Welcome back to another episode of Break Time with Jeff Pearlman! Today, we're ripping a 1989/90 Hoops Series 2 NBA Pack featuring an INCREDIBLE MAGIC JOHNSON pull that you have to see to believe! Head to https://tombstonecollectibles.com to get in on all the card breaking action and order your box set today.

Today, we're diving into a story that quite literally changed the course of basketball history. It's 1979, and legendary UNLV head coach Jerry Tarkanian, who's coming off an incredible Final Four run, is approached by then-Los Angeles Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke, and soon-to-be Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss, to be the head coach of the team. What happens next changed the course of basketball history, giving birth to the Showtime Lakers of the NBA and the Runnin' Rebels of college basketball.

Today, we're diving into a legendary college football player from the University of South Carolina named Marcus Lattimore, who - 15 years removed from his prime playing days - sees sports for what it is. He's also the only athlete I've ever covered who left his professional playing career to become a poet - and one of the brightest young writers of his generation.

Today, we're diving into one of my childhood heroes - my favorite baseball player of all-time: Ken Griffey, Sr. From World Series Champion to forgotten baseball star, he was more than just Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Father - he was a legend of the game.

Today, we're diving into one of the coolest football players of all-time - no, actually, maybe THE coolest football player of all-time - John Jefferson. The goggles wearing, 1,000-yard receiver may just be the coolest football player I've ever seen in my lifetime - and his downfall and subsequent departure from the NFL is one of the saddest, quickest falls from grace we've ever seen.

Today on a brand new episode of Break Time, we're diving into the most notorious, hilarious, wildest baseball card of all-time. A card that, when I was a kid, you wanted more than a Mike Schmidt rookie, or a Ken Griffey rookie - The Billy Ripken F*** Face card.

Today, we're diving into one of the most requested pieces on this channel: The great American hero Joe Delaney. We love tossing the word 'hero' out when speaking about athletes, but there's only a handful who've ever been honored enough to earn that title, and Joe Delaney is one of them. This is his story. We're going on tour! PBC City Series tickets are available here: https://www.3point0labs.io/pbctour

Today, we're diving into Quintin Dailey, the University of San Francisco phenom who's life story is one of the most complicated and tragic, yet horrific and grotesque stories I've ever covered. From severe allegations, to playing alongside Michael Jordan in the National Basketball Association, this is the story of Quintin Dailey.

Today, we're diving into a story about a guy who would make Barry Bonds seem like a media darling. A man who makes John Rocker look like - well, John Rocker will always look like a jerk, but you get the point. Today, we're diving into the one and only Dave Kingman, baseball's biggest a**hole.

Today, we're diving into the incredible, confusing, exciting yet deflating career of Vincent Ferragamo, the LA Rams good-looking, strong-armed, career backup QB, who had one of the most amazing one-year runs by an NFL QB in history, only to end up in the very place he competed to get out of.

Welcome to our brand new series 'Break Time with Jeff Pearlman,' where history comes alive one rip at a time. Today, we break a 2012 Contenders Panini Box, full of current and future Hall Of Fame players. Let's dive into the stories behind the trading cards we all grew up loving. Head to TSRips.com to get in on all the card breaking action and order your box set today. Follow Tombstone Rips on Social Media - IG/TikTok - @TombstoneRips Facebook - @TombstoneRips

Today, we're going to talk about my favorite NBA expansion team ever. A collection of good to not-so-great players, all buying in to launch the Miami Heat franchise in 1988. Except, they sucked. The 1988 Miami Heat couldn't shoot, couldn't pass, couldn't dribble, and they ended up being on the wrong side of NBA history.

Today, we are diving into a story that is maybe my greatest accomplishment as a journalist in my career. It's 1991, and Tupac Shakur has just released his debut album '2pacalypse Now' with his smash hit single 'Brenda's Got A Baby.' It's a song about a young woman who gives birth to a son on the floor of her kitchen, and leaves him in a trash heap. It's a harrowing story that hits deeply for many, and is one of his biggest hits to date. Except, the story was real. It was based on a real woman. And a real baby. And I found them both.

This it it. The team, the story, the one you've all been asking for. However for this, we're going to focus on one specific instance from the most batshit crazy, insane MLB team of all-time: The 1986 New York Mets. Post NLCS, the Mets are coming off a huge win over the Houston Astros, and heading to the World Series. What happens next is the craziest sh*t you've ever heard.

Today, we're going to discuss one of my favorite baseball players of all time. He was a flash in the pan who was set for a much longer career, but like many athletes, injuries derailed his promising future. Today, we discuss the legend of former Detroit Tigers ace Mark "The Bird" Fidrych.

Usually, we do these stories about sports figures past, present and future. But today, we're going to talk about an unsung hero. It's November 2021, and Henry Ruggs III has just got into a terrible car crash, killing Tina Tinter and her dog, Max. But on that night, there was a third person on site: Tony Rodriguez. This is his story.

Today, we're going to explore something that's outside our realm of sports stories. It's a story some of you may have heard before, but not like this. This is the story of how Tupac Shakur almost gave up music before even starting, and how touring with Digital Underground led to both tragedy and triumph. If you pre-order my book 'Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives Of Tupac Shakur' now and email me proof of your order at TupacBook1@gmail.com, you'll receive a specialized package from me as a thanks to you.

Tragedy in sports is not new. We deal with athletes who are gone too soon, far too often - Thurman Munson, Kobe Bryant, Len Bias - the list goes on and on. But today, we're going to talk about one of the forgotten tragedies in sports history, a guy that was Thurman Munson or Kobe Bryant for an earlier generation, and that's Chicago Cubs 2B Ken Hubbs.

*BONUS EPISODE* September 11, 2001 is the worst day of my and many other New Yorkers lives. I've lost my Dad, grandparents, loved ones - it's the worst day. But that day led me to Columbia basketball player Tyler Ugolyn, the Ugolyn family, and a 20+ year friendship that I still hold to this day.

in 2018 I was working on my book Three Ring Circus about the Shaq & Kobe Los Angeles Lakers of the 2000s. In 2001, the Lakers acquired an athletic, scoring shooting guard who was the former No. 5 overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft, but had bounced around the league with multiple teams. This episode is about the enigmatic Isaiah "J.R." Rider.