Dart Adams, The Basketball Tournament and The Decision
We talk Boston history, our beloved Al Horford, the legendary J. Dilla and what's to come next in the music industry.
Listen closely to what Dart Adams has to say.
I’ve always fashioned myself a young person with an ear to the elders. Not pushing that title on Dart Adams — Boston’s prolific writer, historian and representative — but two decades on me suffices as appropriate seniority.
The Bobcast at its essence remains a learning experience for me. Despite the shift in theme, voices and name (SUBSCRIBE TO DOME THEORY), its essence still revolves around interviews where I chart people’s paths to success. When a figure like Dart comes on, I sit back and listen.
As you can see, the show keeps pumping. I’ve shared our three most recent episodes below, a few of them including video outtakes. Thanks as always for subscribing to The Bobcast newsletter.
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Dart Adams (Click here for link to all podcasting platforms)
-One of Dart’s tropes is the erasure of Black Boston. It’s not seen as a Black city, despite the central role Black people play in the city’s past and present. Malcolm X started here. So did Gang Starr. But why did so many move on or become associated with other places?
-I asked Twitter in 2018 who “the Al Horford of hip-hop” was amid his incredible, brutally underrated Celtics tenure. Dart answered then, as I noticed last week, and he explained his choice — Jake One.
-J.Dilla continues to captivate and inspire me. Dart covered his rise, prime and untimely death. We looked back on one of his most important projects that inspired decades of hip-hop producers that followed — Fantastic Vol. 1 & 2. What makes him such an unsung, yet revered figure in the genre?
-Finally, where’s music heading? One executive said don’t expect concerts until 2022, and that alone fundamentally changes the music industry yesterday.
-Did you turn on the TV over the past several weeks, head over to ESPN and catch “The Basketball Tournament,” or rather did you see all those teams with funky names and/or college themes playing to a target score?
-Yes, other than golf, that was the only live sporting event available within the US, and to pull it off the league sequestered its volunteer players in Ohio in an early version of the NBA’s bubble.
-TBT went off through its conclusion successfully last week, and I talked to its founder Jon Mugar. The idea started in a text message with his friend since middle school, could they assemble professional basketball players to compete for money? It became reality, and a summer sports staple, in 2014.
-How did Chris Paul become associated with the league? How about Joe Johnson? What coronavirus preventative steps did the league take, and what were the daily COVID-19 tests like? How about the food? We hit on the whole “bubble” experience.
-Remember LeBron James’ infamous “Decision” to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for a super team Miami Heat roster on live TV? That happened 10 years ago on July 7. Many remember where they were, and that gasp, the jolt of energy outside after which ESPN immediately turned to burning jerseys and vitriol in the streets. That night sparked waves still reverberating today.
-It’s still held in reviled terms for it’s mechanics and the “mistakes” made in how James neglected to inform Cleveland, amassed enormous power and joined two fellow stars to win after years of tough playoff losses. Yet as Cavaliers writer Justin Rowan and I point out, everything in the 2010s NBA and frankly sports stemmed from that moment.
-Player power, freedom of movement, brand individuality? Hate it or love it, the Decision changed the athlete forever. It also created two of the greatest NBA Finals ever — 2013 with Ray Allen’s historic shot and LeBron’s return to Cleveland for the 3-1 comeback in 2016 for the Cavaliers’ first title
-Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Nigerian-Greek superstar on the verge of his second NBA MVP, faces a similar decision next year. Stay with the small-city Bucks, or join a power market like Golden State or Miami?
Catch you with more on the impending sports return and what to expect on my end of that later this week…thanks for reading!