The NBA Jam Is Real Life Edition

Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin are joined by the Wall Street Journal’s Ben Cohen to discuss Duke freshman Zion Williamson and the video game–like NBA and NFL. Baseball writer Rob Neyer also joins to discuss Bill James’ claim that baseball players are replaceable. Zion Williamson (4:09): After two games, the Duke star looks like the greatest athlete in the history of basketball. Where can he possibly go from here? Sports as video games (19:55): Record-setting offenses in the NBA and NFL owe a lot to NBA Jam and Madden. How far will sports go in mirroring their video game counterparts? Bill James (37:06): The legendary iconoclast said, “If the players all retired tomorrow, we would replace them, the game would go on.” Is he right? Afterballs (58:58): Stefan on the next “next Bobby Fischer” and Josh on the case for NFL running backs to take performance-enhancing drugs. This episode is brought to you by the following advertisers:  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices