Rockets: Why it's time to ignore Bill Simmons

The sports media world has always presented a conundrum for fans, as it pertains to credibility. Who is the most credible? Who is the most likely to be the most accurate source of information?

Then there's the local media vs. national media dilemma. There's a school of thought that suggests that local media is most likely to be the most knowledgeable, as they have boots on the ground and interact more frequently with team officials, or at least have the ability to, because of their geographic proximity and local reach.

This, of course, isn't always the case, as ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic's Shams Charania are universally known as two of the most plugged-in reporters. Irrespective of whether it's a local or national source, the main rule of thumb is to not turn to sources that aren't known for breaking news or having inside scoop.

Enter Bill Simmons, who has a large following and an even greater platform, as he founded The Ringer in 2016, and we all know about the platform and the loads of content that's churned out there. But Simmons' calling isn't breaking news or dropping "Woj bombs", so why does he continue to try?

On Monday, Simmons had several remarks about the Houston Rockets, in passing, during The Bill Simmons Podcast. Simmons' Rockets discourse started with the rumors of the Rockets' potential interest in Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse.

Why it's time to ignore Bill Simmons' Houston Rockets content

"This Nick Nurse thing is super weird. I've never heard so many whispers, from so many different corners of everybody being like 'yeah, he's out of here.' 

And now we have a team? There's already a team that he's going to? It's like 'yeah, he's going to Houston. He is? 

How could he go to Houston? Houston is getting rid of literally everybody that works for them at the end of the season. So, is somebody coming in to hire him? I don't know what to believe."

It's safe to say that Simmons is obviously using a touch of hyperbole, as it's not physically possible for any corporation or company to literally part ways with all of their employees, and especially not an NBA team, which consists of so many different moving parts. But we get the point, which is that the Rockets are going to have sweeping changes, per Simmons (which is still hard to fully believe, as that's not needed yet).

Over the years, Simmons has made it a point to force himself to mention the Rockets in a negative light, regardless of whether they were contending or not quite worthy of mention, which makes it difficult to take him or any of his "reports" seriously. But furthermore, would Simmons really have an entry point in the Rockets' front office?

Is it believable that he would have a legitimate Rockets source? Sure, anything is possible, but it seems hard to believe, especially after he publicly said "f-k Jalen Green" just one season ago. Why would he get inside information regarding the Rockets?

What Simmons is likely doing is continuing his personal ritual of pumping out negativity about the Rockets, which is not only getting played out by now, but also proof of why it's time to ignore anything he has to say about the Rockets.