Rod, Justin and Karen discuss the passing of Kobe and Gianna Bryant, people’s reactions, our favorite Kobe memories, what made Kobe so unique and your feedback.
Balls Deep Sports: (Protected Content)
BDS 335: Mamba Out
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What up Rod, Karen and J-Iowa?
It has been a minute since I wrote in, hope y’all enjoyed some BLACK HISTOREE being made with Mahomes and crew.
I write in to outline my local NBA Team, the Detroit Pistons. Last Friday I went to see them play my other team, the Toronto Raptors. I don’t know if y’all have ever experienced a home road game for a team, but niggas… .it seemed like half of the 6 was in the LCA cheering on the raptors. Pistons players were blown at the “Let’s Go Raptors” chants during the game. This is really nothing new, but this time it had me wondering about the depths at which the 3x champion Pistons have fallen.
Then came the trade deadline.
Detroit FINALLY traded Drummond to Cleveland for former corpse Brandon Knight and some other useless parts. I’m no stranger to mediocre sports teams, but when all the teams in a city are wack? This is something else.
Anyway, peace y’all.
–Duke
What up Rod and J Doggy dogg. Loved this episode. Kobe was my fave player too. First time I ever cried over a celebrity death. Good to hear y’all talk through the good and bad.
With that being said all these niggas killing Gayle are wrong. And it’s clear they never read Kobes apology or the details of the case. Always good to hear y’alls rational thoughts during times like this peace
Hi Rod,
not sure what’s going on but the website wouldn’t allow me to post comments… see below for today’s episode of Balls Deep.
thank y’all so much for this episode… it was much appreciated & needed. I can’t remember when Kobe became my guy. I’ve always been a basketball fan. my love of basketball really ramped up w/ Shaq & Penny… as a matter of fact, I missed most of Kobe & Shaq’s run because I was so heartbroken that Shaq left Penny… I digress. but, I just loved watching Kobe play. you guys captured it perfectly in this episode because he was so damn crazy & driven. the thing that I loved & remembered most about Kobe was his effort on the defensive end. I think that’s the part of his game that was often overlooked. he may not have been the best/greatest defender… but, you could clearly see that he gave full effort on both ends of the court, for most of his career. his death has affected me deeply, especially as we’re beginning to learn just what type of man he was trying to become. I still can’t bear to see photos of he & Gigi; or to think about the losses of/for the other families involved. I need to go back & listen to old BD episodes; I need more laughs because there’s still so much sadness.
What’s up nyuggahs and Queen Karen!
Thanks for another excellent show that I know the Mamba would be proud of. RIP to one of the GOATs.
I just wanted to thank you for the dope shows. I went back into the archives and re-listened to the pod where y’all broke down the MJ Hall of Fame Speech. My lord, that was classic! If any of my fellow premium listeners haven’t heard it, they should definitely go back and enjoy the A1 comedy.
Also, I was browsing through my Sling and saw that your boy (JK) Whitlock has a new co host for his “show”. I guess all that talking Marcellus Wilding was doing about Kaep a few months back paid off. Shoulda seen it coming.
Anyways, keep up the greatness!
-That Dude From VI
Bds
Hey rod , Queen K & Justin morant
First and foremost last week bds should be nominated for the Emmy equivalent for podcast! Great great job!
1. I mean ja morant is spicy and I’m here for it! He definitely got his wish and iggy is traded! To be fair I enjoyed the twitter beef, but I feel ja not ready for that steph smoke as of yet!
2 the Boston curse that babe Ruth Once put on the Red Sox now seems to be alive and well with IT! He just got traded, again, from Washington to the clippers, and word is clippers ain’t keeping him! He is the true definition of a journey man! Ever since he left the Celtics, it’s been all downhill!
3. Justin how u feel about jr Smith working out for the lakers? How do you feel about the lakers not making any moves at deadline? I personally feel they didn’t need to, and can hit the buyout market!
4. In July, it was said “we ain’t sign him to trade him†now that sign has been traded!! what you guys think of dLo with the wolves and what the future looks like for them?
Niggaz only
Only niggaz
Happy BLACK HISTORY!!!!
FYAHWORKS
Howdy Rod, hopefully Karen and Jyle Shannahan,
I hope all is well. First and foremost, RIP to Kobe and Gianna. The week was an emotional haze for me. I always thought there was something incredible about a man who was such a hard working pyscho on the court leave his career being content with his legacy and then become a happy family man. I always looked up to that aspect of Kobe. I look forward to listening to this episode (held off cuz if I tried last week I knew I’d start crying) and have been moved by what y’all have said on the regular show to appreciate folks while they’re here. And that social media can be wild reductive to complexity of actual people.
Kobe really grew on me as a player when I started listening to y’all and I always have appreciated how nuanced y’all have been in talking about him. Thank you to all three of y’all.
Amani, if Falcons fans are roasting you, remind them football is a team sport and few teams have made for better highlights than Jerry Rice and the Falcons secondary.
After that Super Bowl I wouldn’t trust Kyle Shannahan to hold onto my jacket let alone a 4th quarter Super Bowl lead. Only thing you hate more than seeing it is seeing it *twice*. And Jimmy G out there reminding us why he only had 8 passing attempts in the NFC championship. Wow. If Kirk Cousins and Jimmy G switched places, would anyone notice?
I’m so happy for Kansas City! Andy Reid *finally* got a ring! Years of folks slandering that man cuz he couldn’t manage a clock but still had hot fire teams. And it was so sweet seeing him hug like 9 people at once. Rod, you kicked that Eagle’s narcotic. Does this change your view of Andy Reid?
Thanks as always for such a great show. Y’all the bestest. I hope y’all have a great and safe weekend down there.
Niggas only, only niggas,
Dough
Hey Rod, Karen, and J. Bosa
Imagine rooting for that MAGA loving fool over a QuarterBlack like Mahomes. Couldn’t be ya boy!
Man, I was 9 minutes away from having it all. The slander was READY and now I’m out here getting trolled by Falcons fans. It was bad enough when I thought my Knicks were gonna get KD and Zion, but this shit? It’s like watching a horror movie. The whole time I couldn’t believe our luck, but you knew the nigga wasn’t dead, then as soon as it looks like you might escape he carves out your heart dawg. At least last time we lost in the Super Bowl I had Kap to believe in, now it’s just another year of my QB getting rightfully slandered by Bo.
And if that wasn’t bad enough I’m really gonna let myself believe that Masai Ujiri might really leave the Raptors and come to the Knicks despite it not making any sense on any level. I’m the problem. This is a call for help, I know this shit isn’t going to happen, but in two weeks I’ll start to believe just like I thought there could be hope for them Transformers movies after the racist bots. Can’t help myself.Â
Alright y’all hope you have a great week as always. Really appreciate last week’s show and just all of y’all as super cool people.
We got Worldwide Wes? We back!!
– Amani
Hello Rod, Justin, and hopefully Karen,
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote into the regular show about how you guys didn’t talk about the Chiefs epic wins against the Texans and the Titans. I noted that it was my fault because I didn’t write in to BDS.
Well, this is my first time writing into BDS. And I know you guys always say “fuck athleticsâ€. But today, we are going to talk about sports! My Kansas City Chiefs are SuperBowl champions! After 50 years, we have tasted the sweet joy of victory. And after an unbelievable late, 4th quarter comeback, the win is even sweeter.
I am ecstatic! I just got back from Miami, which I heard a guy say out loud, â€welcome to Kansas City, Floridaâ€. Because that’s how many Chiefs fans were down on South Beach. And while I didn’t get a ticket to the game, I mean I love my team but tickets were at $7,000 on the afternoon of SuperBowl Sunday, I had a ball representing my team in Miami. And that’s in spite of the 49er fans being unnecessarily obnoxious.
The game was bananas. Patrick Mahomes, who never threw an interception in any playoff appearance, threw 2 picks in the biggest game of all. But he never gave up.
He believed. The team believed. And we believed! I knew they could do it when every sports commentator said they couldn’t. I guess everyone forgot that our Offense can score 3 touchdowns in 3 minutes.
Congratulations to Andy Reid. He finally got the Lombardi Trophy and I couldn’t be happier for him. Shout out to Damien Williams and Chris Jones for making big plays in the big game. And to my favorite player, Tyrann Mathieu, for absolutely losing his shit on the sideline when the Defense wasn’t getting the job done. They got it together when they needed to and the rest is history.
I’ll end this already too long note by saying, What a game!!! What a win!!!
How about those Kansas City Chieeeeeeeefs!!!!
Love you guys,
Stylenosh in Atlanta
Dear Rod, Karen and Justin,
Thank you so much for this episode of Balls Deep. It was the perfect tribute to Kobe Bryant and Gianna. I was so broken up when I first heard the news last Sunday. Not since Michael Jackson’s death was so broken up by the death of a celebrity. I literally bent over in my kitchen in grief. I was six years older than Kobe but he was like my little brother. I remember when he came to the NBA, and that was when I first started following sports and how racism affects the reporting in sports. I remember the attitude of old white fans and reporters being salty that he was skipping college to go straight in to the NBA. I used to have a picture of Kobe and Tiger Woods hanging up in my office cubicle by the office fax machine because they were both young, talent, black and apart of a that new generation. Every so often, one of my white male supervisors would grumble.
I’ve never been Lakers fan but I respected the Lakers. I’m a long suffering Knick fan. But like Jordan before him and LeBron after him, I liked the great players and who are destined to legends.
Thank you for talking about the Colorado assault case. It is a complicated issue.
Again, thank you for a great episode where I was able to laugh and celebrate his life. Helped me with my mourning.
Take care and be good,
BrooklynShoeBabe
Hey Rod, Justin, and Karen,
Thanks for yesterday’s show.
Living in LA, you can imagine how heavy and sad it has been here all week, and yesterday’s show was the first time I really got to laugh at all the Kobe memories. I immediately wanted to re-watch the Phoenix game after Rod mentioned it, just to re-live the petty. I even replayed most of this episode again because I enjoyed it so much.
Anyway, I’ll close in keeping with the theme of wanting to make sure you let people know how much you appreciate them while you can. So if I haven’t said it before — I appreciate you all, and look forward to talking — ahem — “sports” with you guys every Thursday. Have a great rest of the week!
Love,
Mary