ESPN has generally been very careful to cover the saga involving NFL reporter Dianna Russini and New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. But TNT Sports’ Inside the NBA production crew wasn’t afraid to go there in its first season with the Worldwide Leader.
After the Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series on Sunday, Inside the NBA followed on ESPN (the game was on ABC). At the end of the program, Inside the NBA aired its “Gone Fishing” segment, which mocks teams eliminated from the playoffs. The “Gone Fishing” graphics always show stars from the team that has been eliminated, and they frequently include notable figures from the sports and pop culture worlds relating to that team’s city.
Well, the Boston Celtics were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs in a Game 7 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night. And the Inside the NBA “Gone Fishing” graphic included Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Bill Simmons, John Krasinski, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in Good Will Hunting form… and Russini and Vrabel.
The graphic featured Vrabel holding Russini (who worked at ESPN from 2015 to 2023) at the front of the boat as her arms stretched out a la the “I’m flying” moment between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic.
Usually, the Inside the NBA crew isn’t afraid to speak its mind. But Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson didn’t know what to do with this one.
“You guys are…” Barkley said, likely referring to the production crew that put the graphic together.
“Our buddy Bill Simmons is in there, John Krasinski, Mark Wahlberg,” Johnson said.
“Who are the two people at the front?” Smith said, surely trying to bait Barkley or Shaq into addressing it. “I don’t know them.”
“Stop it,” Barkley responded. “Stop it.”
“Ben Affleck and Matt Damon on there, Tatum and Brown,” Johnson continued. “That’s all I see on that boat. I don’t see anything else.”
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.