The Knicks Land a Haymaker, With Doc Rivers. Plus, a Mini-Mailbag, the End of 'Euphoria,' and a Movies Resurgence With Joanna Robinson and Chris Ryan.

Episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast · June 4, 2026 · 2 h 5 min

Bill Simmons and Doc Rivers break down the Knicks' Game 1 NBA Finals win over the Spurs, then Simmons answers mailbag questions and discusses Euphoria's finale and TV versus movies with Joanna Robinson and Chris Ryan.

Summary

In a live Netflix segment, Bill Simmons and Doc Rivers analyzed the New York Knicks' Game 1 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals. Rivers highlighted a late sequence of plays by Jalen Brunson and De'Aaron Fox as decisive, praised Knicks coach Mike Brown's adjustments, including Karl-Anthony Towns guarding Victor Wembanyama, and argued the Knicks' size and early transition attack disrupted the Spurs. Rivers described how teams improve round by round as they shed individual agendas, recounted a chaotic players-only meeting from his San Antonio playing days, and argued the current collective bargaining rules make this an era in which general managers who build complete rosters will win, declaring there are no dynasties.

In a solo mailbag, Simmons discussed Steven Spielberg's Rewatchables appearance, explained his tempered optimism about the New England Patriots' trade for A.J. Brown, expanded his list of NBA "crowd killers" to include Stephen Curry, Brunson and Wembanyama, and floated several hypothetical trades involving Chet Holmgren, Jaylen Brown, Giannis Antetokounmpo and a LeBron James move to Golden State. He also called Oklahoma City's title defense strong and argued Wembanyama had become the face of the league.

Joanna Robinson and Chris Ryan then joined Simmons to assess the Euphoria series finale. Simmons gave it an F-minus, Robinson a C and Ryan roughly a B; they debated its extended shootouts, sidelined legacy characters and wasted star power. The group went on to discuss a perceived resurgence of theatrical movies driven by original stories, the drawbacks of binge-release models compared with weekly releases, Emmy-window content floods, risk aversion in TV, and nostalgia cycles.

Chapters

  1. 1:20

    Knicks steal Game 1

    Simmons and Rivers break down the late-game sequence and key performances in the Knicks' Game 1 win over the Spurs.

  2. 7:35

    Chess match and Knicks' size

    Rivers explains the Knicks' spacing, transition attack, size advantage and Wembanyama's turnovers.

  3. 17:06

    Team growth and player meetings

    Rivers discusses how teams improve each playoff round and recounts a disastrous Spurs players-only meeting.

  4. 26:33

    Roster building and the new CBA

    The two compare the Knicks to the 2004 Pistons and discuss depth versus star-building under apron rules.

  5. 38:26

    Parity, veterans and Chet Holmgren

    Rivers answers mailbag questions on league parity, veteran roster spots, and Holmgren's struggles against Wembanyama.

  6. 50:48

    Solo mailbag: Spielberg and A.J. Brown

    Simmons reflects on Steven Spielberg's Rewatchables episode and his mixed feelings on the A.J. Brown trade.

  7. 56:02

    Crowd killers, Canada and Chet trades

    Simmons updates his crowd-killer list, reads a Canadian sports lament, and proposes a Holmgren trade.

  8. 1:05:23

    Fake trades and title defenses

    Simmons pitches hypothetical trades, grades OKC's title defense, and names Wembanyama the face of the league.

  9. 1:21:15

    Euphoria series finale

    Robinson, Ryan and Simmons grade and debate the Euphoria finale and its season.

  10. 1:33:43

    Movies resurgence versus TV

    The group discusses movies rebounding with original IP and TV's stretched-out limited series.

  11. 1:38:08

    Binge versus weekly releases

    They argue weekly releases build communal conversation and criticize binge drops and Emmy-window floods.

  12. 1:54:59

    Nostalgia cycles and prestige TV

    The conversation closes on nostalgia cycles, true-crime dramatizations and the golden age of TV.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

  • Doc Rivers

    Rivers said that in any single-possession game he would favor the Knicks because they know exactly what they do down the stretch.

    “if you told anyone, at least with me, before the game is going to come down to a single possession game, you're going to favor the Knicks because the Knicks know exactly what they're doing”

    Listen from 1:55 · 2026 NBA Finals

  • Doc Rivers

    Rivers argued Karl-Anthony Towns played the best game of his career in Game 1.

    “I thought Carl Anthony Towns played the game of his life. He was amazing”

    Listen from 3:24 · New York Knicks

  • Doc RiversCan’t be judged

    Rivers predicted the Spurs would run their '45 set' much more in Game 2 after abandoning it despite early success.

    “And they ran it three or four times early in the game and it was successful and they got away from it. So you're going to see that way more in game two on Friday”

    Listen from 13:13 · San Antonio Spurs

  • Doc Rivers

    Rivers said he could not pick a series winner, calling the Finals too close to call.

    “I bet I was asked it 50 times, Bill, and my same answer was, I don't know”

    Listen from 20:18 · 2026 NBA Finals

  • Doc Rivers

    Rivers recounted a Spurs players' meeting from his playing days in which Dennis Rodman challenged Gregg Popovich, who was not the head coach.

    “And Dennis Rodman, when Pop finishes, Dennis Rodman says, who's listening to you? You're not the coach”

    Listen from 25:23 · San Antonio Spurs

  • Doc Rivers

    Rivers said the apron rules have ended three-star teams, though two-star builds remain viable.

    “The three-star thing is gone. We know that. Just contractually, you can't do it. The two-star thing is still alive”

    Listen from 32:44 · NBA collective bargaining agreement

  • Doc Rivers

    Rivers argued the Knicks are not a fluke and are contractually set up to contend for years.

    “This is not a fluke. This team's going to be good. They're going to be good for a long time”

    Listen from 36:29 · New York Knicks

  • Doc Rivers

    Rivers said Oklahoma City's playoff loss proved that there are no dynasties in the current NBA.

    “Mid-season, Bill, everyone said there's a dynasty, and it's in Oklahoma. And we've been proven once again. There are no dynasties”

    Listen from 38:48 · Oklahoma City Thunder

  • Doc Rivers

    Rivers argued the current CBA has made this the era in which general managers must build complete rosters to win.

    “I think this is the era of GMs. You better do your job. You all got the same type of money”

    Listen from 39:12 · NBA collective bargaining agreement

  • Linked moment · 50:48Skip to 50:48 using a listen link in the info box.

    Bill Simmons

    Simmons described Steven Spielberg as the greatest living director, whose love of movies explains his success.

    “And you can see with Spielberg, um greatest living director um probably the greatest director we've ever had and just loves movies”

    Listen from 50:48

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons said he was roughly 70 percent optimistic and 30 percent suspicious about the Patriots acquiring A.J. Brown.

    “I'm probably like 70-30. 70 optimistic, 30 a little suspicious why we're able to just grab one of the five or six best receivers in the league”

    Listen from 54:59 · A.J. Brown trade to the New England Patriots

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons said he believes there is real momentum behind LeBron James joining Golden State and that it is his best option.

    “I also think there's real smoke, and I think there's some fire with LeBron going to Golden State. I think it's his best option”

    Listen from 1:10:13

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons argued the NBA has a genuine face of the league again in Victor Wembanyama, for the first time since LeBron James and Stephen Curry.

    “And we have just not had this since LeBron and Curry. And we definitely have it now with Wemby”

    Listen from 1:14:00 · 2026 NBA Finals

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons argued Euphoria squandered a cast of three major young stars in its final season.

    “Euphoria, it goes away for years, comes back and has three of the biggest under 35 actors that we have and just fumbles it”

    Listen from 1:22:08 · Euphoria (TV series)

  • Joanna Robinson

    Robinson criticized the finale for neglecting legacy characters in favor of shootout sequences.

    “So to not give them a conclusive story or more airtime in the final episode was absolutely insane to me”

    Listen from 1:23:12 · Euphoria (TV series)

  • Chris Ryan

    Ryan was warmer on the finale, praising its addiction storyline and the Zendaya–Colman Domingo relationship.

    “The addiction stuff really worked for me. I thought the Zendaya-Coleman-Domingo relationship was amazing”

    Listen from 1:23:24 · Euphoria (TV series)

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons argued movies are enjoying a renaissance because studios are again making films from original stories.

    “now movies is having this huge renaissance because they're actually making movies about original IP”

    Listen from 1:34:00 · Theatrical film resurgence

  • Joanna Robinson

    Robinson argued that mid-level original movies migrated into stretched-out limited series because TV became the only outlet for them.

    “Then all those like mid-level original idea movies became like, drawn-out limited series because that's the only place you could tell those stories”

    Listen from 1:36:53 · Binge-watching and weekly release models

  • Joanna Robinson

    Robinson said she opposes binge releases because they undermine the communal experience of television.

    “And I've just like always been anti-binge. It is very antisocial”

    Listen from 1:40:01 · Binge-watching and weekly release models

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons said he watches binged shows less attentively than weekly ones.

    “I also find when you binge a show, I just don't watch it as carefully”

    Listen from 1:44:02 · Binge-watching and weekly release models

  • Chris Ryan

    Ryan argued television suffers from a palpable aversion to creative risk.

    “I think that there's a lot of like risk aversion in TV that you can really feel”

    Listen from 1:47:58

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons predicted creative talent will increasingly shift toward filmmaking rather than multi-year TV commitments.

    “Your brain's going to shift toward the movie making, I think”

    Listen from 1:50:00 · Theatrical film resurgence

  • Bill Simmons

    Simmons said feature-length true crime documentaries like The Crash are generating as much conversation as any TV show.

    “from a water cooler standpoint, it feels like true crime documentaries are hitting as hard as any TV show”

    Listen from 1:52:56 · The Crash (Netflix documentary)

People

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From the publisher

Join The Ringer’s Bill Simmons and Doc Rivers LIVE on Netflix to recap the Knicks' Game 1 win over the Spurs in the NBA Finals (01:15). Then, Bill does a mini-mailbag (51:40) before being joined by Chris Ryan and Joanna Robinson to give their thoughts on the ‘Euphoria’ finale, whether it stuck the landing, as well as the state of TV and movies (1:21:20). Hosts: Bill SimmonsGuests: Doc Rivers, Chris Ryan, and Joanna RobinsonProducers: Chia Hao Tat, Eduardo Ocampo, Tucker Tashjian, and Chris Wohlers Brought to you by PayPal. Learn more at paypal.com Give No Quits. Shop at your Local Duluth Trading Company Store or Online The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 28, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Basketball·TV Reviews·Film Reviews