Tbf I cringed a little when he mentioned Paris as well and I'm a total fanboy.

I could have listened to that pod for hours. People interrupt each other all the time in podcasts -and everyday life- that was hardly out of the norm and didn't stick out to me at all.

What did stick out to me as others already mentioned was haralobob being his non pc self about players/coaches and Lowe and bill basically not knowing how to react to the bluntness other than to be uncomfortable.

Zach Lowe definitely bowed to Haralobob's superior knowledge on multiple occasions.

Simmons spoke less than he usually does which worked out great.

also cringed when he responded with "uhhh yeah I've been gambling since 1998!" when Simmons asked if he was betting basketball in 2001. Like that was a ridiculous question or Simmons was way off on the date or something.

great listen tho

Really enjoyed the pod, think the three played off each other well. Hope that comes back.

This was the best part. You get so used to the mediaspeak (present something someone does well first, then almost grudgingly undercut it with their flaw) that it's refreshing to hear straightforward opinions. Lowe's visible wincing made it all the better. Lowe's definitely developing some "acknowledge both sides are valid" defensive instincts as he gets more access. Understandable, but unfortunate. Bob's mock outrage when Lowe would throw out stuff like "Does Arron Afflalo really move the needle for OKC?" was the perfect reaction.

Simmons was good at this at first and got worse as the pod kept going. Him asking questions directly about gambling sort of chilled the debate/interesting content as well, he has to know that Bob isn't just going to throw out clear opinions on a series of over-unders. But thought his knowledgeable/interested casual fan routine worked well against the other two in general.

Seems like Haralabob's time on these podcasts is finite imo. He's eventually going to piss off ESPN and it will be over. At the end of the podcast, Simmons said he wants to get him on the new Grantland basketball show, which imo would only accelerate ESPN noticing him and booting him off their stuff.

Did bill ask him for his top five favorite bets of all time?

No but he did something more annoying that he does all the time where he tells the interviewer who he likes/loves. "You love kawhi"

Doesn't seem that annoying

ESPN employs all manner of professional HOT TAKERS and in general sports media is being way less shy about talking about gambling. I think ESPN would be pretty happy to have the NBA's Most Famous Better on regular programming.

Simmons caveman lawyer impression was amazing.

Bill and Jalen think they're just too cool for school. I get through their pods but skip forward prob 5-7 times.

I don't think gambling has anything to do with it. I think Bob is just way too candid for ESPN and is happy to trash people like saying X coach is horrible or Y player is an idiot

Yep and good luck telling bob to tone it down

Since when is that a problem? Maybe I'm missing something..

Lowe and Simmons literally giggled like school girls at Bob saying that stuff live. Obv it was something to them that doesn't happen often if at all or they wouldn't have had that reaction.

I don't think it's a problem for Grantland or the internet in general, but I don't see how it would fly on ESPN.

Could you imagine Barnwell going on NFL Countdown every Sunday morning and giving the TV version of Thank You for Not Coaching? Those articles were a lot more benign than anything Bob says on Twitter or in podcasts, and yet I still think it would really piss off the NFL.

Bob going on a Grantland ESPN show and mocking and laughing at Byron Scott and then saying Nick Young is a complete moron and Darren Collison is terrible or whatever would not make anyone happy and would surely not last very long before he's no longer welcome.

And obviously Bob is smart enough to know what would/wouldn't offend people, but I doubt he cares at all.

You may be right but we aren't talking about him going on Countdown. At least I thought we were talking about Bill's podcast which I doubt would be an issue but could be wrong.

But how different is that than First Take, PTI or anything else?

The Journalists aren't going to go HAM on people because it's in their own best interest to maintain relationships. The talking heads don't have so same issues.

What got Simmons in hot water, I assume, was that he wasn't really stating an opinion as much as an unsupported fact. Trashing a coach is still a question of opinion, calling somebody a liar isn't the same thing.

How many media guys just flat out say Scotty Brooks is a horrible coach? Nice guy, but horrible coach.
If asked, would probably say that SB cost his team a ring. (or at least significant ring equity)
Halabob speaks unvarnished well informed opinion, and would never last. He'd call Doug Collins a moron and that would be it.

Gambling is much less of an nba issue now with Silver instead of Stern.

Really, people just want someone on their TV who will be a dick to sports personalities they don't like.

Hard to know because the guys smart enough to have figured this out aren't the same loudmouths that have that platform. Right now that belongs to crusty old white dudes far more comfortable ripping players for how they dress than ever stepping towards authority.

his willingness to be candid is certainly a plus. it's not like he shat on scott brooks as a human being (he also highlighted some of his positive qualities as a coach iirc). media people can't/don't do this* b/c it will limit their access, which will eventually get them got, but he's in no such position. charles barkley takes all kinds of shots at prominent nba heads and says all manner of offensive things and he is going nowhere. not exactly analysis as harlabob doesn't have that degree of icon status, but he's got sufficient cachet imo. there may be ramifications in terms of him getting (back) into the nba, but he doesn't seem to care about that much?


edit: *really they do this plenty though. he is not the first person to say scott brooks runs a bad offense

edit2: i think a more longterm is whether he may come to believe his appearance on the podcasts, or more generally being in the media spotlight, negatively affects his gambling prospects

Why does this grantland show have a studio audience? So cringe when the applude after animation bits

Who cares....they got the NBA on NBC theme song. GOAT.

The Grantland NBA Hour is pretty good so far. I'm not a huge fan of Jalen Rose, but Zach Lowe is awesome