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There was once a time when ESPN and other major sports networks devoted the bulk of their programming to highlights, recaps, and fairly insightful analysis. However, the rise of the internet has made shows like SportsCenter fairly obsolete while fueling what is best described as the “Hot Take Industrial Complex.”
With the possible exception of Stephen A. Smith, there aren’t many talking heads who’ve mastered the art of rustling jimmies quite like Skip Bayless. Say what you will about the man who currently works for FS1, but it’s impossible to deny he doesn’t know how to stay relevant with the help of the constant stream of outlandish claims and controversial stances he relies on to make headlines.
Bayless was obviously unable to stop himself from chiming in while the terrifying Damar Hamlin situation was still unfolding on Monday night, and he understandably caught an insane amount of heat over a tweet where he implied the outcome of a football game was more important than the health of the player who’d been taken off the field in an ambulance about five minutes before he hit “Send.”
No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 3, 2023
Bayless was left flailing in the wind generated by the hurricane of backlash he was responsible for after Shannon Sharpe sat out Tuesday’s installment of Undisputed, and the two men had a very tense reunion when his co-host returned to the program on Wednesday.
Of course, Bayless has plenty of financial incentive to continually toe (and routinely leap over) the line thanks to the reputation he’s carved out for himself, and while he’s constantly subjected to an endless amount of criticism, he’s never really faced any major repercussions for his more questionable views.
However, based on what Matt Barnes had to say while discussing the fallout of that tweet, there are at least a couple of people who’ve also wanted to take things a bit too far after Bayless managed to draw their ire.
The NBA player-turned-podcaster didn’t mince words in a video where he ripped into Bayless before claiming he’s had to intervene to stop people from trying to fight the incendiary personality on multiple occasions, saying:
“I know personally that I’ve had to diffuse two situations. One with a coach, and one with an NBA player. They wanted to f—k Skip up.
One was this year, one was last year… Luckily cooler heads prevailed, but it’s just gone too far in my opinion. Shannon’s had a lot of love or does have a lot of love for dude, but you can even see Shannon’s fed up. And someone’s gonna end up hurting Skip.”
Sounds about right.