Brian Windhorst Is the NBA Reporter Every Sports Fan Loves to Hate

Tuning into a game or SportsCenter after a long day is supposed to be fun, but unfortunately, that's no longer the case because of the annoying reporters and anchors who think we're watching to hear them spout nonsense.

Although we can argue all day about who is the most irritating sports personality, many already have their sights set on someone: Brian Windhorst. Why is that? Here's what we know about Brian and why people hate him.

Like most in the public eye, Brian Windhorst has to face the wrath of social media. Many people bash him daily, and it all pretty much has to do with him riding the coattails of LeBron James since he was in high school. The reporter not only attended the same school as LeBron, but he followed the four-time NBA champion everywhere he went.

Brian began covering the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, the same year LeBron was drafted. A few years later, in 2007, he co-wrote The Franchise: LeBron James and the Remaking of the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 2010, when LeBron decided to "take [his] talents to South Beach," Brian joined ESPN to cover all things Miami Heat.

Since then, he's remained LeBron's No. 1 fan and always finds an opportunity to praise him and his current team, the Los Angeles Lakers. On May 23, 2023, the reporter appeared First Take and claimed that, despite getting swept by the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers played well in the Western Conference Finals.

"The Lakers absolutely were terrific in going down in this series," he said as Stephen A. Smith looked confused. "I'm not sure I've seen a more impressive performance in a sweep ever."

Many sports fans found this ridiculous, with several saying that Brian's "d--k riding" is off the charts. Sure, but is this really a valid reason to hate him? We don't think so — just let the guy say his peace!

On the other hand, sometimes his peace isn't always accurate. In the NBA subreddit, one user opened up about his distaste for Brian. They wrote that the sportswriter always backtracks his statements because they could be wrong.

"He says he hears such and such, but it's not certain ... He caveats all his statements and makes something simple into a lawyer memo," the Redditor said. "When you hear him on Zach Lowe, you hear Lowe just tell us straight up what he hears and thinks. He trusts his audience to have some intelligence to understand his words in context. Windhorst will take five minutes to make sure you didn't take his one statement too seriously in case he ends up being wrong."

Other users agreed with this Redditor, stating that Brian is "unnecessarily dramatic" and always "goes out of his way to make things into a much bigger deal than they actually are." Another added that the reporter "drags out his points with useless exaggerations and irrelevant comparisons/stories" — TBT to when he spent nearly 20 minutes chatting about Adele's relationship with Rich Paul when she should've been discussing the 2022 NBA Finals.