The Hoop Genius Podcast

The Lakers are on a 9-game win streak, Luka is in MVP form, LeBron called a players-only meeting and everyone suited up anyway. So why is nobody taking them seriously? Mo and Coach Brendan Suhr break it all down, plus March Madness draft talk, Cade Cunningham's collapsed lung, and why a two-time NBA champion thinks modern coaching has never been worse. From the East standings chaos to Kevin Durant...

With 15 games left, the top seeds in the East think they know what's coming. They don't. Mo Mooncey and 2x NBA champion, Coach Brendan Suhr, break down the playoff matchups that could go very wrong for Detroit, Boston and the Knicks, and name the teams nobody is talking about that are quietly becoming genuine threats. Plus the full Western Conference breakdown, why the Thunder vs Spurs might alrea...

Most basketball content tells you what to think. This episode teaches you how to think: and the difference is everything. Kevin Eastman spent decades at the highest level of the NBA, winning championships with the Boston Celtics, running basketball operations for the LA Clippers, and coaching some of the greatest players to ever play the game. He's never been more candid than he is here. Mo and Br...

A very well-known NBA executive called Coach Brendan Suhr last week with one question about how he'd run his offense. Brendan's answer changed the entire direction of this episode - and it might change how you watch basketball. Mo and Brendan get into what's actually broken about modern NBA offenses, the stats nobody tracks that win playoff series, and a specific matchup from this week that perfec...

Jay Bilas joins Mo and Coach Brendan Suhr for a full breakdown of what might be the deepest NBA draft class in history. If you're trying to figure out who to watch beyond the big three of Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer - and whether this freshman class really is as stacked as everyone says - this is the episode to listen or watch. Jay explains why he'd still take Cooper Flagg numb...

The NBA playoff race just shifted into a different gear. With the All-Star break behind us, every game now carries real consequences, and the urgency is showing across the league. In this episode, we break down: • The Knicks’ sudden defensive transformation: how a team built around offensive stars has flipped the switch and become the #1 ranked defense over the last stretch  • Why late-season inte...

The East is wide open, and the West might be too. Mo Mooncey and Coach Brendan Suhr break down the biggest questions that will define the rest of this NBA season, starting with whether James Harden can finally shake his playoff reputation after a blistering 5-1 start in Cleveland. Is this the best chance he's ever had to win a ring? Then they go deep on a question nobody's really answering: can th...

Is the NBA's tanking crackdown really about the fans - or is it there a much darker reality?   Mo Mooncey and 2x NBA Championship-winning coach Brendan Suhr break down all seven anti-tanking proposals discussed by Adam Silver and the 30 owners - and give every single one an honest grade. From draft lottery odds to flattening the picks, from rookie free agency to freezing odds at the trade deadline...

Mo sat down with former NBA All-Star Joakim Noah to discuss his career: playing in Chicago for the Bulls with D Rose, his beef with US President Barack Obama, the best trash talkers in the NBA and much much more. Special thanks to Footlocker for making this interview happen. 🎧 Listen to the full Hoop Genius Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & all platforms. 📺 Subscribe for new episodes 2x a...

All-Star Weekend was supposed to celebrate the league. Instead, it exposed a deeper structural problem. We break down everything that happened - from Damian Lillard winning his third 3-Point Contest to the collapse of the Dunk Contest, and why star participation is the real issue. Why are the biggest names avoiding Saturday night? Why does the league struggle to generate cultural moments the way i...

This episode covers everything shaping the NBA right now: All-Star controversy, tanking, league expansion, buyout chaos, and the culture divide between old school intensity and the modern product. Mo Mooncey and Coach Brendan Suhr open with an all-time All-Star draft featuring legends like Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal - then use it as a launch point...

The NBA trade deadline delivered fewer blockbusters and more balance-sheet manoeuvres - but the consequences are massive. We break down every meaningful move and what it actually means on the court. Cleveland emerges as the clear winner, upgrading fit, saving roughly $100M in luxury tax, and improving its Eastern Conference title odds. Indiana lands one of the league’s most underrated centres in I...

The NBA trade deadline is heating up - and fans are losing their minds. We break down why the Kings actually WON the De’Andre Hunter trade for Keon Ellis & Dennis Schroder, why the backlash makes no sense if you watch real games, and what Cleveland’s financial reality forced them to do. Then we go nuclear on the Giannis trade market - why OKC should empty the clip, why Milwaukee has no leverag...

In this exclusive interview, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal sits down for a wide-ranging, unfiltered conversation covering basketball dominance, championship mentality, business success, and life advice. Shaq breaks down why today’s NBA looks different from the era of physical post play, explains what made his partnership with Kobe Bryant so effective, and shares the mindset that helped him win multi...

The NBA is hitting its most chaotic point of the season. All-Star starters are announced, the new international team format is coming, half the league is injured, and the trade deadline is now days away. On this episode of the Hoop Genius Podcast, Mo and Coach Brendan Suhr break down everything shaping the league right now. They react to the All-Star starters in the East and West, debate whether A...

NBA Champion & "Bad Boy" Rick Mahorn joins Mo Mooncey & Coach Brendan Suhr to talk all things basketball: from his legendary career to the current NBA - you don't want to miss this episode with Rick being his real, raw, unfiltered self. 0:00 Intro 4:45 What was Brendan Suhr like as a coach? 7:42 Rick Mahorn’s dream post matchups 9:59 How would modern bigs fare in the old NBA? 12:17 A Bob D...

In this episode of the Hoop Genius Podcast, Mo and Coach Brendan Suhr break down how the NBA took over London for a historic weekend, from Ja Morant’s dominant performance with the Memphis Grizzlies to Anthony Black’s dunk that may already be the dunk of the season. Mo takes you inside the entire London takeover: interviews with Joakim Noah, Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane and Anthony Black; Nike and...

One of the most influential coaches in modern basketball, Ettore Messina , explains why NBA basketball is easier than EuroLeague - not because of talent, but because of structure, incentives, and how the game is taught. Messina breaks down, in detail, the differences most fans and analysts never account for: Why EuroLeague possessions are treated as scarce resources How 40-minute games, no defensi...

The NBA has evolved - faster, bigger, more physical, and far less forgiving. On this episode of the Hoop Genius Podcast, Mo Mooncey and legendary coach Brendan Suhr confront the uncomfortable reality surrounding Ja Morant : if the league has moved on and he hasn’t, what happens now? This isn’t about highlights or reputation. It’s about durability, defensive exposure, offensive stagnation, and whet...

The first major trade of the NBA season breaks live as Trae Young is dealt from the Atlanta Hawks to the Washington Washington. We dissect why the Hawks let Trae, why the Wizards were willing to absorb the money, and what this move says about the league’s shifting economics under the new CBA. From the death of three-max teams to the declining leverage of small, non-defensive guards, this episode c...

The NBA keeps talking about “two-way players” like it’s a bonus skill instead of the bare minimum. That framing is broken - and this episode dismantles it. Jaylen Brown calls himself the best two-way player in the league. When you actually examine defense, availability, leadership, and impact, the claim holds up - and exposes why the MVP conversation is flawed. While other stars conserve energy, a...

San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan joined the Hoop Genius Podcast to talk to Mo Mooncey about his basketball journey, from the UK to the NBA. Jeremy gave his insights as to why the UK is so far behind when it comes to producing elite basketball talent, and what can be done to fix British Basketball. Insights from his early childhood show his journey from England to the NBA. 🎧 Listen to the f...

On this episode of the Hoop Genius Podcast, Mo Mooncey and Coach Brendan Suhr break down the biggest NBA storylines coming out of Christmas and into the new year. The Spurs continue to dominate OKC and look far ahead of schedule, raising serious questions about Thunder matchups in a playoff series. JJ Redick publicly challenges the Lakers, but is calling out veterans like LeBron the right move - o...

NBA GM Scott Perry joins the Hoop Genius podcast for a rare, unfiltered deep dive into what it actually takes to build a winning NBA franchise - and why fans consistently underestimate how hard the job really is. Perry takes listeners inside the Sacramento Kings organisation , breaking down the realities of modern roster construction under the new CBA, the impact of the first and second apron, and...

The NBA owns Christmas Day - but not every team unwraps what they hoped for. In this episode, we break down what the Christmas Day matchups actually reveal about the league right now. Who’s a real contender, who’s surviving on reputation, and which teams are about to get exposed once the games start to matter. From elite defenses and depth that translate to playoff basketball, to flashy records bu...