I love Hasan Minhaj's Patriot Act. I thought the show should have run a few more seasons. Yes, I wouldn't say I like some of his topics, especially when he over-glorified some Filipino personalities. I mean, like or hate the person, anything pushed into our throats will go from hero to zero in an instant.
Anyway, Giannis Antetokounmpo went to The Daily Show to promote his foundation. Then he had a few jokes. Then Undisputed's Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe went insane and tore it up.
I can't stand Skip Bayless because it feels as if I am listening to an extreme "newscaster". I like to watch and listen to unbiased views. Sure, let them have a semblance of bias... but not in the sense of becoming part of the news. Late-night talk show hosts are guilty of this and for some reason, Bayless is the equivalent of a far left or far right newscaster in sports media.
Here's the clip.
Anyway, sometimes, I can't stand Hasan Minhaj... but only when he gets too preachy (he'll probably turn into one as the week finishes). This is one of those moments when he got a chance to make things right. Lucky for The Daily Show, they kept the cameras running and they saw the proof that Giannis was hesitant about doing the Kevin Durant joke. Yes, Giannis threw a vicious joke but it also proves that he did not have any intention of throwing shade at KD. In fact, he was apologetic after hitting that joke - which dumbfounded Hasan.
I think Bayless needs to own up to this. Because Hasan is kind of right - he is protecting Durant even if Durant doesn't want his protection. Bayless needs to empty his bank account and give some to Giannis' charity for every audience share the show got that day. And he can throw Shannon Sharpe there as well. Yes, the NBA players are paid to play ball in front of billions but at the same time, the truest NBA superstars are entertainers. This is basically like Manny Pacquiao and either Floyd Mayweather or Juan Manuel Marquez meeting in some gathering to exchange pleasantries.
And the thing about Hasan is that he has been part of the NBA scene for some time now. In one TDS segment, he had a verbal brawl with Ronny Chieng about hitting on big corporations and then joining an NBA All-Game sideshow.
He also had this thing with the dudes from First Take. It's not pretty.
Finally, about media impact. Yes, there is a problem with telling things as they are and snipping things to what they should look at. It's crazy to think that The Daily Show saved a potential Giannis persecution because Bayless and Sharpe had a slow news day. Yes, Giannis read the joke but he's probably going to meet up with Kevin Durant to apologize for what he said face-to-face. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant would rather go one-on-one with Charles Barkley than recognize Skip's fanboy love for him.
I think Hasan Minhaj can be a Daily Show host acted Trevor Noah vacated his role late last year. He'll probably fall into the Donald Trump trap most late-night hosts are in at the moment, but hopefully he won't be thin-skinned with all the negative reactions.