"They would have slapped this moron" - Eddie Johnson shares unfiltered thoughts on Fox anchor's questionable gender claim
During his NBA career, Eddie Johnson earned a reputation as a fierce competitor who didn't back down from anyone. As a 17-year NBA vet whose career spanned from 1981-1999, Johnson went head-to-head with some of the best players in NBA history. This week, however, it was Johnson's social media activity that caught the attention of NBA fans.
Earlier this week, Fox News' Jesse Watters made a bold claim, suggesting that when a man votes for a woman during an election, they then become a woman themselves. The comments raised eyebrows in the US, with many criticizing the Fox anchor for the outlandish claim.
At the time of publication, the video of Waters had been viewed over 1.5 million times on X, formerly known as Twitter. His comments also caught the attention of NBA vet Eddie Johnson, who has been working as an analyst for the Phoenix Suns over the past 25 years.
In response to the claim Watters made this week, Eddie Johnson took to social media. As he explained, if his mother or his sisters were on the set of the show when Watters made his claim, they would have slapped him.
"He said this with women on the set! If my mom and sisters were on that set. They would have slapped this moron !"
"I knew this was gonna escalate" - Eddie Johnson opens up on heated altercation with Larry Bird
While Eddie Johnson recently took to social media to call out Fox anchor Jesse Watters, earlier this year he shed light on an altercation he got into with Larry Bird during his playing career.
The two both competed in the NBA for a decade, from the early 80s to the early 90s, with Johnson playing for the Kansas City Kings, who moved and rebranded as the Sacramento Kings during his tenure with the team, and Bird playing for the Boston Celtics.
As he explained on an episode of Oddball with Amin Elhassan and Charlotte Wilder, on one occasion, when the two players were competing against one another, Johnson caught fire. At one point, while driving to the hoop, he hit Larry Bird with an elbow that opened up a cut on the Celtics' star's face.
Immediately, he knew that things had escalated, with Bird staring him down as he took free throws, telling Eddie Johnson the only thing he could do was score. Johnson responded, telling Bird that apparently he was also able to make the NBA legend bleed.
After the game, Bird then walked into the team's locker room, tossing Johnson his hotel room key before telling the Kings star that they could settle things later on.
"I looked at him, I said, 'Now, hold up, you want me to come over to your hotel room? Imma walk up there, and McHale's hiding around the corner; Parish is gonna help you,' I said, 'No, no. no. We could go somewhere else.'
"He looks at me, and he says, 'Give me my key back.' And I threw the key back, he says, 'I like you.' And he left,""
While Bird hasn't shared his side of the story, it seems Johnson's quick wit was enough to earn the future Hall of Famer's respect.