A major fork in the road arose when Magic Johnson left NBA Countdown in 2013 and, Simmons’s associates believe, Bristol was spreading the story that Simmons was to blame, even as Simmons swore to co-workers that he had not put that in motion. Being blamed for Johnson’s departure enraged him, in fact. Try living in L.A. and being regarded as the guy who dumped Magic Johnson.

For ESPN’s part, the animosity was mutual. “Nobody at ESPN wanted to work with Simmons,” says a high-ranking executive. “He was loathed throughout the company. He kept up a long-running diatribe on how terrible it was to work here.”

There were also complaints that Simmons would not allow Grantland writers to contribute to ESPN.com or to the magazine—or, for a long time, to appear on any of ESPN’s TV shows. Some of that was true: The Grantland staff was intent on building the Grantland brand.

And, at least one executive complains—somewhat ironically, given his feelings toward Simmons—that Simmons seldom came to Bristol, but Simmons would tell the Grantland staff and others that it was hard for him to get to Bristol from the site’s Los Angeles headquarters, that he didn’t have the time, and that he didn’t think it necessary. He did, however, go at least once three years in a row, and traveled at least four times a year to New York, where he would meet with the network’s executives.

Nevertheless, bitterness was palpable and plentiful.

Says Donoghue: “I think Bill sometimes tries to associate whatever frustration he had at ESPN onto something with me personally, and I don’t want to play into that narrative. I was one of his biggest champions at ESPN and defended Bill many, many, times.”

A senior ESPN executive adds this: “I bet you a dollar to a dime that many of your sources are men who do not like Marie Donoghue, because women are still subject, in the workplace, to a lot of prejudice and lack of acceptance. A lot of people don’t want to work for a woman, even if they say they do.”

Second: resources. ESPN sources say there are 55 full-time staffers at Grantland, but Grantland sources put the full-time number at only 42, and point out they didn’t have a photo staff, a social-media staffer, a Web designer, or an app specialist. Bristol, however, doesn’t want to hear any of that.

“Bill Simmons’s suggestion that we did not support him is the whiniest and most asinine argument possible,” says a high-ranking executive. “He got a free pass, he got good office space in L.A. When he asked for more employees and more office space, he got it. There is indignation about Bill’s lack of gratitude and his mischaracterizations of support.”

A senior member of the Grantland team puts it this way: “Bill was trying to build something truly special, and was aggressive about it. We never had the army that ESPN the Magazine had, and besides, look at all the great things Bill was doing for the company.”

Over the years, there were in fact a multitude of things Simmons did for ESPN, many of which weren’t in his contract, including two N.B.A. drafts, commercial shoots for NBA Countdown, multiple ad-sales trips, and developing TV shows like Bad Boys Remix and Grantland Basketball Hour.

Third: the culture at Grantland. “Bill created a culture in L.A. that was ‘I’m Bill Simmons and I’m protecting you from the Big Bad ESPN. I’m buying you freedom. If it weren’t for me, they wouldn’t be letting you do this,’” says the same high-ranking executive. “Which is smart. It’s why every coach says, ‘It’s us against the world, we’re gonna surprise the world,’ even when they’re ranked No. 1.