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Welcome back to the Bill Bradley Collective, “Yes Jim Mora, we are talking about THE playoffs.” your hosts preview the now-underway NBA and Stanley Cup Playoffs. The matchups to watch, the narratives to monitor, and the picks to advance and eventually hoist the both the Cup and Larry O’Brien trophy in the next twelve weeks outline a conversation that also shines special light on two of the Collective home teams: one a pre-tournament favorite off to a hot start in a series holding the early clubhouse lead for “best,” and the other seemingly destined to ignite and then quickly extinguish the outsized expectations of their aggrieved fanbase. First we come-a-ranting, as Zak (briefly) checks in on America’s favorite choirboy and the merit of the latest addition to his sterling professional résumé; Andrew connects the dots between Tony LaRussa, unwritten rules, “respect for the game,” and the decline of baseball in the present day; Ed details the abhorrent race-norming being employed by an again odious NFL in how they have chosen to determine eligibility for payouts of the league’s billion dollar settlement for brain injury claims.