You may hear otherwise, but Knuckleheads is the best basketball podcast around right now (no disrespect to Let’s Get Technical or All The Smoke). Hosted by Chicago native Quentin Richardson and East St. Louis native, Darius Miles, the pod almost feels like an homage to Illinois– and more specifically, Chicago–basketball. The name of the pod stems from the duo’s signature on court celebration of putting two fists against the top of the dome after a highlight worthy play when they were teammates on the upstart Los Angeles Clippers in the early 2000’s.

The podcast doesn’t focus strictly on Chicago ballers, past and present. A lot of guests tend to be former players you may have forgotten about already, or former teammates of Q and D. No matter who the guest, there are a few underlying threads throughout each pod. Many guests refer to their experiences playing pickup runs in Chicago during the off season. Not many episodes are complete until there is a Michael Jordan story (whose effect on Chicago basketball is only rivaled by hometown hero, Isiah Thomas).

Chicago ball isn’t as publicly heralded as North Carolina, New York, or Los Angeles, but for the hardcore hoops fan, there are more than enough names to turn ones head and give the Windy City its due.

The OG’s

PG Isiah Thomas HOF 2 time NBA Champion, 1989 NBA Finals MVP, 1 Time NCAA Champion

F Eddie Johnson Sixth Man Award Winner, Averaged 16 pts a game

F Hersey Hawkins One Time All Star, Averaged 14.7 points a game

PG Mo Cheeks HOF 4 Time All Star, 1983 NBA Champion

PG Doc Rivers 1 Time All Star, 1 NBA Title as a Head Coach

PF Terry Cummings 2 Time All Star, 1982 Rookie of Year, Avg. 16.4 pts a game

F Mark Aguirre 3 Time All Star, 2 Time NBA Champion, Avg. 20 pts a game

PG Tim Hardaway 17 pts 8.2 assist, 5 times All Star

SG Kendall Gill Avg. 13.4 pts a game

PF Juwan Howard 2 X NBA champ, 13.4 pts a game, 6 rebounds 1 Time All Star

SF Michael Finley 2 Time All Star 2007 NBA Champ 15.7 pts, 4.4. assists

SG Nick Anderson 14.4 pts game, 5 rebounds, 13 years

Newer Blood

SG Quentin Richardson 12 seasons 10 points a game, 4.7 rebounds

PG Sherron Collins NCAA Champion 2008 13 pts a game

PG Patrick Beverley 3 X all Defensive team 10 seasons

SG Dwyane Wade 22 pts. 13 All Star 4.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 3 time NBA champ, ’06 Finals MVP

PF Antoine Walker 3 Time All Star, 7.7rebounds , 17 pts a game, ’06 NBA champ

SF Corey Maggette 16 pts, 4.9 rebounds, 12 seasons

SG Tony Allen 6 Time All Defensive team, 2008 NBA champion

PF Anthony Davis 8 Time All Star, 23.9 points a game, 10.2 rebounds 2 Time Olympian

PG Derrick Rose 3 Time All Star 18.5 pts, 2011 MVP

PG Iman Shumpert 2016 NBA champ 10 seasons

Honorable Mention

PG Will Bynum Georgia Tech high flyer Averaged 9 pts in NCAA

PG Bobby Simmons DePaul Seven NBA Seasons