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    <title>Le Batard &amp; Friends Presents: The Step Back</title>
    <language>en</language>
    <copyright>Copyright 2026</copyright>
    <description>Hosted by Dan Le Batard, Amin Elhassan, and Israel Gutierrez, this limited series is part nostalgia machine, part media autopsy—pulling apart the biggest athletes of our time through the moments that made them unavoidable.

Season one belongs to LeBron James.

From the Sports Illustrated cover that anointed him before he could legally celebrate, to The Decision that broke the internet before we even used that term, to “Shut Up &amp; Dribble,” a phrase that accidentally defined an era—this is the story of how one athlete bent the relationship between sports, media, and power into something new.

Each episode revisits a single flashpoint – alongside a rotating cast of guests who were there, covered it, or lived it- the show asks the uncomfortable questions, finds the human ones, and occasionally gets distracted in ways that feel… familiar.

The Step Back is a time capsule with better context, worse timing, and just enough perspective to realize we might have missed the point the first time.</description>
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      <title>Le Batard &amp; Friends Presents: The Step Back</title>
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    <itunes:type>episodic</itunes:type>
    <itunes:subtitle></itunes:subtitle>
    <itunes:author>Dan Le Batard</itunes:author>
    <itunes:summary>Hosted by Dan Le Batard, Amin Elhassan, and Israel Gutierrez, this limited series is part nostalgia machine, part media autopsy—pulling apart the biggest athletes of our time through the moments that made them unavoidable.

Season one belongs to LeBron James.

From the Sports Illustrated cover that anointed him before he could legally celebrate, to The Decision that broke the internet before we even used that term, to “Shut Up &amp; Dribble,” a phrase that accidentally defined an era—this is the story of how one athlete bent the relationship between sports, media, and power into something new.

Each episode revisits a single flashpoint – alongside a rotating cast of guests who were there, covered it, or lived it- the show asks the uncomfortable questions, finds the human ones, and occasionally gets distracted in ways that feel… familiar.

The Step Back is a time capsule with better context, worse timing, and just enough perspective to realize we might have missed the point the first time.</itunes:summary>
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      <![CDATA[<p>Hosted by Dan Le Batard, Amin Elhassan, and Israel Gutierrez, this limited series is part nostalgia machine, part media autopsy—pulling apart the biggest athletes of our time through the moments that made them unavoidable.</p>
<p>Season one belongs to LeBron James.</p>
<p>From the Sports Illustrated cover that anointed him before he could legally celebrate, to The Decision that broke the internet before we even used that term, to “Shut Up &amp; Dribble,” a phrase that accidentally defined an era—this is the story of how one athlete bent the relationship between sports, media, and power into something new.</p>
<p>Each episode revisits a single flashpoint – alongside a rotating cast of guests who were there, covered it, or lived it- the show asks the uncomfortable questions, finds the human ones, and occasionally gets distracted in ways that feel… familiar.</p>
<p><strong>The Step Back is</strong> a time capsule with better context, worse timing, and just enough perspective to realize we might have missed the point the first time.</p>]]>
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    <itunes:owner>
      <itunes:name>Meadowlark Media</itunes:name>
      <itunes:email>lebatardandfriends@gmail.com</itunes:email>
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    <itunes:category text="Sports">
      <itunes:category text="Basketball"/>
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    <itunes:category text="Society &amp; Culture">
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      <title>The Chosen One (feat. Sonny Vaccaro)</title>
      <description>In the season premiere, Dan, Amin, and Izzy go back to the Sports Illustrated cover that turned a teenager into an industry, re-reading the prophecy with the very people who helped craft it. Plus: a resplendent Sonny Vaccaro joins us to re-live his failed $100 million offer to bring The Kid from Akron to Adidas. All that AND real talk about LeBron's untold origin story.



Homework for this episode:

• "Ahead of His Class" by Grant Wahl (Sports Illustrated, 2002)

https://vault.si.com/vault/2002/02/18/ahead-of-his-class-ohio-high-school-junior-lebron-james-is-so-good-that-hes-already-being-mentioned-as-the-heir-to-air-jordan



Homework for the next week's episode:

• "The Decision" (ESPN, 2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afpgnb_9bA4



From our guest:

• "Legends and Soles: The Memoir of an American Original" by Sonny Vaccaro with Armen Keteyian

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/legends-and-soles-sonny-vaccaroarmen-keteyian


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices</description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2026 14:20:00 -0000</pubDate>
      <itunes:episodeType>full</itunes:episodeType>
      <itunes:season>1</itunes:season>
      <itunes:episode>1</itunes:episode>
      <itunes:author>Dan Le Batard</itunes:author>
      <itunes:subtitle></itunes:subtitle>
      <itunes:summary>In the season premiere, Dan, Amin, and Izzy go back to the Sports Illustrated cover that turned a teenager into an industry, re-reading the prophecy with the very people who helped craft it. Plus: a resplendent Sonny Vaccaro joins us to re-live his failed $100 million offer to bring The Kid from Akron to Adidas. All that AND real talk about LeBron's untold origin story.



Homework for this episode:

• "Ahead of His Class" by Grant Wahl (Sports Illustrated, 2002)

https://vault.si.com/vault/2002/02/18/ahead-of-his-class-ohio-high-school-junior-lebron-james-is-so-good-that-hes-already-being-mentioned-as-the-heir-to-air-jordan



Homework for the next week's episode:

• "The Decision" (ESPN, 2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afpgnb_9bA4



From our guest:

• "Legends and Soles: The Memoir of an American Original" by Sonny Vaccaro with Armen Keteyian

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/legends-and-soles-sonny-vaccaroarmen-keteyian


Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices</itunes:summary>
      <content:encoded>
        <![CDATA[<p>In the season premiere, Dan, Amin, and Izzy go back to the Sports Illustrated cover that turned a teenager into an industry, re-reading the prophecy with the very people who helped craft it. Plus: a resplendent Sonny Vaccaro joins us to re-live his failed $100 million offer to bring The Kid from Akron to Adidas. All that AND real talk about LeBron's untold origin story.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Homework for this episode:</p>
<p>• "Ahead of His Class" by Grant Wahl (Sports Illustrated, 2002)</p>
<p><a href="https://vault.si.com/vault/2002/02/18/ahead-of-his-class-ohio-high-school-junior-lebron-james-is-so-good-that-hes-already-being-mentioned-as-the-heir-to-air-jordan"><u>https://vault.si.com/vault/2002/02/18/ahead-of-his-class-ohio-high-school-junior-lebron-james-is-so-good-that-hes-already-being-mentioned-as-the-heir-to-air-jordan</u></a></p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Homework for the next week's episode:</p>
<p>• "The Decision" (ESPN, 2010)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afpgnb_9bA4"><u>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afpgnb_9bA4</u></a></p>
<p><br></p>
<p>From our guest:</p>
<p>• "Legends and Soles: The Memoir of an American Original" by Sonny Vaccaro with Armen Keteyian</p>
<p><a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/legends-and-soles-sonny-vaccaroarmen-keteyian"><u>https://www.harpercollins.com/products/legends-and-soles-sonny-vaccaroarmen-keteyian</u></a></p>
<p><br></p><p> </p><p>Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a></p>]]>
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      <itunes:duration>2680</itunes:duration>
      <itunes:explicit>yes</itunes:explicit>
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