The Best NBA Players to See in Person | The Bill Simmons Podcast

[@dylanmain9534]

Finally this duo is back! These too play off each other so well

[@J.A.E-ve1zd]

I don't mind this, but Russillo's own show can often times be an absolute bro-fest. He's much better here in this type of sidekick role.

[@simplyjamarr]

The other guy is ass he talks too much and says nothing sometimes

[@davepirtle9790]

I like this watchability factor. This is really underrated for fans. The joker plays the game the right way(ball and man movement)

[@chriskuhn6130]

When people say he's boring I write them off immediately. Those people aren't watching the games. Go Nugs!

[@kam_12_]

⁠​⁠@@chriskuhn6130exactly.. dude has that tier 1 elite talent but he also has all the role player intangibles and mindset that most stars nowadays just dont have.. makes an incredible play we’ve never seen before damn near every game😂how can that be boring to anyone other than a casual

[@swinter11]

Seeing Jokic live is so cool because you realize just how much he affects every aspect of the game. You get the sense that he just warps all the action in the Nuggets favor in a way you don't notice on tv, like no one I've seen.

[@Darth_Ball]

Tim Duncan was the same way. On TV, 😴 - in person 😳

[@christopherwoxland9866]

Jokic is like prime warriors, just beautiful offense. I love the ant pick not only because of the insane athletic plays but like ryen brought up on his pod last ep Ant will play lock down defense up 19 in the 4th quarter it’s really refreshing. I love watching tatum, his playmaking is not as recognized as it should.

[@Jonteponte71]

How fitting that the NBA released a 1 hour video today with nothing but Jokic plays from his whole carrier. I'm going to watch it, and I'm not even a Nuggets fan!

[@ginobenatti7830]

As a huge Spurs fan, was lucky enough to see Wembys first career triple double live.

[@circaen]

Bill saying he think Shai is more consistent than Luka because of his average which is lower than Lukas & then bringing up Game score when Luka's average game score is also higher, and I believe Luka has 3 of the top 20 Game scores of all time. Including the #2 all time. Its really all you need to know about Bill.

[@scottkellogg2180]

PLEASE keep this duo together and talk NBA together.

[@doots42]

Being able to be courtside, behind the basket for the Nuggets at Boston was such a delight. Sucked to watch Boston lose but damn Jokic is a delight to watch

[@jackramsden9346]

Jokic is the greatest player of all time if the list is “all time players who don’t look like they should be that good”. Crazy scary how talented he is. Is gonna be top 10 when it’s all said and done.

[@jujuthedude]

My rankings are I don’t we should be comparing careers , accomplishments, stats , winning or skill sets of players from completely different eras because the game and all of the circumstances change too much that it’s not fair to compare and we don’t have time machines so it’s all speculation anyway, so I rank by tiers that include each decade. Tier 1 Goat of a Generation conversation 60 Russell/Wilt 70s Kareem/Dr J (ABA included) 80s Magic/Bird 90s Jordan/ Hakeem 00s Duncan/ Shaq 10s LeBron/Steph 20s Jokic ( Giannis/Luka tbd) 30s Wemby (tbd) My only hot takes in my rankings probably is having Kobe tier 2 and I have never believed Jordan was just way above everyone else. To me of all in the conversation Jordan may have had the best fortune of circumstances, the Bulls timing was perfect and coincided with wide open 90s, and Hakeem had the worst luck..his best teammates were a little past prime Drexler at the end of Hakeem’s prime and Sampson for like 2 years before Hakeem hit his prime. If Hakeem had a better team I think him and Jordan would’ve met in multiple finals and MJ would have less rings and Hakeem more. All the other 2 best i mentioned played each other in at least 3 series and Jordan , Hakeem none.

[@laiiididiiir]

Bill.... Wemby is shooting +42% on pull up 3s since January

[@TheChessRunner]

it catch and shoot that is horrible. Probably got them confused somehow

[@laiiididiiir]

@@TheChessRunner more realistically they don’t watch much the spurs except for a game here a there if it’s vs Lakers or Boston. Lots of cliches 🤦‍♂️

[@eliottbressler8562]

took 2 mins and 13 seconds for Bill to bring up a Celtics player

[@whyumadbiatch]

2:07

[@AdamHammond-]

And 5 minutes to say something bad about Luka

[@whyumadbiatch]

He has Luka #3 on his mvp list

[@bfguinness1759]

Great call out. Guy started his career as “The Boston Sports Guy” and still talks about Boston, what a homer

[@doktarr]

What's the time stamp on him mentioning he goes to Clippers games?

[@David-iv6je]

People don't realize how much film Jokic watches. Or maybe they do, but dayum. But you can tell he knows the tendencies of everybody and factors that into his split-second decisions. He's a hoops supercomputer.

[@olamideolanrewaju6581]

No people actually believe the farce that he just watches horse races all the time like people think he can’t manage a hobby.

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

He literally goes to coach seminars and conferences in the off season to learn basketball.

[@ericadelaplaine3855]

I once watched a Nuggets game with a friend of mine who loathes sports. She couldn't stop giggling the whole time Jokic was on the floor and didn't care to watch when he rested. I'm pretty sure I never managed to convince her he actually was the best player in the league. She just thought he was hilarious and couldn't believe he could lumber around like that and everything worked out perfectly every time.

[@justinwood9049]

That says it all!

[@Righteous210]

Larry Bird in his autobiography said he was 6 9. He said he wishes he was 7 foot he would be even better. Jokic is a 7 foot Larry Bird.

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

Jokić is 6'11

[@hughtitchener6478]

Enjoyed the veiled pot shots at SAS and ESPN at the end there

[@dylanpoirier9717]

Trying to see Zion in person has been impossible...Got pels tix 3 years in a row most recently in Houston last month. Wasn't on the injury report, my girl was super pumped to finally see him, get to the game and he's nowhere to be seen. Comes out in a hoodie and sweats midway through 2nd quarter lol

[@nuggz720]

I don't think he makes the list but Ja is a show in person!!! He was my most anticipated last year to see in person and he did not disappoint

[@pizzaperson-rm2dd]

Saw Ja last season-SUCH A FUN PLAYER to watch live

[@nuggz720]

@@pizzaperson-rm2dd is that player who potentially could do anything and that's why it's so fun to see I'm in person but he's got to figure some mental stuff before he gets the publicity again

[@jesstiss222]

Good one fasho! I hope he comes back strong

[@ShinMadero]

I was at the Embiid 70pt game against the Spurs. Amazing thing to witness, but also watching Wemby play in person was so interesting. Almost like watching an alien play basketball.

[@jesstiss222]

All the phantom fouls against the Spurs and the parade of free throws was criminal. I can’t watch “basketball” like that

[@Axecarter91]

Kyrie will always be my favorite player to watch live. The dribbling, layup package, and the no foul baiting is an entertaining watch

[@posivibe989]

Wemby needs to develop the sky hook

[@39872adnan]

Benjamin Simmons most def number one lol. He’s like a Sasquatch sighting

[@BuckFieri]

I don’t like the narrative that Jokic isn’t athletic. It’s true he doesn’t run fast or jump high but his conditioning is amazing. He’s never gassed. His workload would be completely unsustainable for most bigs.

[@anshgombar7173]

Great point!

[@razkable]

jamal murray is up there for me...him and ja morant are must see live players...playoff jimmy butler as well....probably shai this year and rounding out my top 5 would be giannis

[@Riles3152]

Just recently went to a Clippers game when they played at home against Minnesota. To be totally honest, the three most impressive players I saw was Kawhi Leonard, Nas Reid and believe it or not, Karl-Anthony Towns. Anthony Edwards didn’t shoot that well but every time he went to the basket he was literally unguardable. But those first three were the most impressive to watch in person.

[@davidlove5232]

the way there is someone out there tracking the average time per touches stat is insane

[@JJ_5289]

It is crazy how many different stats are tracked. Like do we need all of these obscure stats?

[@allank8497]

It’s tracked by a computer

[@allank8497]

@@JJ_5289a lot of these obscure stats are better than the traditional ones, though. Think about it, decades ago, somebody arbitrarily decided that we’re gonna keep track of who corrals the ball when it misses off the rim, (or, more commonly, who the ball just happens to bounce to,) and now that’s like the second most quoted basketball statistic we use. But bc we didn’t have the tracking technology to measure how long each game a player has the ball until recently, we’re supposed to believe that that’s a less valuable statistic than rebounds

[@kam_12_]

@@allank8497they really thought mfs was calculating that shit in their head😭 the computers can track total distance ran, space covered, damn near everything

[@kam_12_]

@@JJ_5289some of contrast(like touches vs usage) can show just how efficient and valuable a player really is.. players like russ and harden were great but had uber high usage along with their touches, and heliocentric ball has never really won a modern nba title.. its all contextual tho and these advanced stats can be misleading and sometimes more of a something to base the eye test on, but most help you get a basis if you also dont watch every play of every game that player plays

[@allank8497]

The way these two can completely make light of Jokic being bad, at times, on defense is crazy. They’re doing tricks on that thing

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

cope

[@jesstiss222]

Joker does make a lot of business decisions early in the games but him and the Denver defense lock in later into the games, for example Joker had FIVE stocks in the last game vs the Warriors and Sent has been a top 10 defense this entire season before they even start trying. That is such an outdated criticism. It’s literally their D that won them the chip ffs

[@allank8497]

@@jesstiss222 it’s nothing to do with business decision, it’s his lack of footspeed making him susceptible to getting stretched out against good high PnR guards. Against guys who are pull up threats he has to play up and it makes it a race to the rim between him and the guard. Denver’s whole defense, their roster, and the way they structure their rotations revolves around having to compensate for that deficiency. That’s why he plays almost all his minutes with the starters, especially KCP (screen nav) and AG (backside help) and bc they have to do rotations that way, their bench lineups get killed.

[@mymainmanmaine1]

I saw Zion play in high school… greatest basketball performance I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. Off all the NBA games I’ve been to, Joel Embiid is top of my list. His mix of size and skill is even more impressive irl.

[@m1977v]

Sorry Bill, but I was Clipper season ticket holder during the 2010s and I could see SGA being an all-star. I’m not saying I saw MVP candidate or on his way to HOF. But I saw his ceiling as a better Mike Conley type of career, with more accolades. I thought a 2-3 time all-star, maybe an all defensive team here and there. I saw a 19-21 ppg, 6ast 6rbs type of career. With a solid midrange. I actually didn’t want him traded for PG at the time. I wanted us to build with what we had.

[@Mskedu47]

The Edwards glazing is crazy ‘I’m the best looking guy’

[@GibranCamus-kr2dc]

Glazing feels so old now

[@JJ_5289]

I think that comment was more meant to be about Jordan in the 80s/90s

[@LinardsZ]

​@@JJ_5289I personally think the player who most reminds me off Jordan is Jerry West he had same midrange game atleast of Late 90s Jordan 80s and early 90s Jordan is just athletic freak.

[@antmj235]

@@JJ_5289no it wasn’t. Go back and listen. They are comparing him to MJ in that way.

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

Dude is a budget Dwyane Wade, we have to stop with this hype just because he's American and the top 5 players aren't.

[@AGradeNonsense]

Wemby is like playing Dhalsim in SF2

[@Shortballa11]

Anthony Edwards is more Dwayne Wade with more 3 ball

[@marcr196]

KD is my favorite player to see in person. Him and Booker on the same team is a masterclass in difficult shotmaking

[@brianwade9019]

I would also put drew eubanks on this list

[@jujuthedude]

For me this year 1. Wemby 2. Luka 3. Edwards 4. SGA 5. Jokic Haliburton and Brunson are two more who come to mind as fun to watch. Curry is still respect obviously but he’s a little too hit or miss for me. When he’s having a big night it’s as fun to watch as anyone else’s big nights.

[@greyklopstock7155]

To an extent, I think that second round jokic thing also applied to Draymond Green coming into the league. All the numbers say he deeply affects winning in all facets, but when you watch them, he's a little too this, not enough that. So not knowing the future, you don't see the final product. But man, once you know what to look for, you see it. Again, jokic is miles better, but I think that's just how some of these really good players get missed

[@drewbreezy5854]

The fact that the best player on the best team has to do a media push to put his name in the MVP race tells you exactly what it is, he's not in the top 5 for MVP.

[@llim80]

Simmons and Russillo and their ANT love stinks of wanting to be invited to the picnic. lol

[@willzsportscards]

i pretty much put this in my mvp order. 1) jokic 2)giannis 3)luka 4) sga

[@apostolostvable]

It's Jokic, Giannis, SGA and Luka in the top four by a good margin.

[@willzsportscards]

Totally . I get annoyed by people trying to force Tatum into the convo. Please.

[@fortynights1513]

Jokic has an interesting game to watch clips of, I’ll say that.

[@Lane.Kiffin]

seen wemby against the knicks at msg and against philly embiids 70 pt game

[@msonby]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't every player on their list from the Western Conference?

[@victorvic4659]

Luka is top 5 for me. He is just too good.

[@cryptidian3530]

Seems like certain people are getting tired of his brilliance. It's become normal for him.

[@wesgarnett119]

@@cryptidian3530 you must've enjoyed watching James Harden's Rockets years as well too?

[@cryptidian3530]

@@wesgarnett119 Harden was an arm hook foul baiter who jumped on someone's back to draw a foul. I don't think anyone enjoyed watching him.

[@wesgarnett119]

@@cryptidian3530 they're playing the exact same system as those Rockets teams. The arm hook bait was just Harden's niche. Neither are enjoyable to watch.

[@cryptidian3530]

@@wesgarnett119 Luka's godly passing ability isn't fun to watch? Or his immaculate footwork in the paint? Come on, bro.

[@jonathanperrelli5778]

Kyrie. And I am not a Kyrie fan. But he is truly incredible to watch in person.

[@cam8868]

I would put Duece McBride on this list for sure

[@cajxii1]

I love how on the fly, Rusillo knows what the people want. He doesnt go into full tangent mode for the sake of keeping the segment moving, when i think the irony is, is that most of us could listen to his voice all day!

[@BuckFieri]

The most impressive individual performances I’ve seen in person were from Jokic and Anthony Edwards.

[@skozy3]

Durant is not yet eligible for level 5

[@moderndancingfool]

lmao Laettner's Mom - I forgot all about the neck brace.

[@kam_12_]

jokic and wemby are the only guys i go out of my way to fully watch and cant keep my eyes off

[@JoeYatesAlaskanFilms]

The first 12 minutes is all on Jokic and then they give :30 on Steph.

[@wesgarnett119]

all this Jokic talk really reminds me of the Giannis talk in '21...probably will have the same outcome

[@ddearing]

Not even a mention of Haliburton? Man...

[@terry7907]

Over who? The league is just packed with talent.

[@dasanders13]

Twitter doesn’t like doc, his players don’t like doc, the 2nd round doesn’t like doc

[@CD-gk9ix]

The elephant in the room: in todays league you never know when players will actually play. Save your money, folks.

[@theangrylifeinsuranceagent]

Jokic is a drunken boxer, IYKYK

[@billyjoerancherson2637]

Amen Thompson

[@ChristopherSmithNYC]

Imagine going to a VH show and never looking at Alex? 🤯 As far as the Spurs, man all eyes on THAT dude. That Jokic pass was the best I've ever seen.

[@deelak2329]

Jokic is already better all time than durant

[@kenwell3498]

I got Jokic top ten now.

[@agreen182]

Van Halen reference. So topical.

[@olamideolanrewaju6581]

When Steph retires. Jokic might be my dude lol. I’m shameless. He is like the big version of Steph making him have the potential to be if not as good but better with his constant ball movement. He also doesn’t make mistakes. Like Steph can be turnover prone or trigger happy but none of that with Jokic. Maybe is only weaknesses are at times he wants to pass too much when he can easily score and that he is slow footed on defense but he is great positionall. But his ball IQ is unmatched it is probably on LeBron level.

[@LoveinsteadofJudge]

Thought the title was the best nba players to see in prison 😅

[@davidhume2011]

21:18 rusillos battery died

[@39872adnan]

Nice catch lol. Like Draymond post game conference a few years back during the playoffs

[@LL-iy7bg]

Stoped with SGA over Luka

[@whyumadbiatch]

Bro have you watched SGA? Luka is great but watch SGA dude is just smooth with it

[@AdamHammond-]

Yep. I'm a huge Mavs fan. Luka does amazing things, but ball movement is more enjoyable.

[@Endless_Satori]

I’m a Luka fanboy, but SGA is just smooth!

[@williamroper5422]

​@@AdamHammond-Ball movement has been done to death. Nobody else can do what Luka does. I'll take the best display of skill and jaw dropping plays on a nightly basis over plain old ball movement when it comes to entertainment value.

[@AdamHammond-]

@@williamroper5422 I enjoy watching teams win

[@Yourcousinjoseph]

1 joker 2 Greek freak 3 antman 4 shai 5 Steph

[@janicelgo4522]

Go to any of these guys games and if Curry is in the house, then you learn who they are there for.

[@JtheLionheart]

I dont see the Ant/Player 99 comparison. Ant doesn't display the kind of fundamentals/skill he had.

[@davidgroth26]

Only Jerry West knew

[@charlescohen6140]

Deep. Zion is a bona fide superstar leading his team to championships.

[@zalemdreams]

The Tatum MVP argument is purely a xenophobic take from people who want the league to be predominantly American.

[@Endless_Satori]

Completely agreed. It’s sooo weird seeing people want to prop him up just because Celtics is #1 seed. Like Hello? The Celtics has one of the best starting 5’s of all time!

[@tristanphipps2458]

Clippers season tickets?

[@Zer0Passion]

Quit referencing the 80s and 90s when we have seen how drastic the skill difference is compared to today.

[@petecastillo8216]

Ben Simmons 😂

[@rogb7770]

Wemby too low. He is #1. Simmons you are missing out watching some Wemby

[@RR-mi8ge]

Luka for me

[@elijahgleaves5018]

Embiid is the best in person watch in the league. Someone that big shouldn't be able to do what he does.

[@llim80]

Ant over Wemby? LOLOL Russillo is such a clown. What's up with the love affair with ANT, he will NEVER be the best player on a championship team.

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

Dude is a budget Dwyane Wade, we have to stop with this hype just because he's American and the top 5 players aren't.

[@llim80]

Yeah him and Bill Simmons keep slobbering over him to retain their "street cred" they need to accept the fact they are middle aged men now@@dimitrijetucovic1307

[@llim80]

I love how all comments are edited out now. Simmons and Russillo are losers who have to prop up their "street cred" by worshipping ANT, even though they know he's not that great@@dimitrijetucovic1307

[@llim80]

@@dimitrijetucovic1307I think Simmons and Russillo like him because they want to seem "cool"

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

@@llim80 Russillo especially does this every year or so, he did it with Scoot.

[@rafaellemkedepaola515]

No luka?? U said ant after luka??? God darn it

[@jaygainer7955]

Even Luka does more impressive things then Jokic but all the nba talks about is Jokic and Lebron! That’s so weird !

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

cope

[@zachnantz5304]

If you haven't seen Lebron in your life in person, then he's obviously the #1

[@Joeshiesty286]

Reminder that Luka at Wemby’s age took the clippers to 7 games, averaged 35/9/9 with THJ as his 2nd best player.

[@universoullifebalance]

Luka is overrated and will never win a chip

[@chili015]

@@universoullifebalance - Statistically, Luka is the 2nd best playoff performer in NBA history behind Jordan. A major difference is Luka plays on a pretty mediocre squad. Imagine if Luka was on Boston instead of Tatum... the Celtics would be even nastier.

[@davepirtle9790]

Luka is great too but he has that solo act thing going on that is not as fun to watch for me.

[@universoullifebalance]

@@chili015 his stats are EMPTY CALORIES.. He is complete garbage on defense one of the most overrated players to exist he’ll never win anything

[@davepirtle9790]

what makes Luka overrated? also does winning a ring make a player better?

[@88smjls]

Kobe was on that psycho stuff.

[@Gypsywasteland]

Halliburton and Luka over Zion and SGA easily.

[@jaygainer7955]

I hate that this a race thing because how could you watch a 7 footer do Kobe Jordan like things and call him a bum but a center who does avg ass passes the most amazing thing ? I’m confused? Like seriously!

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

Cry

[@jonathansykes4986]

Jokic is better than KD now.

[@MoneyMentorBrian]

Ryen lose Bill with the drunk golf comment

[@SharpwithanE]

For the algo

[@asufluffhead]

Wemby is 20. He will be injury prone, just wait.

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

cope

[@cryptidian3530]

Luka.

[@hoppy23]

I dont think its a stretch to say jokic is peaking higher then lebron ever did its blatently obvious tive jokic wade and bosh see what will happen

[@ssjohnson23]

these two are becoming unlistenable, particularly bill

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

Aw did you get triggered?

[@ssjohnson23]

@@dimitrijetucovic1307 do I sound triggered?

[@roberthancock6870]

Is anyone worth watching for 300+ dollars

[@pabloguerreroquintana9859]

Shai is boring as hell man wtf

[@SweetjamesjonesII]

I’ve seen Jokić 3 times in person and he is by far one of the most boring players in nba history…you almost forget he’s there

[@albertocasamayor4897]

jokic is a center,luka plays the PG for dallas,how can u even compare the time they got the ball...I mean...

[@dimitrijetucovic1307]

Because the game is positionless and Jokić has the most touches in the league.

[@Jayhawk92]

I know I'm in the minority with this, but for me Curry is boring to watch. He's very impressive and great and all that stuff, but I don't find his play very entertaining

[@williamroper5422]

Yeah that makes zero sense to me. I've always loved watching Curry.

[@Jayhawk92]

@@williamroper5422 it's just all his games look they same to me. Watched probably 75 games of his, and over time it just felt like I was just watching the same game over and over again