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We begin the pod with a somber tribute to Mac Miller and it turns out Misha totally missed the news of Burt Reynolds' passing. High drama in the women's final should not overshadow Osaka's moment and Serena's comeback to the top of the game. Terrible puns on the pronunciation of Thiem's name withstanding we discuss what he might be lacking in his pursuit of greatness. No tennis conversation between Misha & Ilia is complete without a speculative assessment of the legacies for The Big 3 legends of men's tennis. We preview two upcoming grudge matches in fighting sports: Golovkin-Canelo II and McGregor-Nurmagomedov even though Misha can't seem to get excited for either fight. Ilia recommends Jim Carrey's new show Kidding on Showtime and we conclude the episode with an early review of the surprise Eminem album Kamikaze.

The Podcast is back after taking it easy over the summer. Never again.

Lottery Mafia's managing editor in chief Gabriel Allen joins the pod to discuss the NBA draft with Ilia. 

Our Hockey correspondent Matt joins the show to discuss the NHL season, Ovechkin's journey, and the future of the league. We kick off the episode reviewing the Stanley Cup series between the Capitals and expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights(2:00). Ilia wonders why the NHL doesn't draw a larger TV audience with how exciting the playoffs are especially with the parity the league has(21:45). Matt makes his sales pitch(35:00) for new viewers to tune in for next season. An interesting parallel between the Stanley Cup and Olympics at 47:00. We finish the episode reflecting on how hard it can be for individual stars to win championships in team sports. Lionel Messi may need to channel some of Ovechkin's magic to taste World Cup victory. ig: nothingeasypod gmail: nothingeasypod@gmail.com twitter: nothingeaaaasy

Misha and Ilia kick off the first ever US only olympics! We start by picking teams for Iowa, Colorado, South Carolina and Louisiana! Listen to learn how to play, and who makes the cut! Check out the site for the games - https://nothingeasygames.herokuapp.com ig: nothingeasypod gmail: nothingeasypod@gmail.com twitter: nothingeaaaasy

Misha gives his feedback on Neha's incredible story-telling abilities on the previous episode of the podcast while gently dissing Ilia's hosting skills(1:30). We tease a new idea, the "United States of America Olympic Squad" for future episodes(8:45) before Ilia goes into a completely unprepared "what grinds my gears" about the #1 pick in the NBA draft this year. We break down Luka's skills(20:30). Do you want to know how Ethan Hawke plays basketball? Ilia gives a scouting report on Ethan's game and his hygiene(31:00). Misha suggests a tactic to employ in an effort to recruit Ethan on to an episode of the pod(35:45) which explains the title to this episode. We finish the episode with a totally plausible notion of an elderly couple in Pennsylvania that picked up our business card at a supermarket(39:15). YOU CAN FOLLOW THE NOTHING EASY PODCAST: INSTAGRAM: @NOTHINGEASYPOD EMAIL: NOTHINGEASYPOD@GMAIL.COM TWITTER: @NOTHINGEAAAASY

Former professional tennis player Neha Uberoi joins the podcast to discuss her life journey. She tells us of her unique experience as a first generation South Asian immigrant growing up in a household of 5 girls in Princeton NJ and breaking the stereotype by excelling in sports(4:30). Her talent in tennis was obvious and at a very young age she moved(5:30) to Florida to join her older sister Shikha and Andy Roddick at Saddlebrook academy. At the academy she was in for some social and culture shocks as a girl with short hair beating many of the boys(9:30). Going undefeated in her freshman year at Princeton, Neha had a very different experience in terms of wins and losses on the professional circuit. Dealing with wins and losses on tour was a stressful and solitary experience(15:00). The anxieties on tour with a toxic coach manifested themselves in a bout with depression and an eating disorder, binging and purging even after big wins(25:00). At 22 years of age she has to make the most difficult decision of her life, to quit tennis(29:00) and start a new life by going back to another pressure cooker of academia at Princeton University. It took her a long time to adjust to the "real world" and find the perspective of trusting the process(41:00) over her goal-oriented prior experience. Balancing lofty expectations with the competitive drive and ego required to become a professional athlete can be difficult in a world where success is not solely defined by wins and losses(49:00). Neha tells us about a non-profit organization that she co-founded with another Neha: South Asians in Sports(51:00) and the opportunities to be found in the Sports Industry moving forward. She finishes this episode telling us about masters degree she is pursuing in social work(59:00) and her outlook on life going forward. You can follow Neha's organization South Asians in Sports: a network for sports industry professionals.  It's free to join! Website: sainsports.com  Twitter: @sainsports  You can follow the Nothing Easy Podcast: instagram: @nothingeasypod email: nothingeasypod@gmail.com twitter: @nothingeaaaasy

Ok, we open this pod up with Misha complaining about Ilia continually bringing up the sixers, but also gives his cerebral take on the outcome of sixers-celtics game 1. At 3:37 Ilia goes in with his emotional reaction to game 1, and goes on a bit of a rant against Philly performance, Brett brown’s coaching decisions and Celtic fan taunts. At 10:34 Misha reaches for a comparison between the sixer current roster makeup and the early days warriors as they made their ascent to the top of the league. At 15:10 Ilia reveals he has baited one of our future guests into a bet on the series – not the type of behavior we want to endorse J . At 20:10 we switch topics to the Kawhi/Spurs situation – Misha and Ilia both give their takes on what we think of how Kawhi and the Spurs have handled the situation, how they can resolve it, and what the future holds for the superstar as well as Spurs franchise. At 35:50 Misha throws out the idea for a new team in the NBA – the geriatrics! We round out the pod with some quick picks on the remaining playoff games, and we find ourselves going against our own bracket picks – spoiler alert!

This is a combo pod – we start with a reaction to the sixers-heat series conclusion, and introduce our first guest – Angela! She is a die-hard sixers fan. We talk about the potential for the sixers for the rest of these playoffs, Angela tells us what makes her the biggest sixers fan, and at 19:43 Ilia reveals a juicy bit of info about what will happen to him if the sixers win. We switch things up at @21:20 – Ilia boots Misha and Angela off the pod, to play fantasy NBA GM with Marc! Ilia assumes the role of Neil Olshey at 23:30 and throws out calls to RC Buford and Bryan Colangelo (played by Marc). Can they get a deal done?! At 41:15 Marc plays the role of Rob Pelinka to try to get the Lakers into contention, and pretends to be Koby Altman @ 52:26 to keep Lebron in Cleveland. At 58:20 Misha’s beloved Grizzlies get a shout. At 1:00 57 Ilia throws out an idea to improve the Pelicans by trading Boogie Cousins. And finally at 1:04:20 Ilia tackles the most taboo topic in Oklahoma City – trading Russell Westbrook where Ilia makes comes up with some crazy scenarios including a trade with the Knicks! insta: nothingeasypod twitter: nothingeaaaasy gmail: nothingeasypod@gmail.com https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/ps/If2lcbbcj3b63uxi654oh3soayq https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/nothing-easy/id1370518447?mt=2 https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/nothing-easy-pod/nothing-easy

We open up the pod with a discussion on Misha’s awkward social media strategy to boost pod ratings. At 07:50 we briefly cover our thoughts on round 1 matchups, and our trip for the upcoming sixer-heat game. We take a detour from basketball at 18:00 as Misha shares his amateur thoughts on Jcole’s new album.  At 33:26 Misha makes a public service announcement asking people for Husky dog recommendations. We round out the pod with Misha’s tale of weekend Baptism at 45:25, before Ilia and Misha both reflect on dog ownership at 56:21

In this episode we discuss current NBA playoff games, the role of data in decision making (generally speaking), and speculate on the Sixers future.We kick off the discussion with a review of the current games played in the NBA playoffs @ 1:34 (note we recorded this live during the Monday night games, and before Blazers were BBQ chicken L ) starting with the Pelicans and Blazers match up.  At 4:20 we briefly talk about some outcomes including the raps series, cavs/pacers and briefly boston/bucks and Minnesota/houston.At 8:16 Marc gets us into a discussion on why people don’t seem to recognize a trend until it hits them in the case – we discuss the potential undoing of the Cavs, and Ilia tries to use the recent US elections as an analogy for failing to see a trend. At 24:58 Misha challenges Ilia’s analogy and we begin to debate how people use data (or not) to make decisions.  At 30:54 Ilia tries to further defend his position, but fails J - ok we agree to disagree. Marc finally chimes in at 37:00 with his take after letting Misha and Ilia rant. At 38:04 we start to discuss the sixers-heat match up.   At 39:56 we move on to discuss the OKC/Jazz matchup, which takes us to a minor tangent at 42:00 where Misha challenges Ilia’s DPOY choice and calls his out his contradictory definitions for rookie of the year and overall bias when it comes to Embiid. At 47:10 Ilia really goes on a rant to build the case for Embiid as best big men EVER! AT 52:06 misha tries to get Ilia to speculate on sixer future given there is a few historical precedents for young players splitting up – will Joel and Simmons stay together?At 55:57 we pay our respects to Erin Popovich and Greg Popovich.Right before we close Ilia busts out stats to undo one of Mishas arguments, and at 1:01:21 we try to figure out which player Ben Simmons reminds us of in terms of his demeanor – spoiler we namedrop some legends including Jason Kidd.

Misha and Ilia give their immediate reactions to an exciting game 3 between the Heat and 76ers. Ilia vents about the Heat fouls and Misha realizes Embiid is the GOAT

In this bonus pod we live vicariously through Ilia's court-side experience at the 1st Sixers-Heat playoff game

In our second episode we introduce a new member of our cast - Marc - and deep dive into our picks of the 2018 NBA playoffs right after several (not-surprising) tangents.

Conversation that happens everyday in every living room and local beer bar. We're a group of friends that loves debate, and we think current sports content isn't great. This episode is an introduction to the nothing easy pod team and our style.  Hopefully you find our take a nice break from the typical shouting matches by the likes of Stephen A Smith and Skip Bayless, or the uneducated opinions of the many many types like Bill Simmons. Shots fired.