Basketball Guyaries NBA History Podcast

Everyone's fav trash-talkin', three-point-shootin' Pacer!

This week, we cover Air Canada's rise to fame with the fledgling Raptors, all his sick dunks, his fall from grace after a forced trade to the Nets, and his image rehab in recent years.

boy, we've been talkin around this for years! It's time to go back to the 50s and take a look at 'ole Bob Pettit (the progenitor of the power forward) and his wonderful, fabulous St. Louis Hawks...they spar with Russel's Celtics, they win a title, they move to Atlanta...you get the picture!!!!

This week, we continue our discussion of Mr. Clutch, picking up after his retirement from the Lakers and following his golden touch in managerial capacities. We talk his GM years putting together the Showtime and Shaq/Kobe Lakers, his rebuild of the Grizzlies, advising the Warriors, and now the Clippers.

We're talkin' a major legend this week...Mr. Clutch! In the first of a two-part series, we cover Jerry West's playing career, from WVU to the Los Angeles Lakers, all those sad trips to the Finals against the Celtics, the championship year, and many injuries in between.

This week, we're taking a non-standard angle on Pop's career: his life before all the Spurs titles. We talk his time in the Air Force (and maybe as a spy?), his years spent coaching D-III in Pomona, and his years as assistant coach and GM on the Spurs.

We round off our discussion of Mike D'Antoni, Steve Nash, and the Seven Seconds or Less Phoenix Suns by looking at the years following Nash's back-to-back MVPs, trouble with the Spurs and the dissolution of the franchise, and the reuniting of Nash and D'Antoni on the Lakers.

The first of a two part series on the progenitor of the modern league, the runnin' and gunnin' :07 Seconds or Less Phoenix Suns! We're talking Mike D'Antoni, Steve Nash, Amar'e, the Matrix, underdogs, and some wild series!

Penny Hardaway - a real sweetie! This week we discuss his meteoric rise on the Magic in the mid-90s, some grisly knee injuries, the time he spent with the Suns, and, of course, Lil' Penny.

This week, we're dipping into that much-beloved early-2000s range and looking at the tallest player ever to play, Yao Ming. We cover his time playing in China, and short but sweet time with the Houston Rockets.

This week we're linsane in the membrane! That's right, we're talking everybody's favorite three week long global sensation, Linsanity. We cover Jeremy Lin's precarious beginnings, his month of international superstardom on the Knicks, and his struggles to find a place in the NBA in the aftermath.

This week, we consider the Portland Trailblazers drafting Sam Bowie over Michael Jeffrey Jordan in 1984, and ask if it's really the biggest draft bust in all of sports history. You know how we like to trouble the narrative!

For the first short of the new year, we're taking a quick look at a figure of much debate - Robert Horry and his seven championships. Is Big Shot Bob a clutch performer who deserves our praise, or a phony fraud who got lucky? We lay out the evidence of his time on the Rockets, Lakers, and Spurs, and debate his legacy.

This week's short takes a look at the 70s/80s shooting phenom World B. Free. We cover his time on the 76ers, Clippers, and Cavs, get into his famous name change, and interrogate his shooting legacy.

The Holy Grail of basketball stats - the quadruple double! In this short, we cover the only four that have ever happened, talk about how they sometimes almost happen, and theorize why they get talked about so much.

We're kicking off our Guyaries Shorts series with a look at The Chosen One's beginnings in old Akron, OH. We interrogate the insanity and mythology surrounding Lebron's high school career, culminating in a decision by ESPN to broadcast one of his games nationally.

We're capping off Never Heard of 'Em November with a crown jewel - the blacklisted 90s Bulls shooter and activist Craig Hodges! We cover Hodges' time on the Clippers and Bucks, his role on the Bulls alongside one Michael Jeffrey Jordan, his phenom 3-point shot, and his ultimate blacklisting from the league for his political and activist views.

For our third installment of Never Heard of 'Em November, we're looking at the 80s Phoenix Suns scorer Walter Davis. We cover his blowout rookie season, the Suns in the 80s, and Waltergate - a drug scandal revolving around Davis that nearly broke the franchise.

For our second entry of Never Heard of 'Em November, we're looking at a figure you may have, well, heard of, but maybe don't know much about - the 70s Celtics legend Jo Jo White. We look at his time at U of Kansas and role in the '68 Olympics, his years on the Celtics and The Greatest Game Ever Played, and his belated Hall of Fame admission.

We're kicking off our new suite, Never Heard of 'Em November, with a deep dive on a neglected figure of the 40s-60s: John McLendon. The inventor of the fast break, a figure involved in the desegregation of college ball, and a student of James Naismith himself, McLendon's place in the sport cannot be overstated!

We break into the WNBA this week by detailing the career of its greatest player - Diana Taurasi! We cover her time at the powerhouse UConn, her decorated career in the WNBA, and her time playing abroad in Russia,

This week we're getting grizzly and spooky - that's right, we're talking debilitating injuries! We walk you through what exactly ACL and Achilles tears are, how athletes recover from them, and look at a handful of examples from the league, past and present.

This week, the Guyaries are at the movies with a review of the largely-forgotten 1996 Whoopi Goldberg basketball vehicle "Eddie," a deranged romp where Whoopi becomes coach of the New York Knicks. We think about the forty-something NBA players who star in the film, the Knicks in the 90s, and Whoopi's Knicks superfandom.

This week we're talking something that is everywhere and nowhere - the zone! Is the zone truly only for the weak? Is man-to-man where it's at? We trace the history of the league's outlawing of the zone, its 1981 rule change that allowed players like MJ to flourish, and the eventual disbanding of illegal defense that allowed the league to become what it is today.

This week, our object of analysis is the deep cut cult fav Jason Williams, aka White Chocolate. We consider the ups and downs of his storied career and his place in three key early-2000s NBA moments - the rise of the Kings, the beginning of the Grizzlies in Memphis, and the 2006 Heat title.

We're capping off 70s September by examining the back-to-back matchup of the Bullets and the Sonics in the '78 and '79 Finals. We trace how each team got there, cover the series, and contemplate how this end to decade potentially contributes to the "The 70s Were Bad" narrative.

Did you know there was a pro ball team in Buffalo, NY? We're digging deep for 70s September to uncover the origins of the team that would eventually become the LA Clippers, from its troubled beginnings, its star player Bob McAdoo, some playoff runs, and a messy and confusing move across the country at the end of the decade.

70s September continues this week as we follow up on the Knicks' second title in 1973. We dig into the newly added teammates Earl "The Pearl" Monroe and Jerry Lucas, some of the major series from '70-'73, and finally the team's decline throughout the rest of the decade.

This week we kick off our 70s September suite with a look at the Knicks' first title in 1970. We trace the team's ups and downs in prior decades, look at some of the key figures, including coach Red Holzman, players Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere, and Walt Frazier, and detail their triumphant playoff season. Part one of two.

This week we're talking about the greatest documentary ever made, Hoop Dreams. We discuss the paths of the film's subjects as they chase their NBA dreams, the production of the behemoth project, and the film's lasting legacy.

This week we're getting into the cult fav, Gilbert Arenas. We talk Agent Zero's contracts, the Gilbert Arenas Rule, a fated game of booray, and the dreaded amnesty clause as we consider what his legacy will be in the decades to come.

This week we're asking "What could have been?" as we explore the career of Grant Hill. From his statistically amazing time on the Pistons to a later career wracked by injury, we think about the impact the original "next Michael Jordan" has had on the discourse.

This week we are talkin' the Round Mound of Rebound - Charles Barkley! We consider Sir Charles' on and off-court antics in Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Houston, and wonder if he really did eat three fried chickens that one time.

You knew we'd get around to reviewing Uncle Drew eventually! And of course we're bringing that fresh perspective we always bring - we're examining it through the lens of soda endorsements by NBA stars! Buckle up as we take you from Dr. J's Coke days to the Pepsi-sponsored set of Uncle Drew. Contains spoilers!

This week, we dig into the cultural history of flopping to draw a foul. What is it? Where did it come from? Who does it? And why?!

This week we follow the ever-entertaining Jalen Rose after The Fab Five. We hit some highs (the 2000 finals) and lows (his final seasons bouncing around) before focusing on his explosive broadcasting career.

This week we're tackling everyone's fav 90s college team, the University of Michigan's Fab Five! We get into how the team was assembled, their two trips to the NCAA National Championship, and how it all ended in disgrace.

This week we're talking about basketball's biggest celebrity fan - Jack Nicholson! In addition to looking at some of Nicholson's hijinks on the sidelines of Lakers games, we talk about his directorial debut, an obscure gem from the American New Wave of cinema, 1971's "Drive, He Said" - a film that mixes college basketball with the paranoia of Vietnam and campus counterculture.

It's the offseason, when every team tries to get a better for next year. This week, we talk about how a mixed-up franchise (the Nets) managed to snag a mixed-up, violent superstar (Jason Kidd) and contend for a couple of titles in the early 00s. Well, contend in the east, anyway...

Is Elgin Baylor, the great Lakers forward of the 50s and 60s, given his proper due in the league's discourse? We tackle this question this week by surveying Baylor's lengthy list of career accomplishments and his revolutionary style of play alongside some of league's greatest players.

In the 2007 playoffs, the 8th seed Warriors committed one of the greatest upsets in NBA history, knocking the 1 seed Mavs out in the first round. This week we're detailing how the team got there, some of the key players, and the famed series.

The much-beloved Warriors trio of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin were only together for about two seasons from 1989-1991, but they made a huge impact on the league's culture. This week, we dig into their fun and fancy free style and think about their lasting legacy.

This week we're going back to when the Warriors moved to San Francisco in 1962. We detail the fits and starts of the Bay Area team, their star player Rick Barry, and crossover with the competing ABA.

This week, we're getting weird and going deep on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's obsession with Sherlock Holmes. Special guest Tommy returns as we recap and review Kareem's novel "Mycroft Holmes."

What's the deal with the Defensive Player of the Year Award? We're going deep on the defensive strategies of two different types of winners of this award - the guard, embodied by 80s Bucks legend Sidney Moncrief, and the center, represented by 4-time DPOY winner Ben Wallace of the early-2000s Pistons.

This week, we're joined by special guests Dave and Josh, the creators of the basketball video game Basketball Classics. We're talking the history of basketball video games, including Dr. J vs. Larry Bird, NBA Jam, and NBA 2K.

This week, we're going way back to talk about pro ball in Pittsburgh from the early 1900s to the 1970s. We talk about gentrification and the building of the Civic Arena, Dr. J's 1979 film "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh," and whether the town ought to have an NBA team.

For the final installment of our Larry Bird suite, we're digging into Bird's coaching and executive career with the Indiana Pacers, from his Coach of the Year run at Jordan's Bulls in 1998 to his rebuilding of the team throughout the early 2000s.

For part two of our Larry Bird suite, we're digging into his back injuries at the close of his career and his role on the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.

In celebration of reaching 50 episodes, this week the guys are launching a suite exploring one of the NBA greats - Larry Joe Bird! In this first part of the suite, we discuss Bird's youth and college years and his rivalry with Magic Johnson throughout the 80s.

But is the league always just about guys? This week we focus on everyone's fav commentator Doris Burke. We discuss the soon-to-be Hall of Famer's hoops career in playing, coaching, and broadcasting, and think about some of the implications of her trailblazing a path for women in a league dominated by men.