It’s no secret that Bill Simmons’ favorite sport is basketball.
But while The Ringer founder is one of the great living NBA historians, his interest in the college game has often been limited to the NCAA Tournament.
With March Madness approaching, however, Simmons is making a change. Only he isn’t paying more attention to men’s college basketball, but rather the women’s game.
“I care more about the women’s college basketball and the tournament than I do about the men’s at this point in my life,” Simmons told guest Chuck Klosterman on the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast. “I am the same person who once upon a time, I did not want to watch women’s college basketball. I did not like the product.”
The Sports Guy said it’s not just because of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, who he referred to as “the most fun college player.” He noted also noted the sport’s plethora of high profile teams and star players, as well as its continuity and style of play.
“There’s continuity. The style of play is good. It’s got a lot of the fundamental stuff that it used to have combined with the slash and kick and the threes,” Simmons said. “But continuity, which the men’s is now — it’s gone. Like it doesn’t exist. Cooper Flagg is going to go to Duke next year, he’s going to play for one year, he’s going to leave, he’s going to go to the NBA. But in women’s college basketball, it actually makes sense to stay as long as possible. It’s the highest profile sport you’re gonna have. It’s more high profile than the WNBA. I’m really like genuinely excited for the women’s tournament this year.”
The thing about Simmons’ take is it’s not even a hot one. For most casual basketball fans, it seems to be the consensus, with last year’s women’s Final Four having seemingly served as an inflection point for the sport.
For nearly two decades, the NBA’s draft rules have demolished any semblance of continuity in men’s college basketball. Meanwhile, the women’s game has thrived in recent years with an influx of stars, including not only Clark, but LSU’s Angel Reese, UConn’s Paige Bueckers and USC’s Juju Watkins, among others.
Considering the amount of star power currently at the college level, it will be interesting how the the talent pipeline translates to the WNBA — which at this point, is less popular than women’s college basketball. But when it comes to Clark in particular, Simmons has high hopes.
“I’m going to follow Caitlin Clark. To me, I think she has a chance to be the most fun basketball player, male or female when we get to the pros,” Simmons said. “If she’s just going to make 30-footers routinely — it’s basically all the same [Steph] Curry stuff, just with a female. But it’s all the same things I love about watching Curry and how they play off teammates in the dribble handoff. She’s also a good passer. But I just like watching her play. I would like watching her play in any format.”
