Michael Wilbon is what you call an old school, seasoned legend of the sports media game. He started as a traditional reporter and elevated to television and a career doing sports commentary, free of gossip and click bait, for decades.
As we are still in the midst of this LeBron James vs. Stephen A. Smith media war that has taken the focus away from NBA games and squarely on this soap opera of a circus between the face of the NBA and ESPN’s $100M man, Wilbon has had enough.
Veteran Sports Reporter Michael Wilbon Tired Of ESPN Forcing Bronny James Narrative On Hosts
He can’t believe what is happening to his craft.
“It’s all pandering,” Wilbon said during an interview with Outkick. The former Washington Post reporter continued, “Let me be clear: our business is a piece of sh*t a lot of days.”
Wilbon has gone as far as to accuse his longtime employer, ESPN, of forcing the narrative upon the various show hosts to continue talking about Bronny James to boost viewership.
During the interview, Wilbon revealed that certain officials from his current network tried to persuade him and his OG co-host, Tony Kornheiser, to keep pushing this exhausting Bronny narrative.
Kornheiser and Wilbon have been the lead voices of their Emmy Award-winning sports debate show, “Pardon the Interruption” for almost 25 years, never engaging in too much click phishing.
“There were shows that talked about Bronny every day,” said Wilbon. “You know what shows I’m talking about. I don’t care if my bosses get mad. They would try to get Tony and me to talk about it. No, we were not going to do it.”
Wilbon Understands LeBron James, Won’t Push Narrative On “PTI”
While Wilbon refuses to indulge in a gossip chase, he admits that he’s sensitive to LeBron James as the father of a 17-year-old. Wilbon says that he would also do anything for his son, and completely understands why LeBron confronted Smith for his son Bronny. Even if it wasn’t the best timing
Instead of going full throttle with the Bronny beef like most shows did, Wilbon noted that PTI limited the time it spent on covering Bronny James during the 30-minute show. They didn’t speak about him much once he and his dad made basketball history by taking the court together in Minnesota.
Media Obsession With Bronny James Is Hurting NBA, Ignoring Superstars
Wilbon feels that the media obsession with Bronny and LeBron James’ rift with Stephen A. Smith has hurt NBA coverage and ignored players who are actually carrying the league on a nightly basis with MVP performances such as SGA.
“They talked about him more than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander,” added Wilbon. “That’s pandering.”
Channing Frye Blasts ESPN and Stephen A. Smith For “Lying” About LeBron James Not Attending Kobe Bryant’s Memorial
While Wilbon blasted ESPN for pushing the narrative, former NBA player and (you guessed it) podcaster Channing Frye, who co-hosts the “Road Trippin” podcast with Richard Jefferson and is an analyst on NBA TV, chose to lick shots at Stephen A. Smith.
Reportedly, Smith lied on live TV about LeBron not being at the Kobe memorial and later apologized via the social media platform ‘X.’ when it was reported that Bron was actually there. Although there are no photos or videos of his appearance.
“Please don’t lie. Please don’t make sh** up. Fact-check yourself. The beef is not fun when you’ve run out of things to talk about. Just don’t lie to try and win an argument or to make yourself look better. If you don’t like him and say I don’t like you because of A, B, C, D, I get it. Some people are going to like it, some people aren’t. But don’t start making sh** That is way personal and has nothing to do with the beef that started when you said, ‘I’m pleading to you as a father.’ Cuz that one sentence is the reason for this whole thing,” said Frye.
Smith stubbed his toe a bit by referencing Kobe. When you are engaged in high-level, high money-generating shows such as the one we are witnessing with LeBron and SAS, both sides have to make sure that the accusations they are bringing forward are based in fact.
