ShotTakes

We're (finally) at the Lester-Abdalla compound in Richmond to unload our takes on the second round of the NBA playoffs—which, for our money, has been pretty damn good.

Damian Lillard waves goodbye to the Oklahoma City Thunder after drilling one of the great game-winners in playoff history, the Clippers steal [DJ Khalid voice] another one at Oracle and push the Warriors to a sixth game, Philly and Toronto round into form to dispatch their overmatched first round opponents in five, Milwaukee and Boston wrap up very different sweeps, the Jazz pack their bags after hitting a wall against Houston, and the Nuggets look to close out the Spurs tonight in San Antonio. Elizabeth (fresh off her last career law school exam!) and Scott jump on the air to run through the first round and look ahead to the matchups ahead.

We're almost at the end of our law school careers, but the NBA postseason is just warming up. The Clippers deliver one of the great comebacks in league history, Kyle Lowry & the Raptors—surprise, surprise—still can't win playoff Game Ones, Derrick White and the Spurs take it to second-seeded Denver, Utah has no answers for James Harden, Portland proves you can play Kanter, the Nets and Sixers trade barbs and buckets, Indiana sputters down the stretches against the Celtics, and Milwaukee vs. a Blake-less Detroit squad is simply not a fair fight. Tune in for our thoughts on the first round of the NBA playoffs so far!

All-time greats Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade bid adieu, Magic Johnson quits his job as Lakers president without giving two weeks (or even two minutes) notice, the NBA's "Black Thursday" sees some curious dismissals (looking at you, Vlade Divac), and the playoffs begin on Saturday—so tune in for our takes and a preview of the first round matchups.

It's decision time: who gets the ShotTakes Academy's votes for the 2018-19 NBA awards? Lively debate on MVP, DPOY, ROY, MIP, COY, EOY, and All-NBA teams—tune in for our nominees.

In the inaugural episode of "ThoughtBreaks," our spinoff podcast series addressing various non-basketball matters of public interest, Scott and Martin break down one of the biggest failures in the history of democracy: the United Kingdom's proposed departure from the European Union—better known as "Brexit." It's an issue near and dear to both of their hearts and they have a lot of thoughts on it—tune in for some geopolitical theatre.

The fearsome foursome is back to run through our surprises and disappointments from this NBA season (and, of course, the Mueller Report). Also, play along with our "name that jersey sponsor" parlor game, and join us in mourning the demise of a great American company: the Big Baller Brand.

Your favorite (and top-rated) NBA podcast took its semi-yearly detour into the college game for a look at this year's NCAA tournament field. Elizabeth and Scott were joined by our college basketball outside counsel Tyler Garrett (@Baselne2Packlne) and special guest analyst Chris Clark, who just wrapped up his playing days as a graduate transfer for William & Mary after spending four years as a member of the Alabama Crimson Tide. It was a great mix of minds, and we've got plenty of picks for you in this "amateur hour" (get it?) of ShotTakes.

Special Guest Anthony Cusato jumps on to identify what to watch for in the final weeks of the NBA regular season: while the playoff picture is largely settled, there's still a lot to track on the awards front and among the theoretical title aspirants. It was great to add some extra brainpower to the podcast tonight—thanks to Anthony for joining us (and benefitting the Public Service Fund)!

The nerds are back for "Parlor Game Night!" Scott and Eric weigh in on whether a bunch of flashy NBA players are actually good or not and run through their favorite NBA podcast tropes. Unsurprisingly, they have a lot of thoughts!