The Athletic NBA Daily – Morning Shoot Around Mailbag

Date: December 10, 2025
Hosts: Andrew Schlecht, Dave DuFour, and guest co-host
Episode Overview:
This episode delivers a lively, insightful NBA mailbag session. The trio field questions from The Athletic’s Discord, Twitter, BlueSky, and YouTube, spanning stats and analytics, team building, Hall of Fame debates, viral food trends, player interactions, and trade hypotheticals. Their discussion is candid, often irreverent, and peppered with personal anecdotes.

Main Theme

The hosts run through listener-submitted questions—ranging from basketball analytics to fun hypotheticals and NBA gossip—creating an entertaining and informative shoot around that showcases their knowledge, humor, and camaraderie.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Advanced Analytics: Usage, Limits, and Favorites

Timestamps: 03:14–10:07

• Favorite Advanced Stat?
  • EPM (Estimated Plus-Minus) and Box Plus Minus emerge as go-tos, but all hosts are wary of relying on any “catch-all” stats.
    • "All catch-all stats are bad, period." – Dave [03:56]
    • "Truthfully, it's like a tool in the toolbox. It's never the entire toolbox." – Co-host [04:33]
  • They cite how top players are reflected accurately in stats, but anomalies abound in the next tiers.
    • “BPM…top three guys in BPM right now is Jokic, Shay, Giannis. Good job. But then, like, Reed Shepherd is 12th... You can't tell me Reed Shepherd is a top 12 player in the NBA.” – Andrew [06:00]
• Game-to-Game Value:
  • Single game and lineup plus-minus can illuminate narrative, especially for role players.
    • “If you're involved in a lot of winning lineups, you're probably a decent player.” – Dave [07:51]
• Wins as the Best Stat:
  • Ultimately, “wins” matter most; advanced stats should inform, not dictate, the conversation.
    • "My favorite stat is really, is like wins. And that's the stat I care the most about." – Dave [08:08]

2. Viral Food Trends and Banter

Timestamps: 11:14–15:51

• Hosts share their engagement (or lack thereof) with food fads:
  • Soaked, sugared, and baked cranberries; cottage cheese bowls; frozen grapes rolled in sugar.
    • “Welcome to the diabetes podcast.” – Dave [15:49]
    • Main message: American food culture is wild, and cottage cheese remains divisive.

3. Thunder-Related Hypotheticals

Timestamps: 16:08–17:26; 43:08–45:14

• If the Thunder win the lottery with the Clippers pick:
  • Andrew promises to “flood a Chili’s and everybody have skillet queso,” echoing past show traditions. [16:26]
  • Dave notes the resulting scenario would just be hilarious—a reward for exemplary team-building. [16:46]
• Questions about Thunder’s next loss, their regular season dominance, and the third quarter tornado:
  • “Should teams be allowed six players on the court for the third quarter against the Thunder?” – Listener [43:08]
  • Hosts speculate on when OKC might next lose, agreeing it’s hard to predict any soon upcoming defeat, pending possible slip-ups against Spurs or Nuggets. [43:36–45:14]
  • “They're the most fun thing in the NBA right now. Not just because they're great, but because of the way that they're great.” – Dave [45:31]

4. NBA Hall of Fame Debates

Timestamps: 17:26–20:49

• Comparing basketball to baseball:
  • “It feels like everybody gets in [to the Hall of Fame] now.” – Dave [17:54]
  • Basketball lacks “snub” debates; if anything, the problem is lesser players getting in thanks to fame or team success.
  • Example: Could Rasheed Wallace deserve more HOF consideration? “He affected winning at a high level… but personalities got in the way.” – Andrew [19:17]

5. NBA Player Trade Rumors and Team Building

Timestamps: 24:38–26:46 (Wolves’ point guard options);
26:46–28:12 (Timberwolves roster construction);
28:33–31:13 (Pelicans, Derrick Queen, and franchise direction);
36:11–38:44 (Detroit, Duren, Ivey, and Harris contracts/trades);
61:42–66:49 (Giannis hypothetical trades and team futures)

• Wolves' Point Guard Dilemma:
  • Names floated: Anthony Edwards, Dante DiVincenzo, Kobe White.
  • Trades are hard due to cap and asset limitations; consensus seems to stick with DiVincenzo and Conley’s intangible veteran value.
• Pelicans’ Pick/Trade Retrospective:
  • Derrick Queen is showing star potential, but the front office’s previous trades continue to impact the evaluation.
  • The Pelicans’ broader organizational stasis and poor attendance spark talk of a potential relocation.
    • “I don't think they're building anything cool. I think they're building a freaking ship at the bottom of the ocean, bro.” – Andrew [30:49]
• Detroit Pistons:
  • Duren set for major extension. Likely to move or forego Jaden Ivey and Tobias Harris next year. A need for a secondary scorer is highlighted.
• Giannis as a Trade Candidate:
  • “If Giannis is on that Hawks team, they're the front runners in the East.” – Dave [62:09]
  • The calculus for acquiring stars: "What do you have left after you trade for Giannis?” – Co-host [63:03]
  • If the Bucks do trade Giannis, their only sensible direction is a full reset focused on youth and picks.

6. Best (and Most Awkward) Player Interactions

Timestamps: 48:53–56:00

• The hosts share memorable and sometimes awkward real-life NBA player encounters:
  • Kevin Garnett: "I go to go up to him, like, 'ticket, what's going on?' He's like, 'get the... I don't know you.'" – Co-host [49:37]
  • Bill Walton: “I don't know who you are. I love Dr. Jeff, but I don't do media with people I don't know.” – Dave (impersonating Bill Walton) [50:43]
  • Russell Westbrook: Andrew tells a story where Russ, after being asked for a podcast soundbite, simply says “maybe,” walks off, and then doubles down with “I’m gonna say no.” [53:02]
  • Allen Iverson: Both positive and negative anecdotes are shared.
• Musical Past Lives:
  • Co-host bonded with Iverson at a freestyle contest due to a shared birthday. Reveals former life as a rapper; Alex Spears also gets a rap shoutout.

7. Other Fun/Nuanced Segments

• Bench Mob Challenge (32:50–35:44):

  • Constructing a starting five from NBA Cup quarterfinal benches; names like Sandro Mamukelashvili, Goga Bitadze, Jaime Jaquez Jr, AJ Mitchell, and Aaron Wiggins get playful props.
  • “You could feasibly start the bench of the Oklahoma City Thunder and win 30 games. 35 games.” – Co-host [35:05]

• Dodgeball Jump Balls and Bane's Cannon Arm (39:28–41:42):

  • Listeners propose replacing jump balls with dodgeball; Desmond Bane is praised/mock-lampooned for his recent line drive inbound at OG Anunoby.
    • “He let the intrusive thought win.” – Co-host [40:42]

• Joe Mazzulla's Movie Obsession and The Town (57:41–61:23):

  • Coaches can be quirky. “It's a weird movie to be super into.” – Andrew [60:17]

Notable Quotes

• "All catch-all stats are bad, period." – Dave [03:56]
• "Box Plus-Minus... it's actually a good place to go to [for] MVP arguments, but... for who are the top 20 players in the league, it's actually kind of a bad stat." – Andrew [06:45]
• "It's never the entire toolbox... it's something you can use to validate what you're watching." – Co-host [04:33]
• “Cottage cheese is disgusting. I’ll try again in five years, but it's bad.” – Dave [14:13]
• "If the Thunder win the lottery, we're going to flood down to dunk listeners into a Chili's, and we're just going to party at Chili's." – Andrew [16:26]
• "It feels like everybody gets in [to the Hall of Fame] now." – Dave [17:54]
• "I don't think they're building anything cool. I think they're building a freaking ship at the bottom of the ocean, bro." – Andrew [30:49]
• "They're the most fun thing in the NBA right now. Not just because they're great, but because of the way that they're great." – Dave [45:31]
• “If Giannis is on that Hawks team, they're the front runners in the East, I put them ahead of the Knicks.” – Dave [62:09]

Memorable Moments

• The food segment veers into absurdity: frozen grapes with sugar, baked cranberries, and cottage cheese bowls elicit laughter and debate.
• Listener hypotheticals (e.g., third quarter six-man disadvantage for Thunder) draw playful speculation.
• Hosts riff on pop culture references, including coaching with DVD commentary from 'The Town'.
• Authentic NBA media stories emerge, from getting stonewalled by KG to rapper showdowns with AI.
• Revelation: Two hosts have musical/performance backgrounds, leading to challenges to track down their work online.

Important Segment Timestamps

• Advanced Stats Mailbag: 03:14–10:07
• Viral Food Trends: 11:14–15:51
• Thunder Lottery Scenario: 16:08–17:26
• Hall of Fame Debates: 17:26–20:49
• Wolves’ Point Guard & Trade Talk: 24:38–28:12
• Pelicans’ Direction and Relocation Chatter: 28:33–31:13
• Detroit, Duren, Ivey, and Contracts: 36:11–38:44
• Funniest Player Encounters: 48:53–56:00
• Bench Mob Five: 32:50–35:44
• When Will Thunder Lose?: 43:08–45:14
• Joe Mazzulla/The Town Banter: 57:41–61:23
• Giannis Trade Hypotheticals: 61:42–66:49

Podcast Tone and Style

The discussion combines deep basketball expertise with playful banter and a conversational, sometimes sarcastic style. The hosts often break into side jokes, roast each other, and riff off listener questions, keeping the content accessible and thoroughly entertaining for both hardcore and casual NBA fans.

Summary Takeaways

This episode succeeds as an "NBA morning shoot around"—with a fresh, relaxed approach and a wide range of basketball and non-basketball topics. For those who missed it, the key themes are the limitations of advanced stats, the ever-changing NBA landscape, engaging hypotheticals, and the lighter side of life around the league. The show is uniquely personal, seamlessly blending anecdotes, intelligence, and fan engagement.