Podcast Corner: Take a shot at these three sports podcasts
LeBron James is the subject of an 11-part podcast series
One of our favourite sports books this year is the simply titled by Jeff Benedict, about either the best, or second-best, NBA player of all time. columnist Kieran Shannon wrote about the book earlier this year, calling LeBron James “the Most Rounded One sport has probably known”.
But if its 550-plus pages seem too much, there’s an 11-part podcast series this summer from The Athletic, found under the feed for , about LeBron.
Like Benedict’s book, it starts ‘before the hype’, chronicling how his star went stratospheric during high school - and how controversy followed him - and his SUV - early on.
Unlike the book, there’s a little more focus about James’ title with the LA Lakers in the covid-enforced NBA Bubble playoffs and the show looks at what might be next for the star, whose son, Bronny, is expected to be drafted into the NBA next June, though he suffered a cardiac arrest last month.
From one sport to another, this new football conversation show is hosted by Gary Lineker with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards (though Richards is surely topped out with media exposure at this stage).
Of course, there’s so many shows like this already, with and among our long-running favourites.
Why have Lineker and Co started their own pod? “Obviously we’ve all worked together for some time now and we thought this was too good an opportunity to miss,” explains Lineker.
“We all love football, we love talking about football, we love having a laugh about football and that’s what we’re gonna do.”
Not exactly a startling raison d’etre, but even with the biggest names, you’ve got to give new shows time to find their feet.
The best bits, as usual, are when the stars bring their own careers and experiences to the table.
With the Women’s World Cup wrapping up last Sunday, and the Women’s Super League just over a month away, two of our favourite shows featured a couple of England (former) stars in the past few weeks.
Jessie Ware’s had Ellen White and Lyn Hale on, talking about celebratory meals, catering at football clubs, and what food is most enjoyed after retirement.
with Annie Macmanus had England captain Leah Williamson on - she missed out on the World Cup with a ruptured ACL.
Williamson is most interesting talking about how the tournament must be a stepping stone to much bigger things for women’s football in the next decade.
She also talks about her journey, mindset with injury, and winning and losing.
