The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas returns with 25th anniversary specials!

The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas opens a special season that will focus on the EuroLeague's 25th anniversary. With a one-hour format of exclusive interviews, The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas is an award-winning podcast that goes beyond what happened on the court and tells behind-the-scenes stories, some of them for the first time! In this first episode, Arlauckas hosts Coach David Blatt and Tyrese Rice, who led Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague crown in 2014.

Coach Blatt and Rice join Arlauckas for an insightful, relaxed conversation about how Maccabi became a EuroLeague champion against all odds. The team struggled at first and Rice was close to parting ways with Maccabi. He was ready to join EA7 Emporio Armani Milan when he learned he had to replace lifelong friend MarQuez Haynes. Rice joked about his "irrational confidence".

Inevitably, talk rolled around to Rice's game-winning shot in the semifinals against CSKA Moscow. Coach Blatt laughed about the teams' previous matchup in Moscow, when he was awarded the Russian Federation’s Order of Friendship right before losing by 35 points.

Arlauckas, Rice and Coach Blatt also talked about Game 1 of the playoff series against Milan, in which Maccabi rallied from a 12-point deficit to force overtime and steal the home-court advantage, and, of course, the championship game, which Maccabi won in overtime. Real Madrid was the favorite but Maccabi found a way.

The Crossover with Joe Arlauckas is available on Youtube, iTunes, Audioboom, Spotify, Deezer, RadioPublic, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher, CastBox, iVoox and other platforms.

Joe Arlauckas hosts Maccabi legends David Blatt and Tyrese Rice in this season's first episode