Overview of The Bill Simmons Podcast with Max Kellerman
Bill Simmons and Max Kellerman cover a wide-ranging mix of sports history, current NFL moves, Knicks legacy debates, and a long Finals preview centered on a Knicks-Spurs matchup. The conversation moves from the logic of blockbuster trades in the NFL to a detailed argument about what makes a player “great” versus merely “better,” then turns into a deep dive on the greatest Knicks of all time, New York sports icons, and whether Jalen Brunson can climb into that all-time tier.
NFL Trades and the Value of Going All-In
Miles Garrett trade talk
- Bill and Max react to the idea of a team trading significant draft capital for Myles Garrett, calling him the kind of transformational defensive player worth an aggressive swing.
- They frame Garrett as the current “crown-holder” of elite pass rushers, following a lineage of dominant defensive stars like:
- J.J. Watt
- Aaron Donald
- Myles Garrett
Rams-style team building
- The Rams are held up as the archetype for a franchise that repeatedly zags by trading picks for proven stars.
- Their model:
- Acquire elite talent in their prime
- Worry about draft capital later
- Build around a quarterback and a small core of difference-makers
- Simmons and Kellerman argue that this approach is justified when the team is close to a title and the player is truly special.
A.J. Brown as a precedent
- They use the A.J. Brown trade as a comparison point for how elite receivers can change an offense and elevate a quarterback.
- Max argues that a top-tier receiver is nearly as important as the quarterback in today’s NFL, especially for young passers.
Knicks Finals Outlook vs. the Spurs
Why the Knicks have a real shot
- The Knicks are discussed as a legitimate Finals team, with a strong core and a style that can frustrate opponents.
- Key reasons for optimism:
- Jalen Brunson as a late-game closer
- OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges as versatile wings
- Mitchell Robinson as an important interior weapon and offensive rebounding force
- A team identity built on toughness, shot-making, and second-chance points
Why the Spurs are favored
- Despite the Knicks’ strengths, both Simmons and Kellerman lean toward the Spurs because of Victor Wembanyama.
- Their reasoning:
- Wemby’s size and two-way impact create matchup problems no team can easily solve
- The Spurs’ young perimeter defenders, especially Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, fit well against Brunson and the Knicks’ wing-heavy offense
- Rest and spacing in the series could help San Antonio, especially with the playoff schedule structure
Wembanyama as a generational force
- Max argues Wemby may already be the best player in basketball because:
- He has a high offensive ceiling
- He provides an elite defensive floor every night
- His presence changes how teams attack on both ends
- They compare Wemby’s aura to historical game-changers like:
- Michael Jordan
- Shaquille O’Neal
- LeBron James
- The big concern is health, simply because a body that size doing that much work has never really been seen before.
The Greatest Knicks of All Time
The core debate
Bill and Max use the Knicks’ Finals appearance to revisit who belongs on the franchise’s all-time Mount Rushmore.
The leading candidates discussed
- Walt Frazier
- Willis Reed
- Patrick Ewing
- Bernard King
- Dave DeBusschere
- Carmelo Anthony
- Jalen Brunson as a potential future addition
Their rough hierarchy
- Max strongly values Frazier and Reed because they won titles and defined the franchise in a championship era.
- Ewing gets credit for sustained greatness but is dinged for not winning a title.
- Bernard King is praised for his peak but limited by a shorter Knicks tenure.
- DeBusschere is appreciated as an all-time winning role player, especially by older Knicks fans.
- Carmelo Anthony is treated as an elite scorer whose Knicks tenure was more complicated than nostalgic fans remember.
- Brunson is the active player with a chance to eventually join or surpass some of them if he keeps this level up and wins a title.
New York Sports Icons and “Made” NYC Stars
Who truly belongs in New York sports lore
The conversation broadens from the Knicks to a larger New York legend list.
Names discussed as city icons
- Joe Namath
- Derek Jeter
- Eli Manning
- Reggie Jackson
- Thurman Munson
- Mariano Rivera
- Messier
- Tom Seaver
- Don Mattingly
- Lawrence Taylor
- Bernie Williams
- Paul O’Neill
The criteria
- They focus on players who:
- Delivered in big moments
- Became emotionally attached to the city
- Were “keys to the city” types, regardless of whether they won championships
- Max emphasizes that New York loves players who perform under pressure and feel like they belong to the city’s mythology.
Greatness vs. Better: The Core Philosophy Segment
The main distinction
A major chunk of the conversation is about how to rank players historically.
- Better = who is more skilled by modern standards
- Greater = how dominant a player was relative to peers in his own era
Peak vs. career
- Both men favor peak over longevity when evaluating all-time greatness.
- They reference:
- Bill Walton as an example of a short but transcendent peak
- Nolan Ryan vs. Sandy Koufax as a classic career-vs.-peak comparison
- They also discuss how modern training, analytics, and style evolution make cross-era comparisons tricky.
The all-time NBA tier
- Jordan remains the clear No. 1 in their framework.
- The rest of the top tier conversation circles:
- LeBron James
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- Bill Russell
- Magic Johnson
- Larry Bird
- Tim Duncan
- Hakeem Olajuwon
- Nikola Jokic
- Steph Curry
- Wembanyama as a possible future entrant
Key Takeaways
- The modern NFL rewards boldness: when an elite player is available, teams like the Rams will spend picks to get him.
- In the NBA, Wembanyama is already being treated like the kind of player around whom eras can form.
- The Knicks’ Finals run has revived a long-running debate about who belongs among the franchise’s greatest players.
- Jalen Brunson has a real chance to become a New York all-time legend if he keeps winning and delivers in the Finals.
- The episode is less about one single topic than about how dynasties, legends, and legacy get built in the first place.