“White Chocolate” is back. Retired NBA champion and human highlight reel Jason Williams is back on the scene with a new media gig.
As Barstool Sports staffs up for its new, forthcoming television show on FS1, owner Dave Portnoy announced Thursday that he has hired Williams to join the team. Portnoy struck up a relationship with Williams recently through Williams’ Barstool fandom, and now the longtime NBA point guard will be a front-facing talent for the company.
“He’s a Barstool guy. He reached out to me,” Portnoy explained Thursday on The Unnamed Show podcast. “He’s like, ‘Hey I love Barstool, there’s all these basketball podcasts and whatnot that want me a part of it, I think I fit in here.'”
Earlier this year, Williams joined Portnoy in Charlotte for a “One Bite Pizza Review” video. According to Portnoy this week on The Unnamed Show, they were together for a bass fishing trip along with Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss (a college buddy of Williams’) and hit it off.
Dave Portnoy felt that Jason Williams was a good fit for Barstool with his sense of humor and versatility, and made the hire.
“He knows everything,” Portnoy said. “He knows all sports, he watches everything. So I think he’ll be a good fit. So he’ll be part of that FS1 show.”
Besides the star Barstool talent that already committed to being on the FS1 show, this is the first concrete word from Portnoy about the cast for the 8 a.m. ET show. That two-hour show, which is still yet to be named, launches Aug. 25. Previously, Portnoy, Dan “Big Cat” Katz and Eric “PFT Commenter” Sollenberger revealed they will each appear once weekly.
Now, the FS1 show has a recognizable basketball personality in Jason Williams.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.