Had to, and Glad to, Be Back

As I lay writing this with my newborn sitting and squirming a couple of feet over, I miss talking about pro basketball. My latest content endeavor, the Locked On Coogs show, is a ton of fun, very rewarding, and a great way to connect with Houston fans. Frankly, I look forward to overanalyzing the Houston Cougars in Summer League and in the NBA and so on… but there’s so much more involved in that, and so much to talk about, that my love of pro hoops gets kind of pushed to the back burner. And Houston Cougar football is exciting! There’s never a dull moment with Dana Holgorsen! It’s not a bad problem to have. But it’s not talking about basketball, because there’s so much to talk about. 

And As I’m sitting here wondering what my 3 ½ week old son is gonna do and what he’s going to be into, I realize the thing I want the most is for him to be happy. And watching and talking about pro basketball makes me happy, so I guess it’s time to follow the same advice. 

Yes. We’re back. Let’s ball. 

And frankly, as it appears, we’re lucky to be back. Front Office Sports reported last week that, with June ending and July beginning, ESPN was going to cut ties with 20 personalities from across their network. While it stinks to see so anyone lose their job, especially in such a public manner, the Worldwide Leader in Sports made cuts with major personalities that had long resumes in Bristol. Jalen Rose, former Fab Five member and long-time pro hooper, ran Jalen and Jacoby and was an NBA  analyst on ESPN for 15 years. They let him go. Jeff Van Gundy, a long-time NBA coach that spent 16 years as an analyst and play-by-play guy for ESPN, was let go. LaPhonso Ellis, 10 years NBA vet and ESPN college basketball analyst for 14 years, was let go. Max Kellerman, who had served multiple roles at ESPN since being hired in 2002: also let go. Vince Carter just hired three years ago after a 22-year NBA career: let go. 

It wasn’t just the hoops analysts (Suzy Kolber, Todd McShay, David Pollack, Keyshawn Johnson, and Steve Young who highlight a similar list for the football coverage), but it was a noticeable change in NBA coverage. And there is some reason to rejoice: Doris Burke continues to break glass ceilings and appears to be the person to succeed Van Gundy as an in-game analyst. Since ABC/ESPN have the NBA Finals, Burke will be the first female analyst to call NBA Finals games. 

But on the more frequent day-to-day? This is a major shift away from wall-to-wall NBA coverage folks my age have become accustomed to. People left behind at ESPN, like Kendrick Perkins or JJ Redick, do a lot more arguing. Frankly, “Perk and JJ” do a lot of arguing with each other. It seems to be a feature, not a bug. But Perkins is increasingly on every possible NBA show ESPN offers, and Redick is dipping his toes in that world while keeping his personal podcast, The Old Man and the Three, separate with the Draft Kings Network (I’d imagine that’s just in case!). Other basketball coverage gets highlighted by Mad Dog (who adamantly argues John Havlicek is better than anyone in the league today) Stephen A. Smith (who spends so many hours on set, I’m not sure he has any time to watch a game he’s not in the arena covering… and his analysis may back that up), and Adrian Wojnarowski (who’s coverage can be summarized in 140 character tweets that set the entire world on fire). Brian Windhorst is overworking himself, too (but he’s one of the more gif-able in the bunch).  Zach Lowe has a lane, but it’s shrinking. 

Ok, I’ll admit that’s a little facetious, if not doomsdayish. Bobby Marks, Mark Spears, and Kevin Pelton add a lot in the written word. ESPN.Com/NBA is filled with high-end video highlight content, and ESPN is pulling in every major television contract they want. 

If Michael Jordan birthed the international popularity of NBA basketball, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James took the torch and ran with it. In 2016 Bryant retired, and he tragically passed away just four years later. LeBron James is still pushing for a fifth NBA title, and ESPN’s NBA coverage in the last dozen years has put his name in every other story out of the network. But there will be a National Basketball Association after LeBron, even if ESPN’s coverage of it will look dramatically different. 

I’m not sure I’m ever going to think those two things aren’t connected. ESPN built the large majority of their NBA coverage around covering LeBron James’ every move, dating all the way back to him driving a yellow Hummer he was gifted in High School. This may get flushed out on a later P.Ainstaking, but man… if 2023’s #1 pick Victor Wembanyama can’t fill that entertainment void in the same way, it doesn’t appear that ESPN has invested in the myth-building around anyone else to do it. 

We’d be remiss not to point out that ESPN isn’t cutting this talent because they’re hurting as a network. Their revenues are high as ever, they’re handing out record numbers in tv contracts, and they just signed Pat McAfee to an $85 Million contract over the next five years. This is much more about rearranging cash flow than shrinking it. 

As I sat and read the names that came out, one after the other, on Friday, June 30th… I couldn’t help but feel sad about the NBA coverage. And in the days since, I can’t help but wonder why. ESPN has the deals for the games. They and Turner have the playoffs, ESPN/ABC has the NBA Finals, and ESPN is airing the draft, Summer league, and other accoutrements. But while ESPN was building that LeBron James story machine, an ocean of other coverage opened up and filled in all of the other avenues surrounding it. The Athletic built a very talented writing base, with brilliant beat writing and coverage. The Ringer built a very particular and unique brand on basketball, football, and pop culture after Bill Simmons bid ESPN adieu. We mentioned that Draft Kings Network has Redick, but Redick himself has gone out and gotten The Dunker Spot. And I’d be remiss to not plug my own employer, Locked On Podcast Network, and their coverage across all 30 NBA teams and more. Each of those offer analysis that beats out much of the average, everyday ESPN coverage… and it would appear that ESPN’s cutting that back. 

What’s in store for basketball when one content machine owns all of the games, but the better analysis is elsewhere? Is that actually a sustainable model long-term? 

And if it’s not, do we think ESPN pulls strong and new, diverse, different talent back in? Or do they just ask the same handful of faces to take on even more shows? 

While I want to go on a diatribe about waking up and being one of those kids that “ate breakfast with Stuart Scott every morning” and talk about how much I miss the old ESPN. I want to go on and on about how ESPN has changed… but that seems for not. The truth is ESPN’s basketball coverage is changing, dramatically, for what is not the first or last time. 

And while they’re changing how they talk about basketball, let’s be sure to talk about it. Even when it’s P.Ainstaking. 

- P.Ains

BEST DUNK SINCE WE TALKED LAST 

(or just in the last 48 hours)