1. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst was the star of Twitter for a few days after this video of him talking about the Utah Jazz went viral last Friday.
Windhorst spoke for more than two minutes about what the Jazz were doing. But he did it in a methodical, deliberate and fascinating way, complete with hand signals, and people just couldn’t get enough of it.
A few hours after the video took off, Utah traded Rudy Gobert to Minnesota, and then things went to another level in terms of memes and tweets about Windhorst.
I asked Windhorst to give us a behind the scenes look at the latest SI Media Podcast, which launched on Thursday.
“What I was doing in that discussion was basically trying to avoid aggregation,” Windhorst said on the podcast. “I was definitely having fun because that particular moment had a nice little story that I could maneuver around, like I was writing a story or speaking on a podcast. If I had gotten there and said ‘League execs tell me Rudy Gobert could be traded soon,’ KABOOM! The next 11 shows, what’s your Rudy Gobert info? What’s the latest with Rudy Gobert? What’s the latest? He was pretty sure they were going to change him, but he wasn’t ready to say that.
So my job is to deliver privileged information, but not everything I say has the same weight and there are nuances. But that nuance is exploited by aggregation because everything can look like a headline.”
So how did Windhorst feel about going viral?
“I know what people want,” he said on the podcast. “That they would tickle me pink and I would dance around. First of all, life is not Twitter. It’s not real life. Second, I was all over New York City, in airports; no one I met in real life said a word. I’ve been on the other side of that. Maybe not as intensely, but I did say something during the Finals where I talked about how the Warriors’ payroll, which was $300 million, the biggest in the game, was a factor in the game. …
“They skewered me for saying that. strung. By the way, it was true. I keep it. Like I stood by what I said the Jazz were doing. I keep it. I think they were both equally accurate. So just doing my job, I can’t let the negative reaction to something I think is true get to me, so I can’t let it be overwhelmingly positive: It was nice, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate it.”
Did Windhorst find any of the memes funny?
“I laughed at some of them,” he said, “but I can’t remember what they were. Which I’ve been saying because dozens of people ask me this, Jimmy, so I have an answer. It’s not a serious answer, but since I’m pulling back the curtain, I have an answer to give a satisfying answer to that that will get me out of the answer and people will smile a bit.
“Between you and me, and not for anyone else to hear except the people who listen to this podcast, I mean the one at Target. And if Target wants to contact me about an endorsement deal, I’m willing to listen. The reason I say that is because first of all, I would like a sponsorship deal, and second of all, I know it was one of the biggest.”
Windhorst added: “I really appreciate the kind words everyone said. I’m grateful for it and I promise you, I know I’m being bitter, it doesn’t really change my life.
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“It’s not like ESPN would come up after that and say, ‘We’re going to double your salary,’ just like ESPN, if they had a version that wasn’t popular, they wouldn’t say, ‘We’re going to cut your salary.’ half salary.’”
In addition to the discussion of Windhorst going viral, we also discussed his current relationship with LeBron James, whom he covered for many years in Cleveland, his thoughts on LeBron’s future, what’s up with Kevin Durant, and whether Windhorst feels competitive with Adrian. Wojnarowski and Shams Charania.
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You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify, and Google.
two. This was a very good tweet.
3. Speaking of tweets, as I told you on Wednesday’s Traina Thoughts, Twitter had Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame after his Summer League game on Tuesday night. Holmgren and the Thunder played again on Wednesday, but this time I didn’t see any tweets about the former Gonzaga star, so I looked up his numbers: 3-of-11 shooting for 11 points. Also, some shaky defense.
Four. SI’s Michael Rosenberg recently wrote a great piece on the art of unfollowing when it comes to athletes and teams. He may need to work on a new story about the art of a former teammate using social media to curse out a player leaving via free agency after Jimmy Butler’s response to PJ Tucker, who recently he signed with the Sixers.
5. Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale was unhappy with his performance during a rehab start Wednesday, and he became violent on the track.
This is a good time to remind everyone of another Sale incident that is one of the most classic off-the-field baseball stories of recent years.
6. Pirates play-by-play man Greg Brown had the best three-word decision I’ve ever heard on Giancarlo Stanton’s ninth-inning home run that gave the Yankees a 15-0 lead Thursday night. night.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: It’s been a while since I’ve posted a good news blooper on Traina Thoughts, so here’s a good one that took place yesterday on the BBC.
Be sure to catch up with previous editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina at Apple, Spotify either Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram Y tik tok.
Source: www.si.com