Inside the NBA’s Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini joke was so good

It has been a tough stretch for major Boston sports teams.

Not that they are due any sympathy, we’re not here for that, but over the past few months we have seen the Boston Red Sox limp out of the gate and fire their entire coaching staff, the Boston Bruins get bounced out of the first round of the NHL Playoffs by the Buffalo Sabres, the New England Patriots get embarrassed in Super Bowl LX — and we will come back to them in a moment — and now the Boston Celtics blow a 3-1 series lead to the Philadelphia 76ers.

How historic was that Celtics’ collapse? Until their loss in Game 7 on Saturday night, Boston was 32-0 all-time when holding a 3-1 series lead. As for the 76ers, they were 0-18 in their franchise history when trailing 3-1 in a playoff series.

The win for the 76ers was also their first over Boston in a playoff series since 1982.

As you might expect, the fine folks at Inside the NBA had some fun at Boston’s expense following that collapse, putting together a graphic of both Celtics players and noted Boston figures together on their “gone fishing” graphic.

That graphic included Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and former NFL reporter Dianna Russini at the front of the boat, in true Titanic fashion:

The hosts of Inside the NBA tried their best to avoid the topic.

“Who are the two people at the front?” Kenny Smith asked as he perhaps tried to bait someone into addressing the topic. “I don’t know them.”

“Stop it, stop it,” pleaded Charles Barkley.

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

Yes, that brings us back to the Patriots, who have been in the news these past few weeks thanks to the swirling rumors around their head coach, and his relationship with Russini. Rumors continue to follow the pair, and Vrabel even stepped away from the team for the final day of the 2026 NFL Draft for counseling, as he works towards becoming the “best version of me going forward.”