Above the Rim poster
Above the Rim

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Nutso nickname; sample-song bracket; fake dunks; intimidating coaches; Shep’s relationship; Bug’s fate

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:38:04Read transcript
  • Nutso’s nickname may come from his name or erratic personality; a neighborhood nickname anecdote makes it seem plausible.
  • A proposed bracket pairs great 1980s songs with 1990s sampled hits: I Keep Forgettin’/Regulate, The Way It Is/Changes, Mo Money Mo Problems, Been Around the World, and a Police/tribute-song pairing with initially disputed decade.
  • Wayans’s fake dunk is compared with the more implausible Norton dunk in American History X and Harrelson’s White Men Can’t Jump alley-oop.
  • Birdie is the more frightening halftime interview than Popovich, though 2010s Popovich is close.
  • Shep and Kyle’s mother are imagined to marry because he has stopped running away.
  • Bug probably dies in the club after shooting Birdie; the alternative is a long prison term.
  • A hypothetical matchup pits Shep and Kyle against Blue Chips’ Butch and Neon; Neon is considered too hard to guard, so a three-on-three adds the white number 52 and Ricky Roe.