The history of the NFL Draft is litterred with examples of NFL scouts simply not watching college football including the Chicago Bears taking Mitch Tribusky over Patrick Mahomes, Philip Buchanon over Ed Reed, Christian Hackenberg over Dak Prescott. Zach Wilson, Mac Jones or Trey Jones going ahead of Justin Fields might join that list. Gabe Ibrahim and Alex Lange breakdown the 2021 NFL draft and how NFL teams are failing in their evaluation of top talent.

The NBA Trade Deadline is on Thursday and we are making trades that you have never thought of. Gabe and Alex play a game they invented where they spin the wheel, get two random NBA teams, and agree to a reasonable trade between the teams. The Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings, LA Clippers, and Memphis Grizzlies all make moves with the hosts acting as their general managers.

John Gasaway of ESPN's Bubble Watch joins Gabe to talk about his new book: Miracles on the Hardwood. The book talks about the concept of "Catholic College Basketball." In it, John details how Catholic schools have impacted the world of college basketball and its most legendary moments. We talked about John Thompson and Georgetown, Hank Gathers and Gonzaga's amazing run in 2021 as we head into March Madness. You can buy the book here: https://www.twelvebooks.com/titles/john-gasaway/miracles-on-the-hardwood/9781538717103/. Check out Gabe's book review for more: https://ballandorder.substack.com/p/book-review-miracles-on-the-hardwood.

In February 2016, Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors had the best record ever after 57 games (52-5) and were on their way to the best regular season in NBA history. Then, they ran into a Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The teams played one of the best regular season games ever that ended with Curry hitting the signature shot of his career. Gabe and Alex breakdown the ridiculous end of the game and what it meant for the NBA. Follow us on twitter and tik tok: @ballandorder

With the sports card collecting blowing up, Gabe spoke with Panini America’s VP of Marketing Jason Howarth about all things trading cards. They talked about how they collected sports cards as kids, the business of trading cards, the new WNBA Prizm collection including Sabrina Ionescu's rookie card, NBA Top Shot, blockchain collecting, and Kobe Bryant’s impact on the trading card world. It was a fun chat and you can keep up with all of the cool stuff Panini does on their website, instagram and twitter. Subscribe to our newsletter: ballandorder.substack.com.

We decided to draft a team of 10 players from across NBA history and create our perfect teams. The draft had a snake format and our first five picks had to be starters. We also had to pick a player from each of the major NBA decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s), but had the additional limit that we could only select a maximum of two players from each decade. Some of you will be mad about the results. Subscribe to our newsletter: ballandorder.substack.com.

The NBA in 1977 was very different than it is now. The ABA had just merged into the league, Finals games were getting bumped for non-major golf tournaments and several players called to be doctors, pinballs or aliens. In the first season since the merger, Bill Walton brought his Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals against Julius Erving (aka Dr. J aka The Doctor aka Doctor Jota) and his Philadelphia Sixers. Gabe Ibrahim and Alex Lange breakdown the Blazers' victory to win the franchise's first and only title, as well as the great nicknames, where the NBA was at as a league and the NBA's first dunk contest. Subscribe to ballandorder.substack.com.

Time for another edition of NBA history cold calls. Gabe and Alex ask each other questions about NBA history without much/any preparation. They talk about Gilbert Arenas’s time with the Orlando Magic (and as an off-Broadway actor), Dominque Wilkins, dumb basketball terms like “two-way players,” NBA Top Shot stonks, Dwyane Wade going to Denver in 2016 and why Elgin Baylor could win a title nowadays. Gabe is also opening up packs of NBA cards and randomly interjecting them into the podcast. Subscribe to our newsletter: ballandorder.substack.com. Follow us on twitter: @ballandorder_