Why Giannis Won’t Be a Knick, UFC’s Latest Boom, the Movie Theater Renaissance, Six Stages of Sean Penn, and ‘One Battle After Another’ With Ariel Helwani and Wesley Morris

Oct 8, 2025

Talk Time

Bill Simmons
54.8 min (46.5%)
Ariel Helwani
35.0 min (29.7%)
Wesley Morris
28.1 min (23.8%)

Top Entities

1New York Knicks
20
2Giannis Antetokounmpo
16
3UFC
15
4NBA
11
5New England Patriots
8
6NBA Playoffs
8
7Karl-Anthony Towns
7
8Gambling
7
9Milwaukee Bucks
6
10Buffalo Bills
6
11Alex Pereira
6
12NFL
5
13LeBron James
5
14Jon Jones
5
15Super Bowl
4
16Oklahoma City Thunder
4
17OG Anunoby
4
18Mikal Bridges
4
19Joe House
4
20Wesley Morris
3
21Tom Cruise
3
22NBA Finals
3
23Los Angeles Rams
3
24James Cook
3
25Denver Nuggets
3
26Dallas Mavericks
3
27Conor McGregor
3
28Boogie Nights (film)
3
29Bill Simmons
3
30Baltimore Ravens
3
31Ariel Helwani
3
32Toronto Blue Jays
2
33The Rewatchables
2
34Stefon Diggs
2
35Ronda Rousey
2
36Robin Lopez
2
37New York Yankees
2
38Kevin Garnett
2
39Fred Warner
2
40Final Four
2
41Drake Maye
2
42Dana White
2
43Boxing
2
44Arizona Cardinals
2
45Jayson Tatum
2
46Zoe Simmons
1
47Zach Lowe
1
48Walt Lemon Jr.
1
49Villanova Wildcats
1
50Tim Duncan
1
51The Ringer
1
52Thanasis Antetokounmpo
1
53Ted Williams
1
54Taj Gibson
1
55Shaquille O'Neal
1
56San Francisco 49ers
1
57San Antonio Spurs
1
58Ryan Reynolds
1
59Rob Mahoney
1
60RJ Harvey
1
61River Cracraft
1
62Philip Seymour Hoffman
1
63Philadelphia Eagles
1
64Philadelphia 76ers
1
65Peyton Manning
1
66Paul Pierce
1
67Patrick Mahomes
1
68Olivier-Maxence Prosper
1
69Nikola Jokic
1
70New York Jets
1
71New York Giants
1
72New Orleans Saints
1
73NBA Draft
1
74Miles McBride
1
75Mike McDaniel
1
76Mike Brown
1
77Miami Dolphins
1
78Matt Damon
1
79Malik Willis
1
80Malcolm Brogdon
1
81Magic Johnson
1
82Madison Square Garden
1
83Luka Dončić
1
84Los Angeles Lakers
1
85Los Angeles Chargers
1
86Leonardo DiCaprio
1
87Lamar Jackson
1
88Kyle Kuzma
1
89Khalil Shakir
1
90Kevin Love
1
91Kevin Durant
1
92Keon Coleman
1
93Kendrick Perkins
1
94Kawhi Leonard
1
95Kansas City Chiefs
1
96Josh Palmer
1
97Josh Hart
1
98Jalen Hurts
1
99Jalen Brunson
1
100Jack Horner
1
101Indianapolis Colts
1
102Indiana Pacers
1
103Francis Ngannou
1
104Ed Oliver
1
105Derrick Henry
1
106DeMarcus Cousins
1
107Dawson Knox
1
108Damian Lillard
1
109Dalton Kincaid
1
110Cole Bishop
1
111Cleveland Cavaliers
1
112Cincinnati Bengals
1
113Chris Ryan
1
114Chris Paul
1
115Burt Reynolds
1
116Boston Red Sox
1
117Boston Celtics
1
118Bobby Portis
1
119Atlanta Hawks
1
120Amanda Nunes
1
121Amanda Dobbins
1
122Alvin Kamara
1
123All-Star
1
124Aaron Judge
1

League Distribution

NBA
72 (50%)
NFL
40 (27.8%)
UFC
22 (15.3%)
MLB
5 (3.5%)
NCAAB
3 (2.1%)
Boxing
2 (1.4%)

Top Players

1Giannis Antetokounmpo
16
2Karl-Anthony Towns
7
3Alex Pereira
6
4LeBron James
5
5Jon Jones
5
6OG Anunoby
4
7Mikal Bridges
4
8Joe House
4
9Wesley Morris
3
10Tom Cruise
3
11James Cook
3
12Conor McGregor
3
13Bill Simmons
3
14Ariel Helwani
3
15Stefon Diggs
2
16Ronda Rousey
2
17Robin Lopez
2
18Kevin Garnett
2
19Fred Warner
2
20Drake Maye
2
21Dana White
2
22Jayson Tatum
2
23Zoe Simmons
1
24Zach Lowe
1
25Walt Lemon Jr.
1
26Tim Duncan
1
27Thanasis Antetokounmpo
1
28Ted Williams
1
29Taj Gibson
1
30Shaquille O'Neal
1
31Ryan Reynolds
1
32Rob Mahoney
1
33RJ Harvey
1
34River Cracraft
1
35Philip Seymour Hoffman
1
36Peyton Manning
1
37Paul Pierce
1
38Patrick Mahomes
1
39Olivier-Maxence Prosper
1
40Nikola Jokic
1
41Miles McBride
1
42Mike McDaniel
1
43Mike Brown
1
44Matt Damon
1
45Malik Willis
1
46Malcolm Brogdon
1
47Magic Johnson
1
48Luka Dončić
1
49Leonardo DiCaprio
1
50Lamar Jackson
1
51Kyle Kuzma
1
52Khalil Shakir
1
53Kevin Love
1
54Kevin Durant
1
55Keon Coleman
1
56Kendrick Perkins
1
57Kawhi Leonard
1
58Josh Palmer
1
59Josh Hart
1
60Jalen Hurts
1
61Jalen Brunson
1
62Jack Horner
1
63Francis Ngannou
1
64Ed Oliver
1
65Derrick Henry
1
66DeMarcus Cousins
1
67Dawson Knox
1
68Damian Lillard
1
69Dalton Kincaid
1
70Cole Bishop
1
71Chris Ryan
1
72Chris Paul
1
73Burt Reynolds
1
74Bobby Portis
1
75Amanda Nunes
1
76Amanda Dobbins
1
77Alvin Kamara
1
78Aaron Judge
1

Who Talked About What

Bill Simmons

1Giannis Antetokounmpo
12
2New York Knicks
9
3NBA
7
4UFC
6
5New England Patriots
6
6Gambling
5
7NBA Playoffs
4
8Karl-Anthony Towns
4
9Wesley Morris
3
10Tom Cruise
3
11Oklahoma City Thunder
3
12OG Anunoby
3
13NFL
3
14Milwaukee Bucks
3
15LeBron James
3

Ariel Helwani

1New York Knicks
11
2UFC
9
3NBA Playoffs
4
4Jon Jones
4
5Giannis Antetokounmpo
4
6Alex Pereira
4
7NBA
3
8Milwaukee Bucks
3
9Mikal Bridges
3
10Karl-Anthony Towns
3
11Joe House
3
12Dallas Mavericks
3
13Conor McGregor
3
14Buffalo Bills
3
15Baltimore Ravens
3

Wesley Morris

1Los Angeles Rams
2
2The Rewatchables
1
3Ted Williams
1
4San Francisco 49ers
1
5Robin Lopez
1
6RJ Harvey
1
7Peyton Manning
1
8Paul Pierce
1
9NBA
1
10Matt Damon
1
11Kevin Love
1
12Kevin Garnett
1
13Fred Warner
1
14Denver Nuggets
1
189 episodes · Jan 2, 2025 – Apr 10, 2026The Bill Simmons Podcast