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The history of the NFL Draft is litterred with examples of NFL scouts simply not watching college football including the Chicago Bears taking Mitch Tribusky over Patrick Mahomes, Philip Buchanon over Ed Reed, Christian Hackenberg over Dak Prescott. Zach Wilson, Mac Jones or Trey Jones going ahead of Justin Fields might join that list. Gabe Ibrahim and Alex Lange breakdown the 2021 NFL draft and how NFL teams are failing in their evaluation of top talent.

The NBA Trade Deadline is on Thursday and we are making trades that you have never thought of. Gabe and Alex play a game they invented where they spin the wheel, get two random NBA teams, and agree to a reasonable trade between the teams. The Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings, LA Clippers, and Memphis Grizzlies all make moves with the hosts acting as their general managers.

John Gasaway of ESPN's Bubble Watch joins Gabe to talk about his new book: Miracles on the Hardwood. The book talks about the concept of "Catholic College Basketball." In it, John details how Catholic schools have impacted the world of college basketball and its most legendary moments. We talked about John Thompson and Georgetown, Hank Gathers and Gonzaga's amazing run in 2021 as we head into March Madness. You can buy the book here: https://www.twelvebooks.com/titles/john-gasaway/miracles-on-the-hardwood/9781538717103/. Check out Gabe's book review for more: https://ballandorder.substack.com/p/book-review-miracles-on-the-hardwood.

In February 2016, Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors had the best record ever after 57 games (52-5) and were on their way to the best regular season in NBA history. Then, they ran into a Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. The teams played one of the best regular season games ever that ended with Curry hitting the signature shot of his career. Gabe and Alex breakdown the ridiculous end of the game and what it meant for the NBA. Follow us on twitter and tik tok: @ballandorder

With the sports card collecting blowing up, Gabe spoke with Panini America’s VP of Marketing Jason Howarth about all things trading cards. They talked about how they collected sports cards as kids, the business of trading cards, the new WNBA Prizm collection including Sabrina Ionescu's rookie card, NBA Top Shot, blockchain collecting, and Kobe Bryant’s impact on the trading card world. It was a fun chat and you can keep up with all of the cool stuff Panini does on their website, instagram and twitter. Subscribe to our newsletter: ballandorder.substack.com.

We decided to draft a team of 10 players from across NBA history and create our perfect teams. The draft had a snake format and our first five picks had to be starters. We also had to pick a player from each of the major NBA decades (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s), but had the additional limit that we could only select a maximum of two players from each decade. Some of you will be mad about the results. Subscribe to our newsletter: ballandorder.substack.com.

The NBA in 1977 was very different than it is now. The ABA had just merged into the league, Finals games were getting bumped for non-major golf tournaments and several players called to be doctors, pinballs or aliens. In the first season since the merger, Bill Walton brought his Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals against Julius Erving (aka Dr. J aka The Doctor aka Doctor Jota) and his Philadelphia Sixers. Gabe Ibrahim and Alex Lange breakdown the Blazers' victory to win the franchise's first and only title, as well as the great nicknames, where the NBA was at as a league and the NBA's first dunk contest. Subscribe to ballandorder.substack.com.

Time for another edition of NBA history cold calls. Gabe and Alex ask each other questions about NBA history without much/any preparation. They talk about Gilbert Arenas’s time with the Orlando Magic (and as an off-Broadway actor), Dominque Wilkins, dumb basketball terms like “two-way players,” NBA Top Shot stonks, Dwyane Wade going to Denver in 2016 and why Elgin Baylor could win a title nowadays. Gabe is also opening up packs of NBA cards and randomly interjecting them into the podcast. Subscribe to our newsletter: ballandorder.substack.com. Follow us on twitter: @ballandorder_

Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are two of the most exciting young players in the NBA history. They are already elite players. But in this structured debate, Gabe Ibrahim and Alex Lange are forced to pick only one of these two stars. Alex is trying to prove the following resolution: Luka is a better player to build a championship team around over the next five years than Giannis. Gabe tries to disprove the resolution. Subscribe to our free newsletter: ballandorder.substack.com.

With Kevin Durant and James Harden getting back together in Brooklyn, it felt like a good time to revisit their biggest triumph in Oklahoma City with Russell Westbrook: making it to the 2012 NBA Finals. The Thunder went up 3-1 en route to a gentleman's sweep of Kobe Bryant's Lakers. This game also featured Derek Fisher, Kendrick Perkins, Steve Kerr, Craig Sager and Ramon Sessions. Sessions had the best performance of anybody in that group. Check out our substack for more: ballthoroughtheages.substack.com.

Ohio State and Alabama are set to meet in the College Football Playoff Championship, so we revisited their last matchup in the 2015 Sugar Bowl in the first College Football Playoff. Ezekiel Elliott’s 85-yard run through the Heart of the South is what everyone remembers from this game, but so much more memorable stuff happened before that. Gabe Ibrahim and Alex Lange talked about all of it, from JK Scott’s amazing punting performance to Evan Spencer’s uniquely perfect game. They also breakdown how the Big 12’s “One True Champion” system produced two champions, leading to Ohio State getting to the CFP. And did it all as a coup attempt was happening like 3 miles away! 

NBA basketball on Christmas Day is a 73-year old tradition with many amazing matchups throughout history. Very few, if any, of Christmas Day games have had as much hype as the 2004 matchup between Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers and Shaquille O'neal's Miami Heat after their very public breakup. Gabe Ibrahim and Alex Lange break down all of the hype around this game, what happened in the game itself, what it meant for Dwyane Wade's career and how we feel about Kobe as we head to our first Christmas without him. Subscribe to our substack: ballthroughtheages.substack.com

Russell Westbrook is on the move for the second time since his MVP season. Only one other NBA MVP has ever been traded twice after winning MVP (Moses Malone) and none have ever been traded for as interesting of a return (John Wall and a mediocre first-round pick). Gabe and Alex get into historical comparisons to the Westbrook-Wall trade, the current state of the Houston Rockets and other depressing trades in NBA history. Gilbert Arenas-for-Rashard Lewis is obviously mentioned, as is the Iverson-Billups deal and Chris Paul's weird trade value.

For college football rivalry week, Gabe and Alex try to find rivalries that have been broken recently. These traditions may be broken due to the games not happening anymore (West Virginia-Pitt, Miami-Florida, Kansas-Missouri), a trophy being taken away (Kentucky-Tennessee), or just one team being way worse than the other (Michigan-Ohio State). We go deep into all of these rivalries and more.

The NBA Draft was Wednesday night, a night full of hope for many bad teams. While every organizations is feeling great about their picks now, some will look back at this night with disdain after making bad picks. Gabe Ibrahim and Alex Lange go back through NBA Draft History since 2000 and talk about the worst picks in those drafts. They start off with a debate about the worst pick between Darko Miličić over Carmelo Anthony (and Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade), Deandre Ayton/Marvin Bagley III over Luka Dončić, and Anthony Bennett over anybody else. Then, they draft the worst team they can from lottery picks drafted since the 2000 NBA Draft. 

BYU is back in championship contention in a very weird 2020 college football season. But it's not nearly as crazy as the year where BYU actually won the championship in 1984. Gabe Ibrahim and Alex Lange get into how stupid the 1984 season was, how BYU ended up with the trophy, how much they miss independent teams and, of course, talk extensively about Syracuse and Kansas football. They also make fun of the Trump Campaign's last stand at Four Season Total Landscaping.

The Miami Dolphins and New York Jets have arguably had the worst quarterbacking in the NFL over the past 20 years. Unfortunately, these are the two teams that Gabe and Alex root for. Ahead of Tua Tagovailoa's first start for the Dolphins, they pick the best and worst quarterbacks for each team since 2000 as well as their favorite and least favorite gunslingers. Brett Favre, Chad Pennington, Ryan Tannehill, and Ryan Fitzpatrick are all mentioned along with luminaries like Cleo Lemon, John Beck and Greg McElroy.

College Football is fully loaded now with the Big Ten (and Mountain West) returning to play this weekend. To celebrate this or something, Gabe bet on Syracuse (+46) against Clemson and Nebraska (+26) against Ohio State! Alex relentlessly makes fun of him for this terrible parlay. Plus they get into the history of several matchups happening this weekend including former Syracuse QB Eric Dungey's great games against Clemson, Oklahoma State's gutting 2011 loss to Iowa State, Virginia's QBs turning into Peyton Manning against Miami, and why North Carolina-North Carolina State isn't a bigger rivalry. Subscribe to our newsletter: ballthroughtheages.substack.com.

The Oklahoma Sooners have had a very successful last 20 years, but those years have been littered with some terrible losses in massive games. Gabe and Alex are joined by their friend and Oklahoma fan, Garrett (who you have never heard of unless you really love highways). Ahead of the Red River Shootout, they talk about Bob Stoops's early success, Rhett Bomar, Big Red Sports and Imports, how OU let Brent Venables go, and as much about the last two decades of Oklahoma football as could fit in an hour and half of podcasting. Sorry about the sound quality and beer breaks. Actually, no we're not sorry about the beer but the sound quality is bad.

The Miami Heat unexpectedly reached the 2020 NBA Finals and face off with the Los Angeles Lakers. Gabe Ibrahim and Alex Lange try to find teams that are similar to the Miami Heat throughout NBA history as well players that resemble Bam Adebayo and put Lebron James's 10th NBA Finals into context. They discussed the 2004 Detroit Pistons (14:11), the 2013-14 Golden State Warriors (25:19), the Derrick Rose/Jimmy Butler Bulls (35:24), and the 2009-10 Phoenix Suns led by Steve Nash and Goran Dragic (39:39). Then, they get into the Bam comparisons to some NBA greats (47:30) and what Lebron's accomplishments mean for his legacy (57:58). Subscribe to our newsletter: ballthroughtheages.substack.com.