SI

Luka Dončić Has a Funny Explanation for His F-Bomb, Gregg Popovich Has a Funny Reaction to Luka

Also in Traina Thoughts: New ‘SI Media With Jimmy Traina’ drops; NLCS Game 7 gets big ratings; Jason Kelce has beef and more.

Jimmy Traina

1. It’s so good to have Luka Dončić and Gregg Popovich back. Dončić’s Mavericks beat Popovich’s Spurs, 126–119 behind a triple double (33 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists) from Luka.

However, the real entertainment came after the game. During his postgame interview with ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth, Dončić casually dropped the four-letter word that starts with an “F.”

Athletes dropping f-bombs really isn’t all that scandalous. Those of us in the content and click game like to make it a scandalous thing, but pretty much everyone I know uses the f-word, so it’s really not that big of a deal.

However, what does make an f-bomb from an athlete great is their reaction after they realize they let the expletive fly.

Dončić’s outstanding reaction to using one of the famous seven dirty words was two-fold. First was his freak-out in real time, which included his hilariously trying to cover his mouth.

Then, after the game, Dončić tried to deny using the naughty word before saying, “Look, in Slovenia that’s not cussing really, we say these words for ‘good morning.’”

Meanwhile, Popovich was in midseason form during his postgame press conference. When a reporter asked the Spurs coach what he thought of Dončić’s performance, Popovich answered in vintage Popovich style. 

2. A brand-new episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped this morning, and it features a conversation with legendary radio host Dan Patrick.

Topics discussed include Patrick’s setting a retirement date in four years, why he will call it a career at that time and what he’ll do after giving up his radio show. Among the other items covered with Patrick: why he disliked his last two years at ESPN, the state of radio, the art of interviewing, how he critiques all of his interviews, Pat McAfee backlash and McAfee’s weekly interviews with Aaron Rodgers. Patrick also explains what his new book, The Occasionally Accurate Annals of Football, is all about and talks about turning down a chance to see the Rolling Stones in concert and the time he went to a Britney Spears concert by himself.

Following Patrick, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss Sal’s complete 180 regarding NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV, the Diamondbacks-Rangers World Series, Halloween, my night at a Billy Joel concert and much more

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

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

3. Full disclosure: Never heard of Blueface until today and still don’t have a clue who he is, but apparently he was at Sunday’s Steelers-Rams game at SoFi Stadium and brought a bunch of strippers into his suite. This did not sit well with Kelly Stafford, the wife of Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford.

I point this out because I find it fascinating that something like this can happen, and brutal fights between fans can happen on a weekly basis at games all across the country, and the NFL does nothing about it. This is a league that controls every aspect of everything. The NFL broadcast rights partners are terrified of the league. Yet, the NFL refuses to do anything about what takes place at its stadiums during games. It’s mind-boggling.

4. The Diamondbacks’ surprising win against the Phillies in Game 7 of the NLCS on Tuesday generated big ratings for TBS. Arizona’s 4–2 win was the most-watched MLB postseason game since 2015, drawing 9.1 million viewers.

The big number for baseball took a significant chuck of the NBA's Opening Night audience for TNT's doubleheader. From SportsMediaWatch.com:

“Tuesday’s NBA Opening Night doubleheader on TNT averaged 2.78 million viewers, marking the least-watched Opening Night slate in nine years (2014: 2.36M) and second-least watched in 15 (2008: 2.58M). Viewership declined 16% from last year (3.30M).”

5. Can someone please help one of the greatest players in NFL history here?

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6. Travis Kelce gets all the attention these days, but we must not sleep on Jason. On the latest edition of their New Heights podcast, the brothers read a letter from an Ohio amusement park that invited them to come down and enjoy the establishment. The letter stated that Travis could bring a “plus one,” which got quite a reaction from Jason.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: This one is for my fellow New Yorkers. If you grew up watching local news in the Big Apple, you are very familiar with reporter Arnold Diaz. Diaz passed away Wednesday at the age of 74. Diaz was known for his “Shame on You” segment in which he’d expose various business or scam artists who tried to pull one over on customers. The segment was great with the theme music, and Diaz’s methodically taking down the hucksters. Here’s one example.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out SI Media With 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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