Hour 2: Craig Carton and Big Mac Debate Jalen Brunson's Rank Among NBA Greats

**Craig Carton** (0:00)
Programming Update, Programming Update. Wednesday afternoon in the 5 o'clock hour, the best owner in this city will join us in studio to put a capper on his guarantee back on January 5th that the Knicks are going to win a championship and he doubled down on it last week. We're really here to talk about the watch parties and the shutdowns, all that stuff. Jim Dolan, one more time, will join us live in studio Wednesday in the 5 o'clock hour and I can't wait for that. What a great moment. That's going to be a day before the parade here in New York City.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:36)
Yeah, it's going to be an excellent moment. Good for him. I mean, he came on here and pretty much guaranteed it. They asked them on the podium or when they were talking to him about, you know, you guaranteed a championship in January.

**Craig Carton** (0:49)
Right here. That's exactly right here.

**Chris McMonigle** (0:51)
Guaranteed pretty much guaranteed a championship.

**Craig Carton** (0:53)
January 5th, he guaranteed a title. He really said it more authoritatively last week when he joined us prior to winning game four the way he did. Obviously going down to taking game five because remember, he came in here an hour or two before game four.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:08)
Yeah.

**Craig Carton** (1:09)
The great, you know, the great comeback.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:10)
You know, guaranteed that win.

**Craig Carton** (1:12)
So Jim Dolan will join us for the third time.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:14)
He believed in this team because we, you know, we talked about it. You know, there was a lot of talk about Janice. You forget that now. That's laughable. The idea of trying to get another super star.

**Craig Carton** (1:24)
I think it's going to be like the Yankees. It's going to be running back.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:26)
Oh, I think it's running back.

**Craig Carton** (1:26)
I mean, they're like, I don't think Clarkson's back. I can see some of the other fringe guys.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:30)
There'll be some changes and eventually, I don't know how long you can keep this group together.

**Craig Carton** (1:34)
Financial, you mean?

**Chris McMonigle** (1:35)
Yeah, we'll just see.

**Craig Carton** (1:36)
Well, Brunson's big payday is on the horizon.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:39)
It's coming.

**Craig Carton** (1:40)
Yes.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:40)
And with the money Kat makes, like, I don't know. We'll see. But I would think next year, you're probably looking at a run it back situation. But yeah, that idea of remember that, hey, if they don't win, we got Janice. That's right.

**Craig Carton** (1:50)
That's what it was. It was championship or Janice.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:52)
Championship or Janice.

**Craig Carton** (1:53)
Now it's championship and Janice can go take a hike.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:56)
I don't care where he goes.

**Craig Carton** (1:57)
Yeah, a buddy of mine reached out to me. He was listening when I said, you know, the storyline today would be about Carl Anthony Towns only having two points and fouling out.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:04)
Yeah.

**Craig Carton** (2:05)
There is another side that also, just let me be fair about it, that a friend of mine texted me about. He goes, in New York, the storyline also would have been how bad the officiating was against Kat specifically. Like, look, I thought the officiating throughout the finals was really abhorrent. I think the NBA needs to do better.
I don't want to believe that there's an eating from the league to the refs to call a game a certain way. I just don't want to wrap my head around that as a concept because then I'm not watching an actual competition. I'm watching, you know, worldwide wrestling, WWE, whatever, right? So I don't want to believe that. But my buddy's not wrong either.
You know, there were three foul calls against currently towns that at best are tiki-taki. And if you're calling a tiki-taki game, I can accept it. But when you allow Wemby to play the manner he played, and you don't call even a common foul when he puts his foot under Jaylen's as he's coming down off the shot, and then it's not even reviewed to be a flagrant one, which it was. Now again, I don't particularly like that rule.
I think it's a bogus rule, but it's a rule. It's been a rule for three, four, five years. So you have to live by it. But how that's not called when Brunson's writhing in pain on the ground, to me is just, he's right, it's crazy.

**Chris McMonigle** (3:28)
And I was thinking of you because we talked about it when he got thrown to the ground in game number two, whichever game it was.