Five NBA Playoff Takes, Plus David Letterman’s First-Ever BS Pod Appearance (We Did It!!!)

May 8, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Five NBA Playoff Takes, Plus David Letterman’s First-Ever BS Pod Appearance

Bill Simmons opens with a confession: David Letterman has been his number one bucket-list podcast guest since he started the show in 2007—right behind Larry Bird and ahead of Eddie Murphy. "My three guys growing up were Bird, Letterman, Eddie Murphy," he says. After nearly two decades, Letterman finally sat down for a 75-minute conversation. But first, Simmons had to get through a packed night of playoff basketball and a mailbag that he explicitly modeled on Letterman's own TV mailbags from the 1980s.

The Thunder Are a Machine, and the Lakers Are Outmatched

Simmons recorded immediately after Thunder-Lakers Game 2 in Oklahoma City. The Lakers shot 50-40-90 from the field and still lost by 18. "You do that, you feel like you're going to be in the game. Nope." The problem is OKC's depth: a 10-man rotation where Jalen Williams—last year's second-best player during the title run—played only 14 minutes. "I think Chet has officially put on the Robin costume to Batman, to Flopping Batman, SGA," Simmons jokes. The Lakers, missing Luka since April 2, have turned his 35 minutes into scraps for LaRavia, Canard, and an 8-for-28 Marcus Smart. LeBron at 41 has held his own, but "none of it matters, and they're gonna get swept unless OKC just has a game where they shoot like 30%."

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What you'll learn

1 (00:50) **Show Open & Basketball Freelance** - Bill introduces the podcast, plugs the upcoming Tropic Thunder Rewatchables, and explains he wants to get to the David Letterman interview quickly but has a lot of basketball thoughts first.
2 (03:52) **Thunder-Lakers Game Two: OKC’s Depth is Overwhelming** - Bill breaks down the Lakers’ 18-point loss despite shooting 50-40-90, arguing OKC’s 10-man rotation and relentless runs make them nearly unbeatable.
3 (07:04) **AJ Mitchell as a Trade Asset for OKC** - Bill examines whether second-year guard AJ Mitchell is good enough to headline a trade package that moves OKC up in the lottery to grab another blue-chip prospect.
4 (10:28) **NBA Review System & Lakers’ Future** - Bill criticizes the slow replay reviews and suggests the NBA should fix the product before expanding, then pivots to the Lakers’ offseason options without Luka.
5 (12:10) **Cavs-Pistons: Detroit’s Dominance & Cleveland’s Crisis** - Bill details the Pistons’ five straight playoff wins, led by Cade Cunningham, and argues the Cavs are now in full “everything is in play” mode, including a potential LeBron return.
6 (14:36) **James Harden’s Playoff Collapse & Evan Mobley’s Flatline** - Bill breaks down Harden’s terrible series (9-for-28, 11 turnovers) and questions whether Evan Mobley has plateaued as an 18-and-9 guy who doesn’t impact games enough for a max contract.
7 (19:56) **Sixers-Knicks: Trusting New York & Celtics Postmortem** - Bill recaps the Sixers’ win, explains why he trusted the Knicks to close, and then unloads on Boston’s disastrous first-round loss, listing a series of “why didn’t they” questions.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Bill Simmons David Letterman

Show Notes

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons give his thoughts on various topics around the NBA with Round 2 of the playoffs well underway (3:06). Then, David Letterman comes on to talk about his upbringing, the evolution of talk shows, sports, and much, much more! (38:51).

Host: Bill Simmons

Guest: David Letterman

Producers: Chia Hao Tat and Eduardo Ocampo

This episode is sponsored by State Farm®. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.®

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