Rich’s Emotional Reaction to the Knicks’ Ring & Banner Ceremony to Tip Off the NBA Season

Rich has been waiting for this night for more than 50 years. When it finally came, he cried, and he is not the least bit sorry about it.

"That ceremony was as great as I ever could have dreamt it to be," Rich said on The Rich Eisen Show the morning after the Knicks raised their championship banner. "And I was dreaming of this moment for a long time."

## How the Knicks Did It

Rich gave the organization full marks for the details. The rings went to the front office and coaching staff first, and they were handed out by Knicks of the '70s: Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere's kid, Willis Reed's widow and Clyde. Leon Rose and World Wide Wes were part of it too.

That is when it hit him. "I started tearing up. I started crying," Rich said. His daughter Taylor was watching with him. "She's like, 'Dad, are you crying?'" He is fine admitting it. "I'm the crier of the parental group."

Then the players stepped up one after another for their rings, "which are stupid," Rich said. "Huge," came the reply from the crew, which noted they were made by Jason of Beverly Hills. The top twists off to reveal the floor of Madison Square Garden inside, or it can be twisted so the Garden itself pops up. Rich said the rings sat on a table at center court, spinning, and Clyde handed them to each player one by one.

"Here I thought I went to the greatest ring ceremony in the history of Madison Square Garden this summer," Rich said. "Not anymore."

## The Banner Video

The moment that truly got him was a short video. Before the banner went up, the Knicks took it around New York City and let fans hold it, wear it like a cape, touch it and stare into the camera asking if it was the real thing.

"I'm getting goosebumps talking about it," Rich said, choking up again on the air. The message to fans was that this is yours. "Like damn straight it is," he said. "Thank you for acknowledging that, like, for 50 freaking years."

Jalen Brunson fronted the video, and then the banner went up.

## Paul's Text

Rich read a text from his buddy Paul because, as he put it, he could not say it any better. "It's a unique and weird feeling to be watching these Knicks players and feeling unabashed love. No baggage, no what-ifs, just eternal gratefulness and joy."

"There was nothing hanging over us," Rich said. "It was great."

Then the third quarter happened, and Paul texted again: "Of course, if they blow this game, they're dead to me." Rich made sure everyone knew it was tongue in cheek. The crew called it a real New York fan.

The Knicks lost to the Sixers on banner night, and Rich admitted it came down to hero ball at the end, "that I thought we were supposed to get through all that." It did not dampen the night. "Knicks did an incredible job," he said.

## The Sixers, LeBron and the Rest of Opening Night

TJ, the show's Sixers fan, liked his team's tough starting five but wants work on the bench. He pointed out that LeBron had to play some center, and did a great job. Rich was struck by Tyrese Maxey. "He is superb," Rich said, praising the Sixers for turning mistakes into transition. Teams either beat everyone down the floor or go bombs away from three, and the really good ones do both. "The Knicks did that last year, certainly in the playoffs. And the Sixers can do that." His one question is what happens with an Embiid injury.

Rich also caught the NBC broadcast zooming in on LeBron's patch, a special number 24 marking his 24th season. That is right when LeBron started barking at a fan who was apparently calling him soft for coming from Southern California. "I'm not from the West. I'm from Ohio," Rich recalled LeBron saying, with Spike having to sort of mediate. "If they can all play together and stay healthy," Rich said of the Sixers, "they're going to be superb."

Earlier in the day, Paul George had erupted in Detroit with seven threes and 38 as the Pistons came back on a Celtics team that led by 15 at the half. The crew pointed out the Pistons were the one seed last year and fly under the radar because Cade Cunningham just goes about his business. "He's not going to sit there and argue and fight with the refs," one of the crew said. "It's fun to watch."