Worthwhile Will Leitch essay on Bill Simmons

And nobody can judge whether Abraham Lincoln was a more accomplished leader than Gerald Ford, as nobody was alive for both of their presidencies.

Give it up, Doris Kearns Goodwin.

 

Just passed the halfway point of the 96-player pyramid. Two of the more recent ones are terrific: Paul Pierce and the late Dave DeBusschere.

Pierce's is long, but spot-on. I have no vested interest in Paul Pierce other than he played high school ball in the city I was born, and he came of age in Boston when I worked in New England, so I watched them on NESN a lot. Season after season I kept wondering if Pierce would ever "get it." He and Walker were too good to continually eff it up. And then, overnight it seemed, like from the 1st to the 2nd quarter of a game, Pierce turned it on and grew up, and all of the pieces fell into place during the 2008 season, and playoffs. Paul Pierce is night and day different pre/post-2008. The way Simmons wrapped up his bio was poignant.

As for DeBusschere, yep, Simmons didn't get to see him play in person. But he did the research on him, and he talked to a 40-year Knicks ticketholder (famous Hollywood director, too) who summed up DeBusschere every bit as much as if Simmons had watched him. The Knick guy picked an all-time starting five, and DeBusschere was one of the forwards. But it's really the last few sentences talking about DeBusschere's death at an "unfair 62" and the funeral (which Simmons attended) that wraps it up so beautifully.

Also, Wes Unseld's numbers really aren't that good in the grand scheme of "greatness," yet he's in the mid-40s of the pyramid. This is one of those situations in which Simmons can opine because he watched Unseld, and because in talking with basketballers it became apparent that Unseld's best strength was his willingness to exhibit "The Secret." ... I was surprised to see Unseld so high, but the pick is justified.

Dwyane Wade is in the mid-50s. Interesting how harsh he is on the '06 Heat and Simmons' perception of the refs boosting them to the title; he pretty much discounts Miami's title. Anywho, Wade is my favorite player. No one attacks the basket better than Wade. Today's defenders still give him an open step to the lane, and he exploits it every single time. I don't think Simmons stressed that point enough, and how beautiful it is to watch Wade carve into bloody-nose alley and FINISH! He mentioned it, but more than anything he credits Wade's all-around game as the secret to his killer success. Then again, I read Simmons' bio of Wade's as, "Dear Danny Ainge: Do whatever the fuck you have to do to bring Wade to Boston in 2010!"

 

Well, he does have six or seven pages with Bill Walton, and another couple with Isiah Thomas, and I believe Steve Kerr. That's the only ones cited specifically in the pages that I can remember, but I think there were more, and I didn't read the sources-cited page line-by-line.

 

Charles Pierce had an interesting review of the book.

http://deadspin.com/5403430/you-are-not-the-cosmos-a-review-of-bill-simmons-book-of-basketball

 

C'mon, he interviews talks to his buddy House, like, everyday 8)

 

spnited was.

;D

 

Hell of a takedown by Pierce. Said what I was saying about Simmons not being the invention of sliced bread, only doing it more eloquently.

 

This was already posted by Inky on pg 3 of this thread. I guess Pierce was not overwhelmed by the book.

 

Well, Berry is the second best player to ever play at Miami. By far the best is Bill Russell.

 

I don't think Pierce's piece was much of a takedown. I think he applauded Simmons where he felt Simmons warranted applauding. And he plunged the knife deeply when it warranted such plunging.

But Pierce also sounds like a grumpy old fart who overwrote his review and got tingly by throwing around his own set of fuck-bombs. Seems like he'd be above that kind of thing. Maybe he just wanted to sound cool.

 

Loved this particular knifing:

Witness the celebrated — at least, among his fans — anecdote about his epic encounter with Isiah Thomas. It's 12 pages long. You can't miss it, unless you get sidetracked somewhere in Bill's hilarious account of playing drunken blackjack with his buddies in "Vegas." (Bill loves "Vegas." Reading Bill on "Vegas" is what the original Ocean's 11 would have been like, had Anthony Michael Hall been in the Rat Pack.)

 

I'm pretty sure he has a healthy amount of bile built up regarding Simmons.