Former NBA head coach Sam Mitchell found himself in a heated and awkward exchange with his NBA TV co-host Chris Miles during Friday night’s broadcast. The two were previewing upcoming preseason games, including the Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors matchup, when a seemingly innocuous question from Miles took the conversation in an unexpected direction.
Miles asked Mitchell for his thoughts on why Steve Kerr, despite coaching the U.S. men’s basketball team to a gold medal at the Olympics, didn’t personally receive a gold medal. Mitchell took the opportunity to express his feelings about how coaches are often undervalued, especially in the context of international competitions like the Olympics.
“It just tells you how they value coaches… not at all,” Mitchell remarked, clearly frustrated by the lack of recognition given to coaches.
That’s when things took a sharp turn. Miles, sensing an opportunity to lighten the mood, responded with a quip: “I’m surprised coaches get a paycheck for this show. I think maybe you should do this pro bono, my friend.”
What started as a playful comment quickly escalated, with Mitchell turning the conversation personal. He suggested that he wasn’t paid much for his work at NBA TV and fired back at Miles, implying that since his co-host was so wealthy, perhaps Miles should be the one working for free.
The tension didn’t stop there. As the show continued and the panel moved on to discuss other games, the conversation kept circling back to money. Mitchell repeatedly made references to how rich Miles supposedly was, even joking about the number of properties Miles owned.
At one point, Mitchell went so far as to give out the address of a property in Florida that he claimed belonged to Miles, leaving viewers baffled by the bizarre and personal nature of the exchange.
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Though the two hosts managed to remain somewhat professional throughout the segment, Mitchell continued to needle Miles, making it clear that he was still irked by the earlier remarks.
The strange back-and-forth left fans and viewers puzzled, as the tension between the two co-hosts simmered just beneath the surface.
What should have been a straightforward discussion about preseason NBA games took an unexpected turn into a personal, offbeat exchange, leaving many wondering if there were underlying issues between the two. Though the two professionals managed to get through the rest of the show, the awkwardness of the moment was hard to ignore.