The r/BillSimmons Podcast

Welcome to Episode 84! We bring on a guest from Twitter - who might be the biggest Bill Simmons fan we've had on the show yet - for a rollicking look back at the history of the Bill Simmons Universe. Topics covered include:

— Bill's time at ESPN The Magazine

— Grantland Mount Rushmore

— Looking back at our submissions to Grantland's Fantasy Football Writer contest

— The downfall of Michael Rapaport

— The OG Fast & Furious Rewatchables & movie pitches with Carolla

— Why Bill is such a terrible fantasy football player

— Favorite forgotten BS Report guests

— What marked the start of Bill's decline

— How r/BillSimmons has evolved over a decade

This was an absolute blast - hope you enjoy!

Welcome to Episode 83! We bring back JF from #71 for a continuation of some classic r/BS Pod topics:

- Laughing at Tatum's Team USA flop; how mad is Bill?

- Is the NBA rights deal going to work out for Amazon and NBC?

- Will Amazon or NBC hire Bill for a studio gig?

- What were Bill's actual contributions to 30 for 30?

- Why did Benjamin Solak leave The Ringer and will Russillo follow him out the door?

If you enjoyed the episode follow JF on Twitter @Window_Cleaner

Welcome to Episode 82! Comcast, which owns NBC, held an earnings call today where they discussed the NBA deal in great detail, including what games they won, the split between NBC and Peacock, and why they believe the deal is worth the massive $2.5 Billion annual cost.

I break Comcast's comments down in this instant reaction pod - enjoy!

Welcome to a special sports media edition of The r/BillSimmons Podcast! News just broke that WBD matched Amazon's NBA rights offer. I discuss how I see it playing out, and who will actually win the rights when it's all said and done. I also get into Bill's scoop on Matt Belloni's pod about how Amazon structured the deal to combat the WBD match provision.

Next I stay on the topic of WBD - why I think it's an excellent decision for the NBA to swap them out for Amazon and NBC, and address the rumors that WBD is pursuing a split. While I don't think it'll happen, it informs us of the precarious position the company is in.

I finish up with a discussion of Netflix's recent earnings and how they are completely dominating right now, and how it's unlikely to end anytime soon.

Welcome to Episode 80! We bring on Flex from Episode #79 and Chenny from Episode #75 - they know each other in real life - for a 3-man weave talking all things Bill, The Ringer, Russillo and more.

Welcome to Episode 79! We bring on Flex from Twitter (@flexcfc) for a classic r/BS Pod rip.

We first review Bill Simmons current events, including his frustration with the reaction to Tatum's playoffs. Why can't Bill be happy with the championship and why did he do a 180 on Tatum from earlier in the playoffs? We give our theories. We also weigh in on the Tatum celebration conversation.

Then we predict Bill's NFL takes for this season, both preseason and once the Patriots start off poorly. Per usual, he will try to get a W either way.

Next, we wonder why Bill isn't discussing anything else besides the NBA when there's a ton of other sports content going on - NHL, WNBA, Euros, Olympics and more. Not to mention baseball - given Bill wrote his first book about the Red Sox.

We assess some of Bill's NBA guests like KOC and discuss how Bill isn't getting top tier Celtics guests like other NBA pods.

I also discuss at the end what I would ask Bill if he invited me on the pod (purely a hypothetical - I don't expect this to happen!)

If you like the show rate us 5 stars and give us a review on Apple Pods - we'll read it on the show!

Welcome to Episode 78! We bring on Ty from Pyramid the Podcast (yes, inspired by Bill) to talk Bill from the early days.

Ty and his group of friends in Boston first discovered and then frequently emailed Bill in the late-90s as his column was on the rise. We discuss Bill at that time and Ty notes how part of what made Bill endearing was his aggressive calling out of the Boston media. Ty tells us why Bill was such a revelation at the time.

We then go through the various stages of his career, and hear a fun story about Ty hanging out with Bill at a Clippers game. We discuss how Bill, and his content, has and hasn't changed since he started so long ago.

We finish up with some Bill Simmons current events before discussing Ty's "Pyramid The Podcast" inspired by Bill's love of Pyramids for rankings.

If you enjoyed the show, check out Ty on his pod: https://pyramidthepodcast.podbean.com

Welcome to Episode 77! The WSJ dropped a long article today revealing many more details of the upcoming NBA rights deal. For all intents and purposes and barring a hail mary by Warner Bros. Discovery, this is a done deal.

In this show I assess why the Peacock exclusives are such a big deal, what this means for the future of streaming on NBC, why the NBA loves NBC (not just about the money), possible future media M&A due to this NBA deal, and I predict where Inside the NBA will land.

I finish up the pod laughing about today's BS Pod episode including Bill reigniting his feud with Pat McAfee.

Welcome to Episode #76! Andy (@AndyKHLiu) from the Light Years pod (https://linktr.ee/LightYearsPodcast) comes on for a fast-moving show covering several Bill Simmons and sports media topics.

We start off with Andy's background becoming a Bill Simmons fan, and reminisce about Grantland and old Bill tweets. He really used to have no filter!

Since Andy is a Warriors fan we get his take on Bill's view of KD - he agrees Bill overrated him because of the BS Pod appearances. And why didn't Bill - a "Steph guy" - include him in his NBA Belt holders?

We then discuss the ongoing Bill-Russillo relationship and conclude that anyone doing 2 hours of weekly pods for several years will get sick of each other. We also laugh at how Bill acts like a host when he goes on Zach Lowe's pod and how Zach must be annoyed but grits his teeth.

Next we take on the Inside the NBA takes and discuss how Draymond can improve enough to be good on TV. And Andy explains why he feels the JJ-Doris booth with Mike Breen isn't working.

We finish up discussing how the recent Stephen A and Pat McAfee segments on the WNBA are emblematic of sports media in 2024 and, channeling our inner Bill, where we think sports media, as well as the NBA, is going.

If you enjoyed the show, follow Andy on Twitter and check out the Light Years Pod.

Welcome to Episode 75! We bring on Chenny from Twitter (@ChennyBritt) for a classic r/BS Pod episode talking Bill, Russillo, sports media and more.

We start off discussing the interesting dynamic of Bill having long-time fans who know he's overreacting with extreme bias vs. the newer fans and NBA Twitter who actually take his words seriously; it's happening like never before this NBA playoffs with Bill's hilarious flip flops every podcast. We then take a look back at Bill on NBA Countdown, and think Bill could do well once again on an NBA show and that it would actually improve his takes.

Next we discuss Russillo's tenure at The Ringer and assess potential next moves. Chenny brings excellent insight into the discussion on why, with Russillo's interests in screenwriting coupled with the lack of video at The Ringer, we see better homes for him going forward than his current one. Also, we assess how the Russillo-Bill pods have improved in 2024 vs 2023.

Continuing on sports media, we discuss Colin Cowherd's sports media company and why what he's doing there makes more sense to us than what The Ringer's doing. Why did Bill miss the video paradigm shift after calling so many previous ones?

We finish up discussing our enjoyment of Bill's pop culture takes and how we think Vintage Bill shows up in those segments as opposed to his current First Take-esque sports discussion.

If you liked the show, check out Chenny on Twitter and on YouTube where he does analysis of top TV shows and movies: https://www.youtube.com/@winterhillwarriors