There\u2019s never been much love lost between Bill Simmons and Pat McAfee.<\/p>\n
If anything, the tension\u2019s just been napping.<\/p>\n
Their cold war\u2019s been mostly dormant since Simmons jabbed McAfee\u2019s Caitlin Clark apology last year<\/a> and openly wondered how long he\u2019d actually stick around at ESPN. And while this latest moment doesn\u2019t qualify as a direct shot, Simmons didn\u2019t exactly hide his disapproval either.<\/p>\n The Ringer founder made it a point to single out McAfee\u2019s hype-man routine during Game 4 of the NBA Finals, specifically, his in-arena monologue in which he fired off a few crowd-pumping lines about the Pacers being underdogs, took a playful swipe at Stephen A. Smith, and reminded everyone that no one actually believed in Indiana before they went up by three\u2026 with over nine minutes to go. They would go on to lose the game.<\/p>\n For Simmons, it wasn\u2019t so much about the content of what McAfee said but when he said it.<\/p>\n Although there is a lot of irony in McAfee complaining about the Pacers being 6-point underdogs and them losing by 7.<\/p>\n Vegas knows. And the Sports Guy does, too.<\/p>\n \u201cMy big note is McAfee did this monologue with like 10 minutes left\u2026 This was like a crucial part of the game, and he was doing this thing about \u2018We were six-point underdogs, and this is Indiana\u2026\u2019 It was just, it was the wrong timing,\u201d Simmons told Zach Lowe<\/a>. \u201cI would\u2019ve gone second quarter for that. It was like this massive part of the game. They actually had to stop the game and wait for the monologue to finish before they started playing again. I thought that was really weird.\u201d<\/p>\n Bill Simmons on Pat McAfee\u2019s segment during the 4th quarter of last night\u2019s Finals game: \u201cMy big note is McAfee did this monologue with like 10 minutes left\u2026 it was the wrong timing\u2026 it was this massive part of the game, they actually had to stop the game and wait for the monologue to finish\u201d<\/a> McAfee\u2019s rally-the-troops energy might\u2019ve worked in the first half. But delivering a WWE-style promo with nine minutes left in the biggest Pacers game in decades is where Simmons drew the line. Indiana was up in the fourth quarter of an NBA Finals game, and the action came to a halt so McAfee could yell about underdog odds and Indiana pride. Simmons wasn\u2019t wrong; it kind of hijacked the moment.<\/p>\n The real missed opportunity here, though, was Simmons not dusting off his surprisingly solid McAfee impression<\/a>, which he\u2019s been sitting on since last January.<\/p>\n After Simmons delivered the bit earlier last year, McAfee fired back weeks later by mocking Simmons\u2019 failed FanDuel Super Bowl parlay<\/a>. Simmons returned serve with a pointed comment about The Pat McAfee Show\u2019s ratings on ESPN<\/a>.<\/p>\n The barbs aren\u2019t exactly nuclear, but at this point, they\u2019re not pretending to like each other, either.<\/p>\n
byu\/sewsgup<\/a> innba<\/a><\/p>\n