NBA arguments with reporting behind them.
Open Floor: SI's NBA Show tracks the league through standings swings, playoff matchups, tanking debates, MVP cases, injuries, and superstar leverage. The conversation is loose and funny, but it keeps circling back to what actually changes a team’s ceiling.
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Open Floor: SI's NBA Show is built for the part of the NBA calendar when every result feels like evidence and every rumor needs a basketball reason. The show moves fast. A segment might begin with the Lakers pushing toward a stronger Western Conference seed, then narrow into how LeBron James accepts a different offensive place, how JJ Redick might frame that conversation, and why efficiency still matters to a player chasing control over his own story. It can be funny without turning the league into a bit. Evan Turner’s appearances bring former-player texture, especially when the conversation shifts from public narratives to travel, roles, confidence, shot selection, and what a player can or cannot figure out. Rachel Nichols brings a media veteran’s sense of how storylines form around teams such as the Bucks, Wizards, Knicks, Lakers, and Spurs. The show has a soft spot for messy incentives. Tanking teams, disincentives to win, low-percentage late-game plays, playoff seeding, and anti-tanking proposals are treated as basketball problems rather than abstract policy talk. It likes standings. It likes matchups more. Portland’s playoff return becomes a question about Denny Avia’s drives, Victor Wembanyama’s rim presence, and whether a mid-range jumper suddenly matters. An MVP debate becomes a tiered case for Shea, Wemby, Jokic, and the players just outside that core. The tone stays conversational. There are side roads into college basketball, curling, sports travel, wardrobe jokes, and the ordinary exhaustion of watching too many games, but the show usually finds its way back to the court. That looseness is part of the appeal. It sounds like informed NBA people arguing before the takes have hardened into television blocks. The best episodes make room for disagreement without making disagreement the whole product. Open Floor is strongest when it connects the headline to the small detail underneath it: a matchup choice, a coach’s incentive, a star’s ego, a team gamble, or a role player’s confidence. It is not a beginner’s guide. It assumes the listener knows the league, then rewards that knowledge with sharper context and a few good laughs along the way.
Made for: For NBA fans who follow standings, playoff paths, player roles, and league drama closely enough to want more than recap chatter. It especially suits listeners who enjoy fast, conversational debate with real basketball detail underneath.
What sets it apart: Open Floor separates itself by pairing casual, sometimes blunt back-and-forth with reporterly specifics and former-player perspective. Big stories quickly become concrete questions about matchups, incentives, injuries, money, roles, and postseason viability.
From the NBA draft to the playoffs and back again, Chris Mannix takes you on a ride across the NBA standings, laying out the latest news and rumors along the way and leaving no basketball conspiracy theory stone left unturned.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Chris Mannix and recurring guests test NBA arguments against performance, team context, standings, and the practical pressures shaping roster decisions.
Open Floor: SI's NBA Show turns league-wide questions into pointed conversations about evidence, responsibility, and team context. Chris Mannix moves between MVP cases, conference positioning, roster construction, injuries, and the changing roles of veteran stars.
Chris Mannix brings the net ratings; Evan Turner wonders if your MVP ballot has room for three.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A numbers-first MVP debate that closes on Cam Thomas.
Open Floor spends most of its time on an MVP case built around Shea, Wemby, and Jokic, and it stays grounded by leaning on on-floor net rating, offensive rating, and the Thunder and Spurs swings with their stars.
A Lakers debate that turns banter into a real question about contender math.
Chris Mannix and Rachel Nichols turn a Lakers conversation into something more alive than a standard star check. They move with a mix of jokes, small corrections, and a real basketball argument about LeBron James, JJ Redick, and what kind of message actually sticks.
A Thunder blowout leads into NBA expansion talk and Shea Gildas-Alexander's case for another MVP.
Chris Mannix gives the episode a clear path, starting with the lopsided Thunder game and then widening into a broader NBA expansion discussion without losing sight of the league's current pressure points.
A grounded NBA review of Wembanyama's draw, the awards race, and the Clippers' renewed spark.
Chris Mannix centers this NBA review on Derek Fisher's visit before Monday's Spurs-Clippers game on Peacock, where Fisher is scheduled to call the matchup with him.
Tatum's measured ramp-up anchors a Celtics discussion that turns from playoff readiness to Jalen Brown's ejection and a Jalen Suggs hair riff.
Tatum's return gives Chris Mannix and Evan Turner a useful tension point: he can look comfortable right away, while the larger question is still whether his body is ready for a nightly postseason workload.
A relaxed NBA conversation sharpens around Luka Doncic, Dallas' choices, and how stars get judged from the outside.
The episode starts on Reggie Bullock's Belize island and then settles into a sharper Mavericks conversation, with Evan Turner giving the Luka Doncic debate a useful player-level edge.
A brisk NBA outlook discussion finds its best edge in Denver's bench reset and Houston's young-core pressure points.
Open Floor makes Evan Turner's weekly guest spot feel most useful when it stays with roster mechanics instead of broad preseason guessing. Chris Mannix and Turner land on Denver first, where Turner's confidence in a rebuilt bench around Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Jonas…
Cavaliers playoff detail, every day.
Fast takes, sharp turns, loud sports arguments.
Chris Mannix and Evan Turner discuss Reggie Bullock buying an island in Belize.
Chris Mannix introduces Evan Turner as a new weekly guest on Open Floor.
Chris Mannix and former NBA player Evan Turner discuss the WNBA's PR issues and preview the NBA playoffs, focusing on teams like the Portland Trailblazers.
Chris Mannix and Rachel Nichols discuss the Milwaukee Bucks' disastrous season and analyze NBA playoff scenarios, including the Lakers' odds and recent games involving teams like Denver and San Antonio.
Chris Mannix and Evan Turner discuss NBA topics including Jayson Tatum's return to Madison Square Garden and the Houston Rockets' performance, while sharing personal anecdotes about sports travel and gambling.
Chris Mannix and Rachel Nichols discuss NBA tanking strategies, focusing on questionable coaching decisions by teams like the Wizards, Jazz, and Nets.
This episode discusses the Lakers' recent surge in the NBA, LeBron James' potential contract decisions, and the Knicks' ongoing season, featuring insights from former NBA player Evan Turner.
Chris Mannix and Rachel Nichols discuss Luka Doncic's MVP candidacy, anti-tanking proposals in the NBA, and briefly touch on the NCAA tournament and coaching changes.
Open Floor starts with Evan Turner in Portland.
Chris Mannix opens with Rachel Nichols in a loose, fast-moving catch-up.
Chris Mannix discusses the league's big stories, then moves through a Thunder game that sent him to the press room once the score hit 46-16.
Derek Fisher calls Victor Wembanyama a "must go" player because he can change a game with shot blocking, rebounding, and rim protection.
Chris Mannix and Evan Turner say LeBron James looked more effective as a third option in the Lakers' win over the Bulls, with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists while moving the ball and setting screens.
Chris Mannix returns from paternity leave to discuss his new fatherhood experiences with Rachel Nichols on this NBA-focused podcast episode.
This episode discusses the Boston Celtics' recent success, including a five-game win streak, their league-best offense, and Jalen Brown's strong performance making an all-NBA case.
This episode discusses the NBA MVP race between Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Dallas Mavericks' potential restart, and features a conversation with Evan Turner about Reggie Bullock's island purchase in Belize.
Chris Mannix and Rachel Nichols discuss Zion Williamson's recurring injury issues and Ja Morant's situation, while also covering recent NBA games like the Celtics vs.