LeBron James: Will Jason Whitlock’s exit from Fox Sports end hot takes?
By Ronald Agers
Jason Whitlock had plenty of hot takes about LeBron James.
Jason Whitlock’s tenure at Fox Sports ended over the weekend. His controversial views rubbed many fans and colleagues the wrong way around the sports world. Lake Show Life does an in-depth discussion on if this is the start of a change of sports analysis.
The world as we know it is in a state of transition. With the violent death of George Floyd last week, not only is there protests of systematic racism, but there is a broad sweeping of sound bites and social media statements that are being brought to the forefront and analyzed. There was an old saying that started as far back when emails were en vogue.
Think twice before you hit send.
Who would have thought that former Los Angeles Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins would expose Sacramento Kings TV announcer Grant Napear on a tweet that cost him his job?
Lol as expected.
— DeMarcus Cousins (@boogiecousins) June 1, 2020
The flood gates opened swiftly as many former Kings came out of the woodwork to support Boogie.
"Demarcus we know and have known who grant is. The team knows as well. I’ve told them many times. They’ve seen it. They know who he is. Cousins reply: It’s all love to the fullest big bro, but I won’t be calling in to the show. I vowed to never help that show. I am looking forward to the response though! Thanks"
"Would expect nothing less from a closet racists"
“Closet racist” is a strong phrase, but could be linked to anyone these days that makes the wrong statement that is attached to the protests. All Lives Matter is near the top of the list. After Andre Miller weighed in on the matter, Napear tried to clarify his comments.
If it came across as dumb I apologize. That was not my intent. That's how I was raised. It has been engrained in me since I can remember. I've been doing more listening than talking the past few days. I believe the past few days will change this country for the better! https://t.co/Gsh84BPBEk
— Grant Napear (@GrantNapearshow) June 1, 2020
Monday he was put on leave from his radio show, by Tuesday he resigned as Kings’ play-by-play man and lost his radio show he co-hosted with former Sacramento Kings guard Doug Christie.
While Napear lost his association with the Sacramento Kings, another personality made his exit from a major sports organization as well. His name is eerily familiar and been covered on Lake Show Life. His name? Jason Whitlock.
Jason Whitlock’s departed from Fox Sports on Sunday after his contract was not re-signed. As you can see in the Grant Napear situation, his controversial views may not be a coincidence, but it is a convenient example of the possible changes in how sports will be covered and analyzed going forward into the immediate future.
To be clear, anyone of Jason Whitlock’s stature getting released from a major sports network is a surprise, but Lake Show Life saw the writing on the wall three weeks ago when Whitlock criticized LeBron James for speaking out against the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in a tweet that tried to tie in Michael Jordan’s documentary “The Last Dance”.
RELATED: LeBron James: A Fox Sports civil war started over Ahmaud Arbery tweet?
If that wasn’t bad enough (Please believe it was worse!) Jason Whitlock’s criticism of LeBron’s behavior at his son’s AAU game might have shown insight that the ratings of his show were low.
RELATED: Los Angeles Lakers: Jason Whitlock tells LeBron James to “Sit yo A– down!
To the sports fans that believe maybe there is a possible change in sports analysis, you may be getting it with Fox Sports 1 cutting ties with Jason Whitlock.
Lake Show Life goes into an in-depth discussion on where the sports coverage is going. No longer is “Hot Takes” going to be enough to survive in this business. Let’s start looking at the end of days for Jason Whitlock as an example.