ESPN’s Brian Windhorst talks about viral ‘First Take’ moment

Brian Windhorst went viral — now why is that? 

The ESPN NBA insider is back with more speculation, this time offering a theory as to why his recent monologue on “First Take” blew up the internet. 

“The reason people liked it is because it was a different type of story,” Windhorst said on ESPN. “It’s not what they normally see on TV. One of the great things about ‘First Take’ is that the A-block is really long. It’s totally different from the rest of our shows. That was a factor that allowed me to have some room. 

“When you’re telling a story like that, it essentially becomes a podcast, and I have a lot of experience doing podcasts. That’s the type of story you would tell, or the type of scenario you’d tell on a podcast. And even when I’m doing podcasts, even before we put podcasts on video, I would be sitting in my podcast studio alone. Sometimes I used to do them in the dark, because I like doing them in the dark. I would be demonstrative with my hands, even though nobody was in the room. 

“Which is kind of the way I talk, not normally but the way I talk when I’m talking about the NBA. So really, I fell into doing a podcast. It just happened to be on ‘First Take’ about a subject that had some mystery to it. And I think you put it all together and I think people really liked it.” 

Windhorst’s winding, podcast-style narrative gained even more notoriety upon its validation. Last Friday, hours after Windhorst pontificated on “First Take,” the Jazz made Windhorst look like a prophet — Utah shipped star center Rudy Gobert to Minnesota in a stunning blockbuster deal. 

And, as per the treasure trove of memes circulating the internet, Windhorst does have a favorite. 

“It would probably be the Target one, only because I’m hoping Target will now call with a lucrative endorsement contract,” Windhorst mused. “And in that particular case, I would be willing to take that call, Target, thank you very much.”