Hardwood Knocks: An NBA Podcast

Dan and Mort Jensen of 'The NBA Podcast' take a break from Round 2 of the NBA playoffs to catch up on all the latest (and not-so-latest) news and rumors flying around the Association. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 1:50 - Masai Ujiri to the Dallas Mavericks 12:35 - Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets 31:18 - New Orleans Pelicans coaching search 46:27 - Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors 54:43 -...

Dan and Grant take turns trying to guess an NBA player's identity based off clues they received from listeners. Join our Discord to partake in the Guess-A-Player fun!  SUPPORT US ON PATREON 🫶 SUPPORT THE SHOW BY PURCHASING HARDWOOD KNOCKS MERCH SUBSCRIBE TO OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL⬇️ TikTok: @hardwoodknocks Twitter @HardwoodKnocks Instagram:  @hardwood_knocks Dan's Bluesky: @danfav...

Dan and Grant dive into their most pressing questions and takeaways from the playoffs so far, from big-picture topics for eliminated teams to general musings about ongoing series and second-round matchups to come. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 2:45 - Jaden McDaniels and the Timberwolves  10:12 - Are the Knicks East favorites?  22:17 - Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers 31:39 - What's the newest offe...

Dan and Grant hold a "Which NBA team needs a new best player the most?!" draft. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 1:04 - Our approach 6:16 -  No. 1  10:40 -  No. 2 13:39 - No. 3  15:55 - No. 4  19:15 - No. 5  21:26 - No. 6  27:35 - No. 7  34:14 - No. 8  39:16 - No. 9  46:12 - No.10  50:00 - No. 11  53:37 - No. 12  59:15 - No. 13  1:01:59 - No. 14  1:11:05 - No. 15  1:12:59 - No. 16  1:16:02 - Other teams...

Dan and Mort Jensen of 'The NBA Podcast' run through their biggest surprises and disappointments of the NBA playoffs so far. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 1:39 - Injuries, injuries, injuries  5:42 - Denver Nuggets 17:52 - Detroit Pistons / Jalen Duren  32:04 - Mikal Bridges and Mike Brown 40:44 - Houston Rockets 52:49 - Brandon Ingram 59:35 - Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen 1:05:07 - Jalen Johnson and Z...

Dan and Grant run through as many bigger-picture playoff observations as they can in 90ish minutes—with their questions and takes getting increasingly hotter as they go. 0:00 - INTRO  1:05 - New York Knicks 16:43 - Houston Rockets 23:00 - Offensive trends 29:32 - Boston Celtics  33:01 - Denver Nuggets 41:55 - Minnesota Timberwolves  47:01 - Oklahoma City Thunder / West tiers / Ajay Mitchell 55:12...

We interrupt your NBA playoff programming for extension talk! Dan and Mort Jensen of the 'The NBA Podcast' spotlight the 2026 NBA rookie extension candidates from the Western Conference that they find most fascinating. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 1:02 - Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs 5: 08 - Amen Thompson, Houston Rockets 17:09 - Brice Sensabaugh, Utah Jazz 24:23 - Keyonte George, Utah Jazz 32...

Dan and Grant dive into the playoff matchups that were just set: Celtics vs Sixers, Thunder vs Suns and Pistons vs Magic. After that, they get into quick overviews of what's to come for the Warriors. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 2:13 - Oklahoma City Thunder vs Phoenix Suns 19:11 - Boston Celtics vs Philadelphia 76ers 42:44 - Detroit Pistons vs Orlando Magic 1:03:02 - Where do the Golden State Warrior...

Dan and Grant react to the first batch of play-in games and then dive into previews for all five first-round NBA playoff series already set. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO  0:53 - Hornets-Heat recap 8:51 - Devin Booker course  10:45 - San Antonio Spurs vs Portland Trail Blazers primer 12:45 - Spurs-Blazers Xs and Os 20:01 - Spurs-Blazers subplots 23:53 - Spurs- Blazers X-factors 26:56 - Spurs-Blazers r...

Dan and Grant put NBA play-in and playoff teams into tiers based on how much pressure they are up against entering the postseason. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 4:46 - Pressure Index Tiers 7:51 - Los Angeles Lakers 15:32 - Charlotte Hornets  20:39 - Houston Rockets 26:12 - Golden State Warriors 34:57 - Atlanta Hawks 38:07 - Los Angeles Clippers 41:36 - Cleveland Cavaliers 46:43 - Phoenix Suns 49:06 -...

Dan and Mort Jensen of the 'The NBA Podcast' discuss the latest Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee Bucks rumors, the direction of the Chicago Bulls, how NBA teams will rebuild in the revamped draft-lottery era and the impact of the Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves injuries on the Lakers. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 1:27 - Giannis and the Bucks 40:03 - Where do the Chicago Bulls go from here 1:05:05 -...

Dan and Grant take drop their highly anticipated 2025-26 NBA Awards ballots. Let us know your picks in the DISCORD ! TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 5:42 - MVP 30:15 - All-NBA 37:43 - Defensive Player of the Year 42:38 - All-Defense 52:41 - Rookie of the Year 58:36 - All-Rookie 1:09:37 - Most Improved Player 1:20:27 - Sixth Man of the Year 1:25:18 - Clutch Player of the Year 1:31:36 - Coach of the Year...

Dan and Mort Jensen of the 'The NBA Podcast' talk about some of the NBA's non-contenders and wrap up by deciding who they consider the most dangerous in each conference. After that, it's time for...MORE TANKING TALK! TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 3:18 - Toronto Raptors  9:07 - Atlanta Hawks 19:56 - Charlotte Hornets 27:55 - Philadelphia 76ers 37:13 - Orlando Magic  43:35 - Los Angeles Clippers 53:10 -...

Dan and Grant take a look at which teams overachieved and underachieved the most relative to their preseason win predictions! TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 2:48 - Indiana Pacers 8:11 - Charlotte Hornets  12:39 - San Antonio Spurs  17:47 - Sacramento Kings  20:57 - Dallas Mavericks  24:07 - Phoenix Suns 30:46 - Boston Celtics  36:05 - Detroit Pistons 38:54 - Memphis Grizzlies 41:34 - Milwaukee Bucks 44...

Dan and Mort Jensen of the 'The NBA Podcast' spotlight the 2026 NBA rookie extension candidates from the Eastern Conference that they find most fascinating. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 1:43 - Brandon Miller, Charlotte Hornets 9:51 - Anthony Black, Orlando Magic 25:21 - Ausar Thompson, Detroit Pistons 35:21 - Bilal Coulibaly, Washington Wizards 41:12 - Jaime Jaquez Jr., Miami Heat SUPPORT THE SHOW BY...

Dan and Mort Jensen of the 'The NBA Podcast' discuss a bunch of different reasons why you should still watch and pay attention to each of the NBA's 10 worst teams. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 4:12 - Washington Wizards  11:43 - Brooklyn Nets 16:22 - Chicago Bulls 21:22 - Indiana Pacers 25:56 - Milwaukee Bucks 30:51 - Utah Jazz 42:24 - Sacramento Kings 47:47 - Dallas Mavericks 53:20 - Memphis Grizzlie...

Dan and Grant cover the latest news about Giannis Antetokounmpo's future with the Milwaukee Bucks, the impact of Cade Cunningham's injury on the Detroit Pistons and NBA expansion. Then, it's...MAIL TIME. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 3:25 - Giannis and the Bucks 23:52 - Can the Pistons survive without Cade Cunningham? 35:32 - NBA expansion thoughts  41:14 - What is your greatest “What if?” in NBA hist...

Dan and Mort Jensen of the 'The NBA Podcast' shine the spotlight on a handful of players they believe will be recurring All-NBA candidates and selections in the NEAR future. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 4:58 - Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks 11:43 - Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets 21:16 - Jalen Johnson, Atlanta Hawks 27:32 - Paolo Banchero, Orlando Magic 43:44 - Kel'el Ware, Miami Heat 50:24 - Stephon...

Dan and Mort Jensen of the 'The NBA Podcast' to talk about the NBA plans for expansion. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - EXPANSION NEWS! 1:50 - How expansion impacts the tanking discussion 3:45 - Will the NBA owners approve expansion? 5:38 - Which NBA team should go to the East? 14:02 - Does expansion impact potential relocation? 18:17 - What will the expansion draft look like? 23:11 - Best player who will lef...

Dan and Grant play a rousing round of 'Fact or Fiction?!' a bunch of topical and big-picture NBA topics. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 1:54 - Bam Adebayo’s 83-point game was unethical  15:15 - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the NBA’s best player 29:06 - Nerds ruined the NBA 42:25 - Paolo Banchero is underrated  53:16 - The Lakers are a bigger than people realize 59:29 - The Boston Celtics are the real fav...

Dan and Grant take turns picking NBA teams that they believe are already guaranteed to define the offseason before seeing how the playoffs/rest of the year unfold. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 1:14 - Our approach 2:30 - Milwaukee Bucks 10:48 - Los Angeles Lakers 17:21  - Oklahoma City Thunder  22:38 - Brooklyn Nets 25:45 - Atlanta Hawks 29:29 - Golden State Warriors  32:25 - Orlando Magic 35:18 - Cha...

Dan and Grant discuss their biggest concern for every top NBA contender and then assess how worried we should all be on a scale of 1 to 10. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 1:58 - MINI RANT 5:28 - Our approach  7:50 - San Antonio Spurs  16:37 - Detroit Pistons 24:03 - Houston Rockets  32:49 - Cleveland Cavaliers 41:11 - Boston Celtics 49:27 - Denver Nuggets 58:38 - Oklahoma City Thunder  1:06:05 - New Yo...

Dan and Grant talking about the NBA's focus on tanking, its selective enforcement of rules and whether they can actually fix the issue moving forward.  TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 0:57- Has the NBA gone too far? 18:53 - Reviewing proposed tanking solutions  39:02 - OUR OWN TANKING SOLUTION 49:54 - Is tanking possible to solve? SUPPORT THE SHOW BY PURCHASING HARDWOOD KNOCKS MERCH JOIN OUR DISCORD SUB...

Dan and Grant take turns selecting who they believe are the NBA's biggest x-factors for the rest of this season...AND BEYOND. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 3:26 - Criteria 6:16 - Julian Champagnie 9:29 - Stephon Castle 15:15 - Scoot Henderson 24:53 - Aaron Gordon 29:31  - Anthony Black 36:06 - Jayson Tatum’s Achilles 43:44 - Reed Sheppard  48:51 - Amen Thompson 53:57 - Jalen Williams 56:17 - Cason Wal...

Dan is joined by Bryant Toporek ( @btoporek ) from Bleacher Report, Forbes, OnSI and Liberty Ballers to discuss the biggest Eastern Conference threats to the Detroit Pistons making the NBA Finals. TIMESTAMPS⤵️ 0:00 - INTRO 1:12 - The Pistons are the East favorites, right? 6:57 - Cleveland Cavaliers 19:19 - Boston Celtics 28:12 - New York Knicks  39:12 - Charlotte Hornets  46:53 - Philadelphia 76er...