Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe Debate Esports on Hot Ones
Let me preface this blog by saying I won’t be here proving if esports are “real” sports or not. Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless went toe to toe on Hot Ones “Truth or Dab” and I’m here because a video game question got asked.. Sean Evans, asked them if they thought esports could be considered a sport and if the players should be considered professional athletes. And as you know, this is a video game website. So here I am.
Shannon Sharpe starts off the debate by saying that he is aware of who Ninja and Bugha are. And that he follows Ninja on IG and Twitter.
How couldn’t you know who they are? Ninja is one of the most well known people in the world, and Bugha just won $3m at the Fortnite World Cup and was on Jimmy Fallon for fucks sake.. Oh by the way.. Bugha’s winnings were $1m more than what Tiger Woods won at the 2019 Masters – just saying.
“If you notice Michael Jordan has bought into it… Mr. Kraft has bought into an esport. So, yes, it is a sport.” And you could have probably guess, Skip was on the other side of the argument. “And I’m going a big no. It is not a sport. It’s a skill, but it’s not a sport because there’s no real athleticism to it. There’s no full body use at all. It is reaction time, obviously. It’s a sport of the mind.
Regardless of if the think eports are “real” sports or not, you can’t deny the money these players make and the hours that actually goes into perfecting their game. Which is always changing with the meta I might add – depending on the game. Video games have evolved immensely and I love that this question is getting brought up more and more now, and it looks like the people who are up to date, get it. Esports are growing and growing and I can’t wait until everyone is on board and this is looked at as an actual sport, with the players being considered athletes.
The Whole Video HERE
