Bill Simmons responds to criticism over his Jalen Green comments
Bill Simmons really appears to have angered the Jalen Green Hive.
In an episode this week of his self-titled podcast, The Ringer CEO Simmons dissed the Houston Rockets guard Green during a discussion about who he was choosing for his All-Rookie team. As has been the case in previous years, Simmons holds an official vote for the NBA’s major awards.
“F–k Jalen Green,” said Simmons, adding that he had chosen New Orleans Pelicans forward Herbert Jones for All-Rookie honors over Green. “I don’t care you’re scoring 40 points and your team’s 19-60. Congratulations. Herb Jones is like guarding dudes in real games.
“Now, the Houston people are going to be mad at me,” Simmons added. “I’m sorry. I like winning players, I’m sorry. Jalen Green will get there. It’s just that team was 21-61 this year or whatever.”
That led to an angry article response from the Houston Chronicle criticizing Simmons for his “profane thoughts” on Green. You can read the article here.
Simmons fired back at the article in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
“This is ridiculous,” he wrote. “I think we were laughing during 80% of this. My point was: I’m always leaning toward a rookie like Herb Jones who was meaningfully contributing to a decent team over someone putting up stats on a bad team. Jalen is gonna be excellent.
“But congrats on getting your traffic Houston Chronicle,” Simmons added in a subsequent tweet. “Keep churning out those subs!”
Green, the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft, averaged 17.3 points per game this season. But he did it while the Rockets posted the worst record in the NBA (20-62). Though Jones, who went No. 35 overall, has gotten less hype, he is making a robust two-way impact for a playoff-caliber team in the Pelicans.
As for Simmons, he is largely an entertainer who has fun on the air talking about sports (though there is often good substance on Simmons’ shows). Thus, his remarks on Green, especially since they were limited to Green’s play, seemed totally fair. They were also actually pretty tame compared to what Simmons has said in the past.
