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ESPN ‘looking into’ Dan Dakich situation following controversial comments made by broadcaster on social media, radio
By Paul Harvey
Published:
ESPN broadcaster Dan Dakich may be in a bit of trouble right now. Some recent comments made by the basketball broadcaster have led to the deactivation of his personal Twitter account, and ESPN is now reportedly looking into the situation.
The situation started following the departure of Duke basketball star Jalen Johnson. In the aftermath, Dakich found a tweet by Duke academic lecturer Nathan Kalman-Lamb that was critical of some members of the media and their reaction to Johnson’s departure. What ensued was a heated back-and-forth between Dakich, Johnson, and another academic, Dr. Johanna Mellis. Mellis is an assistant professor at Ursinus College and host of a podcast on sports and labor issues.
Following the back-and-forth interaction on Twitter, Dakich took the situation to his radio show on Wednesday. Awful Announcing and Chatham-Kent Sports Network provided a transcription of Dakich’s remarks, and it looks like he may have crossed a line with ESPN:
“I had somebody come at me. Buncha academics last night,” Dakich said. “Two guys and a lady, right? Two guys and a lady came at me. And they said, ‘well, you’re yelling at student-athletes while they’re being exploited’ or something, and I said, look, maybe, but I…I was in the arena and you guys were sitting outside bitching. Now, remember, it was two girls…two men and one lady. Guess what that got called? Sexist. (Laughs) Be careful. I didn’t even realize, I just said bitching because it’s what people do. It’s what everybody does, everybody just bitches. But that’s sexist apparently because I said bitching and a lady was in the conversation. And I said outside the arena, and then she wanted to, quote, go at in the pool. Well, if you go at it in a pool, that’s a public place and then I’m gonna have to get divorced, and then it’s just gonna be a problem.”
As detailed in Ian Kennedy on CKSN.ca, Dakich then started “doxxing Kalman-Lamb by physically spelling out his last name to listeners and repeatedly discussing his office hours in a hostile manner.” Dakich also referred to him as a “d-bag” while launching into a discussion about how athletic coaches are better than professors because they have more “office hours.”
After increased criticism directed at Dakich on social media, his Twitter account was deactivated on Sunday.
An ESPN spokesperson has released a statement to multiple outlets, including USA TODAY. “We are taking this matter very seriously and are in the process of looking into it,” reads the statement.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.