Over the years, many NBA legends have turned to TV after retiring from the league. Legends like Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley have cemented themselves as great sportscasters following the conclusion of their Hall-of-Fame careers. The duo’s success has quite possibly led to a host of former players taking up roles as basketball analysts, including NBA champion Richard Jefferson. The 2016 NBA champion has had a very successful stint on TV after joining ESPN in 2019, until very recently, when an inappropriate gesture to a female reporter landed him in a hotbed of controversy.

During the recently aired NBA on ESPN show, Jefferson appeared with co-hosts Malika Andrews and Chiney Ogwumike. In one instance, Chiney and the former Cleveland Cavaliers player high-fived. But as Chiney walked past Jefferson, some noted that it looked like he slapped her in the back. A former NFL player and popular sports commentator chimed in on the issue after Jefferson started receiving a lot of backlash on the Internet.

Former NFL star’s bold take on NBA champion Richard Jefferson’s actions on live TV

The video clip of Richard Jefferson with co-hosts Malika Andrews and Chiney Ogwumike went viral on social media. Jefferson then came out and denied the claims that he touched the co-host’s back. He wrote on Twitter, “God No…. I like my job. I’m crazy, not stupid. Even though she did faked the 🙏🏽🤬”.

Amidst all this, former NFL star and FS1 host Marcellus Wiley recently gave his take on the controversy during a recent episode of his podcast. Wiley did not waste a moment and started off by saying, “Let’s talk about Richard Jefferson who almost tapped that a**.” 

He then played the video clip and talked about what happened during the segment. The former defensive end reminded the viewers that Jefferson is a 17-year veteran of the game. He added, “17 years, where you are around dudes and dudes hit each other on the bu**. I probably done it too as well but I’m not conscious of it.” 

The former defensive end ascribed the blame of Jefferson’s action to players’ habit of patting teammates in the back in the locker room. However, he noted one has to lose a muscle memory like this while working in a different environment and with people of the opposite gender.

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The former Buffalo Bills player then talked about the forward’s clarification about the controversy. Wiley added, “And he kinda give one of those and then he stops in the moment. You can see the video right? So I think he caught himself because he realized, ‘Oh man, where am I? Oh yeah, this ain’t the court.'”

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He reiterated that Jefferson realized he is not with his teammates and stopped. However, he also wondered what Malika Andrews’ reaction was all about. Wiley then talked about some of his experiences where he was caught in the moment with his arguments on TV.