The Bill Simmons Podcast - J.J. Redick on Philly's Future, CP3's Moment, Stopping LeBron, Boston Fans, and One-and-Done | The Bill Simmons Podcast (Ep. 369)

Episode Date: May 23, 2018

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard J.J. Redick to discuss Round 2 of the Eastern Conference playoffs, Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Boston home crowd, Chris Paul's great fit with the Houston Rockets, LeBron's calculated movements, and the NCAA one-and-done phenomenon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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If you love the Rewatchables podcast that we did for the last year and a half or so, it returns tomorrow for a 20-episode season, 20 straight weeks, lots of great stuff coming. Tomorrow we are bringing it back with the social network, me, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey. And it goes all over the place. The big question. I won't even tell you the big question.

You got to wait. There's a question in there that I think is a really fascinating argument. Anyway, The Social Network on the rewatchables. Check it out. And check out episode two of On Shuffle. Our music podcast is coming up. We also have a couple of announcements coming about a couple of new podcasts.

We're adding to the ringer podcast network. No nephew Kyle did not get a podcast. We're about 50 more away before that happens. Anyway, coming up, I'm going to talk to a host on a Rigger podcast show JJ Redick and we'll do some basketball stuff

but first Pearl Jam All right, we're going to call JJ Redick in a second. I flew to Boston, Massachusetts last night on JetBlue, which has televisions. I timed the flight so I could watch Rockets Warriors Game 4. It's amazing how fast a cross- country flight goes when you have basketball. It was really great. I really had a good time. It was a good game.

It was a fascinating game. The Warriors, I think, were like minus 850 or minus 900 for the series setting into that game. Something like that. It dropped a little bit. Iguodala came out that Iguodala was probably not going to play. The line I think was nine and the line dropped to eight, which is where cousin Sal and I may or may not have gotten it. And I think it even dropped to seven and a half.

The Iguodala thing is a huge, huge, huge subplot. And they made a big deal of it yesterday. It was almost like they didn't make a big enough deal because two things. He's, he's their best perimeter defender. He's their best glue guy. He's a scrapper, klar fighter and and they just didn't have anyone to replace him. Like you can't, you can't play Nick young in a game like that. As we, as we found out that all these dudes who weren't really ready to be in a game like that. As we, as we found out, they had all these dudes who weren't really ready to be in a game like that. And it reminded me a little bit of what happened to them in 2016

game seven finals against Cleveland when Harrison Barnes just went into just a major funk and Steve Kerr hit a point in the second half where he just couldn't trust him anymore. And it's like, what do you do? We only have four guys. Who, Who's our fifth dude? Who do we bring in here? This was before they had Durant and rolled the dice with a couple of people and then ended up bringing Festus Azili and LeBron got six straight points on him, swung the game. And then that was it. And they lost because they could not find that fifth guy. I love the basketball playoffs for so many different reasons. But one of them is at some point you have to have your five. You just have to have the five dudes that you trust implicitly,

totally and completely who are all going to fight and who are going to do whatever it takes to win the game. And I mean that in the least cliche way possible. The Rockets had their five guys and it was a lineup that Jonathan Charks and I had talked about last week. It's super small. It's P.J. Tucker. It's Ariza. It's Harden.

It's Chris Paul, and it's Eric Gordon. And it's basically a smaller, small-ball version of what the Warriors have. You can't really get away with playing that lineup against a great team, but you can if they're all, all like fighting their asses off. And that's what that game was all about. And that's why I loved it. I thought it was a classic, even though it was not well played. The coaching was terrible. The execution, especially down the stretch was bad.

I mean the Warriors took probably seven or eight of the worst shots they've probably taken during the entire career. I mean, shots in the backboard, they just completely fell apart offensively, partly because they were tired and partly because the, the Rockets were just completely unafraid of them. They're fighting for everything. They're pushing, they were shoving them, they're shoving them off picks. They were in their mugs. They set the tone from, from a tone from a fouling standpoint that either the

referees were going to call every single play a foul or they weren't going to call anything a foul. And it was really, really great to watch. I had a lot of respect for Tucker and Ariza. And I think if Toronto had kept Tucker and just let Serge Ibaka go last summer, their playoffs might have been different. But the thing that really stuck out and the thing that's important, I think, about the Celtics-Cavs game five tonight is how unafraid they were of the Warriors,

how they talked to them the whole time. They did not put up with any Draymond stuff. They fought for every loose ball, hard fouls, kept attacking the rim. They looked scared in the first quarter, and then I think Eric Gordon snapped them out of it. And those five guys just really wanted it. I thought Capella, he wasn't a disaster,

but those five guys were who won them the game. And it's a good lesson because what I saw from the Celtics in game four was a team that was very deferential to LeBron. A team that seemed kind of honored to be there and couldn't believe they had gotten that far and didn't seem like they were ready to actually fight to win the game. And you look at all those dunks and layups.

Why do you miss dunks? Why do you miss layups? Because you're afraid you're going to get fouled or you're afraid you're going to screw up. And that's like tentative stuff. They missed four dunks. At least two of them, they got fouled up, but whatever. Especially Tatum and Brown. And you can't blame them because they're a combined 41 years old. I think they're combined about as old as Kyle Corver is, but you're not going to beat LeBron being deferential. You're going to beat him if you're clawing and you're fighting

and you're throwing haymakers at him, and that's the difference. The Cavs came out for game four. I thought it was smart. People thought I was bitching about the officiating because I did this tweet during game four, and I wasn't. The Cavs were smart in game four. They were pushing and pulling and clawing. And every time Tatum or Brown was coming around to pick, they were grabbing them and Rozier.

And they basically set the tone early on. The refs weren't calling anything. And it was smart. They turned it into a rugby game. It was a really physical game. And it threw the Celtics off and they weren't ready to do what they needed to do. I think game five would be a little different because the home crowd, young legs, the fact that LeBron had a ton of miles put on him in game four, that was a hard game for him. He had a lot of, I think he had 27 or 28, 28 field goals, like 14 free throws. He played 42 minutes.

He was at, he had to play defense that game. And now they got to play two nights later, and that's tough. I think it's tough for guys like Korver and JR with the legs. They only really played seven guys in that game, which I loved what Mike D'Antoni did last night with that too, by the way. He played six, and he played

Gerald Green 12 minutes. But this is the playoffs. This is when you ride with your best dudes. And there's some stuff we're going to talk about with JJ in a second, what I think the Celtics can do in this game. But the big takeaway from last night is the Rockets just didn't want their season to end and really fought their asses off to stay alive. I don't know if they can win the series,

but there's a competitive spirit and a mental toughness with them that you saw during the season too, because you don't win 65 games unless you have it. They played the Celtics in Houston, I think in February, maybe March, and the Celtics should have won the game. And Houston just decided to take it from them in the last two minutes and really, really ratcheted it up and were super physical and just more competitive, and they stole the game.

And it felt like a little bit of what they did last night. Again, I didn't think the Warriors played well. I have no idea what Durant was doing in the fourth quarter. It does not seem like anyone can guard him, and yet he's shooting 28-footers with a hand in his face. I don't understand why he's just not taking people near the basket. I don't understand why he gave the ball up at the end of the game. It was a weird game for him.

And it seems like it throws him off a little when Curry really gets going like he did in the third quarter. It's like Durant can't figure out what his place is. So they have their own stuff to figure out. But I'll tell you, if Iggy's not healthy, I absolutely think Houston could win this series. Now, game seven, home court advantage, not positive that matters with this Golden State team. I don't think it really matters where they play. And I'm not really positive it matters with

Houston either, because I think they can win in either place. And it's just going to come down to who wants it more, who gets hot in the fourth quarter. And which is, which is great. It sounds like totally basic, but sometimes that's what basketball is. And especially when two teams are evenly matched, I do think these two teams are pretty evenly matched.

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Propercloth.com slash BS. Gift code BS. All right, we're going to call JJ Redick. He's on his cell phone wandering around somewhere in Brooklyn. Hopefully the connection is good. Here we go. All right, on the line right now, Philadelphia 76ers guard, host of the JJ Redick podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network.

JJ, how are you? I'm doing all right. You know, still sort of decompressing from the season. You know, the season is very emotional. It's a grind, especially the playoffs. And it takes a little bit of time. It takes a couple of weeks to sort of wind down and return to civilian life and dad life.

Was that the toughest loss you've had? Or was there something at Duke? Or where does it rank, round two against the Celtics? I would say as of right now, something at Duke or where does it rank? Round two against the Celtics. Um, I would say as of right now, it was as disappointing as

2010 and 2015. Um, when you feel like you leave a little bit on the table, uh, it, it, it's harder to deal with. Um, you know, the end of my Duke career was, that was, uh, that was, uh, you know, that was an emotional time as well.

Um, because there, there was, I knew there was never going to be another time where I got to play for Duke. It was a dream of mine growing up. And so that was hard. But, you know, the playoffs and sort of this, you know, trophy, this prize that you're chasing, that you think about, that you dream about, when you're on a team where you feel like you have a chance and it ends, and it ends abruptly because you're talking, you know, you're thinking to yourself on two weeks ago, last two,

two Wednesdays ago, you're thinking we have a home game Friday night. You're planning for a home game Friday night. You're planning to play game seven boss on Sunday. And, uh, and then it just ends and, and it, it, it hits you really hard. And, uh, I think, yeah, when I think about like the emotions in the locker room after those losses, Game 5 in Boston, it was like Game 7 in Houston in 15, and Game 6 in Boston in 2010 when we lost the Eastern Conference Finals.

We're just thinking, man, what happened? Because right before that Boston series, you guys were favored to win the title. You'd become kind of the quote-unquote hot team. I was a believer. I thought you had the most talent of anyone in the East. Cleveland wasn't playing that well, and it just seemed lined up. Is that bad for a young team to start hearing about how good you are

and how well everybody thinks you're doing? Probably, probably. how good you are and how well everybody thinks you're doing? Probably. Probably. The thing that I think we, and we meaning the 76ers in our group, learned is with each round of the playoffs, it gets harder. The mistakes get magnified.

Your margin of error gets slimmer. It just becomes extremely difficult to win a game. When you think about our series, and this is not me doing some revisionist history, but when you think about our series, three of the games we lost, we had a fourth quarter lead. So in a way, that series could have been 4-1 us. We could have won that series in game five. So that's where I think we learned. I told the guys this the whole season.

To win in this league is difficult. To win, we won 52 games. To win 52 games in this league is difficult. To win, you know, we won 52 games. To win 52 games in this league is difficult. We accomplished a lot. But to win deep in the playoffs is so hard. It's so hard. Well, I actually agree with you. I thought that series came down to like six plays.

Because game two, you're up like 22. But even like in the fourth quarter, you easily could have Because game two, you're up like 22. But even in the fourth quarter, you easily could have won game two. Game three, Bellinelli's over the line by eight inches. Now, that would have been a crazy, insane shot. And then you blow the horn from play. Or even the play before

that, where we have the last shot. And Ben sort of runs into Joe. I'm passing to go and i'll get turned over and they go down and score layup and then we we needed bellinelli's shot to go to overtime so really there's two plays there where we either win well on the last shot or if marco's two inches deeper we win at the buzzer uh And the shot will kill me. Yeah.

The shot, I was going to say the shot that will kill me and that I still, you know, haven't really gotten over was a one Oh nine, one Oh seven under, under a minute and a half, I think to play TJ drove baseline and in game five and, and hit me on the wing. And I probably got my best look.

I got all series and, and just missed it. And that would have put us up five in game five you know I think I think at that point like we had a we would have would have had a really good chance to close out that game I was going to bring that up because where I was sitting and where you were and where the hoop was was a direct line and you shot that and it was going in it was short and where you were and where the hoop was, was a direct line. And you shot that and it was going in. It was short.

But when you released it, it was like, oh, my God, we just lost. And by the way, I should mention, I know we're friendly and I know you have a pod with The Ringer and we've known each other for a long time. It was terrifying to root against you in a playoff series. I felt like – and now my dad and I are going through it with Korver too, where you just feel like anytime the dude's open, he's going to make a shot, even if he's going sideways from 28 feet.

And I think everybody in the building thought you were making that. But on the other hand, the Celtics really banged you up, not only in that game, but in that series, but especially in that game. And that's like the kind of thing that when there's a minute left, you don't have the same legs you have, you know? And I think that there was some attrition. Did you feel that? Yeah. You know, I think that the way I train my body, I've gotten used to the attrition.

I'm always a little freaked out when teams don't play me physical because I'm like, what's going on here? Basically, if I went to go check into the game and Marcus Smart was out of the game, Brad would send him over to the scorer's table too. That was five games of that. He's obviously a tenacious guy and really physical. Had to meander through a bunch of pick and rolls guarding him on the other end as well

for the last four games of that series. It was a lot. I don't want to say I missed it. I was short because of the attrition. I think two plays later, I hit a 30-foot bomb off the dribble. Yeah, you did. That was insane. I don't know that it was that. I would have loved to have had that shot back. Immediately after the game, I remember, I think it was, uh, it was 2011,

um, Atlanta in the first round game six at Atlanta. And we were down to, and Stan set up a little play for me to come off a little pin down for Dwight and, uh, and missed it left. And we lost the series on that play. And, you know, those are the ones, like, when you look back on your career, like I've hit game winners, I've hit shots going to, you know, those are the ones, like, when you look back on your career, like, yeah, I've hit game winners. I've hit shots that go into, you know, send games into overtime. I've hit, I've hit shots that, you know, we're up, you know, Miami series, for example, in game four at Miami, I, you know, I hit the shot that sort of put the game away. So you hit clutch shots. You remember the ones you missed though. Those are the ones that just haunt you that you think about all the time. Yeah. Yeah. That the Celtics is funny. Cause I was in the building really feeling like they were going to come back

and they just couldn't get, it was one of those games. They couldn't get over the hump. And then all of a sudden the last two minutes, it was a classic, you know, missed a shot there. Good, good offensive rebound on the other side. And all of a sudden the game's over the Celtics won. And that's, what's so cruel and crazy and exciting about the playoffs. Even last night, the Rockets warriors, you know, I'm still not sure how the Rockets won, but all of a sudden the game was over. Yeah. I texted you last night and I was like, I'm, I'm at, I'm at a spot in Bushwick, so I'm not watching the game.

I got home, turned the television on and they came back from commercial to, and it was Steph Smith's three. So then I rewatched the last couple of minutes. Um, but yeah, it's, it, it, Doc used to always talk about this. Uh, you know, the playoffs, they really do come down to one, one, maybe two possessions. And there's an accumulation of that, of course, as you go throughout the game. Those mistakes sort of add up. But when you look back at sort of these close games, you're like, oh, it's that play or that play.

If it swings one way or the other, you know, maybe a series tilts and we come back. Or, you know, like I said, there was a chance we could have been up sort of three, one going into that game five as well. Yeah. You, you know, in a series, you're really ultimately as good as your two best players. And I think both guys were a year away from being able to put it together for four straight rounds like that. Like Embiid, especially, and it's, I can't blame him because it was by far the most games and the most minutes he'd ever played, but you could see him getting tired in the fourth quarter.

I don't, I I'm sure he's gonna this summer, his conditioning is going to be at a whole other level because you could just feel it. Like he didn't have the same legs. And then Simmons, it was his first professional basketball year. He's got, you know, when you think like, this is the worst he's ever going to be, it's kind of scary to think where it's going to go. That's an interesting way to look at it. That's an interesting way to look at it.

Well, think about it. You have kids, right? How old is your oldest kid? They're four and two. Yeah. Yeah. The four year old, it's like the four year old's going to be five. It's going to be better at stuff. And then they turn six and they get better at stuff. And that's kind of what an NBA career is, you know? And Simmons is out there trying to run an offense

and do all these different things. And, you know, he's switching on D. And five years from now, he's going to be terrifying. Yeah. I think it takes a little bit of time to sort of figure out that rhythm. I think it takes a little bit of time to sort of figure out that rhythm. I think it's remarkable. The season that he had, I would say that he exceeded sort of any expectations.

I mean, he's a unicorn. And even like post-All-Star break, I thought when we came back from All-Star break, he was just at another level. His focus, his intensity. It was like Joe, too, until he got hurt, of course. There's something that happened when those guys were in L.A. where I don't know if they saw what it was like to be a part of an All-Star weekend and maybe how the other superstars acted or something,

but they came back and I was like, Whoa, you know, from, from, from game one post-office break, it was like both those guys had a different demeanor. I was going to say on Joe though, you know, the conditioning thing I think is real, but I also think, you know, not to make an excuse for him, but to sit out that amount of games and then have, have to come back in the middle of a

playoff series against Miami, play with a mask. I think, I think Boston. Well, he had a stretch in game two, I'm sorry, in game five in the first half and the second quarter, when he looked about as unstoppable as anyone in the history of the NBA for about five minutes, I was like, Oh my God, what do we do? He's going to have 80 points. And, you know, he's going to get better at stuff. I'll say as a Celtic fan,

I was much more excited when he was 28 feet from the basket than I was when he was seven feet from the basket. You know, I think it's really hard to guard him. And the Celts were throwing everything. I think the Celts stumbled on something with Simmons that he's going to have to figure out this summer, and I'm sure he will. But just putting, you know, in the regular season, you can run up and down and guys aren't doing that. They're not as focused defensively.

They haven't played you five times over the course of two weeks, stuff like that. But he's going to have to learn, you know, when people get back on D and they set that little wall around the foul line, what's his, what's the next chess move now. And he's going to see, everyone's talking about, he's got to learn how to shoot. And for me, it's like what he's going to learn. Oh, there are those little off balance, seven footers and those running floaters and spin moves and all the stuff from seven to 10 feet is what his future is on those fast breaks. What do you think? Yeah, I think you hit the nail on the head with, with the wall at the foul line. I mean, if you, if you watched that series and really, I mean,

I watched the whole Milwaukee Boston series as well. And I've watched a little bit of this conference finals. I've watched two of the games as, as the, the Yon, you know, as Yonis brings the ball down, as Ben brings the ball down, as LeBron brings the ball down, either Horford or Baines or Morris, if you got off the ball, whoever that secondary defender is, is in a wide stance, arms out, just sitting at the nail.

I mean, sitting right directly at the free throw line. And so I think that the discipline required to do that actually takes a fair amount of effort, but in the playoffs, you have to do it. And, and I think that's where I think, uh, you're right. Ben, Ben needs to sort of make adjustments, but I actually, everybody talks about shooting. I think for him, you know, a thing that would really help his game is playing off the ball in terms of cutting, ducking in, and he did it at times this year, and when he does it, it's

phenomenal. But that, to me, is just getting a feel for when he's off the ball and figuring out ways to score that way. It's one of the reasons Dwayne Wade was able to score in the high 20s in his prime. He, to me, was one of the best cutters ever. And he was a guy that you didn't necessarily fear his outside shot, but you had this sort of account for him.

I think Tom Haberstroh did that article a few years back about gravity, and he found that Dwayne Wade, although he wasn't considered an elite shooter, had a similar gravity to Kyle Korver. And it's because of his elite cutting ability. I think that's something that Ben, if he added to his game, would be huge. I hate giving away all my secrets of what it was like to root against your team, but I never wanted him to post up. I was terrified every time he was posting up. And I think ultimately when he learns how to go baby hook with his right hand and his left hand from six feet away, I'm just frightened.

And I know it's going to happen. I know within three years, he'll have those shots. I was really impressed by how he kept trying to solve issues that he had never seen before. In a weird way, I didn't think he played that well in the Boston series, but in a weird way, it gave me more confidence that he's going to figure out long-term what's going to happen. Because I do think he played that well in the Boston series, but in a weird way, it gave me more confidence that he's going to figure out long-term what's going to happen. Cause I do think he's really unusually smart as a basketball player and he's going to figure out like, Oh, they did this. So now I have to do this,

you know, and then it'll go like that. In, in, in a way, in a way, I, I, I think that, you know, I played with Chris for four years in LA. I've obviously watched LeBron my whole career. Those guys are calculating. And I think Ben is on that same level of being calculating and sort of, I use, M. Night Shyamalan said this about him when he spoke to our team, and I've told the media this a couple times,

but Ben, it's like he's sitting behind a glass wall watching everyone else play. And he's like above it. You know what I mean? He sees things that other guys don't see. And he calculates those things. He's constantly making these sort of reads and decisions in split second scenarios. And, uh, and as he gets more experience in, in, in plays,

I mean, yeah, he's, he's going to be on that level of, of Chris LeBron, uh, the, the mental side of things and figuring things out. Um, we're gonna take a quick break. Let's talk about Full Sail University's Dan Patrick School of Sportscasting. Legendary sportscaster Dan Patrick from the Dan Patrick Show, Sunday Night Football, ESPN Sports Center, has teamed up with Full Sail University to offer an accelerated bachelor's degree in sportscasting.

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Back to JJ. All right, we're back. Who impressed you the most on the Celtics? Who impressed me the most? Yeah, who surprised you during that series where you're like, wow. You know, I like the growth of players. And I think Jalen Brown made a huge leap this year. He's really good.

Tatum, though, I would say, was probably the most impressive player. Because, you know, there's not many guys left in the league. Our league is not like, go give it to a player and let him get a bucket. That's just not our league anymore. The Warriors have won championships without playing that way. Now they have sort of a stopgap with Katie now, but that's just not our league.

And so Tatum is a guy that you literally could just throw the ball to and he'll get a bucket. And they, they run a little stack X play, a little loop screen up top for him. And he kind of makes a read depending on how his guard guy guards them. He either goes to the right or left side, but he's got sort of a slot drive and slot ISO from either side. And because he's catching the ball on the move, it was the hardest play for us to guard in that series. You know, it was just, he's so dynamic with the ball, especially when he catches on the move, his jab steps, his dribble game, pull-up game, getting to the rim.

I've rarely seen, I don't know if I've ever seen a guy at 19 that polished offensively. 20, I guess he's 20 now. Yeah, he turned 20 in March, I think. It was shocking to watch him. And what's funny is, right now I'm frustrated because during this Cavs series, they've, you know, as you said, you go up each round and the intensity and the spotlight gets bigger and you just kind of have to learn how to adjust and the margin for error, all that. And the reality is they have J.R. Smith on them and watching it, just like, just take him to the basket. You can go buy him every time.

What are you doing? And you wait for the light bulb to go off. In that Sixers series, it felt like there were these stretches where he's like, oh yeah, I can go by everybody. I can do whatever I want. And as he, you know, five years from now, he's going to be stronger and he's going to know how to do that, you know? And now it's kind of like watching a baby deer running around in the wilderness who occasionally remembers what to do. I mean, we might look back at that series you guys had and be like, wow, all those guys were in that series? This is unbelievable, you know? Yeah. If there's a future series, I probably won't be, you know what I mean?

I won't be, like five years from now, they're not going to be like, oh, JJ's still playing. You know, I don't know about that. But like for those guys, like the Tatums and the Browns, Brett kept saying this. He's like, we're going to need to go through these guys in the next 10 years. Now, in the NBA, things can click out of the next 10 years, but

certainly with the young group that the Sixers have and the young group that the Celtics have, there's potential there for some, some epic playoff matches matchups over the next five to seven years. What is Marcus smart do that? We wouldn't know just from watching on TV or being at the games.

What's what makes him so annoying? Uh, you know, it's funny. Like I, so for whatever reason like he he's feisty man he gets into it with guys um you know we did we didn't have like uh any back and forth um i uh when we played in london jalen was guarding me for that game and And at one point in the second half, I'm going to cuss on your show, I'm sorry, but he called me a bitch. And I looked at him and was like, I don't play that.

And he's like, oh, okay, I'm sorry. So that was my only interaction. We played them nine times and one time, twice in the preseason. We played them 11 times this year. And that was my only negative interaction with anyone on their team. But does Smart do anything

that we're not noticing on TV defensively? Does he have tricks that I'm not seeing? No. I mean, he moves well laterally. He's fast enough to chase. He's big enough to chase he's big enough to to sort of contest um and he and he cares i mean that's to me that's like that's 90 of it is just the effort to care and sort of take that responsibility and take pride and sort of being that guy that is the lockdown guy, is sort of the dirty work guy.

I mean, the thing that he killed us on, and it happened twice on me, I think once in game two or maybe game one, and then one of the games at home, but he's so good on offensive rebounds. As a guard now in our league, you don't ever have to really block out your guy. Most of the time you're going to sort of crack back on the big or collect loose change around the

free throw line. You don't ever really have to account for ones and twos to crash the offensive glass. He's great at that. Brad gives him the freedom to just chase down loose balls. It's one of the hardest things about guarding him.

Did the Boston crowd treat you sensitively, or did they veer on being a little mean from time to time? I'm going to guess the latter. You know, they're unruly. Every guy on our team afterwards was like, that's the loudest place that they've ever played. I was a little worried. I can't remember if it was game one or two.

It might have been both of them, but they were later games. I think they were like 8.30 start. I was like, oh, man, this is three and a half hours of drinking when these guys get off work and come to the game. That worried me. They're going to be extra loud my parents were at game five um and uh and i went saw them after the game and and before we got on the plane and my mom was like that's that's the loudest arena i've ever been in and i mean she you know she's been in some pretty incredible arenas

including cameron indoor stadium for some pretty big time duke games so for her to say that i mean it's the truth. I mean, their fans are nuts. In terms of how they treat me, I mean, I don't get caught up in that. I don't really hear anything, to be honest with you. At this point, I've heard it all. Well, what you would have heard was just fear every time you were open. I agree.

I think the crowds have been great. It's one of the reasons they're 9-0 at home, and it's really, as weird as this is to say, their biggest advantage in these, it's basically best two out of three now against Cleveland, but two are home. And the crowd is so into these games, it really does give the younger guys a little extra energy. You can feel it. You can feel it with Brown and Tatum and Rozier and Smart specifically.

It just kind of nudges them to another competitive level, and I do think it matters. You mentioned your parents were there for Game 5. Yeah. I mean, they've probably been seeing you, God, they've probably seen from the beginning of your basketball career all the way through is it like surreal to watch you at this point in your career you're like the veteran the leader you're yelling at tj mcconnell your buddy during the game what's it like for them at this point first of all the play the play where i yelled at tj like everybody everybody saw on tv

like i yelled at him and we scored on the play. I wasn't yelling him about that play. I was yelling him in a previous play because he's such a knucklehead. He doesn't listen to me. No, I, so I actually talked to my dad one time earlier this season about that because I'm one of five kids and we all played a basketball. All of us got division one athletic scholarships. My parents have, you know, traveled all over the world to watch their kids play basketball and football, um, in my brother's case. And, uh, and, and, you know, I'm the, I'm obviously the

last one playing and I'm still playing. And, and I think the word you used was correct. I think it's the same word that my dad used, which was surreal. It's surreal, you know, to have a 33 year old son, uh, competing at the highest level in basketball. And they've been watching me play now for 26 years. And, uh, it's nuts, man. It really is. I actually, you know, probably the most emotional moment of the night for me was when I saw my dad. You know, and he and I got to spend a ton of time together this season, which is rare because I spent the last four years in L.A. And prior to that, I was in Orlando. My dad was still working. He retired a few years ago.

So he came up a bunch to Philly and, you know, he'd come to games and we'd go get dinner afterwards and, you know, it was just like, I saw him after the game and it was like, it was as emotional as I've been in years

because, you know, he knows sort of how much I put into this and how disappointing those moments can be. You know, it's funny,

I was sitting with my dad for game five and when you and TJ were yelling at each other, he's like, they're yelling at each other and I'm like, they're best know, it's funny. I was sitting with my dad for game five. And when you and TJ were yelling at each other, he's like, they're yelling at each other. I'm like, they're best friends. It's fine.

But that's the thing with basketball. TJ's my little brother, man. We're, we're literally, we're siblings. We're siblings. I don't trust basketball teams that don't yell at each other.

Now it could go to, like, you could see it with the Clippers the last two years you were there, where part of the problem was they weren't yelling at each other. And that's when you have a problem. I was just going to say that. I think it's healthy to have disagreements on the court. I think it's healthy to talk through things. I think it's even healthy sometimes to, to say, I'm right. You think you're right, but you're wrong. The other guy said the same thing and you move on. Um, you have to be able to sort of have those moments. You hash it out and then you move

on to the next play. And, you know, TG and I were fine. Uh, he's gonna, he's gonna come up to New York later this summer with his wife. We're going to have a few days up here. Like, you know, it's the not talking through where all of a sudden this resentment builds. Yeah. And that's about as unhealthy as it gets. And you get eye rolls. It's the passive aggressive shit, man.

Just be aggressive. Just be aggressive. Yeah. Well, that's what sunk the Clippers those last two years. It was eye rolls and shoulder slugs and head turns and just being exasperated. That's when you know a team is in trouble.

I like when teams talk and yell. It's funny. Chris, you can see him this year. I know you talk to him all the time. Although, you're worried about getting him on a podcast. Cause on the phone, you think, you think he'll be too loquacious.

Is that the reason we need, you need to get him in person. I need to get, I need to get, I need to get him in person. I need to get him in person. But he really,

he really feels like he's on the right team. Now, whether he caught this team at, at too late of a point in his career, we're going to find out over these next three weeks, but this is the type kind of team that is kind of his team. The, you know,

you have these tough dudes who are ready to tell Ariza Tucker. These dudes are ready to yell back at him. Harden is unassailable. You're not going to get to him and he could kind of stomp around and be Chris Paul and no, and nobody takes it personally. I didn't feel like that was always the case on the, on the Clippers. Cause that's what he has to do to succeed.

It's just the way he acts. Right. I, I think as much as we talk about the right fit for players in terms of basketball skills. There's also correct fits for personalities. And an NBA locker room is a very delicate place. And I totally agree with you that he's on a team right now. I would also say D'Antoni's personality allows Chris to be himself, if that makes sense. I think that's part of it, too.

It's not just the teammates, but I think D'Antoni's personality is a little more laid back, a little more unassuming. Although, you know, he's like any coach, he yells and screams, but, but it's, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a better fit I think for Chris's personality. And you and Chris ended up on these new teams this year and we're both used in better ways, I think, than maybe you were the last two years in LA and it was happier situations. What, what percentage of your texts and phone calls the first couple months were just like oh man i'm so happy what about you oh you're happy too like was that just october

november uh yes so like we so i i honestly at that point in the season i was still driving down like myself so i would i would make these phone calls and like talk to people for, for an hour. And so Chris also had a commute. Uh, I think his was about an hour too. So we would call each other on our commute. And a lot of it was like comparing and contrasting, you know, our, our early experiences with the last four years in my case, six years in his case. Um, but yeah, I mean like the best thing for me as his

friend is like hearing joy in his voice and like hearing how happy he was and is um i spoke to him a couple weeks ago but like you know i i i i want him i told him this um you know last summer like in june and i mentioned this to him i think after third year, when we lost to the Blazers in the playoffs, but like, I want Chris to win a championship, but whether it's with me or not, like, I just want to see him win a championship. I think he's, I think he's deserving of a championship. And, and, you know, maybe it's this year. I would, I would love to see that.

Well, they might've caught a break if Iguodala's not 100%. They needed something, some sort of karma luck thing to go. Not that injuries are luck, but you know what I mean. They got that one little break that swung the series because the Warriors just didn't have enough players for

game four. What did Chris say about Harden? What's the biggest revelation you've learned from somebody who's just playing with Harden day in, day out? I'll be honest. I, I, I don't think we've talked about James once.

Wow. Okay. Yeah. Uh, I, I, that's, that's kind of weird.

I don't know why I, you know, the only thing that we talked about with Harden was like right before the season started back in September on one of those drives down to Philly. I was, we were talking about like how they were going to make it work. And, you know,

I, Chris and I agreed about why. And part of that was just because they're both two of the smartest players in our league and they'll be able to figure it out. And then Tony is a smart guy. Like they just, intelligence is, is so underrated. And so that is a smart guy. Like they just, intelligence is, is so underrated.

And so that was the only time, like the things, I mean, look, the things we talk about basketball wise are a lot of like logistical stuff. Like, you know, he brought Rich Williams strength coach who was our strength coach in LA.

We, we talked about Rich. Obviously we talk about our families and our kids and, and Chris and I being a father is probably our, our number one priority, even, even more so than basketball. Yeah. Was it weird that, that you almost signed with the Rockets?

Like you came basically the 11th hour of it and it didn't happen, but I mean, that that's, that's kind of a tiny what if for the season in a way because like pj tucker who they signed instead was one of the heroes of game four but yet i think you would have stretched the floor for them it's interesting i don't know which version of that team is more dangerous for for for their defense and what they do i think pj is like a perfect fit. Um, you know, he's a perfect fit. And, uh, I, there was when the season first started and I was sort of navigating the waters of a new, you know, a new situation. Um, I think you always have a little bit of like, did I make the right decision? You know, we were one in four after five games. That fourth loss was to the Rockets.

And you're like, did I make the right decision? And, you know, for me, I absolutely did. And I have, you know, no regrets about my first year, hopefully my first year of many in Philly. But it was just, you know, it was one of those things where, I think we talked about this last summer, but, like, when Daryl, you know, took the fourth year off the table, it just didn't make sense for me at that point.

It was like three for 36, and it would have required a sign-and-trade with the Clippers. I had the one-year offer, and Brian kind of put a timetable on it. He said, you've got about 20 minutes to decide. I'm going to do a meeting with Iguodala, you know, who I'm going to make the same offer to. So at that point, I just made the choice. And, yeah, no regrets. It was as enjoyable of a year of basketball

and as enjoyable of a year being in a fun culture that I've had. It was phenomenal. Well, it seems like a pretty safe bet that you're coming back. as enjoyable of a year being in a fun culture that I've had. Well, it seems like a pretty safe bet that you're coming back. And yet they, the Philly is involved. I mean, this is an unusual summer. There's so many, where's this guy going? Where's this guy going? What about that guy? And Philly is one of the teams. That's just an every trade rumor or every signing rumor, every rumor, even for people like LeBron. Do you guys follow that stuff?

When you hear that stuff, does that even drift into the locker room? Yeah, we talk about it. There's a group of us that are in the hot tub and the cold tub after practice or after shoot around every day. And those conversations inevitably happen um you know and i i think i think if you have a chance you know i'm not just speaking about the 76ers just in general like if

you have the chance to get lebron james you go for it and you figure out the rest later. Yeah. See, I know you have to say that, but I think privately you should be doing the opposite because if they sign LeBron, that might mean you might get squeezed out. No, no, JJ, we're going to figure it out. And then they squeeze you out. You need to convince Embiid to say publicly, if we get LeBron, I'm out of here.

You got to trade me. And because I saw it firsthand game for Philly. That crowd loves Embiid. I was not prepared for the unconditional love of Embiid in the, in the stands. Like it was insane. So you just, all you need to do is have Embiid say one time, we don't want them and that's it. You're good. Well, who's to say that those conversations haven't happened already bill i would also just say one thing to that to what

you just said like my dad when i was growing up he said this to me all the time and i say this to my four-year-old all the time too it's not always about you and uh you know in my career like it is about me in my career, but I recognize that in this sport, in a team sport with all these complicated cap things and an owner's desire, a front office's desire to do certain things, timelines and all that stuff,

I recognize it's not always about me. It's not about me. So I'm okay with that. Who is a funnier teammate, midseason edition, just from a chemistry, personality standpoint? Bellinelli or Iliosova? Iliosova, no doubt.

Iliosova. Marco and I had a great relationship. He's a little more to himself. I'll tell you, the funniest guy on the team is Dario Sarcho. I mean, there's no doubt he is, he is the funniest guy on the team. Although Joel is, is probably a close second. I was walking around Boston before game the day before game five.

And I was going through the park near where the, the hotels are. And Sarcho was sitting on a bench with two of his buddies at like four o'clock when they're just like these goofy, they just like three goofy 20 year olds go to go to, uh, just look at girls in Boston. I was dying. He seemed, he seemed like hilarious. I could just tell from walking by him. I was like, Oh, that guy's trouble. He seems funny. Yeah. He also, he also, uh, he guy's trouble. He seems funny. Yeah. He also plays well with, like, foreign things. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Like, with the accent and, like, he'll play dumb. He'll be coy sometimes. Like, oh, I don't know what you're talking about. He's just, you know, he's got a great sense of humor. It's dry and slapstick at the same time. He was, out of everyone on Philly, I thought he was the one that got better

as that Boston series went along. He wasn't prepared for it, I don't think, the first two games. And then as it went along by game five, he was like, you know, he was a beast. Hey, we gotta take one more quick break. One more break to talk about Sonos. Have you heard about Sonos One?

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over time. Now, Sonos is offering the listeners of the Bill Simmons Podcast 10% off one order of $2,500 or less for any product on Sonos.com. The offer is available for a limited time only, cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions. Use the promo code Bill10, Bill10, B-I-L-L-1-0, Bill10 at Sonos.com to receive this special offer. One more time, JJ Redick. Last thing I want to talk to you about,

and then you have to go pick up your kid and be a dad. You came into the league in 06. LeBron came into the league three years earlier, and you have been in the Eastern Conference for two-thirds of your career, and you've obviously played LeBron a bunch of times. What are you seeing now from him? What's different about him? It's funny because there's this whole controversy about the tracking data saying that he was, on average, the slowest player in the Eastern Conference Finals. And to me,

if you watch that, on average, that sort of passes the eye test. I mean, he has figured out where and when, better than anyone that I can remember, definitely in my career, and I don't want to go into all-time greats here, but

to me, anyone in my generation generation he has figured out where and when to pick his spot when and when to get his teammates involved when to be aggressive it's like the game just moves in slow motion to him um and that's to me that's what makes them so hard to guard like you can talk about their defensive efficiencies, but when they sort of made that switch a couple years ago, I think it was after the first year when they lost to the Warriors, that next season they basically said, all right, we're just going to put shooters around them. They're really impossible to guard. They are. You play him one-on-one, he's going to have 44,

and he'll probably still get six data assists. And if you sort of send second defenders or try to double them, he's just too smart and too good of a passer, and he's a willing passer that he's just going to find shooters and they're going to hit 15 threes, and it's going to be a long night. He's the smartest player I've ever seen. I mean that. He's the smartest player I've ever seen.

Yeah, it was weird to me that that became a controversy, that he was the slowest person in the playoffs and all that stuff. Because it's like, yeah, he has more miles on him than anyone. It's average speed. It's average speed. You know what I mean by that? Because he's resting. Right. It's average speed. It's average speed. You know what I mean? Because he's resting.

Right. I look at those tracking data after every game. I have that data sent to me. I look at my data. I look at the other team's data. I look at our data. And I think it would make sense. My average speed with hire is on the high end.

It's in the top two or three guys in the game. Pick a game. I'm usually two or three in terms of highest average speed because I run off screens all the time. If LeBron is playing sort of back down ISO

and if he's playing sort of I don't want to say LeBron like a lack of back down ISO. And if he's playing sort of, I don't want to say LeBron is like a lackadaisical defender, but if he's playing sort of off the ball in that roaming capacity, then there's times where he's not really moving on that end. So it's not surprising. The other thing, too, is like specifically with Boston, all of our data was significantly down in terms of total mile ran and average speed for that series. Because they played at a thought of pace, where they're really sort of maximizing every possession. And so there are times, let's say they go into the Jason Tatum ISO, where he may be standing for 20 seconds. Not that he has the ball.

They bring the ball down, they get their little rub action. He comes off a little high-risk cut screen, and then the next thing you know, he's going to the other end, but you've been standing there for 20 seconds. Yeah, I don't know why. I think that data's interesting. But to me, the part that was interesting was that LeBron had figured out how to save energy. It wasn't that he was being lazy or not exerting energy. It was remember, especially like 11 and 12. He was getting cramps and chewing his nails on the, on the sidelines and just looking completely worn out.

Now he's at a different level. He's also, there's been moments even in this series against Boston, he's so freaking strong. Like there'll be times when like, you know, Rozier gets switched on him and Rozier like reaches in to try to like poke the ball away. And he just like bounces off LeBron. Like he's a building. And then LeBron will just stare down at him. Disgusted that she would even try it.

He's like, what are you doing? There's no way you're reaching around me. I'm 280 pounds. He's maximized the strength and all that stuff. The one thing I don't understand though, because this has been a recurring theme, this whole playoffs,

these aren't pick and rolls anymore. Like Kerala Bob, my friend was calling them pick and switches. And almost nobody rolls anymore. It's all about the switch and nobody can figure out to stop it, how to stop it. Is there any

trick that you feel like kind of sort of works or is this just unstoppable the thing that's tough is you can hedge the first pick if they're trying to bait the switch and get a smaller guy in LeBron

you can sort of hedge on the first pick the restream makes it really tough because it's usually lower. If you hedge on the first pick, you're usually out of position for the second one.

You're kind of forced to do a switch. We have a term called late red. A red is a switch for us. A late red would be what we did without Horford. Let's say Mark is smarter, Terry Rozier would be what we did without Horford. Martin Smarter, Terry Ruggiero comes off a ball stream with Horford. He pops to space.

If the guard, and normally if a five-fifth of a screen and a guard is chasing the point guard over a screen, he would sort of have the freedom to pursue until he got back in front. But if they throw back to Horford, then it's a 15-foot closeout for a five-man out Horford.

He's either got a three or he's going to get downhill. He's going to either make a play for another three or get a dunk. So those late reds, you know, Boston sort of based into late red. And a lot of times when it's brought in on or off the ball, it's sort of the same concept. I would almost rather send the double one time, one-on-one the next time. It almost seems like you have to treat it like football,

where each time you're doing something different to at least make the offense go, oh, what are they doing this time? And they have to think and register for two seconds versus just we're doing this the whole game. Cause I think LeBron's too smart. He just, over the course of the game, he's like, Oh, you're doing this. Okay. I'm going to do this. And then I don't know that that's the only thing I could think of, but damn, is it frustrating? So as you're, as you're building out your team defense throughout the course of the year, you introduce your sort of base concepts, right, in training camp. And for the most part, with the exception of a few games in the regular season,

you're sort of sticking to those base concepts. And maybe late in the fourth quarter, you maybe make some adjustments. But in the playoffs, you know, you really are making multiple adjustments throughout the game. There's no easy answer for LeBron. In our Boston series, you know, there was a few games where we probably ran five or six different coverages

or concepts against different plays, and we would just sort of cycle through at different times throughout the game. And I think that's pretty consistent with what a lot of teams do because you're making adjustments on the back of the players. The back of the players are usually the smartest players. So they're going to figure it out. If you only run one or two adjustments, you're exactly right. You really do have to

mix it up and keep from guessing. The problem with the body is it's too smart. He's too big and he's too athletic and he shoots too well. There's not a whole way you can do it. Do you feel like it's harder to play basketball in

2018 than it was in 2008? Do you feel like there's more flying out, running, just more exercise? Yes. It's a different game. It's a different game. I read something yesterday, I think it was yesterday, about D'Antoni and how his Phoenix team shot like 25-30 the game. And that was considered sort of taboo at the time. He said something along the lines of,

I wish I had known what I know now. I would have embraced it fully and shot 40, like we do now with the Rockets. But I feel like there was that evolution of sort of the son, I would put a orlando magic and fan and sort of how we played as part of that evolution and then the warriors you know and then the rocket those those to me were like the four real teams that sort of evolved into modern day basketball yeah i was thinking about this the other day how how we play as my rookie year. Like it's, it's, it's archaic.

It's archaic. And you've seen the last, like really in the last, like three years, like a lot of kids now make that jump into modern into trying to quantify what, what modern, you know, modern basketball is in the NBA. It's funny. The 2002 Celtics before your time in the NBA. And it funny, the 2002 Celtics, before your time in the NBA, and it was basically just Antoine and Paul, and they were just jacking up threes because they just didn't have enough talent, and it worked, and they almost made the finals,

and then nobody else really did it. And then when it worked for you guys in 2009, when you beat LeBron during a year when he was really, really, really great and did not seem – And he was awesome against you guys. And it was just like Dwight Howard and threes. And all of a sudden you're advancing. And then it took a couple more years for people to figure it out. It's weird.

It seems like the answers were there last decade and nobody was really looking at them. Hey, before we go, are you okay with Coach K just recruiting all these high-prize freshmen, small forwards, and really just throwing away Duke education and what it means, and just these one-and-done

guys? You're okay with this? Publicly or privately? What are we talking about here? You're okay with the education going down the window? When I had Brian Conley on my podcast last month, I don't know if they edited it out because I kind of wanted it to be edited out, but I said, like, it's not,

I'm a Duke fan for life. I've been a Duke fan since I was seven years old. I love watching Duke basketball. I love everything about it. And the last couple years, it's been increasingly more difficult to really, like, connect to what I do as Duke basketball. And some of that is because of the one rule and college basketball landscape

has changed and coach K has adapted with the times. And I think there's a solid argument to be made that that's the right choice. But like, maybe, maybe I am getting just a little old and maybe I am saying that I liked it better, you know, 15,

15, 16 years ago. I don't know. I don't know. I think it's, 16 years ago. I don't know. I don't know. It's really hard to follow as a fan. Well, for a Duke fan, too, there was a connection that you had with Shane Battier. There was a connection you would have with media, let's say,

or with Duhan. You saw these guys, talented, top-ten recruits come in as freshmen, learn from the older guys, and then take those lessons, grow over the course of three or four years, and then they

become like men. That's the Duke basketball that I grew up on. Having said all that, I think kids should be able to go to the NBA whenever they want. You know, I don't think that kids should have to stay in school for three years or three years or one year. I think kids should still go after high school and then whenever they're ready to go again. Like if they go to college, whenever they're ready to go. There's like an incentive now to just

say, since I can't go to high school, I'll just go after my freshman year. It's now like if you're a top recruit, that's what you do. You're not necessarily ready. I think if you could leave after high school, the guys that could do it would do it.

Then they'd go to college and maybe it'd become the norm to leave after two years instead of now it's just like everybody because it's one and done that's what you're supposed to do yeah I look at somebody like Tatum and it's really hard for me to imagine he's not better off going through this

NBA season than a 30 game Duke season you know so I think at some point maybe it depends on the player to some degree. But could he have left after high school? Yeah.

Or should there be a system in place for him to become a professional at 18? Maybe not playing the NBA right away, but become a professional

and, you know, with the kid, I can't remember the guy's name, but I think he was a Syracuse recruit who decided, I'm going to go play in the G League for a year. Like, I would think with the kid, I can't remember the guy's name, but I think it was a Syracuse group who decided I'm going to go play in the G league for a year.

Like, I love that. I absolutely love that. Let's not, let's not pretend to play this like education game. Like it's, it's a farce. We all know it.

Everybody knows it. Those commercials during March madness are, they're a lie. They're a lie. Well, our boy, Ben Simmons, like, do you, do you really think he would do that eight months at LSU over again? Like I'm sure he just would have played. But it's not even eight months. You don't go to school.

I mean, juniors don't do that. Right. Sophomores don't do that. If you know you're leaving in April, when the season ends, you stop going to class. Yeah. It's like you get your grades in when the season ends, you stop going to class. Yeah. Like you, you get your grades in your first semester and then you stop going to class your second semester. And, but you're eligible because it's based on the previous semester.

So like, it's not, you're not getting, you're not getting educated. It's not, it's better to be educated in basketball. I agree. And well,

I think over the next 10 years, this will work itself out. If 2018, if you're a high school recruit right now, you're going into the 2019 Duke class or 2022, I guess. How many years would you, how many years would JJ Redick from the guy from Duke who spent all four years there, how many years does he spend in college now? Two.

Yeah. That's what I think too. Yeah. So like even like what I think too. Yeah. So like even like, I think even I would have spent two there if I had had a different mindset, but it wasn't the mindset back then. You know, for me, it was like I wanted to play at Duke.

I dreamed of playing at Duke. I dreamed of having my jersey retired at Duke. I wanted to do leading scorer at Duke. Like those were things that I thought about as a kid. So I got to Duke and my first two years, I wasn't thinking, let's go to the NBA. I was thinking, all right, I have three more

years. I have two more years. There was a timeline that set in stone in my mind. Now, if going what I know now, as an 18-year-old, I would have said, I'm going to train my ass off. I'm going to do whatever Coach K says. I'm going to be in unbelievable physical shape. I'm going to do every camp in the summer, and I'm not going to worry about being a college kid. I'm going to do whatever Coach K says. I'm going to be in unbelievable physical shape. I'm going to do every camp in the summer. And I'm not going to worry about being a college kid. And I'm just going to try to get to the NBA in two years. That would be my mindset. But my mindset at the time was, let's enjoy these four years at Duke. And I did. Believe me, I did. Well, there was just a story about Donovan Mitchell

where basically he's, you know, coach Patino wanted him to come back and he decided to enter the draft and Patino's really, no, you need one more year and need one more year. And then he goes into the league and he's awesome, you know,

and that there's that too, where I think sometimes the P the players might trust a coach, but the incentive for the coach is to keep the player because it makes the team better. I think there are some coaches out there that will tell you when you're ready, but I'm not convinced all of them are thinking that way, which is a little shady too. Here's a thought I have about this notion of coming out when you're ready or you're needing another year. What are you learning in college basketball that's going to help you in the NBA? I'm being serious.

What are you learning? First of all, I don't think the game is the same. The concepts are not the same. I watch a college basketball game. I watch basically a nondescript motion offense, ball swing, ball swing, ball swing, and fans say it's pure basketball. But you never actually put a defense at disadvantage. So that's the

NBA. The whole NBA is you run a play, or you call a set, or you get an ice set, you put a defense at disadvantage, and you make a play out of that. So that's not being taught in college. So how is going back to school for a year and playing archaic basketball, how does that help a kid? That's why I'm saying a guy

like with the Syracuse recruiting, what he's doing to me, and hopefully the G League infrastructure will continue to grow as it's done over the last 10 years. So five, 10 years from now, a guy can say, I know I'm not ready to play in the NBA right now, but it's better for me long

term for my career to go play in the G League. I thought it was interesting, Mitchell. I agree with you, by the way, Mitchell said, they asked him why he was better this year than he was last year. And he said, because it's my job now. All I do is train to play basketball and think about basketball. I was in class taking classes and living in a dorm and, you know,

now this is all I do. So of course I'm better at it. And that made sense to me. It's like, yeah, of course he's better at it. He should be better at it. And why wouldn't other people want to do that? So JJ, people want to know when your podcast is coming back. We will have an episode ready to go this week. I've got three guests lined up over the next two to three weeks.

So there will be a new episode either on Friday or late Thursday. Okay. And maybe we can capture the Sixers summer a little bit too as it heats up and becomes interesting. That could be a nice

little... Yeah, I will be providing some color commentary as we get closer to the draft and free agency for sure. Is there any rookie that reminds you of you that's in this draft? I know what you

want me to say. He doesn't remind me of you. I don't think he's like you. It's not fair. Yeah. What's up, man? What's up, man? Yeah, I'm sorry.

Sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're good. You're good. There's a guy about 20 feet away, but you're good right now. Sorry. I almost got hit by a roofing company. Oh, that would have been bad. a guy that reminds me of me i don't watch enough college basketball to give you a good answer on that i i don't um i didn't

see anyone i think i think the jj reddick types come out like every like three four or five years somewhere in there there's that the data just can curl screens. I'm sure you feel a kinship with Korver though, when you watch some of the, some of the shots he's, I just don't understand the off balance 28 footer coming off a screen, turning 90 degrees and just being dead, dead through the, I just don't get it. I don't know how you guys do it. It's incredible. I had a, I had a guy, a player development guy my last year in L.A., a guy, John Welch, who is still there now.

And so he rebounded a pass for me all summer before my last year in L.A. And he said to me after the summer, he's like, I now understand why you're able to shoot the shots you shoot because those are the shots that I practice. Those are literally, I'm not standing in a spot how many spot up shots do i get i mean how many spot how many times does kyle corver get a wide open spot up shot it's not so you have to be able to shoot on the move and so those are the shots you practice by the way kyle and i like i became friends with him about seven years ago uh we've texted throughout the playoffs like i'm dude i'm

so proud of that guy. He's had an unbelievable career. He's another guy, like, it's sort of hard to root against. You're rooting for him to succeed and hopefully be a champion. You know, I agree. It is a little hard to root against Kyle Korver,

especially because I met his whole posse at, like, 2006 All-Star Weekend. It was exactly who the Kyle Korver posse was, should have been. I can't even imagine. Is that when he still had the surfer haircut? Yeah, that's when he looked like Ashton Kutcher. He had the whole Ashton Kutcher.

Nobody knew who was who between them. But yeah, he's crazy talented. JJ, I look forward to the return of your podcast. And don't work too hard on your game this summer because I have a feeling you're going to be back in Philly. I will be seeing you again next spring. Thanks for coming on.

All right. Thanks, Bill. All right. All right. That's it. Thanks to JJ for calling in. Celtics Cavs tonight. My key Celtic to watch is Marcus Smart. I think this is the game where they decide if LeBron's getting his 44, fine. But Marcus, just make him work.

Make him work 94 feet. Just make him work. Make him keep working. Do Marcus Smart stuff. Don't be afraid of him. Get in his jersey. Annoy him. Pester him. Make him dribble. Make him expend extra energy. And I think he's going to be the key guy. The other thing I'd want to see, as I mentioned earlier, Jason Tatum, can you go by J.R. Smith,

get to the room? Can you do that for us? It should be a classic. I love game fives. I think you learn a lot about the heart of a franchise and a team and a nucleus in a game five, especially when it's 2-2. Let's do this. See you tonight, Boston. Thanks to ZipRecruiter. Don't forget to check them out at ZipRecruiter.com. Thanks to Proper Cloth, the leader in men's custom shirts. Create your custom shirt size by answering 10 easy questions. Shirts start at $80 and are delivered in just two weeks.

Perfect fit guaranteed. If a shirt doesn't fit, they will remake it for free for premium quality, perfect fitting shirts. Visit propercloth.com slash BS. Use gift code BS to get $20 off your first custom shirt today. And finally, thanks to Sonos. Don't forget about the Sonos one, which blends great sound with Amazon Alexa. That'd be my recommendation. Right now, Sonos is offering the listeners of the Bill Simmons podcast 10% off one order

of $2,500 or less for any product on Sonos.com. This offer is available for a limited time only. It cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions. Use promo code BILL10, that is capital bill 10, at Sonos.com to receive this offer. I know Memorial Day weekend is coming up. You think that means I'm going to take a Friday off on the BS podcast? No, I'm not doing that. I'm coming back. You can listen to it as you go wherever the hell you're going this weekend. In the meantime, after you finish this one, go right to the rewatchables on Thursday morning,

Social Network. Great conversation. Me, Sean Fantasy, Chris Ryan. Don't forget to check out theringer.com for our coverage of two increasingly fascinating conference finals in the NBA, as well as a whole bunch more, including the solo movie coming out Friday.

I know Nephi Kyle is going to be there. Are we working on Monday? I mean, yeah. Probably, right? That's it. Go Celtics. See you on Friday. On the wayside Never on the same I don't have A few years

With him On the wayside On the wayside Never on the same I don't have A few years