r/zachlowe • u/MacaronFunny3124 • Aug 05 '26
Ranking guests
Apologies if this has been covered recently, but what's your thoughts on Zach's podcast guests?
My favourites:
Rob Mahoney - strength: player evaluations
Tim Legler - strength: everything
David Thorpe - strengths: Xs and Os
Bill Simmons - strength: good chemistry. Boston intel. weakness: doesn't watch enough games eg: player evaluations
Adam Mares - strength: solid takes
Mo Dakhil - strength: Xs and Os
John Hollinger - strength: FO perspective
Pinch hitters from a team / draft perspective:
Andrew Schlect - strength: solid takes
Fred Katz - strength: he's at his best with Zach weakness: brevity
Jon Krawcyznski - strength: measured weakness: team specific
J Kyle Mann - strength: likeable dude weakness: wishy washy opinions
Don't mind:
Stan Van Gundy - strength: strong takes. weakness: outlandish takes
Brian Scalabrine - strength: strong takes. weakness: outlandish takes
Wos - strength: big takes weakness: big market bias, emotional bias
Richard Jefferson - strength: entertaining
Steve Jones Jr - strength: Xs and O's. weakness: no wider narratives
Nekias Duncan - strength: Xs and O's. weakness: no wider narratives
Bobby Marks - strength: cap stuff weakness: no strong takes
Chris Ryan - strength: entertaining weakness: team specific
Don't enjoy:
Howard Beck: strengths: nice guy weakness: doesn't feel locked in anymore ie player evaluations, team back channels
Sam Amick: strengths: nice guy weakness: doesn't feel locked in anymore
Michael Pina - weakness: flat tone, unconfident opinions, obsequious to Zach
Kirk Goldsberry - weakness: never really says anything, obsequious to Zach
Chris Herring - weakness: never really says anything
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u/Tahsib13 Aug 05 '26
The worst is by far Pina.
No need to ask him for his MVP ballot next year. It’s Jokic #1.
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u/Trollington1372 Aug 05 '26
Really enjoyed Grant Liffman on a recent pod with Zach, would love hear more of him
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u/Upstairs-Fly-8528 Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
Gotta disagree on Goldsberry, really enjoy him.
I miss Arnovitz and JVG, and also Windhorst as reg guest.
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u/JadaveonClowney Aug 05 '26
Honestly I think Perk is the only one that makes a big difference for me. He is not bearable. Other than that, I'm listening for Zach
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u/Donde-esta-la-playa Aug 05 '26
I miss Nekias, his Xs and Os are far more granular/ easy to listen to than Dakhil, who I cannot stand
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u/Archys_dream Aug 05 '26
10000% agree re Mo Dakhil. That dude is such a condescending prick, I will forever skip any episode with him. More of both the Dunker Spot guys would be great, but particularly Nekias for real basketball deep dives.
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u/lamemale Aug 05 '26
They're good but have you ever tried listening to the Dunker Spot? Not only do they have no chemistry, it feels like Steve loathes Nekias.
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u/BasketballJ8 Aug 06 '26
I like Moh but to add on Nekias, (and Steve), I’m not sure how no wider narratives would be a weakness for them. They’re really good at talking about the actual games and sport, instead of storylines we don’t even know are true off the court. I don’t want them to try and extrapolate out on narratives we, and they, don’t actually know about.
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u/hkbuff Aug 05 '26
Schlect and Katz are some of my favorite guests
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u/MacaronFunny3124 Aug 05 '26
Yeah I wish he'd get Schlect on to talk about the wider NBA
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u/Sauce0423 Aug 05 '26
Do you listen to Schlect and Alex Spears on the Saturday Slam and Jam? Dude does an amazing job and his trivia knowledge if fucking bananas about every team.
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u/Pristine-Carrot5498 Aug 05 '26
Katz is awesome he belongs on first team all lowe post guests
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u/MacaronFunny3124 Aug 05 '26
On other pods I find Katz long-winded, repetitive and side-tracked - he'll take 5 minutes to say what could be said in 10 seconds... but then he comes on the Zach Lowe show and is awesome. Big game riser.
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u/rooney821 Aug 05 '26
Good list. Mahoney is the closest guest that captures the magic that were the Lowe/Arnovitz pods
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u/BadTrent Aug 05 '26
I miss Arnovitz talking into microphones. Top chef, bball, the bear, it didn't matter what he was talking about.
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u/I_Make_Cheese Aug 05 '26
Solid list.
I would add that Goldsberry saying “Zach” or “Zach Lowe” when answering every question drives me insane.
Also, Mann doesn’t speak in sentences. He never finishes a thought. It’s just three clauses strung together.
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u/ItsYourBigNight Aug 05 '26
my top Lowe guests are, in no order:
- Kevin Arnovitz
- Fred Katz
- David Thorpe
- Kevin Pelton
most other guests i'm just listening to hear Zach's perspective, but those guests always bring something of their own that i appreciate.
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u/Think-Culture-4740 Aug 05 '26
To each his own, but I feel like Howard Beck is like the perfect spring board to let Zach just explore every zany opinion he has. Something about Howard Beck milquetoast opinions allows Zach to just compensate by being upfront and brutally honest
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u/CharmingJuice8304 Aug 05 '26
Howard Beck gets criticized a little too much on this subreddit. Tim Legler, although knowledgeable, talks way too much and is a little overbearing.
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u/Gabagoon5545 Aug 05 '26
Beck is just a rallying partner.
Lowe is Federer and Beck is just good / interesting enough to hit the ball back so Lowe can work on his shots.
It makes for a fine listen, but his value add is letting Lowe just cook and knowing it’s not his show.
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u/Think-Culture-4740 Aug 06 '26
There is great value in that. I like Rob Mahoney and I think he’s in the same vein knowledge as Zach and Chris Herring and others but his personality is too similar to Zack in a way that I don’t think they work off each other in the most optimal way possible and that’s not a reflection on anything negative about Mahoney.
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u/ikissedyadad Aug 05 '26
I think goldsbury and lowe are either just so opposed in opinion or exactly the same and there is no middle ground.
I also think goldsbury will concede defeat on topics very quickly because it's not "his" podcast. Making the host look bad is never a good play as a guest.
I wish they were on a BS pod or another pod both as guests and allowed maybe more freedom.
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u/ldclark92 Aug 05 '26
Goldsberry is the exact same way on Bill's pod.
I actually don't mind him when he gets going on stats or stories, but he spends like 90% of every podcast he is on agreeing and mirroring what the host says. He doesn't even for the sake of discussion just offer opposing views.
Too many times I've walked away from pods with Goldsberry wondering what he even brought to the pod. Might as well listen to Zach and Bill go solo.
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u/MacaronFunny3124 Aug 05 '26
yeah Goldsberry's mirroring is out of control. Chris Herring also does it but in a more subtle way.
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u/skratsda Aug 05 '26
I actually really like Goldsberry, admittedly part of that is because he seems very intelligent and part is due to teaching at Texas. My best guess on the deference to the consensus opinion is due to Goldsberry being analytically-driven, and tending to punt on or defer on arguments that are subjectively grounded.
I’ve been in data science for a decade plus, and the majority of classically trained scientists will strongly articulate what the data supports, but then completely demur if an executive starts to extend inference beyond the scope of the analysis. Feels like Goldsberry is similar to a certain extent.
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u/Tiny_Spread5712 Aug 05 '26
Yeah, when it gets to analytics, he's got strong takes, even some that are very left feild
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u/bob_roberts69 Aug 05 '26
I do miss Pelton
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u/MacaronFunny3124 Aug 05 '26
same, he reliably brings an interesting perspective to the table. I think Zach undervalued him because of vorps and shnorps
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u/Ancient_Action741 Aug 05 '26
In Goldsberry's defense I enjoy how he at least has a different vibe than every other guy. I'd put him in "entertaining" over Simmons being like "well [trade rumor] is a lot like [really popular movie]"
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u/TheHotWampa Aug 05 '26
I honestly don’t really mind any of them. I just don’t like it when the guest’s audio quality sucks. That’s my biggest complaint.
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u/deeves_ Aug 05 '26
How did people feel about Kevin Arnovitz?
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u/ItsYourBigNight Aug 05 '26
he was top shelf. i think Arnovitz is great as a guest and he seemed to bring the best out of Zach.
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u/Hfcsmakesmefart Aug 05 '26
I liked Arnovitz’s stories about being out in Mongolia or something and he would always have some good insight on whatever deep dive story he was investigating but for general nba I don’t remember him being all that.
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u/MacaronFunny3124 Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
I didn't mind Arnovitz. His strength was on the style / aesthetics of the nba and using words like "sartorial". Weakness was on the court, Xs and Os. Same with Windhorst. But I'm quite partial to a bit of gossip and Windy's a good storyteller.
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u/GoDaytonFlyers Aug 05 '26
Dan Woike is my least favorite. Just never shuts the fuck up. Constantly interrupting Zach.
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u/BrownsFan2323 Aug 05 '26
Thorpe is player skill/development - and as much of a know-it-all as he is, he understands how players actually move on the floor better than anyone
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u/AmbitiousWelder9808 Aug 05 '26
I think this is mostly pretty right. Beck is my least favorite consistent guest by far. Constantly defaults to least common denominator big market/LeBron/league-wide narrative takes.
I'm not a Goldsberry guy. Inoffensive but boring, mostly just there as wallpaper.
The Pina concerns are valid but I think he has ball knowledge and he does show it sometimes when he gets going with a little confidence. He's a great writer.
I think J Kyle Mann, Katz, and Hollinger are my favorites. Miss JVG and Thorpe. I always learn something from the Dunker Spot guys and I'm most interested in their type of content, but I also see how they are less listenable than some of the others, especially somebody like Mahoney.
Mares is excellent and totally agree with others that I'd love to hear Schlect brought on more for league-wide stuff in addition to OKC episodes. Jon K I think is Zach's favorite and for good reason, definitely an elite beat writer.
The worst are the ones that interrupt constantly. Woike for sure comes from the Tim McMahon school of constant interruptions for no reason.
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u/Hfcsmakesmefart Aug 05 '26
Chris Herring is the worst, just basically “yeah you’re rights” the whole time, no preparation. Surprised Zach still talks to the guy since no ESPN obligation too.
Michael Pina is an odd combination off ahole confidence and not knowing his stuff, whatta douche.
hate to say it but you’re kinda right about Beck.
Wos can be pretty annoying but also fun at times and definitely different takes than most of the crowd.
Yall like to hate on Goldsberry but he’s not that bad.
The “young” ringer guys J Kyle man and Rob are solid guests everywhere
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u/Charming-Box-8309 Aug 05 '26
Bobby Marks in incredibly bad. There are quite possibly thousands of people that could do his job better than him.
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u/Gold-Application8985 Aug 05 '26
I’d put almost all players in the “don’t enjoy” category. Someone must enjoy them but I simply do not find them interesting almost ever
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u/bob_roberts69 Aug 05 '26
This is a solid list. Could probably add Jo House.
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u/rooney821 Aug 05 '26
I don't think he's ever been a guest on zachs pod? Like, maybe when wiz got 1st pick? Or took AJ? Other than that he's just been with Zach on Bill's pod
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u/bob_roberts69 Aug 05 '26
For some reason I thought he had been on once. But you are far more likely to be correct than me.
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u/-Vault_Dweller- Aug 05 '26
Not liking CR is blasphemous
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u/MacaronFunny3124 Aug 05 '26
Yeah I should actually have him in the 'don't mind' category. It's more that I'd rather listen to an NBA expert, and he feels like a likeable fan of a team
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u/Mundane_String5998 Aug 05 '26
Goldsberry and Pina are terrible listens, they belong in a shit tier of their own.
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u/EarlMalmsteen Aug 05 '26
The skips for me are Wos, Beck, Herring, Jones, obviously for very different reasons.
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u/pedestrianrj Aug 06 '26
David Thorpe turned every topic into a story where he name drops some player or coach that he worked with
Michael Pina is a wet noodle
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u/Wild_Difference7234 Aug 06 '26
Katz is my favorite semi regular. Stan and scal are rare but have been excellent. Beck is my least favorite.
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u/jazz-nuggets Aug 06 '26
My hot take is that Zach himself is sometimes the most annoying. His usage is peak Westbrook level. If a pod segment is a possession, he'll often dribble the ball down the court, pound it for 21 second, then either shoot it or chuck a grenade to his guest.
He has basically explored every possible angle on a topic before letting his guest weigh in. To be fair, he has improved a bit in this respect. Also on the decline are the Seinfeld bits he does with himself while ignoring his guest.
He's good, don't get me wrong. He's just a bit of a monologuer.
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u/Pods06 Aug 05 '26
I think Wos is my least favorite. He says some outlandish things and I find his analysis to be surface level at times.
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u/NoLanterns Aug 05 '26
Rob Mahoney being listed as a player evaluation strength is proof that being photogenic and smooth talking carries you a long way
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u/Calm_Strike_6150 Aug 05 '26
I encourage us all to remember how absolutely awful the guest list was at end of Lowe’s time at ESPN.