Once upon a time, Bill Simmons was part of ESPN NBA Draft coverage. And judging by his comments about the network\u2019s 2025 NBA Draft, he probably doesn\u2019t have to worry about getting a call from Bristol to be a part of it again.<\/p>\n
ESPN gave basketball fans multiple options for their 2025 NBA Draft coverage, which has been a trend for both their NBA and NFL Draft plans in recent years. On ESPN, Malika Andrews hosted with Jay Bilas, Kendrick Perkins, and Andraya Carter as the main crew. ABC featured Kevin Negandhi hosting with Stephen A. Smith and Bob Myers on set.<\/p>\n
Neither option really pleased NBA or college basketball fans. Sure, there were some bright spots and personalities who could provide insight, but it careened back and forth between reading each player\u2019s Wikipedia entry and bombastic shouting and generalized takes. And let\u2019s be brutally honest, fans saw enough of Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins on NBA Finals coverage<\/a>, so to split them between ABC and ESPN presented quite the dilemma.<\/p>\n After the draft, Bill Simmons hosted his podcast<\/a>. And he had quite a colorful analogy when it came to the dueling ESPN presentations.<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/G3ZSQlQKQr<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Vid Clip Hero (@VidClipHero) June 26, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know which telecast to watch. It was like, do I take this samurai sword and jam it into my temple or do I take this chainsaw and saw my leg off? I couldn\u2019t figure it out,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n All righty then!<\/p>\n In his ESPN television days, Simmons certainly provided some entertainment and insights that were different than anything the network currently offers today. Sure, the Sports Guy wasn\u2019t for everybody but some of his NBA Draft takes have actually aged very well<\/a>.<\/p>\n For specifics, Simmons mentioned the analysis of Kendrick Perkins after the Toronto Raptors selected Collin Murray-Boyles that left him particularly unimpressed.<\/p>\n \u201cThey took Collin Murray-Boyles and Perk said they had the pieces to be a top six team in the East. And at that point I started looking for a third ESPN channel but there were only two covering the draft. There wasn\u2019t a third one. At least one that I could find,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n We hate to break it to Bill Simmons and basketball fans everywhere who felt like they had to choose between the samurai sword and the chainsaw\u2026 but ESPN did have a third presentation on their YouTube channel<\/a> featuring Brian Windhorst and the\u00a0Numbers on the Board\u00a0podcast. So for those folks looking for an alternative, feel free to bookmark this in case ESPN runs back a third YouTube feed next year.<\/p>\n \t