Doc Rivers should have to own his words, but Shannon Sharpe believes an ESPN journalist should have attempted to protect the NBA head coach.
Senior NBA writer for ESPN, Marc J. Spears recently interviewed Rivers for Andscape as he approaches Phil Jackson on the all-time coaching wins list. And during the interview, Spears asked Rivers about the criticism he’s received for blowing four 3-1 series leads in the NBA playoffs during his career. Rivers’ response garnered backlash after claiming he should get more credit for the three wins in those series’.
Tuesday morning on First Take, Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe both aptly cringed at Rivers’ self-defense. But Sharpe took his response a step further, by questioning whether Spears gave Rivers the opportunity to request having that portion of the interview edited out before it was released. Sharpe noted that while conducting interviews on Club Shay Shay, there have been times he calls something the guest said out to confirm they’re comfortable leaving it in the edited version of the show.
“If I’m Marc J. Spears, I’m gonna say, ‘Doc, are you sure, are you absolutely certain you want this out there? Because do you understand how bad this is going to make you look?'” – Shannon Sharpe on Doc Rivers defending blowing 3-1 leads in the playoffs pic.twitter.com/B4rqdb65GM
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 25, 2025
“If I’m Marc J. Spears, I’m gonna say, ‘Doc, are you sure, are you absolutely certain you want this out there? Because do you understand how bad this is going to make you look when people read this? Because this is your words. Are you sure you want this out here?’” Sharpe asked. “I can’t believe Doc wanted that out there.”
Maybe Sharpe believes the best path to creating an entertaining interview podcast is by ensuring a safe, comfortable space through giving his guests the opportunity to edit their words. And that’s fine, especially since he’s open about it.
Sharpe has been clear that he is not a journalist, stating he doesn’t claim to ask hard-hitting questions on his podcast. But Spears is a journalist. And it’s one thing to clarify whether something was said on or off the record, but in no way should Spears be held even remotely responsible for what Rivers offered during their Q&A.
Rivers didn’t have the foresight to know defending his blown 3-1 series leads in the playoffs was going to come across poorly. That’s not Spears’ fault or responsibility. Journalists are accountable to their readers and audience, not to protecting their source from criticism.