ESPN anchor mocks Nick Young’s shooting in Round 2 of feud

Normally, ESPN reports on feuding athletes from the sidelines, not jump feet first into a squabble. But that's where the network finds itself in the back-and-forth beef between anchor Robert Flores and Los Angeles Lakers guard Nick Young.

The feud started when Flores made critical comments about Young's girlfriend, rapper Iggy Azalea, and the sportscaster stoked the flames with more comments on Tuesday. At least one other ESPN personality jumped into the fray on Tuesday, and the dispute has attracted caught the attention of celebrities and bloggers outside the sports world.

It started during a Sunday broadcast when Flores brought up Young's half-joking anecdote about how a dolphin he was riding while on vacation tried to drown him by diving for the bottom. Flores added, "So, Nick, while dolphins are trying to kill you, your girlfriend is trying to kill hip-hop. Let's call it even, OK?" Some rap fans have accused Azalea, who's Australian, of co-opting American inner-city style and culture through her music.

Young fired off a series of tweets in response on Monday, starting with "@RoFloESPN I'm pretty sure we going to run into each other soon." He later deleted that tweet but kept others."

Flores dismissed the beef as a joke while appearing on ESPN's "Sedano and Stink"radio show on Tuesday, though near the end of the segment he took aim at Swaggy P's markmanship on the court. "If you look at his numbers, there is a 70 percent chance that if he takes a shot at me, he's going to miss," Flores quipped. "I'm just looking at the numbers, so I'm good." Young has only made 36 percent of his shot attempts, on pace for a career low.

ESPN "His & Hers" co-host also lent her support for Flores in a tweet that seemed to make light of the situation.

So far Tuesday morning, there has been no response from Nick Young on Twitter.

plthompson@chicagotribune.com

Twitter: @_phil_thompson