Stretch Four

Another pro sports gambling scandal. Another Hollywood sex scandal. Another Trump grift scandal. Time is a flat circle. But Stretch Four is a three-dimensional cube of insight and information.

We're talking Basketball IQ this week. From our starting five qualities that make up on-court intelligence, to LeBron James' and JJ Redick's new podcast "Mind the Game" to a new stat from Crafted NBA that tries to quantify the etherial concept of bball IQ, we get into the details of what we think makes a heady hooper.

Plus Philly's own Tierra Whack has a new album we love, and Shohei Ohtani is in some hot gambling water.

We talk college hoops history this week as we name our Starting Five NCAA tournament teams. We go deep into our own personal basketball memory banks of teams, players, and seasons that made us love them in the moment and remember them to this day.

Then, Keenan schools Aaron on #KateGate and catches him up on all the possible current malfeasance in the British Royal Family.

Did the NBA sell its soul to Europe? How should they pose the Allen Iverson statue at the Sixers' practice facility? Why are people so afraid of the city? We answer all this (and more!) this week.

It's been a while and we need to talk about Wemby. This leads to us discussing the "perfect archetype" of basketball player to build a team around. Keenan also helps Aaron discover deeply-held feelings about Kobe Bryant that have long clouded his stance on where the Black Mamba ranks in his personal ladder of hoops history.

We also name our Starting Five Historical Figures as Hoopers in a segment Keenan worried would "get us canceled." How's that for a teaser?

We talk about how to fix the NBA All-Star game, the best All-Star Weekend events across all sports, and look forward to the second half of the NBA season.

NBA All-Star Weekend is here and we pick our Starting Five from the spectacle that is the biggest party weekend in basketball. Dunk Contests, Three-Point Shootouts, Skills Competitions, Two-Ball, Elam Endings, Rules Changes, and more. We talk what we want more of and what can hit the bricks.

Then we get into talk about how the Sixers newly acquired players have looked so far, and the true value of Rudy Gobert (and any Defense-first/only type individual player.)

So much happened this week!

We talk about the NBA Trade Deadline (more like the NBA Trade DUD-line), the Sixers' roster changes, other moves (and lack of moves) made by other teams around the league, and what they mean for the rest of the season.

Then we get to talk about the recent Grammy awards, Jay-Z's speech, and the ins and outs of how giving awards for art only matters because we've made it matter. This leads us to talk about Taylor Swift, her polarizing grip on culture, her diehard fans, and her haters, and do it while toeing a line of nuance that (dare we say) only the Stretch Four Podcast duo can.

We lash out at the NBA's 65-game rule, the discourse about Joel Embiid "ducking" Jokic and his injury status, and talk credible NBA conspiracy theories. We really get passionate this week. Hooe you can feel the heat.

A hot week of NBA action on and off the court gives us plenty of material this week as we get into Joel Embiid's 70-point performance, NBA haters, recent trades, hirings, firings, and the idea of legacy and whose memory stands the test of time.

*an NBA Championship

It's trade season. We talk moves the Sixers can make to solidify their roster and bring an NBA Championship to Philadelphia. We get into the Pascal Siakam trade to the Pacers before theorizing about general strategies for building a contender in the NBA.

We name our starting five resolutions for 2024 before getting into a conversation about why people seem to think LeBron James is going to be traded, how good Caitlin Clark really is, and if Wemby was right about Las Vegas.

In honor of Aaron's 40th birthday, we name our starting five of "people in their 40s" before talking about how to balance staying up-to-date and connected on what's new without denying that you are, in fact, an old head.

We name our starting five Holiday Songs (with surprisingly no overlap) before getting into a quick discussion of Joel Embiid's historic season, his MVP chances, and what else his haters might have left to say...

We introduce "Starting Fives" a new weekly segment in which Keenan and Aaron each name their starting roster (and Sixth Man) of Holiday Treats.

Then we get into what a high-speed rail and 18-minute commute between NYC and Philly would mean for residents of Philadelphia in terms of cost-of-living and accessibility before finishing up with some hoops talk and asking "What makes a basketball team unwatchable?"

Our year-end music wrap-ups (on all platforms) have dropped and we take the time to reflect and learn about our habits as consumers, in more ways than one. We also explore the world losing a villain this week, and the online reactions in the aftermath, and get into more talk about haters and hating.

The Sixers were normal, and now they are weird. Andre 3000 has dropped a new album which might not be what we wanted, but is it what we needed?

The Sixers are fun and we do not want them to trade for a "third star" only high-quality role players. We talk about perfect fits for potential next moves, our favorite Sixers teams to watch from the past decade, Joel Embiid's value as a disruptor, and Grant Williams recent troll job on Dallas fans.

Aaron is back from a two-week vacation in Italy and Keenan fills him in on everything he missed during his time away including the start of the NBA season, the new-look Philadelphia 76ers, and more.

Aaron got married and Keenan was there. We mostly talk about ESPN's NBA Player Rankings, what they got right, what they got wrong, and how our opinions are the best.

The Portland Trailblazers are suddenly at the center of the NBA world after trading Dame Lillard and acquiring Jrue Holiday - the newest most-coveted NBA player on the market. We talk about the Sixers pursuit of their former All-Star point guard, the poetic nature of bringing back the player who's departure started the Process era, and more!

Also, they made an arrest in the murder of Tupac Shakur. You know, the one that happened in 1996.

The Sixers signed Kelly Oubre Jr. and, oops! He might have beef with James Harden. Is this a chess move by Daryl Morey? Damian Lillard said some wild stuff. And Little Brother released two new songs that make hip-hop look easy. We talk about all this and more this week on the show.

Aaron is back from his week-long trip to New York as a 3-on-3 champion which gives us a chance to talk pickup basketball strategy. We get into a little FIBA conspiracy theory and NBA rest rules changes before going off on some really fun tangents.

We were right about James Harden, and our theory about why he wants to leave Philly. Aaron was wrong about the picture he had in his head of terrestrial radio legend Delilah - but it leads to a great theory about guiding people through art instead of giving them advice. And everybody is wrong for even engaging in the conversation about American sports teams labeling themselves "champions of the world."

This and more on this week's Stretch Four Podcast.

We've reached the "look how skinny this guy looks" period of the NBA offseason and Aaron does not like it. We talk about the Harden situation (again), the NBA schedule and load management, and Keenan wonders if NBA players today are "too skilled." It's a good time.

We start the podcast this week asking ourselves if what happened with the Philadelphia 76ers this week is something new, or just something that has been happening for a long time. Then we spend some time theorizing about the mental health of Philadelphia sports fans, and how the way they love their teams may affect the way they process other things in life. We get into Michael Oher's recent revelation that he was tricked into a conservatorship by the family he thought adopted him. This leads us to talk about the death of monoculture, and how nostalgia-driven shows like VH1's "I Love The" series will be difficult to make in the future because nothing that captures our collective attention has any sort of real staying power.

To be honest, we really love this conversation. And we hope you do too.

We thought about it, and nothing makes more sense for both sides than for James Harden to just return to Philadelphia and play for the 76ers. Sorry. We also talk about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's recent Substack newsletter about his process, and break down his work ethic, which inspires Keenan to come up with a theory.

This week, our conversation starts by looking at the amazing 21-year career of LeBron James and takes a turn to talk about all the innovations, inventions, and changes the world has seen over the timespan of his career. Oh no! Is everything everywhere getting worse all the time? How can we turn it around? What is really important and how can we live our lives in a way that honors that? Big stuff.

This week we talk about Bronny James, and the slew of reactions and grifters trying to push their agenda onto an already scary situation. We also talk about the idea of pursuing your goals, obstacles that get in the way, and how money changes everything.

The Barbie movie is good! But Aaron wonders whether the whole thing is just a Trojan Horse to open up the gates for a slew of other movies based on toys from our childhood.

All this and more this week on Stretch Four.

We're back to talk about the infamous three-word phrase Joel Embiid recently used that strikes fear into the hearts of Sixers fans. Speaking of the Sixers, what are they doing? And what does James Harden think James Harden is worth?

We also get into discussing a midi-controller program that could possibly make basic music production accessible to anybody. But is this a good thing?

Writers and Actors are on strike and we talk about labor relations, people's basic understanding of it, and how there's a lack of information about how labor is really set up, and how all the money is funneled to the top.

We're back after a break for July 4th week and we've got a lot to talk about. We talk about America, the Supreme Court's recent wilding out, have a theory about how we can probably just get rid of the system of law altogether, and more. We get into some hoops talk to explore why Paul George is near the top of young hoopers GOAT list, and talk about the early reactions to Wemby.

Dame Lillard is the biggest slob of slop-season so far. We talk about his legacy, if Portland is actually the perfect place for him, where he might be able to bring a title while also being one of the most impactful players on his team, and more.

We also look into more NBA slop as well as making a big Stretch Four announcement.

A lot going on this week. We think the title says it all. Well...we actually say more in the episode. You know what we mean.

Is it disrespectful to talk about the offseason while the NBA Finals are still going strong? Tyler the Creator makes a great point about how as a culture we should talk about our "favorites" instead of "the best". We totally agree with him. Apple Vision Pro looks nutso, in ways both good and bad. But does the bad outweigh the good?

The NBA Finals matchup is officially set. We talk about Boston's collapse and look forward to the Finals. We scratch our heads to think of strategies of how to possibly guard Nikola Jokic, and give our picks and hopes for the Finals. Then we talk about the Sixers' new head coach Dr. Nick Nurse. Yes, he is a Doctor.

The Sixers are about to enter a choose-your-own-adventure style offseason where every choice they make will affect the next choice they have to make. Denver has clinched their spot in the NBA Finals and wait for Miami to close out (or become history.) AI-generated songs raise questions about what people actually want from their artists, how art is made, and what artists might have to do for the sake of their future.

We're back with a post-mortem on the Sixers' season after a horrendous loss to the Boston Celtics. What does another second-round playoff exit mean? What does anything mean? Where do we go from here? All that and no more this episode.

The Sixers and Celtics are heading to game seven and the collective NBA media has lost their minds about it. We take a nuanced thoughtful approach to what it all means before diving into the question: who is the second-best white rapper of all-time? (Keenan's prediction that it would be the "year of the white rapper" is really looking like a good one. Good? Is it good?)

The Sixers beat the Celtics in game one of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals without Joel Embiid (officially the MVP) and we are officially done with moral victories. We talk a lot of Sixers before getting into some of the other NBA Playoff matchups. Then, what starts as a rant against the latest Jack Harlow album moves into a discussion about art, using your voice, and knowing when you don't have anything to say (yes, we know, ironic for a podcast.)

We recap the second week of the NBA Playoffs and talk about where we were right (and where we were wrong). The Bucks were upset by the Heat and Giannis said that there are no failures in sports: is that true? The Sixers haven't played in a hundred years. The NCAA Transfer Portal is creating super teams and ring-chasing in college sports. And Black Thought has a new album. All this and more this week on the podcast.

We run through our picks for each of the match-ups for the first round of the NBA playoffs, make our picks for NBA Awards, and give our list of reasons that disqualify candidates for contention from each of the major regular season awards.

We're the last people in the world to finally chime in on the Women's NCAA Finals "You Can't See Me" controversy. But you know we like talking about the big-picture meanings behind the discourse, so we're sliding in just where we like to be.

Michael Jordan is selling his ownership stake in the Charlotte Hornets. Could this mean a return to the league for the Hall-of-Famer? We're kidding, but we wonder what kind of numbers the 60-year-old could put up today. We also pick who we would want on our side for a  two-on-two matchup against MJ in a showdown for $1 million. Then, we talk Trader Joe's for a bit before honoring the late, great Bobby Caldwell by naming some of our favorite artists whose looks don't exactly match their sound (if you catch our drift.)

Not all rings are created equal. We spend a few minutes talking PA High School hoops history before diving into our definitive rankings of each NBA title from 2011-2022 in terms of how important it was to the legacies of the major impact players on the championship squads. 

Ja Morant might be in trouble, Dame Lillard thinks the grass is green enough just where he is, and Michael B. Jordan is corny. But what's wrong with being corny?

We break down the most recent NBA Dunk Contest before going into our potential fixes to breathe excitement back into the All-Star Saturday night showcase. Then, we talk about the shifting attitude in looking at GOAT(S) and the movement away from argument toward common ground and compromise.

NBA All-Star Weekend is here and we talk about the best places to throw a party. We look back on some memories and regrets from parties and festivals of the past. We also talk about Jrue Holiday's decade-long stretch between All-Star Game appearances, and what could have been if the Sixers chose to keep him instead of kicking off The Process with his trade. We also get into the dunk contest, three-point shoot-out, and can't seem to remember what happened last Sunday.

LeBron broke the all-time scoring record. The city of Philadelphia is rejoicing in an Eagles run to the Super Bowl. And the NBA trade deadline is upon us. 

LeBron James is close to breaking the all-time scoring record, and Kwame Brown said he wouldn't flip-flop careers with him. Ben Simmons has more personal fouls than field goals made on the season. The WNBA has a problem with how they treat their players. And America has a problem. Well, America has a lot of problems, and we talk about some of them.