Mascots have become a quintessential part of most NBA arena experiences— but who are the mysterious people behind the oversized suits? And why do they choose the anonymous mascot life? Intrepid culture reporter Eve Peyser dove deep into mascot lore and even shadowed an NBA mascot to get some answers… And what she found has more profundity than you’d ever expect.

Special thanks to: Walt Scher, Douglas Fur, Hudson Hongo, and Josh Lay

 

Eve Peyser’s website

https://evepeyser.com/index.html

 

Eve’s Twitter

https://x.com/evepeyser

 

Claire de Lune

https://x.com/ClaireMPLS

https://www.instagram.com/clairempls/

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/claire-de-lune

 

Mascots have become a quintessential part of most NBA arena experiences&mdash; but who are the mysterious&nbsp;people behind the oversized suits? And why do they choose the anonymous mascot life? Intrepid culture reporter Eve Peyser dove deep into mascot lore and even shadowed an NBA mascot to get some answers&hellip; And what she found has more profundity than you&rsquo;d ever expect.
Special thanks to: Walt Scher, Douglas Fur, Hudson Hongo, and Josh Lay
&nbsp;
Eve Peyser&rsquo;s website
<a href="https://evepeyser.com/index.html">https://evepeyser.com/index.html</a>
&nbsp;
Eve&rsquo;s Twitter
<a href="https://x.com/evepeyser">https://x.com/evepeyser</a>
&nbsp;
Claire de Lune
<a href="https://x.com/ClaireMPLS">https://x.com/ClaireMPLS</a>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/clairempls/">https://www.instagram.com/clairempls/</a>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/claire-de-lune">https://www.theguardian.com/profile/claire-de-lune</a>
&nbsp;

Basketball, Etc., a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, offers an antidote to the hot take shouting matches dominating sports media: a show for the nuance, the et cetera of it all. Host Claire de Lune guides listeners through cool, weird, untold and under-told basketball stories— with guests ranging from players, and insiders, to celebrity fans, and more.

Basketball, Etc., a new podcast from iHeart Podcasts, offers an antidote to the hot take shouting matches dominating sports media: a show for the nuance, the et cetera&nbsp;of it all. Host Claire de Lune guides listeners through cool, weird, untold and under-told basketball stories&mdash; with guests ranging from players, and insiders, to celebrity fans, and more.

Basketball, Etc.

Ep 5: The Secret Life of NBA Mascots with Eve Peyser

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/e79beee3-ca1f-42ee-8df4-b4eb00fba188/transcript

Any basketball fan with a cursory amount of historical knowledge of the sport probably knows that before the 2025 World Champions were the “Oklahoma City Thunder,” they were the Seattle Supersonics, a beloved team in a town known, in part, for their sports passion. But do you know the whole story about how the city of Seattle was somewhat unceremoniously robbed of their men’s basketball team? Claire is joined by journalist and Seattle native Sarah Enni to revisit a saga that has come back into public consciousness of late, as the rumor mill is churning about the future of men’s basketball in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Sarah Enni

https://www.sarahenni.com/

Scamfluencers, the podcast Sarah produces:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scamfluencers/id1616682405

Claire de Lune

https://x.com/ClaireMPLS

https://www.instagram.com/clairempls/

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/claire-de-lune

Any basketball fan with a cursory amount of historical knowledge of the sport probably knows that before the 2025 World Champions were the &ldquo;Oklahoma City Thunder,&rdquo; they were the Seattle Supersonics, a beloved team in a town known, in part, for their sports passion. But do you know the whole story about how the city of Seattle was somewhat unceremoniously robbed of their men&rsquo;s basketball team? Claire is joined by journalist and Seattle native Sarah Enni to revisit a saga that has come back into public consciousness of late, as the rumor mill is churning about the future of men&rsquo;s basketball in the Pacific Northwest.
&nbsp;
Sarah Enni
<a href="https://www.sarahenni.com/">https://www.sarahenni.com/</a>
Scamfluencers, the podcast Sarah produces:
<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scamfluencers/id1616682405">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scamfluencers/id1616682405</a>
Claire de Lune
<a href="https://x.com/ClaireMPLS">https://x.com/ClaireMPLS</a>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/clairempls/">https://www.instagram.com/clairempls/</a>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/claire-de-lune">https://www.theguardian.com/profile/claire-de-lune</a>

Ep 6: A Supersonic Sabotage with Sarah Enni 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/546d30a8-0e03-4b0e-bc23-b4f60103d9bb/transcript

This week on Basketball, Etc.: FS1’s First Things First and the What’s Wright podcast’s Nick Wright, one of the brightest and most noteworthy voices in sports media today, joins Claire to talk about a mutual favorite subject of analysis: LeBron James. Nick has selected 23 defining moments from the first 23 years of LeBron’s staggering career, and he breaks them down with Claire in enlightening fashion.

 

Nick’s Television show, First Things First

https://www.youtube.com/firstthingsfirst

 

Nick’s Podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whats-wright-with-nick-wright/id1612694726

 

Nick’s Twitter:

https://x.com/getnickwright

 

Claire de Lune

https://x.com/ClaireMPLS

https://www.instagram.com/clairempls/

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/claire-de-lune

This week on Basketball, Etc.: FS1&rsquo;s First Things First and the What&rsquo;s Wright podcast&rsquo;s Nick Wright, one of the brightest and most noteworthy voices in sports media today, joins Claire to talk about a mutual favorite subject of analysis: LeBron James. Nick has selected 23 defining moments from the first 23 years of LeBron&rsquo;s staggering career, and he breaks them down with Claire in enlightening fashion.
&nbsp;
Nick&rsquo;s Television show, First Things First
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/firstthingsfirst">https://www.youtube.com/firstthingsfirst</a>
&nbsp;
Nick&rsquo;s Podcast:
<a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whats-wright-with-nick-wright/id1612694726">https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whats-wright-with-nick-wright/id1612694726</a>
&nbsp;
Nick&rsquo;s Twitter:
<a href="https://x.com/getnickwright">https://x.com/getnickwright</a>
&nbsp;
Claire de Lune
<a href="https://x.com/ClaireMPLS">https://x.com/ClaireMPLS</a>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/clairempls/">https://www.instagram.com/clairempls/</a>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/claire-de-lune">https://www.theguardian.com/profile/claire-de-lune</a>

Ep 4: 23 Years of #23: a LeBron James Deep Dive with Nick Wright

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/b8dc93a1-239d-45a2-b024-b4e4010abb71/transcript

Multi-talented musician Flea (whose new solo album of jazz trumpet music, Honora, is out now),  is obviously most famous for his work as the bassist for multi-time platinum, Grammy award winning band Red Hot Chili Peppers. But he’s also one of the most ubiquitous basketball fans on the planet, often found courtside as a true ride-or-die Laker fan. In a fascinating and wide-reaching conversation, he talks to host Claire de Lune about everything from Kobe Bryant to the flow state.

 

Flea

https://x.com/flea333

https://www.instagram.com/flea333/

 

Flea’s latest record Honora: 

https://open.spotify.com/album/4RsSlnwkUAvEtg0Tk86HnM

https://music.apple.com/us/album/honora/1861644307

 

Claire de Lune

https://x.com/ClaireMPLS

https://www.instagram.com/clairempls/

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/claire-de-lune

Multi-talented musician Flea (whose new solo album of jazz trumpet music, Honora, is out now),&nbsp; is obviously most famous for his work as the bassist for multi-time platinum, Grammy award winning band Red Hot Chili Peppers. But he&rsquo;s also one of the most ubiquitous basketball fans on the planet, often found courtside as a true ride-or-die Laker fan. In a fascinating and wide-reaching conversation, he talks to host Claire de Lune about everything from Kobe Bryant to the flow state.
&nbsp;
Flea
<a href="https://x.com/flea333">https://x.com/flea333</a>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/flea333/">https://www.instagram.com/flea333/</a>
&nbsp;
Flea&rsquo;s latest record Honora:&nbsp;
<a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/4RsSlnwkUAvEtg0Tk86HnM">https://open.spotify.com/album/4RsSlnwkUAvEtg0Tk86HnM</a>
<a href="https://music.apple.com/us/album/honora/1861644307">https://music.apple.com/us/album/honora/1861644307</a>
&nbsp;
Claire de Lune
<a href="https://x.com/ClaireMPLS">https://x.com/ClaireMPLS</a>
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/clairempls/">https://www.instagram.com/clairempls/</a>
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/claire-de-lune">https://www.theguardian.com/profile/claire-de-lune</a>

Ep 3: Art, Philosophy and the Lakers with Flea

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/cac33441-a99a-425a-89b4-b4de00e9d523/transcript

Ep 5: The Secret Life of NBA Mascots with Eve Peyser

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