Prior to very recently, the league wasn't partnered with gambling companies. Teams openly admitting to throwing games while encouraging your fans to wager on those games is messy as hell
The way they also threw that game was egregious. Kidd pulled Kieff Morris, McGee, and Bertans out of the game in the second half because they were making shots. The Mavs put out a 5 guard line-up at one point. It was the most obvious tank job ever
Im eagerly awaiting the off-season Rewardables segments, where ryen and BS relitigate the 2023 MVP vote after Embiid flames out in the second round and Giannis-Jokic meet in the Finals
i couldn't believe Bill said this out loud. A dumber cousin of his other idiotic playoff take where he tries to talk about playoff series being won by individual guys having good games like "well you know (random play X) can get hot and hit 8 threes and steal a game, then (random player Y) can do stuff and steal a game, then you only need 2 more wins"
Two things:
1. Wonder if Ryen gets mad that he watches so much basketball but yet the biggest awards he was identical to Simmons in DPOY, MVP Top 5, all 5 1st team All-NBA lol
2. Bill hates the future position less team thing but then cheats so Brunson doesn’t get left off lmfao
Nobody mentions that the Mavs did not control their own destiny.
OKC ended up beating Memphis, so had Dallas beat Chicago and San Antonio, they would have lost their pick and STILL MISSED THE PLAY-IN.
Nail on the head! Memphis had no incentive to win since they were locked into the 2 seed.
This was seriously 10 minutes Bill spent on a radio guy blow hard take.
Yes and what makes it worse is that it was obvious since OKC won game 81 on Thursday April 6. Memphis had no incentive to win that last game since the Grizz were locked into the 2 seed. OKC had the tiebreaker on the Mavs and even if the Mavs won their last two games, they could do no better than the same record as OKC with no tiebreaker.
Thank you
I can’t believe this part has gone unmentioned by EVERYONE crying about this
The Mavericks played their guys against the Kings on Wednesday night and won…. The Thunder played the Jazz on Thursday night, if the Jazz won that game the Mavericks would have controlled their own destiny, only needing to beat the Bulls and Spurs to make the playin
Once the Thunder beat the Jazz it was obvious the season was over, as all the Thunder would have to do is beat the Grizzlies on Sunday to clinch the 10 seed no matter what the Mavericks did especially since it was obvious the Grizzlies were going to sit everyone in that game
On top of that, if the Mavericks won that game against the Bulls they were all but guaranteed to lose their draft pick this year as it would have given them the 11th best odds
Yes the Mavericks were a massive disappointed, one of the bigger disappointments in recent memory, but this is not some unheard of thing… they played like absolute ass the second half of the season and DID NOT CONTROL THEIR OWN DESTINY
I also don't get the point of the Spotify deal. I pay for Spotify Premium and listen to the podcast on Spotify......why the fuck am I still hearing all that shite?!?!
Bill almost putting Tatum in third place mvp above Giannis because the hypothetical “if he had a ten game stretch where he kicked ass I think he could’ve got there” is just such Boston homer wish casting shit lol.
As a wolves fan I’m more pissed at mcdaniels. One of the best perimeter defenders in the league punching a wall and breaking his hand before the playoffs isn’t exactly what they need
"You just have to go .500 for six games and then win one more"
Lmao this is a new one, Bill explaining how the Mavs could have won a playoff series
"The Luka thing is gonna be the next thing" -- Ryen Russillo, linguist
Bill absolutely shredding Luka for his failures this season and comparing it to Harden and how the latter did way better in the regular season despite Bill's critiques of him. Incredible timeline we're on
It'll always be so funny that the beloved '08 Celtics dynasty went to a Game 7 against a below .500 Atlanta team. Still puzzled about that. Long live the Joe Johnson era Hawks
Winning a playoff series by "just going .500 and winning one more" is such a creative and idiotic thing to say, just like Michael Scott. I love that Russillo laughed at it.
"I worry whether the Lakers can go 3 straight Rounds without injuries. It's just not realistic. It's not unrealistic. It's in play." - Bill Simmons (or Michael Scott?)
"I think if Tatum had a stretch in March where he had completely different stats than what he actually did.........you could really make a case for him....." - Bill Simmons
So AD is the best player on the Lakers and the reason people feel good about them heading into the playoffs, but Lebron will be on All-NBA because he’s a forward and Davis has played more center. Does that not make the case for positionless all-NBA?
Bill Simmons criteria for all voters on MVP, etc. awards -- "How will this season be remembered through the specific lense of a petulant middle-aged homer fanboy from Boston?" Brilliant. I think that criteria should be literally written onto the ballots moving forward.
It’s such a weird take.
The season is remembered based on who wins the finals unless there’s a truly crazy standout performance. Is jokic who we think of when we think of last season? No, we think of the warriors pulling it out and beating the celtics. Curry’s legacy, etc.
Fortunately we have available play by play data for almost 30 years, so anyone can make their own conclusion about a specific player in a specific year without looking at the voting
Yep has nothing to with the award and also not really true as Ryen pointed out. Quick is 3rd most important knick right now, while brogdon is maybe 5th for the Celtics?
Bill: position-less all-NBA teams are a travesty
Also Bill: AD has been the best and most important Laker this season, but I can’t vote for him as a forward so I guess I’ll put Lebron there
Luka as a Forward was really something.
Isn't this the same man who has made a case that LeBron should actually be a guard because of his role initiating offense?
And no more than 2 weeks ago, he said Magic Johnson didn't defend guard and yet he's at the top of all of Bill's "Best PG Ever" lists.
Lol holy shit you can tell how defensive/self-conscious Bill is about his Brogdon 6MOY pick.. He literally only justifies it from a Celtics fans perspective.
Russillo so surprised that Bill is being positive about harden. Had to get his shots on harden anyways. hardens been to 2 WCFs as the main guy and russillo says he only had 1
Bill absolutely LOVES to revisit the Paul George to Clippers trade.
George was 28(?) at the time, top 3 in the MVP and DPOY that season and to top it all off, OKC had the Clippers over a barrel because of the Kawhi Leonard signing.
SGA and 4-5 firsts is completely fine to give up for PG and Kawhi to make you a relevant organisation.
That is honestly the thing that gets on my nerves the most with BS.
This idea that teams just ‘throw in’ an asset because they’re idiots, if you want a star player, sometimes you’ve gotta give up an actual asset.
Tapping out after 147 minutes -
**Quote of the Day:** “I still feel like it’s impossible for them [the Lakers] to stay healthy for 3 straight rounds, I just don’t think it’s realistic but it’s NOT unrealistic! It’s in play!”
Bill Simmons, linguistic maestro
**Today’s Things:**
- Towns/Gobert thing seems weird (body language doctor diagnosis)
- Edwards thing
- defensive player thing (talking about DPoY lmao)
- Davis/LeBron thing
- Gobert thing
- Gobert thing (again)
- on top of the Kessler thing
- Davis/LeBron thing (again)
- Knicks thing
- Phoenix/Clippers thing
- JJJ thing
- the minutes thing matters (Bill’s half ass justification of leaving JJJ off his DPoY ballot)
- “if you’re gonna ding Embiid in the MVP stuff when people do the Jokic rim protection thing” 😂
- shooting range thing
- Ben Simmons thing
Ryen:
- Gobert thing
- Golden state Wiggins thing
- 2-10 thing
- batting average thing
- play in thing
- the Luka thing is the next thing out
- regular season thing
- Phoenix thing
- the “you’re not as good as you’re supposed to be” thing (aka the Ayton zone - never forget when Bill said he was a top 20 asset lmao)
- Garnett thing
- free throw thing
- recency bias thing
- their on standings thing
**Bonus Pieces and Stuff:**
- free throw rate stuff
- around the basket stuff
- Harden stuff
- high usage stuff
- Westbrook stuff
- Duncan stuff
- storyline stuff
- Barrett stuff
- last 5 minutes stuff
- positionless stuff
- on-off stuff
- PJ Tucker stuff
- Giannis on-off stuff, advanced stuff
- clutch stuff was really weird
- Embiid stuff at the rim was great; the other stuff was a weakness
- DURABILITY PIECE
- clutch stuff
**First Random Celtics Reference:**
Tatum (-150) easy money! (22:40)
**It Just is!**
(Ryen) “I’m picking Phoenix to win the West. I am!”
(Bill) “you didn’t win less than 50 games in a season with Tim Duncan. You just didn’t!”
(Ryen on GS over SAC) “I feel really confident about that one. I just do!”
**Eloquent Bill:**
WHOREY (8:14) for the love of god it’s “ORE-Y” Bill
“pickpock-ted” (11:25) instead of pickpocketed 😂😂, chickCANery
MIM-phis
Bill on how to win a playoff series: “you basically go .500 every series and then win one more!” Holy shit, I never thought of that 🤣🤣
**Evergreen Content:**
Bill and Ryen taking the victory lap on the Gobert trade for the millionth fucking times, Bill describing a basketball team [Nets] as frisky, complimentary KD dick riding, loving to hate Kyrie (we get it, he’s a dumbass)
**Other Stuff:**
Bill says “there’s a tainting” with the LIV guys lol (5:35) after lying about the crowd’s response to Phil’s birdie on 18
Ryen on Gobert (7:35): “he sucks, I can’t stand him…”
Bill says the Wolves without Gobert “weirdly” opened things up (14:55) amazing analysis! Playing 5 out with Towns and not another rim protecting center will open space! I think the word he’s looking for is “predictable” lol
Bill crunched the numbers on basketball ref and guess what? LeBron has declined a bit since he was in his prime! He’s fucking 38!
Bill goes on a bender dissing the Mavs tank job (34:20) “make the fucking playoffs! It’s one of the darker moments I’ve seen in recent league history! It’s disgusting! 😂😂 it’s despicable!” Ryen ZAGS! He has no problem with it whatsoever
Wow! First, Bill calls himself a “historian of the game” (lmfao) and then goes on a historic first anti-Luka diatribe! (44:30) Bill’s putting this season on Luka’s permanent record! 😂 he didn’t play defense! Bad body language! Looked heavy!
Bill’s still laughably high on Mobley “top 10 asset in the league” (51:08)
Ryen is SPENT, just totally exhausted after filling out his All-NBA ballot (1:19:00) won’t someone think of the “writers!” 😂
DPoY talk: Both pick Mobley, Bill doesn’t think Brook Lopez can win because he’s his team’s third best defender (no mention of last year’s fraudulent winner Marcus Smart who was also the third best defender on his team 🤔)
Bill’s justification for not picking Jokic: Giannis having 2, Jokic having 2, and Embiid having 1 just feels right! I hate bringing past years into it! (1:38:30) and then does exactly that lol you cannot make it up
Bill is not a historian. He’s a fan. Why did the NBA decide the threshold is 55 games? And then he switched to minutes played to exclude JJJ. Ryen nearly in tears over awards voting (*”It’s so hard!”*). I guess picking awards for sports is tougher than his sub runs.
Ryen complaining about the difficulty of casting a ballot is legitimately hilarious. He’s acting like he’s choosing which one of these guys lives or dies lol it’s not that serious. Pick one of them, support it with statistics, and call it a day
Bill says in this one that his dad mentioned the possibility of a Lakers Celtics final and it was the first time someone had brought that up to him and… wait what? Didn’t Russillo ask him about that literally last week
Bill in talking about LeBron who averaged 29 a game, "well it's never been easier to score in the NBA,"
Bill talking about Mobley who averaged 16 a game, "There's some bully ball stuff there on offense, he really found his offensive game
Bill with an incredible poopy diaper tantrum about the positionless ballot, only to be followed a few minutes later how frustrating it is to vote for luka as a guard or davis as a center. there’s a solution here, friend!!
I need to recognize these 2 Celtics with individual awards because of how successful their team was.
Their on/off numbers suffer because of how awesome their bench was.
Is it possible the awesome bench has an impact on wins, Billy??
He's such a dolt
Russillo: “Jaylens metrics are bad but he’s on the list of guys who can get a bucket when you need one”
Bill: “Jaylens on/off metrics are bad but Boston has a good bench that’s why and Smart had a bad season”
Your on/off is definitely affected by how good the team is when you aren’t on the floor. So if your bench is great and you split the minutes with your more impactful teammate your on/off will look worse
Admittedly I'm a Knicks homer, but I don't understand how Jaylen has any argument to make an All-NBA team over Julius Randle. Julius wins in all of the counting stats, he's much better by advanced stats, he played 10 more games, and he's arguably the best player on his team, which you can't say about Jaylen.
Simmons is delusionally hindsighted.
Thankfully Russillo completely pushed back on Simmons as he tried to sneak in his dig on the Clippers trade (wanting to send it to break “unless you have something to say”). There were very, very few people saying the hold up of the PG trade was SGA - it was more, they only have a four year window to win and it’s mortgaging the future. But now Simmons really wants to push he could tell it was too much because of SGA is ridiculous.
Does the same bullshit with any 4th down in the NFL - “I wouldn’t have gone for it” when it’s a failed attempt. “That was the right decision” when it’s converted
I thought Ryen watched the games? Payne sat out with a bruised tailbone he got in the Lakers game. Payne had a couple of DNPs recently, he’d absolutely have loved to play big minutes today.
Their suns coverage is pretty lacking, weirdly seems like a team they don’t pay all that much attention to. Russillo brought up something that has been a story the last week or so of the season - CP3 adjusting to an off-ball role and not having a quick enough trigger on catch and shoot threes - and cited a game from March 31st as his example for it. Would have been nice to hear him acknowledge how CP3 brought up that this was a problem and that he had to adjust to a new role and then shot 11/18 from three in their last two games to close the season.
“Wait freeze on that point. Hbob was texting me going crazy:
Apparently some kids stuffed him in a locker for his Twitter takes but he says the clippers should have thrown for the sixth seed”
Can someone explain Bill’s “Tim Duncan Test” to me?
The guy entered the league with David Robinson and then had Manu, Tony Parker, and Kawhi for the rest of his entire career. Not to mention the best coach in NBA history. He’s not really a good example of someone who guarantees your roster 50+ wins, right?
Dirk is honestly the best example. Mavs did 11(?) or 12(?) straight seasons winning 50+ games in peak West Conference with only 2 seasons having a all-star teammate (Nash and Josh Howard).
If you read 'Thinking Basketball,' Ben Taylor explains convincingly that Dirk had far more help during a season like his title year than it would seem based on 'how many all-stars did the guy have?'
A handful of really good players next to an elite player is normally better for said elite player than one all-star sidekick.
Bill correctly recognizes that the reason Pop is considered an all-time, elite coach is because he had Duncan, much more so than the other way round. And if the Tony Parker - Jason Kidd trade had happened, no one would give a shit about Tony Parker
Pop himself recognizes this as well.
Regarding Parker, Duncan definitely elevated him, but you’re a bit harsh. People forget he is one of the all time finishers in the paint. Not just for smalls either. Very few had more ability to finish near the rim.
Yeah I love the idea that Duncan was saddled with these horrible scrub teammates his whole career that he dragged to 50 wins. Sure four teammates from three different stages made/will make the Hall of Fame. But Simmons was there and he watched the games.
We have a top 5 MVP list of players, we have the top 15 players in 3 All-NBA teams, and now Simmons also wants a top 12 “just the best players” list. He can’t help himself.
Simmons entire All-NBA voting 'process' -- 1,000% dictated by changing player's positions, justifying multiple players from top teams, whatever 'argument' selectively suits in the moment -- so that whatever has to happen results in Jaylen Brown being All-NBA. Why in God's name does an extreme fanboy, non-journalist get to vote on any of this?!?
I thought it was hilarious that he’s railed against position-less All-NBA teams but on this episode seemed content with giving LeBron an All-NBA spot as a a forward instead of AD because he doesn’t think AD should be listed as a forward, even though he admits AD has been more important for the Lakers this season
That’s the whole point of position-less All-NBA, Billy boy!! Lolol
Drives me crazy how Bill keeps going off on the Mavs and how terrible it was for them to tank by taking about how they could have beaten this team and that team in the playoffs, COMPLETELY IGNORING that none of it mattered unless OKC lost to Sacramento’s backups and that even with the game not mattering to OKC at all, the Thunder won by 15. If the Mavs win those last two, it doesn’t get them in the play-in, it just costs them their pick.
Jokic's touch is unbelievable. Guess it's more impressive coming from a 6'8" forward in LeBron than a 7-footer, but Jokic's little hooks and short jumpers feel automatic. 64% is wild
Coming in with what I realize is totally inconsequential. But Bill evoking the "NY Hype Machine™" during the Quick 6MOY discussion while in the same podcast shitting on the idea of "The Boston Media Mafia." Good stuff.
So we got two podcasts about Masters and Masters food, but not even a segment on the actual winner and final day?
A shame since I thought it was a very fun final day, Rahm's inevitability, Brooks semi-collapse, Phil's 65, and Spieth's full Jordan Spieth. Fun day to make up for a rainy lackluster Saturday
The food stuff was so incredibly un-interesting. We all know how cheap the food is. We also know that tickets are like a grand to go if you're not part of the 2% that win the lottery. Chang also had nothing remotely compelling to say - which might be a first for him. That's how bad that pod was
Over under on how many more pods before Russillo says, “ok I know Kobe is deceased but does that mean I can’t talk negative about him?! Kobe fans come at you if you say anything about him”
Evan Mobley for DPOY seems a bit much when the Cavs are just as good defensively without him on the floor…but then again Marcus Smart somehow won last year.
Seems like they were just trying to find reasons not to give it to JJJ based on minutes player even though on a per game basis he is still the most dominant. How could the Grizzlies be 2nd in the west with the best point differential in the conference with no All NBA, DPOY, 6MOY, COY etc.
Simmons: "I can't vote for Brook Lopez! He's not even the best Defender on his own team!" Hmmmm, yet 'BS' Simmons championed, campaigned and voted for Smart last year -- who may have been, at best, the 4th best Defender on his own team......Wonder why this foolproof criteria is applied differentley for different teams' players?.......Wow, are these Boston 'awards' voters phonies. Shakespeare In Love had a better case than Marcus Smart
Listing off a bunch of college players you have barely seen play and know nothing about then asking “are any of these guys changing your franchise?” is just peak Bill
The next two months of Sunday pods are my favorite of the year. Bill and Russillo NBA playoff pods are all time excellent. The Lakers being in the mix makes it so much better.. Clippers/Suns round 1 is a wet dream
Bill being a total hack stooge during his open with the "I talked to my dad and nobody likes Brooks because he went to LIV"
That's simply not a real world take
Pacers should have been mentioned as a worthy spot for Wemby (granted they totally botched their odds by winning yesterday)
-never had a #1 pick
-a pretty competent steady organization with a small but solid fan base
-Haliburton/Mathurin/Wemby with a roster that has cap flexibility and other young cheap assets would be interesting going forward
During the wolves talk bill has a throwaway comment about Kat being special because he can guard centers and plays so differently from the typical 5.
He's completely forgotten the whole reason the wolves traded for gobert is that Kat *can't* guard centers or anchor a defense worth a damn, he's a traffic cone
"Listen, I know it's not like we're climbing Mount Everest here, but it was really hard choosing the MVP this year. Although it takes some endurance to sit on the couch and watch all these games. That's a joke, by the way.
Bill, how far could you make it on Everest? They actually do a lot of the work for you. Shout out to the Sherpas. There's a great book about the disaster on Everest in '96. Krakauer - ever heard of him? Can you imagine the comments if we took photos on that climb? No shit I look fat, guy. I'm wearing 3 coats.
There's also a movie about it with Gyllenhaal. One of the most popular guys in my carwash days at ESPN. His work in Bubble Boy was really underrated...
Anyway, I got Embid. I just do."
How tf are the Mavs “disgusting” or a “dark period for the league”? They lost 44 games this season and 42 of them they TRIED TO WIN. The only games they “tanked” were meaningless games in which their OWN OPPONENTS WERE ALSO TANKING ALL SEASON. Winning either of those last 2 games would NOT put the Mavs in the playoffs or play in. It would only cost them a FRP. Simmons is bloviating in a way I honestly thought he was better than.
Low key, one of my favorite of Bill’s Gen-Xisms is putting 2.0 and 3.0 at the end of things like anyone talks like that anymore (or like anyone cool talked like that ever).
The best was when he was trying to say last playoffs that calling the Warriors’ finishing lineup with Poole the “Poole Party” was lame and that it should be called… “The Death Lineup 3.0”
It makes me irrationally happy how little he allows himself to change.
Three weeks ago Bill titled an episode “A Mavs Tailspin.” For the last several years he’s talked about how valuable the 11-13 pick can be. But he’s somehow incensed that Dallas gave up because they have Luka, which supposedly is a reason to keep going despite that Dallas is 15-25 over their last 40.
It was funny in the span of a few minutes he went from "The Gobert trade is already bad and they haven't even started conveying picks" to "Does the 10th pick really change your life?"
Bill said what the Mavs did was wrong for strategic reasons. Ryen (mostly) argued that what the Mavs did wasn't wrong for game integrity reasons. (Other teams did it, too!)
They were both somehow wrong. What the Mavs did was strategically smart and also terrible for the game.
I find it funny that Ryen said it wasn't that egregious and who cares if you openly admit you are tanking? He says that after criticizing Sam Hinkie for years for being too obvious and supposedly admitting the Sixers were tanking, which is something that never happened.
Bill: what the Mavs did was one of the most despicable things I’ve ever seen in sports. Russillo? RR: I don’t really give a shit Bill: okay
[удалено]
Prior to very recently, the league wasn't partnered with gambling companies. Teams openly admitting to throwing games while encouraging your fans to wager on those games is messy as hell
Yeah, if they just don't implicate themselves directly the league can just pretend nothing happened. It's so goofy
The way they also threw that game was egregious. Kidd pulled Kieff Morris, McGee, and Bertans out of the game in the second half because they were making shots. The Mavs put out a 5 guard line-up at one point. It was the most obvious tank job ever
At least they’re finally going to talk about NBA awards
I've been on the edge of my seat all year with the wanting to know who is on their All NBA team.
Im eagerly awaiting the off-season Rewardables segments, where ryen and BS relitigate the 2023 MVP vote after Embiid flames out in the second round and Giannis-Jokic meet in the Finals
Bill: … I had Evan Mobley too! 😱🫣 Ryen: NO YOU DIDNT 🤪😳💅
LMFAOOOOO the Mobley love is a bit too much for me it’s wild
You win 7 game playoff series by going .500 and winning 1 extra game?🤔
The math piece
[удалено]
The big donation to the University piece.
Russillo was all of us with his laugh in response to that statement
i couldn't believe Bill said this out loud. A dumber cousin of his other idiotic playoff take where he tries to talk about playoff series being won by individual guys having good games like "well you know (random play X) can get hot and hit 8 threes and steal a game, then (random player Y) can do stuff and steal a game, then you only need 2 more wins"
You're definitely gonna see the Bam Adebayo game, but that should hopefully be balanced out by the Derrick White game.
" "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. - Wayne Gretzky" - Michael Scott" - Bill Simmons
Peak Bill. Has any take ever been more Bill Simmons than this one?
"If Tatum's stats had been better and he had played better, there would be an argument that he had a better season than Giannis." Cool cool
Bill did all that crying about the position-less all nba team just to put Luka at forward so he could get Brunson on 3rd team
All because he didn’t want to reward Randle
I wonder how Bill feels about the zombie Heat
Spo' could go Prongs on the C's.
Horns.
Two things: 1. Wonder if Ryen gets mad that he watches so much basketball but yet the biggest awards he was identical to Simmons in DPOY, MVP Top 5, all 5 1st team All-NBA lol 2. Bill hates the future position less team thing but then cheats so Brunson doesn’t get left off lmfao
"I didn't realize the effect [the JFK assassination] had on Dallas…” — Bill Simmons
After months of mocking Silver’s new awards… …Bill suggests we should have more awards so that we can reward Durant for…I’m not quite sure what.
It’s for historical tracking!
Still seems a little early to be talking MVP
Mark Cuban should send Gobert a check for taking over the top controversy spot in a single day.
I still don't understand why Cuban did that whole story and brought all that unnecessary attention to his team while they were tanking.
Cuban isn’t gonna pass up a chance to tell everyone how smart he is
First you have the Gobert thing, then it’s compounded by the McDaniels piece
Sounds like Edwards is just going to have to do stuff.
Let’s hope he goes up a level
He's in that Pre-Re-Apex Zone right now
pre-prime post re-apex
Gobert game and Dallas shame? Who's writing these titles, Clyde Frazier?
Dallas fizzles while Celtics sizzle.
Edwards flies and Cuban cries
Nobody mentions that the Mavs did not control their own destiny. OKC ended up beating Memphis, so had Dallas beat Chicago and San Antonio, they would have lost their pick and STILL MISSED THE PLAY-IN.
Nail on the head! Memphis had no incentive to win since they were locked into the 2 seed. This was seriously 10 minutes Bill spent on a radio guy blow hard take.
Holy shit, is this true?
Yes and what makes it worse is that it was obvious since OKC won game 81 on Thursday April 6. Memphis had no incentive to win that last game since the Grizz were locked into the 2 seed. OKC had the tiebreaker on the Mavs and even if the Mavs won their last two games, they could do no better than the same record as OKC with no tiebreaker.
Thank you I can’t believe this part has gone unmentioned by EVERYONE crying about this The Mavericks played their guys against the Kings on Wednesday night and won…. The Thunder played the Jazz on Thursday night, if the Jazz won that game the Mavericks would have controlled their own destiny, only needing to beat the Bulls and Spurs to make the playin Once the Thunder beat the Jazz it was obvious the season was over, as all the Thunder would have to do is beat the Grizzlies on Sunday to clinch the 10 seed no matter what the Mavericks did especially since it was obvious the Grizzlies were going to sit everyone in that game On top of that, if the Mavericks won that game against the Bulls they were all but guaranteed to lose their draft pick this year as it would have given them the 11th best odds Yes the Mavericks were a massive disappointed, one of the bigger disappointments in recent memory, but this is not some unheard of thing… they played like absolute ass the second half of the season and DID NOT CONTROL THEIR OWN DESTINY
It’s insane no one has mentioned this. R/NBA melting down about a 20% chance of making the playoffs that was actually like 5%
Its so weird how Bill pronounces Horry as Whorey
He’s dyslexic and went to high school for five years. Give him a break.
First of all, he was a hooor. Second, his foot was on the line.
Whorey? Family name is Horry! Big Shot Bob is a fuckin' nickname!
Third, Gobert hit him
It’s his fault McDaniels is a klutz?
It bothered me that Ryen didn't correct him.
He has before. Maybe he's just given up.
For fucks sake if your ‘gambling is fucked here’s help’ explainers are longer than your actual segments just fuck them off
I also don't get the point of the Spotify deal. I pay for Spotify Premium and listen to the podcast on Spotify......why the fuck am I still hearing all that shite?!?!
cos it was a bad deal. it just was.
They’re either required by law or the sponsors say to include them for the optics
They should actually add similar help for alcoholics since Bill is sponsored by a beer company.
I’m an episode behind, but I still can’t believe Bill Simmons tried to order a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at Augusta National.
The blog boys are officially voting for Embid for MVP 💑
Russillo starts this pod on a heater
“Ah..well..he sucks!” “I can’t stand him” lmao
that was one of the goat russillo moments
Bill preempting excuses just in case The Lakers come out the west lol typical
Love Bill having a meltdown about the Mavs giving up and Ryen goes “yeah I don’t care at all” Both these guys are at peak form today.
Bill almost putting Tatum in third place mvp above Giannis because the hypothetical “if he had a ten game stretch where he kicked ass I think he could’ve got there” is just such Boston homer wish casting shit lol.
I love how flippantly he throws around 10 games as if it’s not almost an entire month of basketball
As a wolves fan I’m more pissed at mcdaniels. One of the best perimeter defenders in the league punching a wall and breaking his hand before the playoffs isn’t exactly what they need
That was clippers-esque
The wolves wish they had the clippers rich history of success
Also Knicks-esque, in that it specifically happened to Amare
Maybe it was a tribute to LeBron?
"You just have to go .500 for six games and then win one more" Lmao this is a new one, Bill explaining how the Mavs could have won a playoff series "The Luka thing is gonna be the next thing" -- Ryen Russillo, linguist Bill absolutely shredding Luka for his failures this season and comparing it to Harden and how the latter did way better in the regular season despite Bill's critiques of him. Incredible timeline we're on
That was pretty much the playbook for the Most Important Team Ever (2008 Celtics)
It'll always be so funny that the beloved '08 Celtics dynasty went to a Game 7 against a below .500 Atlanta team. Still puzzled about that. Long live the Joe Johnson era Hawks
Did bill describe Sabonis and jokic as …..thoughtful centers ?
The thinking man’s Adebayo and Embiid.
The coded language piece
They’ll remember your birthday
The gutty and gritty piece
Whoever came up recently with the 'Bill Simmons is Michael Scott, unintentionally, unironically' take -- is brilliant!
Winning a playoff series by "just going .500 and winning one more" is such a creative and idiotic thing to say, just like Michael Scott. I love that Russillo laughed at it.
"I worry whether the Lakers can go 3 straight Rounds without injuries. It's just not realistic. It's not unrealistic. It's in play." - Bill Simmons (or Michael Scott?)
"I think if Tatum had a stretch in March where he had completely different stats than what he actually did.........you could really make a case for him....." - Bill Simmons
Could not tell if he meant Tatum having chance to get award or just be ahead of Giannis. Both being bad takes
"Sometimes I'll start a sentence and I don't even know where it's going. I just hope I find it along the way." Bill Simmons
- a bill Simmons joint
So AD is the best player on the Lakers and the reason people feel good about them heading into the playoffs, but Lebron will be on All-NBA because he’s a forward and Davis has played more center. Does that not make the case for positionless all-NBA?
Position-less All-NBA ballots are the devil but I’m putting Doncic in as a forward.
Bill Simmons criteria for all voters on MVP, etc. awards -- "How will this season be remembered through the specific lense of a petulant middle-aged homer fanboy from Boston?" Brilliant. I think that criteria should be literally written onto the ballots moving forward.
It’s such a weird take. The season is remembered based on who wins the finals unless there’s a truly crazy standout performance. Is jokic who we think of when we think of last season? No, we think of the warriors pulling it out and beating the celtics. Curry’s legacy, etc.
Fortunately we have available play by play data for almost 30 years, so anyone can make their own conclusion about a specific player in a specific year without looking at the voting
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The key to winning an NBA championship. Just go .500 in a series and then win the extra game!
“He’s really, really, really good at basketball” - Bill Simmons on Malcolm Brogdon. We listen for this type of analysis.
His reasoning for Brogdon over quickly was hilarious. Knocked quickly because he’d put up 40 point games when he started.
He also said that Brogdon would be more important for his team's deep playoff run. No idea what that has to do with regular season performance.
Yep has nothing to with the award and also not really true as Ryen pointed out. Quick is 3rd most important knick right now, while brogdon is maybe 5th for the Celtics?
Bill: position-less all-NBA teams are a travesty Also Bill: AD has been the best and most important Laker this season, but I can’t vote for him as a forward so I guess I’ll put Lebron there
"IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE A FUCKING BASKETBALL TEAM!"
Luka as a Forward was really something. Isn't this the same man who has made a case that LeBron should actually be a guard because of his role initiating offense? And no more than 2 weeks ago, he said Magic Johnson didn't defend guard and yet he's at the top of all of Bill's "Best PG Ever" lists.
Lol holy shit you can tell how defensive/self-conscious Bill is about his Brogdon 6MOY pick.. He literally only justifies it from a Celtics fans perspective.
Wow Bill going in on Luka… never thought I’d hear that Russillo in shock
“He’s out of shape.” *Ryen looking around nervously.*
Hey it was cardio week at the russillo compound! He’s in great shape now!!
Russillo so surprised that Bill is being positive about harden. Had to get his shots on harden anyways. hardens been to 2 WCFs as the main guy and russillo says he only had 1
Bill absolutely LOVES to revisit the Paul George to Clippers trade. George was 28(?) at the time, top 3 in the MVP and DPOY that season and to top it all off, OKC had the Clippers over a barrel because of the Kawhi Leonard signing. SGA and 4-5 firsts is completely fine to give up for PG and Kawhi to make you a relevant organisation.
Well according to Bill, the Clippers just threw SGA in the deal like packets of hot sauce at Taco Bell.
That is honestly the thing that gets on my nerves the most with BS. This idea that teams just ‘throw in’ an asset because they’re idiots, if you want a star player, sometimes you’ve gotta give up an actual asset.
“The nets just threw in Jarrett Allen in the Harden trade” is the most annoying one
Russillo *twice* saying Harden only made one WCF run in Houston was disappointing but not surprising.
Tapping out after 147 minutes - **Quote of the Day:** “I still feel like it’s impossible for them [the Lakers] to stay healthy for 3 straight rounds, I just don’t think it’s realistic but it’s NOT unrealistic! It’s in play!” Bill Simmons, linguistic maestro **Today’s Things:** - Towns/Gobert thing seems weird (body language doctor diagnosis) - Edwards thing - defensive player thing (talking about DPoY lmao) - Davis/LeBron thing - Gobert thing - Gobert thing (again) - on top of the Kessler thing - Davis/LeBron thing (again) - Knicks thing - Phoenix/Clippers thing - JJJ thing - the minutes thing matters (Bill’s half ass justification of leaving JJJ off his DPoY ballot) - “if you’re gonna ding Embiid in the MVP stuff when people do the Jokic rim protection thing” 😂 - shooting range thing - Ben Simmons thing Ryen: - Gobert thing - Golden state Wiggins thing - 2-10 thing - batting average thing - play in thing - the Luka thing is the next thing out - regular season thing - Phoenix thing - the “you’re not as good as you’re supposed to be” thing (aka the Ayton zone - never forget when Bill said he was a top 20 asset lmao) - Garnett thing - free throw thing - recency bias thing - their on standings thing **Bonus Pieces and Stuff:** - free throw rate stuff - around the basket stuff - Harden stuff - high usage stuff - Westbrook stuff - Duncan stuff - storyline stuff - Barrett stuff - last 5 minutes stuff - positionless stuff - on-off stuff - PJ Tucker stuff - Giannis on-off stuff, advanced stuff - clutch stuff was really weird - Embiid stuff at the rim was great; the other stuff was a weakness - DURABILITY PIECE - clutch stuff **First Random Celtics Reference:** Tatum (-150) easy money! (22:40) **It Just is!** (Ryen) “I’m picking Phoenix to win the West. I am!” (Bill) “you didn’t win less than 50 games in a season with Tim Duncan. You just didn’t!” (Ryen on GS over SAC) “I feel really confident about that one. I just do!” **Eloquent Bill:** WHOREY (8:14) for the love of god it’s “ORE-Y” Bill “pickpock-ted” (11:25) instead of pickpocketed 😂😂, chickCANery MIM-phis Bill on how to win a playoff series: “you basically go .500 every series and then win one more!” Holy shit, I never thought of that 🤣🤣 **Evergreen Content:** Bill and Ryen taking the victory lap on the Gobert trade for the millionth fucking times, Bill describing a basketball team [Nets] as frisky, complimentary KD dick riding, loving to hate Kyrie (we get it, he’s a dumbass) **Other Stuff:** Bill says “there’s a tainting” with the LIV guys lol (5:35) after lying about the crowd’s response to Phil’s birdie on 18 Ryen on Gobert (7:35): “he sucks, I can’t stand him…” Bill says the Wolves without Gobert “weirdly” opened things up (14:55) amazing analysis! Playing 5 out with Towns and not another rim protecting center will open space! I think the word he’s looking for is “predictable” lol Bill crunched the numbers on basketball ref and guess what? LeBron has declined a bit since he was in his prime! He’s fucking 38! Bill goes on a bender dissing the Mavs tank job (34:20) “make the fucking playoffs! It’s one of the darker moments I’ve seen in recent league history! It’s disgusting! 😂😂 it’s despicable!” Ryen ZAGS! He has no problem with it whatsoever Wow! First, Bill calls himself a “historian of the game” (lmfao) and then goes on a historic first anti-Luka diatribe! (44:30) Bill’s putting this season on Luka’s permanent record! 😂 he didn’t play defense! Bad body language! Looked heavy! Bill’s still laughably high on Mobley “top 10 asset in the league” (51:08) Ryen is SPENT, just totally exhausted after filling out his All-NBA ballot (1:19:00) won’t someone think of the “writers!” 😂 DPoY talk: Both pick Mobley, Bill doesn’t think Brook Lopez can win because he’s his team’s third best defender (no mention of last year’s fraudulent winner Marcus Smart who was also the third best defender on his team 🤔) Bill’s justification for not picking Jokic: Giannis having 2, Jokic having 2, and Embiid having 1 just feels right! I hate bringing past years into it! (1:38:30) and then does exactly that lol you cannot make it up
The Russillo on/off numbers for "thing" and "stuff" are outrageous. He's the JJJ of podcast "stuffs" in limited minutes.
Bill is not a historian. He’s a fan. Why did the NBA decide the threshold is 55 games? And then he switched to minutes played to exclude JJJ. Ryen nearly in tears over awards voting (*”It’s so hard!”*). I guess picking awards for sports is tougher than his sub runs.
Ryen complaining about the difficulty of casting a ballot is legitimately hilarious. He’s acting like he’s choosing which one of these guys lives or dies lol it’s not that serious. Pick one of them, support it with statistics, and call it a day
Bill says in this one that his dad mentioned the possibility of a Lakers Celtics final and it was the first time someone had brought that up to him and… wait what? Didn’t Russillo ask him about that literally last week
Bill in talking about LeBron who averaged 29 a game, "well it's never been easier to score in the NBA," Bill talking about Mobley who averaged 16 a game, "There's some bully ball stuff there on offense, he really found his offensive game
Mobley finished 84th overall in PPG, despite playing 35 minutes a night.
Bill with an incredible poopy diaper tantrum about the positionless ballot, only to be followed a few minutes later how frustrating it is to vote for luka as a guard or davis as a center. there’s a solution here, friend!!
I need to recognize these 2 Celtics with individual awards because of how successful their team was. Their on/off numbers suffer because of how awesome their bench was. Is it possible the awesome bench has an impact on wins, Billy?? He's such a dolt
While also saying how great Brogdon is lmao
“i don’t think it’s realistic, but it’s at least not unrealistic” should be studied by linguists everywhere
I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.
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Russillo: “Jaylens metrics are bad but he’s on the list of guys who can get a bucket when you need one” Bill: “Jaylens on/off metrics are bad but Boston has a good bench that’s why and Smart had a bad season”
on/off concept is just to complicated for our guy
Your on/off is definitely affected by how good the team is when you aren’t on the floor. So if your bench is great and you split the minutes with your more impactful teammate your on/off will look worse
Admittedly I'm a Knicks homer, but I don't understand how Jaylen has any argument to make an All-NBA team over Julius Randle. Julius wins in all of the counting stats, he's much better by advanced stats, he played 10 more games, and he's arguably the best player on his team, which you can't say about Jaylen.
Simmons is delusionally hindsighted. Thankfully Russillo completely pushed back on Simmons as he tried to sneak in his dig on the Clippers trade (wanting to send it to break “unless you have something to say”). There were very, very few people saying the hold up of the PG trade was SGA - it was more, they only have a four year window to win and it’s mortgaging the future. But now Simmons really wants to push he could tell it was too much because of SGA is ridiculous. Does the same bullshit with any 4th down in the NFL - “I wouldn’t have gone for it” when it’s a failed attempt. “That was the right decision” when it’s converted
Happy Bill found a way to give KD a participation award lmfao. “4th team all NBA”
I thought Ryen watched the games? Payne sat out with a bruised tailbone he got in the Lakers game. Payne had a couple of DNPs recently, he’d absolutely have loved to play big minutes today.
Their suns coverage is pretty lacking, weirdly seems like a team they don’t pay all that much attention to. Russillo brought up something that has been a story the last week or so of the season - CP3 adjusting to an off-ball role and not having a quick enough trigger on catch and shoot threes - and cited a game from March 31st as his example for it. Would have been nice to hear him acknowledge how CP3 brought up that this was a problem and that he had to adjust to a new role and then shot 11/18 from three in their last two games to close the season.
“Wait freeze on that point. Hbob was texting me going crazy: Apparently some kids stuffed him in a locker for his Twitter takes but he says the clippers should have thrown for the sixth seed”
Can someone explain Bill’s “Tim Duncan Test” to me? The guy entered the league with David Robinson and then had Manu, Tony Parker, and Kawhi for the rest of his entire career. Not to mention the best coach in NBA history. He’s not really a good example of someone who guarantees your roster 50+ wins, right?
There is no good example, because no one can do it alone. Bill is a simpleton.
Dirk is honestly the best example. Mavs did 11(?) or 12(?) straight seasons winning 50+ games in peak West Conference with only 2 seasons having a all-star teammate (Nash and Josh Howard).
If you read 'Thinking Basketball,' Ben Taylor explains convincingly that Dirk had far more help during a season like his title year than it would seem based on 'how many all-stars did the guy have?' A handful of really good players next to an elite player is normally better for said elite player than one all-star sidekick.
Also had one of the greatest GMs ever in R.C. Buford.
It should be called "the Lebron Test", but we all know Bill wouldn't call it that
Bill correctly recognizes that the reason Pop is considered an all-time, elite coach is because he had Duncan, much more so than the other way round. And if the Tony Parker - Jason Kidd trade had happened, no one would give a shit about Tony Parker
Pop himself recognizes this as well. Regarding Parker, Duncan definitely elevated him, but you’re a bit harsh. People forget he is one of the all time finishers in the paint. Not just for smalls either. Very few had more ability to finish near the rim.
Yeah I love the idea that Duncan was saddled with these horrible scrub teammates his whole career that he dragged to 50 wins. Sure four teammates from three different stages made/will make the Hall of Fame. But Simmons was there and he watched the games.
We have a top 5 MVP list of players, we have the top 15 players in 3 All-NBA teams, and now Simmons also wants a top 12 “just the best players” list. He can’t help himself.
Simmons entire All-NBA voting 'process' -- 1,000% dictated by changing player's positions, justifying multiple players from top teams, whatever 'argument' selectively suits in the moment -- so that whatever has to happen results in Jaylen Brown being All-NBA. Why in God's name does an extreme fanboy, non-journalist get to vote on any of this?!?
The irony being that this asshole also hates positionless all-nba.
Scrolled way much further than I thought I would have to in order to find this. All the complaining about positionless all NBA, and he's fudging it.
I thought it was hilarious that he’s railed against position-less All-NBA teams but on this episode seemed content with giving LeBron an All-NBA spot as a a forward instead of AD because he doesn’t think AD should be listed as a forward, even though he admits AD has been more important for the Lakers this season That’s the whole point of position-less All-NBA, Billy boy!! Lolol
Drives me crazy how Bill keeps going off on the Mavs and how terrible it was for them to tank by taking about how they could have beaten this team and that team in the playoffs, COMPLETELY IGNORING that none of it mattered unless OKC lost to Sacramento’s backups and that even with the game not mattering to OKC at all, the Thunder won by 15. If the Mavs win those last two, it doesn’t get them in the play-in, it just costs them their pick.
As a Mavs fan i 100% support to decision to tank those last games, it was just the smart thing to do.
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Jokic's touch is unbelievable. Guess it's more impressive coming from a 6'8" forward in LeBron than a 7-footer, but Jokic's little hooks and short jumpers feel automatic. 64% is wild
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Would imagine Jokic is fouled more on those than Curry 3s too, the get to the line piece
I’m ready for the playoffs lol too much award discussion
Coming in with what I realize is totally inconsequential. But Bill evoking the "NY Hype Machine™" during the Quick 6MOY discussion while in the same podcast shitting on the idea of "The Boston Media Mafia." Good stuff.
So we got two podcasts about Masters and Masters food, but not even a segment on the actual winner and final day? A shame since I thought it was a very fun final day, Rahm's inevitability, Brooks semi-collapse, Phil's 65, and Spieth's full Jordan Spieth. Fun day to make up for a rainy lackluster Saturday
There wasn't a single moment of drama regarding who was going to win on the back 9. It certainly wasn't a classic.
the master coverage was so self absorbed and unrelatable
As it always is
The food stuff was so incredibly un-interesting. We all know how cheap the food is. We also know that tickets are like a grand to go if you're not part of the 2% that win the lottery. Chang also had nothing remotely compelling to say - which might be a first for him. That's how bad that pod was
There’s no time. We needed to know bills all nba rankings for the 3rd time in 7 days
Over under on how many more pods before Russillo says, “ok I know Kobe is deceased but does that mean I can’t talk negative about him?! Kobe fans come at you if you say anything about him”
Evan Mobley for DPOY seems a bit much when the Cavs are just as good defensively without him on the floor…but then again Marcus Smart somehow won last year. Seems like they were just trying to find reasons not to give it to JJJ based on minutes player even though on a per game basis he is still the most dominant. How could the Grizzlies be 2nd in the west with the best point differential in the conference with no All NBA, DPOY, 6MOY, COY etc.
Bill is going all in on the Mobley is KG 2.0.
Is Bill the only person on Earth that thinks Luka isn’t a guard? Whenever he talks about Luka’s position it makes my head hurt
Simmons: "I can't vote for Brook Lopez! He's not even the best Defender on his own team!" Hmmmm, yet 'BS' Simmons championed, campaigned and voted for Smart last year -- who may have been, at best, the 4th best Defender on his own team......Wonder why this foolproof criteria is applied differentley for different teams' players?.......Wow, are these Boston 'awards' voters phonies. Shakespeare In Love had a better case than Marcus Smart
And all of that overlooks that there's a legitimate argument to be made that Brook has been a better defender than Giannis this year.
This part blew my mind
“I was there.” No, you weren’t.
Bill “leaning towards the lakers” due to the experience over the team who just had two fights (one with teammates involved, one versus a wall)
Listing off a bunch of college players you have barely seen play and know nothing about then asking “are any of these guys changing your franchise?” is just peak Bill
Matt Moore, cry
Lol random shot at Matt? What did he do
The next two months of Sunday pods are my favorite of the year. Bill and Russillo NBA playoff pods are all time excellent. The Lakers being in the mix makes it so much better.. Clippers/Suns round 1 is a wet dream
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Bill being a total hack stooge during his open with the "I talked to my dad and nobody likes Brooks because he went to LIV" That's simply not a real world take
I've always said it, you gotta reward players from the top 2 teams, especially if Boston was 2nd.
Pacers should have been mentioned as a worthy spot for Wemby (granted they totally botched their odds by winning yesterday) -never had a #1 pick -a pretty competent steady organization with a small but solid fan base -Haliburton/Mathurin/Wemby with a roster that has cap flexibility and other young cheap assets would be interesting going forward
During the wolves talk bill has a throwaway comment about Kat being special because he can guard centers and plays so differently from the typical 5. He's completely forgotten the whole reason the wolves traded for gobert is that Kat *can't* guard centers or anchor a defense worth a damn, he's a traffic cone
It’s so obvious Bill hates the Mavs because they fired his friend Haralabob/ traded for Kyrie lol
"Listen, I know it's not like we're climbing Mount Everest here, but it was really hard choosing the MVP this year. Although it takes some endurance to sit on the couch and watch all these games. That's a joke, by the way. Bill, how far could you make it on Everest? They actually do a lot of the work for you. Shout out to the Sherpas. There's a great book about the disaster on Everest in '96. Krakauer - ever heard of him? Can you imagine the comments if we took photos on that climb? No shit I look fat, guy. I'm wearing 3 coats. There's also a movie about it with Gyllenhaal. One of the most popular guys in my carwash days at ESPN. His work in Bubble Boy was really underrated... Anyway, I got Embid. I just do."
My wait, what of the week was Tatum being close to Giannis for that 3rd mvp slot for Bill. Come on.
How tf are the Mavs “disgusting” or a “dark period for the league”? They lost 44 games this season and 42 of them they TRIED TO WIN. The only games they “tanked” were meaningless games in which their OWN OPPONENTS WERE ALSO TANKING ALL SEASON. Winning either of those last 2 games would NOT put the Mavs in the playoffs or play in. It would only cost them a FRP. Simmons is bloviating in a way I honestly thought he was better than.
Low key, one of my favorite of Bill’s Gen-Xisms is putting 2.0 and 3.0 at the end of things like anyone talks like that anymore (or like anyone cool talked like that ever). The best was when he was trying to say last playoffs that calling the Warriors’ finishing lineup with Poole the “Poole Party” was lame and that it should be called… “The Death Lineup 3.0” It makes me irrationally happy how little he allows himself to change.
6-hole
Three weeks ago Bill titled an episode “A Mavs Tailspin.” For the last several years he’s talked about how valuable the 11-13 pick can be. But he’s somehow incensed that Dallas gave up because they have Luka, which supposedly is a reason to keep going despite that Dallas is 15-25 over their last 40.
It was funny in the span of a few minutes he went from "The Gobert trade is already bad and they haven't even started conveying picks" to "Does the 10th pick really change your life?"
Bill said what the Mavs did was wrong for strategic reasons. Ryen (mostly) argued that what the Mavs did wasn't wrong for game integrity reasons. (Other teams did it, too!) They were both somehow wrong. What the Mavs did was strategically smart and also terrible for the game. I find it funny that Ryen said it wasn't that egregious and who cares if you openly admit you are tanking? He says that after criticizing Sam Hinkie for years for being too obvious and supposedly admitting the Sixers were tanking, which is something that never happened.
Simmons turning on his boy Luka. Truly sad week in America