1. Quick programming note before we get started today. Traina Thoughts will be taking a little break and I'll be back next Wednesday, March 2. There will be a brand-new SI Media Podcast for your listening pleasure with First Take's Molly Qerim that will drop very early Thursday morning, so be sure to subscribe to the pod on Apple or Spotify or follow me on Twitter to get the link.
Also, on Friday, I will be filling in for Maggie Gray on The Maggie and Perloff Show and will cohost with Andrew Perloff. The show airs on CBS Sports Radio and on CBS Sports Network from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET, so check that out if you'd like.
Now back to our regularly scheduled programming ...
One of the best things going on in sports media these days is Richard Jefferson on TikTok.
The ESPN NBA studio host and game analyst normally spends his time on the app roasting random people, colleague Kendrick Perkins and himself.
Here is a brief sampling of some of Jefferson’s excellent work:
However, Jefferson’s greatest piece of work came Tuesday when he used TikTok to respond to former Arizona teammate Gilbert Arenas, who took some shots at Jefferson on a podcast.
Arenas expressed his shock that Jefferson was drafted ahead of him in the 2001 NBA draft. Arenas went to Golden State at No. 31 while Jefferson was selected by the Rockets at No. 13.
“You know they picked Richard Jefferson, right?” an incredulous Arenas asked. “I was like, How did they pick Richard Jefferson? I’m the No. 1 scorer on the team. I’m the best player on our team. He is option three or four.”
Jefferson got wind of Arenas’s comments and decided to address them on TikTok, in which he spent two-plus minutes absolutely destroying Arenas in the most hilarious way possible.
The lecture started with the line, “Let’s talk about why Gilbert went from first round to second round” and that’s exactly what Jefferson did in a masterful way.
I don’t want to give all the lines away because you need to watch the video to get the full enjoyment, so I’ll just let you know that at different points in the video, Jefferson calls Arenas an “immature a--hole,” an “idiot” and reveals that Arenas “had some situations with guns in college” and told NBA scouts at a predraft symposium that he wanted to be “an international pimp.”
The entire video is a work of art by Jefferson, who hilariously capped it off with, “Love you, bro.”
I’ve been a fan of Jefferson for many years and had him on the SI Media Podcast back in 2020:
I’ve said many times that he is a rising star in sports media. I’d love to see Jefferson one day make the jump to Turner, where his unique personality would really be able to shine.
2. I'm not a doctor or a scientist, but I find it fascinating that 12 days of pooping and vomiting lead to ... gratitude for people in your life and an Instagram post. But that's just me.
3. Here's one of the worst ejections you'll see in any sport ever. UConn coach Danny Hurley got booted from last night's game for ... wait for it ... wait for it ... wait for it ... pumping up the home crowd.
4. Heat star Jimmy Butler, who wears No. 22, was all about 2/2/22 yesterday.
5. Threw out this tweet last night.
Amazingly, I got many replies from people saying “Scott’s Tots” is the worst Office episode. I was flabbergasted. “Scott’s Tots” was brilliant cringe and it makes me sad that people can't see that.
6. The latest SI Media Podcast features New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand joining me for a discussion on a variety of topics. Items covered during the podcast include NBC’s broadcast of Super Bowl LVI, the futures of Al Michaels and Troy Aikman, Rams coach Sean McVay possibly getting into broadcasting, whether Tom Brady will try to get into broadcasting, Chris Russo and Stephen A. Smith on First Take, ESPN’s deal with the ManningCast and much more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Stitcher.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
