Bill Simmons hates Devin Booker

[Bufalay]

During this discussion about All NBA selections Simmons spends an inordinate amount of time discussing what an overrated and essentially bad player Booker is. Kevin O’Connor pushes back pretty strongly in Booker’s defense.

I’ve been listening to Simmons hate on Booker all season, it’s amusingly irrational. My guess is that it started with the 70 points against his favorite team.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bill-simmons-podcast/id1043699613?i=1000439178398

 

[Superbone]

Screw him.

 

[Finito]

Simmons is a clown. He did a write up earlier in the year and he’s mentioned it several times on his podcast how he would rather have and how he ranks Wendell Carter Jr ahead of Ayton.

He gets on his little kicks that just leave you scratching your head sometimes

 

[Phrazbit]

When he first started out on ESPN in the mid 2000s he was one of my favorite writers, not because he had great insight but because he wrote in a style that was like talking about sports with some hilarious friends at the bar after you've had a few rounds. His articles and podcasts were mostly about empathizing with tortured fan bases and being bad at sports betting, it was entertainment.

Then ESPN pushed him to the mainstream, his Boston teams won, literally, everything and his ego went nuclear. He was absolutely putrid when they tried to use him as part of their weekly NBA crews.

After ESPN canned him I checked out some of his stuff on his new site to see if he returned to his roots, but instead he's added being really bitter to his shtick.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Devin has his warts but this is a beyond awful, biased take.

 

[Superbone]

When he first started out on ESPN in the mid 2000s he was one of my favorite writers, not because he had great insight but because he wrote in a style that was like talking about sports with some hilarious friends at the bar after you've had a few rounds. His articles and podcasts were mostly about empathizing with tortured fan bases and being bad at sports betting, it was entertainment.

Then ESPN pushed him to the mainstream, his Boston teams won, literally, everything and his ego went nuclear. He was absolutely putrid when they tried to use him as part of their weekly NBA crews.

After ESPN canned him I checked out some of his stuff on his new site to see if he returned to his roots, but instead he's added being really bitter to his shtick.

Excellent summation. I was right there with you the whole way.

 

[GatorAZ]

I still read the Book of Basketball sometimes when I’m flying. I wish he’d write a part two for the past ten years.

 

[Western Font]

I think some of Simmons’ Booker hate is referred Sarver hate.

 

[Bobster]

I still read the Book of Basketball sometimes when I’m flying. I wish he’d write a part two for the past ten years.

It was in serious need of more editing though. It's a good book, but I don't need to hear so much about Simmons, his childhood and there were far too many references to unrelated pop culture.

 

[Hoop Head]

I think some of Simmons’ Booker hate is referred Sarver hate.

Simmons definitely hates Sarver, perhaps more than any other owner in the league. I remember back when he covered the lockout he routinely ripped Sarver and blamed him for any and every delay. I don't know how much Sarver was to blame for the lockout, I know he was one of the owners willing to take more of a stand against the players but he was not alone in that regard. I almost wonder if there was some sort of interaction between Sarver and Simmons that caused Simmons to do such a 180 on the Suns though.

He bashed Sarver during the 2011 lockout but prior to that he was a big Suns fan and talked up D'Antoni's 7 Seconds Or Less style more than any other NBA analyst. He seemed to tout it as the future of the league before other teams started copying it. The lockout took place right after the fall of the Suns with Amare leaving so maybe it was the Suns sucking combined with Sarver's antics during the lockout that turned Simmons against the Suns but I think a bit of LA homerism has rubbed off on him also. I think he's still a Clipper season ticket holder, I know he was the whole time he was with ESPN, and you can't be a season ticket holder for over a decade without some emotional investment. Even though he's a Boston homer, he speaks highly of the Lakers, much more than any Celtics fan I've ever heard.

 

[leclerc]

Who cares about Bill Simmons. He used to be kinda funny but that was more than ten years ago.

 

[TJ]

I think some of Simmons’ Booker hate is referred Sarver hate.

Exactly. Simmons isn’t too keen on Ayton either. Whenever the Suns come up in conversation, it immediately turns to how much of a doormat the franchise has been and how terrible Sarver has been as an owner (which is an easy target).

Devin would be the best player on the Celtics next season.

 

[devilalum]

Exactly. Simmons isn’t too keen on Ayton either. Whenever the Suns come up in conversation, it immediately turns to how much of a doormat the franchise has been and how terrible Sarver has been as an owner (which is an easy target).

Devin would be the best player on the Celtics next season.

I’m OK with this. The Suns don’t deserve any respect. And if your 2 best players produce the worst record in the league year after year how good can they be?

If you replaced Booker with Harden last year the Suns win at least 40 games.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Finito]

I’m OK with this. The Suns don’t deserve any respect. And if your 2 best players produce the worst record in the league year after year how good can they be?

If you replaced Booker with Harden last year the Suns win at least 40 games.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not true at all

 

[AzStevenCal]

I’m OK with this. The Suns don’t deserve any respect. And if your 2 best players produce the worst record in the league year after year how good can they be?

If you replaced Booker with Harden last year the Suns win at least 40 games.

If you replaced last year's Booker with a healthy Booker the Suns win at least 30 games which is more than 22 year old Harden would have won IMO. And while I think last year's Harden would have led us to even more wins, I highly doubt we'd win 40.

 

[Covert Rain]

Not true at all

I disagree. I love Booker. Even a more healthy Booker. However, Harden does get us more wins IMO. I am not saying a ton more wins but more.

 

[Dr. Jones]

So.... I love Simmons. The Ringer.... Grantland..... Page 2...... Everything.

Is he a Boston Homer? Yes. A huge mark? Yes. Overly annoying about it? Yes.

But so are most of us.

As far as that podcast....... He isn't really wrong. Booker is not nearly as good as he is made out here. Defensively he is just as bad if not worse than Harden but not nearly as efficient on offense. The good thing is that he has a lot of time to grow. When he is 27, then we will know what Book has become.

Simmons is also right about the Suns as a whole. Crappy drafting..... Crappy ownership.... Crappy plan.

And finally, I will continue to assert that drafting Ayton over Doncic will be a 5 year (or more) mistake that we will not be able to recover from.

If this team doesn't figure out how to play defense as a unit (impossible with Ayton IMO) we will be a middle of the road 7 or 8 seed at best team until Sarver sells or dies.

 

[Cheesebeef]

If you replaced last year's Booker with a healthy Booker the Suns win at least 30 games which is more than 22 year old Harden would have won IMO. And while I think last year's Harden would have led us to even more wins, I highly doubt we'd win 40.

I think this completely ignores that Harden, at age 23, led a pretty putrid Rockets roster, with a HEAPING PILE OF GARBAGE and a ton of youth to a 45 win record and playoff appearance. Maybe Booker proves that wrong and next year we see him carry our squad and make that much of an impact as Harden did (really raising the team 13 games singlehandedly from a 32 win team... that lost Dragic in FA also so he was joining a 32 win club minus it's best player).

And I think Harden NOW easily leads this team to 40 wins. One, because he CAN stay healthy and two, because he's just a better overall player than Book. The guy has carried Houston for years to at least the 2nd round of the playoffs. Booker has shown nowhere near that level of impact at this point. Again, maybe as Devin turns 23 he does the same that Harden did for his club, but until he does, comparing the two in any way seems silly to me.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I think this completely ignores that Harden, at age 23, led a pretty putrid Rockets roster, with a HEAPING PILE OF GARBAGE and a ton of youth to a 45 win record and playoff appearance. Maybe Booker proves that wrong and next year we see him carry our squad and make that much of an impact as Harden did (really raising the team 13 games singlehandedly from a 32 win team... that lost Dragic in FA also so he was joining a 32 win club minus it's best player).

And I think Harden NOW easily leads this team to 40 wins. One, because he CAN stay healthy and two, because he's just a better overall player than Book. The guy has carried Houston for years to at least the 2nd round of the playoffs. Booker has shown nowhere near that level of impact at this point. Again, maybe as Devin turns 23 he does the same that Harden did for his club, but until he does, comparing the two in any way seems silly to me.

I think you're underselling a healthy Booker a bit and mildly understating the talent on that Rockets team also but you're right, James stayed healthy and Booker hasn't been able to do that. I really don't believe Harden could have taken this group to 40 wins but who knows.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I think you're underselling a healthy Booker a bit and mildly understating the talent on that Rockets team also but you're right, James stayed healthy and Booker hasn't been able to do that. I really don't believe Harden could have taken this group to 40 wins but who knows.

really? Take a look at that Rockets team.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2013.html

The second best player was Chandler Parsons, who at 15 ppg at age 24 isn't even as good as Warren. Other than that, it was Jeremy Lin who was a 2nd year guy. Ask a 2nd year guy. Beverly a rookie (who missed half the season and barely played when he did). Their top five players averaged 23 years old. That roster is complete drek AND young.

There wasn't one player who put up Warren's numbers, as talented as Ayton and they were saddled with an awful coach as well in McHale.

 

[AzStevenCal]

really? Take a look at that Rockets team.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2013.html

The second best player was Chandler Parsons, who at 15 ppg at age 24 isn't even as good as Warren. Other than that, it was Jeremy Lin who was a 2nd year guy. Ask a 2nd year guy. Beverly a rookie (who missed half the season and barely played when he did). Their top five players averaged 23 years old. That roster is complete drek AND young.

There wasn't one player who put up Warren's numbers, as talented as Ayton and they were saddled with an awful coach as well in McHale.

Asik was 26 with 7 or 8 years as a Pro and was already making a name for himself on defense and Donatas pre-injury looked to be a plus player down the line. Carlos Delfino wasn't much but he would have started for us and probably been our 4th best player. Without Harden it was a bad team but IMO it was nowhere near as weak as we were. On our side, yes, Ayton was better even as a rookie than any of their other guys but Booker was healthy for maybe 20 games and Warren missed almost half the season.

I agree they were very young but we were noticeably younger. They had 10 players that logged decent minutes that were aged between 23 and 26 and that's a lot. We had 7 players that logged at least 800 minutes that fell between 20 and 22, Houston had just 1 (Greg Smith). That's really a big difference IMO. We had some dinosaurs that make our overall average look better than it was but 11 guys 23 or younger (includes the G League call-ups) is just unheard of. And I have no idea how to compare Koko with KM?

 

[Cheesebeef]

Asik was 26 with 7 or 8 years as a Pro and was already making a name for himself on defense and Donatas pre-injury looked to be a plus player down the line. Carlos Delfino wasn't much but he would have started for us and probably been our 4th best player. Without Harden it was a bad team but IMO it was nowhere near as weak as we were. On our side, yes, Ayton was better even as a rookie than any of their other guys but Booker was healthy for maybe 20 games and Warren missed almost half the season.

I agree they were very young but we were noticeably younger. They had 10 players that logged decent minutes that were aged between 23 and 26 and that's a lot. We had 7 players that logged at least 800 minutes that fell between 20 and 22, Houston had just 1 (Greg Smith). That's really a big difference IMO. We had some dinosaurs that make our overall average look better than it was but 11 guys 23 or younger (includes the G League call-ups) is just unheard of. And I have no idea how to compare Koko with KM?

eh... this really ain't worth going back and forth. let's just hope at 23, Booker has a big impact on the team that equals Ws and can make a really solid argument about being the franchise guy. we all hope he can be.

 

[BC867]

eh... this really ain't worth going back and forth. let's just hope at 23, Booker has a big impact on the team that equals Ws and can make a really solid argument about being the franchise guy. we all hope he can be.

Whether it is recognition from the league, fans or Press (All Star, All NBA),
he needs to settle (back) into one position. And, without a doubt, his best
position is as a Shooting Guard who is also a decent distributor. But with a
Point Guard to feed him (and Ayton).

Would anyone take the stand that Devin Booker should have been All Star
or All NBA Point Guard? Suns fans perhaps, but no one else. Despite his
high scoring games. And lack of defense, especially covering the Point
which, in all fairness, was too much to ask of him.

 

[GatorAZ]

Booker’s foot speed and handle is not close to Harden at the same age. Even at ASU he was breaking down everyone who guarded him. The fact that Booker is still getting the rim speaks to his offensive skill level and intelligence but it also means he’s taking more pounding. Harden is listed at 220 but I’m guessing he’s closer to 240.

 

[Yuma]

Booker’s foot speed and handle is not close to Harden at the same age. Even at ASU he was breaking down everyone who guarded him. The fact that Booker is still getting the rim speaks to his offensive skill level and intelligence but it also means he’s taking more pounding. Harden is listed at 220 but I’m guessing he’s closer to 240.

The NBA measurements are almost laughable. I know Wilt had his height altered for years. Shaq was NEVER the weight they listed him at. Almost all guys are measured height with sneakers on.