Hour 1: Mitchell Robinson Injury Update & Eagles Side Piece Scandal

**Craig Carton** (0:00)
Two o'clock straight up!
It's The Carton Show with Big Mac. A gorgeous Tuesday afternoon, and now only 30 hours away or so from Game 1 ABA Finals. It's the New York Niggerbockers, of course, and the Spurs, and adding a little mystery to the Mitchell Robinson injury.
Both teams in San Antonio ahead of tomorrow's Game 1 will be at Meeting the Media today, but Mitchell Robinson will not be meeting the media today, which of course opens up a bit of a Pandora's Box into how he's recovering from the surgery he had on that pinky bone. Also, the possibility of, are we looking to play Game 1, or maybe even Game 1 and Game 2, without Mitchell Robinson? Is that actually on the table right now? And then of course comes the third angle to that, and the one that makes us special, when I make the following statement to you. But first, good afternoon Big Mac, how are you today?

**Chris McMonigle** (1:08)
I'm doing great. What a beautiful day it was outside.

**Craig Carton** (1:11)
Yeah, not inside. Inside, no good. Outside, good. Inside, no good. Outside, good.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:16)
Are you saying I didn't need to say outside?

**Craig Carton** (1:18)
No, no, I'm saying it's a beautiful day for everybody else. We live in a windowless room.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:23)
That is true.

**Craig Carton** (1:24)
It could be a tornado right now.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:26)
We wouldn't know.

**Craig Carton** (1:26)
We're here. It could be 80 degrees and sunny.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:29)
We're here. We're here.

**Craig Carton** (1:30)
Yes.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:30)
Damn right.

**Craig Carton** (1:31)
I'm going to make a statement.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:32)
Okay. And this is what's going to separate us from everybody else.

**Craig Carton** (1:36)
Yeah.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:37)
Talking about the Mitchell Robinson injury.

**Craig Carton** (1:38)
Yeah.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:39)
Okay.

**Craig Carton** (1:39)
It's a declarative statement that I'm going to make for you right out of the gate. I think it's from proving this particular playoff series and throughout the entire NBA season, starting January 5th, when we started our show, that when it comes to intelligent, on-the-money basketball conversation, this is the voice of New York.
This is the voice of record when it comes to basketball in this town.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:03)
I don't think there's a doubt.

**Craig Carton** (2:04)
I love our colleagues. I do. I have not a bad thing to say about anybody we work with. But when it comes to New York Nick Talk, there's one show on this radio station you turned to. Certainly not a Nets fan. I'm sorry. It's just not. Because what does a Nets fan possibly know about basketball? No.
Certainly not people that have more interest in their personal golf games than game one of the NBA finals. Certainly not somebody that has carried on this shtick of I only say positive things for two years despite the fact it's not working. There's one show. There's one show. There's only one show. There's one show.
I'm just teasing the other guys. We get along great. They take shots of me. I take shots back.
What do I tell you? Just tell us.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:44)
Let's go.

**Craig Carton** (2:45)
What do I tell you? My declarative statement is this.
We beat the Spurs without them too. As important as Mitchell Robinson is to the Knicks and to that second unit when he comes in and as great as the pick and roll Alleyoop is, and I would argue the pick and roll Alleyoop to Mitchell Robinson is probably the best of its kind in the NBA. You get it two or three times or attempts a game and it's probably 90% success rate. They have perfected the pick and roll to the basket which results in the Alleyoop dunk from Mitchell Robinson, right? Mitchell Robinson at best is an 18 minute game guy the way they've used him currently this postseason. Now I recognize he's not been asked to be on the court a lot in the fourth quarter of about 20% of the Knicks playoff games as far because we had blowouts and he missed an entire game when he was sick, okay? The Knicks are a better team for sure when Mitchell Robinson comes off the bench and adds that defensive dimension that very few teams have. He's also the best offensive rebounder in the sport. We can beat the Spurs without him.
So for a lot of you that is like panic set in right now like, oh my god, the only reason the Knicks are hiding him from the press conference is because they don't want to announce today that he's not playing in game one. And by the way, that's a logical statement to make.