January 26 - Ben Taylor on the Greatest Peaks in NBA History: LeBron, Shaq, Kobe, Bird, Magic and More...

The Late Night Happy Hour with Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

He's the author of "Thinking Basketball," the host of the "Thinking Basketball" Podcast, and the producer of the excellent "Greatest Peaks" series on his "Thinking Basketball" YouTube page. Hoops analytics guru Ben Taylor (@ElGee35) joins the Late Night Happy Hour, talking NBA greatness.

What was the inspiration for the series? How does he hone in on a player's peak? Which players had the most impressive ones?

We break down icons like Kobe Bryant, whose work off the ball and subtle movement with it helped free up his offense in surprising ways, and Shaquille O'Neal, who had far more nuance in his game than many people remember. How would Shaq translate to a truly modern game, spreading all the way to the 3-point line and beyond? What would that look like?

What about Larry Bird? What made him so great, and were he to enter the time machine to play today, would he be as dominant? Would his shooting ability, which wasn't fully exploited in the 80s, make him that much more unstoppable? Same with his passing on a floor that's much more open than his era... but then again, what about defense?

If there's a tough player to measure, it's LeBron James. We ask Ben a hard question: Just how do you pick a "peak" for LeBron? And how far off that place is he now? He has an answer for both. Finally we wrap with a discussion of Anthony Davis, who in Ben's mind has reached all-time great in one very interesting category.

Really interesting stuff, particularly for basketball history lovers and data wonks.