{"podcast":{"title":"On The Ball with Ric Bucher","slug":"on-the-ball-with-ric-bucher-711886","podcast_index_feed_id":711886,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/f66edc52-c9ac-4e17-bf90-6f1121579b75","website_url":"http://bucherandfriends.libsyn.com/","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/61008f0531fd81f125b34dcc/show-cover.jpeg","author":"Ric Bucher","episode_count":604,"summary":"A weekly sports podcast with inside information and one-of-a-kind perspective on the hottest topics and behind-the-scenes happenings from veteran NBA insider, author and TV analyst Ric Bucher. Find all his work at RicBucher.com. Support this show at http://supporter.acast.com/bucher-and-friends Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bucher-and-friends . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-28T08:17:06.865306+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/on-the-ball-with-ric-bucher-711886"},"episode":{"title":"NBA = IBA? All-Star Voting Exposes a Global League — and an American Backlash","slug":"nba-iba-all-star-voting-exposes-a-global-league-and-an-american-backlash","published_at":"2026-01-22T08:23:55+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/on-the-ball-with-ric-bucher-711886/nba-iba-all-star-voting-exposes-a-global-league-and-an-american-backlash","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/on-the-ball-with-ric-bucher-711886","url":"https://shows.acast.com/bucher-and-friends/episodes/nba-iba-all-star-voting-exposes-a-global-league-and-an-ameri","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/f66edc52-c9ac-4e17-bf90-6f1121579b75/e/6971de9b6ce75da7d83c5651/media.mp3","summary":"The NBA isn’t “American property” anymore — and this year’s All-Star voting made that impossible to ignore. Ric Bucher breaks down why the top fan vote-getters being international stars isn’t a problem… it’s the point. But there’s a twist: the players’ vote tells a very different story than the fans and media, raising an uncomfortable question about who the league’s real hierarchy respects. Then: Ric takes aim at the “free throw merchant” label on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander , previews the new All-Star format (Americans vs. foreigners), and explains why it might finally bring competitive juice back to All-Star weekend. And in a hard left turn into culture + business: Ric calls out the optics of Nike/LeBron’s MLK Day shoe release , and closes with a look at Jeanie Buss, the Buss family, and the future of the Lakers , including the resentment over the Bronny roster spot and why Steve Ballmer’s financial advantage may have forced Jeanie’s hand. Time Stamps 00:00 “Cooking with gas” + show intro 00:41 Ric announces upcoming book on being coachable 01:41 NBA → “IBA” : the league’s global takeover is complete 02:19 All-Star vote shocker: Luka/Giannis/Jokic lead — and fans don’t care where you’re from 03:07 Deni Avdija leapfrogs Anthony Edwards : how did that happen? 04:34 Why the league changed voting rules after Zaza Pachulia 05:08 Ric’s theory: Ant’s off-court noise may be costing him votes 06:40 Players vs fans/media: who actually respects which stars? 08:45 SGA isn’t a “free throw merchant” — blame the whistle, not the scorer 10:07 New All-Star format : Americans vs foreigners — and why internationals may have something to prove 12:41 Social media’s “everything is debatable” disease + Ric’s contrarian code 13:39 Nike + LeBron MLK shoe : “sounds wrong” and gets worse the more…","meta_description":"The NBA isn’t “American property” anymore — and this year’s All-Star voting made that impossible to ignore. Ric Bucher breaks down why the top fan vote-ge…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1726,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/on-the-ball-with-ric-bucher-711886/episodes/nba-iba-all-star-voting-exposes-a-global-league-and-an-american-backlash/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/on-the-ball-with-ric-bucher-711886/nba-iba-all-star-voting-exposes-a-global-league-and-an-american-backlash.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}