Over and Back: Stories About NBA History

The Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast returns with an episode on teams that added a big star (or more) but severely underperformed. Two examples this year with the Brooklyn Nets being swept in the first round after gaining (and losing) James Harden (and never getting Ben Simmons to replace him) and the Los Angeles Lakers winning only 33 games after adding Russell Westbrook. Teams we'll focus o...

Join us as we celebrate 300 episodes of the Over and Back Podcast! To celebrate the occasion, we're going to do what we do best, we're going to talk about some guys and specifically some guys with NBA records revolving around the number 300. Players with exactly 300 games played in their career Players with exactly 300 minutes played in their career Players with exactly 300 minutes played...

Thanks to the great performances of both Desmond Mason and Jason Richardson, the 2003 dunk contest would begin a new era. These new dunk contests didn’t need sheepishly avoid the discussion of why stars weren’t involved but rather embrace its new lot in life. Moving forward, the contest would embrace its ability to feature the young, great athletes in the NBA. No longer was it an embarrassment tha...

Vince Carter may have never returned to a dunk contest but the dunk contest never left. 22 years later and counting the dunk contest is still here, still important, and still the showcase event of NBA All-Star Weekend. Vinsanity didn’t just bring the dunk contest back, he ensured for generations to come that it would never and could never leave again. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/b...

Originally uploaded May 5, 2016 We're celebrating Episode #100 of the Over and Back Podcast and what better topic to cover than Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game on March 2, 1962, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. To ensure we kept it "100" we uncovered 100 facts about Wilt's 100 point game. Facts and tidbits include a look at where the game ranks all-time statistically, anecdotes abou...

60 years today, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in an NBA game. To celebrate this one-of-a-kind anniversary, Jason and Rich are joined by Gary Pomerantz—author of Wilt, 1962: The Night of 100 Points and the Dawn of a New Era ( https://amzn.to/3KacqQs )—to discuss Chamberlain's record-breaking night.  Topics included the added mythology of the game not being televised, what happened to the g...

Budding superstar Kobe Bryant wins the 1997 NBA slam-dunk contest—the first bullet on what would become his extensive resume—but the competition is an utter disaster leading the NBA to do the unthinkable: cancel the slam-dunk contest.  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The 1993 NBA Slam Dunk Contest more than ever showed the new era of the competition but was it a youth movement or is the bloom off the rose?  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

One of the greatest NBA Slam Dunk Contests in history. Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins duel it out with a sprinkle of scoring controversy, hometown love and the official crowning of Jordan as a megastar.  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The first of his back-to-back NBA slam-dunk contest championships for Michael Jordan and the true crowning of Air Jordan in the NBA. Jordan, the NBA and the slam-dunk contest would never be the same again. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The 1986 NBA slam-dunk contest is famous for being the night when spectacle took center stage. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

There's only one place we can begin a series on slam-dunk contests: the inaugural NBA slam-dunk contest in 1984. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Watch the video version of this show at https://youtu.be/W1MfQAg2iR8 .  Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch of the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast welcome special guests Curtis Harris (http://ProHoopsHistory.substack.com) and Micah Wimmer (https://twitter.com/micahwimmer) for a live watch-along of the 2001 NBA All-Star Game. One of the greatest all-star games in NBA history, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter...

This week on the Over and Back Classic NBA Podcast, Jason and Rich dive into the biggest blowouts in NBA history.  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jason and Rich remember the life and career of Boston Celtics legend Sam Jones.  Topics on the show include: Why Jones was nicknamed Mr. Clutch Jones' 10 NBA titles (second only to Bill Russell) 25-2 all-time playoff series record Becoming the Celtics scoring leader Bridging the gap of two Celtics dynasties An improbable journey to the NBA Standing up to injustice  Why Jones had to wait so lon...

The annual tradition continues as Jason and Rich welcome friends Curtis Harris and Reinis Lācis to the show for the Over and Back Holiday Special! This year, we'll be watching the 1987 Christmas Day showdown between the Detroit Pistons (15-5) and New York Knicks (8-16). There is plenty to talk about on this show as the Knicks have missed the playoffs three years in a row and have brought in a...

The Phoenix Suns recently went on a franchise-record 18 game win streak and it got us thinking: wait, did we never do a show on the longest win streaks in NBA history?  We never did! But today, we change that.  Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch do a deep dive into the longest win streaks in NBA history including the Los Angeles Lakers' all-time record 33-game win streak, the Golden State Warriors 2...

This week Jason and Rich react to the NBA's 75th-anniversary team. We'll give our thoughts on the rollout of the team, a brief history of anniversary teams, players on multiple all-time teams, players new to the NBA's 75th-anniversary team, the NBA righting wrongs with Bob McAdoo and Dominique Wilkins then finally the biggest snubs including Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard and many more.  Adv...

Happy Basketball! The NBA has returned and as is a yearly tradition, we'll look at how the 2021-22 NBA season will make history including: Steph Curry on pace to become the NBA's all-time leading three-point shooter LeBron James' climb up the all-time ranks in several categories Dwight Howard vaulting up the total rebounds leaderboards The potential for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Curry...

On this episode of Over and Back, Jason and Rich bring back the popular Last Great Game series for the 2021 Basketball Hall of Fame class. We'll discuss a bit about each Hall of Famers career, why they are entering the Basketball Hall of Fame and then, an in-depth look at each player's last great NBA game. Players featured in this episode include:  Rick Adelman Chris Bosh Bob Dandridge Ton...

In this episode of Over and Back, Jason Mann and Rich Kraetsch look at the quaint early days of NBA free agency.  We'll discuss the basic history of NBA free agency, key free-agency situations before 1977 then do a deep dive into the 1977-1980 offseasons with major signings, crazy compensations, and deals that would have historical ramifications.  Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/b...

The third and final installment in our series on NBA Playoff Buzzer Beaters focuses on NBA Finals buzzer beaters including: Cliff Hagan (1957) Jerry West (1962) Julius Erving (1976) Larry Wright (1979) Dennis Johnson (1985) Michael Jordan (1997) Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Our series on NBA playoff buzzer beaters continues with a look at second round, semifinals and conference finals series clinchers.  Shots discussed in this episode include: Tom Heinsohn concluding the very first Russell vs. Wilt playoff series in 1960 Kawhi Leonard's baseline jumper hits the rim four times before finally falling in and moving the Toronto Raptors past the Philadelphia 76ers in...

This week on the Over and Back Podcast we begin our new series on NBA playoff buzzer beaters!  This multi-part series will take a deep dive into each and every playoff buzzer beater in NBA history. We start with episode one focusing on first-round series clinchers including: Derrick McKey's alley-opp to help the 1989 Seattle Supersonics upset the Houston Rockets Michael Jordan's iconic sho...

Part 2 of Over & Back's exploration of the longest sub .500 streaks.  In this episode, we'll explore four more of the longest sub .500 streaks in NBA history including not one but TWO twelve-year streaks from the Los Angeles Clippers, an unfortunate run of bad luck and bad ownership from the Golden State Warriors and finally, the Dallas Mavericks ten-year slide in the 90s. Advertising...