“Death at the Wing” is a narrative documentary series looking at the generation of basketball stars and prospects that fell victim to the historical, socioeconomic and political forces that defined the ‘80s.  As the new generation of basketball players — players like Magic, Bird and Dr. J — took their mantle as the league’s stars, basketball’s faster and flashier style of play would captivate TV audiences. But along that way to wealth and stardom, the excess of the ‘80s took its toll on the next generation of the sport as Reaganomics created an explosion in wealth for the richest members of American society. Crack and cocaine made its way through neighborhoods where aspiring basketball players lived. Cars were faster and car accidents took the lives of several players. Guns became easier to acquire. Health care and education budgets were slashed. Incarceration took over rehabilitation as the country’s guiding principle to addiction. Many players were suspended and jailed, and those less fortunate died.  Those that made it through became overnight superstars for an eager and demanding audience of TV and media coverage, but never in the history of any sport have we seen so many who were ready to become household brands lost in such a short time frame. Why? How? And Who? This is what this show will look into. This is DEATH AT THE WING. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over and Back: Stories About NBA History

Introducing "Death at the Wing"

Jason and Rich are joined by Curtis Harris (prohoopshistory.substack.com) to talk about the life and career of NBA legend Elgin Baylor, who passed away earlier this week.  Topics include: An overview of Baylor's illustrious but snakebitten career Baylor's status as one of the NBA's most underrated players ever Baylor's revolutionary style of play and influence on the game of basketball Baylor's tumultuous high school and college career Saving the Lakers franchise Baylor's battles with racism and All-Star Game boycott Baylor's famous service-shortened 1962 season Surviving a plane crash with his Lakers teammates Major injuries and the unknown world of sports medicine A bittersweet retirement Baylor's post-playing coaching and front-office careers. Additional Resources: Elgin Baylor: The Man Who Changed Basketball (amzn.to/3980dLP)  Support for Over and Back: The Day Sports Stood Still From Emmy-winning director Antoine Fuqua and NBA All-Star Chris Paul comes THE DAY SPORTS STOOD STILL - the new HBO documentary that tells the story of the unprecedented sports shutdown in March of 2020 and the remarkable turn of events that followed. Chronicling the abrupt stoppage of sports, the athletes' prominent role in the cultural reckoning on racial injustices that escalated during the pandemic, and the complex return to competition, THE DAY SPORTS STOOD STILL premieres Wednesday, March 24 at 9pm on HBO, and streaming on HBO Max.  Visit us on Twitter (@OverandBackNBA) and Facebook for an opportunity to win a free $25 NBAStore.com gift card courtesy of the team behind The Day Sports Stood Still. Manscaped Get 20% off plus free shipping at Manscaped.com using promo code Fansided20.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How Elgin Baylor changed the game of basketball

As a result of Elgin Baylor's passing, we are re-uploading a classic episode discussing the life, career and impact of Elgin Baylor as well as his noted NBA Finals battles with Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics.  Our guest on this show was Bijan C. Bayne, author of the incredible book "Elgin Baylor: The Man Who Changed Basketball." You can order the book today at https://amzn.to/3980dLP. We will have a full episode dedicated to Baylor coming out later this week.  Thank you. We discuss the Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals rivalry between 1959 and 1969 with Bijan C. Bayne, author of “Elgin Baylor: The Man Who Changed Basketball,” in our continuing #RussellMania series dedicated to the life and legacy of Bill Russell. We break down each of their seven NBA Finals battles (1959, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968 and 1969), talk about Elgin Baylor's rise to superstardom and his role in popularizing basketball in Los Angeles, Baylor's revolutionary influence on offensive play, the basketball and social parallels of Russell and Baylor, how Baylor was the first NBA player to boycott a game because of segregation, Baylor's relationships with longtime teammate Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, some of the other key Lakers of the 1960s (including Frank Selvy, Rudy LaRusso, Tom Hawkins, Hot Rod Hundley, Dick Barnett, Leroy Ellis, Gene Wiley, Walt Hazzard, Bob Boozer, Archie Clark, and Gail Goodrich), what Don Nelson's failure in Los Angeles and success in Boston said about both teams, and much more. Original airdate: 4/19/16 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

O&B Classic: Elgin Baylor & Celtics vs. Lakers in the Finals

This week on the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, Jason and Rich examine teams with big one-season jumps where the team didn't have a fundamental change (major new star or new coach).  The show concept is inspired by the 2021 Utah Jazz who are currently on a 63-win pace after only winning 44 games the prior year.  Our criteria:  At least a 10-game improvement and have to be a winning team the second season No coaching change between seasons No major stars added between seasons Some of this is subjective -- sorry if we missed your favorite team! In this episode, we'll highlight a few of the teams that made huge jumps with background on the years leading up to the jump and what may have aided the improvement. We'll also do a decade-by-decade breakdown of other teams that made unexpected improvements.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NBA teams with the most unexpected improvements

Today on the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast we examine the best NBA players on the worst teams. Inspired by Bradley Beal's current situation with the Washington Wizards, we dig through NBA history to find the best individual seasons on sub .500 teams, the best players on the worst NBA teams in history and more!  Thank you to our episode sponsor Manscaped.com. Support the show and get your balls looking right with 20% off and free shipping by using promo code Fansided20 at manscaped.com.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bradley Beal and the best NBA players on the worst teams

The Over & Back Classic NBA Podcast tackles a fun topic this week as we look at former all-stars/award winners who only appeared in 1 game for a team including Rasheed Wallace, Andrew Bogut, Jamal Crawford, Bob Rule, Kenny Sailors, George Carter, Tom Chambers, Tony Jackson, Steve Mix & Walt Bellamy.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hawks legend Rasheed Wallace? NBA stars with 1-game stints on a team

The return of one of our most popular series looking at the last great game from all-time great NBA players.  Today we'll look at the last great games from: Julius Erving (Sixers) Steve Nash (Suns, Lakers) Charles Barkley (Rockets) Wilt Chamberlain (Lakers) Walt "Clyde" Frazier (Cavs) David Robinson (Spurs) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last great games: Dr. J, Nash, Barkley, Wilt, Frazier & Admiral

The return of one of our most popular series looking at the last great game from all-time great NBA players. Today we'll look at the last great games from:Julius ErvingSteve NashCharles BarkleyWilt ChamberlainWalt FrazierDavid Robinson

Last great games: Dr. J, Nash, Barkley, Wilt, Walt & Robinson

Join us for a special Over & Back LIVE honoring the life and career of Phoenix Suns great Paul Westphal. We're be joined by Curtis Harris of ProHoopsHistory.com to watch a classic game from Westphal's career: Game 7 of the 1979 Western Conference Finals between the Seattle SuperSonics and the Phoenix Suns.Watch the game along with us at https://youtu.be/3HnRWKwqDAU.Vurbl: https://vurbl.com/station/4WEdpx4IOdH/

Suns vs. Sonics (1979 Western Conference Finals Game 7)

Original airdate: 12/22/14Since 1947, when the New York Knicks battled the Providence Steamrollers on Christmas Day, professional basketball played on Christmas Day became an annual tradition. For every year, with the lone exception of 1998, has seen an NBA game on Christmas Day. Unlike the NFL on Thanksgiving Day, the NBA doesn't feature one particular team but rather the best and brightest in the NBA on a given year, sometimes NBA Finals rematches, sometimes the biggest rivalries — either way it's a great tradition that's given us some of the best games of the season. As only we can do here at the Over and Back podcast, we break down five classic NBA Christmas Day games, discuss the background of the teams, highlights of the game and how each team's season fared. We begin the loopback with the 1970 matchup between the Atlanta Hawks vs. Phoenix Suns featuring Pete Maravich battling Connie Hawkins, the Chicago Bulls taking on the Detroit Pistons in 1990 just as the Pistons are fading while the Bulls, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were emerging as a dynasty. We then jump all the way to 2002 to see Tracy McGrady take on Detroit with one of the best single-game performances in Christmas Game history, 2004 sees the first meeting between ex-teammates Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant and we end with a look at the 2011 season-opener (Chicago Bulls vs. Los Angeles Lakers). Did you enjoy this show or any of our others?

A history of NBA Christmas games (O&B Classic)

Watch the game with us at https://youtu.be/o2qqOubsEGM. It's the most wonderful time of the time! Jason and Rich continue their holiday tradition by welcoming Curtis Harris and Reinis Lācis to the show as the guys talk about the year that was and watch a classic NBA game. This year's game takes us all the way back to 1977-78, a major transition period in the world of professional basketball, as we watch the Buffalo Braves vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers from Christmas Day. We'll talk about major storylines around the NBA and the world at the time, featured players in this game including Marvin Barnes, Billy Knight, Randy Smith, Walt Frazier, Jim Chones, Austin Carr and more! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2020 Holiday Special: Braves vs. Cavs (Christmas Day 1977) w/ Curtis & Reinis

To celebrate Larry Bird's birthday, we're re-uploading a classic episode looking at NBA MVP 2nd place finishers! Did you know Bird finished in 2nd place four-times including a run of three straight to kick off the 80s? You do now! ----Who remembers who finished in second? We do! Rich and Jason looked at the runners-up in NBA MVP voting from 1956 to 2017 and what lessons we can glean from them in the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast.We look at how close multiple-time MVP awards like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, and Wilt Chamberlain came to additional awards and if they might even deserve additional MVPs. We discuss players who you might not have expected to finish that high in MVP voting, including Paul Arizin, Dolph Schayes, Nate Thurmond, Lenny Wilkens, George Gervin, Bernard King, Dominique Wilkins, Clyde Drexler, Alonzo Mourning, Jason Kidd, and Dwight Howard.We also talk about poor, cranky Jerry West's bad luck in finishing No. 2 in MVP voting four times. We look at Shaq's two MVP runners-up a decade apart and wonder what kept him from winning more, and whether Kobe Bryant really has a case for a second MVP. We discuss great seasons by Bob Pettit, Elgin Baylor, Oscar Robertson, Willis Reed, Bob McAdoo, Dave Cowens, Bill Walton, Julius Erving, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard.We also dig into some alternate NBA MVP awards of the past, including the Sporting News NBA MVP, Basketball Digest Player of the Year, Sam Davis Memorial Award, and the NBPA Players Voice Award. (Original airdate: 3/29/18)

NBA MVPs - Celebrating second place (O&B Classic)

Jason and Rich welcome Pete Croatto—author of the new book From Hang Time to Prime Time (https://amzn.to/3g8hoiS)—to watch the fourth quarter and overtime of a classic NBA playoff game between the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons. We also discuss Pete's new book, the NBA's rise in popularity in the 1980s, Isiah Thomas' career, Bernard King's brilliancy plus a lot of Kent Benson jokes.Follow along with the game at https://youtu.be/Qf03Y_ptFGw.

Over and Back LIVE: Knicks vs. Pistons (April 27, 1984) w/ Pete Croatto

Perhaps the biggest news of this year's wild NBA offseason is the Milwaukee Bucks reported deal to acquire Bogdan Bogdanovic and the trade eventually falling through. This inspired us to look at some of the biggest and most important NBA trades in NBA history... that never happened. Trades that were reported, featured All-Stars or had major title ramifications but ended up not happening for one reason or another. Trades covered in this episode: -Bob McAdoo to Sonics -Dennis Rodman to Suns -Julius Erving to Clippers -Scottie Pippen for Shawn Kemp -James Worthy & Byron Scott to Mavericks -Allen Iverson to Piston -Charles Barkley to Lakers -Hakeem Olajuwon to Heat -Tyson Chandler to the Thunder -Kevin Garnett to Suns or Lakers -Kobe Bryant to Bulls or Pistons -Chris Paul to Lakers -Paul George to Cavs See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Big trades that fell through

We examine some of the best non-first round picks in NBA history on the latest episode of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, hosted by Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch.Combing through each decade of draft classes, we discuss Maurice Cheeks in 1978, Danny Ainge in 1981, Jeff Hornacek, Mark Price and Dennis Rodman in 1986, Toni Kukoc in 1990, Stephen Jackson in 1997, Rashard Lewis in 1998, Manu Ginobili in 1999, Paul Millsap in 2006, Marc Gasol in 2007, Goran Dragic and DeAndre Jordan in 2008, Hassan Whiteside in 2010, Isaiah Thomas in 2011, and Draymond Green in 2012.Original airdate: 6/22/17

Best NBA draft picks after the first round (O&B Classic)

Over and Back tells stories about NBA, ABA & pro basketball history. Hosted by Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch. Part of The Step Back NBA Podcast Network, powered by Fansided.

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Over and Back: Stories About NBA History

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