Skip Bayless has a reputation for rubbing his co-workers the wrong way. In recent times, he made an enemy of sorts in Shannon Sharpe, who left his spot opposite him at ‘Undisputed’ earlier this year and has since joined the ‘First Take’ cast at ESPN.
Bayless, of course, pioneered the show, which has been riding smoothly with Stephen A. Smith. Once upon a time, though, it used to be Skip’s show. And he likely had a say in who got on there and who didn’t.
Another former ESPN employee, Jay Crawford, recently revealed how former NBA star Jalen Rose got banned from appearing on ‘First Take’.
Rose was surprisingly let go by ESPN this year but had a long run with the company. One of his most notable moments came when he embarrassed Skip Bayless and referred to him as “Water Pistol Pete” after reminding him that he averaged 1.4 points as a high school player after Skip tried to show him up on live television.
Although Bayless was the one who decided to get personal in the first place, he wasn’t happy about Jalen coming back at him that way. And, according to Crawford, the ex-Fab Five member was done as far as ‘First Take’ was concerned.
“The show was taken to heights we had never reached, and Skip was the guy who took us there,” Crawford told the Awful Announcing Podcast. “No question about it. I don’t know if Skip ever gave that edict, it was just what producers on the show were telling me, ‘Jalen’s been on the show for the last time.’”
“Obviously, Jalen’s role at ESPN would only get bigger over time. He ended up being part of the NBA coverage and all that. For a time, he had a very big role at ESPN. But I do know that the relationship between Skip and Jalen was fractured.”
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Crawford noted that things got out of control on the day.
“I understand that Skip wanted to defend what was now his record,” he explained. “I’m sure he never thought he’d be in a position to do that. And here’s Jalen, a guy, who was part of the ‘Fab Five,’ had a nice professional career, and he’s involved with this show now where one of the hosts is gonna explain why he only averaged [1.4] points per game. It just got out of control.”
Jalen and Skip did have a sit down on the show to hash things out the following day, but that was about the most he got from ‘First Take’ after embarrassing the senior journo, that is until Skip left for FOX.
