Bill Simmons and Malcolm Gladwell

An intelligent exchange that includes talk of Larry Holmes, Nick Faldo, Tiger, Michael, Jennifer Anniston, the press (basketball), etc. Good stuff.

Best line: “You can become great without the help of someone else, but you can’t stay great without someone pushing you. Golf excepted, of course.”

And: “And in any case, if the reverse-order draft is such a great leveler, then why are the same teams at the bottom of both the NFL and NBA year after year? The current system perpetuates the myth that access to top picks is the primary determinant of competitiveness in pro sports, and that’s simply not true. Success is a function of the quality of the organization.”

Bill Simmons: A back-and-forth with best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell.