Years after his feud with Doc Rivers, Bill Simmons may now be beefing with another NBA head coach.
In an episode this week of his self-titled podcast, The Ringer head went after the New Orleans Pelicans and their head coach, Stan Van Gundy. Simmons said that the Pelicans have “no excuse” and “should just apologize to America.” He added that they had blown numerous games late because of bad coaching, calling Van Gundy “the worst coach in the league.”
A Twitter user called Van Gundy’s attention to the comments this week. Van Gundy responded by saying, “Don’t concern yourself with criticism from anyone you wouldn’t take advice from.”
Don’t concern yourself with criticism from anyone you wouldn’t take advice from.
— Stan Van Gundy (@realStanVG) April 27, 2021
The Pelicans are now 27-34 in Van Gundy’s first season as their head coach. Many expected them to at least be in playoff contention with players such as Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Steven Adams. Instead, New Orleans is not close, sitting 3.5 games out of even a play-in spot.
Simmons, meanwhile, is known for these types of inflammatory takes, which once led to the aforementioned issues between him and Rivers. The Pelicans have obviously underachieved this year. But calling Van Gundy the worst coach in the league was definitely going to get a reaction out of the coach.
