How ESPN's 'Inside the NBA' trolled Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini controversy with humorous Celtics graphic

'Inside the NBA' trolls Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini controversy

The Vrabel-Russini controversy wasn't the only trouble to fall upon New England's sporting universe in recent weeks. The Celtics, too, were swept aside, seeing their dreams for a title vanish after surrendering a 3-1 lead to the 76ers in Round 1.

ESPN's flagship NBA program eulogized Boston with one of its signature skits on Sunday night. Boston was the centerpiece of the "Gone Fishing" segment, which sees the crew mock teams that have been eliminated from postseason play.

The segment comes with a graphic that typically features member of the team and, on special occasions, figures who represent the local community that the franchise comes from.

"Inside the NBA" showed no restraint with its design. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were accompanied by a motley crew of New England locals, from Mark Wahlberg and Bill Simmons to John Krasinski and Matt Damon.

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Then, there was Vrabel and Russini, fixed in a pose similar to that of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in thatscene from "Titanic." You know the one...

The "Inside the NBA" crew didn't have much to say about the graphic itself. Barkley, O'Neal, Smith and Johnson seemed stunned by the image, although Smith appeared to try to bait a viral comment out of Barkley or O'Neal.

“Who are the two people at the front?” Smith said, referencing Vrabel and Russini. “I don’t know them.”

“Stop it,” Barkley responded. “Stop it.”

“Ben Affleck and Matt Damon on there, Tatum and Brown,” Johnson added. “That’s all I see on that boat. I don’t see anything else.”

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ESPN has tiptoed around covering the Vrabel and Russini's curious relationship in recent weeks. Russini worked for ESPN from 2015-2023. It's unclear if that has informed its approach on reporting about the alleged romantic relationship. But the lack of coverage regarding the nature of Vrabel and Russini's relationship has become glaring. "First Take" avoided discussing the Vrabel-Russini saga until the NFL Draft, when Vrabel announced he'd be seeking counseling. Co-host Stephen A. Smith had his say on the matter during his Sirius XM radio show. But under the ESPN banner, that wasn't the case.

When "First Take" did discuss the matter, co-host Shae Cornette said in clear terms that they didn't want to discuss Vrabel and Russini's alleged relationship on the program.

“What they do in their personal time is up to them," Cornette said. "But now this creates a situation where we have to talk about it on this show. We didn’t want to talk about it on this show! So we have to sit here and talk about it now because he told us that he’s gonna go to counseling on Saturday, Day 3 of the draft. And that’s where I feel like this has now become, maybe a problem, and a little bit of a distraction to his football team.”

To that end, "Inside the NBA's" sketch added another chapter to the sports story that keeps on giving. It's worth noting that the "Inside the NBA" production crew is employed by TNT, not ESPN. Perhaps that relationship could explain the discontinuity between the eye-catching graphic and Barkley, O'Neal, Smith and Johnson's reaction.

Nevertheless, the moment proved a memorable one on social media. Only time will tell if "Inside the NBA" will face any blowback from its decision in the days and weeks to come.

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