Morning has broken on a new NBA season. It’s what makes October one of the best months on the sports calendar (to us anyway). You get college football’s murder weeks, the NFL in full bloom, post season baseball, and with tonight’s season opener between the Celtics and the 76ers, the NBA joins the NHL in the sport’s annual honeymoon period where the Carolina Hurricanes can win a Stanley Cup and the Sacramento Kings can hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
If you haven’t checked out our preseason NFL and NHL features, take some time and do that. For those pieces, we relied on the expertise of broadcasters and PDs in cities around those leagues. For the NBA, we are keeping things in house.
We decided to simply tell you who and what we like when it comes to NBA broadcasts. There are seven of us, so we each picked the best show or personality from a different specialty and wrote about what makes them unique and worth listening to, reading, or watching. Matt Fishman picked our radio broadcast team, Jason Barrett picked our TV studio show, Demetri Ravanos picked our TV studio host, David Greene picked our studio analyst, Tyler McComas picked our reporter, Brian Noe picked our TV play-by-play man, and Brandon Contes picked our TV color commentator. Enjoy!
BEST RADIO BROADCAST – THE MILWAUKEE BUCKS by Matt Fishman
Here’s a quick look at the best radio broadcast in the NBA. Whether they’ve been in the league for 46 years like the Phoenix Suns’ Al McCoy or haven’t been alive for 46 years like the Knicks’ Ed Cohen or Charlotte’s Chris Kroeger, the league is full of exciting and interesting radio broadcasters. Growing up in Chicago I was lucky to listen to one of the all-time best NBA radio play-by-play announcers—the late, great Jim Durham.
My choice for the best radio broadcast is the Milwaukee Bucks broadcast. Play by Play Man Ted Davis is entering his 22nd season behind the mic for Bucks games which can be heard on flagship WTMJ in Milwaukee. For those who haven’t heard the Bucks broadcasts, Davis has some great nicknames for players. This includes the nickname “The Alphabet” for Bucks Superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo. Davis told On Milwaukee, “I’m at draft night, and I’ve never heard of him. And so we have the 15th pick…and it comes up on the screen that we picked him and look at that name that just goes on forever and I thought, ‘oh my gosh, I’m going to have to learn how to say this name.’ I said, ‘it looks like the alphabet.’
Ted Davis also is the “point guard” for two very different broadcasts. He works solo for the road games but is joined by Dennis Krause for color commentary during the Bucks home games. He captures the movement and excitement of the game while seamlessly weaving in all the ticket promos, cross promos and live ads.
Davis first hit the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks in 1988 and left for the Bucks in the Summer of 1997.
Honorable Mention: Dallas Mavericks/ESPN Dallas 103.3: Chuck Cooperstein, Brad Davis; LA Clippers/570AM LA: Brian Sieman; Chicago Bulls/670 the Score: Chuck Swirsky, Bill Wennington; NY Knicks/98.7 ESPN NY: Ed Cohen, Brendan Brown
BEST STUDIO SHOW – INSIDE THE NBA by Jason Barrett
With apologies to The Jump, NBA Countdown, and NBA Gametime Live, TNT’s ‘Inside The NBA’ is the best NBA program on television. Ernie Johnson does an incredible job keeping an out of control freight train on the tracks, while allowing organic discussions, debates, humor and chaos to ensue.
As smooth as Johnson is as the conductor, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal offer unrivaled credibility, and appear to understand their roles and embrace them. They come across like three family members who respect each other and enjoy laughing together, yet won’t hesitate to bite back if they disagree.
In many ways, ‘Inside The NBA’ feels like a morning show that just so happens to air after NBA games on television. It’s intelligent, funny, candid, credible, and the on-air chemistry is outstanding.
Not to be forgotten is the production team’s work on this broadcast. They’ve done a fantastic job of highlighting humor on this show. Whether it’s seeing Barkley test his donut eating skills, Shaq crashing into a tree, or Kenny going inside the screen, viewers are entertained because there’s a lot of thought put into the presentation.
Rather than serving up the traditional recap style show, these guys have created something special. It’s not only the best NBA program on TV, it’s one of the best sports television shows period!
BEST STUDIO HOST – RACHEL NICHOLS by Demetri Ravanos
This was a tough choice, because I like all of what I would consider the “Big 3” of NBA studio hosts (Nichols, Michelle Beadle, and Ernie Johnson). Nichols gets the nod here though because she is the only one that I watch and think “she could carry a show by herself.” She proves that nearly every afternoon as ESPN all too often saddles her with a vanilla co-host or analyst on The Jump.
Nichols has proven on the show that she can have fun and get great stories out of former players. Just last month she showcased her second-to-none interviewing skills when she held Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s feet to the fire about the culture inside the team’s front office.
Her comments and questions always have an air of strategy to them. She is a terrific reactor to what her interview subject or co-host just said. Nichols never gives off the impression that she is just waiting for someone else’s lips to stop moving so she can spit out her next pre-plotted question or point.
Given that she is the only one of “The Big 3” to be on a daily show, you could be forgiven for thinking Rachel Nichols would be the most apt to phone in her performance occasionally. Nothing could be further from the truth. In a field crowded with talent, no one brings it with more consistency than Rachel Nichols!
BEST STUDIO ANALYST – CHARLES BARKLEY by David Greene
It isn’t even close. “Sir Charles,” is the only analyst who is always willing to say what others would never say. He doesn’t spend his time riding the fence that too many analysts (and hosts) believe they have to in order to keep their jobs. If a team is terrible, or “turrible” as Charles would say, he’ll say it (he once said about the Bulls: “We better not be doing the Bulls this year. Man, they suck! Bunch of high school kids with $70 million contracts.”).
TNT’s Inside the NBA is a terrific watch, mostly because of the overall chemistry, but Barkley is the one that makes it must-watch television. I will never forget when EJ was doing a promo for fans to pay $6.99 to watch a Lakers-Bucks game on NBA.com’s League Pass and Barkley commented, “$6.99?! That game should be more like $1.99, please don’t pay six dollars for that, that game should be sold at the dollar store, c’mon man!”
Honest to a fault, funny as hell, and an incredible passion for the game. That’s what makes Charles Barkley the Best NBA Studio Analyst.
BEST NBA REPORTER – ADRIAN WOJNAROWSKI by Tyler McComas
I tried to come up with any reason not to choose Adrian Wojnarowski. To be fair, only because I thought it was right to give every other reporter a chance to make this list. However, I couldn’t come up with one reason as to why ‘Woj” shouldn’t be the obvious selection.
Not only is he the best when it comes to breaking news, his on-camera and on-air abilities have significantly improved. He’s asserted himself as a true threat in all facets of media and continues to be the most trusted source in the NBA.
Living that lifestyle can’t be easy, seeing as your always one text message or phone call away from being dragged from dinner and into breaking the biggest news in the sport. The sacrifices are high, but the rewards have been even higher for Wojnarowski.
With ESPN’s commitment to the NBA, it’s been a blessing for the network that they were able to secure the best in the business. Heck, he’s often the most mentioned name during the NBA Free Agency period. The great ones are often referred to simple by a nickname and Woj definitely belongs in that category.
BEST TV PLAY-BY-PLAY MAN – MIKE BREEN by Brian Noe
There are plenty of talented NBA play-by-play broadcasters these days. However, the premiere TV commentator is currently ABC’s Mike Breen. Possibly the greatest compliment I can give Breen is that he actually makes New York Knicks games on MSG Network better. Each game — whether it’s on ABC, ESPN, or MSG — simply sounds bigger when Breen is on the call.
Another one of Breen’s great strengths is that he doesn’t take himself seriously to a fault. You can hear Breen’s passion during his trademark “bang” calls following big shots, but he allows color commentators like Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Walt Frazier to showcase their unique humor and style without getting in the way.
Breen is similar to TNT’s Ernie Johnson on Inside the NBA in that regard. Ernie doesn’t get miffed when Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal stray way off topic to say something hilarious. Breen, too, doesn’t get upset when Van Gundy and Jackson start randomly talking about their favorite finishing moves in wrestling history. Breen laughs and sometimes even contributes to the humor.
That awareness and approach, coupled with Breen’s smooth delivery, make him the best NBA play-by-play voice in TV today.
BEST COLOR COMMENTATOR – BILL WALTON by Brandon Contes
If we’re building a fantasy broadcast in a keeper league, Brian Scalabrine, Reggie Miller, Doris Burke and Sean Elliott are all near the top of the list for TV analysts, but for one season? I’m listening to Bill Walton.
Maybe nostalgia is kicking in, hearing Walton and the late Steve “Snapper” Jones call a Sunday afternoon Knick game as my basketball fandom was built in the 90’s, but his eccentric style of analysis will forever be unmatched. During any game the viewer is bound to laugh, say “good point” and yell “what?!”
As analytics will undoubtedly continue taking over the sport, analyst roles will adjust. Already his patented “throw it down big man!” will be heard less as 7-footers convert into perimeter players.
In terms of keeping the listener entertained, there is no one better on a broadcast than Walton. Known for being a versatile player, I have no doubt his innovative and colorful style behind the mic would make him a successful broadcaster during any generation of basketball.
Recently, Walton has worked a toned down schedule focused on college basketball, but he’ll return to the NBA this year to join Ralph Lawler for select games in Lawler’s final season as the play-by-play voice of the Clippers.
