So Thibodeau could have won the title too. But I think, listen, for the
13:11media, Mike was great. I mean, he's such a great quote. He's so candid, unlike Thibodeau,
13:16who is very close to the vest. But I think he really was the perfect personality for this
13:25group right on the edge of a title. And you have to tip your hat off to Leon and Wes.
13:30Even
13:31though he wasn't their first choice, they made the right move. And, you know, Leon deserved,
13:37you know, he won't win. I guess he didn't win executive of the year this year, but usually you
13:41win it a year later. So maybe he'll one day win executive of the year. He's done an amazing job.
13:48I never expected an agent to be able to come in like this and do it. And he did it.
13:55And I've been
13:57very critical of him. I hate his media policy. I know Dolan influences that media policy, but I think
14:03it's very, very poor that he still hasn't really sat down with the beat writers and spoken to them.
14:09But what he's done and built, built a championship team who plays the right way with great personalities,
14:16just an amazing job by Leon.
14:18Yeah, you got to give him credit for that there too. So you kind of alluded to this because
14:22there were some things that you did not like during this era of Knicks basketball, calling this the
14:27Leon Rose era. You didn't love the OG trade. I remember that you questioned the team, as you just
14:32mentioned, from moving on from Tibbs. And I believe I saw that you had picked the Sixers to beat the
14:37Knicks in six games. So let's begin the official Mark Berman. I was hacked on that one. What'd you
14:42say? You were hacked? I was hacked on that Sixers prediction. Really? No, listen, Embiid. Listen, if LeBron
14:51joins Philadelphia, I still don't believe in Philadelphia. Oh, Embiid is just such a wild
14:57kid. Yeah. Yeah. I was, listen, the Sixers have tremendous momentum. I thought they gave the Knicks
15:03a great run the year before, a great series that they could have won the prior year. But Embiid is
15:10just, he's just one little ailment after another. And sometimes it looks like he's not giving like
15:18a hundred percent. I mean, yeah, the Sixers were a disaster against the Knicks. And if LeBron joins
15:25Philadelphia, I still don't believe in the Sixers dethroning the Knicks. I think if he joins Cleveland,
15:30I think Cleveland will give the Knicks a run for their money. But yeah, so the OG trade,
15:37it was all about him staying healthy. He finally, finally stayed healthy and was terrific. But you
15:45know, RJ and Emmanuel quickly were very good players and who knows if they stayed and the chemistry that
15:52they were building, who knows what would have happened. But yeah, OG will forever be remembered
15:57for that tip. But he was fantastic that whole game. He was hitting quarter threes. He was playing great
16:03defense. There was a block that he's gotten a lot of publicity for, but it wasn't just that tip.
16:07And listen, did he deserve the S before? I mean, it was a poor play by San Antonio because no
16:14one
16:14boxed him out. But the magnitude of that clutch play by OG, I mean, he's got ice in his veins.
16:22He just seems to never get nervous. It was just about his health. And he proved a lot of people
16:29wrong by finally staying healthy. Which of these?
16:33Yeah. Listen, I'm not 100% right on everything I predict. But listen, I started the countdown on my
16:40Twitter after they beat. I had 14. I had a sign, 14 wins to go. If you go on my
16:47Twitter feed, I was
16:48back, you know, with a countdown. So I believe this team had the wherewithal to win it all. I thought
16:55they'd lose in the NBA finals, though, in truth. But I really thought they were going to make the finals.
17:00And the Sixers thing was a bad moment.
17:03That wasn't a good look to pick the Sixers there. Are there any of those takes, whether
17:08it's, you know, the OG, whether it's the Sixers, whether it was, you know, hiring Leon Rose,
17:14are there any ones that you're happiest to have been wrong about that? Did you like, hey,
17:19you're just winning the title? Winning the title?
17:21As long as they won the title, then it'll be good.
17:24Right. Listen, there was a, I think I had a tweet and everyone was in agreement early on in that
17:31Atlanta series. I said, I think they're going to need Giannis to make the final step. And,
17:39and it turned out that they got red hot. Everyone played to their potential, including Carl Anthony
17:45Towns and Bridges had great, great moments. And it turned out they didn't need Giannis. But
17:51early on in that playoffs, you were thinking, wow, they're a very, very good team, but they may need
17:57Giannis to take the next step. Now they don't need Giannis. They don't need LeBron.
18:02Will they repeat? I mean, everyone's going to be gunning for them. It's a different world when
18:07you're the defending champions. Yeah. So, and there's going to be a lot of pressure on them.
18:12And so, and they have to stay healthy. Listen, they stayed healthy. That was another
18:17great, great thing that I didn't ever thought this was a team with great durability. They stayed
18:22healthy. Can they do it next year? You know, we'll see. You never know. Well, here's the thing.
18:28I think a lot of Knicks fans are happy. They don't have to talk about Giannis. They don't have to
18:32talk
18:32about LeBron. Remember the days we're talking about, Hey, is LeBron going to come here? We don't
18:36have to have that conversation, Mark. This is all about, okay, the Knicks have their team. We'll see if
18:40they can defend. We'll get to that in a second. But I want to ask you about Jalen Brunson because
18:43you've called him one of the greatest closers in NBA history. But you've all said you're not
18:48ready to place him above Walt Clyde Frazier as the greatest Knick ever. Now, some younger
18:53Knicks fans have been willing to do that. So, after 45 points we saw in Game 5 in the
18:57Championship clincher, he's got the Finals MVP. In your eyes, what does Brunson still have
19:02to do in order to pass Clyde in your personal rankings?
19:07I mean, obviously, the easy answer is to win another championship. But I will say if he gets
19:12the team to another NBA Finals and is as great as he has been in the last couple of years,
19:19I'd
19:19have to say maybe he is equal, if not better than Walt. Walt won two NBA championships. He was a
19:27great defender. Jalen is a great offensive player. He's still not a good defender. But he's such a
19:35clutch shot maker. It's just, it's really, and I was just reading that SI cover story, Sports
19:42Illustrated. No one reads Sports Illustrated anymore, but he's on the cover. And he had a great quote in
19:49that story. He said that, I'm not afraid to lose. You know, as long as I'm playing the right way,
19:55I'm not afraid to lose. And I thought that when Carmelo Anthony came to the Knicks, he was afraid
20:01to lose. And he did not become that clutch player that he was in Denver. But Jalen says he's a
20:07clutch
20:08player because he's willing to get the ball in the final minutes because he's not nervous about. And it
20:15was a very revealing quote. And yeah, you want the, there's no other NBA player you want with the ball
20:22in the final 20 seconds. Uh, then including Giannis, you know, it's like Giannis, he's not even a good
20:30three point shooter. He's not from 20 feet. He's not even a good shooter. So it's like you want Jalen
20:37who could score at every place on the court from the three point line driving mid range, his, you know,
20:46lefty layups, whatever. He's just, he's got all these great moves. That was my biggest regret in
20:53retiring, never being able to cover that greatness. Cause I thought I'd be covering Carmelo and I
20:58thought that would be a thrill for me. And it turned out he was just a big disappointment. You know,
21:04he just was not a clutch shot maker. You talked about missing out on covering, um, Brunson because
21:10you've had some memorable exchanges with players over the years. Even I remember after you left on
21:15media day, I think it was that media day, the year after you retired, former Nick Mitchell
21:20Robinson, former Nick. Now he said that he missed you, which I was shocked. I was like a player
21:24actually missed Berman here, which play I got to ask you on this championship team would have been
21:30the best match for, let's say the full Mark Berman experience. Who, who do you think would have loved
21:35you covering the team and maybe would have got tired of your questions at first, like Mitch did
21:40sometimes? Yeah. Well, I'm wearing my t-shirt that says relax. I don't know if you could
21:45relax Berman. I can see it. Uh, yeah. Uh, I think Jalen actually, uh, Jalen is a tough nut to
21:54crack
21:55in that locker room. You could either even see, uh, Salters of the network get very frustrated with
22:02Jalen's very, uh, subdued responses. And I think I, I would probably, he would get frustrated with me
22:09trying to dig and try to get something inflammatory. He just will not budge. So I think Jalen and I,
22:17as much as I would have loved covering his clutchness and his greatness, I think in the locker room,
22:23we would have, you know, it could have gotten ugly on a couple of occasions. It's funny because
22:30Rick had, when I told him I was going to about to retire, uh, before that 22 training camp,
22:38he had texted me and said, Oh boy, I was looking forward for you to cover my son. And I
22:44felt bad
22:44about that because I had written so much about Jalen, you know, in the year prior to them signing
22:49him. Cause we all knew how much Leon had wanted that signing. Although everyone else was skeptical,
22:56wondering what Leon was thinking about, including Mark Cuban. But, uh, yeah, I think Jalen would have
23:01been tough and maybe Josh Hart cause Josh Hart seems to be a kind of a guy who's going to
23:07shoot
23:08it right back at you. So if he didn't like one of my questions, I think we would have had
23:11a few,
23:12uh, interesting exchanges. Oh yeah. I think those two for sure. Uh, Brunson's not going to give you
23:17much, but when I'm not saying that you ever asked bad questions cause you didn't, but if you gave
23:22something there, he could come back with a zing, he's going to, he's going to give it to you there
23:27too. So let me ask you this, Mark, do you miss being the Knicks beat writer and covering the team
23:32daily? Or did you just miss what you mentioned earlier in this conversation, just covering the
23:38recent championship moment? Do you miss the whole thing or just you missed not
23:42being able to cover this championship? Yeah, listen, I, I knew I was ready. Uh, you, you know,
23:49when you're it's time and it was time, uh, 23 seasons, uh, so many losing seasons, so much travel,
23:58dealing with the Knicks media policy just breaks you down. Uh, so I was ready, but yeah, for one night
24:05I missed it, but no, I'm enjoying my life here in Florida so much, a lot more than I thought
24:10I would.
24:11I thought I'd miss, uh, it more, to be honest, but those deadlines and the amount of content,
24:18the New York post is an amazing sports section, the best sports section by far in the country.
24:24Bondi is doing a great job. Jared Schwartz is doing a great job. Caro obviously is the best columnist in
24:30the country. Uh, but they want a lot of content and it was tough because the Knicks media policy,
24:36they shut down a lot of attempts by me. Even when I try to talk to, uh, I remember one
24:44frustrating,
24:44I was trying to talk to Obi Toppin's brother who was playing for Kentucky and I had the interview all
24:50set up. And the morning of the interview, the Kentucky PR person said, uh, uh, you know,
24:58Jacob has decided that he can't do the interview. And through research, I found out the Knicks shut
25:03it down. So it was frustrating. So I don't mind dealing with the Knicks PR people. I know things
25:09have changed maybe a little bit. They have a new PR guy. Uh, but Dolan is still there and it
25:16would
25:16be frustrating to still deal with Leon Rose, not talking to the media. So no, I don't, I don't
25:22mean, I listen, I enjoy watching them as a fan. I don't have the package, but I see them on
25:27national
25:27TV, uh, every time they're on almost. And they're going to be on a ton this year. Oh yeah. Uh,
25:35and
25:35you know, also LeBron's new team will be on it a lot. In fact, Silber said he's waiting for that
25:41decision because he needs to set the schedule, but the Knicks are going to be on all the time in
25:46national TV and I can't wait, but no, I I I've enjoyed my, uh, life in Florida too much.
25:52But, uh, and again, I salute those beat writers who were able to, to withstand this entire marathon
25:59season and they're going to remember it for the rest of their lives. Yeah, they are. I was just,
26:04I was just talking to somebody from another outlet about that the other day at an event. And he was
26:08like, man, I'm just, I'm tired from this whole run. And I think it was tiring for a lot of
26:15people.
26:15And I think sometimes fans, Mark, they don't understand the grind that you just laid out,
26:21right? The traveling, the, the late nights to sometimes having a rewrite. If there's a change
26:27in the game, having to do content with me, right? Sometimes we have to do post game stuff.
26:31So that's the fun part of it. That's the only fun part. I appreciate that. I feel like we always
26:37had
26:37fun. It was good. Now you still, you still engage with the Knicks fans. Cause the Knicks fans,
26:42if you don't know, Mark is still active on social media. He just talked about all the stuff he was
26:47tweeting out during this finals run. How do you still enjoy the process of just watching the team
26:53and engaging with the fans without the responsibility of being a journalist? Did you really enjoy that
26:57particularly in this past year during the run? I don't know if I enjoy it because anything I tweet,
27:04the Knicks fans are going to come at me. They think I hate them. They think I'm rooting against them
27:08constantly. So no matter what I tweet, they always take the negative part of it. Uh, so it's sometimes
27:15a little frustrating, but yeah, it keeps me active. I think without Twitter, I'd probably maybe miss it
27:20a little more, not being on the beat, but having, getting a chance to tweet once in a blue moon,
27:26you know, keeps me sort of engaged a little. So I do enjoy it, but listen, the Knicks fans are
27:31amazing.
27:32Uh, even though they, most of them hate me for some reason, uh, they don't hate you. They're a national
27:39story. The Knicks fans are a national story. I think there are fans that think some beat writers and people
27:45that cover the team dislike the team. And do you feel that too? Or why do you think that disconnect
27:51is there?
27:52Cause I think that disconnect really exists. Yeah. Well, Knicks fans, they just want to see everything in a
27:58positive light. And as journalists, we have to look at the negative. Sometimes we can't just,
28:04we're not the public relations department and we're not MSG network. So they watch MSG network and Alan
28:10Hahn and Wally, you know, they're positive, positive, positive. And that's not what the New York
28:17Post is going to be. And, you know, people don't understand. We have to, you know, be very objective
28:24negative and anything negative. They think, Oh, you must hate, but we're just trying to be in the
28:29middle. We're trying to be fair. And yeah, I thought the move to fire Thibodeau was a bad move
28:35at the time. I thought he deserved one more year. And I still believe that Thibodeau could have gotten
28:40them to the finals, but regardless, I do think that, you know, they see MSG network, they see the
28:47positivity. They hear Mike Green and, you know, they expect us to be Mike Green and Alan Hahn and
28:56we're not. Yeah. I do feel that disconnect. And even sometimes on this show where I've been critical
29:02or you analyze things, you talk about things in a certain way, fans will comment. Why are you being
29:07negative? It's like, I'm not being negative. Or, you know, like you said, sometimes you have to talk
29:11about the negative, right? You got to talk about the negative and the positive. Our jobs are to be
29:15fair and balanced and call it down the middle. That's what we're supposed to do. Last thing for
29:20me here, Mark, before I let you go, I've been so appreciative of your time. The Knicks, they now
29:25have to handle a shorter off season, right? You talked about the pressure of being the champions.
29:29They have the loss of Mitchell Robinson. So when you remove the emotion from this run,
29:34do you personally believe that the Knicks will win it again in 2027? And in your eyes,
29:38what's the biggest thing that could stop them from repeating as champions?
29:43Well, a lot will depend on where LeBron goes if he comes to the East. I think Oklahoma City is
29:51going
29:51to be very formidable. I think they could get to the finals again. I think Mitchell Robinson is going
30:00to be a big loss. And by the way, obviously, he's him and McBride were the last two players I
30:06had
30:06covered. So now I'm down to miles. And I felt great for Mitchell because I and Bonds did a great,
30:13great piece. I call him Bonds, by the way, not Bondi. Bonds did a great, great piece on Mitchell's
30:22full career, how he started off as this naive kid from the Louisiana, you know, farm country and
30:30became, you know, an NBA champion. And I was really upset to see him go. And honestly,
30:37when I realized they weren't going to resign him, once Dolan said his thing about the second apron,
30:44I thought back to something Scott Perry told me a few years ago when Scott Perry was the GM.
30:50He had mentioned off the record something about a move that they were considering.
30:54And it felt like a very win just for one year mode. I said, but I don't know if that's
31:00good.
31:01We were just chatting off the record. I said, I don't know. You know, you'll be great for one
31:05year. But then after that, he goes, oh, we're just trying to win one championship. We're just
31:09trying to break the curse. We're just trying to win one one. We're just, you know, one championship
31:15is good. And then when Dolan said that, I'm like, wow, is he trying to repeat? Because why would you
31:21be talking about the second apron so quickly after the title? So I think that Mitchell Robinson
31:29letting him go to Boston is going to be very tough. Drummond is OK. He's not Mitchell. And
31:37he's never been in this type of pressure packed championship situation. Mitchell had the offensive
31:44rebound that essentially won the title in the final minute. I don't know if Drummond's going to be able to
31:50get those key, make those key plays. So the big man situation is an issue, especially if Towns is
31:59hurt, Drummond is hurt. They're very thin. So I think they could get to the NBA finals. But I just
32:06think
32:06OKC is still coming back strong. And I would bet OKC, if I was going to wager again, I would
32:15still bet
32:16OKC to win the the 2027 championship. See, you know, it's going to happen here, Mark. People
32:22are going to hear you say that you wouldn't bet OKC and they're going to say you're hating on the
32:25Knicks. That's what's going to happen. You know, I hope I'm wrong. Yeah, I'm sure you would like
32:31to be wrong again with the Knicks, man. But no, it was fun. I think that, like I said, it
32:38was so fun
32:39for me to think about it for you. And I said, I got to talk to Mark because I know
32:42he enjoyed
32:43watching this from afar without the stress and the deadlines of having to do everything
32:47around the team. I was nice that you were able to enjoy it. We miss you here at the
32:51Post. But I know you do not miss the doing the job and the grind. But we miss you and
32:57all the years you had. So I got to say thank you, man. Thank you for coming on with me
33:00and
33:00talking about some Knicks. And maybe we do it again if the Knicks win another one. We'll
33:05see. Yes, we'll see. Hey, they didn't exceed the second apron. Maybe they repeat. Maybe the
33:09curse is broken and the floodgates open up and the Knicks win a couple of championships.
33:13Who knows? Yeah, I'd be surprised. But it would be great to see a back-to-back. But nothing
33:18will ever top what happened last month. Breaking the curse that first time, it's just, it was
33:24great. My son had flown into town from L.A. and, you know, the week of the final few games
33:31and he was able to experience all the excitement. And that's what I thought of, too, at the final
33:36buzzer. I was hoping he would be safe. Because I didn't know what kind of mayhem
33:39would occur. But the cops were all over the place and did a great job. But thanks so much,
33:44Dexter. Again, I meant that one of the most fun parts of being on the Knicks beat was being
33:50able to come on to your shows across the years. And again, we were talking off the camera about
33:57doing the shows from the court in the, you know, 2007, 2008. And, you know, after games, talking
34:04about 40-point blowout losses. So, I mean, to be at this moment is a treat.
34:10I will say this for the people that don't know. When Mark and I were doing videos this back in
34:1407, 08, there were a lot of times we didn't, he's right, we didn't have a lot of stuff to
34:18talk
34:18about. And oftentimes, Mark, if you remember, we'd be talking about the other team sometimes
34:23or what players are. Could the Knicks then lure this player to come in? That's how dire it was
34:28for the Knicks fans and just even content at that time. So, no, man, I appreciate you. Thank you
34:34again for coming on. And we'll connect again soon, Mark. Thank you so much.
34:38Thanks again, Dexter.
34:41Jalen Brunson's performance during the Knicks championship run was already historic. He won
34:45finals MVP. He averaged more than 32 points per game against San Antonio, all while saving his
34:50best for last as he finished the season by scoring 45 points in the championship clinching game.
34:55But now we know there was another layer to that performance. Brunson recently revealed
34:59that he first felt weakness in his left wrist while shooting free throws during game two of
35:04the Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland. He couldn't identify the exact play that caused it,
35:08but he played through the rest of that series and the entire NBA Finals before eventually
35:12undergoing surgery to repair a tendon issue in his left hand and wrist. Look, everyone is hoping
35:19that Captain Clutch has a speedy recovery, but having this information now only makes his performance
35:25so much more impressive. So how did Brunson continue to control games at the highest level
35:31while dealing with an injury to a shooting hand? Let's go to the clipboard and we're going to start
35:37with number one. The first reason that Brunson can remain effective is that his offense has
35:43never been entirely built around explosive athleticism. He doesn't have to be the fastest
35:48player on the floor. He has to control the speed of possession. And when you watch how Brunson comes
35:55off the screen, he doesn't immediately attack at full speed. He slows down, allows the defender to recover,
36:02and then changes direction as soon as that defender's weight shifts. Now that change of pace creates the
36:08separation. And what you have to take a look with Brunson on plays like this is his feet. Brunson is
36:15almost always under control when he gets to his spot. He can stop quickly, pivot, step through,
36:21or rise into his jumper without needing a large amount of space. And that matters a ton when you're
36:28playing through an injury. Now, while we can't know exactly how much the risk affected him on every
36:34possession, we do know Brunson's foundation, his balance, his footwork, and his ability to change
36:40speed gave him ways to create offense without having to overpower his defender. And we saw that
36:46play out during the Knicks' historic Game 4 combat. Brunson, he got Victor Weminyama on the perimeter,
36:52used the crossover to get the defense moving, and created an open three for O.G. Ananobi. Now,
36:58later, when Wemby switched on to him again, Brunson created enough space to hit a pull-up three
37:04directly over him. He didn't win those possessions with pure speed. He won them by controlling the
37:11defender's timing. And that is what matters here. Now, the second key is the way Brunson creates and
37:17attacks angles. At 6'2", and that's being generous, he has spent his entire NBA career
37:22finding ways to score around longer and more athletic defenders. And that experience became
37:28even more important against the San Antonio defense built around the length of Wemby and
37:33several big perimeter defenders. Now, watch in this video how Brunson gets his shoulder between the ball
37:39and the defender. Once he wins that angle, the defender is no longer guarding the ball. He is chasing
37:45Brunson's body. That allows Brunson to protect his dribble, keep the defender on his back, and decide
37:50whether to finish, stop for a short jumper, or pass to the open man. Now, in these moments,
37:56his body control becomes so important because Brunson doesn't always attack the rim in a straight
38:01line. He uses the defender's positioning against him. He can veer into the defender, create contact,
38:07keep his balance, and then finish from an angle that the shot blocker cannot easily reach. But body
38:12control isn't only about scoring. This also helps him manipulate the entire defense. And in Game 4,
38:20the Knicks, they repeatedly brought the player Wemby was guarding into ball screen actions with
38:25Brunson. Now, San Antonio, they tried switching, pre-switching, and sending additional help to
38:31keep Wemby from being isolated on the perimeter. But the captain, he stayed patient. When the double
38:36came, he didn't force the shot. He moved the ball and allowed the Knicks to attack a defense that was
38:42now scrambling in ways it hadn't before. New York scored 34 points on 23 of those ball screen chances
38:49in Game 4, which was a dramatic improvement from the first three games of the series. Now,
38:55that is the difference between simply being a great scorer and controlling an entire possession.
39:00Brunson used his angles to create his own shots. He also used San Antonio's fear of his scoring
39:06to create shots for everyone else. And then, that brings us to number three. At some point,
39:13all the footwork, the pace, and defender manipulation, they still have to produce a basket,
39:18right? And when the Knicks needed one the most, Brunson, well, he continued to deliver.
39:24In Game 4, with the Knicks trying to complete the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history,
39:30Brunson scored nine points in the fourth quarter. He hit the three that cut San Antonio's lead to one.
39:35And on the final Knicks possession, his gravity pulled both Wemby Nama and De'Aaron Fox toward him,
39:41removing San Antonio's best rim protector from the paint and helping to create the opening for OG
39:47Ananobi's iconic game-winning tip. But, with all that being said, the defining performance
39:53came in Game 5. The Knicks, they trailed 83-73 with less than eight minutes remaining.
39:59Brunson, he then scored the game's next 10 points all by himself. He erased the entire deficit. I'm
40:06going to say that again. He erased the entire deficit all by himself. And with just over one minute
40:14left, he hit that 12-foot jumper that gave the Knicks a 90-88 lead. Brunson finished with 45 points,
40:1929 of them in the second half, and 15 in the fourth quarter as the Knicks then went on to
40:25close out the
40:25championship. And this is what makes the performance so remarkable. It wasn't just that Brunson played
40:31through an injured wrist. It was that he continued to execute the most difficult part of his job,
40:36which is to create quality offense when every defender in the building knew one thing. They
40:42knew that he was going to get the ball. So, the other day, a friend of mine who, for context,
40:48roots for the Sixers, he asked me, how were all these 6'7 and 6'8 guys unable to stop
40:53Brunson
40:53throughout the entire Knicks playoff run? And he was also perplexed as to how Brunson was still able
40:59to cook with an injured wrist. Well, look, the tape doesn't lie when it comes to looking for an
41:05answer. Angles and body control allowed him to protect the ball, manipulate defenders, and control
41:11San Antonio's coverages. Clutch shot making allowed him to turn all of those skills into baskets,
41:17especially when the Knicks needed them the most. Look, the wrist injury adds another chapter to the
41:23legacy of Brunson's championship story. But the bigger lesson isn't simply that he was tough enough
41:29to play through the pain. It's that his game is built on skills that hold up when the stakes rise,
41:35when the defense gets more physical, and also when his body isn't at 100%. Jalen Brunson didn't just
41:41survive the NBA Finals. He controlled them. And that is why he ended the season as a champion
41:47and the NBA Finals MVP. That is going to do it for this episode of New York Got Games. Special
41:55thanks
41:55to my entire team on this one. Producer Erica Block, Editor Eduardo Guerrero, Technical Director
42:00Abdiel Bermudez, and Production Assistants Brandon Kramer and Jessica Thiessen. Fantastic job,
42:06as always, from everyone. I'm Dexter Henry. We'll catch you next time on New York Got Games.
42:13And thanks for watching New York Got Games. Boom shakalaka!
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