Wake us up when the offseason ends.
As much as players relish their much-deserved break from the NBA, fans feel the exact opposite during the four-month layoff. Some try to satisfy their basketball cravings with NBA 2K and YouTube videos, while others barely survive by consuming player biographies and team documentaries.
In recent years, NBA content have also been prevalent in podcasts, as sportswriters, current players, and retired pros are setting up their own audio streams and chewing the fat with their baller peers.
Here are 10 podcasts that could very well fill your NBA void:
The Lowe Post
"ESPN's Zach Lowe talks to various basketball people about various basketball things."
The premier journalist's wittingly named podcast is so much more than its one-sentence description. The people of Reddit have only good words for The Lowe Post, which many consider as their go-to pod for quality reporting and great guests. Episodes with writer colleagues Kevin Arnovitz and Howard Beck are highly recommended.
Dunc'd On Basketball NBA Podcast
Dunc'd On sets itself apart from the usual entertainment-driven shows with in-depth analysis and a lot of number-crunching that some fans find oddly satisfying. Salary cap expert and NBA CBA Flashcard tool creator Nate Duncan is joined regularly by his fellow hoops pundits in dishing out the most objective takes on everything that is currently going down in the sport of basketball.
Open Floor: SI's NBA Show
Sports Illustrated's Andrew Sharp and Ben Golliver break down the biggest headlines from around the league using free-flowing conversations, unadulterated humor, and superb chemistry between hosts — not to mention catchy episode titles. From "Kobe's pingpong skills" to whatever the hell is "Kawhi Leonard Helicopter Surveillance," Open Floor topics can either be extremely polarizing or outright WTF.
The Ringer NBA Show
Not to be mistaken for Bill Simmons' separate podcast, The Ringer's eponymous show is keeping followers in the NBA loop while trying "to keep the Sixers and Celtics discussion to a reasonable amount." Aside from household names Kevin O'Connor and Chris Vernon, their signature "The Mismatch" and "Group Chat" segments are just some of the reasons it's suggested frequently among listeners.
Road Trippin'
AKA the pioneer of player-hosted pods. Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye started talking smack about each other in front of the mic over a bottle of wine during their Cleveland Cavalier days, and they've had only the best guests like LeBron James and Charles Barkley.
It's been a while since Road Trippin' uploaded a new episode, but the Uninterrupted production has enough material to catch up on. The one with World of Warcraft nerd Tim Duncan is a personal favorite.
The Free Agents
The Starters have a new name, after NBA TV cut short their six-year daily run. The forefathers of basketball podcasts (over 2,000 shows, including The Basketball Jones), J.E. Skeets, Tas Melas, Trey Kerby, and Leigh Ellis have started over with a clean slate — eight episodes as of writing — as The Free Agents. Still, they bring the same amusing brand of NBA discussion that listeners have tuned in to.
The Woj Pod
Can't get enough of Woj bombs? When the Adrian Wojnarowski isn't outscooping Shams Charania and every other NBA reporter on Twitter, he sits down with the league's most prominent personalities to talk shop in a rather insightful way. The latest episode of The Woj Pod has Doc Rivers and Erik Spoelstra swapping coaching stories and sentiments with the ESPN newsbreaker.
Through the Wire
Childhood friends Kenny, Pierre, Mike, and Darrick share their NBA thoughts and hot takes to a wider audience with the help of House of Highlights and Bleacher Report. The underrated Through the Wire pod isn't all about the game, though. The occasional "Aftershow" segment is intended for interesting non-basketball subject matter like "A look into relationships" and "Skydiving."
Locked on NBA - Daily Podcast On The National Basketball Association
Diehards might subscribe to its team-specific offshoots, but casual fans will appreciate the mother show. Perfect for quick commutes and listening breaks, Locked on NBA covers all the league goings-on in just half an hour. Golliver makes his second appearance in the list, alongside The Athletic's Sam Amick and a slew of experts, to weigh in on the latest NBA news and developments.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Save for Simmons shamelessly giving his beloved Boston Celtics a shout-out every episode, "the most downloaded sports podcast of all time" isn't all BS (pun intended). The NBA content may well have been a bit dry recently, but their 2019 free agency coverage and emergency uploads were during exciting times. Any episode with former ESPN host Ryen Russillo is sure to be a total riot.
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