0:00 Intro

1:06 Friend of the show Michael Cooper & the Miami 305 win the Big 3 Championship!

3:19 The Eastern Conference way too early power rankings

4:08 The “No Shots” out East

12:13 Bruce unveils his latest & greatest NBA player nickname!

13:32 The Play-In Playas

23:47 The Play-offers

36:22 The Contenders

48:10 Bruce provides his final thoughts on Rick Carlisle’s contact extension with the Pacers

49:48 World B reflects on John Wall’s career

52:01 Ross shares his final thought on Chicago’s Derrick Rose Jersey Retirement night

0:00 ... Opening animation and welcome to Amar Shah ... a basketball savant, former colleague at ESPN, and longtime "brother and friend."

0:56 ... Amar's family immigrated from India and settled in Deland, Florida in the 1980s. His story really begins at the Phillips 66 gas station his father bought.

2:52 ... Amar first reached the national scene in 2018 when he wrote an Op Ed piece for the Washington Post where he wrote about his father, whom he compared to Apu from "The Simpsons." Amar explains why he wrote the piece. The story had more than 10 million engagements and resonated around the country and even the world.

6:18 ... As a 14 year old high school kid, Amar had an incredible opportunity to cross paths with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, which was his first encounter with an NBA icon. Amar shares the story of a "confrontation" with Bulls coach Phil Jackson. That encounter lit the journalistic fire in the skinny adolescent that has burned brightly for more than three decades.

11:25 ... Jackson was always fond of sending books to his players so Bruce asks Amar if he would send his books (he's published four) to the coach?

12:22 ... After the notoriety he received from his encounter with the Bulls, it helped "Teenaged Amar" to begin an incredible relationship with Shaquille O'Neal which eventually landed him on the cover of Sports Illustrated for Kids with Shaq. This story is mind boggling on so many levels.

20:15 ... As a 16 year old, Amar also had an interview with Kobe Bryant and as is usually the case with Amar, there is a great story involved.

24:26 ... Bruce asks about Amar's newest book "I Wish I Was a Baller." The book is targeted towards middle school-aged kids and Amar discusses the lessons he hoped to share with his readers. He also explains how the book evolved from its original form into a graphic novel and the process involved.

29:52 ... Amar was a production assistant at ESPN back in 2004 when Bruce first met him. The advice Bruce gave Amar and others was to be "aggressive but patient." Amar explains how he cracked that code.

32:04 ... The ESPN experience for production assistants was incredibly demanding. Amar compares it to a "Hunger Games" type of environment and how it prepared him for everything that followed in his career.

33:57 ... Amar has succeeded in creating content on many different platforms, and he shares one of his most cherished future goals.

35:09 ... His film "The Patel Motel Story" was the story of how immigrants from the Gujarat area of India came to dominate the motel industry. Amar explains the history of how this happened.

37:30 ... Much of Amar's work celebrates how Indian immigrants grabbed onto the American dream and he shares his thoughts on the pride he has in telling these distinctive stories.

38:46 ... Amar's storylines about coming of age as a teenager have resonated and he explains what a privilege it has been to have the opportunity to inspire his readers.

42:30 ... Bruce wonders if it was easier or harder to write about his own stories in "I Wish I Was a Baller" than it was to write his "Play The Game" books. All of them are "personal," but in different ways.

44:17 ... As for fan mail from the kids who read the books, Amar describes how parents have shared stories with him about how their kids consumed them.

44:58 ... Amar explains how all of his experiences on different platforms have helped him in the way he tells stories in his books.

46:18 ... After all of his accomplishments so far, what goals does Amar have for the future?

47:59 ... Amar lets everyone know how to reach him and order his books.

48:59 ... Bruce and Amar say goodbye ....

TRT 49:20

0:00 .... Ross hello, welcome, and introduces the crew of Bruce Bernstein and Michael "World B" Freer." Show number 170 is dedicated to Devin Booker, who scored a career high 70 points in a loss to the Celtics back in March of 2017.

1:07 ... The NBA released the full schedule for the upcoming season and each member of the show picked three games they have "circled" on the schedule. Bruce leads us off with an opening night matchup between the Thunder and Rockets and the return of the NBA on NBC on October 21st.

2:25 ... World B chooses Warriors/Lakers on opening night, also on NBC.

3:36 ... Ross chooses Bucks/Pacers and Myles Turner's return to Indiana as a member of the Bucks.

4:20 ... Bruce is intrigued by the first meeting between the Magic and Knicks on November 12th.

5:09 ... World B looks forward to Spurs/Mavericks on October 22nd in a matchup with Cooper Flagg and Victor Wembanyama.

6:28 ... Ross looks forward to Kevin Durant's return to Phoenix on November 24th.

7:37 ... Bruce is excited about the first matchup between the Pacers and Celtics on December 22nd.

8:39 ... World B looks forward to the Christmas Day matchup with the Cavaliers and Knicks at the Garden. These are the likely top two teams in the east.

10:08 ... March 21st marks the Bucks visit to Phoenix as Ross looks forward to his yearly reunion with Giannis Antetokounmpo on his once a year visit to Ross' hometown.

11:09 ... The NBA and the Players Association are backing additional limitations on prop bets in the wake of gambling investigations involving Malik Beasley and Terry Rozier. The crew examines all the angles of basketball wagering and wonders if it's possible to put the genie back in the bottle now that sports gambling has become so mainstream. Everyone agrees that the integrity of the game can be adversely affected by gambling and the league needs to act responsibly to protect the image of the league.

21:11 ... Each panelist discusses one significant move that was made by their favorite team in the off-season. Bruce picks the Celtics signing of Chris Boucher, the 8 year veteran who comes to Boston from Toronto.

22:33 ... World B feels the Knicks hiring of new head coach Mike Brown was a major move for the franchise. He compares the hiring to the Yankees hiring of Joe Torre back in 1996.

25:00 ... Ross loves the Cole Anthony signing for his Milwaukee Bucks and adds that the acquisition of Amir Coffey will also be a major boost for the Bucks.

26:52 ... The Lakers will honor former coach Pat Riley with a statue on February 22nd. The crew wonders why the Heat didn't honor him first, but all were thankful that the sculptor who did the Dwyane Wade statue in Miami isn't doing this one.

30:09 ... Bruce recounts some of the stories Lakers legend Michael Cooper told about Riles two weeks ago when he appeared on 48 Minutes. One of the best concerned how Riley buried secret words in each player's video splits that the coach later quizzed them on.

32:33 ... Final Thoughts .... Bruce is saddened by the fact that it seems certain that Al Horford will never play another game for the Celtics. If Big Al goes to Golden State, it's highly unlikely the Celtics will retire his #42.

34:58 ... World B talked about Major League Baseball's consideration of a realignment plan to keep the fans interested in the sport. Adam Silver has also tried some things in the NBA with the in-season tournament an play in games. World B praises Silver for his efforts.

38:00 ... Ross' final thought was to discuss some trades the Suns chose not to make when they dealt Kevin Durant. Miami made an offer that the Suns turned down and everyone shared their thoughts on why Phoenix made a better deal with Houston. Phoenix also could have made a deal where they acquired an unprotected #1 pick from New Orleans next season in the Durant deal and everyone feels like the Suns will regret not doing it.

43:06 ... Bruce shouts out to Shawn Bradley, who was paralyzed in a bike accident but appeared in public at a Big 3 game over the weekend in Dallas. It was one of the only times he's apeared in public since his bike crash in 2021.

TRT 44:25