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Jackson trading mic for Warriors’ coaching gig

June 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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ABC/ESPN NBA commentator Mark Jackson has been named head coach of the Golden State Warriors, it was confirmed Monday night. The Brooklyn, N.Y.-born Jackson's hiring will mark his first head coaching stint in the NBA. Jackson, 46, becomes the third Golden State coach in three years, replacing the fired Keith Smart. Jackson played 17 seasons in the league, including two stints as the point guard of his hometown New York Knicks. Jackson played in New York for coach Jeff Van Gundy, one of hs broadcasting partners with ABC and ESPN. Drafted 18th overall by the Knicks in 1987, Jackson has brought candor and depth to his role as a TV analyst. Jackson had been linked to other coaching vacancies over the years and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Clippers job that ultimately went to Vinny Del Negro in 2010. Jackson, a onetime analyst for the YES Network on New Jersey Nets … [Read more...]

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ESPN platforms put full-court press on college hoops

October 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

If you think ESPN is omnipresent on the college gridiron — and it is — contemplate its reach on the basketball court: The Worldwide Leader will broadcast about 1,100 college hoops games this season over its multiple platforms. Things get going in earnest on Nov. 9 with the annual 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer. Then comes the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon on Nov. 16 with games scheduled every two hours starting at 6 a.m. ET. This is the first year of a 15-year agreement with the SEC featuring every conference home game not on  a broadcast network to be televised on an ESPN platform. It is also the first season of a new agreement with the WAC, with games on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPU. For the ninth straight year ESPN will show the NCAA tournament's opening-round game from Dayton, Ohio. The network's platforms include ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ABC, ESPN360.com, … [Read more...]

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Collins, Vescey to be feted as Gowdy award winners

July 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

TNT basketball analyst Doug Collins and longtime New York Post "Hoop du Jour" columnist Peter Vescey have been selected as this year's recipients of the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. They will be honored at a ceremony in September. The award, named in honor of the late broadcaster and former Basketball Hall of Fame president, is presented annually to members of the print and electronic media. Collins, pictured, has had two tours of duty with TNT since 1989. He returned to the network in 2003 after coaching stints with the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards. Vescey has been writing a basketball column since 1976, either with the Post or USA Today. He has also been a regular contributor on NBC and NBA TV. … [Read more...]

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James anything but cavalier about jam video

July 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

If ever there was an athlete who seems totally secure in his skin, it is LeBron James. He is an elite specimen who has gone to great lengths to cultivate an image of confidence and maintaining grace under fire. (See Steve Kroft's recent "60 Minutes" profile to really appreciate the PR machine behind the man.) So along comes this sophomore from Xavier University named Jordan Crawford who shows what a gifted athlete he is by throwing down a monstrous two-handed jam over the Cleveland Cavaliers all-star at the Nike-run LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron, Ohio. Pretty cool, huh? Not to James. A freelance videographer named Ryan Miller says that soon after he shot video of the dynamic dunk, his tape was confiscated by Nike Basketball's senior director Lynn Merritt — apparently at James' behest. Since CBSSports.com blogger Gary Parrish broke the story on Tuesday, word of the … [Read more...]

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Strong interest in NBA playoffs bodes well for ABC

June 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

It's motto is "where amazing happens" and the NBA has lived up to that billing during the current postseason. Starting with the phenomenal Boston Celtics-Chicago Bulls series, there's been no shortage of drama. ABC has strong reason to believe its coverage of the finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic — with their respective superstars Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard — will generate significant viewer interest. Ratings for the Western Conference finals on ESPN increased 32 percent from the network's conference finals coverage last year. The Eastern Conference finals on TNT were up 30 percent from its conference finals coverage in 2008. For the entire playoffs, TNT's ratings were up 19 percent from a year ago. ESPN's increased 12 percent. … [Read more...]

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Chicago mourns loss of two icons

February 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Johnny "Red" Kerr spent 54 of his 76 years in professional basketball. The native Chicagoan was as iconic in Windy City hoops circles as Michael Jordan; he was a player, coach, executive and broadcaster. The hometown Bulls had planned to honor Kerr later this season, but the event had to be expedited because the franchise's first coach and 35-year color man was losing his lengthy battle with prostate cancer. Two weeks ago, on Feb. 10, the Bulls unveiled a statue of Kerr at Chicago's United Center in an emotional ceremony that included a taped tribute from President Barack Obama. An impressive list of individuals synonymous with Bulls history — star players Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Bob "Butterbean" Love and longtime announcer Jim Durham among them — was assembled to participate in the Kerr salute. One notable omission was "Stomin' Norman" Van Lier, a three-time … [Read more...]

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Report: Barkley’s TNT return near

February 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

A few days before his New Year's Eve arrest for drunken driving, Charles Barkley told TNT viewers how "blessed" he felt to have a job in this depressed economy. After being given a leave of absence last month to deal with the incident, one hopes he takes those words to heart. While the network has yet to announce a return date, SportsBusiness Journal reported Barkley will be back on the air shortly after this weekend's coverage of the NBA All-Star Game. The outspoken media darling and former star forward has been a studio analyst with Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith on TNT's "Inside the NBA" since 2000. Test results revealed Barkley had a blood-alcohol level at .149, nearly twice the legal limit of .08 in Arizona, when he was arrested by Scottsdale police Dec. 31. UPDATE: Barkley will be back on the air Thursday, Feb. 19. … [Read more...]

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Remembering the ‘Boy Wonder’

January 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Our friend Claude Johnson reports the somber news that New York basketball legend John "Boy Wonder" Isaacs passed away Monday after suffering a stroke last week. He was 93. Johnson, the founder and president of the vintage sports licensing firm Black Fives, Inc., has led a tireless effort to get Isaacs inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Twice a finalist for enshrinement, the honor has thus far eluded Isaacs, a starting guard on some of the great all-black New York Renaissance teams of the 1930s and the person credited with bringing the pick-and-roll play to the professional game. In his first three seasons with the Rens, the team won an astounding 370 of 423 games and were the champions of the first World's Professional Basketball Tournament in 1939. Four years later, Isaacs won another title as a member of the Washington Bears. After his playing career, Isaacs became a … [Read more...]

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Barkley takes leave from TNT

January 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Charles Barkley is taking an indefinite leave of absence from TNT following his New Year's Eve arrest on suspicion of drunken driving. Turner Sports made the announcement Friday shortly after police in Scottsdale, Ariz., disclosed Barkley, a studio analyst on TNT's Thursday night NBA coverage, had a blood-alcohol level at .149 — nearly twice the legal limit of .08 in Arizona. Barkley, 45, will be off the air for a minimum of several weeks, and no return date has been set, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. … [Read more...]

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DirecTV, Jazz station at impasse

January 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Viewers of FSN Utah's telecast Monday night of the NBA game between the Utah Jazz and Golden State Warriors were urged to call DirecTV and demand that Salt Lake City station KJZZ-TV be immediately returned to the satellite provider's lineup. DirecTV and KJZZ — the local broadcast outlet for Jazz games and, like the basketball team, owned by auto magnate Larry H. Miller  — are embroiled in a contract dispute over retransmission consent fees. The station was dropped by DirecTV on New Year's Eve. In their previous agreement, KJZZ provided its feed to DirecTV for free. The station now wants to be paid after having negotiated retransmission fees with other carriers such as Comcast and Dish Network. The bulk of Jazz games are televised by FSN Utah; however, 12 of the team's remaining regular-season games are scheduled to be broadcast on KJZZ, including Wednesday's contest with … [Read more...]

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