FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 7th, 2020

LARRY BROWN ON ALLEN IVERSON & MICHAEL JORDAN; “THE TWO ROBBIES” ON PREMIER LEAGUE’S RETURN — QUOTES FROM TODAY’S EPISODES OF LUNCH TALK LIVE WITH MIKE TIRICO AND THE RICH EISEN SHOW ON NBCSN

“I think it’ll be a month or so to get everyone ready, and then mid-June to kick off…I do believe we will get a restart over these next few weeks.” – Robbie Earle on the Premier League’s season restart

“As great as Michael (Jordan) was, and all the great players we had in our league, I thought Allen had an impact on more people because more people could identify with him.” – Larry Brown on Allen Iverson

 “I think it’s more likely we see an abridged postseason or postseason with no regular season games left.” – Tom Haberstroh on the NBA’s potential return

“Executives and coaches that I’ve talked to all seem to be very confident in the fact that the owners are steadfast in that there’s going to be NFL football this coming season.” – Chris Simms on the NFL

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 7, 2020 – Ahmed Fareed hosted today’s episode of Lunch Talk Live on NBCSN and was joined remotely by:

    • San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence
    • NBC Sports NFL analyst Chris Simms
    • NBC Sports national NBA insider Tom Haberstroh
    • NBC Sports Premier League analysts Robbie Mustoe & Robbie Earle
    • Actor Thomas Sadoski

 

The Rich Eisen Show followed Lunch Talk Live on NBCSN, as host Rich Eisen was joined by:

    • Basketball Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown
    • Actor/comedian Bob Saget
    • Former NFL QB and FOX college football analyst Matt Leinart
    • The MMQB’s Albert Breer

 

Following are highlights from Lunch Talk Live on NBCSN:

Robbie Earle on the Premier League resuming their season: “I am optimistic…I think it’ll be a month or so to get everyone ready, and then mid-June to kick off…I do believe we will get a restart over these next few weeks.”

Robbie Mustoe: “The fact the (Bundesliga) got the greenlight for next weekend, that is a good sign…safety is paramount.”

Mustoe on how he would view returning as a player: “I would just want to get back out there. You have to put a certain level of trust in your football club and the government.”

Mustoe on potential Premier League playing venues: “I really hope that all the clubs will agree to play on neutral venues and that regulation will exist this season.”

Earle on Liverpool’s season: “It’s going to be their first Premier League title. That’s taken 30 years, but it’s always going to have an asterisk with it, and that asterisk will be because of COVID-19 and the break in the season…It certainly doesn’t taint it for me.”

Chris Simms on the upcoming NFL season: “Executives and coaches that I’ve talked to all seem to be very confident in the fact that the owners are steadfast in that there’s going to be NFL football this coming season.”

Simms on Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen: “Arguably, the two best arms in the sport right now…Mahomes is doing things that we’ve really never seen any quarterbacks in the history of the sport do.”

Hunter Pence on plans for MLB beginning the season: “I’m an optimist that we will get everything back and running…It seems like things are getting better…We will see, but I’m definitely excited and optimistic to get back. I think everyone is excited for baseball…(But) you want to make sure the decision is made for the best for all of America.”

Pence on playing for the San Francisco Giants: “It’s been an incredible journey. I’ve been so fortunate to play for this amazing franchise, amazing city…It’s been an absolute blast to do something I love with some of the most creative, energetic, and uplifting fans I’ve ever been a part of in my career.”

Tom Haberstroh on the NBA allowing workouts to resume at select team facilities: “The message I got from talking to players, executives, and coaches is it’s going to be very hard to do…As of now, players are not required to take a test before entering the building because Adam Silver and the league office doesn’t want to appear to be taking testing away from the healthcare workers that need them. So that will be interesting to see which teams will allow this.”

Haberstroh on plans for the NBA to resume the season: “We’ve never been in this situation before, it’s unprecedented. It’s going to be uncomfortable for everyone, but especially the bottom teams who don’t have a championship or playoff spot to play for…I think it’s more likely we see an abridged postseason or postseason with no regular season games left.”

Thomas Sadoski on how he is staying busy during the pandemic: “My wife and I are trying to find ways we can do what we do to do some good. We started an initiative called The Homebound Project…that helps No Kid Hungry for kids who need meals. One in five kids in this country go without food.”

Sadoski on missing sports: “I knew I loved sports. I didn’t realize until all of them got taken away how much I really loved sports. I’m jonesing for Korean baseball at this point.”

Sadoski, an avid Baltimore sports fan, on Lamar Jackson: “He’s comparable to Barry Sanders in that at any given moment, you don’t know what is going to happen, but you have this inkling feeling that it’s going to be superhuman. You’re going to see something that doesn’t make sense.”

Following are highlights from The Rich Eisen Show on NBCSN:

Larry Brown on coaching Allen Iverson: “If you can coach your best player, and he buys into what you’re doing, you become a hell of a coach…As great as Michael (Jordan) was, and all the great players we had in our league, I thought Allen had an impact on more people because more people could identify with him.”

Brown on if their relationship changed after the ‘practice’ press conference: “Everything that happened between me and Allen made our relationship better.”

Brown on looking back at his career: “When you coach as long as I do, and you’re lucky enough to coach all these great players and be surrounded by unbelievable coaches, there’s a lot of anniversaries I have that I’m part of and I feel really lucky about that.”

Brown on watching ‘The Last Dance’: “I don’t think a lot of these kids [young players] realize the greatness of Michael and how respected he was and why he was truly great…His character is what separated him.”

Bob Saget on speaking with front line workers on his “Here For You” podcast: “I get to talk to people…Sometimes (guests) just want somebody to talk to. For some reason, they feel safe with me. It’s a special thing.”

Matt Leinart on his former coach Dennis Green: “He was a player’s coach, he was a no-nonsense coach. He treated us like men.”

Albert Breer on the reaction to Bill Belichick’s ‘On to Cincinnati’ answer: “There were certain times where certain questions had to be asked, this was one of them. I knew locally when he answered the question that way that this was going to get sports radio reaction in Boston. I don’t know if I had an idea of the scope of what those words would mean.”

–NBC SPORTS–