The NBA playoffs, Jim Brown, and the WNBA on Hang Up and Listen.

Josh Levin and Stefan Fatsis discuss the Heat and Nuggets and their stars Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jokic. They’re also joined by writers Dave Zirin and Jesse Washington to talk about the life and legacy of Jim Brown. Finally, Defector’s Maitreyi Anantharaman joins to assess Brittney Griner’s return, Becky Hammon’s suspension, and other WNBA storylines.

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• Jimmy Butler says Grant Williams’ trash talk fueled him during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

• Jeff Teague tells the Jimmy Butler practice story.

• Ben Golliver on how the Nuggets are dominating the Lakers.

• Thomas Beller’s profile of Nikola Jokic in Slate.

• Follow Dave Zirin on Twitter and buy his book, Jim Brown: Last Man Standing.

• Follow Jesse Washington on Twitter and read his 2017 profile, “Jim Brown Has No Time for Games.”

• Jim Brown, whose life as a football legend, actor, and athlete- and civil-rights activist was marred by a history of domestic abuse, died last week at age 87.

• Zirin wrote in the Nation that Brown “projected a sense of strength that made you want—even with all evidence to the contrary—to be lined up on his side.”

• In 2017, Zirin examined Brown’s economically motivated embrace of Donald Trump.

• Follow Maitreyi Anantharaman on Twitter and read her WNBA season preview in Defector.

• Brittney Griner played in her first WNBA regular-season games since her nearly 10-month detention in Russia.

• In the Atlantic, Jemele Hill wrote about Griner standing for the national anthem, which she’d stopped doing before her detention.

• Sabreena Merchant of the Athletic profiled Griner and her “remarkable joyfulness.”

• The WNBA penalized the Las Vegas Aces and suspended coach Becky Hammon for providing “impermissible benefits” to players and mistreating guard Dearica Hamby.

Hang Up and Listen’s weekly Max Heidegger:

Stefan’s Max Heidegger: The Jackson-Reed High School baseball team has won every D.C. public school championship since 1993, losing just one game against around 350 wins. The dominance is about race, wealth, and the decline of baseball in the inner city.

On this week’s bonus segment, Stefan, Josh, and Defector’s Maitreyi Anantharaman talk about the WNBA’s brutal roster cuts and when the league might expand.

Podcast production and edit by Kevin Bendis.

You can email us at hangup@slate.com.