bill simmons IS bill simmons IN the book of BASKETBALL

...the movie

who's gonna dunk this tome with me over the next few weeks? i love simmons on hoops even when he's challopsy or even just wrong but i think this book might be amazing

sitting in the package on my desk right now to start after cavs/celts when i get home-- thanking u amazon

speaking of this guy, anyone watching that 30 for 30 series
http://30for30.espn.com/

a 30 for 30 thread

i kinda want to read this - i h8 this guys whole steez but sort of love his basketball writing - o jeez i just dont know - ive never read a sports book before this is weird for me

i started it last night and the prologue is a big sloppy bj for larry bird of course, but its supposed to be a more personal intro before the nitty gritty starts up. i think its tolerable even if yr not a celtics fan and there's lots of good stuff. the footnotes are really funny!

i think there's going to be tons of quality kareem bashing too, which is a big plus in my book

you should read it ice cr*m, i think if you like his bball writing theres going to be too much fun stuff in here to ignore-- i learned that dave cowens took off a third of a season to DRIVE A CAB

i missed the colts band 30 for 30 but the other two so far have been great-- thought berg's gretzky one was actually a great film, very cool and affecting, outstanding style

I don't think I could read an entire book of Simmons' writing.

i think i totally could - i just def dont have the time atm

to echo those above, though, it would have to be abt hoops

yeah i'm not sure i'll have time for this until like the holidays

freedarko book vs book of basketball

freedarko i have a hard time reading 2 paragraphs - srsly learn writing guys!

freedarko is awful and dumb imo

i don't really want to read either of them!

good thing it's a free country, am0n!

freedarko book has been sitting on my dresser since the day it dropped, i love those guys tho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpk_zOfxkhc

I think Simmons is definitely at his best when he's doing straight NBA analysis, so I'm enjoying this so far (roughly 100pp in). The Isiah/Vegas chapter is really great.

One criticism I have is that weird semantic thing he does sometimes when he's discussing race in sports; for instance, in the Bird chapter he chalks part of Bird's career decline up to "a wave of athletic black forwards that were slowly making the Kelly Tripuckas and Kiki Vandeweghes obsolete."

I don't think anybody who's read Simmons for a while is at risk of misreading that, but I'm kinda surprised they left it in, y'know?

The black is a better athlete to begin with because he's been bred to be that way — because of his high thighs and big thighs that goes up into his back, and they can jump higher and run faster because of their bigger thighs. This goes back all the way to the Civil War when during the slave trading, the owner — the slave owner would breed his big black to his big woman so that he could have a big black kid.

I was a big Jimmy the Greek fan as a little kid and was bummed when they fired him. :/

this is a little off topic, but I can't stand the way he speaks on podcasts and stuff - sounds like I'm listening to a college sophomore with a bunch of flattened KEYSTONE LIGHT boxes taped to his wall

he's on colbert tonight, should be coming on pretty soon...

this is a little off topic, but I can't stand the way he speaks on podcasts and stuff - sounds like I'm listening to a college sophomore with a bunch of flattened KEYSTONE LIGHT boxes taped to his wall

― 囧 (dyao), Thursday, October 29, 2009 11:25 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i always liked this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQbcVnsK9g8

Well, if you look at who he's talking about that replaced Bird, Vandeweigh, and Tripuka, et al., he's not wrong. There were a bunch of really good, athletic power forwards who could run, rebound and dunk over a city bus, who happened to be black. The phrasing is awkward, and makes him seem to be placing the race thing a little high in the analysis.

I am looking forward to this book - his knowledge of NBA stuff is pretty amazing, and he tends to do some pretty inventive statistical analysis.

And yes, this dude was totally a douchebag in college.

the first real chapter ("the secret") is pretty good. simmon's tim duncan reclamation project is almost working on me. ive always found him the most boring superstar and basically hated him for wiping out the fun-n-suns year after year but always respected him as a player and think he's probably a great guy.

putting him in stark contrast now with shaq: four rings on the same team, cycled through good roleplayers that he made great (both did this), still in title contention with that same team, while shaq is now basically a big media presence journeyman...i think i'm convinced that timmy is the best of the era ending right about now.

duncan as the best of his generation is pretty indisputable imo

Duncan = not of Kobe's era?

B/c -

Four rings with same team
Cycled through journeymen and made them better
Still in title contention with same team

Could also describe Kobe.

buddy sry kobe is not better than duncan - also shaq was the best player on 3/4 of those teams

1 duncan
2 shaq
then kobe garnett et al

says the celts, fan get outta here

anyway duncan and kobe are apples n oranges

lol "celts fan, get"

as afar as know neither duncan or shaq are or have ever been on the celtics

fan, get as afar as know

In school, Duncan was a bright pupil and dreamt of becoming an Olympic-level swimmer like his sister, Tricia.[5][6] His parents were very supportive and Duncan excelled at swimming, becoming a teenage standout in the 50, 100 and 400 meters freestyle and aiming to make the 1992 Olympic Games as a member of the United States Team.[5]

When Hurricane Hugo destroyed the island's only Olympic-sized swimming pool in 1989, forcing Duncan to swim in the ocean, he soon lost enthusiasm because of his fear of sharks.[4]

this is why he's #1

also spurs teams with duncan on them have never won fewer than 53 games (lockout season excepted)

buddy sry kobe is not better than duncan

http://hillbilly10commandments.com/images/moses3.bmp

huh, i never really think about kobe v duncan.

like kobe used to get compared to his contemporaries like pierce, ray allen, carter, mcgrady, but now that it's clear that none of them are as good as he is, he tends to get compared to jordan and maybe lebron.

they're definitely the best of the nba players who emerged in the late '90s, and both of them started out on teams that were immediately successful, but in terms of position and temperament they're completely different.

yah its a tough comparison but i think if kobe goes on a run the next few years with a ring or two and consistent finals appearances before he starts to decline, we'll end up looking at the 08 lakers/celts series as the start of the post-timmy era...esp if TD doesn't get another ring before he retires. i tend to think that kobe's first three rings dont count quite as much *for him* in this kind of discussion because he wasn't the undisputed leader of those teams. even more so than points, stats, etc i think thats what simmons convinced me about-- even on the 99 team with robinson, it was absolutely td's team.

bought this book today iirc. chapter one was great--plenty of lols and good writing.

bill simmons is sitting in with the commentators @ celtics/bulls rite now

not a good voice

never heard him before colbert, if anything douchier than advertised

haha ive heard him like 100x via podcasts and such, but yeah as much as i like dude he gets frattier every element of him you discover writing -> voice -> irl

yeah i don't mind reading him actually, lets you know where he stands and puts teeth into it. entertaining as far as it goes

i remember when he was on colbert a while back, he got booed when he made fun of clinton for throwing like a girl

yah its a tough comparison but i think if kobe goes on a run the next few years with a ring or two and consistent finals appearances before he starts to decline, we'll end up looking at the 08 lakers/celts series as the start of the post-timmy era...esp if TD doesn't get another ring before he retires. i tend to think that kobe's first three rings dont count quite as much *for him* in this kind of discussion because he wasn't the undisputed leader of those teams. even more so than points, stats, etc i think thats what simmons convinced me about-- even on the 99 team with robinson, it was absolutely td's team.

This is what is going to make the Western Conf. so interesting this year. They both have good teams and something to prove.

I can't imagine "something to prove" matters as much to Tim as it does to Kobes. I'm not trying to argue Duncan isn't driven or whatever, I just don't think he cares as much about what people think about him. (Tbf, he also doesn't have as much negativity to cope with.)

Yeah. That's probably a pretty fair assessment on both of them.

Have purchased. Have read the first 100 or so pages. Have learned a lot about Boston basketball. Woo, this guy is a HOMER.

lol didn't mean much by it, just seems like he'd be an annoying personality type. the one thing that I've noticed is that whenever any writers leave the ringer he never acknowledges their departure or existence

i'm sure there are worse bosses out there

he is annoying tbf

my post wasn't to allege that bill is a bad boss, just that it's funny when he has his writers on his podcast and reveals that he doesn't know what they're publishing, even though that is a fairly standard dynamic at a place w/ as many editorial layers as the ringer. it's just that most places like the ringer don't have a hugely popular podcast where its founder speaks frequently w/ his writers

that being said i know enough ppl that have worked for him to say definitively that whether he is a bad boss or a good boss depends on who you are talking to. there is a core group of people who have been w/ him for ages, there are also people who have found working for him untenable and have parted on bad terms. this is prob a fairly common dynamic among bosses.

why do the untenable people find it untenable

i don't think you have to know anyone behind the scenes to say that bill can be petty and vindictive. he deals w/ conflict in a way that can feel righteous when his opponent is ESPN and disney -- it's far more problematic when he is managing employees. i know that when the ringer union was forming, some people who were very active & vocal in the union drive felt that he was doing stuff like no longer tweeting out links to their stories from his personal account etc. boss fighting union is not exactly a breaking news story but there were some ppl there who felt like he was taking it to a more personal level

there's also just stuff like, the ringer having very few black people on staff, bill being confronted about this by his staff, and then his response being to hire ppl like raja bell and cc sabathia to host podcasts. like...

Above all, the four former employees said, it was difficult for black staff members to win more responsibility and visibility at the company — especially since late 2017, when company leaders appeared to make podcasting a priority. At that point, they said, top editors started claiming shows for themselves.

The outlet’s popular R3w4tch4bl3s podcast, in which staff members revisit old movies, led by Mr. Simmons, allowed for a variety of guests when it started. By the spring of 2018, the ensemble approach faded as the show came to rely more on Mr. Simmons along with S34n F3nn3ss3y and Chr1s Ry4n, both founding editors who are white.

“The Rewatchables was pitched as, ‘Let’s get the rest of you participating in podcasts,’” Mr. Collins said. “It very quickly became Sean, Bill and Chris.”

Mr. Simmons said by email that the company needed to spotlight its best podcasters. “It’s a business,” he said. “This isn’t Open Mic Night.”

responding to concerns by your (at the time) handful of black employees that there wasn't enough room for advancement by saying, to the new york times, that you aren't hosting an open mic night is a style of management that, um, isn't going to work for everyone. again this is the kinda thing that works when you're the david, not the goliath. but i think he always sees himself as the former despite having been the latter for quite some time.

good post thank you

Bill Simmons attempting to sing No Flex Zone. This is peak podcasting pic.twitter.com/ISZP4ztxze

— Jamal McMurray (@JamalMcMurrayy) April 29, 2024

oh my god lol

haha

lmaooooo

💪💪 @BillSimmons @ringer pic.twitter.com/PgYMgB4JQB

— J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) April 30, 2024

should be noted that this performance of "No Flex Zone" came while he was listing the three worst commercials of the NBA playoffs, none of which were "what a pro wants"

Bill's list:
1. Wingstop / "No Flex Zone"
2. "BK have it your way ... you rule!"
3. Caitlyn Clark StateFarm ad

no Chet/SGA is an all-time zag

bk have it your way is a top tier jingle. it has run its course tho

"no flex zone" is so familiar to me (and i loved it so much when it first came out) that the ad doesn't even register to me as annoying

"what a pro wants" is so much worse, man. like why would chet and sga know or like that song which came out before chet was born and nobody has listened to or mentioned in decades?

the no flex zone ad is easily the best of the ads they play constantly during basketball classic song and i like vibe of the family the kids seem like they know something funny, the worst are those emotionally manipulative ads from lilly the company that was gouging life saving insulin

i like the what a pro wants ad its nice theyre signing together but then the end is bad when shai is all a lil flat, feel like sort of thing where theres a line thats in the shape of a punchline but isnt actually a joke its just someone saying something is everywhere in ads now some sort of new pernicious ad man strat, like the one where melo tells eli you not slick or the one where grant hill does all the talking then ant says oh i know

i agree i don’t really understand the hate for it. it’s dumb but it’s not exactly like our best minds are in advertising these days. mostly i find it kinda cute, they seem to be having fun. i do agree w/ ppl who point out that they’re too young to really have nostalgia for an early xtina single tho

the singing is cute and they seem like good guys, harmless ad imo

they look extremely uncomfortable! if you’re going to do something like that you gotta actually let yourself get into it. F minus

for me, it’s more “oh god why are they being forced to do this?”

it's definitely awful, but i feel the opposite of lagoon - the singing is cringe, the song choice is weird, the whole premise seems detached from any sort of reality, and the only redeeming quality of the commercial is SGA going "lil bit flat, we'll get better" as if there *is* some backstory that we're unaware of, like these two dudes are on a journey toward trying to sing well together for some reason. it's like that's the only part of it that has even a hint of intrigue?

it's also the only line of the whole thing that's delivered in a natural way, not stiffly acted.

the crypto ad about pizza is good too bad they cant make cyber money that good

i dont like seeing will smith and martin lawrences old puffy faces in the bad boys 3 ads they shouldve used the face deaging tech on them

were dying goon, we're all just dying and decaying cant get ai to stop it baby

not in the bad boys universe

theyre not bad boys anymore, theyre bad men

will smith and martin lawrence in....grumpy old boys

see thats the direction they shouldve gone

The only truly random number generator is the one in Bill Simmons’ head when he says, eg “he was one of the 12 to 13 best guys in the league in ‘88” or “he’s one of the best guys we’ve seen in what, the last six to seven years?”

— Brad (@BGM_22) May 15, 2024

lol

one of the most accurate tweets

the spinal tap school of measuring things

That’s good

i dont like seeing will smith and martin lawrences old puffy faces in the bad boys 3 ads they shouldve used the face deaging tech on them

― lag∞n, Wednesday, May 15, 2024 7:25 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

realized theyre supposed to be beat up in the scene where they look bad, its not obvious in the ad tho i had to pause it

also, 'tis the fourth film in the grumpy old boys saga

oh shit lol lost track, part 2 is classic tho

the mma themed crypto ad with an eminem impersonator complaining about the haters is too much lol

two different ads using the song lil boo thang, embarrassing

insane beautiful take from Bill Simmons on the Pulp Fiction podcast: the scene where the bullets don’t hit Jules and Vincent has aged badly “because of the Trump assassination attempt”

— REDACTED Sportello (@BenShh1) August 23, 2024

The Rewatchables works for me for its feeling of sitting around with some guy friends as they talk about movies, when I'm in a mood to just sit (or walk, as the case almost always is) and enjoy the chatter. Comfortable.

insane beautiful take from Bill Simmons on the Pulp Fiction podcast: the scene where the bullets don’t hit Jules and Vincent has aged badly “because of the Trump assassination attempt”

— REDACTED Sportello (@BenShh1) August 23, 2024

oh lol xp

truly a nuclear level take tho

god damn that take is like Tiger winning the Masters in 2019, I didn't know he still had that sort of thing left in him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJzx-PeG8zs

lol complaining about how bad the #12 OKC pick is while Steven Adams' name flashes on the screen

An all time Bill Simmons and KOC interaction after the Magic picked Mo Bamba with the 6th pick. https://t.co/sE9uG6gU2T pic.twitter.com/OTNhAYxeK9

— Subscribe to the You Know Ball Patreon (@TrillBroDude) September 19, 2024

lmao thats disrespectful

https://i.imgur.com/txbczXX.jpeg

which of these subjects 'pulled the goalie'?

haha, i sprinted here to post the same thing.