[00:00:03] Speaker A: The following program is brought to you.
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[00:00:13] Speaker A: The Daily Gazette Company presents the parting Shots podcast.
[00:00:18] Speaker C: Now here's your host, Daily Gazette sports editor Ken shot.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Thank you, Scott Gizzi, and welcome to the Parting Shots podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me running Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. It's going to be a busy week for us here at the Daily Gazette with the Belmont Steaks Festival at Saratoga starting on Thursday. We've been preparing for that. And of course, if you read Sunday's paper, we gave you the lowdown, everything. We're going to have some podcast interviews later this week, previewing the Belmont Stakes with our gazettes Mike McAdam and Fox Sports Richard McGliori. We'll talk to him later this week, and we'll also preview, hopefully, the NHL Stanley cup finals with Pierre McGuire. In the meantime, on Monday, I taped an interview. Our usual NBA roundtable with Mark Ketches are the voice of the NBA on ESPN radio and gilded high school grad and also a member of the Capitol region, Tim Reynolds. He covers the MBA for the Associated Press and the turned out to be a long and enjoyable interview. So we're going to, we're going to take this as a separate podcast for that, some great commentary on the NBA Finals coming up between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. The NBA Finals get underway Thursday at the TD Garden in Boston. So we discussed that. We also talked, we talked some other sports as well. Of course. We also got, I also got the thoughts of Mark and Tim on the passing of Bill Walton last Monday. So coming up, Mark Keshischer and Tim Reynolds talk the NBA Finals. You're listening to the party shot podcast.
[00:01:59] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Rick Marshall from the Daily Gazette's martial arts podcast. In each episode, I interview artists from around the region, from musicians and comedians to dancers, sculptors, even video game designers. After you finish the latest episode of the parting Shots podcast, I hope you'll give martial arts a try.
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[00:02:31] Speaker C: Hi, this is Daily Gazette reporter Indiana Nash. You're listening to the parting shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: Welcome back to welcome to the podcast the NBA Finals tip off Thursday night when the Boston Celtics take on the Dallas Mavericks game one at the TD Garden in Boston. And it's our annual NBA roundtable to preview the NBA Finals. And Mark Kester, who calls, will call the games on ESPN radio, will be his here and all, along with Tim Reynolds, who covers the NBA for the Associated Press. But I'm wondering, Tim, do you remember what a basketball looks like? You've been covering the Florida Panthers lately.
[00:03:08] Speaker C: It's the thing that bounces. I think it is. It's going to be a very hectic couple of weeks. Here. I am heading to Boston, back to Florida for games one and two, then off to Dallas for games three and four.
And I'm not making any plans past game four of the NBA files just because I don't know how I'm going to handle all this.
[00:03:40] Speaker A: But it's a.
[00:03:41] Speaker C: It is an incredible problem to have. It's so much fun right now. It's going to be a great Boston Dallas series and to have Connor McDavid and the Florida Panthers playing for a cup.
Yeah, I'm a pretty lucky boy here the next couple of weeks.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: Dallas Stars could have made life easier for you if they had not gotten eliminated. Sunday night may play game seven and Dallas would be in the final there, too. That could have been easier.
[00:04:09] Speaker C: It would have been. It would have been.
I don't think, they'll never say it, but had it been Rangers stars, the logistics in Dallas for the leagues would not have been pleasant. When it comes to shared space and arenas and practice facilities and schedules and media schedules, I will. I'm going to just pretend that Adam Silver and Gary Bettman sent each other a virtual high five when they avoided that problem.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: I know PJ was looking forward to having Sean McDonough and all the crossover of talent on ABC. I know Al Rosenberg, who nobody knows, but our great engineer has been a fabulous radio engineer for Super Bowls and NBA finals and World Series.
Could not have wanted the Dallas Stars to be out soon enough because of all the rip down that would have happened. Now his luck, I think there is a concert in between games one and two in Boston. So here he is. He was paying attention to Dallas all this time, like, dude, you got to rip out.
[00:05:14] Speaker B: Anyway, before we start talking, hang on, Ken.
[00:05:18] Speaker C: Ken, let me just say this just so everyone knows.
Everyone thinks the media has agendas about teams.
We don't care. I can speak for Christie on this. We truly do not care who wins. It's about flights and hotels and how we're going to be less inconvenienced. That's all we ever root. We root for the best possible travel scenarios only. That's all we ever root for at this point in our careers.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: That's right. American Airlines direct to Dallas or five stops and a spirit in the velo somehow to get to Edmonton. You figure it out.
[00:05:54] Speaker B: Before we go any further, Tim, we have to congratulate you. You're going to be inducted into the New York State Basketball hall of Fame.
[00:06:02] Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you. I am.
It's been a few weeks since I found out, and it's still, it's still very, it's incredibly humbling and it was so unexpected and it's not deserved. There's a billion people who should go in before me. I am extremely appreciative.
[00:06:27] Speaker A: But it's, uh.
[00:06:31] Speaker C: I, we're not, we're not pretty boys like Mark Kester shirt. You know, we type for a living. We type.
It's very flattering. Thank you. I'm really honored. It was such a nice, it was a nice moment when Rennie Larue from the, from the state hall of Fame called to tell me, and I, I can't believe it, but I'll take it. I'll take it. I don't deserve it, but I'll take it.
[00:07:01] Speaker A: I get that perspective. But from our side, you see a guy who can cover every sport, who does cover every sport, who seemingly can cover two stories a day, every day for seven days a week, and to put out that volume of work and at such a high level, it makes total sense to the rest of us. I get it from your perspective, because you're in the middle of this little hurricane of life, but what you do is amazing. So congratulations, Tim.
[00:07:30] Speaker C: Thank you, Mark. I use AI for all my stuff. That's how I make it.
[00:07:35] Speaker A: I got to start using that for broadcast somehow.
[00:07:38] Speaker B: Well, let's talk about the finals, gentlemen.
We expected Boston to be here. Who the heck expected the Dallas Mavericks, the 60 out of the west of the year?
[00:07:50] Speaker A: Not when they were. What were they, Tim? 27 and 23 at 1.23.
26 and 23. I'm looking forward to, you know, we're already coming up with our one on one with the head coaches for a Wednesday for media day. And, you know, I hope I can get Jason Kidd to, you know, come back far enough to the beginning of the season and get some real truth serum because, you know, I raised my hand on opening day. I mean, where did you have the Dallas Mavericks, you know, in the, in the western standings come the end of the year? Where did you have them on February 1?
And then obviously when you get to the postseason when the west was stacked and the teams that were in front of them, I mean, the teams that they have slayed just to get to this point is pretty remarkable. So the answer to your question is I can't imagine too many Ken that had the head Dallas a different kind of flag post of the season to be in this position they're at right now.
[00:08:51] Speaker C: I am with you from the start of the season. Like, I was not a believer at all.
And then the stories that were coming out of Dallas about they just weren't having a lot of fun together, I think would be the most politically smooth way to say this. They just, it's the personalities just were not fitting you and that. So they get to the end of the year and Brad Townsend, the great eight writer for the Dallas Morning News, who I got to know because he's a bubble alum like a few of us. He was in the bubble with us in 2020 and Brad's a really good man and he's sitting next to me post game after Dallas.
He had the regular season to clinch. I'm sorry, the last, it wasn't the last Friday. I think it was a Wednesday to clinch the Southwest division, get to 50 wins. Kyrie earned a $1 million bonus that night because they got the 50 wins.
They were in a really good mood and they had won 16 of 18 at that point and the defense numbers were off the charts.
And I turned to Brad and I said, see you in the finals.
I didn't really mean it. Like, let's be honest, I didn't really mean it.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: I said, that's why there's a hall of fame. That's a great answer.
[00:10:20] Speaker C: But it wasn't completely outside the realm of the time because at that point we got to the end of the regular season and we'd all been saying all year, like, who the heck's going to, somebody has to win the west. Who the heck is it going to be? Is it going to be a play in team? Is it going to be the war? Are the warriors going to go on a magical run? I don't think any of us thought, I shouldn't say any of us. I did not think OKC and Minnesota were ready and I truly believe in the readiness storyline. I think you have to lose once more often than not, Stan van Gundy, the great Stan van Gundy said when he was the coach in Miami a long time ago, you have to go through it once to understand how different it all is before you win it. And really the only, quote, super team that ever got put together and didn't have to go through a year of pain. First with the 0708 Celtics, they just beat the heck out of everybody all year. They won, what, 66 games and won, beat Kobe and the Lakers for the title.
Those heat teams, they remember, they had to lose to Dallas. They had to go through it once somebody had win it. And the way they were playing at the end of the year, I thought they had as good of a chance as anybody. Then they get to round one. They're playing a Clippers team that was not 100% because Kawhi wasn't 100%. And none of us have ever been able to figure out the Los Angeles Clippers incredible talent. They should have a title. They don't yet.
And then it's okay, can Lucas knee hold up? Then Lucas knee holds up and then, oh my gosh, Kyrie is playing out of his, I mean, he's playing off the charts effective right now and he's still offensively so brilliant. You see what their bigs are giving you. There's not a lot of holes to poke at the Dallas Mavericks anymore. So you give Nico Harrison and those guys all the credit in the world for having the courage to make two big trades in February and get guys who we all might have said, how's that guy going to help you? Well, you see what PJ Washington and Derek lively mean to that team.
We didn't see it coming in December and January, but there were signs in April said this was a team that had the capability of this moment.
[00:12:44] Speaker A: And I would say, and I would say to Tim's point, just to cap it, because I think he expressed it correctly, was you were going to have to beat one of those big three or two of those big three in Denver, Oklahoma City and Minnesota. And Minnesota took care of Denver for them. And so, yes, if you believe in, you got to go through it. And I was with you because I had Denver, you know, getting, I think most of us had. Denver was a safe choice, having won it last year. And then the way Minnesota took them out and then to beat Oklahoma City, who hadn't been through it yet, and then to beat Minnesota just comes off, you know, that incredible series against Denver, incredible comeback in game seven on the road.
Yeah, they beat the two teams that had not gone through this portion of the schedule yet. So I'm with you. It was building. I was a little late to the party. You know, we did games five and six of the Clippers series in Los Angeles for game five in Dallas for game six. And that was kind of, I didn't have my Brad Townsend moment, you know, at the end of the regular season. I had it there where I know PJ and I, you know, we had Kyrie Irving on our postgame show, and that was a different guy. I hadn't talked to that guy since probably, you know, the end of his Cleveland run, you know, in 16 and then in 17. And so to me, you got a sense this is a different Kyrie Irving, you know, who's reimagined himself, you know, turn the corner, whatever it is, feels comfortable, loves the guys he plays with, whatever it was. I didn't see that during the regular year because we weren't as close, you know, going to doing Dallas Mavericks games. And I think, yeah, that was the point that, you know, PJ's like, don't, don't rule out Dallas as a place we may be, you know, come June 6.
[00:14:28] Speaker C: I do want to say this, too, because I didn't. I didn't accidentally gloss them over. I just sort of. I just didn't mention it.
It's easy to say now in the rearview mirror. I was not buying Denver again. I think Denver, they were a worthy champion last year. They were a championship level team this year.
Something just seemed off. Something just seemed missing this year. And it could be as simple as everything changed a little bit without Bruce Brown. Maybe that was it. Maybe the pressure of going back to back. They just, they just didn't seem like they were playing with any joy. I thought last year's Denver Nuggets were fun. There was joy there. Jamal Murray was really happy to be playing after the game got taken away from him for so long because of the knee problems. Jokic is Jokic. He's not an overly emotional guy, but I thought he had more fun last year than this year. It seemed like this year going to the arena felt like a job for them. I thought they were playing games last year. I think this year they were going to work, and that's the difference. I don't. I didn't see the same joy. So I thought, top to bottom, if healthy, yes, they're going to be the toughest out in the league, including Boston.
I just didn't see.
I didn't see enough happiness there. I didn't see enough belief in them that they could pull this off. So that's why I sort of, if you had me bet on somebody, I would have said, I'm taking the Denver Nuggets to win it all. But if you ask me, who do I really believe? I would not have said that.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: By the way, guys, in case you are any listeners here, as you tape from the party shots podcast dude, at my house, my dog harper is eating our breakfast.
[00:16:07] Speaker A: Finally.
[00:16:08] Speaker B: So if you hear that noise.
[00:16:12] Speaker A: There'Ll be a cat or three on my desk before long, so it'll all even out.
[00:16:17] Speaker B: Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics basically cruise through the east, winning in five over Miami in the first round, winning in five over Cleveland in the second round and sweeping Indiana. They haven't played since May 27.
Is, are the Celtics, is this a coronation for this team?
[00:16:37] Speaker A: Tim, you want to hit that first?
[00:16:41] Speaker C: No.
I mean, well, to ask if it's a coronation, I would say I'm taking Gallison six. So, no, I don't think it's a coronation. I guess we're fast forwarding to the big finish on that.
[00:17:00] Speaker A: But.
[00:17:05] Speaker C: I just.
[00:17:09] Speaker B: Did they have it.
[00:17:09] Speaker C: To your point, to your point. I use the Los Angeles Dodgers analogy. I use the 2024, our beloved Philadelphia Phillies analogy. Like, you better go through some stuff over the year, like when the Dodgers go 157 and five and win the NL west every year by a thousand games, and then they take a week off and they're playing a really good team that's desperate and sharp and has been through the fire, and then they get smoked in the Division Series.
I kind of wonder if Boston is going to face some of that. Like, sure, they had three very close games where they had to rally late against Indiana. Like, they've had moments of temporary trouble, but they haven't been down in a series. They haven't been, they haven't been going to Dallas down to one for game four of the NBA Finals. They haven't been, haven't been put in a truly uncomfortable moment all season.
Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are going to put you in an uncomfortable situation and you have not been in one since game seven last year against Miami.
I know it's weird, but I think it will hurt them that they have not had to play with any consequence all season.
Maybe they won't have to in this series. Maybe they will literally roll through an entire season. They're certainly good enough to.
I just think Dallas is too good to lay down. And I don't know if Boston remembers what it's like to have to answer the bell because they haven't done it for a year.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: Well, what about that game one against Indiana? I mean, they, the Celtics were about to lose that game and Indiana choked it away.
[00:18:59] Speaker C: It was game one. Same with game three games. So it wasn't again. They knew they weren't. They knew they were playing a wounded pacer team. If you lose a game, they're fine. We're just going to win the next day. There was no real.
There was no real threat. They have not been.
The guys in Vegas have not moved the odds on Boston an inch, it seems like, since the playoff started, because no matter what happens, you lose a game to Miami, it was a home game to Miami. You lose home court in round one to Miami, the team that loves to beat you more than life itself.
Nobody blinked. Like, it's. Like there's no, Jimmy, you're fine. There's no, you know, Tyrese Halliburton is playing on one leg and then no legs. It turned out at the end, when he wasn't playing at the end. You're not real worried about Indiana. Donovan Mitchell was never right in the Cleveland series. Cleveland wasn't. Cleveland was never going to beat the Boston Celtics. I mean, Max truce had one of those crazy Max roost shooting games, and it never mattered like they have. It has. There was no surprise ending ever coming in any of those series. Dallas is capable of doing it. Miami was not in any way capable of beating them, nor was Cleveland, nor was Indiana. Dallas can. So I think that's the difference, is that you're playing with actual repercussions here. If I want to go speeding through. If I. If I want to go speeding through my development, that's fine. The worst I'm going to do is hit a squirrel because there's no cops. If I go speeding down 95, I'm running the risk of something. That's kind of what I feel the Celtics are right now. There's not. They haven't faced any risk all season. They had a 57 game lead in the. In the division. They won the conference by a mile. They won the number one overall seed by a mile. They haven't sweated 1oz this year.
[00:20:50] Speaker A: To me, that Ken and Tim is the most fascinating part of this because it's not a coordination.
You know, despite all the success they've had, for all those reasons that Tim has pointed out, and look, they have the capability. We know that. We've seen it all season long.
We have not seen them sweat. And the fans who are about as brash as any fan base, you know, in America, if you get them to talk truthfully about it, you know, they want this team to hit that finish line so bad because they know there could be bumpy roads here. So I think, you know, how they. Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum have dealt with any kind of setback, which is usually, we'll come back tomorrow, we'll make it right. That kind of. That laid back attitude where you get into a best of seven series and maybe for the first time all year, where you could face some trouble, that's where I want to see kind of the rubber meet the road is, you know, sure, it would have been fun to see all the different narratives out there. Down zero one against Indiana, and, you know, if they had not bounced back so well with the game. Two losses in the first two rounds. That's what I'm fascinated to see, what kind of fight this team has when they do face that wall for the first time, if they face that wall. That said, you know, we're set up with great matchups.
You know, Boston gets the home court for whatever that matters, you know, early on, and I think there is something to it. They get back to their regular lineup, you know, if Porzingis, you know, doesn't have 38 days of rust on him. So I think, you know, we were set up for a great finals here. But you're right, there's still. There's still some work to be done. If you're Boston, they realize it, too, and they see the team that's coming in.
[00:22:41] Speaker B: You mentioned Porzingis there, Mark, former maverick, and, of course, Kyrie Irving, former Celtic. Is this an underlying storyline with the return? I mean, they've obviously played visit the old stomping grounds before, but it's obviously in the finals. Stories get heightened a little bit.
[00:22:58] Speaker A: Yeah, it's kind of a fun storyline, more so on the Kyrie Irving angle, because there was, you know, there was not a lot of love when Kyrie left, and some of that, you know, he brought on to himself, too. He kind of, you know, egged on the fan base a little bit, the same fan base, you know, that he had said, you know, just previously that he wanted to spend the rest of his career there and wanted to resign long term. So, you know, like we said, it appears to be a new Kyrie Irving.
The fans are going to be on him from the first moment of the game.
If there's a guy who can hope to shut it out, I guess it's him. Whatever coping strategies he's used on the court over the years, though, the Boston fans can poke some holes in that. And if they're not performing well, maybe he gets out of that space. But to me, that's the bigger one. Porzingis spent, what was it, two, two and a half years in Dallas and maybe they had reached the end the road with he and Luca and things had to change. But the Kyrie Irving story of the two is the one that, you know, should be a lot of fun to.
[00:24:04] Speaker C: Watch and do that to that. Ken, Mark's absolutely right. They're going to be on Kyrie from the second his name gets announced as a starter, every time he touches the ball, every time he looks at them. And I think Kyrie is going to, he's not going to fan the flames too much, but he may sprinkle a little kerosene here and there because he wants a little sage.
[00:24:35] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:24:38] Speaker C: Will he burn sage in a highly flammable area? Yes.
Because, and I think he will do all of that with a purpose. I think, one, he doesn't care.
And two, the more they hate on him.
Are they forgetting number 77?
It actually be in Boston's best interest to not. They should be doing like the tv station Celtics.com, our good friend Mark D'Amico.
They should all be doing instructional classes right now on be nice to Luca.
Because when Luca gets, when Luca hears it from anyone in the stands, that team becomes Lucas mortal enemy and he scores 46 points in the next three minutes.
Put all the heat on Kyrie. You want leave Luca alone. Kyrie is almost going to be a human shield for the guy who's been the best player in the playoffs. I absolutely love the fact that Kyrie wants the smoke, is going to get all the smoke and he's going to let Luca breathe nice, clean oxygen because of all the smoke that he's going to be taken.
[00:25:51] Speaker B: What would a title mean to Luca?
[00:26:01] Speaker C: He'd be him.
He'd be him. He'd be.
And look, this is year six.
He's, he's been a pro the whole time. I'll tell you a very quick story when he's getting drafted. The heat had Goron dragic here.
Goron has known Luca since Luca was like ten or something. Obviously they're both slovenian.
Goron says to me, before that draft, before Eurobasket that summer, I think Eurobasket might have been the summer before. I'm getting old now. I can't remember years. But Goron says to me in the only way that Goron can do Timmy, this, this kid, Timmy, he's the best there are.
[00:26:54] Speaker A: Sleep well at night. Well, five of them don't sleep well at night.
[00:26:59] Speaker C: I mean, we all know why Vlad didn't do it. Like, we all know why Vladi didn't do it. He was not going to take the heat being. I firmly believe this was the whole Serbia Slovenia thing.
I think Wade did it for that reason. And it was just such a huge. But people want to talk about Sam Bowie stuff. This was the blunder of all time not taking Luca Dodge. It was a blunder of all time not taking Luca. And we forget, too, like, there's been some masterful draft moves that helped bring us to where we are right now.
The Celtics, Mark, am I right? The Celtics traded down for Jason Tatum.
[00:27:45] Speaker A: They had the number one.
[00:27:54] Speaker C: It's unbelievable some of the moves that were made. But what would it mean for Luca?
He would be, I think he is the most.
I think he's as close to a perfect player in the league right now as. As there is.
And we all know that there's another gear for the kid to get to.
It's just, it would.
I don't think we'll ever see a dynasty in the NBA again, not in this first apron, second apron money era.
But if you don't think. If Luca can prove that he, that he can win it, if you don't think guys, especially with the amount of salaries that guys are getting now and how they're going to go up in the next tv deal, if you don't think guys are going to line up, like, are going to punch through the door in Dallas to say, please let me play with Luca Doncic, you're out of your mind. And a championship would only, would only heighten that.
[00:29:02] Speaker B: As I mentioned earlier, the Celtics haven't played since May 27. The Mavericks haven't played since May 30. We have. It's basically a week off, almost like a Super bowl type situation where you just have some time off here. Is it good, is it good to have this thing some, some time off before we get to the finals, or should the NBA look at, maybe just, I know they set the schedule in advance, but maybe have some flexibility and get this thing going.
[00:29:27] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a great point that, you know, we haven't had to, you know, really test, you know, I can't remember. It probably has happened a lot sooner than I'm even remembering. I remember there was a World Series. What was it in 2007 or 2008 where there was eight or nine days off and you forgot that there was even a World Series when it started. And sometimes, you know, that's a function of the matchup, I think this one is so good and there'll be enough talk and we're kind of in that time of year, you know, where the World Series is in the crosshairs of the NFL and college football, you could easily get lost with a bad matchup and nine days off.
So I don't think it's great, obviously, but, and outside of maybe a rusty first quarter, we could easily see that on Thursday night before we get settled in. But if we. It's on. You know, if we have a good game, it's on. That's been a problem, too, in this postseason as we've expected, you know, great matchups, you know, throughout from the start, and even though we've had a lot of close games where the same team seemed to win and series ended up short, you know, I think they'll survive it. I think the teams are happy. We just waxed on Luca and, you know, the guys been playing through a sprained knee of some degree and still yet, you know, averages like 35 and five throughout that. So I'm sure the Mavericks are happy for extended time for him to get healthy, the same thing for Porzingis to have him for an extra week. But anytime you're out, and we just had a weekend where we didn't have any NBA action. We didn't have a single NBA game to watch this weekend. That's never a good thing for the league and its partners, but I think they have a tasty enough matchup that you survive the seven, eight, nine days and hope you get a really good game one. And obviously, length of series would be huge, too.
[00:31:21] Speaker C: Kesti's absolutely right. And of course, and he won't say it, but, Ken, you covered sports media. I've, you know, this is obviously all television's fault. I mean, I mean, I know we're getting into, you know, you know, Pat Sajaks last week, so God forbid there'd be a game or something going on.
It's unfortunate.
I don't feel like there's the appropriate buzz because of the nine days.
However, it did allow us all three more days of absolutely breathless takes on why cheap, shining Caitlin Clark is okay. So I just, I cannot get over the level of there is more hate both ways in that whole story than, and we are talking about Kyrie Irving going back to Boston, Massachusetts, after he promised them that he would stay there. I cannot figure it out. The gap isn't good for anybody. I do think the first twelve minutes of basketball on Thursday night will be not great. I don't think it'll be a great first quarter. And then after that, they'll settle in.
[00:32:35] Speaker A: Will be near Springfield. They won't send it to Springfield.
[00:32:39] Speaker C: No Springfield. The Simpsons, maybe. Springfield, Illinois. Maybe the Simpsons will mock it in a few years.
And I'm sure Family Guy has probably already picked this series. Is it family guy that gets everything right? Or is it the Simpsons that predicts the future, like nine years ahead?
It's the Simpsons. Have they done a 2024 World Series episode?
Has Bart named, renamed himself Bart Harper and winning World Series in 24 Phillies and Yankees? He's already predicted it.
[00:33:12] Speaker A: Right? Come on.
[00:33:14] Speaker C: That would just be, that would be so beautiful.
You know what? The Phillies have given us such great joy that I'm not going to get greedy. I'm not going to get greedy. I'm just, I'm enjoying the run. I'm enjoying this season. Um, I may, I may go to Fenway Park Tuesday night. I know we're taping this on Monday. I may be at Fenway Park Tuesday night to watch Red Sox Braves.
Will I wear Phillies apparel?
[00:33:44] Speaker A: I don't know.
[00:33:45] Speaker B: I might cheerful Red Sox by wearing Phillies apparel.
[00:33:49] Speaker A: And as a lifelong Yankees fan, no one's ever going to shed a tear for the Yankees, ever. But I tell my wife every night when I watch them, I said, just like you, Tim, it is such a joy to watch this team. I know it's Soto and I know it's judge and it should be like that. But when Garrett Cole was shut down in spring training and I'm looking at that pitching rotation like, who's this guy, Gil? I mean, what the heck?
And, you know, to watch what they've done for the first third of the season. And I believed him, if I'm not mistaken, when we get back to Boston for game five, you are correct right before game five is Yankees, Red Sox on a Saturday and Sunday night at Fenway. So I do. I, too, may be at Fenway park at some point.
[00:34:34] Speaker C: Well, I think the Phillies are there while we're in Dallas, too. So it's. So I may be very distracted throughout all of that.
I will say this about the Yankees real quick, even though I know we're talking NBA.
We are, I believe, just nine short years away from the next Giancarlo Stanton contract year.
And I'm glad that he's really starting to earn.
He is going to make more than the next NBA tv deal. He is making $73 billion over the next eleven years. Why doesn't John Carlos Stanton, just by the rights to the next eleven years of NBA basketball, has anybody thought about this?
[00:35:18] Speaker A: I think he would keep the TNT pregame show, too, so he could be America's hero.
[00:35:23] Speaker C: God, I wish we could talk about this on Eric FC. I wish we could. I know we can't, but, boy, do I have things to say. Well, Mark can't say this, but I'm going to say this right now without knowing what's going to happen.
If you think those guys are going anywhere, you're out of your minds.
[00:35:37] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm done.
[00:35:38] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:35:38] Speaker A: Agreed? In some form, yes.
[00:35:41] Speaker C: In some form, yes.
[00:35:42] Speaker B: Well, let's wrap this up. Unfortunately, last Monday, we learned of the passing of Bill Walton, Basketball hall of famer, extraordinary broadcaster, you know, and basketball broadcast with him, became secretary with him, you know, just expound, you know, talk about life and his experiences. Just a quick thought, gentlemen, on Bill Walton.
[00:36:04] Speaker A: I didn't get to spend as much time with him as I wish I could have because we ran in so many similar circles, but not similar enough, you know, to professionally work together. So all of my Bill Walton stories are secondhand from others, you know, including Dave Pash, who spent, you know, twelve amazing years riding alongside of him and, of course, working with PJ Carlissimo and hearing his side. And Mike Breen told a terrific story. We were at dinner, I think, after Game four in Indianapolis, and it was a similar story that he told Malik Andrews. And I encourage folks, if they haven't seen it on social media, about how Bill took care of Mike's dad when Mike and his brother brought his father out west, you know, earlier when his dad was still alive. It's just an amazing story. My only interaction with him and look, he'd been on, you know, we've had so many incarnations of talk shows at ESPN Radio, so I can't remember which one, but I'll just say the Dan Patrick show and Bill Walton used to come on as a guest and Dan would ask one question and then we'd always run over on the segment, you know, network radio. We always have a hard time, a hard out, they call it, and you can't get around it. And so here comes my time in, I don't know, 2007, 2008. I'm the studio host for our NBA coverage, and they say Bill Walton's going to be your guest. And I'm like, well, how's that going to work? Our segments are like four minutes long. And they said, well, we'll tape him and then we'll edit it. And I said, all right, that's a fair, fair way to go about it. So Bill gets on the phone, you know, we have our pleasantries Jim Durham's still alive at that point, and the two of them, you know, had worked many of the Team USA leading games on the way to the Olympics, so we had something in common to talk about, and then we get to taping, and there's a little button in the radio studio that's called reset, and you press that when you want the clock to start over. So you know how long your interview is going. Well, I just wanted to hit that restart button after I asked my first question, just to see how long Bill would go. And it hit the two minute mark, and it hit the four minute mark, and he's branching off into, you know, the wild rivers of the northwest and how that relates to the University of Hawaii football team and great lessons that he learned at UCLA. Now we're at the six minute mark and the nine minute mark, and my producers in my ear saying, you have to cut him off. So I let him go. 13 minutes. 13 minutes. I thanked Bill for his time, and then I told my producer, good luck editing that down to four minutes. It was brilliant. It was 13, and I wish I had that on tape, because it was. It was remarkable, his stream of consciousness and, you know, his just love of his fellow human, for me was the two things I took away from Bill.
[00:38:50] Speaker C: So I had only one, like, direct, and it was semi direct interaction with. With Bill, and it was when I was at the newspaper off exit four. Ken, that shall not be named in your presence. Of course.
They sent me down to the garden to cover. It had to be a Knicks playoff game. I can't. I don't know what else it would have been.
And I'm on the floor. Somehow, this was obviously a very different world.
And I'm on the floor a few hours before the game, and Bill Walton is there in dress shirt, press pants, tie, and shoes, and he's not moving great because of his chronic foot problems, and he's in, you know, hard black dress, leather shoes, and he's just shooting, and a rebound sort of bounces over my way, and he goes. I can't remember if he asked me if I wanted to play pig or horse. I don't remember that detail, but I know we were suddenly playing pig, I believe, or horse. Doesn't really matter. I don't think we finished the game.
And as you might expect, Bill was 45, 50 years old then, probably dressed to go to work. I was 25 years and a number of pounds smaller, and I got my. I just got. I mean, I had no chance of beating Bill Walton in this game, and I never forgot that. I've shot baskets at Madison Square Garden with Bill Walton, like, and that's one of the coolest things that the gifts of this job has ever given me. I was actually driving home from Panthers practice when the news came, when we got the email from Mark Broussard at the NBA office because he announced on behalf of the family that Bill Walton had passed. And immediately at that point, you have to start writing. So I pull over off the highway, I find a Starbucks. I go in and just write for an hour and a half.
The tributes come pouring in.
I have gotten more. I don't get a lot of emails from readers, and usually when you get emails from readers, they are cynical, not worth noticing, not worth reading. It's usually profane and just, you know, with the world in which we live, I have gotten more, more feedback, more people who just want to talk about Bill Walton, people I've never heard from him, will never hear from again.
They just want to share what Bill Walton meant to them because of that story, because they find my email, because there's a link in the open link in the story, the obituary that I wrote, there was a link to my email at the bottom of it, and people just reach out, the outpouring from people, and this is just a huge loss for the game. And I think there's going to be a moment, there was a moment of silence the other night. There's. I think there's going to be one Thursday in Boston, and if not, it's a huge oversight because there should be.
We just. He was just one of the, they say this all the time, there'll never be another. There's just never going to be another Bill Walton. I mean, I've known people who knew him, the longtime trainer in Miami, the long time athletic trainer in Miami, the late Ron Culp, had Bill when he was the trainer in Portland, and he could tell Bill Walton stories for an hour without taking a breath. And Ron Culp never said two words, by the way. Ron Culp was just a quiet guy and he would talk about Bill Walton for an hour, and at the end of it, you couldn't see straight because you were laughing and crying so hard at the depth of the stories. And just such a huge loss, such a huge loss for the game. The fact that none of us, very few, I think, I think very few people knew how really sick he was at the end, how he loved the Pac twelve, how he loved UCLA, loved telling stories, loved connecting with people.
We need more Bill Waltons. We just need more Bill Waltons, and we'll never have another Bill Walton. But, damn it, we should all be trying to act a little more like Bill Walton.
[00:42:59] Speaker B: Gonna miss him saying, conference of champions.
[00:43:04] Speaker C: There is a certain. Isn't there a certain.
A certain beauty, a certain symmetry to.
He will never have to see the Pac twelve be whatever it's going to be.
[00:43:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:43:17] Speaker C: Yeah. He loved the Pac twelve when it was really the Pac twelve.
[00:43:21] Speaker A: That's.
[00:43:22] Speaker C: I. I didn't know him. I didn't pretend to know him. But, man, I'm going to miss seeing a storyteller of that ilk, because now all we have are PJ Carlisle, Mo, and Mark Kesterson.
[00:43:38] Speaker A: Not enough light in our lives to. Yeah, no, you're right. 100%, Tim. I mean, look, he was the freest of free spirits who encouraged everyone to have light in their lives, and he had so much in his, so much that you didn't even need to know him.
I'm the same whether it's, you know, on, you know, social media platforms that are, you know, disgustingly overrun by negativity, that for those few precious hours when all I saw was positivity, you know, about Bill, it took someone of his stature to turn that cesspool around and then even just to talk to people who actually knew him. We had two different times where we were on the air that night in Indiana when they had the moment of silence, and Rick Carlisle told us the most amazing stories about Bill Walton from his Celtics days at 86 team.
And PJ broke down a couple times. I mean, on air and off air. I mean, Bill Walton meant that much. And, you know, and PJ also, you know, had communicated to me, and I think, as Tim had pointed out, like most, nobody knew. Nobody knew. They knew something was up when he wasn't at the final four. PJ saw him at the all star game in Indianapolis. He and Bill Murray. I remember looking to my left, and it was Bill Walton, Bill Murray, and PJ Carlissimo, you know, a half hour before. And, you know, I said, did he look sick at that time? This is in mid February. And he's like, no.
And we had heard that, you know, he had had, you know, some good days a few weeks back. And so maybe whatever it was that we didn't know about, you know, maybe there was some recovery coming. So it caught everybody, even those close to him, you know, by surprise, and made it, you know, that much more sad on that particular day. But as the reflections continued throughout the day and in the days since, you know, I think we're all better for either of knowing him or have known him through someone else or through all the stories that were told.
[00:45:43] Speaker B: He could have been.
[00:45:44] Speaker C: Let me just throw this, Ken, I'm sorry there. Just to give an example of. We could have done the whole pod on Larry Bird, but I'm sorry. I'm Bill Walton. To give an example.
Larry Bird never says, larry Bird is a very.
You can't find Larry Bird. It's very rare to find Larry Bird. I can't believe he did that commercial. I can't believe he did the getting caught in your attic commercial. I can't believe he did that.
I'm writing. I wrote the story. I wrote the obituary about Bill, and I get an email about 06:00 from a person saying, I represent Larry Bird. He would very much appreciate getting this statement into the story.
You don't hear from Larry Bird. And that speaks to the importance of Bill Walton, that Larry felt compelled to write a statement, which he did. He wrote it himself.
I know Tim bontamps at ESPN got it. I got it. I don't know who else got it.
Larry doesn't.
Larry doesn't ever look to be quoted.
Bill Walton was important enough for him to reach out and. Or have his team reach out and say, larry would like to say a few words about Bill. And that will not. That doesn't happen except in. For extraordinary circumstances. And it just speaks to the level of extraordinary person that. That Bill Walton was.
[00:47:12] Speaker B: Well, Bill Walton could have been a Philadelphia 76 er in 1973 had the Sixers not lost the coin flip for the number one picture, the Portland Trailblazers. And, of course, years later, he haunts my Sixers by coming back from two games of non deficit to win that series. Four, two.
I will always maintain that Daryl Dawkins getting in a fight with Maurice Lucas turned that series around, and George McGinnis could hit the backside of a car. And in that series. And there you go.
[00:47:41] Speaker C: So Kesti's here burying his soul. Oh, my God. We're gonna miss him so much. I'm here burying my soul. I'm gonna miss him so much. Then shoti comes on.
[00:47:48] Speaker A: He's like, that was some of my favorite times in my early years with Doctor Jack. And I'm sure, Tim, you got a lot. Oh, my goodness. That's a 77, Portland Philly. I mean, that was. That was some of the best conversations that we had over the years.
[00:48:09] Speaker B: And, of course, that's one of my bitter memories of my childhood. Later that year, Danny Ozark forgetting to put Jerry Martin left field in game three of the NLCs against the Dodgers on what turned out to be Black Friday.
But I'm not a fitter, man.
[00:48:30] Speaker A: I love it. It brings us so much joy. But it's always that heartbreaking that you can detail.
[00:48:38] Speaker C: Tune in next week when we talk about how RBI got away with an extra guy on the ice penalty.
[00:48:48] Speaker B: This is great. Gentlemen, I appreciate a few minutes. Have fun with the finals. And, oh, by the way, are you guys sad that you have to be doing the finals with the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga?
[00:48:58] Speaker A: Oh, that's a good point. That's a good point.
[00:49:01] Speaker C: I'm not pleased. I'm so.
I'm glad I'm not there. From what I'm hearing about how it's gonna be in Saratoga this weekend.
[00:49:13] Speaker A: I am old.
[00:49:14] Speaker C: I'm very old. And I grew up in a Saratoga where it was 24 days, where it was four weeks.
I'm glad that Belmont's there. Don't get me wrong. I think it's awesome.
You gotta stop ruining Saratoga.
Saratoga has to be charming and quaint. It can't be three months of the summer anymore. It can't stop ruining Saratoga. There's my rant. But, yes, I would have. I would have loved to have been there.
[00:49:43] Speaker A: And there's an old guy, and I'm hearing how much all the golf courses, greens fees this weekend in particular. Yeah, it's. Look, hey, I have relatives who have homes, you know, within blocks of the track. So good on them, and they're all doing well. But it's. Yeah, it's priced out a lot of folks. And, you know, it'll be fine just to turn on the tv and see what it looks like from a few hours away.
[00:50:12] Speaker B: Yeah, the race is so.
[00:50:14] Speaker C: It's priced out, horseman. It's priced out some horsemen from going.
[00:50:18] Speaker A: That's true.
[00:50:19] Speaker C: I mean, we had Chug McGahee down here at Gulfstream a couple weeks ago, a couple months ago. Now, Shug is one of the gentlemen of racing. Claude R. McGahy III is a distinguished gentleman of racing.
It takes a lot to anger shug. Chug is angry at what Saratoga has become, and I do not blame him.
[00:50:41] Speaker B: Interesting. So we'll leave it on that note. And, of course, we're getting prepared for it. We've been, you know, covering the heck out of it and plug us, our guys, Mike McAdam. We obviously doing a great job. We'll be up there all week covering those races, and it'll be a lot of fun.
[00:50:59] Speaker A: This was a good time because we started with hockey. We did hit some NBA, we got some WNBA. And I think we had major league Baseball for a few minutes. Minutes and horse racing. So I think this was an all encompassing 50 minutes. I approve.
[00:51:20] Speaker B: Might go that way. I just, watching that series against the Rangers, the raid, they wore the Rangers out. The Rangers in those third period, they were dead.
Rangers were lucky to win game three. And the way the Panthers were, it.
[00:51:34] Speaker C: Helped the Panthers that, that Lavi kept putting Rempy in the lineup and then couldn't play him. So the Rangers were a man down the whole series.
Just beautiful.
[00:51:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:51:45] Speaker A: All I know is they're still honking. There's still honking horns in Edmonds at Alberta. So it's the San Antonio of the North.
[00:51:53] Speaker C: I would like to, I want to congratulate Edmonton on winning the canadian championship, but I don't think Canada has won the Stanley cup since Hawaii. And at last, Hawaii and Alaska were admitted to the union, give or take.
[00:52:08] Speaker A: It's been a while and gosh gosh.
[00:52:10] Speaker C: Darn it, Paul Maurice deserves a Stanley cup. Cats at seven.
[00:52:16] Speaker B: Well, my prediction a little bit later when I hopefully get a chance to talk with Fiero Guy on a later podcast. So gentlemen, appreciate a few minutes and this is a lot of fun as usual.
[00:52:26] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:52:27] Speaker A: Safe travels. We'll talk to you soon.
[00:52:30] Speaker B: All right, we'll wrap up the podcast in just a moment. You're listening to the party shots podcast.
[00:53:03] Speaker C: Hi, Im Daily Gazette news columnist Andrew Waite and host of the Weighing in podcast, which takes you inside my award winning featured news column by offering the backstory, thought process and interviews that inform my work. Plus, readers have their chance to respond. The weighing in podcast is
[email protected] or wherever you get your podcasts.
[00:53:26] Speaker A: Hey, I'm Frank Caliendo pretending to be Morgan Freeman. Maybe even a little bit of John.
[00:53:30] Speaker C: Bat or Robert Downey, junior comedian, impressionist, playboy, philanthropist. Maybe not the last two. And you're listening to the parting shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken shot.
[00:53:43] Speaker B: Back to wrap up the podcast. And we'll have the winners of the Daily Gazettes auto racing contest in my next podcast later this week, most likely posting it either Tuesday or Wednesday. We'll see how things work out, but we'll have the winners for that as well. And of course, coming up, my next podcast, because that's Mike McGadam and Fox Sports is Richard Megelior. We're going to talk the Belmont State Saratoga. There might not be a Triple Crown winner, but there's a lot of excitement with the the Belmont moving to Saratoga for the next two years because of reconstruction at Belmont park down in Elmont and a lot of excitement. People are talking about a lot of buzz for this event and the race on Saturday. The Belmont Stakes day is sold out. So, but of course, you follow our
[email protected]. mike McAdam as well. Mike underscore McAdam on X. So we're gonna have some fun this week. So we'll do talk horse racing and hopefully some NHL stadium finals lining up here. Maguire we've talked here throughout the playoffs about everything going on, so we know it's the Edmonton Orland and the Florida Panthers that will start Saturday down in Sunrise, Florida. So that'll do it for this podcast. Just remember the views expression. The Pawnee Shots podcast are not necessarily those that deal against the company. And also like to thank Mark Ketchser and Tim Reynolds for coming off the Parting Shots podcast, a production of Daily Gazette company. I'm Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Parting Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day.
[00:55:18] Speaker C: Good sports.
