Over the last few years, the podcast culture has taken over almost every other field of work. For the content around the NBA, there are hundreds of podcasts in existence but the ones being run by NBA veterans and current stars get the most attention. When Matt Barnes made an appearance on the Podcast P with Paul George, the Clippers star took the opportunity to thank Barnes for being the trend setter for NBA athletes to venture into podcasting.
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Barnes started off by giving a shoutout to George and his team for putting together an impressive podcast and for constantly raising the bar high. He said that there now a lot of former players are doing podcasts but as a fan of the game, it is important for Barnes to hear a current player’s perspective and athletes like PG are providing that.
He said, “I want to hear what you’ve got to say. I want to hear what Draymond has to say, I want to see the guys that are in the mix have to say. So, I just want to shout you guys out for doing your thing, man.”
PG immediately returned the compliment by saying that the credit for players’ taking such risks goes to him because he was one of the first major athlete who got into podcasting and his show is among the top rated in the world.
Even though there are various podcasts in the business right now, Barnes believes that there is no competition between them and that there is enough scope for everyone to thrive in it. The NBA veteran said that there is a “shift in media” and even though major platforms like ESPN will continue to exist, but fans take the opinion of an athlete way more seriously than any other journalist.
Matt Barnes once explained the reason behind starting his podcast
Barnes success in the podcast game with All The Smoke is a product of various things. He had something similar to a first mover advantage because when he entered the business in 2019, it wasn’t nearly as crowded as it is now. On top of that, he worked alongside another NBA veteran in Stephen Jackson and together they continued to strive to become great at what they do. All these years later, they are now enjoying the fruits of their labor as the youngsters give them props for paving the way.
During a conversation with Travis Chappell in 2021, Barnes unveiled that the initial idea behind starting a podcast was just to provide for his family. After spending some time in the business, he realized that there’s a lot of untapped potential in podcasting. He said, “There is a ton of famous TikTokers and tons of famous YouTube kids. But no one is really in this podcast space.” And from there, he never looked back.
