Perhaps explaining the lack of chemistry on CBS/Turner Sports’ NCAA Tournament coverage, TNT’s Charles Barkley said Wednesday that CBS analysts initially gave their Turner counterparts the cold shoulder.
CBS college basketball analysts were hostile to Turner Sports’ NBA broadcasters when the CBS/Turner NCAA Tournament partnership began in 2011, Barkley told Newsday. “Some of these guys are [expletive]. They didn’t treat us very well, because they thought we were trying to take their jobs. You could just tell there was some tension in the beginning.” Barkley did not name names, except to mention which analysts had been helpful — Greg Anthony, Mike Gminski, and Dan Bonner.
Since CBS and Turner Sports acquired NCAA Tournament rights in a joint bid four years ago, TNT’s NBA game and studio analysts have played a major role in coverage. Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson have been part of the main studio show, Steve Kerr has called the National Championship Game, and Turner personnel from Marv Albert to Matt Winer have been involved in various capacities.
Barkley quickly backed off of his harshest comments, conceding that he “shouldn’t call them [expletives]” and describing the relationship between Turner and CBS analysts as having improved with time: “I think the tension has eased and we’ve done a lot better, but the first time we got together they weren’t very friendly.”
The CBS/Turner Sports partnership has been strong in most respects, but the use of Turner’s NBA analysts has been controversial since day one. That there was apparently some behind-the-scenes conflict is no surprise.
(Wed. news from Newsday)
