The NBA Finals are currently tied at a game apiece between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers. Social media has been ablaze with discussions about widespread criticism directed at the NBA over the presentation of the Finals, particularly due to the absence of traditional logos during the telecast. This omission has given the broadcasts a feel that lacks the unique flair the Finals typically bring. While the focus for many viewers remains on how ESPN and ABC have presented the game broadcasts themselves, Bomani Jones recently offered a different perspective on his The Right Time with Bomani Jones podcast.
He argued that the way ESPN portrays the NBA as if it were the NFL is ultimately detrimental to building excitement around the Finals.
“Everybody in basketball needs to understand it’s not football; therefore, you cannot sell it like it’s football. You can’t do it. One of my chief criticisms of ESPN’s coverage of the NBA is that they treat the NBA like the NFL. You can’t cover it the same way,” said Jones. “The part that you can treat like football is making the games feel like big deals. That’s the part that they don’t do. That’s the part that the league does not do.”
Furthermore, Jones emphasized that ESPN’s approach tends to be overly technical, with a strong focus on breaking down games through specific plays and an overreliance on X’s and O’s. In contrast, he believes the NBA is more “loosey goosey,” which aligns better with how fans prefer to engage in conversations about the league. According to Jones, this disconnect contributes to a lack of hype and contributes to what he sees as a broader failure in how the networks and the league are presenting the Finals. This includes, in his view, the lack of traditional logos and an overall Finals-esque look.
“When you come out here and you don’t have any signage on the court to indicate that it’s the NBA Finals; it already looks like the g** d**n AAU tournament with the coaches wearing quarter zips and anybody wearing any old jersey that was clean. You can’t tell who the home team was just by looking on the floor. You got to make this feel like something.”
In addition, Jones argued that sports are inherently more entertaining rather than being entertainment in the conventional sense. He explained that if sports are merely treated as entertainment, they become just another way to pass the time, rather than something that genuinely resonates with and moves the audience. For that reason, he encouraged the league and its broadcast partners to fully embrace the spectacle and emotional pull of what the NBA Finals should represent.
“Play up the pageantry, play up the stuff around it. The audience needs it,” explained Jones.
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