Minnesota’s Coming, OKC’s Here + Why The NBA Finals Should Go Thru July | The Bill Simmons Podcast
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is joined by Kirk Goldsberry to discuss the Timberwolves and the Western Conference and pitch an idea to revitalize the NBA. Later, Bill’s dad joins to react to the Celtics losing against the Thunder and more!
0:00 Kirk Goldsberry on the Timberwolves and the Western Conference
21:11 – 21:52 Audi Ad Break
21:52 – 22:56 FanDuel Ad Break
22:56 Kirk Goldsberry on the Celtics-Thunder game
48:43 – 49:18 FanDuel Ad Break
49:18 Revitalizing the NBA pitch With Kirk Goldsberry
01:14:53 Bill’s Dad reacts to the Celtics-Thunder game and More!
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37 Comments
Whoever wins the NBA Cup should be given a top three guaranteed draft pick, forfeited only if they also win NBA title that year. The team they beat in NBA cup final would then get a top 5 draft pick odds in the lottery.
We traded Karl to have the money to keep Naz. Instead of going off vibes maybe you could look into the actual cap situation for next year 😂
As a Denver fan, Minnesota scares me – more than any other Western team.
Finally someone mentioned Tatum and Brown with the push offs. It's almost every drive especially the Tatum step back/pull ups.
Just make the season start the day after Thanksgiving. That avoids all of the MLB season and the bulk of the NFL season, while now giving the NBA all of June (and July?) to play with. For added fun, have the Finals start on the 4th of July. This also guarantees that the all-star break always falls after the Superbowl
Christian Braun should be a candidate for MIP.
How is Simmons always 100% ignorant about the Wolves?
ayyyy sea dawgs!!
why are we giving a #1 overall pick most improved???
How is this bozo so popular
Bill’s Dad!
yea lets do 69 game season and have every single nba single season record be untouchable and make less money and revenue and have less games to watch. fuck that shit. nobody wants that
nba just signed a 70 billion dollar network deal they dont need to change shit lmao. these conversations are so stupid
Stop trying to shorten the fucking season buddy it’s not happening. 82 games is perfect we get basketball every single day
disliked since you’re tryna change the NBA season and destroy the history of the league
Couldn't the play-in still work if it's 7v8 and loser v 9
Why does the 10th place team get through?
Of course Bill and his dad start talking about my Lakers… rent free in these Celtic fans heads 😂😂😂 💜💛 love the commentary tho always
Watch the Wolves get the 2nd seed. 2 thru 7 seeds are literally 3 games or so a part
OKC’s window is not huge with this lineup. Sam will pick great guys to fit into the system but they can’t keep Williams, Chet, and Cason Wallace.
The Celtics are gonna make easy work of Atlanta, NY, Detroit.
A 2 week move improves things drastically. If it doesn’t line up as so, move the trade deadline past the superbowl
Sounds like the puppy is ahead of the learning curve. Always love a Bill’s pops episode.
Thank God Bill’s dad doesn’t have a vote
Yeah Reagan showed up and trashed the American dream in the 80s Bill
continue to ignore memphis… keep doing that
Hey Bill, we made the KAT trade so that we can sign Naz. Duh. He’ll make half of what KAT makes. There is absolutely zero chance we don’t sign him.
According to Bill, Tatum will ALWAYS have another level to go up. And if he can't go up a level, you can bet he's gone up a half level!
Kirk, get Cason off your big board! He's OKC's secret
I adore the segments with your Dad, Bill. Just shooting the shit about sports, something I never experienced, you won’t see this but just wanted to share some appreciation for it.
A casual hoops fan in Dublin, Ireland.
One of the things you really don't want to do with a product that most are unhappy with, is start messing with the schedule. Cause now you're daring fans to just tune out completely cause they're used to seeing games at one point and now they have to adjust. Doing this when people are upset or furious, is a great way to lose your audience and not get them back.
I do find it funny that 'trimming down games' didn't become a thing or a major talking point until now.
At this point, until people start getting real about the problem that exists and addressing it properly, any changes made will not help. In a lot of ways, changing things may make it worse not better. What I would do…
– Keep the 82 game schedule as is. Eliminate the NBA Cup, it's really making this thing worse than it is the other way I think.
– Return to the 5-7-7-7 with the NBA Finals going back to 2-3-2. I think homecourt really made a difference in the Finals the way it was. Now it's hard to tell the difference between every other round versus the final round. When we had it where a team lost homecourt and then had the next 3 on the road, that was high drama. Going 7 games all the way through is overkill to me. A 5 game first round was great and oh while we're at it, eliminate the Play In Tournament. The regular season is 82 games long. If you can't play your way into contention for a Top 8 spot, you should be in Secaucus rooting to see your team logo when they open the last envelope.
– Eliminate the All Star Game, add an All Star Bonus for those who do get named to the team via fan vote. This to me is just done with. There's not too many more things that can be done with this to get players to care about it. They clearly don't want to do it, so why watch players half ass it for 3 hours and change on a Sunday night? Especially now that it's probably gonna be streaming after this season anyway. Give em that weekend off, let the youngsters do their thing on Friday night and let All Star Saturday Night just be a curtain call for those who got voted to the team and the usual events.
I really don't have an answer for one of if not the biggest problem that the NBA has right now. You cannot pay people to care cause once you do that, their care will have a price tag that you'll never keep up with. The NHL just did a 4 Nations Face Off and it worked cause players are passionate about what they do. They have pride in their country, pride for their sport and for the fans who support them. The NBA has players who are too busy being defensive of any kind of constructive criticism they get. You got players going at the media cause they can't admit they put their kid in a shit situation and rather than own it, they'd rather turn everyone against the media cause the media's always an easy target. Still, playing less games just means there's less games for players to sit out on the regular. The NHL isn't doing or suggesting any of the things that we hear for the NBA cause players love playing. NBA players love getting paid and like playing. Why did the 80s and 90s hit so differently for us fans? Cause we knew players were passionate about what they did night in and night out. It's not that anymore and quite honestly, I'm not sure it ever will be that again. It probably doesn't feel like it now, but WBD did the right thing letting the NBA go. They have the NHL, they have college football and basketball along with Unrivaled. They'll be fine with time. Once the NBA loses LBJ/KD/Steph, a lot of this is gonna look different. The media is gonna learn they should've spent more time putting the spotlight on teams that were doing well not just focusing on the likes of LeBron, Boston and Steph. NBA Media is another part of this problem but I'm not sure how that gets fixed. It's also a big reason why I don't see the point of expansion anymore. As is we can barely keep players from being funneled to the big markets so why add more teams for the media to care about for maybe a season if that then forget they exist.
I wish the NBA would put a 2 year cap on college players, but I know that's not going to happen. A huge reason why international players are starting to come off the board faster than college folks is because international players are fundamentally sound in ways US players are not. I don't agree with moving the NBA around cause it starts as MLB is dying down and the NFL is starting to heat up. Playoffs start right as the college season ends and MLB is starting. The problem with starting the season in December is you're running into the thick of the NFL season as well as the college football playoffs. I hear Kirk saying the NBA needs to give concessions to the players, how many more concessions can they get? People make time for things that are worth their time. I don't get the whole Nielsen ratings thing and I really don't care, but I do believe people make time for things they feel are worth their time. Players aren't trying to lose money same as owners, that's why I'm doubting the NBA reduces its regular season and why the NFL is pushing for 18 games. To the point of there being some alternate league, look, the only thing where folks accept an alternative is wrestling and even that's a tough sell for some cause they're so accustomed to just ONE MAJOR THING that they will not accept any alternatives. The NBA hasn't had to deal with anyone trying to compete and if you end up starting some start up, I think it flops hard no matter how much Saudi Blood Money gets pumped into it. LIV Golf ended up merging with the PGA did it not? Why would New Basketball League be any different? If you're not showing up for the NBA, fans are supposed to believe you're gonna show up for some international start up? How backwards is that? Load Management is a load of new age BS. I've seen players play 82 in a much more physically demanding era and there was no loaf management or talking heads saying 'we need to shorten the season'. It sickens me to no end as a fan. This, everyone aiming to take 50 3s a game are what I can't stand the most about the current product. I like the NBA, I don't love it and I'm not sure if it's going to get back to a place where I can love it all told.
Love the term foul merchant. In the playoffs, that extra intensity advantage and the foul merchanting advantage OKC gets big time right now, that disappears. They won't beat the Lakers, Denver, or Minnesota bc those two major regular season advantages vanish
Tyler Ford might be the worst referee in the league
Detroit Piston has a great chance to make it far into the playoffs this year. Granted they don’t have any experience which will tamper their progression. This team will win the rebound count and Cade Cunningham style of playing downhill is always a great way to cause a headache for most teams. Their outside shooting great but the rebounding ability of Jalen Duren should mends their shooting woes if they run into them. With Cade being a 6’7 pg he is coach dream and nightmare to game plan against and for. If they get Tobias in the post against smaller players he should be able to carry a quarter or two to help increase a lead or keep the offense going giving other players much needed rest. I have high hopes for Detroit Piston and if they get someone similar to Kawhi Leonard they will soar through new heights comes next season. Plus once Jaden Ivey is healthy their team will be win at least two championships together.
How hard would it be to convince Mark Cuban to become NBA commissioner?
Wow his dad talks just like him 😂
thank you for showing you at least know something about the timberwolves compared to main stream media
Thunder Up! ⛈