Limited Upside

This is a newsletter about the Xs and Os of basketball, but now is not the time to stick to sports. George Floyd is dead, the latest in a long line of African Americans murdered by police officers. The absolute least — the absolute, absolute least — anyone must do is loudly advocate for justice, internalize the great pain people of color are experiencing, and confront our role in allowing systemic racism and police brutality to engulf our country.That goes for brands, too, especially brands that profit off black culture like professional sports teams, media outlets, and, crucially, sneaker companies. With a few notable exceptions, those brands are falling far short. Too many vague statements. Too much passive voice. Too many empty gestures that don’t facilitate real change.That’s why we dialed up old friend Michael Sykes to have an important, difficult conversation in this week’s podcast. Sykes is a staff writer at USA Today’s For the Win and the author of The Kicks You Wear newsletter on sneaker culture. If you haven’t read his latest newsletter post, go read it now. Topics include:General feelings about this important moment in human history.Why brands like Nike and adidas are falling short, and how to tell the difference between a good and bad public statement.How the absence of sports is forcing everyone to address these issues without any distractions.Can multi-million dollar corporations be trusted to also act as leaders for social change even if it risks costing them profits? Ben and I confront our own privilege and the importance of staying uncomfortable with the status quo.We briefly examine the historical forces that led us to this moment. This podcast is important. If you consume one thing on this website, make it this podcast. And heed Sykes’ words to close this podcast. They are incredibly powerful.Some supplementary reading material that we referenced in the pod:“This Week Has Happened Before” by Julia Craven for Slate.“A Night of Protest, Pain, and Peace in Brooklyn” by Tyler Tynes for The Ringer.“Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America’s Police Forces,” a book by Radley Balko.This Twitter thread by Timothy Snyder, a Yale University professor of history.A list of places to donate.“The World’s Most Basic Guide To Contacting Your Reps” by Hannah Smothers of VICE.This Google Doc created by Jared Dubin, which has form letters to send to representatives in 100 different cities advocating for policies that demilitarize the police. Get full access to Prada's Pictures at mikeprada.substack.com/subscribe

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New breakdown on LeBron James’ Lakers will hit your inboxes in the next couple times! In the meantime, Ben and I talked out our final Last Dance thoughts in the latest episode of Limited Upside. You can now subscribe to us on Apple, Spotify, or any of your other favorite podcast platforms. Leave us a review if you feel so inclined.Here’s a rundown of this week’s podcast:Our initial thoughts on The Last Dance. Would we have watched this religiously if there were actual sports on? Holy crap the 1998 season was 22 years ago.How much does it matter that this was a Jordan-centric documentary that was partially created by Jordan’s own team? Can we get journalistic value out of a well-done advertorial? What did we learn about Jordan that we didn’t know already? Which series was actually the toughest for Jordan? (Plug alert: check out my 538 piece on a similar topic). How interesting is Michael Jordan’s actual story? What does it say about him that his version of history is surface-level and still keeps us at arm’s length? Did we learn more about MJ inadvertently? Is he secretly an introvert? (That’s my theory anyway)Why the Bulls had no chance in 1999 if they tried to come back for seven titles.Which historical team would make for the worst 10-part documentary series? Get full access to Prada's Pictures at mikeprada.substack.com/subscribe

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As promised, this is the first episode of the rebooted Limited Upside podcast! We’re working on getting the feed onto Apple, Spotify, and all your other favorite platforms, but we wanted to put an episode out first to give you an idea of what to expect. (If you’re a longtime listener of the old pod, expect the same vibe). Later this week, I’ll explain why Reggie Miller was underrated for his time and would be even better today. In this pod, I hinted at something I might only make available to paid subscribers. The normal fee is $10 a month or $100 for the year, but you have until May 15 to get half off that price forever. Hurry!Because there’s no live basketball to watch, Ben and I have been getting our fix by checking out a lot of classic games from Michael Jordan’s era. We knew the game had changed since then, but it was still jarring to see how different it was. So we decided to hop on the phone, turn on the record button, and talk through how exactly the game has changed and what commonalities still exist. The Supersonics’ defensive strategy was prominently featured. We then tried to figure out how some all-time greats from the 90s would’ve been used today. You might be surprised by the conclusions we reached with Clyde Drexler and Shawn Kemp. Others discussed include David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, Toni Kukoc, and Dennis Rodman. Also, it wouldn’t be a Limited Upside podcast without a respectful disagreement. This episode’s subject: John Stockton. Ben thought Stockton would fit well in the modern NBA. I’m not so sure. (Note: this was recorded prior to Episodes 7 and 8 of The Last Dance. Future podcasts will go up sooner, but we wanted to give the Sonics piece some time to breathe). Get full access to Prada's Pictures at mikeprada.substack.com/subscribe

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