NBA on ESPN/ABC adds Bill Simmons, and Jalen Rose as studio analysts

True. With him we already know if it's about the Celtics his bias is already out there.

 

I love Bill Simmons. It's going to be a great show

 

I like Simmons as a writer, but I don't like his voice at all. It's not a broadcasting voice.

 

Is Jalen going to be bringing that baseball bat of his with him?

 

Seriously? Stephen A Smith. Skip Bayless. Chris Broussard.

Simmons' Grantland is by far the best sports site out there. The writing on that site is refreshingly funny (most of the time) and occasionally insightful (i.e. Sebastian Pruiti's old stuff; Zach Lowe's new stuff).

Then there is 30 for 30 which is another Simmons' brainchild. Honestly, Simmons is about the only thing that is keeping ESPN somewhat respectable in this day and age of who can be loudest without making any real point (see First Take).

 

Thank god. Broussard didn't add anything of importance to the show. His job was to be an insider b/c of his "sources." Jon Barry was always so bitter.

They should have definitely added Stan to the show. His brutal honesty, like his brother, would have been welcomed.

Bill Simmons is going to be awesome. I just hope his Boston bias doesn't always come in on every show.

 

This! Saved me time in writing about those other asses on ESPN.




On a side note, was JB let go or did he leave on his own terms?

 

I remember seeing him on PTI, I was excited to see him finally on TV. He's a great writer and he's great on his podcast. But he did seem a little stilted which surprised me.

I think it's just the format. He can have a conversational tone on the podcast and it's a solid hour of talk. But on these segments it's very regimented. I think he'll get more comfortable with time.

As an aside, I loved his personal take on Game of Thrones on his podcast. It's like he went in my brain and stole my thoughts.

 

Your brain must be the series - A Song of Ice and Fire, cos thats pretty much where he stole everything from. That was actually one of the worst basketball article ever written. Plagiarism at its best mixed with 100% whoring using the whole buzz caused by the tv series.

Bill Simons is brilliant but like everyone else have mentioned, he is very awkward on tv, which might chnge with more exposure.

Jalen might quite possibly be the barkley on the show now.
Why didnt espn get rid of Wilbon and Magic

 

I'm actually glad that Jon Barry is gone. Don't get me wrong - I loved him when he was on that extremely fan friendly 04-05 Rockets team that should have beat Dallas in Round 1 of the playoffs. As a TV guy, however, JB looks and sounds like a douchebag. He's just plain arrogant and cocky.

 

Hmm you might be referring to something else. He was talking about the actual show, no references to basketball. Some of his podcasts are strictly on pop culture.

He talked about how the intro music is a great buildup, plus losing track of character names, relations, and plots, which I did. But still thoroughly enjoying it all even though I'm not sure what's going on sometimes. Plus some other tidbits. It's been awhile since I heard that episode or watched the show though. I need to rewatch it all again.

 

oh i meant this
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8182261/game-nba-thrones-part-1

 

The introduction to the article clearly implies that he was writing about the NBA in the context of the Game of Thrones series. Simmons made no claim that he came up with the dialogue that he cited. Even if he was trying to pass the citations off as his own work, I don't think he would have been able to fool anyone. I'm certain that most if not all readers realize that those lines were from the series. LOL

 

I didn't really say he was trying to pass it off as his own. Just the blatant whoring and misguided sense of correlation between both works

 

Like another guy said.. I think he has the most annoying voice and I just flat out hate listening to him. Nothing more nothing less.

 

Another shake-up coming?

Two months ago, the rumors began: Bill Simmons wants off NBA Countdown. Have you read his columns or listened to his podcasts? He’s dropping hints left and right.

...

But come on, he’s only in Year One. These things take time, right? You get in a rhythm, a routine, develop chemistry with the co-hosts. It’ll be all good. Right?

Well, that depends who you ask. Two people close to NBA Countdown have told me that just one year after shaking up the show – adding Simmons and Jalen Rose – there could more change coming this summer. Both people believe there’s a 50/50 chance Simmons could walk away, and ESPN could add a host. ESPN higher ups are happy with the product – it certainly is better than last year – and perhaps the chatter is just that, rumors/gossip/scuttlebutt.

The name that keeps popping up: Stephen A. Smith. One source tells me that Smith is begging to join the show, and wants to go back to his roots as an NBA Insider. Another source tells me Smith would welcome a move that meant less First Take.

.....

Let’s say, hypothetically, that Simmons were to walk away, and ESPN moved Smith onto the show. Could Smith, a noted workaholic, handle First Take in the morning, a radio show mid-day, and a basketball show at night?

The other big rumor – again, just a rumor – about the show’s potential shakeup is that Mike Wilbon could be replaced by someone who would fill the role of a traditional host. One of the big knocks on the show is that it doesn’t have a host, like, say, TNT’s Ernie Johnson. Countdown seems to shift the “host” duties each time it airs.​

 

Countdown is atrocious, the discussions are like a minute long with nothing but sponsor plugs the whole time.

 

Wilson is the only decent part of it. Would be terrible if he left. Sas is aweful too. Get the white mamba.

 

Also: Simmons upset with SportsCenter for editing his joke

Soon after the first tweet, he added: “The rigidity of studio TV is really discouraging. Let’s just say that A LOT makes sense after these past 8 months.” That type of complaint could lead him to leave the program — which, like most studio shows, is formatted and finite, unlike his freewheeling column.

 

Wilbon* stupid iPhone