Co-Hosts of N.B.A. Player Podcasts Have ‘Best Job on the Planet’

Josh Hart grabbed a microphone, settled into his chair at the center of the stage and tugged the brim of his baseball cap. He looked to his left and saw the former N.F.L. quarterback Tom Brady and the rapper Lil Wayne on a black leather love seat. He looked to his right and saw his New York Knicks teammate and close friend Jalen Brunson in a matching easy chair.

Then he looked beyond Brunson, to the only person onstage who needed an introduction at all.

“That’s the man, the myth, the legend: Matt Hillman,” Hart said. “If you guys know the pod, you know Matty Ice.”

“I’m the only one onstage you guys don’t know,” Hillman replied.

“Y’all will know who he is by the end,” Hart told the crowd.

It was a Friday in mid-August, and Hart, Hillman and Brunson were recording the first-ever live episode of their podcast, “The Roommates Show,” at Fanatics Fest NYC. The show, which started in February, has attracted a growing audience in part because of the popularity and personal connections of a young, surging Knicks team: Hart and Brunson are among four Knicks players who were teammates at Villanova. (They were also, as the title suggests, roommates.)

The show exists in a relatively crowded niche. There’s no official list, but some online tallies put the number of podcasts hosted by current or former N.B.A. players at nearly 60. Last season, active players hosted at least two dozen podcasts, meaning that one out of roughly every 20 players had a show. Beyond their ubiquity, another interesting feature has emerged in this small corner of sports media: More than half the podcasts have relatively anonymous co-hosts, like Hillman.