Podbit · The Bill Simmons Podcast
No two teams have met in back-to-back Western Conference Finals in 44 years — since the Lakers and Spurs in 1982 and 1983. OKC at +140 and San Antonio at +145 are both massive favorites and could finally end the drought.
Where this was said
At 1:10:30 · chapter starts 25:46
Prompted by a listener asking about Celtics Shaq and Wizards Jordan, Bill builds his all-time 'one season too long' team: George Mikan coming back with the shot clock in 1956, Hakeem going to Toronto in 2001, Elvin Hayes playing 48 minutes for a tanking Houston team, Allen Iverson on the Grizzlies, and Chris Paul at the Clippers with two teammates at his birthday party. The segment gives way to the 'baggage handler' concept — athletes who arrive at cursed franchises and immediately end championship droughts. Bill's all-time list includes Big Papi, LeBron in 2016, Jalen Brunson, Mark Messier with the Rangers, and Johnny Podres on the 1955 Dodgers. House nominates Joe Gibbs for Washington. A Fight Club / Conspiracy Bill parallel gets Bill to laugh at himself. The mailbag also covers a WrestleMania analogy for the Sixers' embarrassment of star riches, a 2011 redraft debate over Butler vs. Klay, and whether Chris Ryan is having the best year of 2026. Bill closes with a one-name athlete Hall of Fame that includes Bo Nix, Isaiah Joe, Grant Hill, and Chris Paul.
The top three teams in the league — OKC, San Antonio, and New York — didn't want LeBron. Cleveland couldn't trade Harden. Miami had nothing to offer. Golden State wouldn't make the moves. Philly was the only path to a title.
LeBron James won the NBA assists title in the 2020 season averaging 10.2 assists per game while also winning the championship with the Lakers.
In the next two years, who plays more total games for Philadelphia: LeBron James or Joel Embiid? Embiid played only 109 total games over his last three seasons. LeBron projects to play 57 of 60 if managed right. Both Bill and House take LeBron.
Joel Embiid has played only 109 total games (regular season + playoffs) over his last three seasons, raising questions about whether LeBron will outlast him in games played as a Sixer.
When Brady joined Tampa Bay in 2020, their win total over-under was just 8.5 and they were 12-to-1 to win the Super Bowl — far better odds than LeBron's current Sixers situation.
The new Blazers owner arrived and immediately began antagonizing Portland — no arena lease in three years, public disrespect for the community, and Adam Silver staying silent. Bill and House see Oklahoma City all over again.
Thomas's wife deferred her CrossFit career — she's in the global top 1% of athletes — to put him through law school debt-free. He wants her to chase the dream now; she wants the emergency fund and house down payment first. On a $200K lawyer income with no debt, the opportunity cost is just a few months of slower saving.
Underground calisthenics battles are exactly like UFC meets a rap battle — 150 people crowded around a circle, fighters walking out with masks and chains, nicknames like 'Extra Money' vs 'Calisthenics the Prince,' and people throwing money and betting. The battle set: 100 burpees, 50 muscle-ups, 75 dips, 75 squats with a 65-pound dumbbell. This is the next big spectator sport.
Rico Verhoeven controlled the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion for approximately 10 rounds — and had his appeal upheld when officials admitted the fight was stopped after the bell. The result was never overturned. Rogan calls it either incompetence or corruption, and argues the money behind Usyk made an upset politically inconvenient.
Rogan lays out a blunt case: boxing's 3-judge system is structurally broken, and the judges know who the promoter wants to win. Glory's 5-judge format is the right model. Corruption doesn't have to be conscious — just knowing Usyk is the cash cow is enough to tilt the scales.
With the Usyk-Wilder fight stalling and Fury-Joshua coming too late, the real fight the world wants is the rematch. Rico is a free agent. Usyk vacated his belts. The story is unfinished and both Rogan and Rico know it. His Excellency Turki Alasheikh already called for it ringside — the question is money.
Rico texted Jason Statham during the Canelo-Crawford fight. Statham showed Rico's highlight videos to promoters. Two days later, Rico was on a call about fighting Anthony Joshua. When Joshua pulled out, Rico pitched Usyk himself — Undisputed vs. Undisputed. Usyk said yes in two weeks. The whole thing started with one text.
Every heavyweight who faced Usyk tried to move to the right — straight into his power hand. Rico and Peter Fury identified the obvious solution: move left, away from the left hand, and smother him with size. It sounds simple. Nobody had done it. That one adjustment was the foundation of 10 dominant rounds.
MMA fans boo when fights go to the ground. They love stand-up. Kickboxing is pure stand-up. Yet it barely exists in America while boxing and MMA are enormous. Rogan's diagnosis: no promotion machine. If the UFC got behind kickboxing the way they've built MMA, it would explode. The talent is there — the storytelling machine is not.
A nation of 17 million people gave the world Ramon Deckers, Peter Aerts, Badr Hari, Melvin Manhoef, Rob Kamen, Ernesto Hoost, and Rico Verhoeven. Rico's theory: the country is so small that every gym shares knowledge freely. In the US, you need a flight. In Holland, you drive 40 minutes and spar the national champion.
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