Affable ESPN NBA reporter Brian Windhorst was apparently on the receiving end of a tirade from a fellow hotel guest in Phoenix.
Appearing on a “Get Up” panel Monday morning discussing the 2023 NBA playoffs with Vince Carter and Jay Williams, Windhorst was asked by host Brian Custer why he seemed to be whispering on live TV.
“Well, we all have adverse situations, and apparently someone in the hotel room next to me was not a ‘Get Up’ viewer and not happy about the early wake-up call here in Phoenix,” Windhorst said.
“And let’s just say that messages have been delivered — not in a soft manner. I’m trying to avoid having a wrap on any part of my body.”
Windhorst was referencing the wrap Custer had around his right wrist, which he put on jokingly after Williams hacked his arm while explaining a basketball move during an earlier segment.
Windhorst was asked if he’d been delivered this request by the hotel manager.
“This individual did not contact the manager,” Windhorst answered. “But their point was made, uh, very strongly, so I’m trying to respect my neighbors here in Phoenix before 7 a.m.”
Windhorst is in Phoenix covering the first-round playoff series between the Clippers and Suns.
Los Angeles won Game 1 115-110 on the road Sunday night on the heels of a 38-point performance by Kawhi Leonard.
One viral moment that emerged out of the game was Russell Westbrook angrily confronting a Suns fan in a suite at the Talking Stick Arena during halftime.
“Watch your mouth, motherf–ker, watch your mouth,” Westbrook told a Suns fan who had apparently been heckling him.
Windhorst went viral during NBA free agency last summer, asking a bunch of rhetorical questions about moves the Jazz were making that effectively forecasted the trades of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
“The reason people liked it is because it was a different type of story,” Windhorst said on ESPN about the clip going viral.
“It’s not what they normally see on TV. One of the great things about ‘First Take’ is that the A-block is really long. It’s totally different from the rest of our shows. That was a factor that allowed me to have some room.
“When you’re telling a story like that, it essentially becomes a podcast, and I have a lot of experience doing podcasts. That’s the type of story you would tell, or the type of scenario you’d tell on a podcast. And even when I’m doing podcasts, even before we put podcasts on video, I would be sitting in my podcast studio alone. Sometimes I used to do them in the dark, because I like doing them in the dark. I would be demonstrative with my hands, even though nobody was in the room.”
