Ted Leonsis Made Things a Little Awkward When Honoring Russell Westbrook

In this weekend's Hot Clicks: Ted Leonsis wasn't quite living in the moment, Kelvin Benjamin's possible return to tight end and more.

Ted Leonsis

On Friday night, the Washington Wizards played their first home game since Russell Westbrook broke Oscar Robertson’s NBA record for career triple-doubles in Monday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

Before the game, Westbrook was honored with a No. 182 jersey, representing his career triple-doubles, from team owner Ted Leonsis. Seven seconds after the jersey was unveiled, Leonsis grabbed his phone, catching the attention of Westbrook for a split-second:

1⃣8⃣2⃣

The @WashWizards honor Russ' all-time triple-double record! pic.twitter.com/nLCvdcpSt1

— NBA (@NBA) May 15, 2021

Five seconds later, Leonsis walked away to, presumably, confirm his UberEats delivery or return to his Clash of Clans game.

“I've been informed that Ted Leonsis stepped aside to take a picture on his cellphone before Russell returned to the huddle with his teammates,” Michael Lee tweeted after the game. “No harm. No foul.”

What appeared to be a hysterically disrespectful moment was actually a harmless attempt at a photo.

Kelvin Benjamin

“Some teams look at him and say, 'He looks like a tight end, why don't we just play him as a flexed out tight end?'“ Daniel Jeremiah said of Florida State receiver Kelvin Benjamin days before the 2014 draft.

Benjamin was selected by the Panthers with the No. 28 pick and had 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie. After missing all of 2015 with a torn ACL, he didn’t match his rookie numbers but still had 941 yards and seven touchdowns in 16 games in 2016. Benjamin never sniffed those numbers again, battling injuries and ineffectiveness from 2017–18 with the Panthers, Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. And he hasn’t played since appearing in three games for the Chiefs in 2018.

Seven years after Jeremiah, among others, wondered if Benjamin could be used as a tight end, the New York Giants are wondering if Benjamin can be used as a tight end.

Among tryout players this weekend for Giants is expected to be WR Kelvin Benjamin, per source. Only 30 but hasn’t played since ‘18. Had over 1K yards as rookie before injuries derailed him. Originally drafted in Carolina by...Gettleman. Has work cut out for him. Giants deep at WR

— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) May 13, 2021

More NFL Notes

The Browns were hit with an NFL scheduling quirk we haven’t seen in 30 years … Biggest roster holes for all 32 teams after the draft … Ranking every NFL division by team strength … Retired Black players say NFL brain-injury payouts show bias … Crazy Pro Bowl stat for Bruce Matthews … NFL strength of schedule based on 2021 win totals.

How Have I Never Seen This...

This video of Nick Saban and Will Muschamp is absolutely hilarious 🤣 pic.twitter.com/YMQdTtyUAI

— Nick Saban is Kirby Smart’s Daddy (@BuiltBySaban) May 12, 2021

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