Jay Williams returned to ESPN Radio this week, opening his first show since Keyshawn Johnson and Max Kellerman were laid off by recalling how much his former coworkers meant to him.
Williams, 41, had co-hosted ESPN’s nationally syndicated morning radio program with both personalities.
The Post had been the first to report that ESPN would be phasing out its morning show, and last week, Johnson and Kellerman were part of the latest round of layoffs at the World Wide Leader.
“We’ve all gone through things where friends have lost jobs. It stinks,” Williams said on air. “It sucks. We give a lot of sports analogies here, Freddie, and it’s like sometimes the only way I know how to handle things is to play through.
“Things happen, we’re going to deal with it. I’m going to talk about Key. I’m going to talk about Max.”
The lone remaining member of the morning show discussed how he quickly found a friend in Johnson, 50, right from the jump.
“Key has been my boy since the first day that I met him two and a half, three years ago,” Williams said. “I fell in love with a guy who is just unapologetically him all the time.”
And Williams credited Kellerman, 49, for helping evolve on air while poking fun at Kellerman’s time in the 1990s as a rapper.
“Max and I still laugh about a lot of random things and Max is my boy. I’m gonna miss his Jon B. lookalike self,” Williams joked. “My vocabulary is off the charts because of Uncle Max.
Everything to know about ESPN Layoffs
On Friday, ESPN began the latest round of its layoffs, with several big names among the expect 20 on-air personalities being let go.
Network stalwarts Jeff Van Gundy, Max Kellerman, Keyshawn Johnson, Suzy Kolber, Matt Hasselbeck, Steve Young and Todd McShay were some of the biggest names let go of by ESPN.
It marked the third round of layoffs by the “Worldwide Leader,” with the previous two focusing on behind-the-scenes workers.
The massive layoffs come as part of mandates from parent company Disney, which announced earlier this year that around 7,000 jobs would be eliminated.
READ MORE
“I mean, Max has taught me so many different words.”
Williams co-hosted the morning show on Wednesday with Freddie Coleman.
It’s unclear what ESPN plans to do with its morning radio show and if Williams will continue to be a part of it.
Williams revealed during an interview on “The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone” in June that his contract was set to expire later in the summer.
The former point guard joined ESPN as a full-time analyst at the network in 2008, according to his company bio.
Source link
#Jay #Williams #emotional #talking #ESPN #layoffs #Max #Kellerman #Keyshawn #Johnson