This is one of the most common recent dynamics. Bill probably was difficult to work with and never felt he was getting enough support. However, he was a success and super creative for all the reasons we can list here, and was far and away the most successful ESPN personality. So as an organization, you take the bad with the good as the good outweighs the bad, if your ultimate goal is viewers/readers/ etc. But companies today think they are the brand and viewers/readers care more about them than the individual personalities. And ultimately, organizations need to think somewhat like this because what would happen if the talent die/retire etc. You need a succession plan. But ESPN's hubris is stunning in this area. The fact that when the Simmons thing started, there were reports that they were going to keep running the BS report without Simmons was all you need to know about their belief how little talent matters to what they do. So co-ordinated PR hit pieces like this should come as no surprise. They serve the dual purpose of absolving ESPN of any blame in the breakup (or so they hope), as well as poisoning the well in the future relationship between HBO (an ESPN competitor) and Simmons, as HBO executives will read this and the first time Simmons chafes at one of their "notes" or complains about not getting something, this article will be in the back of their minds.