Episode 78 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features sports journalists and longtime Sports Illustrated senior writers Michael Farber and Jack McCallum. Farber currently works for TSN of Canada among other entities while McCallum is a freelance writer working on a basketball book involving the Golden State Warriors.

In this episode, Farber and McCallum discuss their best and toughest interview subjects over the years; the media access given to them by Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan; transitioning from a fulltime writing job to other projects; what writers and broadcasters they pay attention to today; why Isiah Thomas was a tough interview for McCallum and why Thomas once gave Farber a plant; how to transition from print to television; why Gordie Howe is one of the all-time media friendly subjects; thoughts on Olympic hockey and basketball and the World Cup of hockey; McCallum’s Top 5 NBA players of all time (Jordan, Chamberlain, Kareem, Magic and LeBron) and Farber’s Top 5 NHL Players of all-time (and why he flip-flops Orr and Gretzky often); how SI can stay relevant today, and much more.

A reminder: you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher. If you have any feedback, questions or suggestions, please comment here or tweet at Deitsch.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices