SHOWTIME SPORTS® announces the return of ALL THE SMOKE WITH MATT BARNES AND STEPHEN JACKSON to SHOWTIME. The two NBA champions and hosts agreed to a multi-year extension of SHOWTIME Basketball’s successful video podcast, as well as expanded roles contributing across SHOWTIME SPORTS platforms. SHOWTIME Basketball is the fast-rising content vertical that features compelling content from every corner of the sport and recently announced the addition of award-winning journalist, Rachel Nichols. The latest episode of ALL THE SMOKE dropped today, and features an extensive sit-down with eight-time NBA All-Star Dwight Howard.
The fourth season of the popular video podcast debuted on Thursday, August 25 featuring an interview with fan favorite and former NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace, and continued with episodes featuring NFL Hall of Famer Michael Strahan, All-Pro Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, Hall of Famer and Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd and NBA Finals MVP and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. New episodes of the industry-leading weekly series will be released on the SHOWTIME Basketball YouTube channel on Thursdays with future guests to include NBA All-Stars Kenyon Martin and Caron Butler, Grammy®-nominated rapper Freddie Gibbs and more.
As in seasons past, virtually no topic on ALL THE SMOKE is taboo — from the Xs and Os of basketball, to the history of the game, to social justice, politics, culture, music, mental health, the cannabis industry and more. Barnes, Jackson and their guests continually share never-before-told stories and offer genuine, honest opinions on the burning topics of the game and society.
Additionally, SHOWTIME will begin airing BEST OF ALL THE SMOKE episodes in October featuring some of the biggest names in rap music. The network will air the BEST OF series as part of HIP HOP 50, the SHOWTIME programming initiative celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop. BEST OF ALL THE SMOKEwill premiere on SHOWTIME Thursday, October 20 at 11 p.m. ET/PT, with new episodes debuting on the network every Thursday for 10 consecutive weeks (excluding Thanksgiving). All episodes will also be available on streaming and on demand platforms for SHOWTIME subscribers. The full lineup is as follows:
- October 20 – Ice Cube
- October 27 – Snoop Dogg
- November 3 – The Game
- November 10 – Wiz Khalifa
- November 17 – Common
- December 1 – Killer Mike
- December 8 – 2 Chainz
- December 15 – Jadakiss
- December 22 – Fat Joe
- December 29 – RZA
“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Matt and Stephen, who have blazed their own trail in the sports media space and become vital members of the SHOWTIME family,” said Brian Dailey, SVP, Sports Programming & Content, Showtime Networks Inc. “Anchored by their authenticity and creativity, we will continue to expand ALL THE SMOKE and SHOWTIME Basketball together. We truly believe the best is yet to come.”
“I’m excited for the evolution of our show and to continue to grow what we’ve built,” said Barnes. “We were early in the space and want to keep setting trends. We’ve always talked about having impactful roundtable discussions, reunion shows, crossovers with our SHOWTIME Basketball family, and collaborations with our counterparts in the industry, like Knuckleheads. We’ve developed franchises like WHAT’S BURNIN’ which will grow as we bring in top tier talent. What you can expect this season is live shows and interactive experiences, giving our fans more accessibility to us.”
“Our relationship with SHOWTIME has been a game-changer,” said Jackson. “We started as a basketball show and we’ve been able to cross over into other arenas such as boxing, which is a passion of mine. Our goal over this new season is to elevate the show, continue to grow as hosts and humans and become better storytellers. We want to build new lanes where we can take it to another level, taking advantage of the link between sports, music and Hollywood.”
ALL THE SMOKE WITH MATT BARNES AND STEPHEN JACKSON launched in 2019 and quickly gained acclaim with a broad and diverse audience for its fresh and unfiltered perspectives on a range of topics. The series established a prominent voice in sports media with in-depth, provocative and news-generating interviews with top players and luminaries including Kobe Bryant in one of his final on-camera interviews, NBA All-Stars Stephen Curry, Kevin Garnett, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, WNBA legend Sue Bird and many more. The podcast has also branched outside the world of sports, engaging in thought-provoking conversations with rappers Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg, multifaceted entertainer Jamie Foxx, activist Shaun King, actor Amin Joseph and actor and comedian Kevin Hart.
ALL THE SMOKE WITH MATT BARNES AND STEPHEN JACKSON is released in video and audio formats on major podcast platforms and on the SHOWTIME Basketball YouTube channel.
The executive producers of ALL THE SMOKE WITH MATT BARNES AND STEPHEN JACKSON are Barnes and Jackson, as well as Stephen Espinoza, Brian Dailey and Louis Krubich.
For more information about ALL THE SMOKE, follow @AllTheSmoke and @ShowtimeBasketball onInstagram and YouTube.
