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Mannix, who will continue in his full-time role as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, said the new gig came about in part because of his previous contributions to NBC Sports.
With NBC back in the NBA business this season for the first time since losing broadcast rights after the 2003-04 season, it makes sense the reunion comes with plenty of nostalgia — and not just for the iconic and returning “Roundball Rock” theme music.
So when NBC Sports announced last week that Chris Mannix is joining its NBA coverage as an insider with an emphasis on digital, it brought back memories here of Peter Vecsey’s opinionated and pioneering run as the network’s NBA insider during the 1990s heyday.
Turns out that Mannix — a Quincy native and graduate of BC High and Boston College — has similar warm sentiments himself.
“I’m incredibly excited,” Mannix said. “I grew up watching ‘The NBA on NBC.’ Those were my formative sports-watching years, and it wasn’t just about watching it, but appreciating the way they did it.
“I was a fan of the Bob Costas monologues and Peter Vecsey on set, showing that a reporter [Vecsey wrote a must-read NBA column for the New York Post in the late 1970s and ’80s] could be in that role. He pulled no punches, which I loved. I thought they were the gold standard of how you broadcast basketball. I never thought I’d be a part of it, but I always dreamed of being a part of it.
“Growing up reading that when I could get my hands on a New York Post, or reading Bob [Ryan] and [Dan] Shaughnessy and other great reporters in the Globe, that’s what helped steer me toward basketball,” added Mannix, whose dedication to basketball includes eight seasons as a Celtics ballboy.
His role in NBC Sports’s NBA coverage is the modern version of the insider. That includes creating video content on breaking news to be distributed across NBCUniversal digital and social media platforms. Mannix will occasionally appear on NBC and streamer Peacock’s NBA studio coverage to report on breaking news. He will also be part of some studio broadcasts, though specifics are still being worked out.
Mannix, who will continue in his full-time role as a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, said the new gig came about in part because of his previous contributions to NBC Sports’s coverage, particularly during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“If you remember, that was when a lot of people were worried about going to Brazil because of the Zika virus,” he said. “I was down there doing boxing during the day, and because they didn’t have a basketball analyst in studio, I would do boxing for like eight hours and then they’d cart me over to the set to sit with Dan Patrick and do pre- and postgame for a lot of the basketball stuff. I’ve got a long history with them.”
While on vacation over the summer, Mannix sent an email to NBC Sports president Sam Flood.
“I just said, ‘Hey, man, I would love to play any role you might have over there,’ and he reached back out about this largely digital role, reacting to the news of the day, some studio stuff, and maybe even some game situations. It just seemed like the perfect fit.”
Mannix lives full time in Los Angeles now (he and his wife, retired boxer Seniesa Estrada, are expecting their first child in December), but he keeps a close eye on the Celtics and may contribute to NBC Sports Boston’s coverage from time to time when he is back home.
“I think if Jaylen Brown stays healthy, they’re going to be a lot more competitive than people think, even without [Jayson] Tatum,” said Mannix. “It’s a combination of the fact that their smalls are still really good and that the East is terrible. But their margin for error is zero. They’re one Jaylen hamstring strain away from flirting with the bottom tier of the conference.”
NESN unable to deal with Apple
It feels like this happened about a month ago, but it was actually a little more than a week ago that the Red Sox clinched a playoff berth during Friday night baseball on Apple TV+, frustrating a significant portion of the fanbase that hadn’t ponied up for the streaming service.
There was a lot of frustration and a little bit of misinformation floating around regarding why NESN didn’t swing a deal with MLB and Apple to simulcast the game. The reason was simple: they couldn’t.
Commissioner Rob Manfred probably wouldn’t admit it, but the MLB executives that have sliced up the broadcast rights pie thinner and thinner over the years had to be thrilled with the scenario. It’s offensive to fans that must heed an entertainment budget — the vast majority — but the attitude is basically, “If you want to watch the Red Sox clinch badly enough, you’ll subscribe.”
MLB and Apple TV+ did cut a deal with Rogers Sportsnet in Canada a week earlier to allow the network to simulcast a Blue Jays-Royals game where the former was hoping to clinch a playoff berth. (The Royals won, 20-1.)
But the circumstances were different.
First, Sportsnet isn’t a regional sports network like NESN; it’s a national network, like ESPN is in the United States. Apple TV+ would not make such a deal with an RSN and essentially cede one of the two markets whose teams are playing in a given game.
And even in that situation, Apple TV+ drove a hard bargain. In order to allow Rogers Sportsnet to simulcast that aforementioned Blue Jays-Royals game, it demanded exclusive rights to Toronto’s game the following Friday (it was their other broadcast the same night as the Sox clincher).
It’s too bad MLB didn’t do the best and most convenient thing for Red Sox fans. But Manfred’s MLB has been telling us what their priorities are for a long time now. And that usually involves you having to get out your credit card.
