Bomani Jones with some interesting comments about working with Dan Le Batard

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Jones was a perfect partner for Le Batard’s father, Gonzalo “Papi” Le Batard, while also balancing Le Batard’s perspective on some of the more sophisticated conversations the Miami-based host would bring to air. After four years together, Jones left HQ in 2017 to launch his own show in New York.

And from the sound of it, Jones didn’t always love the way Le Batard related to him. Jones is known among audiences and his colleagues as one of the more high-minded and knowledgeable people in sports media. But Jones felt that Le Batard’s praise sometimes came across as patronizing.

In a recent interview on The Matt Jones Show, Jones explained how he became the go-to “Black voice” in Le Batard’s universe. And when he spoke thoughtfully on a topic covering race or culture, Le Batard would go overboard with how impressed he was.

“I think I served that purpose for Dan Le Batard, in many ways,” Jones said. “But it was, in part, also because I think Dan was very fascinated by the idea that a Black person could be this smart … I think Dan couldn’t believe that this happened. It was like, ‘Wow, look at that fish riding a bicycle.’ And to be fair to him, he lives in Miami. He don’t see no smart people at all, let alone Black ones.”

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“White people don’t realize this, that there’s a tendency to take the Black person you know, and that Black person be the spokesperson for all Black people,” Bomani Jones explained. “And I can’t speak for all of them.”

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“You can sign me up to be the person that speaks for Black people, but you have no idea what’s coming after you do that,” Jones explained. “Todo es posible in that moment. That would happen for Dan actually, where he would call me on his to be the Black person, and he would not necessarily get the thing that he thought was coming.”

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