ALL THE DURANT DRAMA
ESPN’s Smith was ring master of Finals circus
The NBA Finals was far from a TV ratings success, but still turned into a 24/7 spectacle thanks to an aura generated by Kevin Durant and the carnival barking of Stephen A. Smith.
The mystery surrounding whether Durant would return to the Warriors-Raptors matchup followed by sadness and finger pointing when he ruptured his Achilles tendon Monday night was 1) Enough material for the media to choke on and 2) Negated the reliance on mindnumbing X’s and O’s analysis, which becomes repetitious during any playoff series.
The highlight was the joyous occasion of media ripping media, blaming each other for being collaborators in Durant’s demise. It went something like this: “Oh, if the media didn’t question his desire and durability, he wouldn’t have been forced to comeback and put himself at risk.” Pass the damn Kleenex. Blaming came easy. The list grew. Doctors. Fans. The Warriors organization and GM Bob (96 Tears) Myers. Someone even blamed Drake.
And, around here — naturally — Valley of the Stupid Gasbags and assorted Hoop Heads had their orange-and-blue pompoms pointing in one direction. Breathlessly, they only cared how all this will affect Durant’s free agency? Should the Knicks still sign him? When will he be ready to play again? There was absolutely no concern about Durant’s current health and well being.
Durant should know this: If he comes to the Knicks these very same pontificators will be wondering “when is he going to return” on a daily basis. And if, in their minds, Durant is taking too long, they will start questioning his heart and character too. If he wants to find out what this is like firsthand, call Antonio McDyess.
No one benefited from Durant’s injury. Well, almost no one. Every circus needs a ringmaster. Smith more than filled that role. The NBA’s leisurely Finals schedule, where there are at least a couple of days between games, was the perfect set-up for SAS. On ESPN, he was omnipresent (First Take, his radio show and game nights hosting his own hour-long Finals special) displaying his Triple Threat approach: 1) He delivered inside info 2) He delivered stinging opinions and 3) He delivered nononsense interviews.
If this wasn’t enough, Smith went on other ESPN outlets to dish. Most notably, on Monday,
he took on ESPN 98.7’s “The Michael Kay Show” crew who ripped SAS for saying (on June 7), if the Knicks did not acquire Durant: “I will be first in line to demand that (James) Dolan
sell the team.” Kay, Don La Greca, and Pete Rosenberg,
who have a history of defending Dolan (they have interviewed him), hung with SAS for a while until he started rolling and commandeered the interview.
Smith conceded Dolan is an “astute” businessman. “But he’s considered a clown. He’s not respected as a basketball guy. No one wants to trust him,” Smith said on ESPN 98.7, the Knicks flagship station. Smith brought up Dolan booting Charles Oakley from the Gulag and also throwing fans out of the Drecka for asking him to sell the Knicks.
“That’s petulance. That’s pettiness,” Smith said. “If those are the kind of things that lead the agent community and your contemporaries within the business talking down to you and dissuading people to come play for you, you (Dolan) are a problem.”
Will this be a problem For Durant?
PRAYERS FOR PAPI
Will the recent shooting of David Ortiz affect Papi’s TV future?
Last season, Ortiz became the undisputed star (okay, he talked the most) of Fox’s postseason studio show. This season, he likely was not going to return to the microphone until the AllStar Game in Cleveland on July 9.
Industry sources say the Foxies are, understandably, more concerned with Ortiz’s recovery than they are about whether he will be ready for the All-Star tilt. Fox has not even considered who would replace Ortiz if he wasn’t healthy enough to perform.
Like most networks, Fox has a list of candidates it could use. The network would not have to scramble to replace Ortiz in July.
ANGER MANAGEMENT
ESPN 98.7 loves to hype Don La Greca’s rants, the ones where his face turns red (as seen on the YES simulcast) and he throws a telephone or something else.
This is all very cute and it gives DLG his own shtick. Yet, all his rants put together don’t compare to what clearly was the real thing. It went down when Pete Rosenberg, who knows exactly what buttons to push, played DLG for a fool, saying he can only carry out an argument by arguing the same point over and over and over again.
La Greca wigged, big-time, and it was scary. The man lost it, saying he would “smack” Rosenberg. “You don’t talk to me that way,” DLG screamed. He would later apologize for his outburst. Yet, this episode showed a cat who is wired differently. The fact he apologized might indicate he knows he sounded like someone with serious anger management issues.
And that’s a problem.
OH GARY
Is it possible SNY’s Gary Cohen doesn’t watch NFL pregame shows or NFL games with the sound on?
Last week, the Mets TV voice said Joe Girardi, who worked Rockies-Mets last Saturday on Fox, was in a tough spot because he is in between managerial gigs. Please!
When TV suits hire managers or football coaches in waiting, they are going to get defined approaches. The coach or manager who wants to get back on the field is going to pull punches. The guy who is serious about broadcasting will be more critical.
Girardi wants to return to the dugout so he took a soft approach. Cohen should take a look at some Rex Ryan ESPN tapes. He basically only pounds teams where he was the head coach because he knows he won’t be returning to the Jets or Bills.
AROUND THE DIAL
Norman Julius Esiason presents a tough guy persona, but he won’t name names. Last week he ripped: “A person with no credibility, second guessing the Jets when they know nothing.” Inquiring minds want to know who he’s talking about. Perhaps one of his FAN colleagues?… Even if you are not a golf aficionado you should check out Golf Channel’s two-part biopic on the life of Ben Hogan. “Hogan” airs Monday and Tuesday night (Golf Channel, 9 p.m.) and, of course, will include one of the greatest comeback stories in not just golf, but the history of sports….FAN’s CMB has guts. Last Thursday, their first day of live streaming the radio show, they plaster-cast Chris Carlin’s stomach. It was disgusting. And that’s being kind!