THE YEAR IN MEDIANonfiction
Book
Of the YearJAY
WILLIAMS
After the Celtics hired Ime Udoka to
replace coach Brad Stevens, ESPN analyst
Jay Williams sent the following emoji-filled
tweet: “The first head coach of color for the
@celtics & even more importantly, he is one
talented individual who has paid his dues.”
The only problem: Udoka had just become
the sixth Black coach in Boston franchise
history. Instead of admitting his mistake,
Williams then tweeted, “As it relates to
the Boston Celtics tweet that came from
my account a couple of hours ago, I did not
post that and my passcode has now been
changed.” It was hard to find anyone on the
face of the Earth who believed him. —J.T.
Worst ‘Hacking’
Excuse
Of the YearIT’S BETTER
TO BE FEARED
When our Sportsperson of the Year left
for Tampa and began a new chapter in
his remarkable career, it seemed like
the right time to turn the page (so to
speak) on the Tom Brady–Bill Belichick
Patriots. But then Seth Wickersham
dropped his opus on the New England
dynasty. In addition to providing
many juicy details—a joint text from
Matt Damon and Ben Aff leck to Brady,
begging him to stay with a shrug emoji—
Wickersham gets as deeply as possible
into Belichick’s mind, bringing one of
the most tough-to-crack teams in the
NFL to life. —M.B.
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED Q SI.COM 84“I was like, Why don’t I know how to
do that?” says HUNT OF THE HULA
HOOPER. “That’s the happiest
person I’ve ever seen in my life.”