TWIN KILLING
For ESPN & FS1, Lebron & Melo opting out is a...
WHEN IT comes to providing free sports reality programming the National Basketball Association tops all other sports operations. Then again, the NBA gloms billions from its network TV partners (TNT,ESPN/ABC) who get mediocre ratings in return for their investments. So it’s only fair the league provide something gratis, more than just a free after-dinner drink.
Seriously though, the Donald Sterling caper had the trifecta — sex, senility and racism. Yet this wasn’t the kind of theater NBA executive producer Adam Silver had in mind. The fact it played out during the playoffs, with players threatening a boycott, only made it more bizarre.
The story temporarily satisfied America’s insatiable appetite for freak shows. Network programmers scour the country, sifting through garbage (symbolic, of course) hoping to find TV’s next culture bender. Silver & Co. had a hit show under their own roof. It was raw and real. It sucked up the air supply on TV, radio and dominated all other media platforms.
Not nearly as twisted, and confined to a sports audience, are the NBA’s two newest hit shows. “Decision II,” starring LeBron James, and “Sort of A Decision,” starring a lesser light, Carmelo Anthony. Unlike the Sterling saga, NBA suits love these two reality shows.
For they are about the business of basketball. These sagas keep the NBA brand red-hot during a time reserved for reruns and rehash. When LBJ opted out, it was Christmas in June for outlets like ESPN and FS1. With the dog days of summer, and endless innings of baseball staring them in the face, something hot was dropped in their laps. If the USA exits the World Cup this week, LBJ coverage gets even more intense — if that’s possible.
Anthony’s free agent fandango doesn’t resonate like LBJ’s “search,” outside of New York but still has plenty of juice. The presence of Phil Jackson, and the media’s microscopic analysis of his “strategy,” has added another layer of star power to this tale.
Any time hypocrisy is inserted in the plot line, the show becomes even more entertaining. Anthony was the first to suggest he might ask for less money and Jackson — using the media like a rented mule — is trying to embarrass him into it. But how can Jax, getting paid $12 mil per with no executive experience, expect Melo, a highly skilled scorer, to take less? That’s what inquiring minds want to know.
Jackson versus Melo. It’s the NBA’s version of class warfare. This should generate hours of hot air from ESPN’s NBA experts. By the way, Stephen A. Smith sure picked a lousy time to go on vacation. Whatever. We now hope and pray LBJ does another “Decision” TV special, if only to piss off the media’s holierthan-thou wing that went nuts on him for “The Decision” in 2010.
Since that show was hugely successful, LBJ should make sure he gets paid even more for the sequel.
JAX IS BETTER
When WFAN’s Kim Jones went gaga over Jax “being so open,” it reinforced just how dysfunctional James (Guitar Jimmy) Dolan’s Gulag is.
Jones was referring to Jackson updating boss scribes via a conference call, something other NBA executives do routinely. On this occasion it was treated as something radical.
By no means is Jones alone on an island here. Many radio gasbags are blowing everything Jax is doing out of proportion, like calling the trade he made with Dallas “a blockbuster.”
See, outside of all the rings and his thinking man’s persona, the difference between Jax and Glen Grunwald is simple: Jackson is allowed to talk to the media. Grunwald was rarely given the opportunity to explain his decisions without one of Dolan’s PR spies attached by the thumbs. Grunwald never had the total freedom to spin.
For now, Dolan has given Jax autonomy. The new Knicks boss can even hold his very own conference call.
Wow!
SPIKE RADIO
Spike Lee hosts a show on SiriusXM’s NBA Radio called “The Best Seat in the House.” Will he still have his “best seats” in the Garden for Knicks’ games?
Just asking after listening to Wednesday’s show when Lee, the Knicks mascot, had Daily News Knicks beat man Frank Isola ( aka Gulag Enemy No. 1) as his guest — for an hour. If anyone at the Gulag was listening, his or her ears were burning.
Earlier this month, we reported Barry Watkins, MSG’s VP of communications/administration, called ESPN-98.7’s Michael Kay and admonished him for allowing Isola to appear on his afternoon show for an hour. Watkins referred to Isola as “an enemy of the Garden” and “punished” Kay by ending an agreement giving him first dibs on MSG guests. 98.7 is the radio home of the Knicks and Rangers.
Since Lee is a long-time paying MSG customer, there isn’t much Watkins/Dolan can do. Then again, don’t ever underestimate their ability to get even.
So Mr. Lee, you should confirm where you are sitting for the 201415 season. And make sure your “friends” don’t revoke your hall pass.
CUSTER’S STAND
Throughout its history, the winds of change have blown through ESPN-98.7.
Station Gnomes have not been hesitant to bring in fresh voices and give them a microphone, a shot, a dollar and a dream. Such will be the case Sunday, when SNY/Showtime’s Brian (Mr.) Custer will do a 7-10 p.m. shift. Custer will also fill-in for Stephen A. Smith on Wednesday.
STRAW STILL STIRS
His days of controversy with the Mets/Yankees have been wellchronicled. Now, Darryl Strawberry’s post- baseball days as a junkie are chronicled on HBO’s “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel.”
The piece, reported by Bernard Goldberg, evolves into a tale about Strawberry’s ultimate redemption and how his now-wife Tracy, a onetime drug addict, saved him.
She first met Strawberry at a Narcotics Anonymous convention. “The clothes are just hanging off of his body. He’s sitting in a chair and he’s like part of the fabric in the chair,” she said. “He looks like the walking dead.”
This is a powerful story. Check it out.