He might not recognize it, but Skip Bayless’s hottest take continues to be the belief that he doesn’t have any hot takes.
On the latest episode of The Skip Bayless Show podcast, the Fox Sports host responded to a listener question who asked him to assess his “hottest take.” Most people hear that question about Bayless and start rattling off a list of possible answers.
But Bayless can’t really answer it, because according to him, he doesn’t have hot takes. He says he has obvious analysis that is always factual and correct.
“I despise the term hot take,” Bayless said. “I despise it with all my heart and soul because it suggests fraudulence. It smells of contrived, as in, ‘What can I say today that might go viral? That might make me trend?’ Trust me, I do not sit around thinking, ‘I can say that, or maybe I can say that, that would be an even hotter take.’ I see it and I say it.”
“I’m not a poser, I’m not a grandstander, I’m not a windup toy, I’m not a caricature,” Bayless continued. “I am a natural-born opinionist. To me, a truth-teller. I see it and I say it, whether you like or not.”
Bayless is so much of a contrarian that the Fox Sports host is even a contrarian about whether or not he’s a contrarian. While he scoffed at the narrative that he is a hot take artist, Bayless surmised that his most controversial opinion would have to be about LeBron James. According to Bayless, the four-time NBA champion is not clutch.
“But that’s for me just a duh, that’s just obvious,” Bayless said of his LeBron takes. “I started seeing and saying that back in 2005 or 2006 and LeBron has routinely proven me right over the years…you know it and I know it.”
Bayless proceeded to name Terrell Owens, Tim Tebow, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady as players he has taken strong stances either for or against, claiming, “Forgive me, but I was proven right about all of them. Because I dug in with my opinion and I refused to waiver on my opinion.”
Despite years of counter-evidence, Bayless maintains that Tebow could be a great quarterback, while Rodgers is overrated with “some of the worst footwork I have ever seen.” Bayless ranked LeBron James as his ninth best player of all time and has seemingly aspired to seek and expose the NBA star’s flaws. But these are not hot takes, they’re just opinions we should agree with.
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