Fans of the Denver Nuggets have not been happy with the way the team has been covered in the playoffs. Whether they are an average joe that loves the team or someone with a sports radio show in the market, none of them have been shy about expressing their feelings and Mike Greenberg doesn’t blame them.
Greeny called into 104.3 The Fan in Denver Monday morning. Mike Evans asked him what his message would be to the Nuggets fans that feel that way.
“My message would be, I get it,” he answered. “You know, the Nuggets are not a team that has the storied history that some of the other franchises in the NBA do. The NBA is very star focused and it’s very history focused.”
Greenberg anchors studio coverage for ESPN and ABC during the playoffs. He has done the same for ESPN’s NBA Countdown all season. He says that while many fans do not know much about the Nuggets, he has had the pleasure to see them on the late half of the network’s NBA doubleheaders.
The majority of the NBA fan base resides in the Central and Eastern time zones. That means most fans are not up late enough for those games. As a result, they did not know much about the team or star center Nikola Jokić prior to the playoffs.
Did that slant the way the team was covered? Greenberg admits that it is possible, but he notes that it seems to have worked out well for them.
“I think it has certainly seemed to galvanize them a little bit,” he said. “I saw when Michael Malone was frustrated that everyone was talking about the Lakers during their series. And look, as a representative of the national media, all I could say is the reality is LeBron James is the biggest star in the sport and the Lakers are the biggest brand in the sport. They’re always going to get all of the attention no matter what else happens.”
