Former NBA Players as Commentators

Former Memphis Grizzly Ryan Hollins (right) is the latest former NBA player to try his luck as a TV commentator.

A GROWING trend in US sports television is hiring former athletes to be TV commentators.

Sports like NFL football and the NBA have seen a lot of their former players jump from the playing field to the broadcast booth with mixed results.

In this piece, we're limiting this to the NBA since there are a lot of Filipino fans who patronize this league compared to the NFL which is just starting to gain a foothold in the Philippine sports landscape through ESPN5.

If you watch the NBA games here in the US, you will notice that many ex-players are becoming analysts for TNT like Reggie Miller, Chris Webber, Kevin McHale, Greg Anthony and Brent Barry, who has even done play-by-play for the Players Only games.

NBA legends Shaquille O' Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith co-host the pre-game and post-game shows on TNT and the three even did analysis for a Christmas Day game last year with Ernie Johnson as play-by-play man.

TNT has already tapped Kevin Garnett to host Area21 for its NBA coverage while another ex-player Baron Davis will host his own solo show on TNT soon.

For NBA TV, there's Steve Smith, Isiah Thomas, Grant Hill and some of the TNT guys who do occasional discussions with the hosts for GameTime.

On ESPN/ABC, there are no ex-players among the analysts except perhaps for Mark Jackson who was a former coach before he was hired for TV. But former players like Paul Pierce, Chauncey Billups and Jalen Rose are part of the NBA Countdown shows.

Rose is best remembered by Filipino NBA fans for waving a walis tambo (broom) during last year's NBA finals when he predicted that the Golden State Warriors would sweep the Cleveland Cavaliers. As we all know, the sweep happened this year unlike last year when the Cavs won one game before losing the series to the Warriors.

Rachel Nichols' NBA show on ESPN, The Jump, also has former NBA stars joining her on the desk like Tracy McGrady, Scottie Pippen, Byron Scott, Stephen Jackson and Ryan Hollins, a recent addition to the group.

Of course, there are also some former NBA players who serve as analysts on the regional NBA networks like recent Manila visitor Bruce Bowen (LA Clippers), Stephen Curry's father Dell Curry (Charlotte Hornets) and Dominique Wilkins (Atlanta Hawks).

Among these ex-players, the one I like the best is Brent Barry because he can switch from being an analyst to a play-by-play man with ease. Whenever there is a Players Only game, I enjoy him as anchor especially when the Warriors are playing. It also helps that his dad Rick Barry was not just an NBA legend, but a good broadcaster as well.

I also like the way Shaq, Barkley and Kenny Smith trade barbs on Inside the NBA although Barkley can be very frank at times. It's no surprise why Barkley has some people who hate his words like Bill Russell who waved a dirty finger at Sir Charles during the recent NBA Awards.

On The Jump, McGrady and Pippen speak with such low voices and even though they have the knowledge, if you're not used to the way they speak, you will end up sleeping in front of your TV set. At least, Scott, Jackson and Pierce have voices that make you feel comfortable with their analysis.

Former PBA players who have become TV commentators like Benjie Paras and Ronnie Magsanoc can learn a lot from these NBA legends who are now seen on TV. These ex-NBA stars have the knowledge and they know what they are talking about. They don't even talk about silly breakfast jokes that Paras and Magsanoc say on ABS-CBN's NBA coverage.

I wonder how would an NBA TV coverage would sound when Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and James Harden become broadcasters after their playing careers are over. At least Donovan Mitchell got a good start in his future career when he was a "guest analyst" in a PBA game recently.