Two Years Later...
Reviewing the greatest hits on this newsletter's two-year anniversary, along with a shoutout for those who helped along the way
Somehow, it’s July 5th, 2025. That feels inherently strange, as it doesn’t feel as though it has been two years since I started this newsletter, though it simultaneously feels longer and shorter, for various reasons.
As I noted in last year’s anniversary piece, this newsletter started as something of a joke between friends. I never imagined that people would actually read anything I, someone with no experience writing about any sport, would write. Reading about basketball from a guy who has never played the sport at even a high school level feels absurd, though I suppose it gives me a unique perspective (if you want to call it that).
I’ve had to engross myself in the game to catch up and learn a few things on the fly that I probably wouldn’t have learned otherwise, which is wonderful in various ways. I’m proud of what we (yes, that includes you!) have built here, so I wanted to provide a rundown of what this newsletter has looked like over the two years.
That also gives me the opportunity to tell you all about a subscriber milestone that I was holding off on talking about until this piece: We officially hit 1,000 subscribers! To some, that’s not many — the big dogs have subscribers in the tens and hundreds of thousands — but to me, it’s mind-blowing that 1,000-plus of you want to hear me ramble about basketball, so thank you.
Over the past two years, I’ve:
Published 460 articles
Written 104 News and Rumor Roundups
Gained subscribers in Australia, Japan, Argentina, Sweden, and 62 other countries
Found out that the most wide-open man in the NBA is Royce O’Neale, despite misspelling his name (the “e” in his name is sneaky!)
Mused about the flattening of the NBA’s culture via social media
Discovered that the easiest way to win against the Pistons is to let Cade Cunningham have the ball in the 4th quarter (and overtime)
Created the 100% official tier list of NBA schedule release videos
Correctly predicted that franchises would dearly miss their ability to create continuity in their roster due to the new apron rules
Designed fake Christmas Day jerseys for last season’s teams
Got featured in OffBall for the first time (and was included twice thereafter!)
Edited and produced a podcast for an NBA shooting coach (more on that later!)
It’s been a weird two years. I’ve had to step away from a professional tennis career due to injuries, I’ve graduated college (twice, actually), scouted for a professional Canadian basketball team, been the head of operations for a sports psychology startup, and more. It’s one of the strangest roads I could have imagined and may only get stranger from here on out, but I wouldn’t necessarily have it any other way.
True to my word from the very start of this newsletter, I haven’t missed a single week of posts. In fact, I don’t think I’ve missed a single week in which I did not publish on three days of the week (Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday). With that has come a bit of burnout at times and an overall sense of inevitability, but I plan on continuing that pace until, uh, who knows!
Enough about me, though. I want to give a shout-out to these people for all of the assistance, help, and friendships they’ve given along the way:
- was the very first “big” subscriber I got to this newsletter, giving me that extra push to continue and actually grow this thing, and I’m forever appreciative of him being on board!
- has given me both a friendship and significant exposure via his NBA Substack roundtables, and I’m always happy to talk hoops/the state of NBA Substack with him. Honored, as always!
- , my guy! This past year, Marc (an NBA shooting coach) and I connected, though I can’t remember exactly how it started. Nevertheless, he’s become an awesome friend in the process, and I was honored to edit and produce his Low Man Help podcast over the past 12 months. Though podcast production has slowed because life is busy (as always!), Marc has been an awesome friend and sounding board.
Everyone at
, including (but not limited to) John Ross, Michael Visenberg, Bjorn Zetterberg, and, though not exclusive to GITG101, . Through them, I’ve made connections I wouldn’t have made otherwise, received a pro scouting opportunity, and been a part of something great: Helping other people get jobs in professional basketball.The entire crew at
(Ray LeBov, , and the aforementioned Mike Shearer), as BI was one of the first (and continued) ways in which I got exposure to other NBA Substackers and readers. Without them, I definitely would not have reached the 1,000 subscriber milestone!- , for past collaborations, many DMs, and being a really cool guy! He’s crazy consistent over at his newsletter , and across so many sports!
- for similar reasons as Mike — Neil was one of the first big Substackers to subscribe, which certainly helped push me to keep doing this. He does phenomenal work, and seeing him as a subscriber (having followed him since the FiveThirtyEight days) was awesome for my analytics-minded brain.
- , who has since moved his Substack to Ghost (it’s still just as great, obviously!). I’ve been honored to assist in creating his bSPARQ similarity tool and would love to continue collaborating in the future should the opportunity arise.
- , for being kind enough to occasionally feature my work in his massive Portuguese newsletter, . The fact that I have any subscribers in Portugal is due to this one man!!
Ben Wylie, the first official (non-comped/pledged) paid subscriber to this newsletter, and a guy who does some great statistical work over at Plot the Ball
- , who seems to grow at an absurd pace and has put together something special at !
Various (and no less special) others, such as
, , , , and !
I’m inevitably missing some (possibly many) of you, so if I did, please let me know!
This offseason, I have some plans for some very specific articles (and one historical piece/series that you likely won’t see coming at all), but other than that one, things are a bit up in the air. I’m also looking to start up the Somewhat Irregular Mailbag again, as that was quite enjoyable, but I also haven’t done it in practically a year.
As some of you know, I do no paid advertising, I don’t market myself (other than a semi-funny social media account on Instagram), and I’m notoriously bad at getting the word out. I’d love to see this grow at an exponential rate like some other Substacks do, but if it doesn’t, that’s okay, too. That being said, every single one of you, even if you’re not a full-time subscriber, has contributed to this newsletter. All of your comments, likes, and other dopamine-injecting actions have led to this point and will lead to many other milestones in the future. So I just wanted to say thank you to you all.
In the spirit of the two-year anniversary, I’m running a 50% off sale (forever!) for those of you who want to make the leap to the premium side of this newsletter. With it, you get access to the entire archive of content, weekend posts, and, hopefully, other perks in the future, too. You can only get that discount by clicking the button below, and the link will expire in a week’s time.
To other writers here on Substack: If you want to collaborate, hit me up, as I’m always down for collaboration. If that means writing an article with me, including me in a roundup, or even having me on a podcast, just let me know! One of my main things with this newsletter has been featuring other writers who don’t have the same followings as me (and, even if they have greater followings than me, I feature them, too). Collaboration is what has been the #1 contributor to the growth of this newsletter, so I don’t plan on throwing that by the wayside.
If you have any ideas for new additions to this newsletter, whether perks, article ideas, or otherwise, send them my way! And, if we haven’t met yet, feel free to reach out — like I said, my lines are open!
Congrats and great work, man!
Congrats Jacob! I have loved reading all your work, and am looking forward to all that's still coming!