The Mailbag: Dangerous NBA Teams, Lottery Tweaks, the KD Files, The Oscars, and Cruise vs. Pacino | With Chris Ryan and Joe House

Feb 18, 2026

Talk Time

Bill Simmons
64.6 min (68.3%)
Joe House
16.4 min (17.4%)
Chris Ryan
13.6 min (14.4%)

Top Entities

1NBA
26
2Gambling
15
3New York Knicks
9
4All-Star
9
5Houston Rockets
8
6The Rewatchables
7
7NBA Playoffs
7
8NBA Finals
7
9LeBron James
7
10Miami Heat
6
11Kevin Durant
6
12Joe House
6
13Super Bowl
5
14NBA Draft
5
15Jaylen Brown
5
16Golden State Warriors
5
17Dallas Mavericks
5
18Boston Celtics
5
19Utah Jazz
4
20Stephen Curry
4
21NFL
4
22Los Angeles Lakers
4
23Kawhi Leonard
4
24Giannis Antetokounmpo
4
25Drake Maye
4
26Cousin Sal
4
27Charlotte Hornets
4
28Brooklyn Nets
4
29Bill Simmons
4
30Tom Cruise
3
31Philadelphia 76ers
3
32Oklahoma City Thunder
3
33Milwaukee Bucks
3
34Klay Thompson
3
35James Harden
3
36Bradley Beal
3
37Wilt Chamberlain
2
38Washington Wizards
2
39Van Lathan
2
40The Sports Gal
2
41The Ringer
2
42Sam Darnold
2
43Minnesota Timberwolves
2
44Michael Mann
2
45Luka Dončić
2
46Jrue Holiday
2
47Jarren Duran
2
48Jalen Hurts
2
49Isaiah Stewart
2
50Indiana Pacers
2
51Fred VanVleet
2
52Draymond Green
2
53Detroit Pistons
2
54Chicago Bulls
2
55Brandon Ingram
2
56Bill Russell
2
57Al Pacino
2
58Zach LaVine
1
59Vincent Hanna
1
60Victor Wembanyama
1
61Ty Corbin
1
62Tucker Kraft
1
63Toronto Raptors
1
64Toronto Blue Jays
1
65Tom Brady
1
66T.J. McConnell
1
67Shaquille O'Neal
1
68Serge Ibaka
1
69Seattle Seahawks
1
70Sean Fennessey
1
71Saquon Barkley
1
72San Francisco 49ers
1
73San Antonio Spurs
1
74Rudy Gobert
1
75Rookie of the Year
1
76Rocky (film)
1
77Rob Mahoney
1
78Rob Gronkowski
1
79Rashee Rice
1
80Quentin Lake
1
81Portland Trail Blazers
1
82Phoenix Suns
1
83Philadelphia Eagles
1
84Patrick Ewing
1
85Paolo Banchero
1
86Orlando Magic
1
87New Orleans Pelicans
1
88New England Patriots
1
89MLB
1
90Mike Conley
1
91Michael Jordan
1
92Memphis Grizzlies
1
93Marvin Bagley III
1
94Mark Cuban
1
95Marc Gasol
1
96Malik Willis
1
97Magic Johnson
1
98Madison Square Garden
1
99Mac McClung
1
100Los Angeles Clippers
1
101Lindsey Harding
1
102Leonardo DiCaprio
1
103Kyrie Irving
1
104Kevin Love
1
105Kevin Dotson
1
106Keon Ellis
1
107Kaiir Elam
1
108Jose Alvarado
1
109John Wall
1
110Joel Embiid
1
111Joe Burrow
1
112Jimmy Butler III
1
113Jamie Sheriff
1
114Jabari Smith Jr.
1
115J.J. McCarthy
1
116Ivica Zubac
1
117Isaiah Thomas
1
118Isaiah Bond
1
119Ime Udoka
1
120Hall of Fame
1
121Gordon Hayward
1
122Franz Wagner
1
123Final Four
1
124Drake London
1
125DJ Reader
1
126Dion Dawkins
1
127Desmond Bane
1
128Cooper Kupp
1
129Cooper Flagg
1
130Collin Sexton
1
131College Football Playoff
1
132College Football
1
133Cleveland Cavaliers
1
134Cincinnati Bengals
1
135Chris Ryan
1
136Chris Paul
1
137Chicago Bears
1
138Caleb Williams
1
139Cade Cunningham
1
140Bo Nix
1
141Bill's Dad
1
142Bill Belichick
1
143Ben Simmons
1
144Austin McNamara
1
145Atlanta Hawks
1
146Anthony Edwards
1
147Andrew Nicholson
1
148All-NBA Second Team
1
149Aaron Judge
1
150Aaron Gordon
1

League Distribution

NBA
108 (74.5%)
NFL
29 (20%)
MLB
5 (3.4%)
NCAAB
2 (1.4%)
CFB
1 (0.7%)

Top Players

1LeBron James
7
2Kevin Durant
6
3Joe House
6
4Jaylen Brown
5
5Stephen Curry
4
6Kawhi Leonard
4
7Giannis Antetokounmpo
4
8Drake Maye
4
9Cousin Sal
4
10Bill Simmons
4
11Tom Cruise
3
12Klay Thompson
3
13James Harden
3
14Bradley Beal
3
15Wilt Chamberlain
2
16Van Lathan
2
17The Sports Gal
2
18Sam Darnold
2
19Michael Mann
2
20Luka Dončić
2
21Jrue Holiday
2
22Jarren Duran
2
23Jalen Hurts
2
24Isaiah Stewart
2
25Fred VanVleet
2
26Draymond Green
2
27Brandon Ingram
2
28Bill Russell
2
29Al Pacino
2
30Zach LaVine
1
31Vincent Hanna
1
32Victor Wembanyama
1
33Ty Corbin
1
34Tucker Kraft
1
35Tom Brady
1
36T.J. McConnell
1
37Shaquille O'Neal
1
38Serge Ibaka
1
39Sean Fennessey
1
40Saquon Barkley
1
41Rudy Gobert
1
42Rob Mahoney
1
43Rob Gronkowski
1
44Rashee Rice
1
45Quentin Lake
1
46Patrick Ewing
1
47Paolo Banchero
1
48Mike Conley
1
49Michael Jordan
1
50Marvin Bagley III
1
51Mark Cuban
1
52Marc Gasol
1
53Malik Willis
1
54Magic Johnson
1
55Mac McClung
1
56Lindsey Harding
1
57Leonardo DiCaprio
1
58Kyrie Irving
1
59Kevin Love
1
60Kevin Dotson
1
61Keon Ellis
1
62Kaiir Elam
1
63Jose Alvarado
1
64John Wall
1
65Joel Embiid
1
66Joe Burrow
1
67Jimmy Butler III
1
68Jamie Sheriff
1
69Jabari Smith Jr.
1
70J.J. McCarthy
1
71Ivica Zubac
1
72Isaiah Thomas
1
73Isaiah Bond
1
74Ime Udoka
1
75Gordon Hayward
1
76Franz Wagner
1
77Drake London
1
78DJ Reader
1
79Dion Dawkins
1
80Desmond Bane
1
81Cooper Kupp
1
82Cooper Flagg
1
83Collin Sexton
1
84Chris Ryan
1
85Chris Paul
1
86Caleb Williams
1
87Cade Cunningham
1
88Bo Nix
1
89Bill's Dad
1
90Bill Belichick
1
91Ben Simmons
1
92Austin McNamara
1
93Anthony Edwards
1
94Andrew Nicholson
1
95Aaron Judge
1
96Aaron Gordon
1

Who Talked About What

Bill Simmons

1NBA
16
2Gambling
11
3The Rewatchables
7
4NBA Finals
6
5LeBron James
6
6Super Bowl
5
7Joe House
5
8All-Star
5
9NFL
4
10New York Knicks
4
11NBA Playoffs
4
12Miami Heat
4
13Houston Rockets
4
14Giannis Antetokounmpo
4
15Bill Simmons
4

Chris Ryan

1NBA
4
2Kevin Durant
4
3New York Knicks
3
4Houston Rockets
3
5Jaylen Brown
2
6Tom Cruise
1
7The Sports Gal
1
8Saquon Barkley
1
9Sam Darnold
1
10Quentin Lake
1
11Philadelphia Eagles
1
12Philadelphia 76ers
1
13NBA Playoffs
1
14NBA Draft
1
15Michael Mann
1

Joe House

1NBA
6
2All-Star
4
3Gambling
3
4Utah Jazz
2
5New York Knicks
2
6NBA Playoffs
2
7Los Angeles Lakers
2
8Cousin Sal
2
9Zach LaVine
1
10T.J. McConnell
1
11Stephen Curry
1
12Shaquille O'Neal
1
13Paolo Banchero
1
14Oklahoma City Thunder
1
15New Orleans Pelicans
1
189 episodes · Jan 2, 2025 – Apr 10, 2026The Bill Simmons Podcast