Doris Burke had 'absolutely no idea' why Drake wore a shirt with her face on it

Hey, remember when Drake turned up for ESPN’s national broadcast of the Toronto Raptors’ “Drake Night” meeting with the Cleveland Cavaliers wearing a shirt featuring a drawing of the face of ESPN sideline reporter and analyst Doris Burke, accompanied by the caption “WOMAN CRUSH EVERYDAY?” And how Drake doubled down on his clothing choice over the course of the evening by praising Burke as “a stunningly gorgeous woman” and “my inspiration for tonight with this headset on,” claiming he’d been “texting her a lot,” and inviting her over for dinner at his house any time, “as long as she comes alone?”

That sure was a crazy and surprising thing that — hang on, let me double-check … yep — actually happened last month. If you found yourself taken aback by Aubrey’s public display of affection, you’re not the only one, as Burke relayed during a Wednesday morning visit to ESPN’s “Mike and Mike” radio show.

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“Well, I would tell you that your question was my 22-year-old son’s question when he saw the shirt, as well. ‘What the heck is going on, Ma?'” Burke said. “And I said, ‘Son, I have absolutely no idea.'”

That, however, isn’t entirely true. Burke had previously spoken about an interaction she’d had with Drizzy at the Air Canada Centre during the 2016 postseason that primed the pump for the Drake Night explosion, and she recounted that story to Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic on Wednesday.

“Listen, here’s my take on it: I had a couple of Toronto Raptors games in the playoffs early,” she said. “Drake was not in Toronto. He was watching the games. And during the Eastern Conference Finals, his seat location, guys, was maybe three or four rows in front of mine. And he literally stands up in a TV timeout during the Eastern Conference Finals, points at me, makes a heart, and points again. And so, of course, I look behind me, like, ‘Who’s Drake looking at?’ And I turn back around, he sort of shakes his head. So I interpret that at that moment, like, ‘Hey, you’re pretty good at this basketball thing.'”

Even so, though, Burke — who wasn’t working the Drake Night contest, as Mark Jones, Hubie Brown and Israel Gutierrez had the call — was decidedly unprepared for what was about to come her way on the evening of Nov. 16.

“And so, fast forward six months later, I’m at my daughter’s — she’s at Villanova — I’m at her apartment, and we’re cooking dinner, and my phone starts to blow up,” Burke said. “And that’s the extent of my knowledge. I plead no other knowledge, gentlemen.”

And yet, Burke didn’t waste much time that night responding to Drake’s dinner invitation:

@Drake dinner is on ❤️️

— Doris Burke (@heydb) November 17, 2016

Asked by the Mikes to keep them abreast of the planning for her meal with Drake and how things would unfold, Doris reminded the hosts that she is — in the words of another once-NBA-affiliated rap star — a woman about her business, not minglin’ much or runnin’ her mouth.

“Listen, I don’t talk out of school,” Burke said. “You will know nothing.”

I respect your discretion, Doris, but I wouldn’t bet on that. Your man Shirt Cobain’s got kind of a history of talking about the ladies he sees in his songs, after all.

An earlier version of this post included an incorrect name for one of the hosts of “Mike and Mike.” His name is Mike Greenberg; Mike Goldberg is a play-by-play commentator. We regret the error.