Not long after ESPN personality Bill Simmons returned to ESPN from his three week suspension, he finds himself in a feud with another ESPN entity.
On today’s Mike and Mike show, one of the Mikes bashed Simmons for a comment about LeBron James, saying Simmons was “grabb[ing] a headline, which is something I know he loves.” Simmons argued on Twitter, fairly persuasively, that the Mikes had taken him out of context. Simmons had even preceded his LeBron comment with “it’s really early to say this, so please, sports blogs and people, don’t throw this in my face.”
In other words, he tried to preempt the very reaction the Mikes had. Simmons was not pleased that they ignored this:
What Mike and Mike did today was absolute garbage. I would say I lost respect for that show, but I never had it. http://t.co/LRd8YzFfO8
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) November 6, 2014
For an ESPN Radio show to pull an interview out of context from another ESPN Radio show, then play the moral authority card, is disgusting.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) November 6, 2014
Have the balls to call me to discuss it on the show. Don't pull it out of context just because you need fodder for a segment. Pathetic.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) November 6, 2014
But hey – I'm just a guy who can't evolve, right? http://t.co/XJ0GWbc5gJ
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) November 6, 2014
That latter is a reference to ESPN ombudsman Robert Lipsyte’s post today in which he said Simmons “sometimes acts like a journalist, or at least seems to want to be taken seriously,” while also wanting to make pundit-like observations without repercussions.
[Image via screengrab]
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