Portland Trail Blazers: CJ McCollum puts Skip Bayless on blast

With the dust settled between Portland Trail Blazers star CJ McCollum and talk show host Skip Bayless, let’s recount just what sparked their Twitter feud.

Last weekend, Skip Bayless took to Twitter to voice his disdain for the route Raptor’s forward Kawhi Leonard has taken to reach his current success. Portland Trail Blazers star CJ McCollum apparently did not appreciate Bayless’ criticism, jumping in on the opportunity to respond.

It was only a matter of time before a seemingly backhanded tweet snowballed into much more. After all, Bayless had made quite a lucrative career out of forcing reactions from his audience. Bayless decided he would double-dip on the attention and dedicate a segment to both Kawhi’s performance and McCollum’s comments.

However, CJ didn’t seem to appreciate the disrespect. He made sure Bayless would spell his name correctly next time. For good measure, McCollum brought one of First Take’s best moments back to the limelight, where Jalen Rose responded to Bayless’ critique by recalling the fact Bayless didn’t play varsity basketball until his senior year… where he averaged a 1.4 points per game.

Not one to face public humiliation easily, Bayless would surely attempt to divert the conversation away from himself. Sports personality Rich Eisen caught wind of his cheap tactics and gave McCollum the heads up:

"CJ, this is all part of the scam. Say (or tweet) outrageous [things], smoke out a top-flight athlete, use their reaction as self-affirmation and future content. Final step is to invite you on the show to discuss it to supposedly prove they can take the heat, but use you to boost buzz. The worst of the worst will use your refusal to appear as supposed proof that you can’t take the heat. At any rate, great run in the playoffs. Enjoyed watching it!-Rich Eisen"

Sure enough, Bayless’ next move was as predictable as his outrageous morning takes. Skip extended an invitation to First Take (to talk about what exactly, no one is sure), and hash things out (while he leaches off other athlete’s success and stardom).

Thankfully, McCollum proved he’s one of Portland’s best and ignored the offer. It’s best for him to stay focused on basketball and not get caught up in the distractions people like Skip will try to ensnare athletes in. Before taking the moral high road, McCollum made sure to let everyone know he was having a good time during his offseason despite Bayless’ best efforts.

This exchange of words serves as a pleasant reminder why CJ McCollum is so well-liked in the locker room and all around the league. He serves as an exemplary image of the Portland Trail Blazers organization as a whole. There are few people Portland would be more proud to have spend their entire career in a Blazer’s uniform.