Meet Mathias Lessort, a gifted basketball player who was picked in the 2017 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and played for Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2021. Born in the French overseas territory of Martinique, Lessort, 29, played in the final game of the Paris Olympics basketball competition against the US team. The French made life very difficult for the American players, but in the end, had to settle for the silver medal.
And this is when the fiasco took place. NBC’s Olympics sportscaster Mike Tirico, narrating live the medals ceremony, told the folks at home: “You saw with Lessort, one of the back centers, with the Palestine flag draped over his shoulders. We are certainly conscious of any displays regarding the Middle East conflict from athletes involved in these games.”
Except Lessort draped his shoulders with the flag of Martinique, his home.
The tweet below explains the guffaw, but cannot, with the best of intentions, erase Tirico’s gobbledygook about politics in sports.
Omg Mathias Lessort is wearing a flag from Martinique (the French territory where he was born) but Mike Tirico thinks it’s a Palestinian flag ??? pic.twitter.com/2NSnKLxteP
— kiara (@kiaradidwhat) August 10, 2024
Here’s the thing live – you’ll have to crank up your volume to hear Tirico, but it’s worth it:
Not @peacock’s Olympic Men’s Basketball commentator mistaking the flag of Martinique?? (a French territory in the Caribbean) for the Palestinian??flag?♂️
Mathias Lessort is Martiniquais, which is why he had Martiniquais flag draped over his shoulders for the medal ceremony.??♂️?? pic.twitter.com/jJLRuHU3oE
— kwisatz hadeightwordstosay (@3rdcultureblah) August 10, 2024
Tirico apologized on Saturday
Here’s a clip of Mathias Lessort’s amazing performance in Maccabi Tel Aviv:
