"The Hoop Collective" podcast, hosted by ESPN's Brian Windhorst, releases episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the NBA season. Windhorst and his guests break down what's happening on and off the court, evaluating the trends you need to know and examining the latest news from across the NBA.
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Latest episodes:
April 20 | April 17 | April 15 | April 13 | April 10 | April 8 | April 6
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'The Hoop Collective' episodes
April 20: Major upsets brewing in Round 1 and early playoff headlines
Brian is joined by ESPN's Tim MacMahon and Tim Bontemps to discuss the first weekend of the 2026 NBA playoffs, which teams' Game 1 performances should be cause for concern, and which players need to step up this week. They also dive into NBA awards announcements and discuss preliminary thoughts on the race for MVP, DPOY and more.
Topics:
2:26: OKC looked like defending champs today
4:25: Magic stun the Pistons on the road
14:19: How concerned should the Pistons be?
19:24: Lakers take down Rockets without KD
30:20: Spurs win in Wemby's playoff debut
36:14: Boston takes care of business with 76ers
38:36: Great atmosphere in San Antonio
45:24: Cavs strong start to series vs Raptors
48:20: Knicks got the job done in Game1 vs. Hawks
51:47: Concerned with Anthony Edwards' injury?
57:36: NBA Awards finalists announced
MacMahon and Windhorst on the Thunder's dominant Game 1:
MacMahon: "J-dub looks like himself."
Windhorst: "Yeah, he had four steals in the first half alone, pretty sure. And the Thunder. What was the points off of turnovers in this game, 34 to 2? See, okay, I'm going to obviously you're going to give the Suns a bit of a pass because they've played three games in six days or whatever. But I'm just going to say that when the Thunder are dominating the possession game like that, that is when you know they're at their best."
Bontemps on what Philadelphia has to do against the Celtics: "The Celtics dominated from start to finish. But the only thing to talk about is if Philadelphia wants to make this a competitive series of any kind, Tyrese Maxey has to be the best player to do that."
"He's got to play better than Jayson Tatum. He's got to play better than Jaylen Brown, and they have to get up more 3s. If they're shooting under 25 3s, shooting under 30 3s or even maybe 35 3s, I just don't think they can keep up with the Celtics. And they certainly didn't today."
April 17: NBA playoff preview and NBA Awards rulings
Brian is joined by ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to discuss the recent LaMelo Ball fine and whether he should've been suspended for his actions. They then move on to the 65-game exemption that made Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham eligible for regular season awards before closing on a full playoff preview of each series.
Topics:
1:18: Play-in a great start for NBA postseason
2:52: Should LaMelo Ball have been suspended?
7:51: Windy storytime: LeBron's flagrant no call
15:43: Luka and Cade get 65-game exemption
19:01: Eastern Conference playoff preview
20:15: Who would give Detroit the best series?
21:59: Philadelphia 76ers-Boston Celtics breakdown
27:28: Atlanta Hawks-New York Knicks breakdown
35:22: Toronto Raptors-Cleveland Cavaliers breakdown
43:24: Western Conference playoff preview
43:35: Can anyone challenge the Thunder?
48:31: Portland Trail Blazers-San Antonio Spurs breakdown
59:48: Minnesota Timberwolves-Denver Nuggets breakdown
1:03:54: Houston Rockets-Los Angeles Lakers breakdown
1:10:14: Full playoff predictions
Windhorst on the Ball fine and non-suspension: "I believe he should have been ejected from the game at the time. He was not ejected.
"I did not believe he should have been suspended, but I'm going to tell you, I wavered on that when I saw multiple instances of him doing this exact same thing. Not just the Bam Adebayo game two years ago where he thought he got fouled and tripped Bam. But in February, he did this to Jabari Smith Jr. against the Rockets. Almost the same type of play. (He) was driving, thought he got bumped, and he actually got called for a Flagrant 1 in that situation.
"I will tell you that I researched, I didn't have complete records, and it was hard to search, but the couple of instances that I found where a player was retroactively given a Flagrant 2.
Bontemps on the Spurs' playoff outlook: "It's going to be amazing to watch Victor (Wembanyama) in the playoffs and see how this goes. The Spurs have had no adversity all season.
"Victor has missed a little time, but they've basically been healthy. They've been in cruise control for months. There've had no pressure on them, really. The first time there was any kind of pressure on them it was the last game of the regular season against half the Nuggets. They couldn't win the game. They didn't shoot the ball great. They didn't play well.
"It will be interesting whether it's in the first round or against Denver or Minnesota in the second round when they do get punched in the mouth. How do they respond?"
April 15: Chaotic play-in games and the full LaMelo Ball experience
Brian is joined by ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to cover the two exciting play-in games from Tuesday night, including the wild ending between the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat and whether LaMelo Ball's controversial trip of Bam Adebayo will have ramifications moving forward. They then move on to the Portland Trail Blazers' late win over the Phoenix Suns in the West before closing on previews of this week's other play-in games.
Topics:
1:08: Hornets win wild game over the Heat
16:31: Controversial play in Hornets' win over heat
21:37: Ramifications going forward?
32:09: Blazers win clutch game over Suns
44:56: Can Orlando rebound at Philadelphia?
47:02: Big matchup between Steph and Kawhi Wednesday
49:35: The NBA playoffs are finally here
Bontemps on whether Ball will face repercussions for the trip: "I had a GM text me tonight and ask, because they saw the play later, 'This guy's got to get suspended, right?"
MacMahon on the Heat's final stretch of the season: "The Heat absolutely stunk down the stretch of the season. They came to play (Tuesday). They couldn't get defensive stops at the end of this game.
"(Coach Erik Spoelstra) said if they could just get a couple of stops, they would have won. But fellas, they became a historically horrible defensive team. After (Adebayo's) 83-point performance, they played 16 games, about 20% of a season. Their defensive rating was 123.3. That would be the worst in NBA history.
"Now, there were two teams that were worse during that stretch. Those were the (Washington Wizards) and the (Memphis) Grizzlies. The two tankiest of all tank teams that did not commit any overt behavior because they were not fined. ... I'm saying the Heat absolutely fell apart defensively down the stretch of the season."
Bontemps on the Blazers' strengths against San Antonio: "I'm not saying Donovan (Clingan) is going to stop (Victor Wembanyama). He's not going to stop him. But when you talk about physicality, the Blazers have physical wing players and they've got in Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams, two legit 7-footers to have out there all the time. I just think Victor's going to get banged around playing against a really physical (team)."
April 13: Upsets help shape playoff matchups
Brian is joined by ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to discuss the final day of the NBA regular season, including how upsets influenced the playoff seeding. They then move on to the most exciting first-round playoff matchups and storylines. They close on interesting comments from the Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo about his future with the franchise.
Topics:
1:40: Two shocking upsets on the final day
2:57: Playoff paths for the Nuggets and Spurs got harder
9:15: Orlando fails to control its own destiny
17:13: NBA play-in schedule
23:04: Windy Storytime: Epic Jurassic Park performances
28:56: NBA playoffs first-round schedule
39:47: Best possible storylines of the first round
41:48: Will Lakers get Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves back?
46:22: Final standings of the lottery odds
55:25: Curious end-of-season messages from Antetokounmpo
1:04:32: Hoop Collective wins pool unveiled for 2025-26 NBA season
Bontemps on the Spurs' loss and playoff path: "They might not be favorites to beat Denver at all in a series. And Denver's just a way harder opponent. And now they have to not only beat Denver, they still probably have to beat Oklahoma City as well.
"And the fact of the matter is, yes, they might beat both teams, they might make the Finals. But their path is much harder because they could not win this game against basically Denver's C team and Nikola Jokic for a half. And I also think this does highlight something I've talked about a lot, that this team has not been in pressure situations before and has some real flaws going into this playoff run."
Windhorst on the Lakers' injuries and possible returns: "There are potential Laker playoff opponents who felt that it was a better chance -- based on their analysis of the situation -- that Austin Reaves could play sooner rather than later, and that as this team was preparing to potentially see the Lakers, that they were preparing for Austin Reaves potentially to play in that first-round series at some point."
MacMahon on Antetokounmpo's Bucks' future: "Giannis on a supermax makes zero sense for Milwaukee. If you're going to be mediocre, don't be expensive, I'm sorry. You can't be a crappy small market team with a massive payroll. None of that makes any sense in the Bucks' best interest.
"They need to trade Giannis. Now, if they want to work with him off his preferred list of destinations, if they feel like they have to, OK, that's all stuff to figure out. But Giannis back on their roster on a supermax extension would be ridiculous."
April 10: Tanking troubles and final-week drama
Brian is joined by ESPN's Vincent Goodwill and Anthony Slater to discuss the recent tanking issues in the NBA and the upcoming playoff drama around the league, including which teams should want certain matchups and how injuries will shape the playoff picture. The podcast closes with Sacramento Kings center Maxime Raynaud joining the show to talk about his rookie season.
Topics:
01:35: Tanking causing issues for league again
10:23: Storytime: Brad Stevens early coaching
16:03: What does Embiid injury mean for Philadelphia?
19:13: Any upset-capable sleeper teams in the East?
23:13: End-of-regular-season games to watch
24:17: Should the Cavs look to avoid the Celtics?
33:28: What to watch on final day of regular season
43:17: Welcome to the Hoop Collective, Maxime Raynaud!
46:11: His connection with Russell Westbrook
50:53: The French impact across the NBA
59:49: What was his welcome-to-the-NBA moment?
1:01:21: What is the perception of European players?
Slater on the Joel Embiid injury and East playoff picture: "The top four in the East has felt settled for a long time. But it did feel like a couple of weeks ago that five through 10 was getting more fearsome. Obviously you got the rise of the Hornets and what Atlanta's doing.
"And you know, the Sixers, this theoretical idea that maybe they would be fully healthy come tip off Game 1 ... It feels like that part of the East, especially with the Magic's kind of wacky last couple months, is just losing its teeth a little bit. I just kind of think it's going to be those four moving on."
Windhorst on a potential Cavaliers-Hawks series: "It's a 66% chance that the Hawks and Cavs are going to play in the first round, according to BPI.
"I think Evan Mobley would potentially feast in that series because while the Hawks have really good perimeter play, they're weak on the interior. And we saw Evan Mobley go for 22 and 19 (against the Hawks this week)."
Goodwill on Cleveland aiming for the Detroit side of the playoff bracket: "I think when they've telegraphed that they want to stay on [the Detroit side] of the bracket, the one person who doesn't agree with I think was Donovan Mitchell. He said, "You shouldn't be playing with the playoff gods that way."
"And as great as Evan Mobley is or will be against the Hawks, you put him and Jarrett Allen -- two guys that we say are not necessarily the toughest set of big men in the league or in the Eastern Conference -- against the healthy Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren. I think they should go play with something safe.
"And then J.B. Bickerstaff as the head coach of Detroit, who used to coach the Cavs: Do you think that he won't use this as a motivational tool for a team that operates out of spite and you're giving them more spite? I think Cleveland is more talented than Detroit. I think their game is better when you get [James] Harden and Donovan [Mitchell], as supreme shot creators. And they have more shooting. But you're going to tell that you're telegraphing that to Detroit. That you want to play them when the I don't know if that's a safe thing to do."
April 8: Bulls changes and playoff seeding battles
Brian is joined by ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to discuss the Chicago Bulls firing president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley and why the franchise could finally be moving in the right direction. They then move on to the potential playoff matchups, including a potential intriguing series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks and why the Denver Nuggets' wins of late have them set up for a deep playoff run. They close on whether the Los Angeles Lakers should shut down LeBron James for the regular season.
Topics:
1:49: Bulls front office shakeup
9:43: Billy Donovan's coaching future
19:13: Cavaliers playoff outlook
30:53: Denver's recent run
43:31: Lakers injuries and whether they should shut LeBron down
Bontemps on the Bulls' job openings: "The irony of the situation in Chicago is it has a chance to be a pretty good job. You've got a clean cap sheet going forward.
"They have the Blazers' pick, which if Portland makes the playoffs conveys, so they could have the 15th or 16th pick in a loaded draft. They have the chance to have a No. 1 pick or at worst the ninth or 10th pick in a very good draft. So you have two first-round picks. Matas Buzelis is interesting. There are no bad contracts. It's actually set up pretty well to have somebody come in and do the job.
"And frankly, that's why it was imperative the Bulls made this decision now because you have the opportunity to go out and get somebody good to come in with a blank slate and put together a competitive team."
Windhorst on the Nuggets' recent run: "The Nuggets, I wouldn't say their last two games have been dominant by any stretch, the way they beat the Spurs and then came back on the Blazers, but they are winning.
"They've been basically the league's best offense over the last month. (Nikola) Jokic is putting up enormous numbers. They are hitting 3-pointers at a stunning rate. And now they've gotten themselves into a position where they're on the opposite side of the bracket than the Thunder. And they've had a little bit of success against the Spurs this year. I know health is everything. Aaron Gordon is currently healthy. ... But the Nuggets have worked themselves into a great position especially with those last two big wins."
Bontemps on how the Lakers plan to manage injuries: "It certainly doesn't seem like Luka Doncic or Austin Reaves should be available. Let's just assume they're not going to be. If they're not available, the plan of attack has to be fairly simple: you give the ball to LeBron, spread the floor with shooting and for two weeks hope he can set up open 3-point shooters. He's done it his whole life and you bomb away from 3, hit a bunch of shots and try to get it close at the end of the game where the Rockets have consistently been a very poor late-game-execution team.
"I'm not saying that's a scenario where I feel great about the Lakers' chances without Luka and Austin Reaves, but that's at least a scenario you could talk yourselves into where maybe LeBron can dial it up for two weeks. You can steal some games. Maybe you steal a series and hope that by the time you're playing the Thunder, the reinforcements are back."
April 6: Flagg's ROY statement and final week drama
Brian is joined by ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to discuss Cooper Flagg's big weekend and where the Rookie of the Year award race currently stands. They then jump into the biggest storylines over the final week of the regular season, including the drama between the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the playoff races to watch and the mounting injuries hampering the Los Angeles Lakers' playoff hopes.
Topics:
1:09: Bontemps' Rookie of the Year poll creates debate
9:21: Luka Doncic filing for grievance on 65-game rule
12:54: Biggest final-week storylines in Eastern Conference
30:48: Giannis and Bucks still at odds
35:11: Biggest final-week storylines in Western Conference
37:46: Wembanyama and Jokic star in epic Spurs-Nuggets game
45:50: How disastrous are the injuries for the Lakers?
57:04: Biggest final-week storylines in Western Conference revisited
59:52: Congrats to Kevin Pelton!
Bontemps on the Rookie of the Year chase: "I think Kon (Knueppel) is pretty far ahead coming into the weekend based off of the body of work of the season and the fact that he's sort of just been entrenched as the guy who was going to win the award for months now.
"Now, perhaps Cooper will have three more 40-point games this week. He'll have some unbelievable close and he'll be the Rookie of the Year. Maybe he is leading the rookie of the year race after this weekend because, like I said at the beginning, I don't know how much people have been really paying attention to this at all and they might come back to it at the end and say you know what, Cooper Flag is having a historic rookie season, he is a potentially generational player and we are going to give it to him."
Windhorst on the Chicago Bulls' front office situation: "I don't know who's going to still have their jobs in Chicago by the end of next week, whether it's by their own decision or by other people's decision."
MacMahon on the Lakers' injuries and outlook: "Fortunately, these are injuries that aren't like extended-to-the-next-season type of injuries, but that's the only thing you can say that is reasonably good news.
"Luka's slim-to-none MVP hopes were extinguished by midway through the first [quarter of the OKC-LAL game on April 2] and by midway through the first quarter, it was like there are levels --and the Lakers are at a completely different level than the Thunder."
