I have finally crawled out of my cave of shame in the wake of the Clippers' death penalty and I'm ready to start healing. Kicking off the episode with a little breakdown of my diehard Clippers fandom in three phases: Hope. Cope. Nope.

After that sad monologue, we head to Pittsburgh to touch base with Kevin, manager of XNIJ, and recap the Lakers offseason and discuss the loaded Western Conference. Then we toss around a few teams that might exceed or disappoint their preseason win projections. Gettin' warmed up before our epic in-person fantasy league draft in a couple Mondays.

I'm trying something for the first (and last) time this week on the show, while in the process of moving a 10 foot U-Haul truck full of crap to my parents' house in Las Vegas, NV.

In an effort to discuss the busy NBA offseason, and kill some time on this drive, I called a few of our buds from BBKS lore to discuss hoops. First off, Evan Washington breaks down some LA ball stories with the abrupt sale of his beloved Lakers, the never-ending Aspiration scandal, and Russell Westbrook's retirement. (3:46) Then Ben joins us to relive his exciting "airplane mode" saga during the LeBron decision, and our impromptu trip to NBA Summer League a few weeks back. (27:50)

Disclaimer: the audio quality from this episode is poor, taken from 2 phone calls recorded in a moving U-Haul truck

We're back after a 2-round playoff hiatus to preview the NBA Finals with what has been touted as a scientifically perfect guest host pairing, as Russel and Sunny join the pod. We cover a bunch of pertinent topics including the vitriolic anti-OKC discourse, Lakers fans rooting for the Spurs, SGA being straight-up ugly, if Wemby translates to the casual viewer, Knicks fans being 4 wins away from acquiring a nuclear weapon, the biggest what-if sports franchise championship pop-offs, Ben Kessler getting his trophy and teeth cleaned by Sunny in the same week, and so much more.

After a brief hiatus during the beginning of the NBA Playoffs, Chad had to dust off the ol' podcast mic and get back to business... and he brought Bobby Wilson, his biggest crony, along riding shotgun. The two discuss every 1st Round matchup with a "words per game" gimmick, discuss a number of interesting developments, some moments that may have grinded our gears, and finally address the Group Chat Photo Crisis.

We've crowned a new champion for 2026... and much to the dismay of his downtrodden subjects, Ben Kessler, our benevolent dictator and manager of Jakarr's All-Stars, has taken the chip. We break down the closer-than-expected Finals matchup, the Memphis Grizzlies playing a 22-man squad of fake players, 15 hours of unwatchable NBA basketball, the messy Milwaukee / Giannis break up, thoughts and prayers for Lakers fans from a Clippers fan, and the silly, stupid team name in Las Vegas.

In an unbelievable twist of fate, Joe Kessler, 2-time defending champion co-manager, and the most requested guest from our group chat, makes his SYL debut! We cover an array of topics including: Chicago and Philly sports similarities, Eagles fans hitting rock bottom at a Waffle House outside of Jacksonville, the bittersweet Joel Embiid story, a contentious Semifinals matchup versus his own son, a convincing Wilt GOAT case, and so much more.

The quarterfinals have concluded and only 4 teams remain in our trivial basketball simulation. My opponent in the semifinals, Greg Gerschenson (manager of Sombor Shuffahlas), makes his podcast debut. We cover a wide range of topics including the Denver Sports thingamajig, a cursed Bradley Beal bobblehead, greedy Lakers fans telling you how to feel, Jrue You's vs. Jakarr's in the heavyweight match of the century, SlamBall being 33% Jackass, why Oakland should get the All-Star game, why Hawaii shouldn't get an NBA team, and some of our favorite pure shooters of all time.

THE FANTASY PLAYOFFS ARE HERE and to break it down we had to bring in Sunny Dogra, manager of Sunny Overstands Hoops, and an expert of vibes and Marques Tuiasosopo game tape. We run the gamut of interesting topics: a BBKS Playoff Preview, Mikal Bridges having zero dawg in him, player performances that NBA2K can't allow, Ja Morant operating a firearm better than LaMelo operates a vehicle, a wild week for Kobe stans, and a parting message for all you Tim Duncan lovers.