“The Lowe Post” — The best NBA podcast?
This was originally posted in April 2018.
The Lowe Post, an ESPN podcast, stars Zach Lowe and a variety of different guests. The podcast originates from Grantland, an old ESPN.com subdivision and a favorite website of mine started by the true “Podfather” himself, Bill Simmons. I have been listening to the Lowe Post for several years now.
Lowe now works as a writer for ESPN.com. In the NBA community, he is regarded as one of the best. In the Lowe Post podcast, Zach runs through various topics throughout the league. Sometimes, he will focus on a specific team. Other times, he’ll go through the hottest news in the NBA, such as big trades, over-performing teams, or catastrophic injuries. He also conducts interviews with key figures around the league.
Last week was a busy week on the Lowe Post podcast. In the first podcast of the week, Zach hosted ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz to discuss their end-of-the-season NBA awards ballots. The two went through a long discussion of James Harden’s inevitable Most Valuable Player (MVP) season, as well as the potential runner-ups. They also discussed Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year, 6th Man of the Year, and Defensive Player of the Year. Later in the week, he and ESPN’s David Thorpe discussed all the first round playoff series.
With sports podcasts, there is a tight rope to walk. A common pitfall in sports podcasts is that the podcasters go too far into the “nitty-gritty”. Typically, this means long discussions surrounding advanced statistics at length. I have no problem with advanced analytics, but when it is the focus of the podcast, it can become boring. Another pitfall of sports podcasting is being uninformed. It is sad how many podcasts I have listened to where the podcaster does not know or appreciate the sport. These podcasters will try to compensate their ignorance with comedy, but this does not work for me.
The Lowe Post podcast walks this tight rope as well as you possibly can. It is entertaining, while being very informative, and not relying on comedy. As NBA fans, you cannot watch every game. Instead, the Lowe Post podcast gives great information on teams I cannot watch. In his podcast with David Thorpe about DPOY, I learned about Utah center Rudy Gobert’s massive impact on the his team’s defense after he came back from injury. Although I read plenty of NBA related stuff, as an East Coast guy I don’t care much for the Jazz and teams like them are the gaps in my NBA knowledge. Thankfully, the Lowe Post podcast can fill in these gaps.
This is not to say that I never laugh during The Lowe Post podcast. Zach’s stories about being a new parent, memories of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and his criticism of wild fan bases will always give me a good chuckle.
Zach is always accompanied by good guests as well. Writers Howard Beck, Kevin Arnovitz, and Adrian Wojnorawski are among a great group of regular guests. He’ll occasionally have guests a little more closer to the league, like Rockets GM Daryl Morey, Raptors coach Dwayne Casey, and Nuggets G Garry Harris.
The variety of guests has its downfalls. Without the consistency in guests, the podcast can be inconsistent at times as well. Guests can be uninteresting or just plain boring. Therefore, there are discrepancies between the quality of each podcast. Over time, I have a selection of guests that I trust will give me a good podcast. Once I see that Zach has made a podcast with one of those guests, I will listen.
Summary
The Lowe Post is the best NBA podcast in a weak field. Sports and NBA podcasts have the complex and difficult task of being entertaining and informative. Thanks to a good host and a colorful variety of guests, The Lowe Post succeeds. I give The Lowe Post a 4/5.
You can find The Lowe Post on ESPN platforms and all other podcasting apps.
Fan of The Lowe Post? What other NBA and sports podcasts should I check out? Let me know if the responses or on Twitter.
