Part 1: Harden-for-Simmons Finally Happens! With Chris Ryan, Kevin O’Connor, and Rob Mahoney

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by former Patriots Super Bowl champion linebacker Willie McGinest to discuss the differences between Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick (8:00), the rudderless Patriots of the ’90s (16:00), pushing the USC Trojans to hire Pete Carroll (26:00), O.J.'s superstar status at USC (31:00), Snoop Dogg's days playing quarterback (35:00), Dr. Dre's creative genius (43:00), the Michael Vick experience (56:00), the 2001 Super Bowl win (1:04:00), and where Willie keeps all of his Super Bowl rings (1:19:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

30 Aug 20171h 25min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by 2017 Finals MVP Kevin Durant for the second installment of a two-part series to discuss the outlook for the NBA's new-look teams and to continue answering listeners' most pressing mailbag questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

28 Aug 20171h 3min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by 2017 Finals MVP Kevin Durant for the first installment of a two-part series to discuss the shocking Kyrie Irving trade and to answer listeners' most pressing mailbag questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

24 Aug 20171h 6min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons assembles all of The Ringer's NBA experts to dissect the decision to trade Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics and discuss whether the Cavaliers became better heading into the 2017-18 NBA season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

23 Aug 20171h 3min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons brings on Ringer editor-at-large Bryan Curtis and Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Gay to discuss Mayweather-McGregor media hype (5:00), politics playing a role in every sports conversation (18:00), the NFL's desire to control everything (25:00), LeBron's power in the NBA (34:00), writers weighing having a platform and getting paid (40:00), the problem with the "pivot to video" (50:00), Boston potentially renaming Yawkey Way after David Ortiz (1:01:00), and Peter Vecsey's beef with Magic Johnson (1:12:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

21 Aug 20171h 34min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to discuss his famous steal against the Yankees (5:00), the depth on the Dodgers this season (11:00), the sense of urgency to win a World Series in L.A. (17:00), the influence of analytics in baseball (23:00), the conundrum of balancing rest with chasing history in the regular season (30:00), Yu Darvish's arrival (40:00), and the best advice he's gotten from Magic Johnson (44:00). Then, The Ringer's Mallory Rubin joins to discuss the best-case trade scenarios for Giancarlo Stanton (57:40). Finally, Bill's dad hops on the line to pitch his best Stanton trades (1:14:00) and give his thoughts on 'Game of Thrones' (1:21:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

17 Aug 20171h 37min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Kevin O'Connor to discuss Kyrie's limited trade market (6:00), Josh Jackson's trade value (10:00), the Knicks' best shot to get Kyrie (17:00), Cleveland's interest in Jamal Murray (23:30), Jabari Parker's trade potential before his injury (30:00), the Lakers trading for LeBron (38:00), and Kyrie's chances to be a Cavalier this season (44:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

15 Aug 201748min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by The Ringer's Mike Lombardi, Tate Frazier, and Joe House to discuss the most ridiculous NFL offseason talking points, including Andrew Luck being overhyped (14:00), Odell Beckham Jr. being overrated (26:10), Richard Sherman and Russell Wilson's relationship (32:32), Kirk Cousins's contract (37:00), and Cam Newton's scrambling style (45:30). Then, they make a few sleeper predictions for the 2017 NFL season (56:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

11 Aug 20171h 10min