SI

Shannon Sharpe Found a Hilarious Way to Celebrate LeBron James Winning NBA In-Season Tournament

This was too good.

Kevin Sweeney

In this story:

The Lakers winning the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament gave Shannon Sharpe an excuse to bring out his “GOAT” mask on First Take Monday morning.

Sharpe, a longtime proponent of LeBron James as the NBA’s greatest player ever, wasn’t going to miss the chance to use the Lakers’ win over the Pacers Saturday to make his case, and had the entire ESPN set in hysterics in the process. Coming out of a commercial break, Sharpe donned a mask of a goat’s head, immediately going into a dialogue about “GOAT James”.

Stephen A. Smith could hardly watch, but host Molly Qerim was nearly in tears laughing.

This isn’t the first time Sharpe has used the mask. He wore it multiple times while debating Skip Bayless on Undisputed. But pulling it out for the first time with Stephen A. and the rest of the First Take team was bold, and it produced just the reaction Sharpe was looking for.

“You are unbelievable, man,” Smith said. “Where the hell did you find that mask?”

Meanwhile, Qerim noted that Sharpe was the first person to ever wear a mask on set of the show. And according to Sharpe, this won’t be the last time we see the hilarious costume on the First Take set.

“I told you GOAT James was going to make several appearances!” Sharpe said.

Published
Kevin Sweeney
KEVIN SWEENEY

Kevin Sweeney is a staff writer at Sports Illustrated covering college basketball and the NBA draft. He joined the SI staff in July 2021 and also serves host and analyst for The Field of 68. Sweeney is a Naismith Trophy voter and ia member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

Home/NBA