NBA Commissioner David Stern made the rounds at ESPN on Tuesday, commenting mostly on the suspension of referee Joey Crawford. Stern was interviewed on The Dan Patrick Show, The Hot List, SportsCenter and Pardon the Interruption.
Pardon the Interruption: Stern was interviewed by hosts Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser. The interview was tense to some extent, as Stern gave succinct, cold answers to most questions. His all-business, grim demeanor may have contributed to the fact that Kornheiser seemed agitated when discussing Crawford’s suspension in the first segment (which came after the interview with Stern was taped).
The Hot List: Stern was interviewed by Josh Elliot. Though cordial and professional, Stern (at least to this observer) seemed to be giving off a vibe that he was not too interested in the questioning of Elliot, making some lightly sarcastic asides throughout the interview.
SportsCenter: Stern was interviewed by Stephen A. Smith in a fairly nondescript sitdown interview. Smith made the point that NBA referees would likely find the Crawford suspension excessive, to which Stern replied, paraphrasing, that someone will always find something he does to be excessive.
The Dan Patrick Show: Stern was interviewed by Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann. Some of the transcript can be found at Awful Announcing. Judging from the transcript, Stern was just as matter-of-fact and succinct in his interview with Patrick and Olbermann as he was in his interview with PTI.
Overall, Stern’s trip across ESPN programs was at the very least informative if not overly friendly. His all-business appearances lacked any of the attempted levity he has had in past appearances on TNT, and his appearance on the network sparked a discussion of NBA television ratings on NBA Coast to Coast, in which host John Saunders cited the recent NHL game that beat an NBA game in the ratings — a topic Stern could not have been happy to hear being openly discussed on one of his network partners.
