Over and Back: Stories About NBA History (Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast)

We continue our #RussellMania series, a deep dive into the life and career of Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics dynasty, with a discussion of the Celtics’ playoff battles with Oscar Robertson and the Cincinnati Royals (now Sacramento Kings) in the mid-1960s.

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch talk about Robertson’s brilliance beyond simply his legendary triple-double season, how he smashed the record books, how the Royals were an example of some of the bush-league aspects of the 1960s NBA, the relationship between Robertson and Russell, other key Royals including Jerry Lucas and Jack Twyman, and more.

We celebrate the NBA Finals finally coming to Toronto with our look at the history of the Toronto Raptors. Topics include pre-Raptors Toronto pro basketball history, why the Raptors nickname was selected, the Isiah Thomas years, Vince Carter's superstar emergence, the Chris Bosh era and what led to this year's NBA Finals team.

We look at the Washington Bullets, winners of the 1978 NBA championship and three-time NBA Finalists with Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, in the latest edition of Over and Back's Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s.

Author Chris Elzey joins Jason Mann in discussing why the Bullets didn't excite many NBA fans during the late 1970s despite their success and having two top 50 all-time players, the Baltimore Bullets' 1971 Finals appearance with Unseld and Earl Monroe and breakup, acquiring Hayes from Houston, the move from Baltimore to the D.C. area, what made Hayes and Unseld so special, how shooting guard Phil Chenier stood out, the 1975 run to the NBA Finals with a well-balanced squad, classic playoff series vs. the Buffalo Braves and Boston Celtics, the surprising four-game sweep at the hands of Rick Barry's Golden State Warriors, adding Dave Bing in 1976, falling to the Cavaliers in the Miracle of Richfield, K.C. Jones being fired in favor of Dick Motta, falling to Moses Malone and the Rockets in 1977, Hayes getting sick of criticism, and the Bullets not drawing well at the box office.

We also discuss the surprising 1978 championship run, adding Bobby Dandridge as one of the first major NBA free agents, how injuries took a toll on their depth, coming together in the playoffs and knocking out George Gervin's San Antonio Spurs and Julius Erving's Philadelphia 76ers, defeating the Seattle SuperSonics in a 7-game classic, and how the team brought a divided Washington together. We look at the followup in 1979, overcoming a 3-1 deficit to beat the Spurs again, and falling short in a rematch vs. the Sonics.

Check out Chris' chapter on the Bullets in "DC Sports: The Nation's Capital at Play": https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/1572037

Original airdate: 3/6/17

The most amazing seasons (Dr. J, Kareem, Bob McAdoo & more!) of the 1970s is the topic in today's episode of the Over and Back Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s summer series.

Seasons focused on include Spencer Haywood's dominant rookie year with the Denver Rockets, veteran Zelmo Beaty's career resurgence with the '71 Utah Stars, the best individual season for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (and arguably the greatest individual season of all-time), Tiny Archibald's incredible '73 campaign with the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, Julius Erving's '74 campaign with the Net and much more.

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast looks back at players who made only one appearance on an all-NBA or ABA first team, then never made another all-NBA appearance for the rest of their careers. It's a pretty rare occurrence, with some interesting names including Wes Unseld, Earl Monroe, Gail Goodrich, Warren Jabali, Kevin McHale, Latrell Sprewell, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Jason Mann and special guest host Adam Criblez decide if these players were a flash in the pan or just overlooked for the rest of their careers. 

We watch and offer real-time commentary on Michael Jordan's 63-point performance vs. Larry Bird's Boston Celtics in the 1986 playoffs in the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA podcast.

We are joined by Curtis Harris of Pro Hoops History and Reinis Lacis of The Handle podcast to discuss the awesomeness of the Celtics and where they rate among the greatest teams, Bird's beautiful perm, a bloody Kevin McHale, the lack of towel hygiene in 1986 NBA, Bill Walton's magical season, the Bulls' dysfunction and drug issues, Jordan coming back from injury and feuding with Jerry Reinsdorf and Jerry Krause, why Orlando Woolridge didn't work well as Jordan's running mate, George Gervin scoring 0 points in his final NBA game, Gene Banks' hustle, the annoying Danny Ainge, and thoughts on Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson, Jerry Sichting, Scott Wedman, Rick Carlisle, Kyle Macy, Sidney Green, Mike Smrek, K.C. Jones, Stan Albeck and more.

For the most enjoyable experience, we recommend you watch the game as you listen to the episode. Here is a link to Game 2 of the 1986 Eastern Conference first round between the Bulls and the Celtics: https://youtu.be/z78LdwAcQUo

Who launched the three-pointer? The fifth episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA podcast's summer series — Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s—explores the origins of the three-point basket. Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch discuss how the three-pointer came to be, whose idea was it to bring it to the ABA, the other leagues that had experimented with it and the transformative properties the three-pointer had.

Discussion topics include: players and coaches adjusting to the new line, best nicknames for the new "three-point basket" the best and worst three-point shooters in the ABA, an amusing story of a team forgetting the three-pointer existed and the wild year-to-year fluctuations on three-point attempts and what could have caused these changes.

Original airdate: 7/27/16

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch continue their NBA 20 Years Ago series with a look at the news, notes and games of the NBA 20 Years Ago. This episode will focus primarily on the 1998 NBA Playoffs featuring an upstart Los Angeles Lakers team, Karl Malone, John Stockton and the Utah Jazz looking to get back to the NBA Finals and Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls' last stand as they try for a three-peat repeat.

In this episode, we cover each 1998 NBA Playoff series including most prominent games, news and notes surrounding the games and top performers in each series. Highlights include Shawn Kemp's stellar contributions to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the New Jersey Nets nearly pulling off a Game 1 upset against the Bulls, Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves giving George Karl and the Seattle Supersonics a scare, the New York Knicks and Miami Heat reviving their playoff rivalry and fisticuffs, a series of boring 4-1 Conference Semifinal matchups, Indiana taking the Bulls to seven games and of course, Jordan's iconic final shot and the highest-rated NBA Finals in history.

We'll also chime in with news, notes and NBA season award winners along the way including the firing of Karl in Seattle, Atlanta's Alan Henderson winning Most Improved Player, Danny Manning's semi-controversial Sixth Man of the Year award, the unknown to us before today IBM Award and how the award winner was determined, All-NBA teams and of course, Most Valuable Player.

Last but not least, we look at the beginning of the NBA lockout, which player was first to miss a game-check and what the rest of the summer could hold for the NBA, its players, its owners and the fans. 

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of San Antonio Spurs legend Manu Ginobili.

Jason Mann and Myles Ma (@MylesMaNJ) of Hardwood Paroxysm discuss Ginobili's exploits with the Spurs dynasty and on the international stage, his craftiness and innovative ball-handling and passing, how he paved the way to make James Harden possible, and how much his low minutes-per-game totals hurt his case.

Vince Carter may have never returned to a dunk contest but the dunk contest never left. 22 years later and counting the dunk contest is still here, still important, and still the showcase event of NBA All-Star Weekend.

Vinsanity didn’t just bring the dunk contest back, he ensured for generations to come that it would never and could never leave again.

One of the greatest NBA Slam Dunk Contests in history. Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins duel it out with a sprinkle of scoring controversy, hometown love and the official crowning of Jordan as a megastar. 

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of Sidney Moncrief.

Jason Mann and Brian Schroeder (@cosmis) of Hardwood Paroxysm discuss Moncrief’s star turn for an excellent series of Milwaukee Bucks teams, how he’s been largely forgotten despite being one of the best guards of his day, and where he ranks among the greatest perimeter defenders ever.

Original airdate: 10/11/15

With ESPN’s ongoing all-time #NBArank of players by position, the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast decided to put our own tongue-in-cheek spin on it by looking at the most average players of all-time, as rated by Basketball Reference’s Box Score Plus-Minus statistic. This exercise will look at the 15 players with exactly 0.0 BPM. We are being very precise, but not scientific! Jason and Rich talk about each of the 15 players, what made them average, why they weren't average along with a multitude of fun-facts, trivia notes and interesting statistics surrounding each player on the list.

Original airdate: 2/15/16

The Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast continues its series on 50-point games with a look at some of the great scorers of all-time who never had 50 points in a game.

Throughout the episode we look at these all-time greats who never got to 50 points in a game, discuss that players career-high point total, how close they got to the elusive 50, their amount of 40-point games and how surprising it was that they never reached the big 5-0.

The list is broken down into a few categories including Top 50 all-time players who never reached 50 points like Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson, Paul Arizin, Isiah Thomas and Walt “Clyde” Frazier. Our next category looks at other all-time PPG leaders including Mitch Richmond who despite being 43rd all-time in PPG, never reached 50 points. We also highlight Glenn Robinson, Walt Bellamy and World B. Free.

Next, we look at all-time points leaders who never hit the 50 point plateau including perhaps most shockingly Kevin Garnett, Artis Gilmore (ABA excluded), Robert Parish and Gary Payton.

Lastly, we look at players who never scored 50 points in a regular-season NBA game but did it in other circumstances including Charles Barkley who scored 50 points in a playoff game and Julius Erving who had four 50-point games in the ABA but none in the NBA. 

We discuss the Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals rivalry between 1959 and 1969 with Bijan C. Bayne, author of “Elgin Baylor: The Man Who Changed Basketball,” in our continuing #RussellMania series dedicated to the life and legacy of Bill Russell.

We break down each of their seven NBA Finals battles (1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969), talk about Elgin Baylor's rise to superstardom and his role in popularizing basketball in Los Angeles, Baylor's revolutionary influence on offensive play, the basketball and social parallels of Russell and Baylor, how Baylor was the first NBA player to boycott a game because of segregation, Baylor's relationships with longtime teammate Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, some of the other key Lakers of the 1960s (including Frank Selvy, Rudy LaRusso, Tom Hawkins, Hot Rod Hundley, Dick Barnett, Leroy Ellis, Gene Wiley, Walt Hazzard, Bob Boozer, Archie Clark, and Gail Goodrich), what Don Nelson's failure in Los Angeles and success in Boston said about both teams, and much more.

Original airdate: 4/19/16

The Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast examines players that went out on a high note with productive final seasons in the league. Jason and Rich look at which players had the highest points-per-game, rebounds-per-game, Win Shares and PER in their final campaign including Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, John Stockton, Tim Duncan and more.

Next is a deeper dive into some of the more interesting final seasons. Players discussed include Steve Stipanovich, Chet Walker, Jesse Branson, Willie Somerset, Paul Neumann, Alex Groza, Marlbert Pradd, Butch Feher and many more.

Special thanks to Reinis Lacis (@LamarMatic) of The Handle Podcast for this episode's inspiration.

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history, Adrian Dantley.

Jason Mann, Rich Kraetsch and Professor of History at Southeast Missouri State University Adam Criblez (@AdamCriblez) discuss Dantley's legendary scoring numbers, his under appreciated efficiency, modern comps for Dantley as well as a few of his warts including subpar defense, less than stellar reviews from former teammates and his lack of a polished, all-around game.

Original airdate: 9/11/15

We wonder if anyone carried a great team like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did on Over and Back’s latest episode in its Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s series.

Topics discussed include: Kareem's nearly unprecedented value to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he ranks among other all-time greats in a number of statistical categories, the percentage of Milwaukee's production came from Kareem as well as an overview of his many accomplishments and who his best teammates were.

Also included is a portion of our previous Kareem in the 1970s episode in which we discuss the mythical $1M check from the ABA, the famed ABA/NBA power struggle to acquire his rights, Kareem's early NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks including the Bucks' franchise's only championship, dominance in the NBA and more.

Some of the biggest and most interesting trades of the 1970s are discussed in the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA podcast’s Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s series. Jason Mann and Rafael Canton of the NBA Trades blog and podcast discuss how the changing times in the NBA and ABA produced a great flurry of trades involving star powers.

Trades that are discussed include: Oscar Robertson to the Bucks in 1970, Jack Marin for Elvin Hayes in 1972, George Gervin to the Spurs in 1974, Spencer Haywood in 1975 and Bob McAdoo in 1976 to the Knicks, and the infamous franchise swap between the Boston Celtics and San Diego Clippers in 1978.

Original airdate: 8/5/16

The 1971 ABA champion Utah Stars with Zelmo Beaty, Willie Wise, Ron Boone and coach Bill Sharman are discussed with special guest Curtis Harris of Pro Hoops History on the latest episode of Over and Back’s Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s. They talk about Sharman’s inspirational speech after the Stars lost in the Finals in 1970, Beaty becoming the second major NBA star to defect to the ABA, the franchise moving from Los Angeles to Utah, making Salt Lake into the “Green Bay of basketball,” the Stars’ dogged rivalry with the Indiana Pacers, Mack Calvin, Red Robbins, Glen Combs, Jimmy Jones and much more.

Original airdate: 8/12/16

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of Chris Paul.

Jason Mann, Rich Kraetsch and Chris Manning (@cwmwrites) of Fear The Sword and Hardwood Paroxysm discuss whether Paul is the best point guard of his generation, how special his combination of scoring and passing is in NBA history, and whether we hold his lack of playoff success against him.

In NBA and ABA history, there have been nearly 600 50+ point games. Most of them were from legends like Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. There were also ones from Willie Burton, Walt Wesley and Andre Miller.

In this episode, we explore the most random, improbable and unlikely 50-point scorers in NBA history including Cleveland Cavaliers' forward Walt Wesley, our only ABA entry with Carolina Cougar Larry Miller going for 67, Mike Newlin breaking out for 52 with the New Jersey Nets, San Diego Clippers then-star Freeman Williams, the infamous Joe Barry Carroll, fellow Golden State Warrior Purvis Short... and hey another Warriors player, this time a breakout performance from Sleepy Floyd in the playoffs and Charles D. Smith.

More modern examples include Nick Anderson's 50 points off the bench that was immediately overshadowed by Shaq breaking the backboard, Willie Burton's 50 points with only 19 field goal attempts, Dana Barros putting an exclamation point on his breakout season, Tracy Murray and Rod Strickland putting their beef aside, Tony Delk's still-to-this-day unbelievable 53 points against the Kings, Brandon Jenning's 55 points in only his 7th NBA game, The Professor Andre Miller shocking the world, Corey Brewer's sleeper 50-point game, Mo Williams, Lou Williams and more! 

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a recap of our previous five parts including who's definitely in on our new Top 50 list, who's still on the fence and who's definitely out.

Rich Kraetsch and Jason Mann also discuss five no-brainers from post-1996 that have to be on the list and get you prepared for our upcoming shows where we continue to discuss post-1996 players with a number of guests from around the basketball world.

Original airdate: 8/12/15

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of Dennis Rodman.

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch discuss Rodman’s incredible rebounding numbers, his reputation as one of the greatest defensive players ever, his penchant for making his teams better, and whether a player with so little scoring production can make the Top 50.

Original airdate: 10/7/15

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of Chris Webber.

Jason Mann, Rich Kraetsch and Philip Rossman-Reich (@OMagicDaily) of Orlando Magic Daily discuss Webber’s incredible passing and skill, his role with the fantastic early 2000s Sacramento Kings teams, bouncing around the league, and whether his reputation for shrinking in big moments is fair.

Original airdate: 9/24/15

In 2012, a fringe NBA player Jeremy Lin was given a chance to start for the Knicks when all other options failed. He thrived to lead New York with flair, pushing the Knicks to a winning streak and a few thrilling weeks in a global phenomenon that became known as Linsanity, before it came to just as quick of a halt.

We look at what Linsanity means to us and the NBA world five years later with Kenneth Drews and Dan Filowitz, the hosts of the dearly departed Disciples of Clyde, on the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast.

We look at how close Lin was to being out of the NBA before coming to New York, the league coming off bad feelings from the lockout and needing a feel-good story, the Knicks struggling despite having Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, the first moments where it seemed like Lin would be special, how Lin appealed to many people who weren't normally NBA fans, how Lin being Asian American set him apart, how Linsanity marked the only time where the Knicks played Mike D'Antoni's typical system, and how Lin handled his success as he's trying to figure out the NBA.

We also discuss the key moments of Linsanity: a 22-7-5 line coming off the bench vs. the Nets to kick off his burst, scoring 38 points vs. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, being Eastern Conference Player of the Week (27.3 points, 8.3 assists and 2.9 steals), and a dramatic game-winning 3-pointer vs. the Raptors. Then how challenges arised: 1-for-11 and 8 turnovers against LeBron James and the Heat, a losing streak that leads to D'Antoni resigning and Mike Woodson becoming coach, a season-ending knee injury, and the Knicks not matching an offer sheet from the Rockets.

We also dig into whether Lin could have worked long-term in New York, Anthony's evolving reputation, and much more.

Jason and Rich look at notable one-year stints with an NBA team that didn't work out as expected. Examples include Scottie Pippen going to the Houston Rockets, Dwight Howard's run as a Los Angeles Lakers, Paul Westphal's brief run as a Seattle Supersonic and many more! 

Just a little over a year after winning an NBA championship in his rookie year, Magic Johnson publicly demanded a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 18, 1981. In the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch discuss what led up to the trade demand, the feud between Magic and Lakers coach Paul Westhead, how Johnson was vilified by fans and media during the time, and how the situation was resolved.

We talk about Magic and new Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss helping establish Showtime in L.A., how their close relationship upset the other Lakers players, how Westhead took over for Showtime architect Jack McKinney, the Lakers winning the 1980 championship, a disappointing 1981 season and playoff loss to the Rockets, Johnson’s 25-year, $25 million contract, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar seeking a trade to New York, how things went sour between Johnson and Westhead, the coach finally being fired, massive confusion between Buss, Jerry West and Pat Riley over who exactly would be the next coach, how Johnson would be reviled for a time before leading the Lakers to another championship, and how Westhead completely changed his style and become known as the Guru of Go.

Original airdate: 11/7/16

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch are back with a brand-new episode of Over and Back: The Classic NBA podcast! Today's topic is all about the NBA trade deadline and some of our favorite midseason deals of all-time.

The guys are first joined by Rafael Canton (@nba_trades) of NBATrades.tumblr.com to talk trade deadline history, most underrated deadline deals, trades that helped both teams, what compelled him to create a blog focusing solely on NBA trades, Rasheed Wallace's one-game Atlanta tenure and much more along the way.

After Rafael, both Jason and Rich present their three favorite NBA trade deadline deals including Gary Payton and Ray Allen swapping shades of green, the first-place Atlanta Hawks trading their leading scorer (Dominique Wilkins) for a few months of Danny Manning, Nick Van Exel going to the Mavericks among others. Discussions include the team's fate before and after the trade, impact the trade had on the history of their respective franchises and of course how the players performed with their new teams. It's a fun show as always, so be sure to check it out!

Another year in the books, and yet again, our annual Christmas/holiday tradition! Jason and Rich welcome Dr. Curtis Harris (http://prohoopshistory.substack.com) to the show for a live watch of Miami Heat vs. Dallas Mavericks from Christmas Day 2011.

(Unfortunately, Reinis Lācis couldn't join us this year but we're working on a replacement watch along with him very soon!)

This year, we watched a very important game in NBA history as the Dallas Mavericks received their rings on opening night which was also Christmas Day? Wait what? Yes, due to the NBA lockout, the 2011-12 season was condensed to just 66 games which meant the season began on Christmas Day.

In this episode, we discuss the reasons for the lockout, how the Big 3 Miami Heat re-tooled in the offseason, how the Dallas Mavericks cheaped out and immediately saw disastrous results along with several other discussions about the NBA past and present.

Join us for our holiday special, a night of laughs, nostalgia and so much more.

Watch along with us at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8hfVMO3UYU.

We take an in-depth look at the NBA players who have had their jersey numbers retired, as well as notable omissions and future candidates, in the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, with special guest Reinis Lacis of The Handle.

In part one, we discuss the teams who have yet to retired a jersey (Raptors, Clippers, and Grizzlies) and who might be the first, players such as Bobby Phills and Malik Sealy who were honored because of tragedy, the Hornets avoiding Bobcat history, why the Timberwolves have yet to honor Kevin Garnett, Pete Maravich having his number raised in three cities, the Magic having their own Hall of Fame instead of retiring jerseys, the Mavs choosing Brad Davis to be their first retired number, the Pacers leaving Freddie Lewis in the cold, the Heat honoring Dan Marino and Michael Jordan before any of their own players, the mystery of precisely when the Hawks retired Bob Pettit's jersey, what the Bulls will do with Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler, the Warriors ignoring their Philly history, and which players in the current Golden State dynasty will likely get their numbers retired. 

Since the 1973-74 NBA season, only 27 times has a player had a season with a 5.5 Box Plus/Minus or better while being under the age of 22 years old. This illustrious list features a who's-who of NBA legends: LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Bill Walton, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and many more. Chances are if you're on this list, you're going to become an all-time great... but what about those who peaked early in their career and never became legends. How or why did they fall off the all-time great trajectory?

On today's episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast we examine a few of those players including Alvan Adams, Elton Brand, John Drew and Andrei Kirilenko and see where they strayed off the path.

We'll also look at recent players, including two this year—Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic—who may add their names to the illustrious list.

Finally, we look at the inverse—players with -4.5 BPM or worse at age 22 or younger—and see how many, if any, turned their careers around and became all-time greats.

Original airdate: 3/8/17

In celebration of Hardwood Paroxysm's 1990s Week, Jason and Rich discuss listener suggestions for favorite 1990s NBA memories and moments.

Topics include Reggie Miller's famous duels with Patrick Ewing, John Starks and the New York Knicks, Manute Bol, Magic Johnson's HIV diagnosis, heroic All-Star Game performance (and of course The Magic Show), Shaquille O'Neal's onslaught on the game, the Golden State Warriors' Run TMC, the NBA's venture into Canada as well as a look at the crazed 1996 Free Agency period, Utah's rise to prominence and last but certainly not least, some stuff about that Michael Jordan guy and the Chicago Bulls.

This is the first edition of Hoop Quiz, a new NBA trivia game show that pits two challengers in a battle for trivial supremacy.

It's David Ramil (@dramil13), co-host of the Locked on Heat podcast, taking on Philip Rossman-Reich (@philrsquared), editor of Orlando Magic Daily and host of Locked on Magic. Before we get to the trivia, we discuss what's been enjoyable about the Heat and Magic this year, Derrick Williams at a crossroads in his career, how NBA big men are evolving in the pace-and-space era, and why the Heat and Magic have really never had a notable rivalry outside of Florida.

Impressed by Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors' 8-0 start? Pff... that's nothing compared to some of the most historically dominant starts ever.

This episode of the Over and Back Podcast looks at those best starts in NBA history with a deep dive into the team, the history surrounding the team, key players and figures and how their seasons ended. Teams include 1958 Boston Celtics in the second year of Bill Russell's career as well as the 2003 Dallas Mavericks, the best team of the Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Michael Finley triumvirate. The 15-0 Washington Capitols of 1949 and the 1994 Houston Rockets are covered in addition to the 72-10 Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, the 1991 Portland Trailblazers, the historic 1970 New York Knicks and Boston's late 2000 "Big 3" (Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen).

Original airdate: 11/10/15

On today's show, Jason and Rich dive into some unusual NBA skills and statistical anomalies, including NBA guards who blocked the most shots, NBA centers who passed the most and NBA shooting guards that weren't all that interested in shooting.

This episode of Over & Back is brought to you by Stathead.com! Use our code BACK to receive $20 off any of Stathead.com's powerful sports research tools. 

The annual tradition continues as Jason and Rich welcome friends Curtis Harris and Reinis Lācis to the show for the Over and Back Holiday Special!

This year, we'll be watching the 1987 Christmas Day showdown between the Detroit Pistons (15-5) and New York Knicks (8-16). There is plenty to talk about on this show as the Knicks have missed the playoffs three years in a row and have brought in a new coach (Rick Pitino).

A rookie point guard Mark Jackson is looking to solidify the Knicks lineup while one has to wonder if Patrick Ewing will ever lead a winner in New York. In the Motor City, the Pistons have been to two Eastern Conference Finals in the last four years but haven't been able to get over the hump and make a run to the NBA Finals.

They have one of the best records in the league and look great so far. Is this the year they finally make it?

Join us for our holiday special, a night of laughs, nostalgia, drinking games and so much more.

Watch along with us at https://youtu.be/TEogAwqpLEE

We conclude our #RussellMania series, a deep dive into the life and career of Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics dynasty, with a discussion of some of our favorite stories of Russell’s life and career and our final thoughts on the project.

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch share stories of Russell’s interactions with his teammates, including Frank Ramsey, John Havlicek, Tommy Heinsohn, and Bob Cousy, and talk about Russell and his USF teammates touring Alcatraz, the Jones Boys riling up Wilt Chamberlain, Russell’s early interactions with Red Auerbach, Russell’s reactions to getting a statue in Boston, and what Russell said to a big-time gambler who approached him about fixing an NBA game.

Original airdate: 6/14/16

On today's episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, Jason and Rich look at former NBA and ABA players who suited up for five, four and three teams in a single season.

Players profiled include Bobby Jones, Steve Chubin, Ken Wilburn, Rich Johnson, Rod Higgins, Tony Massenburg, Alex Stivrins, Don Boven, Ron Perry, Reggie Johnson, Sam Cassell, Barry Liebowitz, Manny Leaks, Tom Owens and Jim Eakins. In profiling each player we'll look at which teams and how many games they played, standout games, why they bounced around so much as well as career highlights and recaps. How were they before these prolific seasons and how did their careers chart after?

Special attention is given to a few of the ABA players as Jason and Rich try to shine light on the turbulent league: why so many players moved, the instability of franchises and possible profit-focused reasons for the moves.

The episode also features deep dives into Sam Cassell's movement during the 1996-97 season, a changing of the guard in Dallas and why the New Jersey Nets got a gem as well as the odd careers of Tony Massenburg and Rod Higgins who both bounced around the league before carving out a solid, lengthy career.

Other discussions include Rich's rebounding prowess as a 6'0 7th grader, Jason & Rich's "sports" nicknames and much more.

With Russell Westbrook averaging a triple-double later in the season than any player since Oscar Robertson, we look into the history of the triple-double stat in the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast.

Jason and Rich talk about how impressive Westbrook’s feat is especially for a 6-foot-3 guard, why Westbrook shouldn’t be used to disparage Oscar Robertson and vice versa, how LeBron James is also quietly coming close to a triple-double season, how not all triple-doubles are created equal, how the term triple-double wasn’t well known until the mid-1980s, what other players have come closest to averaging a triple-double for a season, which players have the most triple-doubles in their career, and other fun triple-double trivia.

We also look at other well-rounded seasons from players like Wilt Chamberlain, John Havlicek, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Grant Hill, James Harden and others. Plus we dig into the most impressive triple-doubles ever, some oddball triple-doubles, and funny stories about Bob Sura and Ricky Davis trying to earn their last rebounds.

NoWe look at some of the incredible stories of bidding wars between the ABA and NBA in the latest edition of Over and Back's Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s.

This is part three of our discussion of the off-court battles between the ABA and NBA with Reinis Lacis of The Handle podcast (LamarMatic.com). We talk about Bob McAdoo signing a secret contract while still in college and an ABA owner and NBA owner secretly conspiring to sell and destroy it, the NBA raiding several ABA players during the season including Charlie Scott, how John Brisker’s move to the NBA forced a delay in the draft, why the ABA didn’t get much money from the multi-colored ball, wishy washy NBA commissioner Walter Kennedy vs. bold-thinking ABA commissioner Mike Storen, Wilt Chamberlain signing with the ABA, how the ABA tried to woo Bill Walton and give him his own franchise, the ABA’s plans to put more teams in the Northeast, Jim Chones becoming the only player to jump leagues without a lawsuit, and much more.

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast launches their summer series (Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s) with a look at the best players of the decade. In this episode, Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch introduce the series, explain its origins, what they hope to accomplish from the season and of course, dive into the first mystery: Who were the best players of the decade? Using basic and advanced statistics, Jason and Rich attempt to determine the best individual players including names like Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel and many more!

An in-depth look at the NBA's most storied feud: Kobe Bryant vs. Shaquille O'Neal. Jason and Rich begin with an overview of the tandem, how long they played together, how they came to form a powerful dynasty, how the feud is covered today versus coverage at the time, why there are no books or longform essays on the subject, a look at the Lakers supporting cast around Kobe/Shaq and how the duo matches up with duos of year's past including Magic Johnson/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan/Scottie Pippen and John Stockton/Karl Malone.

In part one, we look at the pre-Phil Jackson Lakers, starting with a strong playoff team with a nucleus of Elden Campbell, Cedric Ceballos, Nick Van Excel, Vlade Divac and Eddie Jones. We discuss the trade that sent Divas to the Charlotte Hornets for the high schooler Bryant, the massive risk at the time and hindsight regarding the trade. Topics in this section include Del Harris and Kurt Rambis coaching tenures, jealously from both Shaq and Kobe, Shaq's unwillingness to "babysit" the younger Bryant and much more.

Part two looks at The Title Years with Phil Jackson at the helm and a solid supporting cast of Derek Fisher, Rick Fox and Robert Horry. Discussions include how dominant their dynasty was but also Kobe/Shaq's continued jealousy towards one another, how Phil Jackson dealt with it and which side teammates took.

The last portion, The Self-Destruction of the Los Angeles Lakers, looks primarly at the failed 2003-04 experiment bringing Gary Payton and Karl Malone to the Lakers, Kobe Bryant's sexual assault allegations and the eventual break-up of the Shaq/Kobe/Jackson Lakers dynasty.

Original airdate: 3/17/15

DWe look at the NBA players of the past who inspired rule changes large and small in the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA podcast.

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch discuss how 1930s pro basketball star Leroy Edwards inspired the 3-second rule, how the 1950s NBA dealt with superstar George Mikan and his Minneapolis Lakers dynasty by widening the paint, how Syracuse Nationals owner Danny Biasone's 24-second clock revolutionized the game, how the league tried to limit Wilt Chamberlain by further widening the lane and banning offensive interference, how backboard-destroyer Darryl Dawkins forced the NBA to switch to breakaway rims, how Charles Barkley and Mark Jackson inspired the five-second backdown rule, how the NBA tried to limit isolations because of Michael Jordan's late 1980s scoring dominance, how New York Knicks journeyman Trent Tucker change the way games are finished, and how Shaquille O'Neal's fierce dunks forced a change in basket reinforcement.

We also discuss the illegal defense rule changes in the early 2000s that eventually helped open up the game from iso-heavy basketball, the Hack-a-Shaq rule, Vince Carter trying to wear earbuds, Rajon Rondo defying the NBA on his headband logo, Caron Butler not being allowed to chew straws, Reggie Miller's leg kicks and more.

We continue our #RussellMania series, a deep dive into the life and career of Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics dynasty, with a discussion of the Celtics’ playoff battles with Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers in the second half of the 1960s.

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch talk about Philly fans adjusting to cheering a hated former Syracuse Nationals rival, the trade to bring Chamberlain back home, how Wilt meshed with Hal Greer and Chet Walker, Dolph Schayes being too nice to coach, the Celtics making NBA history with a starting lineup of five black players, how the Sixers built a 67-win team that dethroned the Celtics, and how the aging Celtics returned fire with victories in 1968 and 1969.

The Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast returns with reaction to ESPN's recently-released #NBARank — a listing of the 100 greatest players in the NBA history. Jason and Rich discuss the #NBARank list, its criteria, notable placements for players and how their Top 100 compared with the 50 Greatest Players list we complied over the summer.

Side topics included the potential underrating of many players from the 50s and 60s and reasons why that may have occurred, players who made our 50 Greatest List but didn't appear in ESPN's Top 100 as well as discussions on many of the current players on their list including Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Blake Griffin.

The show closes with a brief run down of Nylon Calculus' new player/season evaluation stat, HBox as well as Kevin Pelton's (ESPN) Championships Added.

Original airdate: 2/18/16

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with an examination of how to best approach evaluating historical players through the lens of statistics.

With Rich Kraetsch on assignment (probably scouring the sports libraries of America to research the NBA's elite), Jason Mann talks to Hardwood Paroxysm editor-in-chief Ian Levy about what the numbers can and cannot tell us, where statistics can fill in the blanks if footage isn't available, how we handle disparity in eras and styles of play, how much should we value being very good for a long time vs. being great for a shorter time, any players whose numbers are surprising, and much more.

Original airdate: 8/6/15

We're talking 1999 NBA jerseys! After hours of exhaustive scientific research (no, seriously), Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch have determined 1999 is the absolute worst year for NBA jerseys. The next natural step is to rank these from best to worst and that's what this episode is all about. Jason and Rich discuss our voting methods, who was the best jersey that year, the worst, when the trend of bad jerseys began, the deal with gold, pinstripes and teal. Discussions also include teams switching jerseys after a championship, Rich's distaste for the Los Angeles Lakers jerseys and much more. 

Check out https://nbajerseydatabase.tumblr.com/teamarchive for images of most of the jerseys discussed.

The Phoenix Suns recently went on a franchise-record 18 game win streak and it got us thinking: wait, did we never do a show on the longest win streaks in NBA history? 

We never did! But today, we change that. 

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch do a deep dive into the longest win streaks in NBA history including the Los Angeles Lakers' all-time record 33-game win streak, the Golden State Warriors 28-game streak over multiple seasons (and debate if it should count), the Big 3 Miami Heat's 27-game streak, the Houston Rockets improbable 22-game streak in 2008 and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-led Milwaukee Bucks putting up a 20-game streak in 1971.

We'll also touch on an early win streak record from the Washington Capitols as well as the longest postseason win streaks of all-time including the Warriors, Spurs, Nets and Cavaliers. 

This week on the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, Jason and Rich examine teams with big one-season jumps where the team didn't have a fundamental change (major new star or new coach). 

The show concept is inspired by the 2021 Utah Jazz who are currently on a 63-win pace after only winning 44 games the prior year. 

Our criteria: 

• At least a 10-game improvement and have to be a winning team the second season
• No coaching change between seasons
• No major stars added between seasons
• Some of this is subjective -- sorry if we missed your favorite team!

In this episode, we'll highlight a few of the teams that made huge jumps with background on the years leading up to the jump and what may have aided the improvement. We'll also do a decade-by-decade breakdown of other teams that made unexpected improvements. 

Jason and Rich attempt to circumvent Pat Riley's trademarks to discuss failed attempts at winning three NBA championships in a row. We look at each and every team that failed to make it three in a row, what may have caused them to miss out, roster changes in the offseason, internal turmoil and much more. 

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch are back with another episode of the Over and Back classic NBA podcast but this time instead of talking the past, we're talking the present as we preview the NBA season. Of course, we had to put a historical spin on it so we preview the season while referencing the past! Unfortunately the podcast begins with breaking news about Steve Nash missing the 2014-15 NBA season and the likely end of his historic career.

Our regularly schedule podcast begins with discussions include comparable teams to this year's Cleveland Cavaliers, if the Cavaliers are the favorite to win the NBA title and LeBron James' career arc and place in history. We also preview playoff teams in both conferences and discuss the dominance of the NBA's Western Conference over the last 15-20 years.

The podcast wraps up with a discussion of the best retirement classes as we predict this year's crop of retirees as well as what records are on the line this year from a multitude of players including Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James.

We look at how Julius Erving’s game and persona evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s years with the Philadelphia 76ers, where they reached the NBA Finals three times before finally winning a championship in 1983 with Moses Malone. We are joined by frequent guest and pro-basketball historian Curtis Harris @ProHoopsHistory of ProHoopsHistory.com.

We discuss how Erving personified ‘70s cool from his personal style to his flare on the court, how he saw himself as an artist on the court and how he tried to blend the playground game with team basketball, how the Nets were unable to afford his contract after the NBA-ABA merger and ended up trading him to the Sixers just before the 1977 season, how the Sixers were “the team that won't shut up” and how they were seen as a group of playground players, how Erving tried to fit himself into a star-laden Sixers team (with George McGinnis, World B. Free, Doug Collins, Darryl Dawkins, Joe Bryant, Henry Bibby and Caldwell Jones), how Erving had to prove himself all over again in a skeptical NBA, how his stardom and flare influenced the NBA, how the NBA began to incorporate aspects of Erving and the ABA into its marketing through the early 1980s, whether Erving changed the NBA or whether the NBA changed Erving, how the Sixers were able to acquire MVP Moses Malone and how Erving found out while traveling in China, how Erving and Malone blended their talents for a magical 1983 season, and how the Sixers’ championship with the last gasp for the ABA generation before the NBA would fully become Magic & Bird’s league and much more!

Original airdate: 9/8/16

This week on a very special edition of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, Jason and Rich do live commentary over the 2007 Western Conference First Round Game 6 matchup between the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors

Throughout the game, we answer listener questions about the Warriors’ horrendous jerseys at the time, their mascot Thunder, the Over and Back podcast beginnings, how we got the idea of doing the show, how we ended up on The Step Back/Fansided, favorite topics we ever researched, older episodes that stood out, concepts behind show topics and much more.

Game Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2c3BNc-nLw

We also delve, of course, into the Warriors vs. Mavericks with discussions on the Warriors’ playoff drought, disappointment in Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks, which of the 2007 Golden State Warriors would fit into today’s NBA, the power of Don Nelson, playoff choking, Avery Johnson’s defensive sets, differences between the 2007 and 2011 Dallas Mavericks, how this Warriors team stacks up in franchise history and many more fun topics and tangents.

Thank you to everyone who has listened and supported us for the last five years. We really appreciate each and every comment, review and listen you give us. Tremendous thanks to Ian Levy for allowing us this platform to produce and release the show. The show quite simply would not exist without his support throughout these last five years.

Thank you!

With yet another season ending in disappointment for Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and the Los Angeles Clippers, the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast looks at teams that were great... but not great enough.

To date, only four teams have won at least 50 games for five straight seasons, maintained an SRS of 3 or better and still didn't make the NBA Finals: the 1981-87 Milwaukee Bucks, the 2001-05 Dallas Mavericks, the 2008-12 San Antonio Spurs and now, the 2013-17 Los Angeles Clippers. We explore the makeup of each of these teams, notable failures, key transactions, their best shots at a championship and much more.

Lastly, we dive into our honorable mentions including teams that averaged over 60% win percentage for 5 or more seasons, but didn’t make an NBA Finals appearance.

Join us as we celebrate 300 episodes of the Over and Back Podcast!

To celebrate the occasion, we're going to do what we do best, we're going to talk about some guys and specifically some guys with NBA records revolving around the number 300.

• Players with exactly 300 games played in their career
• Players with exactly 300 minutes played in their career
• Players with exactly 300 minutes played in a season
• Players with exactly 300 points scored in their career
• Players with exactly 300 points in a season
• Players with exactly 300 rebounds in a season
• Players with exactly 300 assists in a season
• Players with exactly 300 steals in a season
• Players with exactly 300 blocks in a season
• Players with exactly 300 turnovers in a season
• Players who shot exactly .300 from the field in a season
• Players with exactly 300 fouls in a season
• Games in which exactly 300 points were scored
• & more! 

Thank you to everyone who has listened to us over the years, we really appreciate it! Here's to 300 more. 

The newest installment in our ongoing series on 50-point games takes us to the late 60s and early 70s, a transformative period in NBA history and for 50-point games. Wilt Chamberlain’s scoring fades away, Jerry West bows out and new stars like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Rick Barry emerge. A new upstart pro basketball league (ABA) joins the fray and their inclusion of a 3-point line makes 50-point games easier than ever.

During this period, the 50+ point club becomes less exclusive. Up to this point (1949-66), we’ve only had 18 players with 50+ in a game (169 times—116 by Wilt Chamberlain). All of the previous 50+ scorers were eventual Hall of Famers with the lone exception of 5-time All-Star Rudy LaRusso.

In this time period though, we’ll have 35 new members of the club with only 21 of them eventually making it to the Hall of Fame. Overall from 1967-1974, we’ll see 84 50-point games overall with Barry leading the charge at 17, Kareem chipping in eight and Wilt still putting up 7 including a heroic final 50+ point game. From 1967-74, 1.06% of games featured a 50+ point game.

In this episode we’ll spotlight some of the new scorers to emerge in this era including Larry Jones, Willie Reed, Louie Dampier, Elvin Hayes, Darel Carrier, Connie Hawkins, Mel Daniels, Lou Hudson, Billy Cunningham, Spencer Haywood, Roger Brown, John Brisk, Joe Caldwell, Walt Wesley, Dave Bing, Stew Johnson, Dan Issel, Steve “Snapper” Jones, Charlie Scott, Pete Maravich, Chet Walker, Zelmo Beaty, Tiny Archibald, Willie Wise, Larry Miller, Julius “Dr. J” Erving, George McGinnis, Phil Chenier, Geoff Petrie and John Havlicek. 

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch make their choices for the worst jerseys in each NBA franchise’s history on the latest episode of the Over and Back classic NBA podcast.

From the Detroit Pistons’ shameful teal period, the New York Knicks’ questionable deviations from their classic look, the Chicago Bulls’ unfortunate experiment with pinstripes, whatever the Houston Rockets were going for in the late 1990s, and lots of franchises’ (Hawks, Kings, Wizards, Warriors, Nuggets, Bobcats/Hornets, Cavaliers) failed experiments with yellow, orange or gold, Jason and Rich dig into the history of each franchise’s worst jerseys and unearth some tasty tidbits.

In additional to our usual audio version, you can also check out a special video version of this episode that shows the jerseys we are discussing: https://youtu.be/n-MWP4PfBsg

We discuss Kermit Washington’s infamous punch that severely injured Rudy Tomjanovich in 1977 and the NBA’s fighting culture of the time in the latest edition of Over and Back’s Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s.

We look at the evolution of the NBA from a rough-and-tumble game with lots of fouling and physical play in the 1950s into more of a finesse game, how early black players with often pigeonholed into limited enforcer-type roles, how fighting was often glamorized in the lower-profile ABA but demonized in the late 1970s NBA, how the racial dynamics involved affected fans’ views of fighting, famous stories of ABA and NBA fights (including fights involving Mel Daniels, Willis Reed, John Brisker, Cliff Hagan, Warren Jabali, and Wendell Ladner), an infamous Sports Illustrated profile (http://www.si.com/vault/1977/10/31/626402/nobody-but-nobody-is-going-to-hurt-my-teammates) just weeks before The Fight looking at NBA enforcers (featuring Washington, Maurice Lucas, Calvin Murphy, Dennis Awtrey, Bob Lanier and Darryl Dawkins), how Washington’s punch of Tomjanovich was portrayed in the media and became a national story, how race informed the response and possible punishment in that case, how The Punch hung over the heads of everyone involved for many years afterward.

Original airdate: 9/14/16

#RussellMania: The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast is devoting the next few weeks to Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell.

We continue our deep dive into the life and career of Bill Russell by discussing the 1950s and 1960s playoff battles between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors. We discuss the 1956 champion Warriors led by Paul Arizin and Neil Johnston (the last NBA champion before the Russell era), Wilt Chamberlain bursting into the NBA scene in 1960, Chamberlain and Tom Heinsohn getting into a melee, Sam Jones constantly riling Wilt up, Russell defending Red Auerbach from an angry Chamberlain, and the Warriors’ move from Philadelphia to San Francisco. Also discussed are Tom Gola, Guy Rodgers, Woody Sauldsberry, Al Attles, Tom Meschery, Frank McGuire and more.

Original airdate: 5/10/16

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of Jason Kidd.

Jason Mann, Rich Kraetsch and Adam Johnson (@Slappin5) of Basketball Pantheon discuss Kidd as an all-time great passer, defender and master of the triple double. Topics include his late surge as a shooter, whether the dysfunctional situations he created in his early career hurts his legacy, why it took him a few years to get going and how things would be different if he had won the MVP in 2001-02 or if the New Jersey Nets had won an NBA championship.

We look at why there were so many playoff upsets and so much parity during the 1970s in the latest edition of Over and Back’s Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s.

We discuss how parity increased in the NBA as the decade wore on and peaked in the late 1970s after the NBA-ABA merger, how 1970s series dominate the list of biggest NBA upsets ever, how there were more major 7-game playoff upsets during the 1970s than in the 35 years in the NBA since, and then break down the major playoff upsets of the time: the Los Angeles Stars over the Denver Rockets in 1970, the Baltimore Bullets over the New York Knicks in 1971, the New York Nets over the 68-win Kentucky Colonels in 1972, the Golden State Warriors over the Milwaukee Bucks in 1973, the Knicks over the 68-win Boston Celtics in 1973, the Celtics over the Bucks in 1974, the Warriors over the Washington Bullets in the 1975 NBA Finals, Marvin Barnes and the Spirits of St. Louis over Julius Erving and the Nets in 1975, the Indiana Pacers over the Denver Nuggets in 1975, the Phoenix Suns over the Warriors in 1976, the Bullets over the Philadelphia 76ers in 1978, the Seattle SuperSonics over the Portland Trail Blazers in 1978, and the 40-win Kansas City Kings and Houston Rockets each making a stunning run to the Western Conference Finals in 1981.

We also talk about Earl Monroe outplaying Clyde Frazier in a decisive Game 7 (before Pearl joined the Knicks the next season), how Rick Barry had a penchant for being involved in playoff upsets, how the notoriously wild Spirits of St. Louis came together for one series of brilliance, how the Bucks missed a chance at creating a dynasty, how George McGinnis managed to carry the Pacers with brilliant all-around play, Denver and Indiana resorting to dancing mascots and a witch’s hex, Moses Malone putting Houston on his back, and much more.

Original airdate: 9/12/16

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of Carmelo Anthony.

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch discuss Anthony’s low rankings in advanced stats, how he compares to other high-usage players, and what he might have to do in his 30s to make a Top 50 list.

Original airdate: 10/5/15

With Suns coach Earl Watson being fired after an 0-3 start, we look at the fastest firings and shortest coaching stints in NBA history on the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast.

We discuss Dolph Schayes being canned after one game with the 1972 Buffalo Braves, Gene Shue losing his job one year after taking the Philadelphia 76ers to the 1977 NBA Finals, Carl Bennett going from the Fort Wayne Fastpitch Softball League to coach of the Pistons, Paul Westphal feuding with DeMarcus Cousins, Jack Ramsay's final stop in Indiana, the revolving door of coaches for the St. Louis Hawks, Jerry Tarkanian's 20-game stint with the 1993 San Antonio Spurs, Lenny Wilkens taking over the 1978 Sonics from Bob Hopkins, Albert Soar finding success in three major league sports, and Bill Musselman's nightmare year in the ABA.

We also dig into brief pro coaching stints for Kevin McHale, Andy Phillip, Earl Lloyd, Mike Brown, Chick Reise, John McLendon, Don Delaney, Bruce Hale, Ed Sadowski, Paul Westhead, Byron Scott, Mike Farmer, Sidney Lowe, Cotton Fitzsimmons and Roger Potter. And, as a bonus, we look at the murky origins of the Quad City DJs and our plans for an Earl Watson retrospective.

Jason and Rich examine the longest tenures with an NBA team in history, discuss Dirk Nowitzki setting the NBA record for most seasons with one franchise, other players who stayed with one franchise for their entire careers and those with long tenures on a team but who couldn't quite finish their career with just one. 

Adam Ryan of the In All Airness podcast joins us to discuss the 1989 NBA All-Star Game, Michael Jordan's "The Shot" against Cleveland, and the Chicago Bulls vs. the New York Knicks in the 1989 playoffs.

We talk about Adam's exposure to the NBA living in Australia, watching VHS tapes of moments over and over again, how much the All-Star Game meant in an era in which fewer games were on national television, big performances in 1989 from Michael Jordan and Karl Malone, an amusing stat line from John Stockton, missing Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, and the final all-star appearances for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone.

We also discuss how the 1989 Cavaliers with Mark Price and Brad Daugherty were a rising young power in the East, the exciting moments leading to the famous finale of Game 5 of the Bulls vs. Cavs series, and how Jordan's jumper became known as "The Shot".

We also look at Game 6 of the Bulls' series vs. a rising Knicks team with Patrick Ewing dubbed the "Bomb Squad" for their record-setting three-point shooting under coach Rick Pitino, former Bull Charles Oakley vs. former Knick Bill Cartwright, Scottie Pippen getting ejected for a fight, and more Jordan playoffs. We also discuss at what exact point Jordan became the undisputed best player in the NBA.

Our series on NBA playoff buzzer beaters continues with a look at second round, semifinals and conference finals series clinchers. 

Shots discussed in this episode include:

• Tom Heinsohn concluding the very first Russell vs. Wilt playoff series in 1960
• Kawhi Leonard's baseline jumper hits the rim four times before finally falling in and moving the Toronto Raptors past the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019.
• Jo Jo White's anti-climatic free-throw series clincher in 1974 against the Buffalo Braves
• Michael Jordan puts a dagger in the Cleveland Cavaliers' hearts again. This time in 1993.
• Ralph Sampson helps the young Houston Rockets upset the juggernaut Los Angeles Lakers in 1986.
• After years of failing to clinch their ticket to the NBA Finals, John Stockton hits a wide-open three to give the Utah Jazz their first finals berth in 1997. 

On this episode of Over and Back, Jason and Rich bring back the popular Last Great Game series for the 2021 Basketball Hall of Fame class. We'll discuss a bit about each Hall of Famers career, why they are entering the Basketball Hall of Fame and then, an in-depth look at each player's last great NBA game.

Players featured in this episode include: 

• Rick Adelman
• Chris Bosh
• Bob Dandridge
• Toni Kukoc
• Paul Pierce
• Bill Russell
• Ben Wallace
• Chris Webber

We're back! The Luka Doncic trade demanded the return of Over & Back, and here we are.

Jason and Rich reunite for the first time since November 2023 to discuss the blockbuster to end all blockbusters with Luka shipped off to Los Angeles.

In this episode, we explore prior trades in NBA history to compare with this one, discuss the various reasons why this trade differs from nearly all major trades in NBA history, identify which players historically measure up to Luka through his age 25 season, and give some appreciation to Anthony Davis, who is an excellent player, even though he isn't Luka Doncic.

Listen to our complete archive of podcasts at http://www.overandbacknba.com.

Basketball Hall of Famer Bernard King joins the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast to discuss his new book, Game Face, and memories of his career, including his playoff battles on the New York Knicks and overcoming a gruesome knee injury to play again in the NBA after two years of recovery.

He also discusses his analytical approach to basketball from a young age, coming into the NBA in an unsettled era before Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, competing against Julius Erving as rookie with the New Jersey Nets, going through rehab for alcohol addiction, rebuilding his career with the Golden State Warriors and coach Al Attles, joining the Knicks as a free agent, breaking a playoff record for scoring in a classic battle vs. Isiah Thomas and the Pistons, matching up with Larry Bird and the Celtics, becoming the first NBA player to return from a torn ACL, going to the Washington Bullets and becoming an all-star once again, his playing days and friendship with Moses Malone, when he realized his career was over, and much more.

We look at how Spencer Haywood changed the world of basketball and paved the way for underclassmen to join the pros in the latest edition of Over and Back's Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s.

We are joined once again by Reinis Lacis of The Handle podcast to discuss Haywood signing with the ABA as a sophomore, then breaking the NBA's ban of underclassmen, the many lawsuits that followed, the "three-front war" he was forced to fight and the toil that Haywood was under as he played for the Sonics while his case was in court. We also talk about the infamous Dolgoff Plan of deferred payments and how it changed the business of basketball, the rise of unscrupulous agents, NBA referees jumping to the ABA, the first serious NBA and ABA merger talks, how much salaries rose compared to franchise values, the ABA begin to win the talent battle out of colleges by signing Julius Erving, Artis Gilmore and George McGinnis, an NBA-ABA merger derailed and what it might have looked like, the Oscar Robertson lawsuit on behalf of the NBA players union, accusations of NBA owners having ties to organized crime, and much more.

Original airdate: 11/20/16

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of Allen Iverson.

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch discuss Iverson’s iconic presence and effect on the NBA, his heavy workload and scoring ability, how much his lack of efficiency should matter, and the recent book “Not A Game” by Kent Babb on Iverson’s life and career.

We take a look at multiple-time NBA All-Stars who were big deals in their day but have been somewhat forgotten or overlooked with the passage of time in the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast.

Co-hosts Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch first discuss some of elite superstars of their day: Larry Foust, an 8-time all-star who led the Fort Wayne Pistons to back-to-back NBA Finals in 1955 and 1956 and has the highest Basketball Reference probability score for someone who is not in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame; Alonzo Mourning, who was among top best centers in the NBA for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat before a kidney ailment limited him in the second half of his career; Harry "The Horse" Gallatin, an iron man and rebounding savant for the New York Knicks that went to three straight NBA Finals from 1951-53; Amar'e Stoudemire, an elite offensive force who helped make the 2000s "Seven Seconds or Less" Phoenix Suns go before injuries caught up to him with the Knicks; and Neil Johnston, a top big man of the 1950s who consistently was near the top of the league in points, rebounds and PER and led the Philadelphia Warriors to the 1956 championship.

We also look at some overlooked 1980s favorites like the Denver Nuggets scoring machine Alex English, Seattle Supersonics big man Jack Sikma (another major Hall of Fame oversight), sweet shooting Phoenix Suns star Walter Davis, and the versatile Milwaukee Bucks swingman Marques Johnson. Plus some 1990s and 2000s stars: how Tim Hardaway succeeded in vastly different teams with the Run TMC Golden State Warriors and the grind-it-out Heat, how Shawn Kemp was much more than a dunker for the Sonics, and how Jermaine O'Neal's six-year peak stands with some of the best in NBA history. We also investigate the careers of multi-time 1950s and 1960s NBA All-Stars Don Ohl, Dick Garmaker and Mel Hutchins.

Today on the Over and Back Classic NBA podcast it's all about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Lew Alcindor but unlike our typical career retrospectives, we're going to focus on Kareem in the 1970s. Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch discuss his dominance in both the high school and college ranks, the famed ABA/NBA power struggle to acquire his rights and the mythical $1 million check he was to receive from then-ABA commissioner and NBA legend George Mikan.

We then move to Kareem's early NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks including the Bucks' franchise's only championship, dominance in the NBA, Kareem's many talents and the Milwaukee Bucks' place amongst the best teams of all-time. Lastly, we look at Kareem's move to Los Angeles, why he was traded, religious and on-court reasons and his surprisingly lack of success with the late 1970s Lakers teams. 

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, as officially decreed by the NBA in 1996. Today, your hosts Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch are joined once again by a legend in the basketball history field, ProHoopsHistory.com‘s Curtis Harris (@ProHoopsHistory).

Topics include discussing what we value the most when trying to determine who should be in the Top 50: statistics, reputation, team accomplishments, innovation, influence and more. They then go through the slashers and forwards named in the original list and where they’d stand if a list was made today — who’s in, who’s out and who’s on the bubble? They discuss the cases of Clyde Drexler, George Gervin, James Worthy, Paul Arizin, Scottie Pippen, Billy Cunningham, Dave DeBusschere, Kevin McHale, Elvin Hayes, and Jerry Lucas.

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA's 50 Greatest Players in history, as officially decreed by the NBA in 1996. Today, your hosts Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch are joined by a legend in the basketball history field, ProHoopsHistory.com's Curtis Harris (@ProHoopsHistory). Topics include the process behind the original list in 1996, how good of a job they did with that list, whether current players should have been included.

The last topic focuses on guards named in the original list and where they'd stand if a list was made today — who's in, who's out and who's on the bubble? Over the offseason, Over and Back will examine the careers of every possible Top 50 candidate, past and present, with historians, writers and basketball experts. At the end, we'll make our picks for a new Top 50 list.

We decided to create mythical U.S. Olympic Dream Teams from 1968, 1980, 2004 and 2016 and compare them to the vaunted original Dream Team of 1992 led by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen and Patrick Ewing.

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch are joined by Adam Johnson of Basketball Pantheon on this episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA podcast. Each of us tried to create a perfect roster of professional players to match up with the formidable 1992 squad. For 1968, we debated how a team led by Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Rick Barry would match up.

For 1980, we looked at a team that would include Bird, Magic, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and George Gervin.

For 2004, we considered a squad led by Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan and Shaquille O'Neal and who would best fit alongside them.

For 2016, we mulled over a talent-rich squad led by Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, James Harden, Anthony Davis, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony. Which year would make the best team? Could any of them handle the 1992 Dream Team?

We are joined by Curtis Harris of Pro Hoops History in discussing the life and career of Connie Hawkins, the New York City playground legend and ABA superstar who was unfairly blackballed by the NBA until his late 20s.

We discuss Hawkins being one of the first above-the-rim offensive superstars, how his high-flying grace and acrobatics inspired Julius Erving and Michael Jordan, his incredibly huge hands and ball fakes, popularizing the finger roll, growing up in Brooklyn and his success on the playgrounds and at Boys High School, including a legendary battle against Roger Brown.

We also talk about his recruitment to the University of Iowa, getting ensnared in a gambling scandal because of a tenuous association with gambler and former NBA star Jack Molinas, a false confession after weeks of interrogation by New York detectives, and being banned by the NBA despite never being charged with a crime. We also dig into Hawkins becoming MVP of the fledging rival league the ABL at age 19, playing with the Harlem Globetrotters, filing an antitrust lawsuit against the NBA, and winning a championship in the ABA with the Pittsburgh Pipers.

We also discuss the settlement that led Hawkins to finally join the NBA, finding success with the Phoenix Suns, how he shined despite injuries taking their toll on his brilliance, his waning years with the Lakers and Hawks, finding meaning in his life after basketball, his sense of humor, and how much his Hall of Fame induction meant to him. We also play a what-if game for him joining the NBA in 1964 and how history might have changed.

We look at players who are having historically great or statistically uncommon seasons so far in 2016-17 in the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast.

Kris Fenrich of The Step Back joins Jason Mann to discuss the NBA’s statistical outliers, big men like Brook Lopez and Marc Gasol shooting 3s at an unprecedented rate, the explosion of triple-doubles from Russell Westbrook and others, Westbrook setting records for usage and box-score plus-minus, James Harden's 50-point triple-doubles, Nikola Jokic and DeMarcus Cousins having some of the best passing seasons for a center, Isaiah Thomas with a nearly unprecedented blend of usage and efficiency, and how Kawhi Leonard is reminiscent of John Havlicek.

We also discuss large boosts in players with high Player Efficiency Ratings and averaging more than 25 points per game, Kevin Durant scoring a lot while taking fewer shots, Giannis Antetokounmpo with almost unheard of statistic versatility, Anthony Davis' overlooked awesome season, players with 35-15 stat lines, and Joel Embiid doing all kinds of unprecedented things for a rookie in limited minutes.

Check out Kris’ recent article on the NBA’s statistical outliers. http://fansided.com/2017/02/07/nba-statistical-outliers/

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of Tracy McGrady.

Jason Mann and Jared Dubin (@JADubin5) of Hardwood Paroxysm discuss how McGrady’s elite years compare to other top players, how much a problem his lack of longevity is, how he compares to his cousin Vince Carter, his famous stints with the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets, and favorite memories of McGrady’s lesser known New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks years.

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls great Paul Gasol.

Rich Kraetsch, Jason Mann and guest Adam Johnson (@Slappin5) of Basketball Pantheon discuss Gasol's surprisingly strong resume compared to his reputation, if his international work should be considered, and his remarkable consistency.

Original airdate: 9/2/15

Marc Gasol made history this summer becoming one of a select few to win both a gold medal and NBA Finals ring in the same summer — our latest episode looks at the others who achieved this feat and how it impacted their career.
This week on the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch go international with a fun topic about NBA players who won a gold medal and an NBA Finals ring in the same summer. We’ll look at the players who achieved this feat — Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Lamar Odom, LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Marc Gasol — and discuss how the summer impacted their careers.

For each player we will start with a look at their NBA careers prior to the fateful summer, their NBA Title run and of course their international playing history and what the gold medal meant for their NBA careers, personal brands and Basketball Hall of Fame candidacy.

Topics include Jordan’s brand exploding after the “passing of the torch” moment in 1992, the dominance of the 1992 Dream Team, comparing the 1992 and 1996 Team USA lineups, Pippen finally emerging from Jordan’s shadow, Odom’s redemption tour and career peak, LeBron silencing his doubters in one summer, Irving’s legendary NBA Finals performance and finally, a weight lifted off Gasol’s shoulders as he finally leads Spain to FIBA World Cup gold.

Additionally, we’ll briefly touch on WNBA players who achieved a gold medal and title win in the same season including Sue Bird who has done is three times as well as Tina Thompson, Sheryl Swoopes, Delish Milton, Lisa Leslie, Tameka Dixon, Katie Smith, Swin Cash, Tamika Catchings, Brittney Griner, Candice Dupree, Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd.

Finally, we look at players who won an NBA ring the year after winning a gold medal including Bill Russell, Manu Ginobili, Kobe Bryant, Tyson Chandler, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green. 

Rarely have players as great as Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins been stuck on such bad teams. We take a look at how other comparable players fared early on in their careers in the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast.

We look how this season's New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings compare to other teams that struggled despite having an amazing superstar, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Los Angeles Lakers in 1976 and Charles Barkley's Philadelphia 76ers in 1988. We also discuss players in the same class as Davis and Cousins and how they fared in their first seven seasons, from players who were part of dynasties (George Mikan, Larry Bird, Julius Erving and Tim Duncan), who won a championship (Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Pettit and Dan Issel), who made the Finals (Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Moses Malone), and who made it deep into the playoffs but failed to make a Finals (David Robinson, Karl Malone and Alonzo Mourning).

We also compare Cousins and Davis to players who didn't make it far into the playoffs early in their careers, including Chris Webber, Spencer Haywood, Bob McAdoo, Bob Lanier, Walt Bellamy, Kevin Garnett and Elton Brand. And finally we look at where DeMarcus Cousins stands among the top NBA players who have never reached the playoffs in their careers.

Original airdate: 2/3/17

In this very special episode of the Over & Back Classic NBA Podcast, Jason & Rich celebrate LeBron James breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's once thought-to-be unbreakable NBA all-time scoring record.

We'll discuss how LeBron did it, major milestones in his career, previous NBA all-time leading scorers, what other records LeBron may be able to break and if anyone playing today has a chance to break James' record.

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The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of Dwight Howard.

Jason Mann and Chris Barnewell (@ChrisBarnewell) of Hardwood Paroxysm and At The Hive discuss Howard's incredible defense and scoring efficiency, the challenges of being a dominant defensive big man in the pace-and-space era, and where he fits on the pecking order of great big men.

NBA teams who outscore their opponents over a full season but have a losing record are relatively rare in the NBA. We take a look back at some of the most notable instances in the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast.

Jason Mann talks with Miles Wray of The Step Back about his investigation into recent teams who have managed to have a positive scoring margin and a losing record, with five current teams (Miami, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Minnesota and Denver) very close to doing so this season.

First we look at some of the recent teams who have done so, including Kevin Love's 2014 Timberwolves, the 2015 and 2016 Jazz, Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder sparking the 2015 Celtics, and an oddball 2008 post-Allen Iverson 76ers squad. Digging deeper into history, we look at some Dolph Schayes-led Syracuse Nationals teams in the 1950s, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 1975 Bucks and 1976 Lakers, and the 1981 Rockets and Kings (two 40-42 teams who faced off in the Western Conference Finals), and look at how often this happened to teams on the rise, including the 1987 Bulls with Michael Jordan, the 1989 Trail Blazers with Clyde Drexler, the 1992 Pacers with Reggie Miller, and the 2007 Magic with Dwight Howard.

Check out Miles' article at The Step Back: http://fansided.com/2017/03/10/nba-teams-positive-scoring-margin-losing-record/

60 years today, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in an NBA game.

To celebrate this one-of-a-kind anniversary, Jason and Rich are joined by Gary Pomerantz—author of Wilt, 1962: The Night of 100 Points and the Dawn of a New Era (https://amzn.to/3KacqQs)—to discuss Chamberlain's record-breaking night. 

Topics included the added mythology of the game not being televised, what happened to the game ball, how Wilt and his teammates celebrated the accomplishment, Wilt's larger than life personality and play, what surprises newer fans when they first find out about this game, Chamberlain's influence on today's game and so much more! 

The Last Pass: Cousy, Russell, the Celtics, and What Matters in the End: https://amzn.to/3tf0sy4

We discuss the formation of the ABA in 1967 and how it battled with the NBA for talent and in the courtroom in the late 1960s in the latest edition of Over and Back's Basketball Mysteries of the 1970s.

Jason Mann is joined by Reinis Lacis (@lamarmatic) of The Handle Podcast to talk about how the ABA first got together, how the immediate goal was a merger with the NBA, George Mikan's role in giving the league credibility, the establishment of the 3-pointer and red, white and blue ball, the ABA finding talent through banned players like Connie Hawkins, how the ABA found it hard to entice NBA players to jump leagues, Rick Barry becoming the first major NBA star to jump over, the ABA filing an antitrust lawsuit against the NBA, Hawkins moving on to the NBA, Dave Bing and Lou Hudson signing with the ABA but running into legal entanglements, how the ABA and NBA did in luring college stars in the late 1960s, and the initial merger talks between the two leagues.

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of Vince Carter.

Jason Mann, Rich Kraetsch and Seth Partnow (@SethPartnow) of Nylon Calculus discuss Carter's years as an elite dunker, what they did for his reputation, his early peak, bad exit in Toronto, underrated production as a member of the New Jersey Nets, whether his lack of defensive acumen hurts his case as well as his smooth transition into role player status and the over-arching question: is it better to burn out or fade away?

With Kobe Bryant's retirement tour now in full swing, the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast takes a look at the final years for some of the NBA's all-time greats. Rich and Jason discuss how the player was perceived at the time, how successful their final year was (both individually and team-wise) and, of course, the pageantry surrounding their goodbyes.

Some of the players looked at include Michael Jordan (Washington Wizards), Philadelphia 76ers legend Julius Erving, Boston Celtics great John Havlicek, Jerry West, John Stockton as well as Reggie Miller, Elvin Hayes, Hal Greer, Jason Kidd and Hakeem Olajuwon.

Could Kevin Durant be included in the conversation for greatest of all time? What would it take for him to get there? What would the Golden State Warriors need to accomplish? Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch discuss this and more on the latest episode the Over and Back Classic NBA podcast, now at The Step Back.

Time Stamps:

3:45 Where Durant ranks in all-time categories

6:00 How behind LeBron James in the all-time great conversation is Durant’s biggest obstacle and how moving to Golden State could change his career track

7:05 Comparing Durant to all-time greats at the same age or number of seasons and who he stacks up with

8:45 How the early start to Durant’s compared to most historical players both helps and hurts his legacy

10:10 Where Durant would stand if he retired now

12:35 How the Durant vs. LeBron conversation could change if they play each other again in the Finals

13:30 How Durant doesn't rank historically great in box plus-minus and whether playing with a potential all-time great Warriors team will change that

15:20 The idea that Durant is embracing a bigger challenge in Golden State, where only multiple titles will satisfy expectations.

17:55 Will Durant likely be seen as MVP for the Warriors once he establishes himself there

18:50 How good of a position are the Warriors to be the next dynasty compared to the 1982 Lakers, 1993 Bulls and 2002 Lakers?

21:20 How the Warriors aren't quite as historically unique as you might think

25:45 How Golden State’s Big Four compares to Miami’s Big Three and how the role players will matter too

#RussellMania: The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast is devoting the next few weeks to Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell.

We continue in our deep dive into the life and career of Bill Russell by discussing the 1950s and 1960s playoff battles between the Boston Celtics and Syracuse Nationals (now the Philadelphia 76ers). We talk about how Dolph Schayes was a bridge between the old game and the new, how the Nationals-Celtics rivalry was fierce even before Russell joined the team, how Russell’s defense affected the Nats’ play (especially Johnny “Red” Kerr), and how close the Nationals came to beating the Celtics in 1959.

We also share stories of how Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most nearly lost his dentures during a game, the disappearing 7-foot-3 Swede Halbrook, players who both played in the MLB and NBA, plus the contributions of Paul Seymour, Hal Greer, Larry Costello, George Yardley, Ed Conlin, Al Bianchi, Earl Lloyd, and, most importantly, pay tribute to the one-minute career of Forest “Frosty” Able.

Original airdate: 5/3/16

Lucky episode #13 takes us to New York City as Jason and Rich cover the life and career former Knicks and Nets star Micheal Ray Richardson! We begin the episode chatting Sugar Ray with Robert Silverman (@bobsaietta) of Knickblogger, VICE, The Cauldron, Deadspin, The Daily Beast and The Classical as we discuss his impact in New York City, whether his addictions were aided by the city, his life-long link to Bernard King and much more!

The meat and potatoes of the show delves into Micheal's upbringing in Denver, college life at the University of Montana and his eventual arrival in New York as a member of a good but not great Knicks team. Of course, no breakdown of Micheal Ray is complete without discussing his issues with addictions, his wild party life as well as his brief run in Golden State.

We finish up with a look at his redemption tour as a member of the New Jersey Nets including a stunning upset of the defending champion Philadelphia 76ers. Most importantly though, Micheal Ray becoming the first man banned from the NBA as a result of drug use. The show ends with a brief look at his post-NBA career, some fun Play Indexing and a preview of our upcoming show.

If Kevin Durant has his way, he’ll be traded from the Brooklyn Nets to a new team this offseason. This got us thinking: how many elite scorers have been traded in NBA history? 

Believe it or not, more than you may think! 

Thanks to Stathead.com, we took Durant's 2022 scoring average (29.9 PPG) and found every season in NBA and ABA history where a player averaged over 29.9 PPG: https://stathead.com/tiny/1N74Y. From there, we looked at each player that was traded the year after their elite scoring season and talked briefly about how and why they were traded, how the teams and players fared after their trades and more!

This episode of Over & Back is brought to you by Stathead.com! Use our code BACK to receive $20 off any of Stathead.com's powerful sports research tools. 

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker.

Rich Kraetsch, Jason Mann and guest Adam Johnson (@Slappin5) of Basketball Pantheon talk about the Top 50 case for Parker. They discuss where he fits among elite point guards, how he's contributed to the Spurs dynasty of the 2000s, and how his career might've been different if he'd had a greater role on a lesser team.

So we all know that Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls were the top team in the 1990s. They won six championships in eight years, had greatest single season of all-time and were led by the best player of his generation, if not all-time, and so on.

But who was the second-best team in the decade? Who would've dominated the '90s if not for Jordan and the Bulls? Who is a team that doesn't get enough credit for being great throughout the decade? We try to answer these questions on this episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast!

Original airdate: 12/29/15

The Denver Nuggets have won their franchise's first NBA title, largely thanks to Nikola Jokić. For his efforts, he was awarded the Bill Russell Award for NBA Finals MVP, a testament to his outstanding performance.

However, we're not sure people are quite understanding just HOW great Jokić was during both the 2023 NBA Finals and the entire 2023 playoff season.

Join the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast as we explore the very real possibility that Nikola Jokić just had one of the greatest playoff runs in NBA history.

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Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast Archives: http://overandbacknba.com

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The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast continues its offseason series looking at the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players in history, with a look at the career and Top 50 candidacy of Chauncey Billups.

Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch discuss Billups’ remarkable run of winning teams, his reputation among peers such as Jason Kidd and Steve Nash vs. how the numbers treat them, and how he overcame a slow start to have a Hall of Fame career.

Original airdate: 10/10/15

Jason and Rich explore dynasty survivors: the last player from each NBA dynasty to remain with their team even after the glory years.

From Gail Goodrich and Don Chaney to Randy Brown and Robert Parish, we look at each major pre and post expansion dynasty and who hung on through the final days of the dynasty. We examine how long the player remained with the franchise, why he was the last left and of course some fun facts along the way.

The Over and Back Classic NBA podcast’s Top 50 project is finally finished. Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch reveal their choices for their new Top 50 greatest NBA players of all time, talk about the thinking behind their picks, possible criticisms of the list, who we had to leave off, balancing eras and positions, and how they came to common ground on the last few choices.

Original airdate: 10/16/15