One of the unintended consequences of Stephen A. Smith’s evisceration of Jason Whitlock on Wednesday night is that the Blaze Media host is now more relevant than he’s been in quite some time.
Having had his name mentioned at multiple points during Smith’s takedown of his former ESPN colleague, Dan Le Batard felt compelled to address the matter, as well as his previous friendship with Whitlock.
“I need to be careful here because this is not merely a person I have cared about, this is a person, Jason Whitlock, that has recently as a month ago — and he’s been slaughtering me and a lot of journalists I care about for a long time — I called a month ago, several times, leaving messages, just to see if he’s OK,” Le Batard revealed on Thursday’s episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. “I haven’t talked to him in a long a** time because some of this stuff hurts.
“My family knows Jason Whitlock. My brother spent time with Jason Whitlock and we were friends. I’d like to think whether it’s David Samson or Jason Whitlock that I try to see the best in people and that people are flawed and that people are confused.
“I don’t want to turn this into a defense of Jason Whitlock because he’s made me super angry. I’ve got friends of mine, who if they saw him, they would beat him up in the street. Multiple friends I have that are so mad on my behalf at what’s happened here when I tried very hard to care for this person.”
Le Batard went on to note that he believes the reason that Whitlock turned on him was because of something that his co-host, Jon “Stugotz” Weiner, said. Although Le Batard didn’t specify what the offending comment was.
https://twitter.com/LeBatardShow/status/1745476563397738755
Le Batard later revealed that the only time he had ever used John Skipper’s personal phone number when he was the president of ESPN was to vouch for Whitlock before the company rehired him in 2013. Whitlock’s second stint at “The Worldwide Leader” lasted just two years and included his tumultuous run as the editor-in-chief of The Undefeated.
As for Le Batard’s role in the Smith-Whitlock feud, Smith said that Le Batard and Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas had reached out to him in an attempt to extend an olive branch on Whitlock’s behalf following their falling out. Le Batard, however, disputed Smith’s version of the story, stating that he had reached out on his own volition as a friend of Whitlock’s.
Regardless of the specifics — Le Batard is admittedly hazy on what even caused the dispute in the first place — it’s clear that the Meadowlark Media co-founder still has a soft spot for Whitlock, as he took a reserved approach while discussing Smith’s comments on Thursday. That care, however, has seemingly gone unreciprocated by Whitlock, despite Le Batard’s efforts to reach out to his former friend as recently as a month ago.
And yes, Dan was dressed like Richard Simmons as he discussed all of this.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.