I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 306

Austin welcomes NBA standout Roy Hibbert onto his show
Photo Credit: USA Today/Sports Illustrated

If you’re new, here’s the rundown. We listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are many wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but this feature largely hews to the regular rotation we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we’re happy to do so.

Show: Steve Austin Show — Unleashed!
Episode: 306 (March 10, 2016)
Run Time: 1:40:32
Guest: Roy Hibbert (14:13)

Summary: Austin welcomes Los Angeles Lakers center Roy Hibbert to 316 Gimmick Street. They talk about Hibbert’s move to LA and getting into the entertainment business, bond over coming into money and housing decision, then explore Hibbert’s childhood wrestling fandom. Hibbert, who is 7 feet, 2 inches tall, discusses his diet and fitness regimen, including mixed-martial arts training, which bleeds into talk about the fighters he follows. Austin asks about the NBA travel schedule and morale on a team that rarely wins, Hibbert explains the value of keeping a tight circle, then answers questions about on-court trash talk, influential players and the advantages of the modern NBA. When Austin’s wife comes home, they recount the story of how they met and their first date before calling it a wrap.

Quote of the week: “I’m not one of those people like Dwight Howard who have like this aura, or like LeBron, people wanna see those guys. I’m more of, like, behind the scenes and I’m realistic about who I am and what I can do. So I would rather — I have a ton of ideas. I write ’em down. And hopefully I can do something with that in the future.”

Why you should listen: Has it been too log since you heard Austin ask a guest what he thought about Brock Lesnar beating the Undertaker at WrestleMania? At least here it’s in the context of Hibbert as a longtime Undertaker fan, and that moment, like the rest of the episode, reveals Hibbert to be an affable, engaging personality who comes across as remarkably grounded for someone who’s earned more than $50 million in an eight-year NBA career.

Why you should skip it: Well, really, it’s Roy Hibbert on the Steve Austin Show. Have you ever heard Austin talk about watching any type of basketball? There’s nothing patently offensive here — it’s really a quite genial chat — but Hibbert isn’t terribly interesting, both in terms of his life story and presentation. Why it went on for nearly 90 minutes kind of boggles the mind.

Final thoughts: If your Austin fandom extends beyond his wrestling career to his larger entertainment interests, this probably holds some appeal — more so if you’re for some reason really into Hibbert, as he doesn’t really have anything to say you haven’t heard on dozens of basketball podcasts. It’s a friendly conversation, but there’s not really anything of substance. That said, I didn’t have particularly high expectations, so it’s worth nothing they were met if not slightly exceeded.