Bill Simmons Chops It Up With Nas and Kevin Durant on 'Any Given Wednesday'

Bill Simmons talks to Nas and Kevin Durant about a whole host of things on 'Any Given Wednesday.'

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Nas and Kevin Durant joined sports guru Bill Simmons this week on Simmons' HBO show Any Given Wednesday, and the trio had a wide-ranging discussion.

In the show's "Speed Round," viewable above, Simmons fires questions at the two stars about a variety of topics. Among the things we learn:

  • Kendrick, J. Cole, and Drake remind Nas of himself and "inspire" the Queens rapper. Nas also very gently and obliquely refers to Cole's song "Let Nas Down," saying that Cole "wrote an interesting song about me."
  • Kevin Durant's now-famous Rick James tattoo had nothing to do with Dave Chappelle. "My earliest memories of music were grandma cleaning the house, listening to Rick James," the basketball star recalls.
  • Nas thinks Shaquille O'Neal is the best NBA rapper ever—"We listened to those records," he remembers. KD, on the other hand, goes for Damian Lillard.
  • Durant is grateful to have LeBron James in the league. "You need someone to keep you on your toes," he observes. 

The trio of Simmons, Nas, and Durant talked about a lot of other things as well. Durant's relationship with his former teammate Russell Westbrook was unsurprisingly a big topic of conversation. You can see some of the group's thoughts in the clip below.

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Durant and Nas both know a thing or two about rivalries, and they both talk about battles and tension in the clip below. Simmons says that sports fans will try to pit KD against Westbrook, in order to set up a Nas-versus-Jay Z-type battle. Durant seemed resigned to that happening. 

"If I go out there and just nod my head at Russell, something's going to come out of it," he said. "If I give him a hug, something's going to come out of it. No matter what I do, somebody's going to say something."

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