All indications are that Ryen Russillo doesn’t actually believe that ESPN would try to shoehorn Mina Kimes into its version of Inside the NBA next season.
But The Ringer host made his comment on the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast with such a deadpan delivery that many questioned whether he was serious or joking.
“What if they replace Kenny [Smith] with Mina Kimes?” Russillo asked Bill Simmons during a discussion about the possibility that ESPN could ruin the beloved studio show when it begins licensing the show from TNT next season.
“With ESPN people?” Simmons said with a laugh as Russillo’s serious face remained unchanged.
Ryen Russillo LIGHTLY SUGGESTS that ESPN could replace Kenny Smith with Mina Kimes on “Inside the NBA” pic.twitter.com/WF236nLFsi
— The r/BillSimmons Podcast (@rBillSimmonsPod) June 2, 2025
As the clip made the rounds thanks to the X account for the Bill Simmons subreddit (yes, that’s a thing), the replies varied between confusion over whether Russillo was being serious and agreement with what most perceived to be a sarcastic shot at the Worldwide Leader. Among those to reply was CNBC’s Alex Sherman, who stated that he believed the ex-ESPN host was making a “weird joke, maybe?,” which prompted Kimes’ to confirm that she received it the same way.
“It’s a weird joke,” she responded.
After Sherman replied with some sarcasm of his own (“Funny stuff!”), Kimes noted the “very cool and normal replies lol.” Such “very cool and normal” replies include complaints about ESPN’s DEI efforts and the belief that ESPN “got too many women covering shit they can’t play.”
Very cool and normal replies lol
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) June 2, 2025
Obviously, Russillo wasn’t being serious here, as sarcasm and deadpan delivery have long been staples of his personality as a host. While there are multiple ways to interpret his joke, the larger context of the conversation suggests it was more a jab at ESPN’s potential meddling than something directed at Kimes.
Still, it’s plenty understandable why Kimes would take issue here, as to her point, just look at the replies. Russillo could have named any number of ESPN non-NBA analysts to make the same joke: Dan Orlovsky, Peter Schrager, Buster Olney, or P.K. Subban. Instead, he went with one who has constantly been targeted by websites such as the Fox Corporation-owned OutKick as a “DEI hire,” implying that her gender and race have had more to do with her career success than her actual qualifications (Kimes recently attempted to reframe such labels).
Even Kimes doesn’t appear to believe that’s what Russillo was getting at, but that doesn’t change the replies that his comment elicited. Ultimately, this was just a “weird joke,” as perhaps best evidenced by the “cool and normal replies.”