Here at the WHAT Podcast we don’t like to leave things hanging (unless it's taking a few extra weeks off in the middle of a pandemic). So we decided it was time to resolve who would be the 2020 NBA Champion. We brought in two super guests to help us out. Writer Jannelle Moore and podcast producer Sasha Ashall joined us to work through the 2020 Championship bracket so we could figure out, once and for all, which team will walk away with the Larry O’Brian Trophy. 

We seeded the teams into a 32 team bracket and dove into the first round by pitting the team’s mascots against each other. (The last two NBA Mascots of the Year earned their team a bye in the first round.) Which teams are moving on? We’ll be back next week with round two of the WHAT 2020 NBA Championship Bracket. 

All this plus recommendations of ways to stay connected to basketball even as we stay apart. 

Icebreakers: Quarantine impulse purchases--cast iron, meat, Stroopwafels, dirt.

7:00 Where Sasha’s basketball fandom came from watching the worst possible version of the Lakers. 

10:30 Declaring a champion of our hearts using a playoff bracket. Today we tackle round one: basketball mascots. 

Bango the Buck is a heavy favorite after a clean sweep over Moondog of the Cavaliers. 

15:00 How do mascot cliques form? 

18:30 Is Lucky the Leprechaun a mascot or a logo? 

24:00 Why don’t the Knicks have a mascot and can they hire Spike Lee to be their ambassador?

26:30 Mascot Hall of Fame. Shout out to Boomer who is in his first year of eligibility for the Mascot Hall of Fame.

30:00 The mascots are a close community, it is a harrowing job being a mascot. 

40:00 Neither Warriors or Lakers have mascots, what will we do? 

42:50 Why is Chuck the Condor so creepy?

48:30 Slamson the Lion has too many back stories, we’re suspicious. 

51:10 Pierre the Pelican’s glow-up. 

54:00 Blaze, obviously, moves on. He has never been Mascot of the Year, now is his time. 

58:00 Come back for the next episode when we complete the bracket with more fun and fabulous NBA Brackets.

1:00 How are we staying connected to basketball? Old games, The Last Dance, Home and Hallelujah with the Currys, The Wine Down with Dwyane Wade, players getting new puppies, Weird Sports Rules YouTube Channel, and All the Smoke Podcast.

Get social

Follow Blazer’s Edge on Twitter @blazersedge, WHAT Pod @HoopsAndTalks, Tara @tcbbiggs, and Cassidy @CassidyGemmet. This week’s guest: 

Join the Women’s Hoops And Talks Facebook group to talk about Trail Blazers with others who identify as women who love basketball.

Music used in the episode: “Happy Alley” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

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