Start your day with The Athletic NBA Daily – a fast, entertaining recap of the most important games and stories from the world of professional basketball with new episodes dropping Monday through Friday. Hosted by Dave DuFour, Zena Keita, and Esfandiar Baraheni with regular appearances by The Athletic’s award-winning NBA reporters. Andrew Schlecht and Alex Spears cap the week with the full-length Saturday Slam n’ Jam episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Latest episodes
Showing 20 · updated from the feed
Portland Trail Blazers season preview
Andrew Schlecht is joined by Sean Highkin, from The Rose Garden Report, to preview the Portland Trailblazers season, discuss the addition of Ja Morant to a crowded backco
Sep 29 34 min
Brooklyn Nets Season Preview
#21 trending · Basketball
Andrew Schlecht is joined by Erik Slater, from the Locked On Nets podcast, to preview the Brooklyn Nets season, which young players to watch, and their future.
Host: And
Sep 28 24 min
New York Knicks Season Preview
Es Baraheni is joined by James Edwards III to preview the New York Knicks season and answer the following questions:
1. What’s the thing most fans are looking forward to
Sep 25 33 min
San Antonio Spurs Season Preview
Es Baraheni is joined by Jared Weiss to preview the San Antonio Spurs season and answer the following questions:
1. What’s the thing most fans are looking forward to wit
Sep 23 29 min
Toronto Raptors Season Preview
Es Baraheni is joined by Samson Folk and Trevon Heath of the Pull Up Tre podcast to discuss the Raptors championship odds, Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Barnes fit, and wheth
Sep 21 42 min
Atlanta Hawks Season Preview
Es Baraheni is joined by Lauren Williams to preview the Atlanta Hawks season and answer the following questions:
1. What’s the thing most fans are looking forward to wit
Sep 18 27 min
Golden State Warriors Preview
Es Baraheni is joined by Zena Keita to preview the Golden State Warriors season and answer the following questions:
1. What’s the thing most fans are looking forward to
Sep 16 35 min
Game Changers with Marcus Thompson
Dave DuFour is joined by Marcus Thompson II to discuss his new book on basketball game changers, exploring how players and innovations have transformed the sport. He shar
Sep 14 1 h 02 min
Sacramento Kings Preview
Andrew Schlecht is joined by Deuce Mason and Morgan Ragan to discuss the Sacramento Kings and answer the following questions:
1. What’s the thing most fans are looking f
Sep 11 29 min
The New Chicago Bulls
Es Baraheni is joined by Joel Lorenzi to discuss the Chicago Bulls and answer the following questions:
1. What’s the thing most fans are looking forward to with this tea
Sep 9 26 min
Sam Amick on the NBA wide impact of the Clippers punishment
In this episode, NBA insider Sam Amick discusses the league's recent disciplinary actions against the Los Angeles Clippers, the implications of the Wachtel Lipton report,
Sep 7 45 min
Pablo Torre on the Clippers Punitive Punishment
Pablo Torre has been on the forefront of the investigation into the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard, and he joins Dave DuFour and Es Baraheni to discuss the findings from the
Sep 4 36 min
NBA Hammers Clippers, Ballmer in Kawhi Ruling
The NBA announced its punishment for the Los Angeles Clippers, Steve Ballmer, and Kawhi Leonard after the nearly year long investigation in their dealings with Aspiration
Sep 2 33 min
What you need to know about the Memphis Grizzlies
Dave DuFour is joined by Keith Parish to discuss the Memphis Grizzlies and answer the following questions:
1. What’s the thing most fans are looking forward to with this
Sep 2 25 min
Thunder Season Preview
Andrew Schlecht is joined by Rylan Stiles to do a Thunder season preview answering the following questions:
1. What’s the thing most fans are looking forward to with th
Aug 31 32 min
Top 5 NBA Players
Dave DuFour, Es Baraheni, Zena Keita and Andrew Schlecht break down their top 5 ranked players for the upcoming NBA Season, PLUS a special message from our own Zena Keita
Aug 28 37 min
NBA Player Ranking 10-6
Dave DuFour, Es Baraheni, Zena Keita and Andrew Schlecht break down their 10-6 ranked players for the upcoming NBA Season.
FILL OUT OUR LISTENER SURVEY:
Host: Dave DuF
Aug 27 40 min
Can Klay Thompson and DeMar DeRozan still impact the NBA?
Dave DuFour and Es Baraheni discuss the Peyton Watson sign and trade, DeMar DeRozan signing with the Nuggets, Klay Thompson's buyout and signing with the Heat, and much m
Aug 24 37 min
NBA Pressure Draft with JE Skeets | Slam N Jam
Who has the most pressure this NBA Season? Andrew Schlecht and Alex Speers are joined by JE Skeets of No Dunks to answer that question. Which All Star, Young Player, Play
Aug 22 1 h 16 min
NBA Player Ranking 16-11
Dave DuFour, Es Baraheni, and Andrew Schlecht break down their 16-11 ranked players for the upcoming NBA Season.
FILL OUT OUR LISTENER SURVEY:
Host: Dave DuFour
With:
Aug 19 38 min
Chart trend
Position in the Basketball chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#6#11JulAugSep
#2
all-time peak
30
days in the top 3 since Nov 2024
Chart positions
Where The Athletic NBA Daily ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 29, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
Alex and Andrew bring the most unique and refreshing style to the NBA podcast landscape. With great humor weaved into smart, fair, and compelling ideas that hit every team around the league. Trivia is always fun to listen to and play along with and is such a fun segment. Keep up the great work!
New2Mac2022 · Aug 2026
Shoutout to the Slam n Jam. Andrew and Alex are great and the weekly trivia is always a treat for me. Speaking of treats - I heard about Braum’s for the first time years ago when Andrew mentioned it on the pod. Now I make a point to stop at Braum’s whenever I’m roadtripping through Oklahoma and Kansas, and I preach about their burger superiority whenever In-n-Out or other regional fast food chains are brought up. 5-stars to Braum’s and the Slam n Jam!
marty cordova · Aug 2026
The Daily is hosted by an amazingly talented human (Z of course), her sidekick Dave (😊what a guy), and a rapper formerly known as Es. (Known mostly for hosting internet friend X at his wedding) The NBA Daily is an every day must listen. It’s wonderful and consistently teach me about basketball while making me laugh.
But the real stars of the feed… 🎶da da daaaaa 🎶the Saturday Slam N Jam! Andrew vs. the Beat! What angel created you, theme music from the gods! I always root for Sam Vecenie when he’s on, and he always disappoints me. Bryce too, but he disappoints me by being way too darn humble when he wins. Throw it in Andrew’s “way too much useless hoops knowledge” face Bryce!
But as much as I (another Andrew) always root against Andrew, I do love his consistent “Yessssss!!!” when the final tally is scored and he’s inevitably won. It’s so damn stupid to care this much, and yet the Slam and Jam guys do, and therefore so do we.
Job well done boys. Go Pistons.
Noted fan,
Drewbaca
WowiezowiePowie · Jun 2026
I absolutely love the Saturday Slam & Jam! Not only are Alex and Andrew each fun and knowledgeable individually, but the chemistry they have together is phenomenal and really makes the show what it is. Andrew Vs The Beat is easily a highlight of my week.
With that said, I’d love to know how Alex would feel about fan-submitted questions for the quiz. I’m a lifelong Celtics fan and I have a pet favorite stat that I’d love to send in for consideration for when the C’s are made to face the Wheel of Fandom. Let us know!
Shoutout also to the Daily crew — Dave, Es & Zeena (hope I spelled it right!!) clearly know ball and are my one-stop shop for keeping tabs on the league. Keep up the good work everyone!
Nick Boonstra · Jan 2025
If you like your NBA coverage with a heaping helping of pretentiousness this will be your favorite. If I didn’t know better I’d assume the hosts just read box scores and haven’t watched a single playoff game this year in its entirety. It sounds like they listen to real basketball podcasts and steal their takes with a slight twist to make them seem original. Having OKC apologist Jason Gallagher on to pretend to analyze the current discourse around the NBA and officiating while his Championship Thunder sweat it out against a team that’s never been to the playoffs in this iteration is laughable. Yes, Thunder fans think officiating is an afterthought. Shocking.
I really try to listen because Zena is awesome (despite suffering constant “Ackchuallys” after every take from the men of the pod), but seriously these dudes are insufferable.
Guitars Ruin Lives- Josh · May 2026
Dave is fine, but it feels like a loss to put all of the shows eggs in his basket. I like the cohosts too, but the old rotating panels and different focuses on different days felt more interesting and fresh rather than having the same, one-note update show every day. No one really likes a daily update show. Justice for Nerder!
web209 · Nov 2024
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Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of The Athletic NBA Daily, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.
