ESPN's Bomani Jones Wannabe Calls It Racist To Say NHL Players Show More 'Passion' Than NBA Players

ESPN finally rid itself of Bomani Jones in 2023 after years of him using the network to audition himself as the Al Sharpton of sports. Long story short, the audience rejected Jones. Every show he hosted failed--badly.

Yet despite his departure, Bomani-like rhetoric remains across the channel. Put simply, a less talented Bomani Jones has since emerged--a wannabe, if you will. 

In 2021, ESPN hired a guy by the name of David Dennis Jr. Dennis is the son of a civil rights activist, which ESPN considered notable in its post-George Floyd culture. 

Call it nepotism, DEI, or simply bad management, but ESPN now features Dennis all across the network. In doing so, he directly undermines the brand's efforts to be seen as a serious sports channel. He's a buffoon.

This week, Dennis called the argument that NHL players are more passionate about their craft than NBA players--well, you guessed it--racist.

"The notion that NHL players are innately more passionate than NBA players and that NBA players are innately more selfish comes from a deeply anti-Black place. Fact is if NBA players showed the type of ‘passion’ NHL players showed they’d get the national guard called on them. Stop playing in my face," Dennis said on-air, which he reposted on Bluesky.

Of course, he's on Bluesky.

David Dennis Jr. (Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images)

Dennis references conversations earlier this month about how "passionate" hockey players were during the 4 Nations Face-Off compared to how little effort basketball players show during the All-Star Game.

In reality, the conversations are fair. Don't ask us, ask the NBA. 

It's not just the All-Star Game that lacks passion. Last year, the NBA introduced an in-season tournament with financial incentives, essentially bribing players to take regular-season games seriously. A concept called "load management" exists in the NBA because players choose to skip games for rest, even without injury. 

Current and former NBA players likely wouldn't deny that hockey players are more "passionate." It's hardly up for debate. Hockey players don't take games off.

Still, David Dennis Jr. saw an opportunity. He saw fans compare a majority-white league (the NHL) favorably to the majority-black league (the NBA), and he whipped out the race card.

A deeply anti-black place.

At least Bomani's race-baits were more fun to debunk. Dennis' are just lazy and lame. Last summer, he argued that Caitlin Clark, as a white American, has a "moral obligation" to defend the black players smearing and trying to injure her. 

Yeah, that's not how life works. 

Dennis also said he is better at media than Joe Rogan. Seriously. 

Also, we reject the hypothesis that Americans watch basketball and are blinded by blackness, as Dennis claims. 

Clark is the most famous basketball player in America. Nikola Jokic is the best basketball player in the NBA. Cooper Flagg is the best player in college basketball. And right now, Luka Doncic is the most discussed player in basketball.

They are all white.

Frustration with basketball players has nothing to do with skin color, and everything to do with effort. Hockey players are more passionate. And David Dennis Jr. shouldn't have a platform on ESPN if all he has to offer is weak impressions of Bomani Jones.