LOS ANGELES, CA — Former NBA Champions Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes have formulated an incredible podcast that is head and shoulders above most that are in our time and space in All The Smoke presented by SHOWTIME Basketball. The two hosts head into an epic fourth season, with many guests that include Bonzi Wells and Rashad Wallace, yet Barnes is cognizant of making sure he uses the platform to give more presence to the WNBA as he looks to add more players such as two-time champion and Chicago Sky star Candace Parker and 2020 MVP A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, just to name a few.
“I would love to have Candace [Parker], I’ve been chasing Candace down the last two years,” Barnes told me while attending the 2022 Harold and Carol Pump Foundation Awards in Los Angeles. “A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart… any of those women, because like I said they do so much for the game on and off the court. I think it’s important to shine light on them.”
The EPMD and Outkast of podcast hosts, have notably had a variety of guests that included a couple former WNBA players, yet the time is now to turn the world’s heads on the current and future talent in the league. With the popularity of the WNBA growing, this is exactly the platform needed to showcase not just the ladies’ talent but overall lifestyle and an inside look at the characters of these lady ballers.
Barnes and Jackson, who have publicly supported the WNBA, are putting their actions where their words are. It was recently reported that the first round of the WNBA playoffs were one of the highest viewed in years. Barnes credited the late Kobe Bryant as a catalyst for women’s basketball and primarily the WNBA, showing the world that the icon has his sights on the sport and everyone else should support including former and current NBA players league wide.
“It’s important, these women work hard and bust their tails like we do. I really contribute a lot of this to my brother Kobe [Bryant] rest in peace, he really put an importance on supporting women. All that we did from a far before to come out and really show and say and buy gear and go to games. I think he lit a fire that a lot of my brothers now in the league continue to carry along with myself, and I think it’s very important to support the WNBA.”
Both Jackson and Barnes have grown as podcast/ show hosts over the past three years as audiences tune in to view the latest episodes and walk away wanting more. Ironically, when Barnes and Jackson were searching for names for their upcoming podcast, Barnes even put out a call to everyone on social media and offered a reward for anyone who could come up with a name. Eventually, the idea would come from someone inside their circle.
“My sister came up with the name”, Barnes explained. “I offered like $2,500 for the winner and she came up with the name and I didn’t give her any money,” he said smiling. “Shout out to her for my little sister for coming up with the name.”
All The Smoke is such a cultural staple that it only makes sense to add stars like Wilson, Parker, and Stewart, but other ladies such Kelsey Plum, Rhyne Howard (2022 WNBA Rookie Of The Year), Skylar Diggins-Smith, and others have an opportunity to have their voices heard and stories received. What Barnes and Jackson are doing will hopefully open up more for WNBA players to be showcased on other podcast and platforms.
When the two are not hosting the show, Barnes is coaching his sons, doing various analysis on television networks, while Jackson is balancing fatherhood, activism, and being a recent Big 3 League Championship coach.
