Ric Bucher opens up on bitter end of Bill Simmons relationship

Ric Bucher is peeling back the curtain on his relationship — or apparent lack thereof — with Bill Simmons.

The sports media personality spoke about the Ringer founder during a recent episode of his “On the Ball with Ric Bucher” podcast, calling attention to comments made by Simmons about the Kings while also suggesting a fractured bond between the former ESPN colleagues.

“My former ESPN colleague, Bill Simmons, took note of the Kings’ loss to Detroit. And as Bill is wont to do, immediately threw out a trade idea as if Mike Brown’s firing is an indication that the Sacramento Kings are ready to start over. He suggested that the Houston Rockets should be putting on a full-court press to get the Kings to deal them De’Aaron Fox, ” Bucher said, according to Awful Announcing.

That’s when the conversation turned to Bucher and Simmons’ podcasting past and where things allegedly frayed.

“… Once upon a time, he, Marc Stein and I would do a regular podcast together called ‘The Three-man Weave’ when we were all with ESPN. It generally consisted of Bill suggesting various wild and outlandish moves and Stein and I explaining why they were either A. Not feasible, B. Not smart or C. Not feasible nor smart.

“And then after Bill left ESPN, he actually invited me onto his podcast at one point. And I said, ‘I’d be happy to’ if he would also come on mine. And I never heard from him again. And that’s kind of the way it works with Bill from my experience. If you can do something for him, he is very excited to work with you. If it comes to him doing something that would be more of a benefit to you, crickets.”

Bucher had appeared on “The B.S. Report,” which is now called “The Bill Simmons Podcast.”

Simmons split from ESPN in 2015.

It appears Simmons has not yet responded to Bucher’s claims.

Simmons has had some media spats in the past year, notably with ESPN personality Pat McAfee.

McAfee took exception to Simmons’ impression of him and criticized the content in February.

Simmons fired back by jabbing McAfee over poor TV ratings.