Media members have a way of leaning on each other when on an extended assignment. Vic Lombardi told his co-hosts on Altitude Sports Radio that is what is happening during the Western Conference Finals.
On Monday morning, Lombardi told Marc Moser and Brett Kane that members of the media were playing pick up basketball in LA on Sunday. During that game, he said “a pretty lively conversation” broke out around how ESPN is covering the series.
“I said, ‘You guys are biding that narrative that this is the story and we got to stick to it and no other story exists,'” he said on Moser, Lombardi and Kane, alluding to the perception that the network wants the Lakers to defeat the Nuggets because it would be better for ratings. “I said, ‘That’s the impression and perception from Denver.’ And they said, ‘Well, what are you talking about? I wrote this article on this date or whatever.’ Yeah, you wrote one article. I’m talking about this series and the moments here.”
Lombardi said the disbelief on the part of his national media colleagues is actually understandable in his eyes.
“They don’t see what they’re doing from the outside in. They don’t see it. We see it because it affects us more.”
He told his co-hosts and listeners that no matter what they hear on television, he can assure them that the reporters are not rooting for the Lakers. In fact, he heard some pretty pointed criticism.
“Some of the comments that were made yesterday were so anti-Lakers behind the scenes, like just ‘We’re tired of this run,’ ‘Oh, my God. Did you see that flop?’ This and that,” Vic Lombardi said. “They were saying things that normal people say. I just don’t think they say it in a professional setting. And I don’t know why. You know, they’re not radio hosts, but they’re saying things that we usually say about the Lakers.”
