The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is joined by Ryen Russillo to revisit the 1996 NBA draft and discuss mid-'90s NBA subplots and legends of the '96 draft class before redrafting the top-14 lottery picks.

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What made Bill Russell so great? Was Russell a pioneer, a genius, or both? Why did he mean so much to the 1960s? Why did he walk away after his 11th title and never look back? And why wouldn’t he forgive the city of Boston? In 2012, Bill Simmons flew to Seattle and spent two days with the greatest winner in sports history, hoping to find these answers and more. It ended up being the highlight of his career.

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Remember the night when Tim Duncan’s Spurs basically ended Shaq and Kobe’s quest for a four-peat, only they blew a huge lead and got saved because Robert Horry MISSED the game-winning shot? Remember when Duncan won a series against Shaq and Kobe in their primes? Remember when the thought of Duncan winning five titles seemed absurd? Remember the season when Kobe looked the most like MJ? Bill breaks it all down with The Ringer’s Shea Serrano.

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Everyone remembers Kobe’s Lakers finally winning a title without Shaq in 2009. But why don’t they remember Orlando’s epic Game 4 collapse? Was this one of the biggest Finals meltdowns ever? Should the Magic have won the the series? How did those two missed free throws change Dwight Howard’s legacy? And just what the hell was Jameer Nelson doing? Bill breaks it down with The Ringer’s Kevin Clark and Joe House.

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Dwight Howard was the league’s best center for five straight seasons. He even toppled LeBron in a conference finals to make the 2009 Finals. So what derailed him from being an all-time great? Was it injuries? Was he just kind of a jackass? Had the level of competition at center dipped so much that it made him seem better than he was? How do you explain his redemption with the 2019-20 Lakers? And why was Dwight the most properly rated NBA star ever? Bill breaks it all down with The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo and Joe House.

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Chapter 18: In December 2012, Kobe Bryant wasn’t even halfway through his last elite Lakers season, but he was putting more thought into the bigger picture than ever before. What was leadership all about, anyway? How could he use social media to advance his message? Would he rather be remembered as a winner or a great teammate? And what made him want to pick up the phone and call Bill Simmons out of the blue?

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In 2015, Kobe Bryant joined Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose on the Grantland Basketball Hour to discuss the tail end of his NBA career, his partnership with Shaquille O’Neal, the state of basketball in 2015, and his upcoming basketball documentary, ‘Muse.’

Watch the video here

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Was Larry Johnson’s 4-point shot the last truly great Knicks moment? Was he fouled in the first place? Why was basketball so BAD back then? Why did we still love it so much? And was it a coincidence that James Dolan took over the Knicks shortly thereafter and ruined all the fun? Bill breaks it all down with The Ringer’s Sean Fennessey and Jason Concepcion.

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Chapter 7: Was Reggie Miller a superstar? Is he the best example of a player who was way ahead of his time? Did he save pro basketball in Indiana? What would he have been like during the advanced metrics era?

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Chapter 6: What’s the second-best thing you can win if you never win a title? Critical acclaim! Bill made Hall of Famer Steve Nash rewatch Game 4 of the infamous 2007 Spurs-Suns series—when the Suns were derailed by suspensions, bad luck, and one terrible commissioner decision—before breaking it all down. Did the Suns get screwed? What would Nash do-over in that series? Were the Suns way ahead of their time or not ahead of their time enough? And did Phoenix’s front office sabotage that season more than the Horry shove did?

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