Mina Kimes is a barrier breaking NFL analyst at ESPN, not a punchline for toxic sports bros

Mina Kimes deserves better.

Everyone does.

Kimes, who grew up in Gilbert, is an excellent football analyst on ESPN, smart and funny, one of the network’s rising stars. So why does she have to put up with so much garbage?

If you follow Kimes on Twitter, which you should, you know that a lot of misogynist, racist trolls show up in her timeline. Disagreeing with her opinion on sports is fine. But this? Awful.

It’s absurd she has to deal with abusive commenters, but she puts them in their place with relative ease — people who make these kinds of comments don’t tend to be MENSA members, and Kimes is a Yale graduate.

But what happened Wednesday on Boston sports-talk radio was stunningly offensive. And Thursday wasn't any better.

Mina Kimes grew up in Gilbert:She talks about her viral moments and more

What did Chris Curtis say?

On WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” Greg Hill, Jermaine Wiggins and Courtney Cox (not the “Friends” star) were talking about the Boston City Council possibly banning “nips,” small bottles of liquor.

They started to name their favorite “nips,” and executive producer and on-air personality Chris Curtis said, “I’d probably go Mina Kimes.”

WHAT?

“Nip” is also an ethnic slur used against Japanese people, and people of Japanese descent. Of which Kimes is neither, by the way.

He meant Mila Kunis? Say what?

The "explanation" is about as bad as the comment. Curtis apologized on the air Thursday, according to several media reports, and said he has been suspended until Wednesday — and that in a “pathetic failed attempt at a one liner, I attempted to bring up Mila Kunis, which was not really that funny, sophomoric and sexist. But for reasons I really don't understand, I said Mina Kimes.”

So your defense is you meant to be sexist, not racist? A novel strategy. Curtis is right about one thing — it is pathetic.

Then Jason Whitlock weighed in for some reason

So were Jason Whitlock's tweets Thursday. Pure idiocy (which is a specialty of his). Whitlock tweeted that he didn't know "nip" was an ethnic slur. "Other than nailing herself to a cross, I don't see the damage," he wrote. He then doubled down on his ignorance, and called her out for "victim cosplay," whatever that is, and said she was "wallowing."

She responded to his original tweet with delicious poison.

"Nailing myself to a cross? I made one joke and went back to work...because unlike you, I still talk about sports for a living. Have a great day."

How did ESPN respond?

Kimes didn’t respond to The Republic's requests for comment.

An ESPN spokesman issued a statement: “There is no place for these type of hateful comments, which were uncalled for and extremely offensive.”

Women who cover sports have long been subject to sexist behavior. Kimes, who is of Korean descent, has to deal with the double whammy of racism, as well. It’s ridiculous. Just enjoy how good she is at her job. Leave it at that.

Kimes did have a last laugh, of sorts. Not long after the comments went viral, she changed her Twitter profile picture.

To a picture of Mila Kunis.

Brilliant. As ever.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mina Kimes claps back at Chris Curtis' slurs, Jason Whitlock tweets