No NBA Finals in recent memory figures to attract as much attention and hype as the upcoming Celtics/Lakers series. Not surprisingly, ESPN/ABC will play a major role in generating that hype.
Tuesday night, ESPN will air a three-hour SportsCenter focusing on Game 6 of the 1987 NBA Finals, the last time the Lakers and Celtics played in a Finals game. While that may seem more suited for ESPN Classic, that network is already devoting five hours a day to the Celtics/Lakers battles of the 1980s, with classic games set to run today through Wednesday.
If that does not satisfy your need for pregame content, SportsCenter will run for two and a half hours prior to Games 1 and 3.
For the actual game presentation, ESPN/ABC is keeping things relatively simple. For the first time since 1990, there will only be one sideline reporter for the NBA Finals, as Michele Tafoya is going solo. In previous years, Tafoya roamed the sidelines with Stuart Scott, who is hosting this year’s Finals.
Bill Walton, on the disabled list since February, will not be a part of NBA Finals coverage. Walton’s back injury has kept him off the air since the All Star Break. Jon Barry and Michael Wilbon will the studio analysts for this year’s Finals, their second straight year working in that capacity.
This marks the first time since ABC began televising the NBA in 2002 that the network will use the same announcing team and the same studio analysts two years in a row. Considering that this is the last year of the original six-year television contract, that is an amazing feat. Additionally, Mike Breen is calling his third straight NBA Finals, making him the first broadcaster since Bob Costas to call the event at least three years in a row.
Game telecasts will begin with the “Hall of Fame” introduction used in the past two years. While some may not like the idea of using the same introduction each year, it gives ABC’s Finals broadcasts much needed consistency — and if used often enough, perhaps it can be as well remembered as NBC’s intro in the 1990s.
This is easily the best NBA Finals match-up ESPN/ABC has had since taking over the NBA in 2002. Even without the history between the two teams, this year’s Finals features the #2 and #7 markets in the country. Imagine how thrilled Bud Selig would be if he could get a Dodgers/Red Sox World Series. That alone should help ratings rise above the 6.2 for last year’s dreadful Finals.
That being said, it will be a tall order for this series to rise above the 12.1 for 76ers/Lakers in 2001 to become the highest rated NBA Finals since Michael Jordan retired. More on that later.
