The Best Player Of The Year - Our 2025 Baller d'Or Award Show

Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective

ESPN

Sports, Basketball

3.9 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 2 January 2026

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to give out their Baller d'Or winner, our award for the best basketball player of the calendar year inspired by the Ballon d'Or in soccer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there. Surprise.
0:02.1	30 for 30 presents Booja.
0:05.2	Can I get a witness from the congregation?
0:08.1	You can't stop authenticity.
0:10.0	Boo ya!
0:11.0	Stewart was exactly like you saw him on camera, off camera.
0:14.5	He dialed it up 10%.
0:15.7	Can you imagine the impact of young black boys and girls looking at that going, I feel seen.
0:21.4	He changed the culture.
0:22.7	He changed sports.
0:24.2	Stream Booja, presented by Medello, right now on the ESPN app.
0:34.3	Hello, welcome to the Hoop Collective podcast.
0:37.2	We talk about the NBA, which we are doing at the dawn of a new year. Happy 2026 to everybody. And is our, and as is our tradition here on the Hoop Collective. Every year we, in the honor of the great Balloon Door, am I saying it correctly?
0:57.6	Ballandor, I believe.
0:58.5	I don't speak hero.
1:03.0	Not the balloon door.
1:05.4	I don't even know what language it is.
1:07.5	It's French.
1:08.4	It's a French award.
1:10.4	It's given out It's a French award.
1:21.8	It's given out to the player who has the best calendar year in international football, be over all the competitions.
1:26.0	We do a baller door here at the Hoop Collective.
	...

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