Expect more of NBC’s \u201cOn The Bench\u201d innovation for NBA games going forward.<\/p>\n
Reflecting on the network’s first season back in the NBA business, NBC Sports executive producer Sam Flood touted many highlights Wednesday \u2014 including bringing the voices of Michael Jordan,<\/a>Snoop Dogg,<\/a>Caitlin Clark<\/a> and Lenny Kravitz to some broadcasts, plus finding ways to combine the past and the present.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n But the big win, in Flood’s eyes, might have been how putting analysts on team benches worked out so well \u2014 probably better than many imagined.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d love to do more \u2018On The Bench\u2019 games. We think that is something that has redefined to a degree how you can consume a basketball game in the NBA,” Flood said in an interview with The Associated Press. \u201cSo, we want to lean into that a little bit more. We can see adding a few more games of it.\u201d<\/p>\n NBC’s original plan for \u201cOn The Bench\u201d \u2014 which is just what it sounds like, having an analyst on (or basically one seat from) each team’s bench for the entire game \u2014 was to offer it as part of its Monday night package. A Sunday night game was added, and Flood said teams have cooperated with the format.<\/p>\n It’s not a completely new concept; there have been sideline reporters in various sports including the NBA for years, and NBC has had reporters between the benches at NHL games in the past as well. But in the NBA space, presenting \u201ccourtside\u201d reporting in that manner was basically unheard of until this season.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cThe game that Mike Tirico did in Miami, his one play-by-play for an \u2018On The Bench\u2019 game, he loved it. He just had so much fun doing a different kind of telecast,\u201d Flood said. \u201cAnd again, we found the teams have leaned in and loved it. One of the unwritten benefits for the teams is we don\u2019t ask to speak for those in-game interviews to the head coach. We say: \u2018Who\u2019s your guy? Who\u2019s your assistant that you want to put out there to get an opportunity to get this sort of exposure?’\u201d<\/p>\n