Mike and Ben join their listeners for a live Spotify greenroom chat. They discuss the impact Monty Williams has had, the slow pace of play near the end of games, the fateful final play that saw Deandre Ayton score a buzzer-beater, and the Oklahoma City Thunder potentially being smited by the lottery gods. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike and Ben join their listeners for another Locker Room live chat, this time talking about playoff adjustments mid-series. In this episode they discuss the Clippers adjusting to Luka and the Mavericks offense, how the Hawks have stymied the Knicks' offense, the Jazz learning to defend Ja, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike and Ben join their listeners for a Locker Room live chat, talking about the spectacular play of Chris Paul and his injury, the Knicks' offense and adjustments to make, how the Clippers should deal with Luka, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike previews the NBA playoffs in a Locker Room chat with their listeners, including a possible pitfall of a matchup for Utah, possible plans to deal with Giannis, and how the Lakers could exploit the Suns. (Recorded pre Celtics Wizards) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike and Ben join their listeners in a Locker Room chat and talk about which players deserve to be in award conversations. They talk about Nikola Jokic, Steph Curry, and everyone's favorite 76er, Matisse Thybulle, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jake Fischer, Bleacher Report NBA writer, joins the show to talk about his new book Built To Lose: How the NBA's Tanking Era Changed The NBA forever. Jake explains why he centered his reporting on six teams (76ers, Celtics, Lakers, Suns, Magic, Kings), shares some new reporting on some of the NBA's biggest draft and free agency decisions from 2013 to 2015 (for example, why Tim Frazier was instrumental in bringing Joel Embiid to Philly), and examines the larger impact of this time in NBA history. The book comes out on May 4. Preorder here https://www.triumphbooks.com/built-to-lose-products-9781629378718.php?page_id=21   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike and Ben join their listeners for another live Locker Room chat. This time, they discuss why they love this NBA season, including Steph Curry's brilliance, Bradley Beal and Mike's complicated relationship with the Wizards, and Jimmy Butler's character renaissance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike answers a litany of listener questions on a live Locker Room chat about various NBA topics, including the Nuggets post-Jamal Murray injury, the biggest threat to the Nets, and much more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike and Ben do another Locker Room chat, this time talking about the proliferation of the NBA's middle class, the Sacramento Kings, Zion Williamson the point guard, Stephen Curry's MVP case, and more Submit your Blue Wire Hustle application here: http://bwhustle.com/join Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike and Ben do another Locker Room chat to discuss the trade deadline. They go through the Bull's moves, Kyle Lowry not getting moved, what's going on in Houston, and so much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Freelance writer Shaker Samman (@ShakerSamman) joins the show to discuss his Sports Illustrated feature story on NBA Top Shot, the new virtual trading card service that has exploded in popularity and value over the past year. Why are people paying huge sums of money to own basketball highlights that are everywhere? How is it similar and different to physical trading cards? Is it really just about trying to make money, or are there deeper human emotions like nostalgia, ownership, and ego at play? How does the service even work? What's in it for the NBA? Is this thing a bubble, or does it have staying power? Will this conversation turn Mike into a believer or will he still be a skeptic? Most importantly: when can we buy the Top Shot our favorite classic highlights and bloopers?  Here's a link to Shaker's story https://www.si.com/nba/2021/03/17/nba-top-shot-crypto-daily-cover Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike and Ben join their listeners for a conversation on Locker Room about the state of the game, talking about various questions such as: Are there too many threes? How do you fix officiating? Does the NBA have stylistic diversity? And more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Haley O'Shaughnessy and Jordan Ligons, co-hosts of "Spinsters" on the Blue Wire Podcast Network, join Mike and Ben for a simple competition: who can put together a five-man team of players that the most people will enjoy watching and following? Not necessarily the best team, but the one that'll make the most people happy when watching. The only rule: only two players per team who have been All-Stars in any of the last three seasons. Which of the following teams would you enjoy rooting for most? HALEY: Ja Morant, De'Aaron Fox, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Mitchell Robinson. Coached by Monty Williams BEN: Collin Sexton, Klay Thompson, Robert Covington, Blake Griffin, Joel Embiid. Coached by Stan Van Gundy MIKE: Steph Curry, LaMelo Ball, Marcus Smart, Mikail Bridges, Nikola Jokic. Coached by Nick Nurse JORDAN: Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Christian Wood, Bam Adebayo, Jarrett Allen. Coached by Becky Hammon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike is back on Locker Room to chat about the festivities of All-Star Sunday, and takes a look into the second half of the NBA season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ben and Mike join their listeners in a live Locker Room chat to talk about Joel Embiid, coach firings, and so much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You want offseason fireworks? The WNBA gave you them this winter. So we dialed up our WNBA pals Matt Ellentuck (Here's Basketball newsletter) and Sabreena Merchant (SB Nation) to talk through the big moves and assess what could be the best title race in WNBA history. (Please stay healthy, everyone!) Topics include: Candace Parker's move from LA to Chicago. Why didn't the Sparks respect CP's greatness? Does Parker put the Sky over the top? How much fun will the Courtney Vandersloot-Candace pick-and-roll be? The Aces made the Finals riding A'ja Wilson. Are they even better now that they get Liz Cambage and Kelsey Plum back while adding Chelsea Gray? Or are there too many mouths to feed? How big a deal was Alysha Clark's decision to spurn the Storm for the Mystics? Is it enough to make Washington the favorites over Seattle? Can the Minnesota Lynx get some damn respect already after adding Kayla McBride and Aerial Powers to a core of Napheesa Collier, Sylvia Fowles, and Crystal Dangerfield? Oh yeah, Sabrina Ionescu's back! So is Diana Taurasi! So is Chennedy Carter! So is Arike Ogunbowale! So is Jonquel Jones! So is Brittney Griner, which might be kinda awkward! And hey, the Sparks still have Nneka Ogwumike, who's pretty good. Poor Indiana Fever :-( Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seerat Sohi, national NBA reporter for Yahoo! Sports, joins the show for a free-form conversation on the most interesting stories of the NBA season. What kind of superteam are the Brooklyn Nets? If their stars aren't villains, what are they, exactly? Can they demonstrate that offense actually is more important than defense? Why isn't defense as cool as offense, anyway? Then, we discuss the fun vibe in Houston, the other team involved in the season's biggest star drama. How important is the motivation to prove everyone wrong? Why have the Rockets' many individual redemption stories coalesced into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts? Plus, some All-Star talk, why so many rookies are fitting in well despite not getting a real training camp, and more.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The best team in the NBA right now plays in Salt Lake City. But just how good are the Utah Jazz? Can they really compete for a title, or is this just a cute early-season story. Ben Dowsett, longtime Jazz writer and creator of the Jazz Film Room subscription site, joins Mike to discuss the keys to Utah's improvement, Mike Conley's comfort, common national media misperceptions, and the underlying discussion the Shaq/Donovan Mitchell beef sadly overlooked. Plus, why the future of these Jazz will have a profound impact on the modern game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nekias Duncan, staff writer for BasketballNews.com and the co-host of the groundbreaking "The Dunker Spot" podcast, joins the show to ponder the players that we've found most curious this season. What's going on with Ben Simmons' offense? Is Khris Middleton actually the Bucks' best player? (No but he sure seems like their closer). Are Warriors fans worrying too much? Why isn't Ja Morant on national TV more? Is Bam Adebayo the Heat's best offensive player now? Why are NBA teams still undervaluing wing size? Those topics and more on our long-overdue first episode of this new season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Varun Shankar, the pod's producer, joins the show to preview the NBA season. We've decided to draft the teams for this season in a sort of fantasy basketball format, but with teams instead of players. 3 people picking. 30 teams, 10 players each, it's a great time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mirin Fader, new features writer for The Ringer and the author of the upcoming book "Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP," joins the show to talk about her new project and the other big thing that happened to Giannis recently. (We're talking about his decision to sign the supermax contract to stay in Milwaukee). Mirin explains why Giannis' commitment to Milwaukee is entirely in character, shares how family obligation gives him a sense of loyalty and duty that others don't possess, and much more insight she's already gleaned from reporting the book. She also discusses her approach when profiling athletes, how she is able to connect with them, and how she avoids falling into some of sportswriting's most obvious tropes when doing so. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's player ranking season, which also means it's time for our semi-regular tradition of projecting the best players in the NBA in four years. We did this on SB Nation in 2011, 2013, and most recently in 2017. Now, we've decided to move it to the podcast and do an abbreviated version. Tim Cato, Kristian Winfield, Ricky O'Donnell, and Matt Ellentuck – four of the folks behind the 2017 list – joined Mike and Ben (our moderator) to perform a special live draft of the 2025 rankings list. Five people picking. 25 players. Five picks each. There was plenty of roasting and plenty of arguing. Here's our list for posterity's sake, along with their ages as of Jan. 1, 2025. 1. Luka Doncic (25)  2. Trae Young (26) 3. Giannis Antetokounmpo (30) 4. Anthony Davis (31) 5. Zion Williamson (24) 6. Jayson Tatum (26) 7. Jamal Murray (27) 8. Nikola Jokic (29) 9. LeBron James (40) 10. Kawhi Leonard (33) 11. Cade Cunningham (23) 12. James Wiseman (23) 13. Karl-Anthony Towns (29) 14. Devin Booker (28) 15. Kevin Durant (36) 16. Joel Embiid (30) 17. Ben Simmons (28) 18. Stephen Curry (36) 19. Bam Adebayo (27) 20. Jimmy Butler (35) 21. Michael Porter Jr. (26) 22. Donovan Mitchell (28) 23. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26) 24. Damian Lillard (34) 25. Jaren Jackson Jr. (25) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

GQ's Michael Pina, our most frequent podcast guest, joins Ben and Mike to begin thinking about the 2020-21 NBA season that's somehow imminent. We go through some hunches about the season to come that need further examination. Call them pre-predictions, opinions we feel comfortable thinking about but aren't ready to pin ourselves down to yet. Among them: Pina's Rockets optimism, Prada's Mavericks optimism, everyone's Kevin Durant optimism, and Ben's general season pessimism. Then, we use a listener question about rebuilding as a springboard to think about the Hawks, the NBA's offseason champions. Will their new-look roster mesh? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike and Ben run through a hectic, but ultimately muted NBA free agency period. Did any team meaningfully improve its prospects? What do we make of the remade Bucks after the Bogdan Bogdanovic saga? Was Atlanta right to short-circuit its rebuild. Who makes up the West's second tier? Did the Lakers win the offseason? Plus, what will the Warriors look like without Klay Thompson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Haley O'Shaughnessy, the newest member of the Blue Wire family after her recent departure from The Ringer, joins Ben and Mike to consider the larger state of the NBA as an institution and business. Why is the league pushing forward with a "business as usual"-ish 72-game season amid a larger COVID-19 outbreak? Isn't this the ideal time to try something new? Is Adam Silver doing a good job with the league, or is he letting it run adrift? Why are TV ratings so bad, and how much does that matter? Why can't the NBA sell its own sport effectively? What can the league do to provide more on-court intimacy to its fans? We also talk about NBA media coverage and ways to further improve the marketing of the product. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed), our old SB Nation friend who now covers the Brooklyn Nets and NBA at large for the New York Daily News, stops by to talk about the possibility of James Harden in Brooklyn. Why would the Rockets trade Harden now? Do the Nets have enough to make a deal happen? What would this new superteam look like? What's James Harden's value around the league? Then, Ben and Mike (and briefly Kristian) wonder if the Bucks' big moves for Jrue Holiday and Bogdan Bogdanovic are enough to get over the top. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ricky O’Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) of SB Nation and Western Illinois Basketball Head Coach, joins the show to discuss everything about the draft. He and Ben discuss guards, bigs, euros, and so much more. What kind of defense can LaMelo Ball play? How do you pronounce Ulm? Is James Wiseman any good? Why can’t the White Sox do anything right? What player could probably bench press less than Ricky or Ben? All that, and so much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Seth Partnow (@SethPartnow), NBA analyst for The Athletic and the former Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks, joins the show to discuss Ben's beloved Philadelphia 76ers hiring Daryl Morey to run their basketball operations. What does it mean for the analytics community (and the NBA as a whole) that Daryl is back in the saddle running an NBA team after his departure from Houston. What will be his toughest challenges? Then, we chat about Seth's Tiers project, a multi-part series separating the top 125 players in the league into tiers instead of ranking them. Why tiers over rankings? Why are rankings bad? (Music to Mike's ears!). What were some of the trickiest challenges of the project? What's even the point of categorizing players at all? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ben Taylor (@ElGee35), editor of the Thinking Basketball empire (YouTube channel, podcast, Patreon, book, etc) and newly dubbed "Professional Basketball Ranker," joins the show for a post-NBA Finals conversation that goes much wider than these NBA Finals. Ben explains the methodology he uses to rank players, why the exercise is more valuable to him as a way to learn what we don't know than anything else, and how he conceived of this year's top 10 list. We also wrestle with the idea of properly ranking these Lakers in history, why the LeBron/Jordan question can never be answered definitively, and why Anthony Davis' defensive performance made us all think of Bill Russell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The WNBA Finals are almost here! Matt Ellentuck of the Here's Basketball newsletter and SB Nation's Sabreena Merchant rejoin Mike to preview the Las Vegas Aces' monumental task against the Seattle Storm. Plus, we reflect on that ugly-but-dramatic series between the Aces and Sun, recap this bubble season, wonder why Candace Parker's peers disrespect her, and look ahead to what should be a fascinating offseason. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Los Angeles Lakers are BACK in the NBA Finals after a 10-year absence and a seven-year nadir filled with buffoonery and false hope. This week, we dial up old friends Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) and Anthony Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) of Silver Screen and Roll to talk through Los Angeles' burgeoning love affair with LeBron James and this team, the key factors to the Lakers' tight chemistry, and an NBA Finals matchup with the Heat that I (Mike) can't get a read on, but Harrison and Anthony can. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nekias Duncan, the NBA media's rising star and lead writer for the start-up hoops website Basketball News, joins the show to dive into the Eastern Conference Finals. What makes the Miami Heat tick? Why has the Heat's famed "culture" endured through so many eras? Why is Jimmy Butler the perfect Heat star? How many of the adjustments the Celtics made in Game 3 will carry over to the rest of the series? We also discuss some of the major schematic takeaways from this year's postseason, lament the NBA media's tendency to focus on the drama instead of the basketball, wonder why Mason Plumlee was asked to guard Anthony Davis, and hope for better from our beloved Las Vegas Aces after a terrible WNBA semifinal Game 1 performance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Longtime Denver Nuggets analyst Adam Mares, now the VP of Creative Production at DNVR Sports and co-host of the Keeping it 1,000 podcast with George Karl, joins Ben and Mike to celebrate the Nuggets' improbable march to the Western Conference Finals. No Clippers choke talk here! Go anywhere else for that side of the story. This is all about the Nuggets' triumph and their journey to this point. Among the topics discussed: -Where the Nuggets' resiliency comes from. -The three-pronged franchise pillar of Mike Malone, Nikola Jokic, and Jamal Murray -How the Nuggets' versatile offense flummoxed the Clippers. -Why Adam now believes in Jamal Murray after being a longtime skeptic. -Michael Porter Jr. as the X-factor, both this year and beyond. -Denver's chances against the Lakers in a series Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The WNBA Playoffs begin Tuesday! Matt Ellentuck from the wonderful WNBA newsletter Here's Basketball and SB Nation's Sabreena Merchant join Mike to talk through the Las Vegas Aces' surprising No. 1 seed status, whether playoff WNBA basketball is actually different from the regular season, the preseason favorite Seattle Storm's chances, dangerous dark-horses from the single elimination rounds, players we expect the general public to know a lot better after this postseason, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Haven't these playoffs been great? Isn't it nice when you get a bunch of good, but flawed teams competing for a title with no real favorite? Yes and yes. This week, Mike Prada welcomes his partner-in-crime Ben Epstein and good buddy Michael Pina of GQ and every other outlet ever to talk about three really good, but flawed teams that are suffering different fates in these playoffs: The demise of the Bucks, the NBA's regular-season monster. Who's most to blame for their (impending) early exit. Is this on Mike Budenholzer or the roster? Is Giannis Antetokounmpo a regular-season player only? How do they get out of this quagmire? What does all of this say about the importance (or lack thereoff) of the regular season? The Celtics are legit, man. Ben jumps out for this part because he can't take it, so in his place, Prada and Pina talk about why they're both feeling like the Celtics could actually win the whole thing. Finally, Ben rejoins for a long discussion about the Clippers. Are they actually a "flip the switch" team, or do they have real flaws? What does their inconsistency say about Kawhi Leonard as a leader? Do we expect too much of them? After two rounds of the playoffs, we're as confused as ever about the preseason favorite. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s NBA Playoff time! To celebrate, we’re bringing you a special Xs and Os-themed playoff preview. I’m joined by Mo Dakhil and Steve Jones, two former NBA video coordinators and assistant coaches who have actually been involved in playoff preparation for actual teams. To steal a line from Hamilton, they’ve been in the room where it happens. We went through each of the eight playoff series and talked through the on-court vulnerabilities each team will try to exploit. What should be the gameplan for each team? How will each alleviate the other’s strengths and exploit their weaknesses? This is a podcast for folks who want a taste of the conversations these teams are actually having before beginning their playoff journeys. 2:40 — Jazz-Nuggets17:40 — Nets-Raptors28:02 — 76ers-Celtics38:10 — Mavericks-Clippers47:50 — Magic-Bucks51:02 — Heat-Pacers1:00:18 — Rockets-Thunder1:13:48 — Blazers-LakersSUBSCRIBE TO LIMITED UPSIDE Get full access to Prada's Pictures at mikeprada.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Apologies for the lack of updates this week. My house still has no power after a tropical storm wrecked Long Island earlier this week, so while I was able to watch a ton of games, I haven’t had large blocks of time to concentrate and get any written stuff out. I’ll make it up to y’all in the future. (Also got a few big announcements I’m finalizing. Stay tuned).In the meantime, Ben and I found a window to chat on Friday about the first week of the NBA bubble. (We tried recording this on Tuesday, but that’s when the power went out). Among the topics discussed:Who’s better: Suns or Blazers? And just how good is Devin Booker anyway?Is there any reason to worry about the Bucks? (Not really, at least not any new one). Is there any reason to alter the title race? (Maybe. Houston looks dangerous).Are there any major differences in the style of play compared to a regular-season game? We’ve spotted a few, but we’re not sure how much they matter.Bubble surprises! How about T.J. Warren? Michael Porter Jr.? (The playing part on the latter).We end by lamenting the third rail of discussing biomechanics and injury prevention. Why aren’t these topics that any broadcast is willing to discuss? Why can’t we comment on Zion Williamson’s movement patterns? Why can’t we ask if injuries like Jonathan Isaac’s and Jaren Jackson Jr’s were preventable given the long layoff and immediate ramp-up in physical activity.More to come soon. Until then, enjoy this. Get full access to Prada's Pictures at mikeprada.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Limited Upside podcast is back after a brief hiatus! On this episode, I chat with Coleman Ayers, the genius behind the indispensable By Any Means Basketball YouTube channel and basketball training service. Ayers has made himself into an expert on an increasingly essential field: basketball biomechanics. Ever wonder what makes a basketball player so explosive and skilled? Curious to know which of your favorites are putting themselves at risk of injury? How do I improve my body to become a better player? Ayers can help you answer those questions and more. His expertise is especially pertinent with the NBA and WNBA resuming their seasons in a controlled bubble environment after a long layoff. Topics discussed in this pod include:How Ayers got into the business of basketball training and performance.What factors explain the startling lack of emphasis or study on basketball biomechanics prior to the last few years?Why landings are so important and what goes into a proper landing. Which stars are best at it? The heightened risk of injury inside the bubble. What types of ailments should most worry fans and why? Which types of players are most at risk of getting hurt? What should coaches and teams be doing to mitigate those risks while still aiming to win?Finally, Ayers tells us what to watch for if we want to learn more about a player’s biomechanics. Subscribe to Limited Upside on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Get full access to Prada's Pictures at mikeprada.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Star Wars clip was too easy.It feels weird to celebrate basketball’s imminent return. In some ways, it feels weirder than ever. All we have to do is look at the rising COVID-19 numbers in Florida and elsewhere around the country. And yet, we love this game and everything it entails. We want basketball back … but we wonder if we shouldn’t. (Speaking for myself: it’s a lot easier to write a pro basketball newsletter when I can write about new pro basketball).That’s why we brought SB Nation Engagement Editor and all-around joy Whitney Medworth on this week’s Limited Upside podcast. If Whitney is conflicted about wanting the NBA and WNBA to return, then we all should be, too. I’ve never met anyone who derives so much love from basketball, yet is still able to maintain the necessary perspective that this is just a game.We spent some time talking through our feelings, wondering if we deserve sports now, and imagining how we’ll react when the WNBA returns on July 24 and the NBA on July 30. (Note: this was recorded on Thursday, before the news that the NBA is closing on creating a second bubble for the eight remaining teams).We also give long overdue props to Maya Moore, the WNBA superstar who abruptly left the game two years ago to devote her time to overturning wrongful convictions in our judicial system. Earlier this week, Moore watched as Jonathan Irons, a man who spent 22 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit, was finally released from prison. ESPN’s Katie Barnes has a must-read piece for anyone who wants to learn more about Moore’s extraordinary sacrifice. Get full access to Prada's Pictures at mikeprada.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s time for a new Limited Upside podcast! This week, we welcomed longtime favorite Mo Dakhil, podcast host at The Athletic and a former video coordinator for the Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, and Australian National team. This week’s topic: life inside the NBA Disney World bubble. The league recently laid out exhaustive COVID-19 safety guidelines for the league’s 22-team restart, and while some players seem reluctant to attend, there’s enough momentum to believe this plan will actually go forward. But given the deadly virus, the importance of fixing systemic racism, and the unusual living arrangement for the players, this is going to be a strange few months for the players that attend. Mo has experience working directly with players, so he knows that they are creatures of habit. How will NBA teams create some sense of normalcy in the bubble to preserve their players’ mental and physical health? What effect will those efforts have on their athletic performance, personal well-being, and the important movement to end police brutality and fix racial divides in this country?We’ll hit these questions and more in a new podcast that I hope you find interesting. Get full access to Prada's Pictures at mikeprada.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is a newsletter about the Xs and Os of basketball, but now is not the time to stick to sports. George Floyd is dead, the latest in a long line of African Americans murdered by police officers. The absolute least — the absolute, absolute least — anyone must do is loudly advocate for justice, internalize the great pain people of color are experiencing, and confront our role in allowing systemic racism and police brutality to engulf our country.That goes for brands, too, especially brands that profit off black culture like professional sports teams, media outlets, and, crucially, sneaker companies. With a few notable exceptions, those brands are falling far short. Too many vague statements. Too much passive voice. Too many empty gestures that don’t facilitate real change.That’s why we dialed up old friend Michael Sykes to have an important, difficult conversation in this week’s podcast. Sykes is a staff writer at USA Today’s For the Win and the author of The Kicks You Wear newsletter on sneaker culture. If you haven’t read his latest newsletter post, go read it now. Topics include:General feelings about this important moment in human history.Why brands like Nike and adidas are falling short, and how to tell the difference between a good and bad public statement.How the absence of sports is forcing everyone to address these issues without any distractions.Can multi-million dollar corporations be trusted to also act as leaders for social change even if it risks costing them profits? Ben and I confront our own privilege and the importance of staying uncomfortable with the status quo.We briefly examine the historical forces that led us to this moment. This podcast is important. If you consume one thing on this website, make it this podcast. And heed Sykes’ words to close this podcast. They are incredibly powerful.Some supplementary reading material that we referenced in the pod:“This Week Has Happened Before” by Julia Craven for Slate.“A Night of Protest, Pain, and Peace in Brooklyn” by Tyler Tynes for The Ringer.“Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces,” a book by Radley Balko.This Twitter thread by Timothy Snyder, a Yale University professor of history.A list of places to donate.“The World’s Most Basic Guide To Contacting Your Reps” by Hannah Smothers of VICE.This Google Doc created by Jared Dubin, which has form letters to send to representatives in 100 different cities advocating for policies that demilitarize the police. Get full access to Prada's Pictures at mikeprada.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New breakdown on LeBron James’ Lakers will hit your inboxes in the next couple times! In the meantime, Ben and I talked out our final Last Dance thoughts in the latest episode of Limited Upside. You can now subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, or any of your other favorite podcast platforms. Leave us a review if you feel so inclined.Here’s a rundown of this week’s podcast:Our initial thoughts on The Last Dance. Would we have watched this religiously if there were actual sports on? Holy crap the 1998 season was 22 years ago.How much does it matter that this was a Jordan-centric documentary that was partially created by Jordan’s own team? Can we get journalistic value out of a well-done advertorial? What did we learn about Jordan that we didn’t know already? Which series was actually the toughest for Jordan? (Plug alert: check out my 538 piece on a similar topic). How interesting is Michael Jordan’s actual story? What does it say about him that his version of history is surface-level and still keeps us at arm’s length? Did we learn more about MJ inadvertently? Is he secretly an introvert? (That’s my theory anyway)Why the Bulls had no chance in 1999 if they tried to come back for seven titles.Which historical team would make for the worst 10-part documentary series? Get full access to Prada's Pictures at mikeprada.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As promised, this is the first episode of the rebooted Limited Upside podcast! We’re working on getting the feed onto Apple, Spotify, and all your other favorite platforms, but we wanted to put an episode out first to give you an idea of what to expect. (If you’re a longtime listener of the old pod, expect the same vibe). Later this week, I’ll explain why Reggie Miller was underrated for his time and would be even better today. In this pod, I hinted at something I might only make available to paid subscribers. The normal fee is $10 a month or $100 for the year, but you have until May 15 to get half off that price forever. Hurry!Because there’s no live basketball to watch, Ben and I have been getting our fix by checking out a lot of classic games from Michael Jordan’s era. We knew the game had changed since then, but it was still jarring to see how different it was. So we decided to hop on the phone, turn on the record button, and talk through how exactly the game has changed and what commonalities still exist. The Supersonics’ defensive strategy was prominently featured. We then tried to figure out how some all-time greats from the 90s would’ve been used today. You might be surprised by the conclusions we reached with Clyde Drexler and Shawn Kemp. Others discussed include David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Toni Kukoc, and Dennis Rodman. Also, it wouldn’t be a Limited Upside podcast without a respectful disagreement. This episode’s subject: John Stockton. Ben thought Stockton would fit well in the modern NBA. I’m not so sure. (Note: this was recorded prior to Episodes 7 and 8 of The Last Dance. Future podcasts will go up sooner, but we wanted to give the Sonics piece some time to breathe). Get full access to Prada's Pictures at mikeprada.substack.com/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices