Shaquille O'Neal smilingNEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 22: Shaquille O’Neal attends the 44th Annual Sports Emmy Awards at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on May 22, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal has pointed to the one ESPN employee who he deems unfirable following the latest round of layoffs taking place at the company.

Last Friday proved a real shocker as several big names were let go, including Max Kellerman, Keyshawn Johnson, Jalen Rose, Suzy Kolber, and Jeff Van Gundy.

There are folks still employed at The Worldwide Leader in Sports considered to be untouchable. It would be hard to imagine the likes of Stephen A. Smith, Scott Van Pelt, or Adrian Wojnarowski getting fired by ESPN. But, according to Shaq, there’s only one person who’s actually safe, and that’s Brian Windhorst.

When it comes to NBA insiders, Woj is thought to be the man as he’s been the one to break hundreds of big stories, but Windhorst has dropped some pretty big scoops himself. Woj and Shams Charania might be the go-to guys during free agency and trade season, but Windy is around all year.

Windhorst, 45, is a respected journalist at ESPN and is hardly ever one to stir up controversy. Even Woj has been suspended for swearing at a United States senator in an email while we all know Stephen A’s history.


Shaq seemed to suggest as much after sharing an Instagram reel branding Windy “untouchable” after 20 employees were fired this past Friday.

More firings are expected on the back of last week’s cut. It appears Windhorst won’t be among them.

Mavericks No Show in NBA Finals Game 1 Against Celtics Leads to Unexpected Drop in Viewership

Mavericks cause rating dropDallas Mavericks (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The 2024 NBA Finals clash was expected to be exciting between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics, but the same didn’t show in numbers. According to Sports Media Watch’s reports, Thursday night’s game recorded an average of 5.7 rating and 10.99 million viewers on ABC, which is the least views any Finals Game 1 has registered since 2007.

Both ratings and viewership dropped 5% compared to the 2023 Finals Game 1. Last year, the Nuggets and Heat captured 6.0 and 11.58 million on ABC and ESPN2, whereas the Warriors and Celtics successfully brought in 6.4 and 11.90 million in 2022.

Considering the huge followers that the Celtics have and the growing fan base that Mavs’ Luka Doncic is acquiring day by day with his exceptional performance, much higher numbers were anticipated for the final matchup.

One reason could be the Cs’ dominance, outscoring the Western team by 21 points in the first half. This upset the Mavs fans and the Boston rival fans, who didn’t wait up to watch the Dallas team get beaten by 89-107.