Celtics fans Dave Portnoy and Bill Simmons in bitter escalating feud with ESPN NBA analyst Richard Jefferson
Diehard Celtics fans Dave Portnoy and Bill Simmons were both put on blast by ESPN NBA analyst and former Boston rival Richard Jefferson amid their escalating feud with the network.
Both Portnoy and Simmons accused ESPN of favoring the Knicks over the defending NBA Champions during their second-round series, which New York leads 2-1 heading into Monday’s Game 4 at Madison Square Garden.
‘I know ESPN didn’t mention it for almost 2 hours – but that was a superb Pritchard game,’ Simmons posted on X after Celtics guard and Sixth Man of the year Payton Pritchard had 23 points in Saturday’s Game 3 win in New York. ‘Played 18 huge mins in first half. They really needed him today.’
Portnoy’s criticism was directly aimed at Jefferson: ‘Richard Jefferson might as well throw on a Knicks uniform in the booth.’
Jefferson, who had several grueling playoff series with Boston in his days with the New Jersey Nets, responded to the criticism on X.
‘Dave my brother, we talked about this when we did your pizza review,’ Jefferson wrote, refencing footage of he and Portnoy reviewing pizza for Barstool Sports. ‘I don’t care who wins I’m just telling the stories. Also don’t talk on twitter like you don’t know me.’
Diehard Celtics fans Dave Portnoy and Bill Simmons were both put on blast by ESPN NBA analyst and former Boston rival Richard Jefferson amid their escalating feud with the network
Both Portnoy and Simmons accused ESPN of favoring the Knicks over the defending NBA Champions during their second-round series, prompting a pair of responses from Jefferson
Richard Jefferson, Dorris Burke and Mike Breen speaking before Denver-Boston on March 2
Jefferson also responded to Simmons’ claim that ESPN ignored Pritchard’s pivotal performance.
‘1. Pritch Please,’ Jefferson wrote before reminding his audience that Simmons is a biased Celtics fan.
‘2. Let me fix your post,’ he continued. ‘I’m a huge Boston supporter and I wish they spoke MORE about Pritchard.’
And Jefferson didn’t stop there: ‘3. I personally did a highlight package for Pritchard during the game. 4. So to say we didn’t mention it for 2 hours is an actually lie or maybe a bias opinion. I’ll let you pick.’
Before signing off, Jefferson asked Simmons to invite him back onto his podcast.
‘Ps… have me on the pod again soon,’ Jefferson wrote. ‘I miss it.’
Although he would later win an NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017, Jefferson is best remembered for his years alongside Jason Kidd with the Nets, with whom he reached a pair of NBA Finals.
Jefferson was a starter during the 2003 and 2004 playoffs, where his Nets beat the Celtics in a pair of brutal postseason series.
Boston hopes to avoid going down 3-1 to third-seeded New York on Monday at MSG. The series returns to Boston for Game 4 on Wednesday.
