Podbit · The Bill Simmons Podcast
Boston and Miami are the two finalists for Giannis, and the key variable is whether the Celtics will top Miami's offer. Kuzma is likely the 'Giannis tax' — the extra piece whichever team takes him will have to absorb.
Where this was said
At 5:15 · chapter starts 1:15
With the Giannis trade dragging into what Simmons dubs 'Day 305 of the hostage crisis,' he and Zach Lowe calmly dissect the situation. Milwaukee's owner Jimmy Haslam has said he'd like a deal done before the draft, and both hosts believe that's still likely. Simmons is firmly in the Boston camp, though deeply conflicted [1] — Bill Simmons "Boston and Miami are the two finalists for Giannis, and the key variable is whether the Celtics will top Miami's offer. Kuzma is likely the…" 05:15 , while noting Miami's offer is capped by their refusal to include Bam Adebayo. The conversation surfaces a compelling theory: Kyle Kuzma — on an expiring deal — is the 'Giannis tax' that whichever team wins this bidding war will have to absorb. For Miami, that complicates roster building around Bam and Giannis dramatically. For Boston, it would mean attaching Kuzma to a Jaylen Brown package. Lowe advocates for patience and serenity, joking about throwing out the first pitch at Citi Field and attending a World Cup game as his coping mechanisms for the endless waiting.
Boston Celtics and Miami Heat are the two primary suitors for Giannis, with Milwaukee waiting to see if Boston will top Miami's offer.
Brown got a genuine taste of being the lead guy while Tatum was limited, and that's nearly impossible to walk back. Like Stringer Bell running the business while Avon was in jail, giving that back is its own kind of crisis.
The Knicks solved every problem thrown at them in the playoffs, posted the highest point differential in playoff history, and have a genuinely elite alpha in Brunson. Their model mirrors the '70–73 Knicks and the '08–12 Celtics.
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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