[Awful Announcing] The gulf between ESPN and TNT’s NBA coverage has never been greater
May 12, 2023
[Awful Announcing] The gulf between ESPN and TNT’s NBA coverage has never been greater
36 comments
The Inside Crew is iconic, it’s not even a fair comparison.
Idk i feel like espn has been absolute garbage for a very very long time now
ESPN has coverage? I thought it was just commercials with occasional mumbling.
ESPN is garbage. I dislike watching the post-season when the games are on ESPN. TNT is by far a way better program.
As long as ESPN hires clowns like Kendrick Perkins, they will never be able to touch TNT. TNT isn’t perfect, but ESPN is such a disaster that we don’t even consider the things TNT could do better
I muted the game in the first few minutes, just terrible.
Does TNT start their games late like ESPN does? It feels like games on ESPN start 15-20 minutes after the listed start time, while TNT is usually quicker to start games
Their halftime shows are so bad. It’s not even about competing with TNT just that it’s ads and ~1 minute of analysis and then more ads
ESPN is basically just guys talking into a zoom meeting from their attic.
My TV stayed on after the Nuggets game last night and apparently Sports Center is just Scot Van Pelt in a micro set in his basement?
I love ESPN’s halftime show because it gives me 17 minutes to do whatever the fuck I want, whereas I don’t get that option with the Inside guys on TNT.
NBA countdown is just a horrific product.
ESPN doesn’t seem to understand it takes time to develop chemistry, nor are they willing to let the type of chemistry the TNT crew has happen on their channels.
It makes more sense when you think of it as Disney sports.
ESPN’s coverage is stinky poo poo.
TNT far and away better.
This is why we need Turner *and* NBC in the TV rights negotiations next year.
ESPN just doesn’t know how to broadcast and cover the NBA.
ESPN presentation is just not good. They’re always cutting away from the game for random shit and Doris feels the need to fill the air with every opinion that comes to mind. They don’t let the game breathe at all.
The coverage on ESPN is all about what’s the narrative and spewing hot takes in the pregame. That’s on top of the games starting 15 mins later than they should. The broadcast tends to keep focus on narrative talking points they went over in a preproduction meeting instead of just calling the game that’s in front of them. When the game is not lining up with those handful of points, the call gets disjointed and viewers recognize they are pushing something that shouldn’t be getting attention in the moment
TNT’s pregame isn’t exactly in depth either. The difference is that Shaq and Barkley are busy taking shots at each other. It’s rarely serious. We know they don’t watch games outside of them working. They lean into that and it works. The broadcast itself tends to be better and focuses on the game action
Espn is literally centered around sports and yet TNT is miles ahead. It’s honestly kinda sad. On espn you can watch pardon the interruption before the game whereas on TNT you can watch Star Wars and Tokyo drift.
Move the NBA Finals to TNT and bring back the NBA on NBC old theme music.
Did anyone else notice this last night?
The pre-game show was ending, and before going from the studio to the in-arena coverage in Philadelphia, Greenie got picks for the Celtics vs Sixers game from Jalen Rose, Wilbon, and Stephen A.
Then they went to the arena and Doris and Jones talked for a bit. It seemed like the game was just about to start, but they went to one last commercial break. I figured they’d come back from commercial break in the arena for tip-off.
Instead they went back to the studio after the break and Greenie got his picks from Rose, Wilbon, and Stephen A *again.* I thought I had accidentally rewound on my Comcast remote but it was live coverage. And suddenly we learned that we were still like 7-8 minutes from tip-off.
I mean, what the hell is that??
It’s jarring how much better Inside the NBA is than ESPN’s show. They thought they could just put all of their popular guys on and it would work.
Oh yeah ESPN sucks. They have Kendrick the bigot Perkins still on payroll. That speaks enough to how bad and accepting of bigotry that they are.
They still report on the Nets and Ben Simmons like they are good too lol.
No shit, ESPN is absolutely horrible and have somehow gotten worse every year for like 2 decades
The only thing TNT is missing is Mike Breen and that’s literally it.
Ernie and the gang are legit must watch TV. Even halftime, they’re on screen for maybe 6-8min and you have to see it. There are people that don’t watch basketball but tune in just to watch them, even the late times past midnight. Shit you’d really have to pay me to watch Greeny and the others on ESPN. It’s crazy because they don’t do a terrible job on NFL shows they have, including a three hour show every Sunday that has changed with Sam instead of Boomer but they’re still watchable, I still want to watch that over other pregame shows. It is crazy how they just can’t get it.
Name one thing ESPN does better than TNT at covering the NBA playoffs. I’ll wait…
TNT has a better studio team than ESPN.
TNT has better production than ESPN.
TNT, overall, has better play-by-play guys than ESPN.
There literally isn’t one thing ESPN does that’s even close to being on par, let alone being better than anything that TNT does.
Two teams might win their conference finals and go to the Finals, but all of us are losers when TNT’s broadcast season ends at the end of the conference final they broadcast.
Doris Burke sounds like everyone has only given her positive feedback and told her how great she is and now she’s just doing too much. It’s excruciating at times.
ESPN is a Draft Kings show with occasional basketball highlights.
ESPN thought we wanted Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless all the time. We don’t.
I watched that Shaq video about Kobe again. It makes me cry every time. Inside the NBA is one of the best programs in tv history.
ESPN is the thought experiment of completely corporatizing your coverage: ads during timeouts, ads during FTs, ads on the ticker, talk fast so you can have more ads, rage bait to get clicks and views to sell more ads. They do this because it works. Until the consumer just stops watching altogether, it’ll keep going this direction unfortunately.
Doris Burke is so bad, dude
i mute that espn shit
FR
The TNT crew is more knowledgeable, relatable and down to earth.
Greenberg is too much of a homer, SAS is just loud and Jalen Rose looks like a cartoon character
Am I the only one who doesn’t watch pre/post game shows at all? What is it that these guys are saying that we don’t already know and more importantly, actually know more about?
TNT’s constant shitting of anything current so they can feel secure about their own playing days also got old by like 2003. Yes, they can be funny, but if comedy is what I was looking for I have better alternatives.
36 comments
The Inside Crew is iconic, it’s not even a fair comparison.
Idk i feel like espn has been absolute garbage for a very very long time now
ESPN has coverage? I thought it was just commercials with occasional mumbling.
ESPN is garbage. I dislike watching the post-season when the games are on ESPN. TNT is by far a way better program.
As long as ESPN hires clowns like Kendrick Perkins, they will never be able to touch TNT. TNT isn’t perfect, but ESPN is such a disaster that we don’t even consider the things TNT could do better
I muted the game in the first few minutes, just terrible.
Does TNT start their games late like ESPN does? It feels like games on ESPN start 15-20 minutes after the listed start time, while TNT is usually quicker to start games
Their halftime shows are so bad. It’s not even about competing with TNT just that it’s ads and ~1 minute of analysis and then more ads
ESPN is basically just guys talking into a zoom meeting from their attic.
My TV stayed on after the Nuggets game last night and apparently Sports Center is just Scot Van Pelt in a micro set in his basement?
I love ESPN’s halftime show because it gives me 17 minutes to do whatever the fuck I want, whereas I don’t get that option with the Inside guys on TNT.
NBA countdown is just a horrific product.
ESPN doesn’t seem to understand it takes time to develop chemistry, nor are they willing to let the type of chemistry the TNT crew has happen on their channels.
It makes more sense when you think of it as Disney sports.
ESPN’s coverage is stinky poo poo.
TNT far and away better.
This is why we need Turner *and* NBC in the TV rights negotiations next year.
ESPN just doesn’t know how to broadcast and cover the NBA.
ESPN presentation is just not good. They’re always cutting away from the game for random shit and Doris feels the need to fill the air with every opinion that comes to mind. They don’t let the game breathe at all.
The coverage on ESPN is all about what’s the narrative and spewing hot takes in the pregame. That’s on top of the games starting 15 mins later than they should. The broadcast tends to keep focus on narrative talking points they went over in a preproduction meeting instead of just calling the game that’s in front of them. When the game is not lining up with those handful of points, the call gets disjointed and viewers recognize they are pushing something that shouldn’t be getting attention in the moment
TNT’s pregame isn’t exactly in depth either. The difference is that Shaq and Barkley are busy taking shots at each other. It’s rarely serious. We know they don’t watch games outside of them working. They lean into that and it works. The broadcast itself tends to be better and focuses on the game action
Espn is literally centered around sports and yet TNT is miles ahead. It’s honestly kinda sad. On espn you can watch pardon the interruption before the game whereas on TNT you can watch Star Wars and Tokyo drift.
Move the NBA Finals to TNT and bring back the NBA on NBC old theme music.
Did anyone else notice this last night?
The pre-game show was ending, and before going from the studio to the in-arena coverage in Philadelphia, Greenie got picks for the Celtics vs Sixers game from Jalen Rose, Wilbon, and Stephen A.
Then they went to the arena and Doris and Jones talked for a bit. It seemed like the game was just about to start, but they went to one last commercial break. I figured they’d come back from commercial break in the arena for tip-off.
Instead they went back to the studio after the break and Greenie got his picks from Rose, Wilbon, and Stephen A *again.* I thought I had accidentally rewound on my Comcast remote but it was live coverage. And suddenly we learned that we were still like 7-8 minutes from tip-off.
I mean, what the hell is that??
It’s jarring how much better Inside the NBA is than ESPN’s show. They thought they could just put all of their popular guys on and it would work.
Oh yeah ESPN sucks. They have Kendrick the bigot Perkins still on payroll. That speaks enough to how bad and accepting of bigotry that they are.
They still report on the Nets and Ben Simmons like they are good too lol.
No shit, ESPN is absolutely horrible and have somehow gotten worse every year for like 2 decades
The only thing TNT is missing is Mike Breen and that’s literally it.
Ernie and the gang are legit must watch TV. Even halftime, they’re on screen for maybe 6-8min and you have to see it. There are people that don’t watch basketball but tune in just to watch them, even the late times past midnight. Shit you’d really have to pay me to watch Greeny and the others on ESPN. It’s crazy because they don’t do a terrible job on NFL shows they have, including a three hour show every Sunday that has changed with Sam instead of Boomer but they’re still watchable, I still want to watch that over other pregame shows. It is crazy how they just can’t get it.
Name one thing ESPN does better than TNT at covering the NBA playoffs. I’ll wait…
TNT has a better studio team than ESPN.
TNT has better production than ESPN.
TNT, overall, has better play-by-play guys than ESPN.
There literally isn’t one thing ESPN does that’s even close to being on par, let alone being better than anything that TNT does.
Two teams might win their conference finals and go to the Finals, but all of us are losers when TNT’s broadcast season ends at the end of the conference final they broadcast.
Doris Burke sounds like everyone has only given her positive feedback and told her how great she is and now she’s just doing too much. It’s excruciating at times.
ESPN is a Draft Kings show with occasional basketball highlights.
ESPN thought we wanted Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless all the time. We don’t.
I watched that Shaq video about Kobe again. It makes me cry every time. Inside the NBA is one of the best programs in tv history.
ESPN is the thought experiment of completely corporatizing your coverage: ads during timeouts, ads during FTs, ads on the ticker, talk fast so you can have more ads, rage bait to get clicks and views to sell more ads. They do this because it works. Until the consumer just stops watching altogether, it’ll keep going this direction unfortunately.
Doris Burke is so bad, dude
i mute that espn shit
FR
The TNT crew is more knowledgeable, relatable and down to earth.
Greenberg is too much of a homer, SAS is just loud and Jalen Rose looks like a cartoon character
Am I the only one who doesn’t watch pre/post game shows at all? What is it that these guys are saying that we don’t already know and more importantly, actually know more about?
TNT’s constant shitting of anything current so they can feel secure about their own playing days also got old by like 2003. Yes, they can be funny, but if comedy is what I was looking for I have better alternatives.
Doris: A+ courtside reporter, D- commentator