You have to be some kind of flawed basketball player to garner the wrath of Mike Breen, and the NBA world is now looking at you, Jordan Clarkson.
Clarkson put up 25 points off the bench Wednesday night for the Utah Jazz. And despite losing to the Knicks, he probably left Madison Square Garden feeling pretty good about his personal performance, until he heard this montage of calls from Breen, kindly compiled by the social media account TownsMuse.
for those of you that missed mike breen vs. jordan clarkson, an all-time classic https://t.co/DRFGc7KY0i pic.twitter.com/OQIWne7VEP
— TownsMuse (@TownsMuse) January 2, 2025
“Some very questionable shots from Jordan Clarkson,” Breen said as one of his quips while calling the Knicks-Jazz game. “Clarkson, just heaving them up there. He has taken some bad shots in the first half…Clarkson’s gonna shoot, no question about it. Comes up short…Clarkson steps back, throws up a brick…Clarkson, just a lot of dribbling tonight.”
We haven’t heard Breen get this testy with a player from the opposing team since Clarkson’s teammate Collin Sexton had the gall to trash talk Jalen Brunson. It’s not just what Breen said, it was the tone in which he said it. The same tone you would imagine Breen had when one of his kids came home with a disappointing report card. Breen wasn’t just annoyed by Clarkson, he was disappointed in him, and that’s worse.
The incessant dribbling and poor shot selection may have led to 25 points for Clarkson, but when the box score doesn’t tell the whole story, Breen will.