1. Right after Traina Thoughts went live on Monday, ESPN announced that Linda Cohn was retiring from the network at the end of the month.
The wording in the press release was very specific. Cohn is retiring from ESPN, not broadcasting. That signaled to me that Cohn will keep working and eventually have a new gig. She confirmed this later in the day, saying, “I’m leaving ESPN, but I won’t be going away.”
But her tenure at ESPN is coming to an end, and it was one hell of a run.
Cohn is an important figure in the history of ESPN. She’s one of the anchors that automatically takes us back to the heyday of SportsCenter.
Before the internet, before iPhones, before social media, SportsCenter was THE place to get any and all sports news. If you were a sports fan, you watched SportsCenter at 11 p.m. ET every single night, without fail, to get scores, highlights and information. When people think of that time, the first names that automatically get mentioned are Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann. But there were a few other anchors who had a significant impact in that era, and Cohn was one of them.
If you are of a certain age, you have a special bond with everyone who was part of SportsCenter in the 1980s and ’90s. The memories of that time are all good.
No one has hosted more episodes of SportsCenter than Cohn, who started at ESPN in July 1992. In 2016, ESPN celebrated her 5,000th episode anchoring the iconic studio show.
Cohn will get a big sendoff by anchoring three separate editions (6 p.m., 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET) of SportsCenter on Friday.
On Monday, Cohn addressed the outpouring of well-wishes and kind words about her ESPN retirement.
Thank you so much for making THIS DAY so heartwarming for me.😊Please know how much your kind words will always stay with me. Stay tuned!❤️
— Linda Cohn (@lindacohn) June 22, 2026
https://t.co/Uj8NrjbPrq
“The main message I want to say is thank you,” Cohn said. “Thank you for the support. Thank you for all the messages. Thank you for all the kind words. I’ve had happy tears all day. Every minute of this day. It just means so much that I’ve made this kind of impact when I was just doing something that I enjoyed and loved. Just being a sports fan like you. There’s so much more I’m going to say, but right now I wanted to make sure that I connected with you all as soon as I could just to let you know how grateful I am.”
The reaction to Cohn’s announcement on Monday is all you need to know about her longevity and significance in the sports media landscape.
2. Tip your cap to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Shams at 9 a.m. on Monday’s Get Up: Giannis is getting traded to Miami or Boston in the next 24 hours.
According to @shamscharania, a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade will be coming before the NBA draft tomorrow 🏀 pic.twitter.com/zj7ik38yLD
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 22, 2026
Shams at 11:50 p.m. on Monday: Giannis has been traded to the Heat.
BLOCKBUSTER: The Milwaukee Bucks are trading franchise icon Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to the Miami Heat for Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kasparas Jakucionis, 3 first-round picks (including No. 13), 1 pick swap and 1 second-rounder, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/NQT5ZhdJU9
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2026
3. Great scene in Cincinnati on Monday night. If Reds pitchers record 11 strikeouts in a game, fans in attendance win a free pizza. The 11th strikeout of Monday’s game against the Brewers was challenged. When ABS confirmed the K, the crowd went nuts.
Reds fans erupted after ABS confirmed a strikeout that was the 11th strikeout and won them a free pizza. 🍕 pic.twitter.com/TpNc624Imn
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) June 23, 2026
4. I feel awful for the mom and/or dad out there who wants to take their kid or kids to Fanatics Fest next month in New York City and has to deal with getting price gouged.
Fanatics Fest prices for taking a photo with Knicks players:
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) June 22, 2026
Jalen Brunson ($935)
KAT ($338)
Josh Hart ($283)
Mikal Bridges ($283)
Mitchell Robinson ($169)
Jose Alvarado ($169)
Landry Shamet ($142)
I guarantee these will sell out. These are very affordable for Knicks fans.
5. I’m surprised this hasn’t been a bigger story with the World Cup going on. Football stadiums that use turf have installed grass for the soccer tournament. The turf will be back when the World Cup is over. Why? Why can’t the football stadiums have grass? Niners tight end George Kittle is wondering the same thing.
“If you can put grass in MetLife and SoFi I think you could do that year around if you really gave a shit” -George Kittle pic.twitter.com/Db1CE8TxX3
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) June 22, 2026
6. The latest episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina features an interview with ABC/ESPN’s lead NBA play-by-play voice Mike Breen.
The voice of the Knicks talks about what it was like to call the closing seconds of New York’s title win in Game 5, where this NBA Finals ranks in his career as a broadcaster and where the OG Anunoby tip-in and 29-point comeback in Game 4 ranks in terms of games he’s called.
In addition, Breen talks about working his first NBA Finals with Richard Jefferson and Tim Legler, what it was like to have Inside the NBA as the pregame, halftime and postgame show for the first time, whether he would have gone with a triple “BANG!” if Jalen Brunson’s three-pointer had gone in at the end of Game 4, Monica McNutt nailing her closing comments after Game 5 on the radio side, his nightmarish travel excursion from San Antonio to New York after Game 5 and much more.
Following Breen, Sal Licata from SNY TV and The Sal Licata Show joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, Sal breaks down his trip to San Antonio for Game 5 of the NBA Finals and what it was like to watch the Knicks win a championship in person.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.
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