Never one to mince his words, Bill Simmons has built a large following for himself — primarily as a writer and sports personality for ESPN — because he freely speaks his mind. The very brash, opinionated and honest traits that make him so popular became his undoing Wednesday as he received a three-week suspension from ESPN due to comments he made regarding NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on his podcast. At the heart of the issue is whether or not Commissioner Goodell
All summer long, Eric Bledsoe and the Phoenix Suns refused to cooperate with each other. He wanted a max deal and the team had no interest in viewing him as someone worth that kind of money. Based on what was being said and done from each side, it appeared as though the two were headed for an ugly ending. Then came Wednesday, when the Suns could no longer deal with the risk they were putting themselves under by doing nothing with Bledsoe
Former Super Bowl winning running back Ray Rice will likely not play NFL football again this year, if ever. If you haven’t heard about Ray Rice you either don’t watch, read or pay attention to the NFL at all or you are living in a cave, in which case, you’re probably not reading this column. Ray Rice was the Baltimore Ravens running back. Was, until video of him assaulting his then fiancé in an Atlantic City hotel elevator
While LeBron James soaks in the humbling loss against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, many are left to wonder what’s next in store for the best player in the league. Will he opt out of his current deal or stay another year with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade? That probably depends on what Pat Riley has in store for this offseason. Mario Chalmers, Chris Anderson and Rashard Lewis are free agents. Shane Battier is retiring and Ray Allen is
Facing elimination once again, Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals was supposed to be do-or-die for the desperate Indiana Pacers. Instead, the team looked flat for much of the night on both ends of the floor, went down by 26 points by half time, and the game was well out of reach by mid-third quarter. Despite having the best record in the East during the regular season, it has been a tumultuous year for the Pacers. They limped their way into the
Has Steve Ballmer finally acquired an NBA franchise? Ever since Shelly Sterling claimed to have her husband Donald’s approval to move forward with the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers, she has moved at a blistering pace to field bids in hopes of securing a legitimate buyer before the NBA Board of Governors convene Tuesday, June 3 to vote to have them removed as team owners. Since initiating the bidding war for the Clippers, Shelly’s husband—estranged or not—has
Mikhail Prokhorov didn’t get his money’s worth from Deron Williams, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce in Game 2 against the Miami Heat. After Williams posted a scoreless game, ESPN’s Bill Simmons ripped Brooklyn’s franchise player after the putrid performance. “Brook Lopez had a better game tonight than Deron Williams,” Simmons said. The criticism for Williams was warranted after the $100 million man posted a donut in the scoring column, but he isn’t the only person who should be called out for his poor
NBA on ESPN analyst and Grantland editor in chief Bill Simmons maintains many titles: writer, fan, Los Angeles Clippers season ticket holder, husband, dad, among a few others. Among the many hats that he wears, he is an avid Boston Celtics fan. If you’ve followed his blogs or read his book, you know that he has been a big Celtics fan since he was a child—when his father would take him to the old Boston Garden. While still maintaining his Boston NBA