The Phoenix Suns have been one of the surprise teams of the NBA season thus far, and team owner Mat Ishbia was overjoyed that he got to rub Bill Simmons’ nose in it.
Ishbia is one of the most chronically online owners in sports. And he’s traded barbs on multiple occasions with the likes of Stephen A. Smith and Simmons before.
When the 2025-2026 NBA season began, Simmons predicted that the Suns would have the worst defense in the league, which drew a sharp response from the team owner. Amazingly, the Suns are allowing the fifth fewest points per game in the association so far this season.
More importantly, the Suns are at 32-22, just a half game out of the top six in the Western Conference. And with the Suns hitting the 32-win mark, the owner was quick to remind Simmons that he also pegged the Suns at under 31.5 wins for this year’s campaign.
To Simmons’ credit, he was quick with a reply that noted Ishbia’s silence when the Suns failed to meet expectations last season.
Congratulations on a very good season so far. I’ve enjoyed watching you guys and think you picked a terrific coach. Fun league pass team,
For the record — I picked the Suns to win 50+ games last season and never heard a peep from you when you went 36-46. So I was wrong twice.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) February 11, 2026
Mat Ishbia has a ways to go before he becomes the NBA’s version of Curt Cignetti. While Phoenix is a nice story with Devin Booker and Dillon Brooks joining forces and the emergence of Collin Gillespie, nobody really expects them to do any damage in the stacked Western Conference when it comes time for the postseason.
As for Bill Simmons, you know he really must have wanted to get a shot back in at the expense of the Suns owner if he was willing to tout his wrong predictions two years in a row.