If you’re a sports fan, chances are you already know plenty about Bomani Jones. If you’re a fan of strong sports opinions, you definitely know about Bomani Jones and probably already seek out his content. I ‘ve always enjoyed hearing Jones’ takes on sports because I know no matter the topic, he’s put good thought into what he is saying and frankly he’s much smarter than I am (and most people for that matter). I saw some topics on one of his recent podcasts that made me want to tune in and do an eavesdropping feature on the June 24 episode of The Right Time with Bomani Jones.
Jones’ podcast is part of Wave Sports + Entertainment’s portfolio and has been since the last quarter of 2023. Wave is the group behind podcasts from the Kelce brother’s, Carmelo Anthony and Paul George.
His podcast, which he does with producer Sean Yoo, started out as a radio show for ESPN Radio in 2015. Today, Jones drops his show three times per week on all major platforms and hits on the hot topics in sports, as well as major social topics, pop culture and more.
On this episode, Jones starts with a movie recommendation for the 1984 Talking Heads concert film, Stop Making Sense, which he said he watched because it was too hot to go outside in New York over the weekend. Jones said he did get out early to Morningside Park and even randomly ran into Browns quarterback Jameis Winston and his family.
“I don’t think either of us could believe that they were talking to the other in the place that they were in,” Jones said. “I have no idea why Jameis’ country ass was up on 116th street in Morningside, I have no clue. But he was there…Not the Empire State Building, not just walking around mid-town, not Times Square…the odds, very low.”
The heat led Jones to talk about his Sunday where he prefaced it by saying, “I’m going to be honest with you, at this time of year I’m not trying to watch more sports than is absolutely necessary.” However, stuck inside, he found the WNBA game between Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever and Angel Reese’s Chicago Sky.
Many have weighed in on the topic of the ‘rivalry’ between Clark and Reese and Jones wanted to talk about it, but he wanted to separate the basketball talk from the society and cultural talk. On the basketball side, Jones talked about how different the games are between men’s basketball and women’s basketball. “These are two different games,” he said. “Two very different games.”
And rather than acting like he had been a big WNBA fan for years, Jones openly admitted he knew very little about it. He wanted to talk about what he saw but wasn’t going to put himself out there as an expert when he was doing what most people were doing, which is taking in the product after having seen very little of it previously.
Jones noted that while the rivalry between Clark and Reese is being overly hyped, because of the positions they play, there is very little actual on-court interaction between the two. In the end, Jones noted in this game, “Both did great…everybody got what they needed out of it.”
As for the society and culture side of it, Jones had some advice for those trying to make this rivalry into something much more than it is. “Just don’t go too far,” he said. “We don’t need it to go all the way.” A simple sentence, but such a succinct point. These are two young women who are great at basketball, transitioning from college to the pros in a very short period of time. Maybe this doesn’t have to be a major cultural war every time they step on a court together.
After the topic wraps up, I loved how Jones and Yoo recapped it and wondered what negative topic people will pull from it and what people will rip into about the segment later on. You know it’s coming, so why not have a little fun with it.
The next topic was the Lakers introducing JJ Redick as their new head coach. I really appreciated how Jones started out this conversation. He named some other coaches that had done some broadcasting in addition to having been in coaching and some that had minimal coaching experience but had been broadcasters. One he mentioned was Steve Kerr, who he admitted he did not think would be a good head coach. His point as it related to Redick and how he would do as a head coach was simply, “I have no clue.”
Jones went on to compare Redick and LeBron James’ relationship to that of an apartment building owner and the building superintendent. He said Redick is the superintendent, who everyone sees as in charge, except for the building owner, who in this case is LeBron. “JJ knows who’s in charge, and it’s LeBron,” Jones said.
Jones added that “The idea that JJ has enough of a basketball brain to do a podcast with LeBron does not necessarily mean he has the basketball brain that LeBron thinks is necessary to coach him.” He added he thinks a lot of it will come down to Redick’s relationship with the rest of the roster, most importantly Anthony Davis (*note, this episode dropped before the Lakers drafted Bronny James).
Jones pointed out things Redick had said about AD when he was calling games for ESPN, noting he had brought up once that Davis only plays when he feels 100%. “Who we saw on television, did not seem like he would get along great with players…the podcast was different,” he added about Redick.
Jones said he sees the Pat Riley comparisons “with the nice suits, but that doesn’t sound like a basketball observation, that sounds like a vibe.”
Now that the two major sports topics were covered, the show takes a bit of a left turn as Jones and Yoo turn their attention to a segment called, ‘If You Haven’t Heard’ where audio clips of news stories are played, and Jones reacts. In this episode, the topics were about the world running out of soldiers and whether the United States could ever again implement a draft, how male politicians dress and an investigative report on pesticides being used on legal weed.
The show ends in great fashion and something a lot of podcasters forget about and that is interaction with the audience. Jones and Yoo had been engaging with their fans on YouTube throughout the show, but this final segment contained voicemails from listeners on the topic of a player people grew up hating. “A lot of haters calling in,” Yoo said.
Jones explained it was the brother of a friend of his brothers who hated Steve Kerr which made him think of this topic. The first person who called in was from Boston who had an irrational hatred for Tom Brady due to his fandom for Drew Bledsoe. The next was a guy who hated Paul Pierce because as a kid, the caller heckled Pierce at a camp and Pierce replied by making fun of his layup.
And then, in a wonderful surprise, our very own Demetri Ravanos, aka ‘Demetri The Greek,’ who is an Alabama grad, phoned in to talk about his hatred of Tommy Tuberville. Demetri said that while he doesn’t agree with much of anything Tuberville the politician has to say, “He could be in line, lock step with me politically, doing nothing but good for this country and I would still hate that motherf**er because he coached Auburn.”
The laugh from Jones on the final call was worth the listen alone.
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
