Sage Steele has soured on the NBA since working for ESPN, and it doesn’t seem like Doc Rivers or Steve Kerr are candidates to lure her back.
Steele was once a focal point of ESPN’s NBA coverage, even hosting Countdown for several seasons for the network. Since leaving ESPN in 2023, however, Steele has aligned less with the NBA as she leans more into conservative commentary. And during a recent appearance on Dave Rubin’s The Rubin Report, Steele said she didn’t watch an NBA game this past season until the playoffs, claiming her years of getting a behind-the-scenes view of the league made her dislike it even more.
“Just knowing that so many of them are full of sh*t with what they say versus what they do. And seeing the passive aggressiveness from some of these head coaches, whether it’s Steve Kerr or Doc Rivers — these people that I used to call a friend, especially Doc,” Steele said.
After previously calling Rivers a friend, Steele says any recent interactions have been limited to the now-former NBA head coach sending her DMs to complain about her pivot to being an openly conservative talker.
“I’m going to show you later, the DMs from this man,” Steele continued. “Pages and pages of why I’m such an idiot to be a Republican or conservative and support Donald Trump. Out of the blue, he would send me clips, and I’m like, ‘I just want to talk basketball with you’ or ‘How are your kids…?’
“Instead, it’s, ‘I’m so disappointed’ and the sellout thing with a coach. That’s what turns people off with sports. It doesn’t mean you can’t have that opinion. I did too. I just happened to not do it when I was working in sports.”
After drawing Rivers’ ire, Steele went so far as to speculate whether players with conservative views would be afraid to share them publicly, fearing they might face reduced playing time from a politically outspoken coach.
But Steele doesn’t have to worry about Rivers calling her an idiot again, claiming he has since blocked her social media accounts despite their previous friendship. Like Kerr, Rivers has been one of the more politically outspoken NBA figures in recent seasons. During his brief tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks, Rivers spoke out against ICE, criticized a Trump rally at Madison Square Garden, and narrated a commercial supporting Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com