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Le Batard & Friends Presents: The Step Back

Dan Le Batard

Hosted by Dan Le Batard, Amin Elhassan, and Israel Gutierrez, this limited series is part nostalgia machine, part media autopsy—pulling apart the biggest athletes of our time through the moments that made them unavoidable.

Season one belongs to LeBron James.

From the Sports Illustrated cover that anointed him before he could legally celebrate, to The Decision that broke the internet before we even used that term, to “Shut Up & Dribble,” a phrase that accidentally defined an era—this is the story of how one athlete bent the relationship between sports, media, and power into something new.

Each episode revisits a single flashpoint – alongside a rotating cast of guests who were there, covered it, or lived it- the show asks the uncomfortable questions, finds the human ones, and occasionally gets distracted in ways that feel… familiar.

The Step Back is a time capsule with better context, worse timing, and just enough perspective to realize we might have missed the point the first time.

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  • 6 episodes
  • Updated July 21

Episodes6

Newest first
  • July 21 · 51 min

    There's Always This Year (feat. Hanif Abdurraqib)

    LeBron's final basketball destination is upon us. But what is he still playing for? How can The Kid From Akron top off the legacy of playing with his own son? What dream can he manifest in "retirement"? And how's Ohio doing? In the season finale of The Step Back, Dan, Amin and Izzy call upon a genius to finish constructing the architecture of affection — or at least appreciation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • July 1 · 59 min

    Shut Up & Dribble (feat. Jemele Hill & Cari Champion)

    LeBron James didn't just become the most famous athlete on Earth — he became one of its most careful, and occasionally most explosive, political voices. In the most contentious episode of our LeBron series, Dan, Amin and Izzy trace the moments that turned a basketball player into a lightning rod: The Trayvon Martin hoodie photo — and Dan's own take on it at the time, warts and all. The killing of Tamir Rice, and the "I Can't Breathe" shirt that, in the moment, didn't include his name. The ESPYs speech. The White House years, plural. The Bubble. And the legacy that's still being argued over, for better or worse. With firsthand memories from Jemele Hill and Cari Champion, plus a LeBron teammate history conveniently forgot. Homework for this episode: • "Reaction to tragic killing shows growth of LeBron" (The Miami Herald, 2012) • "Kevin Durant x LeBron James x Cari Champion" (Uninterrupted, 2018) • "Trump Attacked Black Athletes — and Paid for It in the End" (The Atlantic, 2020) • "LeBron James Doesn’t Talk About Politics Anymore" (New York, 2022) Encouraged homework for next week's season finale: • "There's Always This Year" by Hanif Abdurraqib (2025) More from "The Step Back": • Episode 1: The Chosen One (feat. Sonny Vaccaro) • Episode 2: The Decision (feat. Jim Gray) • Episode 3: I'm Coming Home (feat. Iman Shumpert) • Episode 4: LeBron Inc. (feat. Pablo Torre) • Don't miss an episode — subscribe here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • May 27 · 47 min

    I'm Coming Home (feat. Iman Shumpert)

    Dan, Amin and Izzy go behind the scenes of LeBron's loyalty, from Pat Riley's frustration to LeBron's Vegas hotel room and the Cavs' huddle in Game Seven.

  • May 19 · 57 min

    The Decision (feat. Jim Gray)

    As our exclusive new series on LeBron's legacy continues, Dan, Amin and Izzy re-live the awkward silence — and alternate history — of a made-for-TV moment that altered the course of Miami sports and player empowerment forever. More from "The Step Back": Episode 1: The Chosen One Don't miss an episode — subscribe here Homework for this episode: "The Decision" (ESPN, 2010) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afpgnb_9bA4 Homework for next week's episode: "I'm Coming Home" by LeBron James, as told to Lee Jenkins (Sports Illustrated, 2014) - https://www.si.com/nba/2014/07/11/lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers Optional homework for next week's episode: "Return of the King" by Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin (2018) - https://bookshop.org/p/books/return-of-the-king-lebron-james-the-cleveland-cavaliers-and-the-greatest-comeback-in-nba-history-brian-windhorst/9390251 Encouraged homework for next month's season finale: "There's Always This Year" by Hanif Abdurraqib (2025) - https://bookshop.org/p/books/there-s-always-this-year-on-basketball-and-ascension-hanif-abdurraqib/20204172 From our guest: "Talking to GOATs: The Moments You Remember and the Stories You Never Heard" - https://www.talkingtogoats.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

  • May 12 · 44 min

    The Chosen One (feat. Sonny Vaccaro)

    In the season premiere, Dan, Amin, and Izzy go back to the Sports Illustrated cover that turned a teenager into an industry, re-reading the prophecy with the very people who helped craft it. Plus: a resplendent Sonny Vaccaro joins us to re-live his failed $100 million offer to bring The Kid from Akron to Adidas. All that AND real talk about LeBron's untold origin story. Homework for this episode: • "Ahead of His Class" by Grant Wahl (Sports Illustrated, 2002) https://vault.si.com/vault/2002/02/18/ahead-of-his-class-ohio-high-school-junior-lebron-james-is-so-good-that-hes-already-being-mentioned-as-the-heir-to-air-jordan Homework for the next week's episode: • "The Decision" (ESPN, 2010) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afpgnb_9bA4 From our guest: • "Legends and Soles: The Memoir of an American Original" by Sonny Vaccaro with Armen Keteyian https://www.harpercollins.com/products/legends-and-soles-sonny-vaccaroarmen-keteyian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices