According to Apple, former ESPN columnist Bill Simmons currently hosts the number two sports podcast in the country, but during Thursday’s episode, Simmons and guest Joe House found themselves at the intersection of sports and politics as they discussed the Mafia-connected illegal betting and poker game scandals rocking the NBA. According to both men, “they,” and especially FBI Director Kash Patel, specifically timed the announcement of the cases to “cut the legs out” from under the NBA.
Referencing an ESPN segment from Stephen A. Smith earlier in the day where Smith claimed that the situation was just another way for President Trump to go after his critics, Simmons declared, “I don't think it was unintentional that they sprung this in the worst possible timing for the NBA. Stephen A. pointed that out on First Take today that this is, you know, we're coming off this incredible Wemby game. That is what we should have been leading the podcast with today, and they just cut the legs out of it in 10 hours.”
That was a truly bizarre take. Nothing can doom a sports league quicker than a scandal that calls into question the integrity of the game. If you are truly an NBA fan, you should want this information out as soon as possible. It would have been malpractice for the FBI to hold on to any longer than absolutely necessary to carry out a thorough investigation. Furthermore, the FBI did file some chargers prior to the NBA season tipping off on Tuesday, so it is hard to accuse the FBI of waiting until the season started just so it could embarrass the league.
Nevertheless, House agreed, “And, I mean, really, two incredible games, two incredible nights for the NBA. Welcome back. A beautiful night on NBC followed up by an impeccable night on ESPN, Inside the NBA is firing on all cylinders. We have a legendary, a career-defining game out of Wemby and the next day, it's Kash Patel time, baby.
Simmons then echoed the idea, “It's not even the next day. It was 10 hours later, our guy Kash.”
A lot of liberal commentary about Trump can be hysterical, but Smith, Simmons, and House are being paranoid. The opinion—that the FBI’s schedule should be based off whether or not Victor Wembanyama had a great game or another went to double overtime the previous night—is, on its face, ridiculous, but it is proof that Trump has broken a lot of journalists’ brains and not just political journalists.
Here is a transcript for the October 23 show:
The Bill Simmons Podcast
10/23/2025
BILL SIMMONS: I don't think it was unintentional that they sprung this—
JOE HOUSE: No. No.
SIMMONS: —in the worst possible timing for the NBA.
HOUSE: Not unintentional.
SIMMONS: Stephen A. pointed that out on First Take today that this is, you know, we're coming off this incredible Wemby game. That is what we should have been leading the podcast with today, and they just cut the legs out of it in 10 hours.
HOUSE: And, I mean, really, two incredible games, two incredible nights for the NBA. Welcome back.
SIMMONS: Yeah. Right.
HOUSE: A beautiful night on NBC followed up by an impeccable night on ESPN, Inside the NBA is firing on all cylinders. We have a legendary, a career-defining game out of Wemby—
SIMMONS: Yeah.
HOUSE: — and the next day, it's Kash Patel time, baby.
SIMMONS: It's not even the next day. It was 10 hours later, our guy Kash.
