Here's a little secret about elite performers: They're always working to get better at their craft. The example I tend to use is Patrick Redford, who hosts both the Nothing But Respect and Only If You Get Caught podcasts here at Defector, but who is also always in the lab. He blogs. He has a lucrative sideline in the canine protein supplement space. And this week, with the NBA playoffs at full tilt, he joined us on The Distraction. The grind never stops, although it sometimes takes an ad break.
Both of Patrick's podcasts are really good, although we focused most of our conversation on Nothing But Respect, which has quickly carved out a unique space in the basketball discourse as a place for ball-knowers who do not work in the ball-knowing space to get some shots up. Nothing But Respect has surely hosted more Pitchfork Best New Music honorees than any other basketball podcast, and the show has become a refuge and resource for people who would otherwise be forced to keep their basketball sicko opinions to themselves.
We, of course, have no such problems here. We're allowed to talk about basketball on this podcast, and it is the official policy of The Distraction that no opinion is too perverse or obviously wrong not to share. With Patrick's help, we took advantage of both those opportunities in a wide-ranging discussion that considered the good and bad of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Drew's frustrations with The Julius Randle Experience, everyone's awe at the effect that Victor Wembanyama has on every facet of every game, and the Spurs' validity as a challenge to the metronomic and infuriating Oklahoma City Thunder. Patrick wrestled with the limitations of his beloved De'Aaron Fox, and all of us considered how inevitable the Thunder actually are.
After the break, we talked about the suddenly swaggy and fun Knicks, who are playing an actual fluid Mike Brown-style offense and have become a blast to watch in the process. We also discussed the ongoing Cavs-Pistons rock fight, which Patrick praises as the only playoff series made with 100 percent real lead paint. We considered the enigmatic Evan Mobley, Patrick's qualified gripes with Donovan Mitchell, and the virtuosic Cade Cunningham as the next generation of Bulky Boy Superstar. More broadly, we considered the seasonal hamstring anxiety hanging over the playoffs and the peril of product bloat in the NBA, where too many streamers and too much basketball have made for a more complicated and not necessarily better postseason experience.
The Funbag brought us a question about the best venue setups for live music, which gave Patrick the opportunity to tell the story of how he and his mom came to see Phish on a whim at Red Rocks, and gave me the chance to put in a recommendation for seeing an act you don't really know if you want to see the venue hosting them badly enough. Before we left, Drew dropped in one last basketball bit; if you don't want to hear our assessment of the protracted and annoying Giannis trade demand drama, you can just stop the podcast after we all finish talking about how cool Red Rocks seems.
If you would like to subscribe to The Distraction, you can do that through Apple Podcasts or wherever else you might get your podcasts. Thank you as always for your support.
