The r/BillSimmons Podcast

We review the history of Bill Simmons and JJ Redick, dating back to 2010, that's led to Bill severely doubting the 2024 Lakers and saying JJ was a lunatic for taking the job - and why he's likely infuriated at their hot start.

Welcome to Episode 95! We bring back Doug from Episode 70 and Chris from Episode 93 for a timely 3-man weave.

We start off discussing the recent Ringer news: Why we like these additions, and how they should fit into and improve their NBA and NFL coverage. The Ringer's NBA roster is now robust - do they even need Zach Lowe? And how is their NFL roster with McShay added, but still missing Robert Mays and Kevin Clark - is there another move coming?

We also contrast these hires by Bill with ESPN's current strategy of going all-in on hot take artists like Kendrick Perkins, and give kudos to Bill for his Podcast GM skills and updated vision for The Ringer. We also pose the question - would Ringer fans prefer these 4 additions, or Zach Lowe alone?

We then segue into Guess the Lines - which we all agree is in Nadir Canyon. Can it be fixed? We break down the struggles and offer our suggestions for improvements. We think they need a format change, including cutting the recap down and bringing on guest line guessers. Also, did Bill & Sal overcorrect by making the pod more of a recap show in response to Pardon My Take's success?

We close the episode discussing Bill's future - it certainly appears far more likely that he's going to stay at Spotify now. What would Bill leaving The Ringer even look like - and does Bill want that after this recent news? Probably not.

Enjoy, and check out Episode 70 and 93 if you haven't listened yet for more of Doug and Chris!

Welcome to Episode 94! We break down The Ringer bringing on Todd McShay, Kirk Goldsberry, Dave Jacoby and Joel Anderson, including:

— Why these hires make a lot of sense

— What this says about the evolution of podcasting

— Why Bill is more likely to re-sign with Spotify now

— Why Zach Lowe is still a long shot to sign with Bill

Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode 93! We bring on Chris from Twitter (@tbrodude) to dive into Bill's new Vince McMahon doc on Netflix. Over the course of the show we answer several questions, including:

- Our grade on an A-F scale and vs. 30 for 30s and Bill's Andre the Giant HBO doc

- How various groups (hardcore fans, casuals) are viewing the doc, and who the doc was really made for

- Was this a takedown of Vince? Could it have gone farther? Would Netflix/WWE have even allowed that?

- How WWE and Netflix come out looking

- Bill's impact on the aesthetics and production

- What was Bill's objective and did he achieve it?

- Why wasn't Nick Khan, WWE President and frequent BS Pod guest, mentioned once in the doc?

- Was Bill accurate in his promotion of the doc - was it extremely entertaining?

- How we think the doc probably changed over the years

- Winners & Losers

Wow! Shocking news has hit the NBA. We break it all down — why was Zach fired, where will he land next, will he reunite with Bill Simmons, what this says about the current state of ESPN, and a lot more. Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode 91! We bring on Scott from Twitter (@Cap_tain_Ron) to focus all of our attention this episode on Any Given Wednesday, the short-lived, Bill Simmons-hosted, 2016 HBO sports late night show. It remains an enigma to this day given how bad it was, a shocking career failure for Bill Simmons, who came into HBO at the peak of his powers. So, we break it all down. How did this happen? Why did Bill agree to host a TV show and then seemingly have zero idea of what to do? Did any of Bill's pre-show thoughts end up playing out? Just how terrible was this show? For anyone that's ever watched and wondered "how did this get on TV, and why was it so bad?" enjoy this definitive breakdown of the worst show in HBO history.

0:00-21:30: Bill's questionable "reasons" for doing the show, HBO's misleading marketing, his (lack of) gameplan, and was Any Given Wednesday doomed from the start?

21:30-39:00: Episode 1: Charles Barkley & Ben Affleck: Shockingly terrible opening monologue was a bad omen, and the viral Affleck rant hides how weak Bill was

39:00-59:15: Episode 2: Bill Hader, Mark Cuban & Malcolm Gladwell: This episode confirms Bill is awkward on TV, the show isn’t funny and Bill isn’t a performer, and it’s a worse version of Bill's podcast with weak, not fully fleshed out columns as boring video monologues

59:15-1:13:50: Episode 3: Joe Rogan, Chris Bosh, Anthony Anderson: The show is definitively not working, and this is clearly not "The Sport of Conversation" we were promised by HBO's marketing. Bill's "genre changing idea" to have on two guests to talk one topic is the worst yet with Bosh and Anderson talking NBA and TV. And why does the show look visually terrible?

1:13:50-1:23:15 Episode 4: Aaron Rodgers: One-guest episode after a Serena Williams monologue highlights just how random Any Given Wednesday has become

1:23:15-1:42:15 Episode 5: The worst episode in the series - the Deflategate sketch with Michael Rapaport. This essentially officially kills the show for good, as no show that respects itself could put that sketch on air. Also, why did Bill hire comedy writers and what did they actually do, because the show wasn't funny.

1:42:15-2:30:45: By Episode 6 the show is, for all intents and purposes, over. We continue going through each episode (all 17!) highlighting key segments, like the atrocious Nas & KD joint interview. Who was this show for? Why did Bill Simmons barely act like Bill Simmons and leave behind his Sports Guy brand? Why would people continue watching a milquetoast interview show with stale sports takes? Why is Bill having on weak guests like Jay Glazer and Vince Staples multiple times? Finally Bill's pairings start working (Al Michaels/Bob Costas), but by then it's too late.

2:30:45-2:42:36: Our takeaway: Bill liked the idea of hosting an HBO show, but never actually had a gameplan for the show. Plus, Bill's surprising honesty about why it didn't work

Welcome to Episode 90! We bring on a new 3-man weave with Joe from Twitter and Steve Franklin (@myguysteve) who join the pod for a laugh-filled episode. We discuss Bill's recent NFL pods and guests, speculate on his next move, suggest a game changing guest for Russillo, and do our first Ringer Snake Draft, with each of us drafting a team of BS Pod podcast guests. Enjoy!

(0:00-3:45) Intro & Background with Bill

(3:45-18:10) Assessing Bill's NFL content & guests - Lombardi sucks, #EmbraceDebate on Schrager, McShay a great addition, and is only Ruiz left now that Solak/Clark/Mays left??

(18:10-21:15) Does Bill really like the NFL more than the NBA?

(21:15-37:55) Bill Simmons Free Agency Watch

(37:55-40:10) Why doesn't Bill announce the Rewatchables ahead of time?

(40:10-44:30) How would Kamala be on the BS Pod? Should Russillo have Trump on his pod?

(44:30-48:35) KOC/Solak leaving and where are the new Ringer hires?

(48:35-end) The Ringer draft: 6-round snake draft of best BS Pod guests

Welcome to the latest r/BS Pod! KOC has officially left The Ringer for Yahoo Sports and we break it all down - what does it mean for him & The Ringer, why did it happen, how does it relate to Solak and others leaving and Todd McShay joining, and what's the current and future state of The Ringer? Enjoy!

Welcome to Episode 88! We bring on Nick from Twitter (@NickZararis) and a wide variety of sports media ventures for an excellent discussion on the changes of Bill Simmons and the sports media landscape over the years.

Theme 1: Bill not doing the research anymore or watching the games - he was better prepared to cover the NFL and NBA as a columnist

Theme 2: Bill becoming part of the story now that he's a major sports media figure - first instance of this was the Moss Vikings trade, then Goodell is a liar, and we see it all the time today

Theme 3: Bill losing some of his authenticity - you're not a normal sports fan anymore given your professional success and your team's championships - and that's OK!

Theme 4: The sports gambling bubble - it's funding so much content creation, which along with optimizing for algos is leading to worse content. Should creators like Bill be less aggressively touting gambling sites?

If you enjoy today's show, check out Nick's other work which you can find on his Twitter.

Welcome to a special edition of The r/BillSimmons Podcast! We break down the fast emerging Bill Simmons vs. Nick Wright feud from all the angles. We then touch on how this relates to Bill's expiring contract and predict what Nick and Bill's next moves are. Enjoy!