ESPN Daily

The NBA bubble has finally come to a close, with the LA Lakers crowned champion, and no positive COVID tests throughout. The impressive feat has set a high bar for sports in the pandemic. ESPN’s Malika Andrews was the longest tenured reporter inside the NBA bubble, and she returns to the show to chronicle her exit from Orlando, and reflect on what it all meant. She’s joined by ESPN producer Malinda Adams, who was also on site from Day One. And, we get some insights on what’s next for the 2021 NBA season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As if 2020 couldn’t get any weirder....the undefeated Buffalo Bills sit atop the AFC standings. The Bills take on the Tennessee Titans tonight in a rare Tuesday evening game, the result of multiple recent positive COVID tests on the Titans. With a win on Tuesday, the Bills would join Seattle as the only 5-0 teams in the NFL, a feat that surprisingly has not been due to their highly touted defense, but rather from their the play of their offense, and its leader, QB Josh Allen. After several years of inconsistency, Allen’s play has improved dramatically this season, and he now ranks 3rd in the NFL in quarterback rating. ESPN Bills reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques makes the case for why these Bills could have what it takes to make a potential Super Bowl run. Then, Mike Schur, mind behind “The Office” “Parks and Recreation” and “The Good Place” remembers Reds legend Joe Morgan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are NBA champions, after a six game final series against Miami. Many dedicated the win to deceased Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. Hard to believe, but the longest season in NBA history began almost one year ago. The league has struggled with a pandemic hiatus, creating a bubble, and navigating a social movement against racial injustice that swept all of sports. And the Lakers, after all of it, came out on top, in a 106-93 win. Dave McMenamin shares all the things this victory means. Then Bill Barnwell brings us the latest on this week in the NFL: the impact of Dak Prescott’s injury, how the Raiders were able to contain Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, and to what degree NFL schedule changes affect which teams.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When the #7 Miami Hurricanes take on #1 Clemson on Saturday night, it will be a matchup of two of this year’s top contenders for the Heisman Trophy. One is a household name to college football fans: Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence, whose golden boy image and physical gifts have made his success seem preordained. The other, is shorter, less heralded...and has been underestimated his entire career: Miami QB D’Eriq King. King’s road to this marquee matchup has been anything but normal. After beginning his career at the University of Houston, King was asked to redshirt as a senior when the team got off to a rocky start. Instead of returning to the Cougars, King transferred to Miami for his senior year. Off the field, he’s faced personal tragedy: his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, and his father died this February of a heart attack. Sam Khan Jr. has covered King since his high school football days, and joins the show to share King’s unique story. Then: an ode to Dion Waiters, the most unlikely possible NBA champion, ahead of Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach is unlike anyone else in college football. After nearly two decades at Texas Tech and Washington State, he’s now taken his talents to the SEC, where his team has upset reigning NCAA champions LSU and lost to lowly Arkansas through the first two weeks of the season. Ryan McGee brings us some of his all-time Mike Leach stories, and discusses how his unique personality might be received in the toughest conference in college football. Then: Scottie Pippen helps you fall asleep. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

MLB’s divisional series saw tons of action on Tuesday. In the ALDS, the New York Yankees fell to the Tampa Bay Rays, bringing that series to 1-1. Earlier, the Houston Astros went up 2-0 over the Oakland A’s, thanks to George Springer’s homers. ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan brings us his playoff insights from Arlington, Texas, where he’s covering the NLDS: Ronald Acuna Jr. and the Atlanta Braves defeated the Miami Marlins 9-5, then the LA Dodgers won the first game of their series with the San Diego Padres. Later, Mauricio Pedroza joins the show to explore the rising prominence of Latino players in MLB.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Jimmy Butler’s dominant performance in Game 3 of the NBA Finals and the trash talk that came with it, Tuesday’s Game 4 promises to turn up the heat (pun intended) on the Lakers. Miami has ruined LA’s chances of a sweep, and now hopes to ride the wave of momentum to even the series. The Heat are also looking to get their injured stars Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic back from injury. Malika Andrews joins the show from inside the bubble, where she’s been for nearly 100 days, to tell us what she expects to see in Game 4, and what she’s learned from covering the strangest postseason in NBA history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A crisis over coronavirus spread across the NFL in recent days. Following a rash of positive tests on the Tennessee Titans, Patriots QB Cam Newton also tested positive, as did the Chiefs practice QB Jordan Ta'amu. The Titans-Steelers game, scheduled for Sunday, has been postponed to later in the season, and the Patriots-Chiefs game, also scheduled for Sunday, is now tonight, in a Monday doubleheader. Bill Barnwell breaks down the impact of COVID-19 on NFL teams’ schedules and rosters, and assesses the NFC East, currently the worst division through four Sundays of action. Then, a remembrance of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The WNBA finals tip off tonight in the Bradenton, Florida bubble. The Seattle Storm, led by Sue Bird in her bid for a fourth championship, take on 2020 MVP A’ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces. ESPN’s LaChina Robinson previews the contenders and the path that got them here. Then Dallas Wings All-Rookie Satou Sabally shares stories from inside the WNBA bubble. We talked to her throughout the summer, to get a portrait of a rookie season unlike any other. Plus, Josh McCown on what it’s like to be with the Eagles as the NFL’s only “Quarantine Quarterback.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Runner Oscar Pistorius became the first double leg amputee to compete in the Olympic Games, when he took the track in London in 2012, inspiring athletes around the world. Then in 2013, Pistorius’ girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead at his home, and he was convicted of her killing, in one of South Africa’s most infamous trials. Dan Williams was a correspondent for ESPN in South Africa from 2007 to 2013, where he covered Pistorius' athletic career and court proceedings. Williams is featured in the four-part documentary “The Life and Trials of Oscar Pistorius,” available on ESPN+ now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices