Louisville forward James Scott plays with an iconic face mask and knows his role for the Cardinals: play defense and dunk the ball. So, on Saturday’s call of the ACC Tournament Final, ESPN analyst Cory Alexander was ready to give Scott a nickname.
During a replay review midway through the first half, Alexander shared his idea with his broadcast partners Dave O’Brien and Dick Vitale.
“You talk about Scott … when you see a mask like that, you think of two separate movies,” Alexander said. “One, of course, Bane in [The Dark Knight Rises] but also Hannibal Lecter (in Silence of the Lambs). So, when you look at the mask, people have thought of different nicknames for him. With him being second nationally in dunks … what do you think about ‘Silence of the Slams’?”
Vitale was not impressed.
“You worked on that all day,” Vitale heckled. “You rehearsed it; you looked in the mirror.”
CORY ALEXANDER IS LAME AS HELL!
And Dick Vitale keeps throwing shade:
“You looked in the mirror and rehearsed that.”“It’d be interesting if broadcasters had NIL and the transfer portal.”
Ah, ESPN, this telecast is pure ass. pic.twitter.com/FNxhDPyAn7
— 35KYSports (@35KYSportsMedia) March 16, 2025
But Vitale’s problem with Alexander’s line wasn’t that it distracted from the game or spotlighted a random bit player. The problem appeared to be that Vitale had a topic of his own to throw out.
“I was thinking earlier, can you imagine if broadcasters, we had NIL and we had transfer portal?” Vitale asked just as the arena PA announcer delivered the referee’s decision on the review. “It would be interesting.”
After a minute of movie talk and a Dick Vitale thought bubble, O’Brien ripped back control of the broadcast.
“I love that thought, but this one’s upgraded to a Flagrant 1,” O’Brien said as the audience was reminded that a basketball game was taking place.
Just another day in the wild world of ESPN college basketball broadcasts.
