Podbit · The Bill Simmons Podcast
If you asked who's looked most like young Kobe over the last 30 years, Darren Peterson is the answer. But Peterson reportedly told his coach he wasn't playing 15 minutes before a big game. The talent is there. The question marks are real.
Where this was said
At 30:54 · chapter starts 6:59
The panel wraps with final grades and closing thoughts. Simmons gives the 2026 draft an A for talent — all three top picks were legitimate A+ selections, and the quality held up deeper than most years — but only a C- for entertainment, since the whole thing was just too competent and predictable. House's parting wish is for a new generation Running Diary writer who can make the savage observations about family dynamics, living-room sets, and draft night spectacle that the Ringer principals can no longer make on air. Mann reflects on the historic nature of a draft where all three top teams could legitimately come away satisfied — no clear hierarchy. Simmons closes on a note of genuine warmth and public health: he's getting a colonoscopy on Thursday and encourages everyone to take care of themselves. A new Rewatchables episode — The Good Son — drops Thursday. He'll be back Sunday unless a Jaylen Brown trade breaks, at which point, drugs or no drugs, he's going live.
Five franchises — Washington, Utah, Memphis, Chicago, and Sacramento — all received promising picks, meaning roughly one-sixth of the NBA entered the offseason with legitimate hope.
Bill Simmons argues fewer than 10 players since LeBron have prompted the 'kind of a LeBron body' comparison — and AJ DeBonza is one of them. At 6'9" with paint-touch efficiency ranking 3rd among all Division I players, the physical upside is undeniable.
Among Division I players who averaged over 20 paint touches per game this season, AJ DeBonza ranked 3rd in downhill paint touch scoring efficiency, behind only Ibuka Okorie (#1) and Darius Aikufu (#2).
The Washington Wizards signed Trae Young to a 4-year, $212 million contract with a player option in year 4, a move Bill Simmons called a crime against the franchise.
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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