On January 22, 2006, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors — 55 of them in the second half, with his team down 20. For twenty years it stood as the modern standard for a single-game takeover. Then on March 10, 2026, Bam Adebayo dropped 83 on the Washington Wizards and the record books changed.

On this episode of Circle The Block, hosts Rello and Cunda put the two nights side by side and ask the question the box score can't answer: which one actually mattered?

The crew breaks down what Kobe was working with that night; a roster of Chris Mihm, Kwame Brown, Smush Parker and Lamar Odom; and why "team ball" stops being an argument when you're down twenty and nobody else can score. They get into the 46 shot attempts, the 18 free throws, the scoring title he won that season, and the Nick Young story about Kobe wiping a play off the clipboard and telling the huddle exactly what was about to happen.

Then they turn to Bam's 83: 31 points in the first quarter, 62 through three, and a Heat team that was already up close to 30 on a Wizards squad in rebuild. The hosts dig into the uncomfortable part — the late intentional fouls to get the ball back, the 22 three-point attempts from a career defensive anchor averaging 18 a game, and whether a record chased in a blowout carries the same weight as one earned in a comeback. Plus A'ja Wilson courtside, and what happens when the most competitive woman in basketball is in your ear.

The episode also goes personal: AAU summer league in Mason, Ohio, nine threes against OJ Mayo's squad, and the difference between a heat check and a real takeover moment.

As always, the crew runs their odds; Pacific and Southeast Division futures, with a long look at what AD and Bub Carrington mean for Washington before Bishop Cunda takes the pulpit with the line that sums the whole episode up: if Kobe's 81 hits harder than Bam's 83, then numbers do lie.

New episodes of Circle The Block drop every week. Hit subscribe and turn on notifications.

00:00 – Cold open: Kobe on the night he scored 81
00:40 – Intro with the crew
02:59 – Birthdays, safari backdrops & a David Attenborough party
05:00 – Does January 22, 2006 ring a bell?
06:02 – Circling the block on Kobe's 81-point game
06:56 – Where were you when it happened?
09:01 – 55 points in the second half
09:48 – "Give me the ball and move"
10:49 – Team? What team? The roster Kobe was carrying
11:27 – The Jordan comparison nobody asked for
12:48 – Which side of the fence are you on?
13:46 – The Nick Young story: Kobe wiping the play off the clipboard
14:29 – The scoring title season
15:06 – 46 shots, 18 free throws & what it took
16:12 – Personal takeover moments
17:18 – Nine threes against OJ Mayo in Mason, Ohio
18:00 – Reggie Miller, birthday twins & a 20-year gap
18:47 – Being the glue guy instead of the gunner
19:53 – Odds: Pacific Division futures
21:45 – Back from break
22:09 – Twenty years later, the record falls
22:49 – Circling the block on Bam Adebayo's 83-point game
23:14 – A'ja Wilson courtside
23:56 – 31 points in the first quarter
24:51 – The Wizards, AD & what that roster really is
25:20 – A 150-129 blowout: the stat-padding question
26:56 – Competitive energy at home
28:37 – Kobe at 26 by half vs. Bam at 43
29:43 – "Y'all really blowing this team out — why are you still playing?"
30:13 – The free throws at the end of both games
31:11 – 8/24 and why the number matters
31:37 – Where Rello lands on Bam's 83
32:14 – Respecting the effort, questioning the circumstance
33:08 – Odds: Southeast Division futures
34:26 – Trae Young, Bub Carrington & the Washington flip
35:49 – Bishop Cunda takes the pulpit
37:22 – "I guess numbers do lie"
38:32 – Less is more: why 81 beats 83
40:08 – Last words & picking on a rookie
42:13 – Outro

ABOUT
Circle The Block is a culture and nostalgia podcast hosted by Rello The Saya and Cunda, where hip hop history, throwback pop culture, sports, gaming, and current entertainment news collide. New episodes weekly.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On August 28, 2003, Madonna opened the MTV Video Music Awards dressed as a groom, with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera as her brides and kissed them both on live television. The clip ran on front pages usually reserved for political news, got replayed relentlessly on MTV, and became one of the most downloaded moments of the early internet, years before social media existed.

On this episode of Circle The Block, hosts Rello and Cunda use that night as the entry point into a bigger idea: the passing of the torch, and whether anybody recognizes it while it's happening.

The crew breaks down what the VMA moment actually was underneath the shock value; Madonna two decades into pushing boundaries, Britney and Christina both shedding the teen-idol image at the same time, and a staged wedding that doubled as an anointing. They get into why MTV panned to Justin Timberlake instead of staying on the action, how taboo it felt in 2003 versus how ordinary it would read now, and why hosts make or break these nights (respect paid to Chris Rock, Jamie Foxx and Kevin Hart).

Then they circle back to 1983 and a moment far fewer people have actually seen: the only night James Brown, Michael Jackson and Prince shared a stage, at the Beverly Theater in Los Angeles. Brown pulled Michael out of the audience. Michael whispered to Brown to call Prince up too. What happened next has become legend: Prince arriving on his bodyguard's back, a shaky guitar solo, the shirt coming off, and the stage-prop lamppost that didn't survive. Plus the Quincy Jones story about what an embarrassed Prince allegedly planned to do in the parking lot afterward.

The hosts dig into the real split that night represented: Michael inheriting James Brown's precision and showmanship while Prince took the raw, multi-instrumental side of the same legacy and the decade-long rivalry that followed. Plus an honest take on who Prince really was in the early '80s, why Purple Rain might be less acting than people think, and the era when Black music let only one person win at a time.

As always, the crew runs their odds on UFC 333 before Bishop Cunda takes the pulpit with a message about recognizing what you're looking at while it's still in front of you.

New episodes of Circle The Block drop every week: hit subscribe and turn on notifications.

00:00 – "Anybody kisses Madonna creates some hype"
00:40 – Intro with the crew
01:53 – A bad day: the Cowboys lose to a backup QB at home
03:22 – Why AT&T Stadium is the NFL's Madison Square Garden
05:08 – Award show moments that make you say "what did I just watch"
05:28 – Circling the block on Madonna's 2003 VMA double kiss
06:11 – How much twenty years changes what's taboo
06:42 – Chris Rock hosting & why the host makes the show
07:09 – Great award show hosts: Kevin Hart, DruSki, Jamie Foxx
10:20 – Front page news: bigger than politics that week
11:19 – Why the camera cut to Justin Timberlake
12:17 – Madonna's two decades of boundary-pushing by 2003
12:40 – The groom, the brides & the staged wedding
13:42 – Who else but Madonna could have pulled it off
15:48 – Watching it live at 16, with mom on the couch
16:43 – Odds: UFC 333 (Yan vs. Dvalishvili)
17:36 – Back from break: other passing-the-torch moments
18:16 – Circling the block on James Brown, Michael Jackson & Prince, 1983
19:17 – Prince arriving on his bodyguard's back
19:46 – How the night actually unfolded at the Beverly Theater
21:00 – Michael calling Prince up to the stage
22:20 – Why Prince treated Michael like the opposition
22:43 – When Black music only allowed one winner
23:00 – The guitar solo, the shirt & the lamppost
24:01 – The Quincy Jones parking lot story
24:34 – Purple Rain, Graffiti Bridge & how much was really acting
25:48 – Prince could actually hoop
26:30 – The split: Michael got the precision, Prince got the raw
29:29 – The bridge between eras
29:58 – Odds: UFC 333 (Volkanovski vs. Evloev)
30:46 – Bishop Cunda takes the pulpit
31:30 – Recognize what you're looking at
33:13 – Last words & Steelers Nation condolences
35:11 – NBA preseason: the Sixers, Dame, Ja Morant
36:30 – Outro

Circle The Block is a culture and nostalgia podcast hosted by Rello and Cunda, where hip hop history, throwback pop culture, sports, gaming, and current entertainment news collide. New episodes weekly.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1999, Trent Green went down in the preseason and the sports world wrote off the St. Louis Rams. Coach Vermeil stood at a podium in tears and told the media they would rally around Kurt Warner and play good football. Six months later, Warner was a Super Bowl champion and the NFL MVP.

On this episode of Circle The Block, hosts Rello and Cunda use that moment as the lens for what's happening across the league right now; a season where backup quarterbacks are suddenly running half the NFC.

The crew breaks down who Kurt Warner actually was when he took over: a 28-year-old undrafted backup out of the Arena Football League who famously stocked groceries at a Hy-Vee supermarket, with zero regular-season starting experience. They get into how his arena background was secretly perfect for Mike Martz's quick-release system, how the supporting cast of Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce and Ricky Proehl turned into the Greatest Show on Turf, and the 2021 biopic American Underdog (with Dennis Quaid as Vermeil) that one host somehow missed entirely.

From there it becomes a full backup quarterback roll call: Tom Brady stepping in for Drew Bledsoe, Nick Foles winning a ring after Carson Wentz went down, Brett Favre in Atlanta, Randall Cunningham in Minnesota, Tony Romo coming off the bench, Matt Cassel and Jimmy Garoppolo turning fill-in years into contracts, Trent Dilfer riding a historic defense, and a deep run through the Steelers' own bench history: Charlie Batch, Byron Leftwich, Dennis Dixon, Tommy Maddox, Mike Vick and Mason Rudolph.

Then they bring it to right now. Jackson Dart's season-ending knee injury and Jameis Winston's audition going sideways. The J.J. McCarthy trade. Jayden Daniels going down again and Marcus Mariota taking over in Washington. Caleb Williams' injury in Chicago and Case Keenum beating the Eagles anyway, which raises the real question of the episode: how much of this is the quarterback, and how much is the coaching?

Plus Mike Tomlin's "next man up" philosophy and the fine line between a Pro Bowler and a backup, an Any Given Sunday detour into Willie Beamen, and an honest look at why talent evaluation in the NFL is still an imperfect science.

As always, the crew runs theirl odds; NFC West and NFC North futures before Bishop Cunda takes the pulpit with a message about haters and seizing your opportunity when it finally comes.

New episodes of Circle The Block drop every week; hit subscribe and turn on notifications.

00:00 – Cold open: "We will rally around Kurt Warner"
00:41 – Intro with the crew
01:08 – Don't take yourself too seriously
02:10 – Pittsburgh's in an uproar (and why haters don't get airtime)
03:17 – Daddy mode: the daughter competition
05:40 – Circling the block on the 1999 Trent Green injury
06:25 – The Rodney Harrison hit everybody remembers
07:10 – Coach Vermeil's press conference and the promise he made
07:40 – Who Kurt Warner was: arena ball and stocking shelves
08:45 – American Underdog: the Kurt Warner biopic
11:06 – Backup QB roll call: Brady, Foles, Favre, Cunningham
13:12 – The Steelers bench: Batch, Leftwich, Dixon, Maddox, Rudolph
14:30 – Matt Cassel, Jimmy G & the backup-to-contract pipeline
15:00 – Tomlin: the fine line between a Pro Bowler and a backup
15:39 – How the Greatest Show on Turf was actually built
17:00 – Odds: NFC West futures
19:49 – Back from break
22:15 – Jameis Winston's audition goes sideways
24:43 – The J.J. McCarthy trade & Jayden Daniels going down
25:10 – Marcus Mariota takes over in Washington
25:41 – Circling the block on Caleb Williams' injury
28:41 – Why the league defaults to panic mode
31:01 – Inside the locker room: jobs on the line
33:19 – Next man up & the Willie Beamen principle
35:47 – Odds: NFC North futures
38:58 – Back from break
39:08 – Bishop Cunda takes the pulpit
40:19 – Six months from stocking shelves to MVP
41:23 – Last words: shoot your shot
43:14 – Outro

Circle The Block is a culture and nostalgia podcast hosted by Rello The Saya and Cunda, where hip hop history, throwback pop culture, sports, gaming, and current entertainment news collide. New episodes weekly.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.