While Robin Roberts may be well recognized for her athletic prowess and expertise in the world of sports journalism, among the Good Morning America crew, it’s Michael Strahan who’s most associated with the world.
The TV anchor, 54, played for 14 years with the New York Giants as their defensive end, winning a Super Bowl ring in his final season and now sitting pretty in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
However, when it came to dressing the part to root for the New York Knicks for the very first game of the NBA Finals on Wednesday, June 3, Michael was the one who “didn’t get the memo.”
At the top of the show, Michael and Robin looked to their co-anchor George Stephanopoulos, who dropped his usual code of sleek whites and blacks in his suits for a navy fit with a light orange button down, an unusual pop of color for the host.
“GMA with Wemby, Brunson and more stars getting ready for, as you can see from George, a big night,” Robin said at the very start of the broadcast, immediately getting laughs out of the news studio and George himself.
Later on in the show, they were joined by Sam Champion and Lara Spencer, with the former also opting for a Knicks-forward fit, pairing a dark navy blazer with a bright orange sweater. Leading into a segment on the game, Michael then quipped: “You and George are dressed for the part for this next story…I didn’t get the memo!”
© ABCMichael’s skills as an athlete did come in clutch later in the segment, though, as Sam went through some of the favorite meals for the athletes playing in June 3’s game (the Knicks vs. the San Antonio Spurs), plus a collection of bagels and layered cakes in Knicks’ signature blue and orange.
When he asked Ginger Zee to pass down the bagels to everyone on the table, she decided to throw one down to Sam on the far end. He missed, and almost got hit by one, but in the knick of time, Michael effortlessly caught it and handed it to him.
© ABC“I’m so glad you were there for that, Michael!” he exclaimed, with the entire studio erupting into laughter for the next couple minutes, including the former defensive end himself, who couldn’t stop giggling.
The hosts of ABC’s morning news show are frequently making each other laugh, and are close friends when the cameras turn off too. “I definitely feel like he has loosened up,” Michael once said of George in a conversation with AP about his time on the show, then quipping: “I don’t know if I can take credit for it.”
© ABCRobin then added: “We would never, ever do anything to make each other look good at the expense of the other. That’s such a comfort. To have that, it makes you take chances, and I think the audience picks up on that — the way that we are so different in many ways but so common in others.”
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