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The Dream Team, Toni Kukoc, and Scottie’s Sitout

Once again, we run it back to Spring of 2020 in the midst of the first wave of COVID-19 when Mike and Tarlin began this crazy ride by analyzing episodes of The Last Dance for 1990s nostalgia along with some lessons learned for today’s day and age.

This episode covers episodes 5 and 6 of the 10 part docuseries called The Last Dance. We talk about Michael’s emergency as the alpha among alphas on The Dream Team, explore the Toni Kukoc narratives, and try to make sense of Scottie Pippen’s memorable choice to sit out the final 1.8 seconds of a pivotal playoff game between the Bulls and the Knicks in 1994.

There’s a lot to dig into and we hope you enjoy a glimpse into how Running It Back came into being. Thanks as always for listening.

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The Last Dance Origin Story Edition

Learn how Running It Back got started in this special episode which includes the original recording of our takes on the ESPN Docuseries, The Last Dance that launched in the Spring of 2020. Many of us, including Mike and Tarlin, were transfixed by this series that launched at the height of the first wave of the coronavirus before live sports returned to us.

Tarlin and Mike reminisce about Michael, Scottie, Dennis, and Phil as we try to glean lessons learned from the incredible story of the most dominant NBA Dynasty in recent memory.

If you want to learn how this all began, join us as we run it back to Spring 2020 and then all the way back to the 1990s during this unique and historic episode you won’t want to miss!

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LeBron versus Michael NBA GOAT Pod

Now that we’ve had a little time to let the 2020 NBA Season settle in, we thought it would be a great time to talk about who is the G.O.A.T Basketball player. There’s been a lot of hubbub around Michael versus LeBron so we weigh in with our takes there. We also bring Bill Russell and Kareem into the conversation about the greatest of all time.

And along the way, Tarlin makes his pitch to modernize the NBA logo, Mike brings in some random 1990s basketball references, and we commit to showing some range next time by broadening to more than the NBA. But for this show, it’s all about the GOAT of Basketball. We hope you enjoy!

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Blackballed – Donald Sterling and the 2014 Clippers

For this episode, based on the Quibi docuseries, Blackballed, we run it back to 2014 when Donald Sterling, then the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, was caught on tape engaging in offensive, racially charged speech. Once the tapes got out, there was outrage across the NBA and more broadly in the nation that ultimately led the newly appointed commissioner, Adam Silver, to impose a lifetime ban on Sterling that resulted in his sale of the team.

Tarlin and Mike share their quick takes on Quibi, which had just launched at the time, before digging into the relevance of the themes in the series. Since we recorded in late May, we connect this to the uproar triggered by the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota. We look for lessons in leadership from the examples of Doc Rivers, Chris Paul, Adam Silver, and even Matt Barnes as we dive into a complex and relevant conversation about sports and its role in elevating consciousness about racial issues. We recorded this prior to the NBA’s season in the Bubble in Orlando, but much remains relevant as we continue to struggle with issues of race, justice, and equity in sports and in our broader society.

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LeBron, Jimmy Buckets, and the Kings of the Bubble

Join us as we run it back through a few crazy months of NBA Bubble 2020.

Tarlin and Mike reflect back on the amazing run the NBA had through the Bubble in Orlando. In addition to highlighting the stories we’ll remember along the way, we conclude by assessing the bona fides of the Laker and Heat squads. While we might not come to an agreement on Jimmy Buckets, we can’t deny that the NBA Bubble season will live on in our memories and that LeBron truly solidified his legacy with this run to glory. Most likely this win for Laker nation will come without an asterisk, but you never know…

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2020 NBA Finals Tipoff Edition

Tarlin and Mike got together just before the tipoff of the 2020 NBA Finals to talk through the David versus Goliath matchup between Jimmy Buckets and a crew of role players versus LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and an interesting supporting cast.

How many championships are represented on each squad? Who deserves credit for assembling the crews that have made it the Finals? And will this Championship come with an asterisk? We cover all this along with JeVale McGee’s influence on Dwight Howard, the Resurgence of Playoff Rondo, and Andre Iguodala’s 6th consecutive Finals appearance in a quick hit lightning round episode heading into what we hope to be a tremendous conclusion to the NBA’s year in the Bubble in Orlando.

Thanks as always for listening.

And check out our website at runningitback.fm and follow us at @runningitbackfm on Twitter. Follow us, subscribe, leave a review, and help us spread the word about lessons to be learned from sports!

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2020 NBA Finals Scenario Edition

Tarlin and Mike run through the four possible matchups for the NBA Finals. In all likelihood, it will be Lakers-Heat which has all sorts of angles to run it back to, but we do some scenario-based thinking about Lakers-Celtics, Nuggz-Heat, and Nuggz-Celtics before wrapping up this quick-hitter before we actually break down the NBA Finals once we know for sure what’s going to happen.

Listen in and enjoy.

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Kaepernick’s Legacy, September 11th, and QB Controversy

Tarlin and Mike reflect on the opening of the NFL season with a mix of excitement, confusion, and frustration just after the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans began the 2020 NFL season in front of 17,000 live fans at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. The fractured approach to protesting the anthem, with the Texans opting to remain in the locker room before joining the Chiefs for a moment of unity resulted in boos from the fans and confusion from TV viewers like Mike who watched it live.

We run it back to how sports can help us heal in difficult times like after the September 11th attacks in 2001 and contrast that with the unevenness and confusion of the return of football today. We tie much of that to the story of Colin Kaepernick who lost his opportunity to play in the NFL thus far since his protest of police brutality back in 2016. From there, we hit on the history of controversy around the abilities of black quarterbacks which seems mostly a thing of the past as we witness Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and other elite black quarterbacks establish a new understanding of the position.

From there, we quickly run through the QB1s out there to sort out where the most intriguing controversies may arise this year. There’s much to talk about with Aaron Rogers and Jordan Love and we connect that narrative to the Joe Montana and Steve Young era in San Francisco along with the Drew Bledsoe and Jimmy Garrappolo battles with Tom Brady over the years.

We’re happy that football’s back, and in this crazy year, we try to put this season in some context as we run it back to seasons gone by.

And we sprinkle in a bit of Friday Night Lights while we’re at it. Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can’t Lose.

Thanks for listening.

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The 1999 NBA Playoffs, the Cinderella Knicks, and the Rise of Pop and Tim Duncan

Tarlin and Mike run it all the way back to 1999 to cover the season that was shortened due to a work stoppage. Through a series of fortuitous events, the New York Knicks get hot and tear through the early rounds of the playoffs before overcoming the loss of The Big Fella, Patrick Ewing, in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers. Despite losing their Captain, the Knicks go on to beat the Pacers by virtue of the heroic play of Latrell Spreewell, Marcus Camby, Alan Houston, and Larry Johnson. They go on to face Greg Popovich and Tim Duncan in the Finals where they were quickly dispatched as the Spurs dynasty begins to take shape.

What can we learn from this? How do the stories of 1999 resonate with life in the NBA Bubble amid the tumult of 2020? As leaders, what lessons can we learn from Van Gundy, Spree, Tim Duncan, and Pop?

Listen in as we run it back to help make sense of things today.

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Magic Johnson Announces He Has HIV

Tarlin and Mike run it back to November 7th, 1991 when Magic Johnson held an emergency press conference to announce that he had the HIV virus and that he’d be retiring from the NBA immediately. The news shocked the world and we reflect back on where we were when this flashbulb moment in sports history occurred.

Magic went on to have a storied career after the announcement – playing in the NBA All Star Game and on The Dream Team in 1992. The league responds by establishing the “Blood Rule” and working through the fears and objections of other players like Byron Scott and Karl Malone to demonstrate that even in the early 1990s, the NBA was up to the challenge of managing the medical risks of virus spread. Perhaps more importantly, it was our first experience with the confusion and misinformation of dealing with an epidemic and there are many parallels we draw between this story and much of what we’re seeing in the NBA in 2020.