Former ESPN analyst Bomani Jones, who left the network for HBO in 2022, is speaking about his tenure in Bristol. During his time at ESPN Jones made appearances on many shows on the network to include “Outside The Lines” and “Around The Horn” which ended its run 23-year and 4,953-show run on Friday. But, the breakout role for Jones came when he joined the “Highly Questionable with Dan Le Batard” show in 2012, a run that lasted until 2017.
During a recent appearance on “The Matt Jones Show,” the outspoken and Jones sort of unleashed on his time with the aforementioned Batard. Bomani, the former Duke and Elon University adjunct professor, pretty much told Jones and the listeners that he was only on the show because he was an intelligent Black man. According to Jones it wasn’t because he was good at his job, but his skin color and brains played a role in his being added to the former hit show.
Bomani Gon’ Bomani
“I think I served that purpose for Dan Le Batard, in many ways,” Jones said. “But it was, in part, also because I think Dan was very fascinated by the idea that a Black person could be this smart. … I think Dan couldn’t believe that this happened. It was like, ‘Wow, look at that fish riding a bicycle.’ And to be fair to him, he lives in Miami. He don’t see no smart people at all, let alone Black ones.”
Jones says he became the de facto go-to-guy “Black voice,” when topics covering race and culture arose on the show.
Jones also explained that while he’s OK with speaking on Black people’s behalf, he doesn’t want to be on a show just to fill the network’s quota or assignment …
“You can sign me up to be the person that speaks for Black people, but you have no idea what’s coming after you do that,” Jones explained. “Todo es posible in that moment. That would happen for Dan actually, where he would call me on his to be the Black person, and he would not necessarily get the thing that he thought was coming.”
Bomani Back In The Podcast Game
Following his departure from ESPN in 2023 after 20 years, Jones relaunched his hit podcast “The Right Time.” The renowned sports analyst, writer and commentator hosts the show live on YouTube, where new episodes run every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at noon.
The show focuses on sports, pop culture, social topics and more.
