SI

Bill Walton Calls Out an ESPN Colleague and Labels Him a ‘Troll’

Also in Traina Thoughts: RIP, Tim McCarver; more ‘Inside the NBA’ tomfoolery; Goldberg rips Rihanna and more.

Jimmy Traina

1. In a normal case of colleague-on-colleague crime, there’s always a bit of skepticism about how genuine the heat may be because most coworkers don’t air their dirty laundry publicly.

When Bill Walton is involved in the colleague-on-colleague crime, things get EXTREMELY hazy because you just never know where Bill is coming from. And I say that in a positive way.

So I can’t say for sure that Walton going off Thursday night on Joe Lunardi, who handles ESPN’s Bracketology coverage, was 100% real, but it certainly seemed so.

During the Utah-Arizona game, Walton, calling the game on the Pac-12 Network, took up for the conference saying, “Look, Joe Lunardi is a troll who has no respect or consideration for the conference or champion.”

Walton’s play-by-play partner Roxy Bernstein chimed in, saying, “That’s not true.”

“It is true,” said Walton.

“That’s not true,” Bernstein interjected.

“You’re entitled to your opinion, even when you’re wrong,” Walton clapped back.

In his latest Bracketology, Lunardi had just two Pac-12 teams in the field.

What makes Walton’s verbal haymaker interesting is that he works for ESPN, but he made these comments on the Pac-12 network, which nobody watches. Would Walton have gone after Lunardi during a game he was calling for ESPN?

My guess is Walton and ESPN will chalk this up to “Walton being Walton,” but I don’t know how you can listen to that clip and think Walton was just kidding around.

But then again, it’s Bill Walton, so anything is possible.

2. Even though I’m a Yankees fan, I always enjoyed Tim McCarver’s work when he was an analyst for the Mets, and his voice is part of my childhood. And even though I’m a Yankees fan and this clip below makes my physically ill, it’s some of McCarver’s best work.

3. Former ESPN president John Skipper said this week that the NFL should make the Super Bowl a pay-per-view event. Skipper has said this before, but people still freaked out over the remarks.

Don’t freak out and don’t even pay attention to what Skipper has to say about the NFL and PPV. First off, the current NFL television deals go through 2033. Secondly, the NFL will never do this.

4. Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith tried to make a basket while tubing last night, but the best part was the commentary provided by Shaq and Charles Barkley.

5. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin knockoff, and one of the most boring wrestlers ever, who had just two moves, Goldberg, didn’t like Rihanna’s halftime show. “I was disgusted by it,” Goldberg said on his podcast. “That’s all. Let’s just say that. I thought it was horrible.”

6. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast recaps Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl LVII. The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis joined me, and we covered it all including Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen, Mike Pereira, Terry Bradshaw, Andy Reid’s weird media rule, Radio Row and Michael Irvin.

You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 60th birthday to the GOAT, Michael Jordan.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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