The body language doctor is back at work. Bill Simmons has returned to the office in the latest episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” where a conversation with Doc Rivers has made waves in the NBA world.
In the conversation, Rivers, who coached Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee from 2024 to 2026 after taking over the Bucks’ coaching job midway through the 2023-24 season, and Simmons talked about Rivers’ experience coaching Giannis, which made headlines.
Another interesting moment came when Simmons, who for years has fancied himself as the “body language doctor,” discussed how he enjoys attending games to observe the ways teams interact throughout a game, picking up on things viewers might miss watching on TV. In this particular instance, he noticed something off with the Miami Heat when he saw them play the Clippers on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
Says nobody talked to each other during timeouts/dead ball situations. There wasn’t any ‘touching’ going on either. Says it looked like Coach Spo was doing
“I went to Miami and the Clippers last night,” Simmons said. “Miami’s playing tonight. And, you know, I should force myself to go to more games, but I get lazy as I get old. They’re all on the TVs, and so it’s just so much easier to watch seven games at once. But you just pick up so much. So one of the things I always look for, and I know you love this, too. What’s going on on dead balls? Are guys interacting? Are guys looking at each other? Are guys touching? Are they high-fiving? It sounds like weird, right? But [Tim] Duncan would always come over and he would put his arm around everybody. [Kevin] Garnett would do the same.”
Rivers enthusiastically agreed.
“Bill, the year we won it, I think I’ve told you this before, Harvard did that study with touching. And we had the most touches in the league, meaning just people grabbing, holding. The Lakers were No.3 that year. And the bottom five were the bottom five teams in the NBA. Like, chemistry matters, and touching matters, being connected matters. And the eye contact. You know, I always could tell if guys are talking, especially the No.1 and No.2 players. If they never acknowledge each other, if they talk, but not really; they talk away, like, he’s there, he’s talking this way. They’re not connected. And it takes time sometimes to get there. Early on, it may not be ready yet, but I’ve seen teams — you can make the case that the Knicks last year. Brunson and Karl-Anthony [Towns], and the rest. They were not connected for most of the year. It came together. And once it was connected, you can never unconnect it.”
Simmons then echoed that sentiment in what he observed from the Heat on Wednesday night.
“So Miami’s early. Giannis just got there. It was just five ships passing in the night for two-plus hours. And they’re not talking. During dead balls, they’re just going to different spots. Spoelstra is kind of the one talking. Bobby Portis is just trying to get people going, coming in and out, right. But for the most part, just seemed like a disconnected team. Fourth quarter, they give it to Giannis. They just have him start going downhill, trying to get to the basket to get back in the game. Klay hits the big three; they all go nuts. But I left the game…And we were just kind of like, ‘Man, weird vibe with this team,’ but it’s early.”
Klay Thompson hit a game-winning 3-pointer in overtime, which Simmons is referring to, but even then, the body language doctor clearly wasn’t convinced.
The Heat played again Thursday night, their third game in four days, and lost to the Warriors 120-100 to fall to 3-6 on the season. They’ll finish their five-game West Coast road trip with stops in Sacramento and Utah, looking to right the ship before returning home to Miami to face the Cavaliers on Friday, Nov.13.
Bill Simmons’ ‘Body Language Doctor’ Diagnosis Raises Questions About Heat