The New York Knicks’ search for a new general manager and coach could have a major effect on the NBA television landscape.
ESPN/ABC analyst Mark Jackson is the lead candidate to become the next Knicks head coach. While Jackson is far from the best analyst ABC has ever had, he is coming into his own somewhat this season as part of an entertaining three man booth with Jeff van Gundy and Mike Breen. Van Gundy and Jackson have established a rapport that, while not close to that of Ernie, Kenny and Charles on TNT, makes for the best lead broadcast team as ABC has had so far.
That being said, ABC could recover from losing Jackson; after all, it could be argued that most of ABC’s improvement this season can be credited to Van Gundy.
TNT, by contrast, would be hard pressed to recover from losing Kenny Smith. Smith, who has been with TNT since 1997, will interview for the Knicks’ open general manager position. Through this season, Smith has been working select New York Knicks telecasts for MSG.
While Charles Barkley is the star of TNT’s acclaimed studio team, Smith and Ernie Johnson are invaluable. Inside the NBA is a far different show with Smith gone, as he was three times this season to deal with the birth of a child, or with a guest host (for example, the dark days of Marc Fein replacing Johnson).
The chemistry between Johnson, Smith and Barkley — and particularly Smith and Barkley — is one of the main reasons the show is so entertaining. Who could TNT possibly find who would play off of Barkley so well? While Chris Webber proved himself to be a strong and extremely candid analyst, he does not yet have the kind of chemistry with Barkley that Smith has.
Another analyst viewers can soon say goodbye to is Rick Carlisle, who has done so well as a game analyst on playoff games that it boggles the mind ESPN wasted him in the studio all season. Carlisle will almost certainly be hired by a team during the offseason.
