“I don’t follow this, this carefully, but I watched it today”. This one remark from Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo elicited a ton of reactions, especially the viral ones, such as Monica McNutt’s facial expressions. There’s no denying the 65-year-old’s role in the sports mill. He is a hot-take merchant. But Russo can often take opinions so far that he loses support on the way. However, stating outrightly, “I don’t follow this” before launching into a lengthy rant about a contentious WNBA issue raises plenty of eyebrows. In fact, it led a WNBA expert to question who ESPN allows on their network.
On an episode of Good Fellow, Ros Gold-Onwude began discussing Chris Russo by first pointing out the absurdity of the situation. She had an interesting analogy to make. She explained that guests usually bring a gift or food as a sign of etiquette when visiting. Similarly, she felt that people like Russo, who don’t usually discuss the W, should lean more on the experts present at the table. That’s when she began taking an indirect jab at ESPN’s First Take and its panelist.
“I appreciate the platform, but often their coverage with these huge platforms is so like alarmist and often used to kind of s— on the league or used to point out moments when there’s mishaps or, you know, or like talk down on the women who are playing. It’s inflammatory coverage,” Ros Gold-Onwude said.
“So, you only come here to s— on the league, and talk about when things are on fire. I guess… How can you even be allowed to speak on a professional platform? First of all, where’s your… bring back shame. How can you speak so strong, when you are willingly willing to admit ‘I don’t watch, I don’t follow’, and like, if it was me I would have come in and had a much more demure, cutesy, you know, take,” Gold-Onwude ranted.
Chris Russo is primarily known for his coverage of sports, including MLB, NFL, and New York teams such as the Yankees, Mets, and Knicks. However, on occasion, he has also delved into the world of the WNBA. It was only back in January when the radio host trolled Caitlin Clark a bit after her appearance at a Chiefs game alongside Taylor Swift. He later apologized. However, that moment wouldn’t be anything in comparison to this recent one.
Despite admitting not knowing much, Chris Russo went on a major rant against Cheryl Reeve. The head coach was ejected from Game 3 of the semifinals and suspended for Game 4 after she argued with a ref over a foul call. Alyssa Thomas had injured Napheesa Collier while swiping the ball from the latter.
After claiming that it wasn’t a foul, Russo berated the Lynx HC by saying, “Reeve, the most disgraceful thing I have seen in 50 years of watching basketball. Cursing out fans, walking into the gym, going into the media room and killing the officials when the official got the call right… Terrible, terrible job by Reeve, she should apologize for garbage, ridiculous behavior.”
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Russo defended the WNBA’s officiating. During this, one couldn’t help but keep glancing at how co-host Monica McNutt was reacting. She had her hands on her chin, or on her face, or had them covering her eyes. At other times, the eyes widened, the jaw dropped, and so on. Circus, absolute circus.
Awful Announcing’s Brandon Contes wrote, “McNutt gave a master class in the five stages of listening to Dog rant about the WNBA.”
Although Monica McNutt didn’t say anything, it was evident that she wasn’t impressed with who ESPN had brought in to cover the recent updates in the WNBA world. Unsurprisingly, this seems to be somewhat of a pattern with Chris Russo.
This Isn’t Chris Russo’s First Rodeo at the ‘Controversy Desk’
Back in February, Chris Russo sat down for a conversation with Stephen A. Smith and Brian Windhorst. He went on a full-on rant against Kevin Durant, who was with the Suns at the time. While the vet is now with the Houston Rockets, trade talks about him were a significant topic of conversation during the early part of the year. Russo dived into history and highlighted how “the Durant mystique has taken a huge hit with the American Sports Fan”.
His reasoning was based on the fact that, over the course of 18 years, Durant had been with four teams and left them at unexpected moments. For the radio host, this created dysfunction, as he stated, “Think of the mess that he has been. He got Atkinson fired. He’s now one of the best coaches in the league. The Nets were a disaster. He got swept by the Celtics in the playoffs. He forces himself to Phoenix. He goes to Phoenix. They get molded by Denver.”
Soon, this take reached the ears of former NBA star Stephen Jackson. He took a screenshot, posted the same on an Instagram Story, and wrote, “ESPN hire anybody.” However, this was not the only instance when Chris Russo triggered a player.
Back in November 2022, after he dropped some comments against Draymond Green, the Warriors star said, “I’m not one to pull the race card out very often because I think, you know, we all know the role that race players in the world we live in and so I’m not the one to pull the race card very often but that definitely had a very racist connotation.” Yikes!
It’s no secret that Chris Russo is a controversial figure. Now, whether he faces further backlash over his recent WNBA take is something that remains to be seen. What do you think should be done?
