Skip Bayless Says Lil Wayne Is His Favorite Person To Talk “Sports And Life” With
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Lil Wayne and Skip Bayless have built a brotherly bond with one another over the years, to the point that the sports reporter and pundit deems the rapper his favorite person to talk sports and life with.
In a joint interview with People, the FS1 Undisputed host and Weezy gave insight into their close relationship. Bayless pointed to his first meeting with the Young Money founder in 2009, prior to that year’s NBA Draft, as the initial moment he became enamored by the New Orleans native’s intellect.
“Right away he caught my ear because in our pre-show meeting, we talked about Steph Curry and Blake Griffin, who were then about to be drafted by the NBA,” the 71-year-old recalled. “He pleasantly shocked me by saying that he thought Steph was better than Blake, something that I had believed and people at ESPN thought I was out of my mind about. I said, ‘This man really knows sports.'”
The polarizing analyst continued to heap praise upon the lyricist’s sports acumen, deeming him one of the rare voices on the subject he can tolerate other than his own. “Then, as we began to communicate, his depth of knowledge impressed me in ways very few people ever do,” Bayless added.
“I don’t usually indulge others talking sports because I think I know a lot more than they do, so I don’t want to waste my time. But there’s no man on earth I would rather talk sports or life with than this man. Even though we come from sort of opposite ends of the earth, we’re very much alike in how we see sports and, in many ways, how we see life.”
The FS1 Undisputed host also revealed that he visits Weezy quite often, about once a month with his wife, Ernestine Sclafani Bayless, and that he’s spent as much as four hours hanging with the rap star at his home. “We found right away that we could sit with him at his house — sometimes we just stand in the kitchen, sometimes we sit on the couch, sometimes we go out on the back porch. The last time we were there, we were on the back porch, and I looked down and we had been talking for four hours straight with no bathroom breaks, no drink, no food, no nothing.”
The veteran reporter expressed his gratification for those moments, simply deeming them as “beautiful.” “Those times in my life are the most special, meaningful times,” he said. “You’re doing something that counts. It matters to me because I learn and I laugh and I share in ways I just don’t often have time or the opportunity to do. We don’t look at our phone. It’s beautiful. And the most beautiful part is he involves Ernestine in ways you cannot imagine because she is totally engaged and comfortable and highly entertained.”
Lil Wayne and Skip Bayless have become one of the oddest pairings in sports and television, but appear to be genuinely fond of one another. Weezy has created the past two theme songs for Undisputed, including its current opening, and was included as a recurring guest upon the show’s return from hiatus following Shannon Sharpe’s departure from FS1 this past summer. Lil Wayne also gifted Skip with a diamond chain with his name on the pendant, which the Oklahoma native wears religiously on Undisputed episodes.
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