I'm looking forward to Bill Simmons' next column. I really, really am.
Why? Well, we learned on Tuesday that Bill flew back to Boston to be with his father because, as he summed it up, this was too important an NBA Draft Lottery to risk pissing off the karmic forces of the universe.
That's not an irrational thought, given Simmons' belief that his decision not to be home with his Pops for the Tim Duncan lottery angered the Powers That Be.
That year, as this year, the Celtics missed out on a franchise player. Unlike this year, though, I wasn't reading Bill Simmons back then, so I have no idea whether he was tossing Tim Duncan's collegiate coach under the bus every other week.
Now, before we all point and laugh, let's note why we're upset with Mssr. Simmons. It's not that he criticized Rick Barnes; after all, AW and I are pretty damn demanding of our head coach.
No, the problem is that Bill, who I've said over and over has a real gift for truly insightful NBA writing, trashed Barnes as a lousy coach, and did so without qualification. Simmons didn't say, "Barnes has mismanaged Durant," which would have been at least been a defensible argument. Instead, he more or less said, "Rick Barnes blows."
Those are categorically different, and I've noted on many occasions since that I thought Simmons was fucking the Celtics' karma by being so thoughtlessly dismissive of Barnes. And though some may scoff at the notion of karma, Simmons assuredly doesn't. Hell, his whole lottery breakdown revolved around that shit.
To which I say:
You asked for it.
--PB--