Barstool CEO Dave Portnoy enjoys causing chaos and being part of the narrative of events bigger than himself—which is basically every story.
Portnoy also displays a patriotic nature and talks about the love for his home country, the United States – except for the time when the US Olympic teams are playing for gold medals.
The Barstool boss announced that he will be cheering for France against the USA in the Olympic final in Paris on Saturday.
His reasoning is his loyalty in Boston sports to Celtics guard Jayson Tatum, who was benched by American coach Steve Kerr during his team’s epic comeback semifinal win over Serbia on Thursday.
“I want to make this very clear. I’m rooting for France to beat the USA in the basketball game for the gold medal,” Portnoy said. “My loyalty lies much more with @jaytatum0 than with dodo brain Steve Kerr and Bron Bron.”
Barstool CEO Dave Portnoy keeps his fingers crossed for France against the USA in the Olympic final
LeBron James will lead the US team to its final Olympic Games against France in Paris
“And anyone who values Olympic gold more than an NBA basketball title is either a liar or their team sucks. This is not a goal that teams and players work toward their entire lives. It’s 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 top Israeli team Hapoel Tel Aviv in the offseason, but played in the NBA for over a decade.
“The crazy thing is people were hoping (Team USA) lost yesterday,” Beverley said on social media. “This is crazy. (One more) game.”
Beverly’s message is not directed at Portnoy, but at a group of Nuggets and Hawks fans cheering for Serbia because of their two biggest stars, Nikola Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The French squad includes four NBA players, most notably Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, who play for the Spurs and Timberwolves respectively.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
