I have a decently tumultuous relationship with Bill Simmons. And by that I mean I have some TCIs (thoughts, comments and ideas) about Bill and he couldn’t pick me out of a lineup that had no one else in it except myself. On the one hand, Simmons is by far and away my favorite sports writer out there right now. Maybe even writer in general. On the other hand, I don’t think he’s nearly as charismatic as he needs to be in order to be a successful vocal personality. If the guy wrote ten articles a day, I’d find time to read every single one. Puts out a TV show once a week. I’ll get to it.
In that same vein, sometimes Simmons runs his mouth a little bit. Which I completely respect. But sometimes it bites him in the ass. Like the whole ESPN controversy. And since this is the age of the internet, sometimes shit you said doesn’t go away as quickly as it used to. As is re-proven to Bill by an old claim he made that Kevin Durant would never sign with the Warriors.
Via The Big Lead:
“Back in February, actual NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski wrote an in-depth piece about how the Golden State Warriors had been planning a pitch to Kevin Durant for months. In addition to that, Wojnarowski called the Warriors the “significant frontrunners to sign him.””
While I find no fault in a person being skeptical in what, at the time, seemed like a very far-fetched idea, we have to remember who we are talking about. Woj is like the NBA guy. Not much goes on in the league without him hearing about it. Despite this, Simmons went on to dispute Woj’s report on his podcast, essentially accusing Woj and his site, The Vertical, of making shit up to get clicks. An argument that, of course, the internet found and dug up.
It’s the 21st century, Bill. The internet never forgets.