Bill Simmons vs Clips organization

[PaulieWal]

Hey Bill,

Does this mean you are giving up those season tickets the Clippers give you for free?

Yeah, I thought not. Keep being Bill. And see you at the games.

Why and how is he getting season tickets to the Clippers for free? I am pretty sure I remember him saying on one of his podcasts that he pays for those tickets.

I don't see Sterling giving him free season seats. Maybe Ballmer does?

Idk, that's what other season ticket holders at the games tell me.

Doesn't really make sense. If he were going as a media member he could get free seats but then he wouldn't have season seats. It makes no sense for any owner to give media members free season seats other like that.

I'd assume that he pays for those tickets like any other customer since those are his personal seats.

[SF_Warriors]

Ballmer is a newbie who has a lot to learn. He has yet to hire a "real GM". He was heralded for hiring a top-level female executive in Gillian Zucker, but in reality Zucker hasn't been very good behind the scenes. The new logo is a mess. So yes, there are issues. However, the on-court product is so good that it basically overshadows any of that. And if the Clippers win a title, nobody will really care at all.

I will give him the benefit of the doubt because he has only been an owner for a year and I would expect natural progression to occur as time passes.

Yup..look no further than joe lacob

He greenlighted the david lee sign nd trade...wasted the amnesty on a 4 mill expiring contract...had his embarrassing courtside moment like ballmers dancing..hired mark jackson
Now he is considered one of the best in the league
Give steve a chance

I'll disagree with you. Lee was great for us until Draymond's stellar play made his deal one year too long. And even that hasn't been a problem with Myers being able to turn that last year into Jason Thompson. Jackson was also great for us until they pulled a rabbit out of a hat and found a top 3 coach in Kerr. We play defense because of Jackson, you don't see Kerr giving credit to Nellie do you?

The only questionable move was using the amnesty on a small contract just to clear room for a player the Clippers ended up with.

Right, those moves were not catastrophic, and really helped the warriors get to where they are now. but Lee was overpaid and his contract essentially forced them to trade two first rounders to be able to sign andre iguodala.
mark jackson had a solid run, but ultimately he had reached his ceiling as a coach for this team.

I credit Lacob for realizing that MJ had to go and myers for finding a way to trade away Lee, who as solid as he was, his contract became/was becoming a liability.

[Sixerscan]

Why and how is he getting season tickets to the Clippers for free? I am pretty sure I remember him saying on one of his podcasts that he pays for those tickets.

I don't see Sterling giving him free season seats. Maybe Ballmer does?

Idk, that's what other season ticket holders at the games tell me.

Doesn't really make sense. If he were going as a media member he could get free seats but then he wouldn't have season seats. It makes no sense for any owner to give media members free season seats other like that.

I'd assume that he pays for those tickets like any other customer since those are his personal seats.

I can see some potential return on investment in giving the most read sports writer in America some free seats to your games.

It's also possible that, as part of the TV deal, ESPN is guaranteed free seats to every game by the teams, and ESPN gives some of them to Simmons.

At the very least, I doubt Simmons paid for his seats. Talk about a business expense, feel like ESPN would probably reimburse him. At worst he can write part of it off on his taxes as related to his job.

Regardless I don't see how that's wrong. Does anyone think members of the media shouldn't criticize teams that give them free stuff?

[dockingsched]

Bill Simmons has repeatedly talked about how he pays for the clips tickets.

In this article, he talks about how in addition to buying clips season tickets, he bought la kings tickets during the lockout season

http://grantland.com/features/arms-nhl/

[Sixerscan]

If he's not at least getting a tax deduction on his tickets he should hire a new accountant

Wouldn't shock me if part of the operating budget for grantland included tickets for the grand poobah. Him "paying" for it doesn't mean its coming out of his personal bank account. It's could come out of the send-Rembert-to-Rwanda account.

[PaulieWal]

Idk, that's what other season ticket holders at the games tell me.

Doesn't really make sense. If he were going as a media member he could get free seats but then he wouldn't have season seats. It makes no sense for any owner to give media members free season seats other like that.

I'd assume that he pays for those tickets like any other customer since those are his personal seats.

I can see some potential return on investment in giving the most read sports writer in America some free seats to your games.

It's also possible that, as part of the TV deal, ESPN is guaranteed free seats to every game by the teams, and ESPN gives some of them to Simmons.

At the very least, I doubt Simmons paid for his seats. Talk about a business expense, feel like ESPN would probably reimburse him. At worst he can write part of it off on his taxes as related to his job.

Regardless I don't see how that's wrong. Does anyone think members of the media shouldn't criticize teams that give them free stuff?

What? Where did I say anything's wrong here or that media members shouldn't criticize teams because none of them pay for their seats when they attend games and are given free food as well anyway.

I just don't think that teams would give media members free season seats. Sure they will put you in the media section or if you are Simmons or another high profile member give you better free seats but don't think that means they would give free season seats. Simmons has talked about having two seats, not one.

Now it's possible that he gets or rather got reimbursed by ESPN but that's different than the team giving him free season seats which I don't think is the case.

[Sixerscan]

Doesn't really make sense. If he were going as a media member he could get free seats but then he wouldn't have season seats. It makes no sense for any owner to give media members free season seats other like that.

I'd assume that he pays for those tickets like any other customer since those are his personal seats.

I can see some potential return on investment in giving the most read sports writer in America some free seats to your games.

It's also possible that, as part of the TV deal, ESPN is guaranteed free seats to every game by the teams, and ESPN gives some of them to Simmons.

At the very least, I doubt Simmons paid for his seats. Talk about a business expense, feel like ESPN would probably reimburse him. At worst he can write part of it off on his taxes as related to his job.

Regardless I don't see how that's wrong. Does anyone think members of the media shouldn't criticize teams that give them free stuff?

What? Where did I say anything's wrong here or that media members shouldn't criticize teams because none of them pay for their seats when they attend games and are given free food as well anyway.

I just don't think that teams would give media members free season seats. Sure they will put you in the media section or if you are Simmons or another high profile member give you better free seats but don't think that means they would give free season seats. Simmons has talked about having two seats, not one.

Now it's possible that he gets or rather got reimbursed by ESPN but that's different than the team giving him free season seats which I don't think is the case.

I was referring to the original post that you quoted which seemed to call him a hypocrite for theoretically accepting the seats from the Clippers.

I agree and tend to doubt Simmons gets seats directly from the Clippers. But if he does clearly he convinced them that its a good investment for them. Maybe it plays to his "fan" angle. He's a smart dude, has built a lot of success and benefits for himself by cultivating that persona.

[Prospect Dong]

His butthurt for Miami is also ridiculous. Eyerolls when we draft Shabazz Napier. The guy is just not objective

I feel like anyone who criticised drafting Napier probably gets to pat themselves on the back around now, while anyone who defended it needs to reassess their talent scouting abilities. As for anyone who's still defending it today...

Fans don't like it when their team gets criticised (Simmons ranked Mike Conley's extension as one of the worst contracts in the league), but it doesn't mean the critic is biased. In fact, sometimes, he's smarter than you.

[Usual Suspects]

Once Simmons starts writing again, I want to see him write three stories:

1: A 20,000 word, eff you article that reveals the darker side of ESPN.

2: A 30,000 word super-eff you article about Deflate-Gate and Roger Goodell.

3: A 40,000 word article about the Clippers and whatever else he's been wanting to write about the NBA.

I would love to read 1 and 3, but honestly he is so beyond biased towards Boston sports franchises, that I would rather have someone else write that one up. Honestly, in all his time the only really great Boston article that he has written was the one chronicling Lebron's gm 6 in 2012. Other than that, most are way too biased for my taste.

[Usual Suspects]

His butthurt for Miami is also ridiculous. Eyerolls when we draft Shabazz Napier. The guy is just not objective

I feel like anyone who criticised drafting Napier probably gets to pat themselves on the back around now, while anyone who defended it needs to reassess their talent scouting abilities. As for anyone who's still defending it today...

Fans don't like it when their team gets criticised (Simmons ranked Mike Conley's extension as one of the worst contracts in the league), but it doesn't mean the critic is biased. In fact, sometimes, he's smarter than you.

He wasn't criticizing the pick, but the fact that one of the team ahead of them let them get Napier. Simmons was a fan of the kid. i believe he even said, "why are teams helping Miami" (something along those lines). At that time, it was assumed that Lebron would return to the Heat, so he was angry that they were getting better.

[og15]

Ballmer has been around for one season, so I'll give him a little time. There is an adjustment period, so hopefully he learns as he goes along. In terms of wild things going on behind the scenes, who knows until we have some legitimate sources and info.

[sfernald]

Lol you actually believe BS pays for his seats?! haha.

You probably also live in the fantasy world where you think nfl players aren't doing exactly what Cris Carter suggested at that rookie symposium.

Simmons is gonna be a dick either way, but I would just assume give the seats to an actual "fan" of the team and not someone who bitches like a little girl all the time. Or better yet bill move back to Boston for christ sake. SoCal is not your style anyway.

[Prospect Dong]

His butthurt for Miami is also ridiculous. Eyerolls when we draft Shabazz Napier. The guy is just not objective

I feel like anyone who criticised drafting Napier probably gets to pat themselves on the back around now, while anyone who defended it needs to reassess their talent scouting abilities. As for anyone who's still defending it today...

Fans don't like it when their team gets criticised (Simmons ranked Mike Conley's extension as one of the worst contracts in the league), but it doesn't mean the critic is biased. In fact, sometimes, he's smarter than you.

He wasn't criticizing the pick, but the fact that one of the team ahead of them let them get Napier. Simmons was a fan of the kid. i believe he even said, "why are teams helping Miami" (something along those lines). At that time, it was assumed that Lebron would return to the Heat, so he was angry that they were getting better.

Fair enough, score that one in the anti-Simmons column then.

[doogled]

His butthurt for Miami is also ridiculous. Eyerolls when we draft Shabazz Napier. The guy is just not objective

I feel like anyone who criticised drafting Napier probably gets to pat themselves on the back around now, while anyone who defended it needs to reassess their talent scouting abilities. As for anyone who's still defending it today...

Fans don't like it when their team gets criticised (Simmons ranked Mike Conley's extension as one of the worst contracts in the league), but it doesn't mean the critic is biased. In fact, sometimes, he's smarter than you.

He wasn't criticizing the pick, but the fact that one of the team ahead of them let them get Napier. Simmons was a fan of the kid. i believe he even said, "why are teams helping Miami" (something along those lines). At that time, it was assumed that Lebron would return to the Heat, so he was angry that they were getting better.

The Hornets traded the Napier pick to the Heat, and Simmons immediately threw a tantrum on ESPN. It was pretty embarrassing to watch live, even worse in retrospect.

[QRich3]

lol Simmons is like a child throwing a tantrum every time something Doc-related comes up in his news feed. He's so transparent it doesn't even warrant any serious comment.

[Muizha]

this one

[tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/636279079231094784[/tweet]
has a fair amount of butthurt from the Celtics/Hornets draft non-deal

No its just Hornets are running into treadmill and they dont even realize it.

Because clearly the answer to that is trading to the middle of the first round.

Kaminsky is a middle of the first round talent, so...

[Sofia]

How much of this is anti Doc? 80%? 90%?

[bondom34]

No its just Hornets are running into treadmill and they dont even realize it.

Because clearly the answer to that is trading to the middle of the first round.

Kaminsky is a middle of the first round talent, so...

According to.....well pretty much you there. DX had him at 10, with a floor in mocks of 14. And he looks better after summer league. And there are tiers in drafts. The level of prospect isn't there at 15/16.

[Domejandro]

I have little respect for the Clippers organization given the Deandre Jordan debacle and because I think Doc Rivers is a scummy dude, so I am on Bill Simmon's side on this one. The Clippers are a dodgy bunch.


As a side note, whether or not he pays for his tickets is of no relevance to the situation. I am somewhat shocked that people are promoting unethical journalism, haha.

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

this one

[tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/636279079231094784[/tweet]
has a fair amount of butthurt from the Celtics/Hornets draft non-deal

No its just Hornets are running into treadmill and they dont even realize it.

What do you think treadmill means exactly? Because the Hornets had the worst record in the league just 4 years ago and the 2nd worst record 3 years ago. Are they considered a treadmill team if they don't finish with either the worst or best record in the league every single year?