No-Name YouTuber Crushing ESPN In NBA Video Views

Ever heard of Jimmy Highroller? Excuse us. It's actually spelled "JxmyHighroller," for you NBA fanatics.

Anyway, if you've never heard of Jimmy (or Jxmy), don't feel bad. A lot of us haven't -- and that includes fans of the NBA, the league that serves as the focus of Jimmy's YouTube channel.

But just know he is a YouTube creator whose video views are "crushing" the numbers put forth by media behemoth ESPN, as written by Ethan Strauss in his excellent Substack newsletter, House of Strauss.

"Based on objective standards and my own subjective social circle canvassing, Jimmy Highroller is a giant in my industry, one of the most popular men in NBA media, if not the most popular," Strauss wrote.

"ESPN would kill for videos that rack up his numbers. When you compare Jimmy against ESPN over a span of the last two years, Highroller has produced three videos that would rank as ESPN’s most watched. And Jimmy doesn’t have the entire Disney apparatus pushing his content. He appears to be crushing Goliath as a singular force."

Strauss then goes on to accurately relay that most people in NBA media have never even heard of Jimmy Highroller. Without a doubt, almost no one at ESPN knows who he is or how successful he has been.

In fact, Highroller doesn't even have a Twitter handle, which for most in the media industry is an absolute must. At worst, it is viewed as a necessary evil to drive traffic and "build your brand." But the general public doesn't find nearly as much value in Twitter as the media. That is why you'll often see media members passionately engaging with each other on the platform. They think it actually matters. But it matters about as much as MySpace once did.

And Highroller told Strauss he wants no part of it.

"I wouldn’t have a Twitter if I wasn’t a YouTuber, so why have one now? It’s a really toxic environment and it seems nothing ever good comes of it," Highroller said.

This flies in the face of everything that is pushed by ESPN and so many other mainstream sports outlets. No Twitter, no podcast, no pontificating on First Take or genuflecting over insider information on pregame hype shows.

Just a guy with an ability to make videos and pass along cool factoids such as the 26 players who have outperformed Kevin Durant in the NBA playoffs.

ESPN and other large outlets such as The Athletic are often guilty of talking down to their audience -- or worse, being wildly vanilla to protect their sources. They can come across as stuffy. They can tell their audience what to think, which is to think as they do. The entertainment and life distraction element of sports can get lost.

That is where a guy like Jimmy Highroller comes in. His channel has 2.02 million subscribers. Despite what ESPN and the others believe, he is very clearly offering something that is valued by the everyday fan, and a big difference from the constant applause and virtual hugs sports media members often deliver to each other, all while ignoring or belittling the people who actually consume their content.

"I provide people with entertainment. I give guys a break from everyday life, let them kick back for 10 minutes at a time, and hear a story," Highroller told Strauss. "And that’s just about it. I’m not an influencer. I’m not here to change anybody’s life, make them somebody they’re not. I’m just here to entertain some people."