Max Kellerman is officially off of ESPN’s First Take, according to multiple reports.
“All things come to an end, and this is the end to my run on ‘First Take,’” Kellerman said after Wednesday’s show.
The Bronx native, former-Knick fan, and turncoat Los Angeles Lakers fan held down the co-host role on First Take alongside Stephen A. Smith for five years after Skip Bayless’ departure.
Through the years Kellerman has become a notorious Knick hater, vehemently opposed to the entire organization so long as James Dolan remains the owner.
The 2020-21 Knicks were a different team, though, swiftly shattering Kellerman’s unfair characterizations of the franchise in half a season. The Knicks began the year way ahead of schedule (18-17) and Julius Randle turned into an All-Star, leaving Kellerman with no choice but to try to walk back his long-lasting assumption that the team is rotten at its core.
That’s when CP The Fanchise, CEO of Knicks Fan TV, was invited onto the Max Kellerman Show on ESPN Radio to defend Knicks nation from the ultimate Knicks traitor once and for all. It was a clash of titans, and it appears after today only one of them remains standing.
Some will say it was First Take co-host Stephen A. Smith who ran Kellerman out of town due to on-camera chemistry issues, but the die-hard Knicks fan knows where Kellerman’s demise truly began.
CP vs. Kellerman Round 1
Round 1 was a legendary take down of the largest anti-Knicks propagandist in all of sports media – a beating so bad Kellerman had no choice but to call for commercial break as a lifeline. CP defended his Knicks fandom throughout the segment with dignity, reminding him that the teams success was the reason he was invited onto the show in the first place.
The fans declared CP The Fanchise the clear winner of the first-round matchup on March 3rd, 2021. After that smackdown, Kellerman had no choice but to retool and invite CP back on the program for round 2.
Kellerman Rigs Round 2
The following week, the stage was set for another KFTV whooping. The Blue and Orange skies were clear and CP’s audio equipment was on point – microphone crispy as usual. Kellerman and his production team had other plans, though, sabotaging CP’s segment with “audio issues” allegedly coming from CP’s end.
CP vs. Kellerman Round 3
Then comes the round 2 re-do a week later on the heels of an MSG security controversy with former-Knick legend Patrick Ewing. Kellerman’s angle heading into the segment was obvious. He would use the issue as more fuel for his doomed Knicks franchise narrative, claiming that Dolan will ruin any semblance of on-court success the Knicks come across.
CP caught another W, though, weaving through all of Kellerman’s attempts at shifting the narrative. CP and the fans are with the team on the court through thick and thin, and James Dolan’s ineptitude handling MSG security and celebrities won’t change that.
CP vs. Kellerman Future?
Since the first few segments, CP and Kellerman have been going head-to-head on Kellerman’s radio show on a weekly basis. Knicks and NBA fans across the globe have tuned in to hear them debate Knicks and analyze NBA basketball all the way up to last season’s NBA finals.
Was CP destroying Max on his own show the final nail in the coffin for his First Take career? We’ll never know, but we wish Max well in his future endeavors. If he wants any more of the Knicks Fan TV smoke, he knows where to find us.
