Getty Stacey King
“Gimme the hot sauce.”
If you’ve watched any Chicago Bulls broadcast on NBC Sports, you’ve undoubtedly heard former Bull and current color analyst Stacey King utter this statement after a member of the team makes a 3-point shot. It is one of King’s many catchphrases.
For many, King offers an entertaining take on Bulls action, but clearly, he’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
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Joe Cowley Not a Fan of ‘Hot-Saucing it Up’
Long-time Chicago Sun-Times writer Joe Cowley took to Twitter to throw a bit of a shot at King’s style in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack.
Thankfully, NBA League Pass gives options of what broadcast to listen to. @DrewGooden is a great listen. Calls out the home-team guys for lethargic play rather than “hot sauce-ing” it up. Gooden understands the modern game.
There are so many shots at King in this one tweet that it’s almost tough to know where to start. First, Cowley implies King is a homer who doesn’t call out Bulls players for poor play. Then he insinuates King has become more of a caricature than an analyst providing value to the broadcast. Then finally, Cowley says, “[Drew] Gooden understands the modern game,” which suggests he doesn’t believe King does.
That’s a pretty obvious stream of bullets to duck without a response, and King didn’t let it slide.
King Responds
Later that day, King took to Twitter to fire back at Cowley.
Cowley is still letting the insults fly into the New Year.
Cowley is entitled to his opinion, but it appeared as though he went out of his way to insult King specifically. Also, @ Drew Gooden on Twitter with the slight was a subtle but classless move. Was he looking for Gooden to like or retweet the post, or perhaps replying with a post that said: “I know what you mean, bro?” It was just weird.
Most fans on Twitter who replied to Cowley’s tweet appeared to disagree with him. I’d have to say, I’m in that number.
King Does Criticize the Bulls for Bad Play
I can’t count the number of times King points out ill-advised shots from Zach LaVine or Coby White. Even more, King talks about missed defensive rotations or being less than attentive to open shooters. Just because he doesn’t lambaste the Bulls players for falling short of the mark doesn’t mean he isn’t critical. Everyone has a style and if King is playing the odds, it would appear he gets it more right than wrong.
As Cowley said in some of his later tweets, it all comes down to a style preference. He clearly isn’t a fan of the energetic calls that feature signature catchphrases, as he also blasted broadcast legend, Dick Vitale, for falling into the same pattern.
No matter what Cowley thinks, at the end of the day, King has two prime stakeholders: the fans and the network. As long as he is pleasing those two groups with his performance, he should be fine.
Thankfully, Cowley won’t be conducting his annual review any time soon.
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