The 1980s (the Magic/Bird era) had CBS covering the NBA w/ Dick Stockton (the main play-by-play man), Tom Heinsohn, Brent Musberger, Pat O'Brian ("At the Half" studio host), Hubie Brown (the main color commentator after Hienson), James Brown (not the Godfather of Soul, the James Brown who now works for Fox's NFL coverage) and the great theme music ("Ba-da na-na Ba-da-da-da na-na-na-na Ba-da na-na").

The 1990s (the Jordan Era) had NBC covering the NBA w/ Marv Albert, Mike Fratello, Matt Gukas, Bob Costas (originally the studio host but pushed to the #1 play-by-play man after Marv Albert was removed in 1997 do to personal problems), Bill Walton, Steve "Snapper" Jones, Ahmad Rashad, Dick Enberg, Greg Gumble, and Doug Collins w/ John Tesh doing the theme music.

The present (the year 2002 and beyond w/ the Lakers & Spurs on top) has ABC covering the NBA w/ several hold-overs from NBC like Bill Walton, Ahmad Rashad, and Tom Tolbert joining Mike Tirico (studio host and play-by-play man for ABC's sister channel ESPN), Brad Nessler (the main play-by-play man for ABC's first season), Doc Rivers, and Al Michaels.

It really doesn't matter what station the game is playing on. We like ot turn down the sound on the TV and turn on AM radio for the game plays. ;)

Subject: I miss "The NBA on NBC"
Newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling (http://groups.google.com/groups?dq=&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=20040526185342.28000.00001029%40mb-m25.aol.com&prev=/groups%3Fdq%3D%26num%3D25%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26group%3Drec.sport.pro-wrestling%26start%3D50)

Originally posted by TMC
The 1980s (the Magic/Bird era) had CBS covering the NBA w/ Dick Stockton (the main play-by-play man), Tom Heinsohn, Brent Musberger, Pat O'Brian ("At the Half" studio host), Hubie Brown (the main color commentator after Hienson), James Brown (not the Godfather of Soul, the James Brown who now works for Fox's NFL coverage) and the great theme music ("Ba-da na-na Ba-da-da-da na-na-na-na Ba-da na-na").

The 1990s (the Jordan Era) had NBC covering the NBA w/ Marv Albert, Mike Fratello, Matt Gukas, Bob Costas (originally the studio host but pushed to the #1 play-by-play man after Marv Albert was removed in 1997 do to personal problems), Bill Walton, Steve "Snapper" Jones, Ahmad Rashad, Dick Enberg, Greg Gumble, and Doug Collins w/ John Tesh doing the theme music.

The present (the year 2002 and beyond w/ the Lakers & Spurs on top) has ABC covering the NBA w/ several hold-overs from NBC like Bill Walton, Ahmad Rashad, and Tom Tolbert joining Mike Tirico (studio host and play-by-play man for ABC's sister channel ESPN), Brad Nessler (the main play-by-play man for ABC's first season), Doc Rivers, and Al Michaels.


CBS without a doubt. I enjoyed all the CBS broadcast from 84-90

http://www.magatopia.com/columns/Rudy_Martzke.html

Rivers a tough man to replace
Viewers already know that ABC/ESPN has an experienced, talented game analyst in Doc Rivers.
But when the NBA Finals end, Rivers will leave to become the Boston Celtics coach, and ABC will scramble for a main analyst who can gain the respect the Disney executives have sought in the two seasons since they joined 20-year telecaster TNT on pro basketball.

Ace play-by-play man Al Michaels has boosted ABC's image this year, and Rivers has helped improve the presentations at ABC and ESPN, which display a noticeable promise not in evidence last year. But a gap remains in most announcing and production elements between Turner and the newcomers at ABC/ESPN.

"Our talent is superior, and it comes through to the viewers," Turner Sports President David Levy said Tuesday.

When ABC/ESPN took over, TNT retained its top talent, headed by announcer Marv Albert and studio commentator Charles Barkley. In addition, when ABC/ESPN appeared poised to snare analyst Doug Collins this season, TNT snatched him for between $400,000 to $500,000 less per season. The decision was aided by Collins still being paid on his $5 million-a-year coaching contract with the Washington Wizards.

"It was not going to come down to the most money," said Collins, currently on the Timberwolves-Lakers Western Conference finals on TNT. "I wanted to go where I felt I was most comfortable. ABC also had talked to me about ESPN Friday night games, and I did not want to be gone five days a week. The more the money goes up the more they need you."

TNT also prevails in game production, calling on Sportsvision to provide virtual starting lineups and a halftime game summary plus stepping up the frequency of graphic updates helpful to fans.

Conversely, on Monday's Pistons-Pacers game, ESPN ran a sizeable graphic on a blocked shots record over live action, confusing viewers. And with on-air graphics updates lacking, it was left to play-by-play man Brad Nessler to point out statistics such as a second-half scoreless streak for Pacers star Jermaine O'Neal.

Said ESPN executive vice president Mark Shapiro: "This year was marked by dramatic improvement across the board."

The TV playoff scouting report

TNT commands an abundance of top talent — Albert, Kevin Harlan and Dick Stockton on play-by-play and Collins, Mike Fratello and Steve Kerr on game analysis. ESPN erred in booting talented but sometimes off the wall Bill Walton down too many notches.

ABC/ESPN's Michele Tafoya and Jim Gray compete with TNT's Craig Sager in reporting.

But the pendulum swings back to Turner on studio teams, with TNT's Barkley, Kenny Smith, Magic Johnson and host Ernie Johnson Jr., the NBA's best of all-time. Greg Anthony and outspoken Stephen A. Smith show potential in ESPN's studio, but Tim Legler needs more camera time.