Brian Windhorst apparently got himself into trouble with one NBA All-Star.
The ESPN analyst Windhorst shared an interesting story during the latest episode of “The Hoop Collective.” Windhorst said that he was confronted during the 2024 Paris Olympics by Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo.
While Team USA Basketball was competing in Paris, Windhorst suggested on television that Adebayo’s minutes for Team USA should have potentially been going to Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum instead. Adebayo did not care for that take though and proceeded to confront Windhorst.
“I was explaining on TV, ‘I don’t see how Tatum is going to play unless somebody else doesn’t play.’ And I was like, ‘Maybe Bam Adebayo [shouldn’t play],” said Windhorst. “So I said that on American TV. And the next day … Bam was like, “Really? I’m not gonna play? I defend 1 through 5, bro.'”
Indeed, Adebayo, the five-time All-Defensive team selection, is a far superior defender to Tatum and thus made more sense on a USA Basketball roster with an excess of talented scorers already. Ultimately, Team USA went on to win the gold medal, defeating France by a final score of 98-87 in the championship game.
Meanwhile, this is far from the only time that Windhorst has drawn backlash with some of his opinions on the air. He was once notably accosted on the street by angry New York Knicks fans and also recently sparked negative attention by appearing to make a weight joke about Luka Doncic.
