NBA Over/Unders, Part 1: The West With Zach Lowe and Joe House

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Wall Street Journal sports columnist Jason Gay and Ringer editor-at-large Bryan Curtis to discuss the end of ESPN's 'The Sports Reporters' (5:00), LaVar Ball's impact on Lonzo Ball's draft stock (15:00), ESPN's priorities in today's media landscape (24:00), ESPN's attachment to live sports (34:00), the future of ESPN2 (39:00), Adrian Wojnarowski's rivalry with ESPN (48:00), the ESPN news ticker (55:00), the value of good writing in any medium (1:02:00), and parting shots on The Players' Tribune (1:07:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

8 Maj 20171h 14min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons brings on Michael Rapaport to discuss the uninspiring NBA playoffs (5:00), the upcoming 'NBA Awards' show (11:00), Kelly Olynyk's man bun (17:00), Phil Jackson's problems in New York (26:00), overhyping 'Hamilton' (33:30), Chris Paul's overrated status (38:00), Ty Lue complaining (41:00), reporter questions for Popovich and Belichick (44:00), LeBron's ability to avoid injury (49:00), A-Rod's stickman status (52:00), beefing with Dan Le Batard (1:02:00), and shooting 'True Romance' scenes with Christian Slater (1:13:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

5 Maj 20171h 22min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by 'South Park' cocreators Matt Stone and Trey Parker to discuss writing the show during the 2016 election (6:00), their show's similarities with 'SNL' (13:00), the NYT's 'Ghostbusters' review (19:00), the difference between humor and trolling (28:00), Bill Hader's increased involvement with the show (35:00), streaming 'South Park' (43:00), having creative free rein (47:00), the rivalry between Butters and Cartman (51:00), the sheer amount of powerful companies in the tech industry (55:00), beefing with Sean Penn (1:01:00), their desire to do another movie (1:06:00), and what's next on Season 21 of 'South Park.' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

3 Maj 20171h 21min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons welcomes longtime friend of the show Joe House to discuss the CP3 era in L.A. (5:00), sign-and-trade options for Blake Griffin (18:00), reasons to reassemble the Clippers' core (21:00), Stockton-CP3 comparisons (29:00), Wizards-Celtics (32:00), Ian Mahinmi's struggles (38:00), Al Horford’s impact (44:00), the odds of a Warriors sweep (48:00), Gordon Hayward's free agency (52:00), Raptors-Cavs (58:00), Harden's sloppiness (1:04:00), Aldridge's future with the Spurs (1:08:00), and series predictions (1:12:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1 Maj 20171h 15min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Kevin O'Connor to break down the somewhat-uneventful first round of the NBA playoffs (01:00), Game 6 for Chris Paul (05:30), Golden State's chance at sweeping the playoffs (11:30), what's wrong with James Harden (15:30), a must-win game for the Celtics against the Bulls (22:00), and the Raptors eliminating the Bucks (30:00). Then, Mike Lombardi joins the show to talk about Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears (41:00), the Panthers taking Christian McCaffrey (57:30), the Texans taking Deshaun Watson (60:00), and Al Davis's eating schedule (1:11:30). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

28 Apr 20171h 18min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons welcomes back Cousin Sal to discuss potential NFL draft prop bets (4:00), the backup QB conundrum (10:00), the Pats' sneaky-good picks (16:00), a potential Jimmy G draft-day trade (19:30), the Warriors' 16-0 potential (28:00), Edmonton's Stanley Cup odds (32:55), and betting on the writers' strike (36:00). Then, two-weight world champion boxer Andre Ward joins (40:10) to discuss his Olympic gold medal in Athens (45:00), 12 rounds vs. 15 rounds (51:00), fighting Sergey Kovalev (58:00), contemplating retirement in 2014 (1:04:00), the rematch with Kovalev (1:14:00), the best Bay Area athletes (1:17:00), his favorite legendary fights (1:21:00), and the Raiders' exit from Oakland (1:25:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

26 Apr 20171h 34min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by old NBA buddy Haralabos Voulgaris to discuss Kawhi's MVP case (5:00), the importance of durability (10:00), Isaiah Thomas's improved play (14:00), James Harden's defense (20:00), Shane Battier's advanced stats (27:00), LeBron's injury luck (34:00), Blake Griffin's power forward style (40:00), the Warriors' "disease of more" (45:00), the Bucks-Raptors toss-up series (48:00), Joe Ingles on the Clippers (55:00), Giannis's rise (1:04:00), the '01 Lakers' dominance (1:13:00), and the return of Austin Rivers (1:17:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

24 Apr 20171h 19min

HBO and The Ringer's Bill Simmons discusses the top NBA playoff story lines, including Rondo's injury (4:00), CP3's future plans (11:00), Steven Adams's disappearing act (14:00), the Jazz's struggles (19:30), Spurs-Grizz (23:30), Raptors-Bucks (27:00), and Round 1 playoff predictions (28:20). Then, 'The Breakfast Club' cohost Charlamagne tha God joins (35:50) to give his thoughts on Charles Barkley (40:00), the power of Black Twitter (44:00), the cultural influence of 'The Breakfast Club' (52:00), Nelly's fighting skills (56:00), confronting Kanye (1:00:00), Jay Z's dominance (1:09:00), Nas's impact (1:14:00), ways to fix ESPN (1:20:00), Serena's pregnancy (1:30:30), and who owns the belt in hip-hop (1:38:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

21 Apr 20171h 45min