Skip Bayless called out for 'reckless' reporting on Jimmy Butler's father by 'The Dan Le Batard Show'

Jordan Greer

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Skip Bayless called out for 'reckless' reporting on Jimmy Butler's father by 'The Dan Le Batard Show' image

On Monday's episode of "Undisputed," Skip Bayless discussed the Heat's Game 2 win over the Nuggets with Shannon Sharpe. That wasn't an unexpected conversation, as the FS1 commentators have been covering the NBA Playoffs for nearly two months.

However, Bayless did share a surprising detail while analyzing the recent play of Miami star Jimmy Butler. Bayless told Sharpe that Butler may be "distracted" because his father is dealing with an unspecified health issue.

"We haven't seen 'Playoff Jimmy' now for seven straight playoff games," Bayless said. "He is going through an issue with his father who is not well at the moment. God bless him, and God bless Jimmy, because I think he might be a little distracted, if not a little drained, by going through that away-from-basketball situation.

"I'm giving him, certainly, a pass for that."

MORE: Butler credits Heat's 'don't give a damn factor' in Game 2 win vs. Nuggets

Bayless has a background as a print journalist, but he left the rigors of day-to-day reporting behind a long time ago. How did he get this scoop before other media members who have been on the Heat beat for years?

It turns out that the health status of Butler's father isn't exactly a secret. On Tuesday's episode of "The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz," Le Batard, who overlapped with Bayless during his time at ESPN, called out Bayless for his "journalistic breach."

"He just put something out there that he shouldn't have put out there about Jimmy Butler's personal life," Le Batard said. "And now it is out there, and some journalists are being like, 'This is irresponsible. This is reckless to do that.' So, how do I talk about this?"

"You just put it on Skip Bayless, and you talk about how reckless it is," show producer Mike Ryan Ruiz responded. "It's something that Jimmy has been dealing with. People in the market have known this for some time. It's been going on for a bit now.

"Everybody's respected his privacy. ... If you hear that news, it doesn't take a genius to realize, 'Well, why isn't this out there? Oh, because people are respecting personal matters.'"

Miami Herald sports columnist Greg Cote described Bayless' decision to reveal the information about Butler's father as a "disservice to journalism."

"Jimmy Butler deserves to deal with personal issues personally and privately," Cote said. "To put that out there in the middle of the Finals to try to explain why he's had a couple of off shooting games in a row is irresponsible to me."

Butler has not publicly commented on his father's health, nor has he addressed Bayless' report.

Jordan Greer

Jordan Greer Photo

Jordan Greer has been with The Sporting News since 2015. He previously worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is a graduate of Westminster College and Syracuse University.