The Bill Simmons Thread
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Bam and Tatum look the same height and AD looks taller.
I think Tatum is about 6'10 in reality and AD is 6'11/7'0.
Regardless, it's definitely not enough of a scandal to talk about for a long time. If you didn't specifically bring it up, I never would have looked
I was listening to the end of the podcast this morning and the discussion was entirely positive with the size as a starting point. RR was caught off guard how big Tatum looked in-person. Beyond that, how Tatum was defending centers and playing PG in the NBA finals at that size and not many people seemed to give him credit for it (a tad ironic, in my opinion
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It sounds like Russillo went back and watched the Finals.I was listening to the end of the podcast this morning and the discussion was entirely positive with the size as a starting point. RR was caught off guard how big Tatum looked in-person. Beyond that, how Tatum was defending centers and playing PG in the NBA finals at that size and not many people seemed to give him credit for it (a tad ironic, in my opinion
Today on the pod: Bill Worries About Stuff! Featuring:
* superficial takes on the election
* Jaylen Brown's comments on olympics politics... is he secretly turning into James Harden?
* The Bucks Are Back! Thanks to some narrative shit and Taurean Prince
* Heat 2 might suck (OK this is probably right)
* superficial takes on the election
* Jaylen Brown's comments on olympics politics... is he secretly turning into James Harden?
* The Bucks Are Back! Thanks to some narrative shit and Taurean Prince
* Heat 2 might suck (OK this is probably right)
The Bucks are just so old. Has anyone ever come back from multiple season in a row getting injured for the playoffs to win a championship? Klay was not a big part of 2022.
I just can't envision a world where Middleton, Dame, and Giannis are all healthy through the playoffs. Hell their entire rotation outside of Gary Trent Jr is going to be on the wrong side of 30. The oldest rotation in the NBA got older (I think the 76ers rotation can get older than the Bucks but Maxey at least starts).
I just can't envision a world where Middleton, Dame, and Giannis are all healthy through the playoffs. Hell their entire rotation outside of Gary Trent Jr is going to be on the wrong side of 30. The oldest rotation in the NBA got older (I think the 76ers rotation can get older than the Bucks but Maxey at least starts).
But hey, feel the narrative! They're under the radar! Their shit that hasn't worked for three years, most specifically against the Celtics, will work now because of the narrative!
Bill is losing the plot.
Not exactly the same, but we have a very, very recent example of someone missing multiple playoffs then winning a title in their year back - Jamal Murray. Tore his ACL in April 2021, missed the 2021 playoffs and the entire 2022 season (including playoffs), then was amazing in the 2023 playoffs en route to a title. Murray was just 25 when he finally had another healthy playoff run (while Giannis will be 30), but it wouldn't be the strangest thing for him to have a healthy and effective playoff run next spring, even if you're not particularly bullish on him longterm.
The Bucks probably still have a higher ceiling than anyone outside of Boston in the East, but I'm not betting on them getting there. The real question is what happens with Giannis if next year looks similar to their last three seasons, which included just one playoff series win. Giannis has been easily the best player in the East since Lebron left and he's had at least one all-star level teammate every year since hitting his prime, but they've gotten out of round 1 just once in the last 5 years. Brutal.
Thanks for the reminder that it's July and Bill is still talking only about the NBA. This is when I bury his show in my podcast feed til September.
Not delving into politics, but Tara Palmeri remains absolutely brutal at election coverage. What a massive downgrade from the Pod Save America crew.
Wait what? Was Harden involved with Olympics politics? I have no idea what the connection is there
FWIW, this was Bill's first pod in weeks as he has taken most of the month off. And he only talked about the NBA for a very brief portion of the pod, it was mostly talking about Biden with Bryan Curtis and Palmeri and then talking about Heat 2.
No, I meant that he heard JB's comments and started worrying that brown will become selfish and ask to be traded.
As expected, despite the confounding disappearance of Jayson Tatum, his self-declared "son", Bill Simmons celebrated the genius of Kerr on his latest pod -- particularly his dialing into a line-up consisting of Steph, Lebron, Embiid, and KD. [Shockingly, he seemed oblivious to Booker's disappointing minutes.]
For sure. Bill's news/rumors about Bezos got a lot of play but this was way more interesting to me.
Chuck comparing him to Pete Rose put him on the defensive a bit. I've often wondered how much money he is betting and winning/losing. I guess that's as close as we will ever get to finding out. And there is NO WAY he "forgot" how much money he made on his biggest sports gambling win ever in 2015. No. Fucking. Way.
It was also fun when he asked what is the day to day difference in how bill and be is live their lives. Of course, it’s dumb as below is a whole different magnitude of rich, but it’s fun to see Bill get defensive about his wealth.
Chuck is easily my favorite Simmons guest because he knocks him off stride so often.
Simmons doesn't seem to know the difference between patriotism and jingoism. He also still seems to think that "Born In the USA" is a rah rah American anthem. This is why he's the GOAT.
Just a wild ass guess, but I think Bill is probably responsible relative to his means - wagers in the $100's up to $10,000 range depending on the scenario. I doubt he's throwing around millions like Phil, MJ, Portnoy, etc. He just knows admitting the amount live on-air would paint him as out of touch. $10k for him is probably equivalent to a $50 bet for us normal folks (hell, maybe even more than $10k).
Probably this: he is a person who bets with his buddies. He, House and Cousin Sal talk about their group bets all the time, and the latter two have to be betting a lot less than Simmons would be comfortable losing.
I tend to agree, without knowing anything, it wouldn’t surprise me if Bill is embarrassed to say the other direction.
I expect Chuck will be frozen out for a while after grilling Simmons.
Love Chuck, so I listened to this episode and I'm glad I did, he is zany and awesome.
I don't think Chuck will get frozen out, or if so, it won't matter to him. Bill calls him to be on the show and he shows up. As he stated at the end of the pod, he has absolutely nothing to promote, but still he gave Bill a couple of hours of his time.
I feel like for every one fun and interesting thing Klosterman says, he offers up two things that are just silly and dumb. Seems like he’s just trying way too hard these days.
Related, the conversation about air travel was insane. Guys, you know what’s improved about air travel the past 30 years? Crashing. Big planes don’t crash much anymore, and not at all in the US. Unreal.
Related, the conversation about air travel was insane. Guys, you know what’s improved about air travel the past 30 years? Crashing. Big planes don’t crash much anymore, and not at all in the US. Unreal.
I don’t know how much you guys are into Chuck or used to listen to the Jungle back in the day but Chuck’s appearance in Rome’s show was really good, particularly the stuff about the Jungle.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/12DzUzlIm6UZRKy4QtJkdk?si=SYxtsIZtSeC7mIVn_U1nOA&t=1623&context=spotify:show:3cQVkNmnVYzo253IuucixV
https://open.spotify.com/episode/12DzUzlIm6UZRKy4QtJkdk?si=SYxtsIZtSeC7mIVn_U1nOA&t=1623&context=spotify:show:3cQVkNmnVYzo253IuucixV
Chuck is absolutely right about the level of Peter Edward Rose love in Cincinnati. I drive Pete Rose Way to work daily. There is reverence for the small field he played up on the poor Westside growing up, although someone in the Reds told me that they dont have enough interest in that part of town to field a team. In a town and a team that featured perhaps the best catcher ever and one of the very best second basemen, Rose is king. Barry Larkin is also a HOF hometown kid who went to Moeller High, and he can't touch Pete for popularity.
If nothing else, for Chuck to analogize BS and PER, at least it should make the Sports Gal ask BS what he is up to.
He watches movies with sports on another TV right next to it. That's so fucking crazy to me.
The man is an animal
edit: Being a bit of a sicko myself, I wonder if others dont love this great reference
View: https://youtu.be/fdeqPf8hk5U?si=eTDSnX7Xvf9BxLOJ
Sometimes I read this thread and wonder if I’m in an alternate universe. Or maybe more likely someone is just trolling.
Klosterman didn’t grill Bill. In fact that part of their conversation was pretty interesting and Bill seemed engaged. He mentioned how he never won “like 100,000”. Which made me think he threw down a grand or so on the Warriors in 2015 when he hit on 30-to-1 odds.
Bill has made millions from gambling. He’s just made it from advertising and sponsored content fees. The house always wins and he’s in bed with DraftKings.
Chuck tries to compare him to Pete Rose or other degenerate gamblers but BS just keeps it very generic…the most he acknowledged is “there are levels to this”.
Chuck tries to compare him to Pete Rose or other degenerate gamblers but BS just keeps it very generic…the most he acknowledged is “there are levels to this”.
You mean all of these people who have worked closely with Bill Simmons for years, owe him a debt of gratitude for helping their careers, and plainly consider him a friend don't secretly hate his guts?!?!
I don't think he grilled him, per se, I just thing he called out some stuff and gets him out of his normal rhythms. Bill doesn't get to just do the same old stuff when Chuck is on.
"Grilling" might be strong but Simmons was clearly not comfortable discussing his personal betting/finances and Klotserman did not immediately drop the subject. That's how I heard it anyway.
I thought the "crown jewel franchises" was much more interesting.
Bill seemed fine to me. It took him by surprise and then he and Chuck had a nice little 3 minute cordial conversation. The idea that Bill would freeze out Chuck from his show because of it is trolling.
The crown jewel franchises and NFL football stadium design topics were interesting, and the ones where Chuck didn't veer off into silliness.
It was interesting, and I sort of agree that super small is the right way to do the list. That said, I'm not sure they have it right if you're looking at global brand value. The most valuable U.S. teams are NFL by a fair margin. But if you go global, no NFL team is really a global brand. The Yankees are, probably more logo than anything else, the Lakers are and that may kind of be it. You could make an argument for the Celtics, Bulls, and, on the strength of the LeBron era the Heat, but not much more than that. I see very, very little Dallas Cowboys stuff outside of the Americas. To the extent I see any NFL stuff, it's generally the Patriots, front running and all.
On the other hand if you want to go to the "who is always news in America whether they're good or bad" standard, I'd say, Lakers, Cowboys Yankees, Sox (still), maybe the Dodgers, maybe the Knicks, maybe the Steelers or Packers.
The Lakers, Cowboys and Yankees are really in their own category, and I'm not even sure about the Yankees because they have yet to be bad in the current media environment.
Cowboys/Yankees/Lakers/Cetics was the correct top 4. Celtics a somewhat distant 4th.
My one critique is the Warriors do not belong in a higher tier than the Red Sox. I think Simmons sometimes goes out of his way to not be a homer. The Warriors were nothing before Curry and will be nothing after.
My one critique is the Warriors do not belong in a higher tier than the Red Sox. I think Simmons sometimes goes out of his way to not be a homer. The Warriors were nothing before Curry and will be nothing after.
Simmons is biased towards the NBA, so I don't take him too seriously. The Warriors are like the Patriots, they'll become average after Curry leaves. The Pats feel like they are back to a rinky dinky 3rd tier NFL franchise in Foxoboro again.
There are a few NFL franchises more of a crown jewel than the Celtics. Only the Lakers and Knicks are NBA teams in that space to me. I'm not sure the Celtics are more premium than the Dodgers or Cubs.
BTW Bezos would only buy an NBA team if he's a big fan. I would think only the NFL or a soccer club would interest him. Private space companies are the sports teams for billionaires like him.
It was perfect Bill to have a 20 team, tiered list for “crown jewel franchises”.
After having done sports research for years I’d say the list is three: Cowboys, Yankees and Lakers. Those are the three most popular teams in their respective sports, and the only three who get a ton of attention whether they win or lose.
We lived through the Celtics of the 90s and early-mid 2000s. It’s not a crown jewel franchise. A great one, without a doubt, but not the same as those other three.
After having done sports research for years I’d say the list is three: Cowboys, Yankees and Lakers. Those are the three most popular teams in their respective sports, and the only three who get a ton of attention whether they win or lose.
We lived through the Celtics of the 90s and early-mid 2000s. It’s not a crown jewel franchise. A great one, without a doubt, but not the same as those other three.
LeBron really bailed the Lakers out with his acting dreams. Those Ball/Ingram years were pretty rough for them and they weren’t even getting meetings with guys like KD.
Agreed. And yet there is always Lakers coverage in the national sports media. Even when they’re faceless and mediocre the Lakers are one of the highest rated teams in the league.
Oh for sure, it would’ve just been nice to see an extended 10-20 years of suffering
Worth noting that at least as of last summer, Forbes still had the Pats as the 2nd most valuable franchise behind the Cowboys. Granted the gap between the Cowboys and the Pats was equal to the gap between the Pats and the Seahawks (who were 14th in value), but still. I imagine this is no longer the case with Belichick gone and the Pats crashing to the bottom of the league, but it's not like all of the fans disappear overnight. Hell, the Cowboys are nearly 30 years removed from their days of legit title contention, they're not based in NY or LA, and they're still far and away the most valuable franchise in American sports.
I absolutely agree that at least in terms of on field value the Pats are back to the middle of the pack at best, but could take more than a couple years before the franchise value falls back to match.