Over the course of the past two weeks, there has been shortage of reaction to Harrison Butker’s commencement speech at Benedictine College.
Never one to shy away politically charged conversations, Stan Van Gundy is the latest to weigh in on the Kansas City Chiefs kicker’s comments.
Like many, the former NBA head coach-turned-TNT analyst took issue with Butker’s speech, which has been called misogynistic, homophonic and antisemitic. But in addition to making it clear he disagrees with Butker’s “backwards” comments, Van Gundy emphasized his opposition by denouncing him as not only a public speaker, but also as a fantasy football player.
“I’ll tell you, I’m going this far, he was a kicker on my fantasy team last year. I won’t take him this year,” Van Gundy said. “I’m boycotting him now.”
“It’s Stand Van Gundy!” a laughing Le Batard responded.
Van Gundy was seemingly already laughing by the time he announced his opposition to drafting Butker as a fantasy football player; perhaps he knew it would sound ridiculous ahead of time or maybe he only realized it as it was coming out of his mouth. In any event, the 64-year-old seems to be aware that him not drafting Butker for his fantasy football team is irrelevant to everyone except himself and the other fantasy football players in his league.
That, however, likely won’t stop Van Gundy’s comment from becoming fodder for those who live to complain about “cancel culture. Just ignore the part where Butker remains employed, has the support of his team and has seen his jersey sales skyrocket in recent weeks. How can free speech really be free if it can result in an ex-NBA coach blacklisting you from his fantasy football roster?
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.