NBA Insider: How “reunion games” became NBA staple.
As far as anyone involved can remember, it started with the Shaq and Kobe game.
For seven seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant had comprised one of the most devastating, successful on-court partnerships in NBA history, winning three straight titles — and one of its most drama-filled off-court partnerships. By 2004, the two superstars were undergoing a messy public divorce, culminating in O’Neal being traded to the Miami Heat. With attention cresting, the league looked to capitalize on what was sure to be an emotional moment: The star center’s return to L.A.’s Staples Center.
“Shaq’s mere presence always gave your team the feel that your games were on a global platform,” said Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra, then an assistant to Pat Riley in Miami.
The NBA of 2004 didn’t have the ever-present status that it enjoys on television these days - “we had far less nationally televised games,” said Tom Carelli, the league’s senior vice president of broadcasting — so decisionmakers were constantly searching for ways to stand out. The NBA tabbed Christmas Day for O’Neal’s return trip to Los Angeles, one of two games on the holiday that year — far from the five-game Christmas slate the league has held for the past decade.
“There was tremendous hype around Shaq’s return to Los Angeles, which wasn’t lost on the schedule-makers,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who was then serving as president and chief operating officer of NBA Entertainment, “and we knew putting that game on Christmas Day would only intensify the interest.
“I also remember that Kobe and Shaq didn’t disappoint, and it turned out to be one of those games — with a Heat overtime win — that exceeded even our rosy expectations.”
Just like that, the muchballyhooed “reunion game” was born.
Each year, the NBA schedule is now littered with such matchups, baked into television networks’ plans. Wednesday night brought one of the biggest, as ESPN broadcast exPacers star Paul George’s return to Indianapolis with his new team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Upon its release, this season’s schedule offered seven other high-profile, highly anticipated reunions built off last summer’s player movement: Kyrie Irving (Cleveland, Oct. 17), Paul Millsap (Atlanta, Oct. 27), Carmelo Anthony (New York, Dec. 16), Isaiah Thomas (Boston, Jan. 3), Chris Paul (Los Angeles, Jan. 15), Jimmy Butler (Chicago, Feb. 9) and Gordon Hayward (Utah, March 28), though the new Celtic’s injury on the season’s opening night casts serious doubt on his availability. All of those games were circled by bloggers and the NBA itself as “season highlights” when the schedule was released in August. All of them were picked to be televised nationally, except for Millsap’s lackluster trip back to Atlanta as a member of the Denver Nuggets.
All-Star Game changes
Debuting a new NBA All-Game format in which players will pick teams in an effort to energize the event, the league has unveiled the voting schedule for its 2018 showcase. The NBA had previously announced that the Eastern vs. Western Conference format would be scrapped for the first time, replaced by captains choosing sides in the latest effort to generate more enthusiasm and perhaps competitiveness for the game.
The starters from each conference with the highest total of fan votes will serve as the captains. They will then pick from the eight remaining starters first, then choose from the pool of players voted as reserves. It could lead to some intriguing scenarios — would LeBron James pick Kyrie Irving if he’s a captain? Would Russell Westbrook choose Kevin Durant?
Unfortunately, the captains’ selections will be conducted before the full rosters are unveiled during a TNT program on Jan. 25.
The league announced Thursday that voting begins on NBA.com and the NBA App on Dec. 21. Voting through all other formats, such as Twitter and Facebook and including Amazon Alexa for the first time, starts on Christmas Day before the annual five-game slate.
TNT team to call 1st game
Turner Sports says its “Inside the NBA” studio team will call a Christmas night game in Los Angeles along with its other usual duties. Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson will be at Staples Center for the Lakers’ game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They will call the nightcap of the league’s five-game holiday schedule in addition to their regular pregame, halftime and postgame coverage.