Straight talk from ex-Isle DiPietro

THERE’S a good reason former Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro is getting work on ESPN RadioNY. He’s a character who says what he thinks — with enthusiasm. Rick, we look forward to your first suspension!

Wednesday, with Michael Kay and Don La Greca from the Coliseum before RangersIsles, DiPietro said he’ll miss the Coliseum as a fantastic arena in which to play and watch hockey, “even if you did have to avoid the occasional cockroach.”

Then he volunteered his preference for Kay and La Greca, recalling his playing days appearances with a team of other local radio hosts — he didn’t name Mike Francesa and Chris Russo, and didn’t have to — were annoying because, “They pretended they’d never heard of me; didn’t even pronounce my name right.”

Wait. Given their practiced ignorance of local hockey, there

was the chance that they hadn’t heard of him. Even if they had, neither cared or care how anyone’s name is pronounced.

Graig Nettles once coldstopped Russo to tell him that his name’s not “Craig.”

DiPietro finished, telling Kay to enjoy the game, then warned: “You may need a tetanus shot when you get out.”

It’s stunning what now pass for professional athletes, how so many operate with no apparent desire to be distinguishable from candidates for Juvenile Detention Centers, aka “Juvy.”

Last month, Karl Malone, 51 years old, spoke of his serious willingness to fight Kobe Bryant, 36, over a longago issue.

On Sunday, after the Warriors beat the Clippers on ABC/ ESPN, Golden State’s Draymond Green was being interviewed on the court when Los Angeles’ Dahntay Jones shouldered him from behind — as if delivering a street message/challenge — then walked on.

Green stopped speaking and glared toward Jones, before continuing. Jones, 34 and a studentathlete at Rutgers, then Duke, was fined $10,000 by the NBA.