The Bill Simmons Podcast

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is joined by Ryen Russillo to discuss The Match 2; encouraging rumors about the return of the NBA and possible playoff scenarios; ex-athlete commentator bias; Horace Grant's comments following ‘The Last Dance’; the spectrum of “forgivable athletes”; one of Bill’s favorite sports documentaries, ‘When We Were Kings’; and more!

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The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Joe House and Jason Concepcion to run though Jason's list of the biggest lies told in the ESPN documentary series 'The Last Dance' (2:20). Then, Bill talks with NBA champions Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes about the inception of the 'All the Smoke' podcast, their thoughts on the NBA playoffs prior to the league shutdown, Matt's time at the Clippers during the Donald Sterling era, the complex chemistry of the "Lob City" Clippers, the "We Believe" Warriors, Tim Duncan vs. Kobe Bryant, the best teams they've ever played on, and much more (25:55)!

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The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is joined by the Deadman himself, the Undertaker (a.k.a. Mark Calaway), to discuss the WWE’s documentary series ‘Undertaker: The Last Ride,’ as well as stories from more than 30 years of professional wrestling, his favorite 'WrestleMania,' his relationship with Vince McMahon, recovering from major injuries, learning from pro-wrestling legends, developing his character, the best crowds, and much more.

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The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Ryen Russillo to discuss the final two episodes in the ESPN documentary series 'The Last Dance' (2:25) before Ryen and "Optimistic Bill" talk about the NBA potentially inching toward a return, as well as the murky future around the start of the MLB season (49:00). They share TV programming advice for content-starved networks (1:26:30) before revisiting Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz and Michael Jordan's sixth and final championship (1:38:40).

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The Ringer’s Bill Simmons reads an excerpt from 'The Book of Basketball' on what makes Michael Jordan the GOAT (3:00), before he is joined by Northwestern University's director of sports journalism, J.A. Adande, to discuss covering the Jordan-era Bulls, thoughts about the ESPN documentary 'The Last Dance,' Michael Jordan’s relationship with Kobe Bryant, and more (36:48). Then Bill talks with The Ringer’s Jason Concepcion about the season finale of ‘Survivor’ (1:11:05). Finally Bill talks with actor, comedian, and writer Nick Kroll about self-quarantining, Season 4 of his Netflix show, ‘Big Mouth,’ a ‘Big Mouth’ spinoff show called ‘Human Resources,’ the flexibility of making animated shows remotely, and much more (1:34:55).

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The Ringer’s Bill Simmons shares his thoughts about Adam Silver’s meeting with the board of governors which seems to garnered "positive feelings" (2:28), before he's joined by ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser to discuss Tony’s mortal enemy, modern technology, continuing 'Pardon the Interruption' during the pandemic, and all-time captivating athletes including Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods, Bobby Orr, Secretariat, and more (16:53). Then Bill talks with The Ringer’s Van Lathan about his rewatch of HBO’s ‘The Wire,' quarantine thoughts, COVID-19’s impact on Louisiana, ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance,’ and more (1:04:35).

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The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Ryen Russillo to talk about Episodes 7 and 8 of the ESPN documentary series 'The Last Dance' (2:30) before discussing UFC 249 (41:40) and Adam Silver's call with NBA players regarding the possible return of an NBA season (1:04:40). Finally they revisit the 1997 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz, where Michael Jordan would win his fifth NBA title (1:25:07).

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The Ringer’s Bill Simmons shares an essay he wrote about Michael Jordan’s retirement (4:25) before he is joined by author Chuck Klosterman to discuss the 40th season of ‘Survivor,’ generational gaps between athletes, nostalgic basketball behavior, and the 1992 dream team, as well as quarantine life, the historical weight of the COVID-19 pandemic, and more (24:45)

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The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Joe House to compare the different Chicago Bulls rosters of the 1990s, as well as some of the other all-time NBA teams (2:55), before revisiting Game 2 of the 1996 Eastern Conference finals, between the Chicago Bulls and Orlando Magic (46:40).

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The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Ryen Russillo to discuss episodes 5 and 6 of ESPN's docuseries 'The Last Dance' (2:40), getting restless in quarantine, all-time NBA teams, the "time-traveling athletes" argument, and more (40:55). Finally they revisit Game 6 of the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals between the Chicago Bulls and the Orlando Magic (1:29:28).

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