Bear with Skip Bayless for a second here.
The 72-year-old devoted a segment of his The Skip Bayless Show to talking about white people — white basketball players, to be more specific. Anything goes on his podcast now that he’s free of TV’s “boundaries or handcuffs.” He promised an unfiltered version of himself — and he’s delivered for the most part.
From behind-the-scenes details about his colon to stories of run-ins with ESPN’s PR team, Bayless is airing it all out.
This time, he went further, sharing how his critique of white centers a decade ago stirred up backlash and while also exploring how Chet Holmgren’s rise in the NBA might signal a shift.
“Chet Holmgren is shattering the mold of the white stiff,” explained Bayless. “I’ve always been very publicly honest about what — for a long time — I thought about taking American white centers in the Lottery, which is don’t, just don’t. Yep, there had been a Bill Walton…There had been a a Dave Cowens in Boston, very good. There’d been a Chris Kaman, even a Brook Lopez; they’ve had their moments. But there’s been so many, many other American white centers who were drafted way too high, only because they were 7-feet or taller…
“For me, a huge NBA fan that I am, this hit the fan just before the 2012 draft. This was soon after LeBron one his first ring. The player in question was 7-foot-1 Illinois center Meyers Leonard, who was projected to go late Lottery. And on First Take, I said, ‘No way.’ I’d seen enough of Meyers Leonard in college basketball, and I said on TV that I’m always a little leery of American centers going in the Lottery — American white centers going in the Lottery.”
That’s not all Bayless said.
“Not foreign-born centers; they often have a much higher skill set and skill level and often come from tough backgrounds with a tough background edge,” he continued. “From Arvydas Sabonis to now Nikola Jokić, the Euro centers have consistently proven to be worth high picks. But, Meyers Leonard, no.”
Bayless never did forget his disdain for Leonard, as evidenced by the below tweet nearly seven years later.
MEYERS LEONARD??????????????
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) May 21, 2019
Bayless also recalled the backlash his comments had stirred, diving into how he defended his perspective with ESPN’s PR team.
“But, of course, my mere mention of ‘white’ on TV sent the bloggers into tizzy fits,” said Bayless.”‘You can’t say that on TV.’ Was I being racist? Was I being reverse racist? How about I was being right? How about I was just being honest? But, of course, I got a call from ESPN PR. The PR woman was very upset with me, and she asked, ‘Why did you have to bring up race?’ And I explained how, over the previous 20-or-so years, white American centers had been bad Lottery picks; I gave her the facts. She said, ‘Well, you could’ve made that point without bringing up race.’ I said, ‘No, in this case, race is the point.'”
“And after all, I am white, so it wasn’t like I was a white commentator ripping Black American centers,” he added. “Nope. This was, so to speak, ‘white on white crime.’ Maybe for some white people, that was their problem with what I was saying. So, guess what the Portland Trail Blazers did? They took Meyers Leonard with the 11th overall pick. Meyers Leonard did last 10 NBA seasons, but, for his career, he averaged six points, four rebounds, one assist and 1/3 of a block per game.
“Now, I will give him this: he was only 1-of-12 from 3 in college, so I never thought about him shooting 3’s. But as his career went on, he did turn himself into a pretty good 3-point shooter; he wound up shooting 39 percent from 3 for his career. He hung on as a stretch five…great, that’s what you got for the 11th pick in the draft?”
Bayless will never be swayed from his convictions, and with this unfiltered platform, he’ll keep pushing the boundaries—even if that means talking about “white-on-white crime” on his podcast.
