It’s no secret the Phoenix Suns are defying expectations in 2025-26.
After trading away future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets in a blockbuster deal last summer, the pundits and talking heads didn’t have faith that Phoenix would be a factor.
On the contrary, the Suns are 10 games above .500 and firmly in the Western Conference playoff picture as we near the All-Star break.
To put that lack of faith in context, ESPN’s preseason NBA predictions gave the Suns a 1.5% chance at making the playoffs. They also put the Suns’ projected win total at 31.8 wins. They already eclipsed that mark Feb. 10 with a win over the Dallas Mavericks, climbing to 32-22 overall.
That reality-to-hype gap was not lost on Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who took to X (previously Twitter) to call out The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, who put the Suns over-under for wins at the start of the season at a very similar 31.5.
32 wins for the Suns and all before the All-Star break… think that puts us above your season prediction/bet of under 31.5 wins @BillSimmons! 👀 You guys usually have great content and good stuff… thanks for all you do. But also keep your eye on the Suns, like I told you… we…
— Mat Ishbia (@Mishbia15) February 11, 2026
Simmons, who couldn’t exactly clap back on a friendly and worthy callout, called the Suns a “Fun league pass team” in response before noting his Suns prediction for the season prior in 2024-25 was also incorrect. Simmons also called Jordan Ott a "terrific coach."
Congratulations on a very good season so far. I’ve enjoyed watching you guys and think you picked a terrific coach. Fun league pass team,
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) February 11, 2026
For the record — I picked the Suns to win 50+ games last season and never heard a peep from you when you went 36-46. So I was wrong twice.
Simmons noting he was wrong about the Suns not once, but twice, is quite funny.
Yes, the Suns played well below expectations in 2024-25 with Durant in tow largely because the front office torpedoed the team’s roster and salary cap flexibility by also trading for Brad Beal and what would become an albatross contract as he struggled to stay on the floor.
There’s no denying that finishing 10 games under .500 and missing the playoffs with Durant and Devin Booker, not to mention a former championship-winning head coach in Mike Budenholzer, was an enormous disappointment.
However, the Suns are making up for that shortcoming this season by playing a brand of hustle basketball that keeps them competitive near every night out.
To Simmons credit, he was one of the few analysts out there who picked Booker to make the All-Star team. Both ESPN's Zach Kram and Tim Bontemps, by contrast, listed Book as being "on the bubble" to be selected to his fifth All-Star Game as a reserve.
The social media back and forth was all in good fun. Now Ishbia has to make sure he doesn't give Simmons ammo to call him out during his performance in the upcoming 2026 Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.