Barstool CEO Dave Portnoy likes to cause chaos and be part of the narrative of events bigger than himself, which is basically every story.
Portnoy also portrays a patriotic nature and speaks of love for his native United States, except when his Olympic teams are ostensibly playing for gold medals.
The Barstool boss revealed he is rooting for France against Team USA in Saturday’s Olympic final in Paris.
His reasoning is his sporting loyalty to Celtics guard Jayson Tatum, who was benched by U.S. coach Steve Kerr during the team’s epic comeback semi-final win over Serbia on Thursday.
“I want to be very clear. I am rooting for France to beat the USA in the gold medal basketball game,” Portnoy said. “My loyalty to @jaytatum0 is much stronger than that of dodo brain Steve Kerr and Bron Bron.”
Barstool CEO Dave Portnoy roots for France over Team USA in Olympic final
LeBron James will lead Team USA in his final Olympics against France in Paris
“Also, anyone who cares more about Olympic gold than an NBA title in basketball is either a liar or their team is a mess. This is not a goal that teams and players work their whole lives toward here. This is a recreational league tournament that lasts a few weeks. Give me a break,” Portnoy continued.
Portnoy’s video and messages were a response to controversial American basketball star Patrick Beverley.
Beverley signed with Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv this offseason, but played for more than a decade in the NBA.
“The craziest thing is that people expected (Team USA) to lose yesterday,” Beverley said on social media. “It’s a crazy job. There’s (one) more game left.”
Beverley’s message is not directly referring to Portnoy, but to a group of Nuggets and Hawks fans who were rooting for Serbia because of its two biggest stars, Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The French squad includes four NBA players, including Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, who play for the Spurs and the Timberwolves respectively.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 Eastern Time.