Bill Simmons Takes Issue With Tweet Aggregating His Anthony Edwards Podcast Comments

Stephen Douglas | Aug 8, 2024

Aug 3, 2024; Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France; United States guard Anthony Edwards (5) shoots in the second quarter against Puerto Rico during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Bill Simmons dropped the first Bill Simmons Podcast episode of August on Tuesday. The Ringer's Rob Mahoney joined Simmons to talk about the Paris Olympics men's basketball semifinals and late in the podcast the eponymous host wondered how long it would be until rumors started swirling about Anthony Edwards being interested in joining the Miami Heat following his Olympic experience with Bam Adebayo and Erik Spoelstra.

This comment was then tweeted about by the Miami Heat blog Hot Hot Hoops and from there picked up by the basketball aggregation account @TheDunkCentral. Simmons quote tweeted a response to the second account saying, "Having NBA Central recap your pod is like a reading a transcript from a drunk courtroom stenographer."

Having NBA Central recap your pod is like a reading a transcript from a drunk courtroom stenographer https://t.co/t2VbnoZz1n

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 8, 2024

As for the content of the aggregation, it's unclear what he's bothered by. Here it is in context.

pic.twitter.com/dKyHnS8a8C

— Stephen Douglas (@Stephen_Douglas) August 7, 2024

"Next topic," said Simmons. "When does the first You know, Anthony Edwards really loves Bam Adebayo and Erik Spoelstra. He loved his experience with them. Don't be surprised — dot dot dot — story drop?"

After Mahoney started to respond, Simmons wondered aloud, "Am I dropping it right now?"

The aggregating tweet(s) didn't get anything wrong except for putting Simmons's "dot dot dot" back into the ellipsis that he had sounded out. Honestly, it's a weird quote to transcribe. And neither are inaccurate.

The question is, was he joking?

Was Simmons, a guy who knows things, simply imagining future NBA hamster wheel content? He's certainly qualified to identify it since it's the exact kind of thing he himself covers on his podcast regularly. Ever since LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade decided to play together in the NBA after being on Team USA together he's loved guessing which Olympic teammates would be the next to join forces.

Still, why get annoyed when someone transcribes exactly what you said? Does it matter that Anthony Edwards went further in the playoffs with the Minnesota Timberwolves this year than the Miami Heat did? Or that he seems happy in Minnesota and is under contract for five more years? Is it more ridiculous to suggest he wants to leave right now or to quote the exact words of someone who actually said that out loud on one of the most popular podcasts in the world?

The thing is, Bill Simmons's aggregation aggravation is nothing new. Earlier this year he even created a short-lived podcast segment meant to encourage aggregation for fun. Of course, that came about a year he wondered how long it would be until people took what he said on his podcast more seriously because, to quote Simmons, "he must actually know something if he just threw that out." Perhaps identifying this as a hot take would have been the prudent move.

You can see how an aggregator could get confused and make the mistake of writing down exactly what Simmons said.