Not a big fan of Simmons, I do not think he adds anything to NBA or MLB discussions.

he does not really understand the game, he never played, its obvious.  I mean he fist pumped for James Young.  I like James Young but a fist pump?  Really?

Plus its comical when guys like Magic Johnson and Jalen Rose talk hoops and then we go to Simmons who really knows nothing about how the game is played.

Also, he promotes one of the most annoying attitudes in New England, the loser Red Sox attitude.  Please feel sorry for me I am a Red Sox fan. 

Sorry, its my opinion, right or wrong. 

I cannot stand Disney more, ESPN is just TMZ for sports and NFL fans. 

I am fan of Simmons, and I enjoyed him on Countdown. But he is much better in a longer form vehicle. The 30 second sound bite, necessary for the four person Countdown set, was not ideal. So I hope he retains production control over the show.

I also wonder if he was a bit too controversial for ESPN. For example, when he started commenting on Lebron's apparent play/ body langauge/ attitutude during the second half of the  play off game just after Cleveland won the first pick, is the kind of "analysis"/ speculation that I imagine ESPN frowns upon...

I like he and Jalen Rose together and I wonder what this means for Rose on Countdown....

Not a big fan of Simmons, I do not think he adds anything to NBA or MLB discussions.

he does not really understand the game, he never played, its obvious.  I mean he fist pumped for James Young.  I like James Young but a fist pump?  Really?

Plus its comical when guys like Magic Johnson and Jalen Rose talk hoops and then we go to Simmons who really knows nothing about how the game is played.

Also, he promotes one of the most annoying attitudes in New England, the loser Red Sox attitude.  Please feel sorry for me I am a Red Sox fan. 

Sorry, its my opinion, right or wrong. 

I cannot stand Disney more, ESPN is just TMZ for sports and NFL fans.

A guy can't be excited?  Jeesh, tough crowd.  Have you even read, "The Book of Basketball," because I'd highly recommend it.  The footnotes alone are epic. 

As for the countdown crew, you really thought that Magic was better than Simmons?  Magic Johnson is one of the worst broadcasters/commentators of all time.  He's the complete opposite of who he was as a player in the booth or studio.  What I mean by that is that on the court, Magic was always a step or two ahead of everyone (well, except for Larry haha), but when he's commentating he's always a step or two behind everyone else, and he struggles to articulate his points, even when he isn't lagging behind, for the most part.  I mean, he once said, "Kobe Bryant really took over in the second half - especially in the 3rd and the 4th quarter."   WOW.  Isiah Thomas was so much better, believe it or not.  Go back and listen to those broadcasts when it was Costas (yuck lol), Collins, and Zeke.  Doug and Isiah were a great duo, or at least a pretty good one, although no one can ever top Mike and Tommy, haha.

Jalen's okay (his racist remarks against Grant Hill aside), but will he please stop singing lol?  I mean, the bar isn't set very high when his competition is Jon Barry (no.  Just no.), Jeff Van Gundy (yeah, he can be funny, but most of the time he's off topic and just an idiot haha), Mark Jackson (need I say more?), and that's just espn/abc.  At least we won't have to listen to Steve Kerr anymore.  He was turrible

Side bar - my favorite Van Gundy moment -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVDI7Jhxfm8

I remember watching that game live and trying not to wake anyone up due to laughing lol.  All I could do was    Incredible.  Jamie Foxx ft. Jeff Van Gundy - blame it

Good to hear.  Grantland has some of the best writers in the world when it comes to discussing the NBA, or basketball in general.   

 

Will this basically be a rich man's version of the Starters?

He worked very well with the NBA draft guys but was basically pwning the NBA Countdown crew. Good for him to have his own show.

Plus its comical when guys like Magic Johnson and Jalen Rose talk hoops and then we go to Simmons who really knows nothing about how the game is played.

Listening to Magic Johnson talk about basketball is a great reminder to me that having played the game at a high level in no way makes you a quality analyst.