Chris Mannix
Appearances
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Well, the NBA really wants you to care about the NBA Cup. That's for sure. We'll see how much that sticks. But really, when you talk to people with different teams, the buzz nowadays is Jimmy Butler, right? And what exactly is going to happen down there in Miami? It's pretty clear at this point that There'll be a few teams that express some level of interest in Jimmy Butler.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
And now I think the question is, what kind of motivation does Miami have to do a deal here? Miami's playing some pretty good basketball. Jimmy just went for 35 the other night. And we know the Heat, they just believe when they get to the playoffs, they can beat anybody. And they've got a decent track record of Well, in 2022, they did, right? Yeah. It's not happening this year. Probably not.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
No, I agree with you. And if you look at their roster, Jimmy doesn't fit the timeline. Everybody, including Bam Adebayo, is 27 and younger. So you figure the Heat would have to get motivated to do a deal. The question is when, who's going to be on the table, what kind of offers are there. That's really kind of the most interesting thing, I think, in the league right now. Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I was not at that game, no. But I do think, Bill, Houston, they doth protest too much about how they're going to keep this team together. Every time you see a quote from Raphael Stone or some reporting coming out of Houston, it's, we want to keep this team together and see what it has. And I get that. I understand...
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
wanting to see how a young team fits over 82 games, how a young team plays in the postseason, and kind of using that as a data point to build off of. But if you have a chance to supercharge your roster with a defensive-minded veteran that would fit in pretty well, I think, in Ime Udoka's system and his culture, I think you've got to at least take a swing.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I think they probably think they could be competitive with Cleveland because there are things you can exploit against the Cavs in a seven-game series. They can't believe they're on Boston's level. They're not. And that's really the bar, right? Yeah. They could... As of right now, today, they could extend Jimmy Butler. They can give him two years, buck 13.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
You've got, I think, until June 30th to do that if you really wanted to. They don't want to. He's 35 years old, and no matter how he's playing right now, the idea of tacking two more years on to that option year, it doesn't make any sense to them. And I get that. How many teams over the last 12 months... have hand out extensions they wish they didn't, right?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Like Denver and Jamal Murray, the Sixers and Joel Embiid even. Even? That's the number one extension to me. I was trying to be nice.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Like Embiid at least has like an MVP track record. Murray had never even been an all-star. He was coming off that absolute crap of an Olympic run. Those guys are just examples of... guys you give extensions to way too early. Miami, they're on a different path here. Jimmy's not going to be on it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I think my question would be, Bill, is if like... The draft capital move is probably the right way to go. The expiring contract is probably the right way to go. Reboot. Use that cap flexibility. But... Can you get interested in Michael Porter Jr. if that's a deal with Denver?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I mean, he's such a good offensive player. And I just think in that Miami system, you could unlock even more in him.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
You're throwing out the cap flexibility stuff. You're going two more years at a big number for Michael Porter Jr.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Yeah, after this year, right. It's a tough call. I just love his offensive play. Everything he can do offensively, I love. And he's kind of shaken off the injury bug from the last couple of years. I just wondered, he kind of fits the timeline too. What is he, like 25, 26 years old? All of a sudden, you're adding MPJ in with all these young guys, throw Jaime Jaquez into that mix.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I guess, can you get something better than Porter Jr. in free agency? It would be kind of my question over the next couple of summers. I don't know the answer to that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Um,
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Yeah, well, you can still, I guess, rules-wise, put Schroeder into a deal, and I don't know who's going to want Schroeder on the expiring. And they've got some... The problem with Denver is they have no draft capital, right? Like, you'd have to throw, like, Zeke Nagy into that and hope somebody... But man, you watch them, and I've watched a lot of them the last couple weeks. They need something.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
They need somebody with an edge. They need somebody to bring some energy to that team. I know Murray's had a good couple of games, like 48 over the last two, but he looks awful. His shooting numbers are all down. Jokic, I mean, I don't want to dump on the guy because he's having a ridiculous offensive season, but defensively, he's terrible.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
And that's a big reason why they've sunk as far as they have defensively. So they just need an infusion of something if they're going to maximize these few years of Jokic playing at an MVP level. I don't know if Butler's the guy because all of a sudden you can't shoot at multiple positions, but his edge and the way he plays, I think that would be something that Denver needs.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Well, this is the problem among the problems. And I was talking to an assistant coach that went up against him in the last couple of weeks. And part of it is Michael Malone is just running him out there for like 38 minutes a game. Yeah, because he has to. If you're carrying that heavy an offensive burden, it's going to cost you something on the other end, no matter who you are.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
And I think it's costing him there. The other thing I keep hearing, and I haven't been around him personally enough to see it, but people keep saying he's heavy, right? Like he's not in the kind of shape you've seen him in in years past. And all those things have... caused him to go from being a guy that people saw trending towards an average to good defender.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
He's never going to be elite, but an average to good defender to now, he's kind of taken a step back into that below average defensive range. Look, it doesn't really matter for their purposes because he is so dynamic offensively, but
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
You look at their defensive problems, and some of them are solved with Aaron Gordon back in the mix, but Jokic, Murray getting killed on the point of attack, some of the guys off the bench not delivering. They're not a good defensive team for all those reasons.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Because it doesn't seem like there is. I get amused by how many times I keep hearing Phoenix thrown in this discussion like it makes any sense for anybody to do a deal like that. Phoenix would have to trade Bradley Beal. Miami would have to want Bradley Beal.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
No, I see a lot of just going down through Hoops hype. It's like Phoenix interested in Jimmy Butler. Dallas, too. That's another one. That's not going to happen. I could see Golden State taking a swing. Golden State and Denver are the two teams that probably aren't all that concerned about Jimmy Butler next year. It's all about this year. You want to maximize a window.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
And if Golden State can get him for... some combination of Andrew Wiggins and Brandon Pajemski, then you'd probably jump at that if you're the Warriors. And if Denver can get him just for Michael Porter Jr. and some filler, you'd probably jump at that if you're the Nuggets. At least you should, because you're not looking at two, three years down the line. You're looking at now to win something.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Do you think they're holding on to Kaminga, though, to see if there's something better out there than Cam Johnson? Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I think it is, though. Did they change the rule for that? No. I'm not smart enough to remember all the new rules there, but I do think... Maybe they changed it. From what I heard coming out of this was that they can package Schroeder for another deal. So it's basically the same contract as DeAnthony Mouth. The second round capital they swapped means nothing.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
He's in low 30s from three-point range. He's really cratered in that sense. Schroeder's interesting. I mean, if he gets traded again, it would be nine teams in eight years.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Yeah, it's probably more to do with style of play. I don't really remember all the... I don't think there were any issues in the locker room. He had some of those early in his career, but I think he's moved past them. Yeah, it seemed like they liked him. Yeah, and getting moved from Brooklyn is more about like, hey, we want a guy that can't play more than we want a guy that can.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
So I don't know, but offensively, I think he's going to help the Warriors to bring it full circle in the short term. I think having another ball handler is good. Having another scorer is good. A guy that can make shots in clutch situations. Obviously, Kerr likes him. I think he's going to help, but I don't think he's untouchable over these next couple of months either.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
The Cavs, to me, they're a great regular season team. They're built to win a whole bunch of regular season games because they'll play 11 guys, and that's awesome in the regular season. But that's not really consequential... in the playoffs. I love Mitchell and Garland right now, but smallish guards in the postseason can get exploited. We've seen it happen even in Cleveland before.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
So, you know, any deal with Butler and Cleveland would have to, I assume, involve Garland. Do you want Garland if you're Miami? Does that make any sense? You brought up defensive issues with Hero and Porter. It's the same kind of situation if you bring Garland into that mix. I don't know. If I'm...
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I don't think that's the move if I'm Cleveland, but I don't know that I'd make Cleveland a threat to Boston yet either, despite the fact they played really well against them in those two games.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I mean, yes, but the fact that we're even asking that question.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I don't know, man.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
The short answer to Pritchard for Butler is I think Boston would say no because Butler doesn't shoot threes. If you play for the Celtics, you have to shoot at least eight threes a game or be able to. He's been awesome. What a contract he's on, too. You couldn't do a Butler deal because Butler's making 46 million and Peyton's making 8 million.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Can you think of a player... I can't think of a player that's had the kind of three-year stretch of Peyton Pritchard where it's like he's not playing, Joe Mazzulla doesn't like him, he wants to be traded, and all of a sudden he's getting opportunity, and now he's in the sixth man of the year. I'm sure guys have had this kind of rollercoaster ride, but I haven't seen one like Peyton Pritchard.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
To get to this level, you said a couple years ago this was where we'd be talking about Peyton Pritchard, where would you trade him for Giannis or Jimmy Butler? Well, those were jokes. I know, I know. But I don't think Butler's a joke. I wouldn't trade him for Jimmy Butler. I mean, it's going to come off crazy, but Peyton Pritchard fits what this team is doing.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Peyton Pritchard can come off the bench and knock down six threes, two of them at the buzzer. He's just the perfect fit for what they want to do.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I think it's more of a what does Tyson Fury have left fight. I do think that for a broader audience, Usyk is getting some of the credit that he deserved back at Cruiserweight when he became the first ever undisputed champion in the four belt era, comes to heavyweight, beats AJ, your guy, twice. My guy.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I get a text from you every time Anthony Joshua fights. And it's usually like, I can't believe I bet on that guy.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Yeah. I think as much as, as he is getting some of the exposure that he deserves. And, and I had like a two hour conversation with him last month for a story that's coming out on Friday. He's really a remarkable guy with a remarkable backstory. This is more about Tyson Fury and, and, what does Tyson Fury have left in the tank?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I mean, he has overcome a ton of stuff over the last 10 years, whether it's outside the ring issues, weight issues, depression issues, coming back from tough fights, a whole bunch of different things. He's never had to come off a loss before. And I talked to Tyson for a while last week. I've watched a lot of clips of him over the last couple of weeks.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
And I do wonder kind of what is his mindset coming into this fight? Like how much does he have left at 36 years old, which is chronologically younger than Ogs and Usyk, but he's been through physically and perhaps mentally so much more. I mean, I saw an interview Tyson did this week where he said that he hasn't talked to his wife, Paris, in three months.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Didn't really elaborate on that, but said he hadn't talked to his wife in three months. And I'm watching the interview. I'm like, what? This is a big family. They were on that Netflix series. They are intertwined, those two. Hasn't talked to her in three months. Now, maybe it's because, hey, I'm... Just totally locked in. I don't know if I buy that. But I'm wondering what Fury has left here.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Because if you're not 100%, if you don't have your A game, Usyk's going to beat you. I think Usyk is a generational great. I think he's one of those rare guys... that only come along once every 20, 25 years, that are so skilled, so strong, doesn't matter what weight class you put him in, he's going to dominate.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Big guys, small guys, he's going to beat you with his discipline and with his game plan. And if you don't have everything going for you the right way, you're going to get beaten. And that I'm not so sure about with Tyson Fury.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
First of all, at some point, you should sit down with Bacoli because he's an incredibly engaging guy. I know you love him. He's interesting. Usyk would beat Bacoli 12-zip, by the way. Usyk would not make the same mistakes Jared Anderson made and stay within range of that right hand. He would just be zipping around. He'd be zipping around them, using feints inside, outside.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
There's a lot of guys I want to see Bacoli fight. He's a really funny guy. And fun to watch.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Dubois does not want to fight Martin Bacoli. Dubois is sitting out there going, all right, there's maybe a rematch with AJ, which is worth eight figures. There's maybe a unification fight with the winner of Fury and Usyk that can be worth eight figures. I am not getting in the ring with Martin Bacoli and risking getting my head taken off. I've already had some issues with knockouts in the past.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
You're not doing that. Look, Usyk... What I love about Usyk is that he kind of gives away the game plan before every fight. When he makes these jokes where he's like, don't be afraid, Tyson. I'm not going to leave you alone. That is him telling you that he's going to be applying pressure all night. And pressure comes in different ways.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
It doesn't have to be this overwhelming, I'm going to put you in a headlock during every round type of pressure that we've seen from some brawlers. It can just be staying in your face and making you keep your hands up at all times and making you stay on your toes at all times. That's exhausting. Like Tyson Fury, I thought, won the first half of that fight with Usyk. 4-2, could have been 3-3.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
But the pressure Usyk put on was overwhelming. And in the ninth round, it got up to him. When Usyk landed that first straight left hand, that was the fight right there. So he's going to do the exact same thing again. And again, it goes back to theory. If he's not as sharp as he's been at his very best, I think he's going to have a lot of problems in this fight.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
It's not going to be AJ who wants nothing to do with Usyk. And AJ, to me, they keep talking about if Fury loses, you can make the AJ fight. We didn't just see AJ get clobbered over five rounds today in Dubois. Yeah. I'm just going to forget about that that happened. Remember the three in a row AJ won and not that one. So it's not going to be AJ. You beat Fury again. It's not going to be Fury.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Dubois would certainly do it. But like, yeah, I mean, I think Usyk, if there was enough money on the table, would certainly fight Dan Dubois again, become undisputed champion once again. There could be like... events out there for him. Everybody in boxing has been trying to find a way to do a fight with Jay Lee Zhang on mainland China.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
The amount of times I've heard about Zhang going back to the bird's nest in Beijing in front of 100,000 people. For a while, it was Anthony Joshua. Well, hey, it could be Alexander Usyk that fights him there if Zhang can get a win in his next fight. So maybe it's something like that. But he will have...
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
quite literally, have cleaned out the heavyweight division if he beats Tyson Fury for the second time. There'll be guys he hasn't beaten, but beating those two top guys twice, that will be an accomplishment. You asked me, how do you beat Usyk? To me, there's only one way to do it, and that's to just apply unrelenting pressure to him. Because there have been times where Usyk has been in trouble.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
At Cruiserweight, he had a split decision win over Maris Bredis, who's a physical guy at Cruiserweight. The times that AJ had success against him, was when he was the one putting pressure. He was the one letting his right hand go. I think it was like the ninth or tenth round of that second fight. We had Usyk in real trouble.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Even early on, Fury landed some good shots on Usyk, just didn't follow up and chase him down. Go back even further. Derek Chisora, of all people. Derek Chisora might have given Usyk his toughest fight at heavyweight because through six rounds, he was just lumbering after him in that fight. So if you are willing to just... go all in and commit on a pressure style, you can have success against Usyk.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
But if you try to box him, you're going to lose every single time because he is a better boxer than everyone at cruiserweight and everyone at heavyweight.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Not... I mean, look. So Gilberto Ramirez is now a unified champion. And Gilberto is someone that people in the U.S. know a little bit about. Former champ at 168. Title contender at 175. Lost to B-Bowl back in 2022 over in Abu Dhabi. He's a name in that division. And... Usyk's fought in the US in the past. That would probably be a pretty big fight if Ramirez wins one or two more fights.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
The other guy in that division is Jaya Pattaya, who's super athletic, good power at that weight class. Still trying to build a name, I think, that's big enough to get someone like Usyk that's interested. So those are conceivable possible fights, but I would make Usyk a big favorite against both those guys. Usyk too, Bill.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
The last fight, I forget what his exact weight was, but you could tell that in what was, I think, his fifth fight at heavyweight, he had grown into the weight class. Before, he was just going up in weight, and he was like 212, 213, 218. He was solid in the last fight. He is a full-fledged heavyweight right now, and if he takes on a cruiserweight like Ramirez or Apataya coming up...
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
They're going to have problems with his size. So, yeah, there are some decent names there, but nobody that I would make a threat at this point to Usyk.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I worry, Bill, but I worry about some of the... The scorecards were too close last time. Usyk, he needed that knockdown to pull out a decision. Right. There's a lot of money in a trilogy. That's a reality. If Fury wins, there's a whole pile of money. I don't want to do it, but I've seen enough in boxing to wonder what could happen in a circumstance like this.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Are you saying boxing gets fishy sometimes? It gets very fishy. It gets very fishy. I think more importantly, there's some bad judges in boxing, like really bad judges. And judging boxing is hard. I have to do it on an unofficial capacity every week at DAZN. But some strange things happen on scorecards in boxing. And I hope we don't get that in this fight.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I hope the right man comes out the winner.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Really? But it's always on a micro level, right? It's like, I can't believe you scored the fourth round for such and such. Right. Well, let me go back and rewatch that and I'll rescore it. But look, it's hard, especially some of these rounds where there's not a ton of action. And I think Usyk Fury, some of those rounds were hard to score, especially in the first half of...
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
of the fight when there wasn't the kind of obvious action that you saw in the second half. But, I mean, I just hope there's no controversy to this one. If Fury wins, great. Let's have a trilogy. I think it'll be awesome. But if Husek wins, you know, hope he wins clean.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
It's the deepest card that I've ever seen. You go back to the 1990s and Don King put on some unbelievable pay-per-view cards where they were four fights deep, championship level, high level stuff. We've never had a card that on paper goes seven fights deep with all headliners night after night. And this is... This is an example of the positive impact of the Saudis' entry into boxing.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
What we're going to see in the main event on Saturday is an example. I mean, having two fights between Fury and Usyk in one year is remarkable. Even more remarkable is the headliner of the February 22nd card. I mean, we had to wait six years. Six years, both Beterbiev and Bivol were world champions. And they didn't fight each other because there's no money in it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Because neither one of them has a real fan base. Saudis come along, they make a fight in October, and less than six months later, we're getting the rematch. There's a huge net positive for the Saudis being involved in boxing for boxing. I would say this, though. I don't know how necessary it is to have seven fights like this on a card, because it's great if you want to watch all seven.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
If you are a true purist, if you're a diehard, yeah, you sit down at... 11 o'clock in the morning on the West Coast and you're watching, you know, Zhang fight or you're watching Virgil Ortiz fight. It's great. Like, I would... I will spend my entire day, if I'm not there, watching that particular card. But... especially in the U S not a lot of people are probably going to do that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
And I do think there's something to the idea of spreading this stuff out, right? Like having two or three great fights on a card and then a month, month and a half from that, then having the other two or three great fights, like having sort of a, a schedule start during a month. Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Yeah, but UFC's able to do that month after month, right? Like, I don't know what the boxing schedule is after February 22nd. Like, there are some fights I'm looking forward to, but, you know, nothing with the kind of depth that we're going to see on the 22nd. Like, even, like, Shakur Stevenson-Floyd Schofield is a fun fight that would headline in Newark or in New York. Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
Virgil and Madrimov, good fight in Texas. Like... I'm excited to watch every single one of these fights. I wouldn't argue, though, with the idea of like, hey, let's push a few of them a month from now and maybe a couple others. Just divvy it up. Give these guys a chance for a little more exposure. It's great that they're getting the money. All these guys are getting paid.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
In a sport like this, you deserve it. I just worry about the exposure of a guy that's going to be fighting at noon Pacific in the U.S. That's the only thing I would quibble with. Counter.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
I think you should. I think he'd fly to Los Angeles to do it. I mean, he's got like this incredible story where he's from Africa, but he's kind of Scottish now and he's got this great personality that comes with it. And he's been so avoided for, for so many years. So just to put a button on the card, it's a great problem to have, right? Like I'm excited about it. I want to see it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
You're working, right? Are you working it? I believe so. They, we haven't figured that out yet, but yeah, I was at the last better be a people fight. Yeah. Um, it, it's a great problem to have seven hours of high level boxing is going to be awesome for the boxing fans out there. Like ultimately that's, that's what it comes down to.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
We did that whole Riyadh season card in LA, which I think was like six fights. That was a lot of... Because that was a pretty deep one. You had... David Morrell fighting low on that card. You had a pretty good slobber knocker of a fight with Jarrell Miller and Andy Ruiz low on that card.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
The NBA’s Danger Cycle, Plus Usyk Is Invincible, ‘Landman’ Can’t Lose, and Chalamet Will Win the Oscar With Chris Mannix and Chris Ryan
These are long days, but if you are a true purist and someone that just wants to sit down on your couch and is willing to invest seven hours, it'll be one of the better days you'll have.