High Tea Hoops

In this episode of Tea Time, Brian Bosche is joined by recurring guest Huw Hopkins from Sky Sports and Double Clutch. They chat about the Sixers collapse against the Hawks, KD and the Nets coming up short against the Bucks, the Clippers role players stepping up to defeat the Jazz, the surging Suns, and their predictions for the rest of the NBA Playoffs.

In this episode of Tea Time, Brian Bosche is joined by recurring guest Yani Ourabah from Sky Sports. They chat about playing pickup hoops in East London, the NBA Play-In Tournament, their favorite matchups in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, and their predictions for the rest of the Playoffs.

On this week’s show, Brian Bosche and Skylar Smith chat about the BBL and WBBL Playoff Finals after attending the games in Leicester! They cover the Eagles and Lions advancing to the Finals, the best moments from the BBL Finals, their thoughts on the performances by the Eagles and Lions, and a breakdown of the WBBL Finals, which was also between the Eagles and Lions.

Matt Desmond is the Founder of the Sports Creative Community, a group of creative professionals in the sports industry with over 5,600 active members. After working on creative teams at sports and media organizations, Matthew saw a need to bring together the sports community to collaborate and share best practices. In just three years, the Sports Creative Community has a thriving Slack group, regular events, a podcast, and more. We talk about the evolution of creative and media in sports, how players are creating content for their own brands, growing membership in a community, and building a community culture.

On this episode of Tea Time, Brian and Skylar chat with Ashton Keys and Jared Eummer, the Co-Founders of Athlytic. Athlytic allows athlete influencers to connect with brands and take full ownership of their brand identity with partnerships and deals. They talk about why Ashton and Jared started Athlytic, the new Name, Image, and Likeness rules for NCAA athletes, what brands are looking for when they work with athletes, and what young athletes can do to start and grow their brand.

On this episode of Tea Time, Brian Bosché and Skylar Smith are joined by Behrad Bakhtiari and Denzel Kazembe from SBB (Simply British Ballers). SBB's mission is to help build the British Basketball community. They've grown their TikTok following to more than 135K as they travel to outdoor basketball courts across the UK. They chat about how they are using TikTok to reach a younger audience of hoopers, hoops culture in the UK, and how they think basketball can grow in the UK.

Skylar Smith and Brian Bosche are joined by Kennedy Leonard from the London Lions. Kennedy won the WBBL Trophy Final MVP award and set the WBBL single game assist record (21!) last week. They chat with Kennedy about growing up playing basketball in Texas, playing college basketball at CU in the Pac-12, and the London Lions season so far in the WBBL.

On this episode of Tea Time, Brian Bosche chats with Todd Radom about creating the visual identity for every team in the BIG3. Todd Radom is a graphic designer who is responsible for many of the logos used in American sports, including the Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, the Super Bowl, and the Basketball Hall of Fame. Brian chats with Todd about how he created the team logos and brands for each team in the BIG3 in collaboration with Ice Cube.

Skylar Smith and Brian Bosche are joined by Plymouth Raider and Team GB Player Ashley Hamilton. They chat with Ashley about growing up playing basketball in the UK, playing high school basketball in the States, the Plymouth Raiders' recent hot streak in the BBL, and GB Basketball qualifying for EuroBasket after clutch wins against Germany and France.

On this episode of Tea Time, Brian Bosche chats with Alexis Robinson about how athletes can build their personal brands. Alexis is the Owner of One Brand Agency where she manages the brands of professional athletes like Dearica Hamby from the WNBA and De'anthony Melton from the NBA. They talk about what athletes can do to build a strong brand, how to create consistent content on social media, how athletes can attract brands and sponsors, and specific advice on what young athletes can do to start and grow their brand.

On this episode of Tea Time, Skylar Smith and Brian Bosché are joined by Team GB Wheelchair Basketball Player Sophie Carrigill. Sophie has won a Gold medal at the 2015 Women’s U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Beijing, placed Fourth at the 2016 Paralympics in Brazil, and won the Silver medal at the 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Germany. Skylar and Brian chat with Sophie about Wheelchair Basketball 101, training for the Tokyo Paralympics, and the Inspire a Generation programme to grow wheelchair basketball in the UK.

On this episode of Tea Time, Skylar Smith and Brian Bosché are joined by Alex Haigh Co-Founder and Designer of Flagrant Magazine, which has been featured on places like The Jump on ESPN and FanSided. Flagrant Magazine is an all-inclusive print publication that unearths the stories surrounding the culture of basketball, including the artists, communities, projects, and fans. Created by women for all hoops fans, Flagrant amplifies the quiet and unheard voices in basketball and covers issues like mental health, inequality, and activism. Skylar and Brian chat with Alex about how Flagrant was started, what it's like launching a print magazine in the digital era, and how basketball culture is so much more than games and stats.

On this episode of Tea Time, Skylar Smith and Brian Bosché are joined by Martin Dyan, Founder of the UK’s largest 3x3 nonprofit community platform and tournament, The GG3x3. They chat with Martin about how he led the #NothingButNetLDN challenge where volunteers put nets on 76 hoops around London as a part of Project Swish from Basketball England, organizing the GG3x3 charity basketball tournaments, growing up in the UK playing basketball, and how basketball is a powerful way to grow community in the UK.

Skylar Smith and Brian Bosche are joined by GB Basketball Player Melita Emanuel-Carr. They chat with Melita about growing up playing basketball in the UK, playing D1 hoops in Chicago, winning a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games, why she decided to play in the WBBL, and what she wants to do after basketball.

On this episode of Tea Time, Brian Bosché and Skylar Smith are joined by Jamie Furness, a British Basketball influencer on TikTok and student studying the history of basketball in the UK.  They chat with Jamie about the different eras of British Basketball, how he is using TikTok to educate a new generation of fans, and the best ways he thinks basketball can continue to grow in the UK.

Brian Bosche and Skylar Smith are joined by Liam Brown, Head of Marketing at the Manchester Giants, and Aleksander Jovanovic, Team Captain and Manager for Manchester Giants Esports. They chat with Liam and Aleksander about the launch of the first Esports team in the British Basketball League, how Esports helps engage new fans, and how the team plans to practice and compete in NBA2K.

Skylar Smith and Brian Bosche are joined by Nat Coombs, Anchor at ESPN UK's The Nat Coombs Show and Presenter for the BBL on Sky Sports. They chat with Nat about how the NFL has grown in the UK, what it's like covering the BBL and NFL, and how he got his start in sports media. Skylar and Brian also talk about Giannis staying in Milwaukee, KD and Kyrie looking good in Brooklyn, the NBA Preseason, and the BBL Cup Quarterfinals.

Skylar Smith and Brian Bosche are joined by Paul Nicholson, Lead Academy Coach for the Plymouth Raiders, Head Coach for Raiders Development U18s, and Co-commenter for Plymouth Raiders TV and live BBL games. They chat with Paul about how important youth development is to building British Basketball, what it has been like calling Raiders games in a pandemic, and if he thinks he could train Brian up to Raiders playing shape. Skylar and Brian also talk about Who's Hot and Who's Not in the BBL, James Harden not showing up to camp, and a new dress code for NBA coaches.

Skylar Smith and Brian Bosche are joined by James Green, Sports Journalist for Sky Sports and talkSport, to discuss the NBA Draft and offseason. For the NBA Draft, they discuss the top three picks, which teams were the biggest winners, steals of the draft, and best family moments. For the NBA offseason, they discuss which teams have become contenders, challengers, and up and comers with their trades and signings. There is a lot to cover from the last week so get ready for a rapid fire show!

In this special episode, Skylar Smith and Brian Bosche battle Josh Bett and Ishmael Fontaine to build the best BBL Jam duos. In a High Tea Hoops vs. Below the Rim competition, both shows select two players from each BBL Club to represent their BBL Jam duo. The group also discusses the Newcastle Eagles beating the London Lions in the first game of the BBL Cup, BBL Twitter, and games being cancelled due to COVID.

Skylar Smith and Brian Bosche chat with Matt Ellentuck, a WNBA Reporter that runs the popular “Here’s Basketball” newsletter about women’s basketball. They discuss the the Seattle Storm winning the WNBA Championship over the Las Vegas Aces, Breanna Stewart winning another Finals MVP, Sue Bird setting records at 39, takeaways from the season, and what the WNBA can learn from the Wubble experience.