LeBron James and JJ Redick stunned the NBA community with their recent collaboration for the ‘Mind The Game’ podcast. Amidst the hype, the detailing of a recently surfaced snippet of their conversation has left the listeners in shock. Interestingly, Chet Holmgren has also joined the list, claiming the need for a ‘PhD in hoops’ to comprehend the discussion.
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The situation spurred from a teaser of the show where James explained his preference for the pick-the-picker B.O.B. (baseline out of bounds) set. The 39-year-old elaborated on the strategies around the play while dissecting the minute details of the action. Redick promptly jumped into the discussion by stating his desired adjustments to add a different perspective to the conversation, as seen in a clip shared by NBA Central.
LeBron and JJ together
( @mindthegamepod) pic.twitter.com/DcOKyMM5Pk
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 18, 2024
The extensive theory-focused conversation within the clip made it difficult for the viewers to swiftly understand it. Holmgren was no exception as he later expressed his thoughts on X (formerly Twitter). Hinting at his inability to grasp the analysis, the 21-year-old uploaded the Spongebob brain on fire GIF with the caption,
“Unless you have a PHD in hoops, ya brain gonna be doing this tryna follow along”.
Unless you have a PHD in hoops, ya brain gonna be doing this tryna follow along https://t.co/hLKvCOtu9a pic.twitter.com/kImcJzBYVN
— chet holmgren (@ChetHolmgren) March 18, 2024
Amidst the increasing distress, an NBA enthusiast Joe Viray eventually shouldered the responsibility of providing use-case scenarios. He highlighted two instances of the Golden State Warriors running the play to add context to the podcast panellists’ words. This undoubtedly aided in the fans better comprehending the explanation as the post gained traction on X.
LeBron and @jj_redick‘s teaser talked about the most common “BOB” (or BLOB) action in the NBA: the pick-the-picker or screen-the-screener set.
So I decided to use the Warriors’ favorite pick-the-picker set (“Rub”) to demonstrate what they were talking about.
Would not doubt… pic.twitter.com/HfsrYwXNYu
— Joe Viray (@JoeVirayNBA) March 19, 2024
On one hand, the upcoming show serves as a desired learning platform for aspiring coaches and strategy enthusiasts. On the other hand, the teaser provides an opportunity for the organizers to improve the way of presentation to address a bigger market. All in all, it holds the potential to disrupt the market over time as the NBA fans wait for the release.
LeBron James kept his promise to JJ Redick
Alongside publishing the teaser, the official media handle for the podcast displayed the origin of the show. It dates back to 22nd April 2022, when James openly praised Redick for his The Old Man and the Three podcast. At that time, the 4x champion declared, “Heard you have one good damn podcast too! May have to jump on with you sometime soon”.
How it started vs. how it’s going pic.twitter.com/YXBpCnVJqA
— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) March 18, 2024
Nearly two years since then, the project is finally being implemented as the first episode of the podcast is set to come out on 19th March 2024 at 7 am ET. In the process, James has also gone out of his way to turn the initiative into a reality. With a commitment to release a weekly episode, the Akron-born has further proved his admiration for the game.
The stage seems set to pave the way for a unique collaboration. The chances of success remain high at this stage as the former NBA players aim to give back to the community. Hence, the future of the podcast will be interesting to look out for.
