The Bill Simmons Podcast
Five NBA Playoff Takes, Plus David Letterman’s First-Ever BS Pod Appearance (We Did It!!!)
08 May 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
The Bill Simmons podcast brought to you by FanDuel. We're also brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network. I put up a new rewatchables on Monday. We did There's Something About Mary. And then this Monday, because we're doing comedies all month for Netflix is a joke month. I did. Tropic Thunder with Chris Ryan and Van Lathan and Joel Anderson. First time for him on the pod.
So that's coming at some point Monday afternoon. Stay tuned for that one. For this podcast, I'm going to freelance a little bit at the top because we had two basketball games tonight. I had a lot of scattered thoughts, but I really wanted to get to our guest because David Letterman after I've had this podcast since 2007. So this is the 20th year I've had the podcast.
Uh, and he was always bucket list someday, maybe, um, really number one for a long, long time, ever since I had, I had Larry Bird in 2012. And then really after that, it was Letterman. Um, my three guys growing up were Bird, Letterman, Eddie Murphy. So I guess now Eddie Murphy moves into the pole position of guy I really need to get on my podcast. But, uh, Having Letterman was incredible.
He's coming up later. I'm gonna do some basketball first. I thought about doing a viewer mail at the top just as an homage to, or listener mail in my case, just as an homage to the mailbags that he used to do because I took the concept in 1997. The moment I had my own column, I just, I was trying to figure out things I wanted to do.
One of the things I wanted to do right away was have my own mailbag because I knew it worked because of Letterman. It had a huge impact on my life. And it was an absolute pleasure to sit down for him. We talked like, I think it was like 75 minutes. So I want to get to that as fast as possible. We have a lot of basketball stuff to cover at the top. We can do it in one second.
We're going to take a break. Then Pearl Jam. The Bill Simmons Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. It's been a wild playoff run. Not over yet. FanDuel wants to bring you closer to the court to make all of that action come to life for you, the basketball fan. FanDuel, the best place to bet the teams, players, plays during NBA postseason.
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Chapter 2: What insights does Bill Simmons share about his podcast journey?
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All right, this top segment is brought to you by New Era. I am recording right after Thunder Lakers. Game two in Oklahoma City. And game two was the game for the Lakers. You got to stay one of the first two against a team as good as OKC. They gave it everything they had. They shot 50-40-90. from the field. You do that. You feel like you're going to be in the game. Nope. They lost by 18. Okay.
So he ripped off a 23 to five run in the third quarter. Suddenly it was over. They're just too deep. They're too scary. Look at their box score. Did they have anybody that even played 30 minutes tonight? Uh, let's see. Shit. 32 Mitchell played 30. Um, Wallace played 30, but you know, they played 10 guys. They really played more than that, but really they have this 10 minute rotation.
Jalen Williams played 14 minutes tonight. He's was their second best guy during the title run last year. And now he's, I think their third best guy, because I think Chet has officially put on the Robin costume to Batman, to flopping Batman SGA. I kid, I joke, uh, This is why I couldn't really get there with the SGA MVP, even though I don't begrudge anybody who voted for him.
I just think this OKC team is incredible with the depth, the shooting, the defense, all the different lineups they have, guys that can step up night after night after night. And I'm looking at what the Lakers did I thought JJ did an awesome job in these two games. The whole team was locked in.
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Chapter 3: What are Bill Simmons' thoughts on the current NBA playoff games?
They were running good plays. Their defensive strategy to kind of really hound SGA, press them, force the ball to other guys. That's what you should have done. They were in these games in the second half where you look up and it was like a six-point game, four-point game, and none of it matters because OKC can just do these runs.
Basically, the Lakers, because Luka has been out since I think April 2nd, They're turning 35 Luka minutes into about 10 for Laravia, who's been a bust, 10 extra for Cunard, 15 extra for Rui and Reeves. And then on top of that, you're relying on the Marcus Smart. He was four for 13 today. I think he is for the... For the two games, let's see, I have it down. Eight for 27 or eight for 28.
It's one of those two numbers. But so you're relying on him. I actually really like how LeBron's playing. One of the things that I had flagged for this series was how old was LeBron going to look now that he's going against like, you know, the Oklahoma City Pitbulls. He's kind of holding his own. I mean, this is pretty incredible what's happening here at age 41 LeBron.
It's certainly something, you know, the Houston was disjointed. It was a weird team. They were poorly coached. They didn't have a point guard. LeBron, he stunk in game five, but for the most part had a really good series. And it was like, all right, well, let's see what happens. It's okay. See. He's been, uh, he's been really good and none of it matters.
And they're going to get swept unless, okay. See just has a game where they shoot like 30%, which I don't see it happening. They just have too many answers. So, uh, noble effort by the Lakers and they lasted longer than the Celtics. Although if they don't have a playoff win now, they still last longer than the Celtics.
Fuck.
Um, two notes. Was watching AJ Mitchell tonight, who is just incredible. Really, really good when you think like he's a bench player who can also start when they need him, but he can also do like a pretty good SGA impersonation. He's only a second year guy and he's on a cheap contract.
And I wonder, like you assume OKC or San Antonio or Minnesota, one of those three teams that won the title, but OKC is the favorite. They won the title again. Is AJ Mitchell, has he been good enough that you could trade
AJ Mitchell with the number 12 pick, because I assume they're going to land number 12 in the lottery and maybe other picks that they have because they have some future ones down the road. Maybe Lou Dort's in the trade.
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Chapter 4: How does Bill Simmons reflect on LeBron James' performance?
Um, Why didn't they put Embiid into the pick and roll stuff that the Knicks just immediately did in game one? Just the recipe that was sitting there for the entire series for the Celtics. I need some honey water. Hold on. I want that on camera. That's how worked up I had to get water for my voice.
really one of the worst series losses i can remember for a boston team because i as i've said now in three podcasts in a row i don't think they ever thought they were losing to philadelphia i think they used the series as this testing ground let's around and then panicked when things started to not work out um so the sixers it was great they advanced the next round they're going to lose the knicks and uh i think the best thing is they they flipped those celtics sixers situation
They revived Paul George's trade value. which is huge because I think they can get off that contract now if they want to. They might not want to. The way he went at Brown and Tatum and even in Nick's game two, I thought he really went toe-to-toe with those guys. Their one chance of coming back is if Ananobi's not healthy. It seems like he's going to be a game time for game three.
We'll see what they do with the refs in game three. The thing with the Knicks is that they're deep enough that they'll just tell Bridges to go in the Ananobi role. They'll play their... they'll play their bench. They have good bench guys, I think. And, uh, I would just be surprised if this went more than five games. And I think the big mistake, Chris Ryan said it. We did rewatchables.
We taped the Tropic Thunder rewatchables on Monday. And Chris Ryan said it. We hadn't even seen a Sixers-Knicks games yet. And he was just like, I don't know why we're playing a beat tonight. We're not going to win. Why are we putting the miles on them? Rest them, like make game two the game.
And somehow Chris Ryan knew more than everyone on the Sixers because they played them and ended up getting banged up. We'll see if he plays. Um, I'm not really sure it's going to matter. And if the Knicks end up blowing this, um, it would really rank way, way up there, uh, because it's just feels like they're in complete control. Um, Knicks fans.
I know a lot of them, a lot calmer than they were before game four of the Atlanta series. I got an email from Tony showtime.com. who said in the last few months, Cat has improved his defense. He's fouling people less and has stepped into a playmaking leadership role. Technically true. I mean, he is averaging like six assists right now. He's also just kind of likable.
I've been telling my friends he's Rocky IV-ing me. Cat is Rocky in Rocky IV and I am the Russian crowd. I came into the experience not as a fan, but his play and perseverance has won me over. Have you ever been Rocky Ford by an athlete? Take care of BS. Don't forget to feed house. That's from Tony Showtime. I put some thought into that. I was trying to think who my greatest Rocky Ford guys were.
And number one is J.D. Drew, who the Red Sox signed in the mid-2000s. And I just really disliked him. The patience at the plate. I just never thought he was going to get a hit ever. He played passively. He didn't have the spirit of the 04 Red Sox. And we paid him, I think, $70 million for five years, and I never liked him.
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Chapter 5: What thoughts does Bill Simmons share about the appeal of certain talk shows?
That was great. Just great. Yeah. PTI.
It's like, it's just nice knowing it's there. You can pop in and out. Sometimes I'll just watch the first act of it, which is like 10 minutes, but just seeing those guys and them weighing in on the biggest stories. I talk to Kornheiser a lot and he's been doing the same thing for 12 years about I got to get off. Nobody wants to see me anymore.
Chapter 6: How do Bill Simmons and David Letterman perceive the chemistry in podcasts and shows?
I'm too old. But I feel like he's just going to die on the air during that show.
I talked to a friend of mine about what the appeal of that show is, and he just abruptly said, it's the clock. That's it. It's the clock. That's not it, is it? It's those two guys.
This is how we feel about podcasts, too. It's the chemistry over the idea, I think.
Oh, was that the question?
Chapter 7: What challenges did David Letterman face when he had guest hosts?
People are there for the person every day, not the guest, not the... I do think, though, that shows the perfect amount of time because ESPN has multiple times tried to extend it to an hour. No. And Tony has always thrown his body into it. He's like, I'll never do it if it's an hour. This is why it's good. It's a half hour. We leave people wanting more.
Well, it may be partly the clock because when you see where they are on that countdown column, you get a little grumpy because, oh, they're just about to say goodnight. Right.
Chapter 8: What reflections does David Letterman have about his career and the evolution of television?
The other interesting thing is nobody else has been able to replicate it, come up with their version of it. And people have tried. There's been all these different gimmicks and none of them have worked. It's only been that. But I really think it's those. And I was lucky enough to host that show a bunch of times. People are always going to want the two.
Oh, absolutely.
I figured out how to fit in and what my role was, but those two are always going to be the best.
Whenever there's a guest host or somebody filling in for one of the two, it's discouraging. I mean, perhaps that's too strong a word. Right. I'm able to pull myself together. No, I think it's the right word. Yeah. Anyway, that's what I like watching on TV.
Did you ever think, like Carson used to have guest hosts all the time. You never really dabbled in it that much, right?
Oh, no. I was deadly scared that if I gave up the seat, I'd lose the show. Right. You were worried somebody was going to come in and be good. Because the list of people better, more qualified, funnier, and better looking than me, infinite. And so, no, I wasn't going anywhere. Don't give up the damn chair. I'll wait to talk about watching birds with my son.
But in the meantime, don't send anybody in here.
Yeah, because Carson would have, at one point, Chevy Chase was rumored to replace him.
Oh, yeah.
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