Boston Celtics
The network hit almost all of the right nostalgic notes before and during its debut broadcast, a double-overtime thriller between the Thunder and Rockets.
As a teenager of the ‘80s, a New Englander, and someone who savors the Bird-Magic rivalry, I have to admit I find more happiness in reflecting on CBS’s NBA broadcasts, with Dick Stockton and Tommy Heinsohn on the call, and Brent Musburger telling us, “You’re looking live!,” than I do for anything NBC did in the ‘90s.
But I must also admit the NBA’s official return to NBC on Tuesday night, as part of the league’s broad new broadcast rights deal, did stir warm sentiments for the previous partnership, which ended 23 years ago.
NBC hit almost all of the right nostalgic notes before and during its debut broadcast, a double-overtime thriller between the Thunder and Rockets. The broadcast started in the only logical way it could have: with John Tesh’s “Roundball Rock” intro, which somehow manages to be an earworm and a delight at the same time.
Other clever touches that were a callback to NBC’s previous partnership with the NBA included showing the introductions of the starting lineups (every network should do this) and the national anthem. Nostalgia often comes with undertones of sadness, too, and NBC’s reconnection with the NBA made me miss the late Bill Walton — a staple of its broadcasts through 2002 — even more.
One flashback that didn’t work and was actually kind of creepy? Using artificial intelligence to recreate the voice of Jim Fagan, who introduced the broadcast in the old days. Fagan, who passed away in 2017, had a distinctive, lively voice. Nothing about AI audio that I’ve ever heard is lively.
The pregame show on opening night was plagued by technical difficulties. Host Maria Taylor — also the host of “Sunday Night Football” whose presence gave the studio show a big-game feel — and analyst Tracy McGrady had microphone issues. Carmelo Anthony seemed like he was caught off guard by the format of a pregame show, but he’ll be much better by the end of the season than he was on his debut.
Mike Tirico, who called the Thunder-Rockets game with analysts Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford, was effortlessly smooth, which came as no surprise to Celtics fans that heard him call one of the team’s most enjoyable games last season, the dual 40-point performances by Derrick White and Payton Pritchard. Tirico is like Sean McDonough in that he can call pretty much call any sport and make it look easy.
We also got some insight on what Michael Jordan’s special contributor role will look like. Jordan sat down with Tirico for what NBC is calling “MJ: Insights to Excellence,’’ which was basically an interview edited down to a few reflections and anecdotes.
We’ll see how this evolves over the course of the season — I’d love to see the comically blunt Jordan break down film of modern stars — but anything he contributes is going to be compelling because of his stature and relatively private status.
A few other thoughts on the first week of the season and new rights deal:
· Other than some necessary branding and graphics changes, ESPN appears serious about its vow not to mess with “Inside The NBA,” which the network is licensing after Warner Brothers Discovery lost its portion of the rights deal. That’s a relief, because for my money it’s the best studio show in the history of sports television, across all sports. When Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith were having a genuine argument Thursday night about gambling in the wake of the stunning Chauncey Billups/Terry Rozier/Damon Jones arrests, it felt exactly like the same show we have always known. That’s a relief, for now. Just keep it that way.
· We all have our sports-television weaknesses, and one of mine is getting a kick out of Stephen A. Smith from time to time. But I’ll never understand why ESPN and ABC thought making him, his obnoxious Knicks fandom, and sporadically accurate takes the focal point of its NBA studio show would be something viewers embrace. (And that goes double for his involvement in draft coverage.) It seems we’ll be seeing quite a bit less of him this year, and that’s good news.
· Amazon Prime made its debut as a home of the NBA with Friday’s Celtics-Knicks broadcast. It’s crowded five-person studio show is a work in progress, which isn’t a surprise given that Dirk Nowitzki (I couldn’t tell if he was uncomfortable or just overly casual), Blake Griffin (he will be a star), Steve Nash, Udonis Haslem, and host Taylor Rooks haven’t had a chance to build chemistry yet.
· Kudos to sideline reporter Cassidy Hubbarth, who interviewed commissioner Adam Silver for nearly two minutes of game action at the start of the second quarter and asked pointed questions about the NBA betting scandal. Said a meandering Silver at one point, “I guess I wouldn’t have predicted my first interview on Amazon would have been about sports betting.”
· NBC Sports Boston’s opening Celtics broadcast Wednesday night sometimes felt like they were working in bits of a basketball game in between Abu Dhabi commercials and promos. Drew Carter and Brian Scalabrine hyped up new camera technology — yes, also sponsored by Abu Dhabi tourism — but the on-the-move, high-above-courtside angle is a distraction. It’s what the action would look like if you walked around the 300 level at the Garden while trying to watch the game at the same time.
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