NBA Players Only: A Good Concept

The presence of former NBA players covering the games is something many fans are embracing now.
SINCE last year, the US network TNT has been tapping former NBA players to be sportscasters through its Players Only concept.

This features former NBA stars Greg Anthony and Brent Barry doing play-by-play chores while Grant Hill, Derek Fisher, Baron Davis and Rip Hamilton are doing analysis.

Even ex-players like Dennis Scott and the recently-retired Caron Butler are dipping their feet into courtside reporting.

Although these guys are novices in sportscasting, their long experience as players helps them in their jobs as NBA sportscasters and they cover the games in a conversational style which totally differs from the usual NBA coverage with legit sportscasters like Marv Albert, Mike Breen and Kevin Harlan.

I have been particularly impressed with Brent Barry who has a good voice and a great potential to be a good play-by-play anchor. His dad Rick also dabbled in sportscasting after retiring from his legendary career with the Golden State Warriors.

And that's not all. TNT also has other ex-players like Shaquille O' Neal, Charles Barkley, Kevin McHale, Chris Webber and Isiah Thomas hosting the pre-game and post-game shows. Both O' Neal and Barkley even covered a TNT Christmas Day game in another novel concept TNT introduced in late 2017.

Webber and his fellow players do crack a lot of jokes on the air which I don't understand but at least, they're more tolerable than Benjie Paras' Papa Bear and breakfast jokes which he makes with long-time buddy Ronnie Magsanoc during ABS-CBN's Tagalized NBA Saturday coverage.

This kind of format in the NBA is something ABS-CBN should study closely. If TNT can hire players who talk sense, then I don't see any reason why ABS should do the same thing. There are other retired players like Renren Ritualo, Olsen Racela, Richard del Rosario and Dominic Uy who an also be tapped to do the NBA on ABS-CBN although contractual restrictions with rival networks may prevent that from happening.

The TNT NBA Players Only format will last until the end of the regular season then these players will be full-time analysts come the playoffs. But if this kind of a format catches on, then I don't see any reason why former players could cover most NBA playoff and Finals games.

After all, these ex-players know the game and they talk sense.





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