Bill Simmons Rips ESPN For Censoring A Dwyane Wade Joke After Game 4
On a Sportscenter segment after the Heat beat the Spurs in Game 4, Simmons joked that Dwyane Wade must have gone to Germany before Game 4.
They were talking about whether or not Wade could recover physically for Game 5 on Sunday when Simmons said, "He can go to Germany again."
But on later re-airings of the show, that Simmons comment was censored out.
Simmons was not happy, tweeting:
He also expressed his frustration at the dry, humorless nature of studio shows:
So what does that joke even mean?
A lot of athletes have traveled to Germany in recent years to undergo a controversial knee procedure called platelet-rich plasma therapy. Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, and other athletes have experienced late-career resurgences after going to Germany for the treatment.
Wade has been awful and injured in these playoffs, but last night he looked spry and dropped 32 points.
Hence Simmons' joke.
The "SAS" in this tweet refers to Stephen A. Smith — who was in full character last night and ranting about how Tiago Splitter was a bum in a different Sportscenter segment.
This is Simmons' first year working on ESPN's NBA studio show.
For years the show has been outclassed by the smarter, better, more lively TNT show Inside The NBA. Simmons seems frustrated that he can't change the ESPN show the way he wanted to.