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ESPN’s Jay Bilas Unloads On Coaches Over Poor Press Conference Behavior

The college basketball analyst doesn’t understand why head coaches don’t understand the concept of talking after a game.
Jimmy Traina|
ESPN’s Jay Bilas says there’s no reason for coaches to behave poorly during postgame press conferences.
ESPN’s Jay Bilas says there’s no reason for coaches to behave poorly during postgame press conferences. | Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

1. During an interview with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on SiriusXM on Tuesday, ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas was an absolute breath of fresh air.

People closely tied to a sport usually don’t like to criticize anything or anyone involved in that same sport, even if certain behavior warrants it. Fortunately, Bilas is not one of those people and spoke the truth.

When Russo asked Bilas about UCLA coach Mick Cronin acting like a total bully with a reporter last week, Bilas explained that he “loved Mick,” but said, “I really didn’t like the press conference thing. I thought it was kind of petulant and unnecessary.”

Bilas then addressed all coaches who behave poorly during press conferences saying, “It’s not that hard. What do they expect? That they’re in a multibillion dollar entertainment industry and nobody’s gonna be interested?

“Look, I’m O.K. with the feeling that the media doesn’t understand basketball the same way coaches do. Congratulations. When I go into a restaurant, I’m not a chef, but I get to opine on the meal. I’m paying for it, I get to opine on it. I don’t see why this is so difficult. I understand they’re a competitor, but the competition is over and now it’s time to talk about it and it’s not that hard.”

Bilas wasn’t done ripping coaches who get snippy with reporters.

“They win and they’re nightclub comics,” he added. “They lose and they can be petty at times. I felt really good that Mick apologized about the whole thing, and to me it’s over. I guess I’m talking more broadly and globally on this. But these things aren’t that hard. There’s no reason to act this way. If you don’t like a question, just say, look I prefer not to answer that. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Bilas was on a roll, because he followed up those strong words with an even stronger stance when Russo asked about the tough travel schedule that Big Ten teams have to endure.

“The way I recall it,” said Bilas. “The Big Ten extended an invitation to UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon. If they didn’t want to travel, they should’ve said no. I’m not listening to any of that. These schedules are difficult and it’s gonna be tough. But I don’t get that. Your school is the one that decided to join the Big Ten. You could’ve stayed in the Pac-12 and you would’ve been home by dinner. That’s your choice.”

Well said on all matters.

2. Sports Business Journal reports that YouTube is the front-runner to get a package of four NFL games this upcoming season. What interests me the most about this development is who will call the four games since YouTube does not have dedicated NFL broadcasters.

3.  This is one of the crazier stats I’ve seen in a while.

4. I love crazy commuting nuggets, so I was blown away by this piece of info in a Sports Business Journal story by Josh Carpenter on sports television personalities who have very early hours.

ESPN’s Randy Scott, who hosts the 7 a.m. SportsCenter, goes to bed at 8 p.m., wakes up at 1:45 a.m., and drives NEARLY TWO HOURS from Boston to Bristol, Conn., in order to get to the studio around 4:30 a.m.

5. Tough look for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the NBA on last night’s Jeopardy!...

6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina features a conversation with Ben Koo, the owner and editor of Awful Announcing.

The podcast covers all things Awful Announcing, including the history of the site, Koo’s philosophy for what to post and not post, the dilemma in amplifying terrible people in sports media, whether Koo feels the company is respected within the sports media industry, the site’s relationship with the networks that air sports and much more.

Following Koo, Sal Licata from SNY TV joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include issues with trying to purchase MLB.tv through ESPN, the run of celebrity deaths, an iPhone problem that I’m having, Sal’s wild use of “legend” to describe a WWE announcer and more.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 95th birthday to the man who played the funniest character on The Sopranos, Dominic Chianese. Nobody on that show had better one liners than Uncle Junior.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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