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The Bill Simmons Podcast

An NBA Scandal, the WembyCorn, a Three-Day Power Poll, and NFL Week 8 Picks With Joe House

97 min episode · 2 min read
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Episode

97 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Investing, Fundraising & VC, Leadership

AI-Generated Summary

Key Takeaways

  • NBA Gambling Regulation: Player prop betting should be restricted to star players only, eliminating props on bench players like Quentin Post or Al Horford under threes. This reduces insider trading risk where equipment managers, trainers, or security personnel can exploit nonpublic injury information before official reports.
  • Wembanyama's Ceiling: Victor Wembanyama's 50-point performance against Dallas represents a once-in-a-generation athletic display comparable only to young Shaq, Kareem's skyhook, or prime LeBron's speed. His seven-foot frame combined with guard skills and three-point range creates matchup problems that have never existed in basketball history.
  • Houston Rockets Contention: Houston emerges as legitimate title contender with Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson forming elite frontcourt pairing. Their defense ranks third in DVOA allowing just 14.7 points per game, but they need to acquire a legitimate point guard to avoid Matt Maloney situations where playoff series are lost due to guard mismatches.
  • NBA Schedule Intensity: The league's biggest problem is unsustainable player workload, evidenced by Amen Thompson getting pulled for cramps in the OKC game despite being a top-five athlete. Players run excessive mileage at game speed 82 times plus playoffs, requiring teams to carefully monitor sprint data and rest schedules.
  • Chauncey Billups Investigation: If allegations prove true that Billups tipped off gamblers about sitting Dame Lillard in February 2023 before official injury reports, this represents the darkest NBA scandal since Tim Donaghy. The incident occurred during Portland's tank for the Scoot Henderson pick, giving nonpublic information material betting advantage.

What It Covers

Bill Simmons and Joe House analyze the NBA gambling scandal involving Jontay Porter and Chauncey Billups, discuss Victor Wembanyama's historic 50-point performance against Dallas, evaluate early season NBA power rankings, and make NFL Week 8 picks.

Key Questions Answered

  • NBA Gambling Regulation: Player prop betting should be restricted to star players only, eliminating props on bench players like Quentin Post or Al Horford under threes. This reduces insider trading risk where equipment managers, trainers, or security personnel can exploit nonpublic injury information before official reports.
  • Wembanyama's Ceiling: Victor Wembanyama's 50-point performance against Dallas represents a once-in-a-generation athletic display comparable only to young Shaq, Kareem's skyhook, or prime LeBron's speed. His seven-foot frame combined with guard skills and three-point range creates matchup problems that have never existed in basketball history.
  • Houston Rockets Contention: Houston emerges as legitimate title contender with Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson forming elite frontcourt pairing. Their defense ranks third in DVOA allowing just 14.7 points per game, but they need to acquire a legitimate point guard to avoid Matt Maloney situations where playoff series are lost due to guard mismatches.
  • NBA Schedule Intensity: The league's biggest problem is unsustainable player workload, evidenced by Amen Thompson getting pulled for cramps in the OKC game despite being a top-five athlete. Players run excessive mileage at game speed 82 times plus playoffs, requiring teams to carefully monitor sprint data and rest schedules.
  • Chauncey Billups Investigation: If allegations prove true that Billups tipped off gamblers about sitting Dame Lillard in February 2023 before official injury reports, this represents the darkest NBA scandal since Tim Donaghy. The incident occurred during Portland's tank for the Scoot Henderson pick, giving nonpublic information material betting advantage.

Notable Moment

Simmons reveals his mother texted asking if he and Sal were involved in the NBA betting scheme, highlighting how the scandal reached mainstream awareness. The indictment included colorful nicknames like Albanian Bruce, Black Tony, Pookie, and Spook Juice, suggesting an organized operation that extended beyond casual gambling.

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Episode Transcript

This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra, the official beer partner of the NBA. While the NBA season is heating up, the best moments are served cold, just like a refreshing Michelob Ultra superior light beer with only 95 calories. Nothing better than enjoying the games with a crisp, cold beard in your hand and even better to see them in person. Luckily for you, that's where Michelob Ultra comes in, getting you closer than ever with the chance to see all the action in person with courtside tickets to NBA games and more Michelob Ultra superiors worth playing for Enter now at michelobultra.com/courtside. Michelob Ultra courtside twenty five to twenty six. No purchase necessary. Open to US residents '21 plus begins on 10/01/2025 ends on 06/30/2026. Multiple entry periods. See official rules at miglowbutcher.com/courtside for free entry, entry details, prizes, and details. The bill Simmons podcast brought to you by FanDuel sports book. We're also brought to you by the ringer podcast network, where I will have a new rewatchables for you at some point early next week. I think it's gonna be Monday night, but we have to do a horror movie and we've done Halloween one and we've done Halloween four, but we have not done Halloween. And, especially now that I'm in the new studio with, can you see, can you see the, my, there he is right there. Sam Michael Myers, my guy. We're going to do Halloween too. So that's going to be the next rewatchables. Now I just screwed up my camera. And you can find that wherever you get your, wherever you get your rewatchables preferably on Spotify on video. So there you go. We have, so I was gonna, I was going to do the top of the podcast and talk about chargers, Vikings, and then the warriors nuggets game, and then the chargers decided to kill the Vikings. So, I was gonna, watch the second half and then have some notes, but, it was just the classic Thursday night stinker. And it all kind of flipped in the beginning when Herbert seemed like he threw a pick six, and then they called it back because he said the ball kinda moved on the ground. The chargers drove down, and then, that was it. So the chargers beating the vikings, and, I guess we didn't talk about that other than the fact that the vikings, do not look like a playoff team this year. And JJ McCarthy, the mystery continues. So that and then Denver, the and the Warriors, we get we had the whole year to talk about that. So we're diving right into this so we can get the podcast up faster. Joe House is coming on. We're gonna talk about the, the NBA gambling scandal. I think scandal's the the right word here. I'm gonna do a very brief blink test NBA power poll for house because I watched a ton of basketball over the last …

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