ESPN Analyst Claims Jalen Brunson Could Be Greatest Player in Knicks Franchise History

May 3, 2024 Jimm Sallivan

On Thursday night the New York Knicks moved on to the second round of the 2024 NBA playoffs by way of a 118-115 win in Game 6 over the Philadelphia 76ers. Jalen Brunson was magnificent once again, recording 41 points (including 14 points in the fourth quarter) to put the persistent Sixers away. ESPN analyst Jay Williams was so in awe of his performance he went on Friday morning’s episode of Get Up to sing the point guard’s praises.

He may have gone a bit far, though. Even for the most diehard of Knicks fans. Williams said he believes Brunson will go down as one of the greatest Knicks of all-time— if not the greatest.

“I really think Jalen Brunson is going to go down as one of the greatest Knicks, if not the greatest Knick ever.”

—@RealJayWilliams pic.twitter.com/3yucBrB596

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 3, 2024

Brunson has been incredibly impressive and the marks he’s hit as noted by the chyron are historic. However, Williams himself acknowledges he may be getting a bit over his skis by speaking so highly of Brunson’s place in franchise history when he hasn’t won a championship yet. Patrick Ewing didn’t get one but Walt Frazier and Willis Reed both did. Even the most ardent Brunson supporter would balk at arguing Brunson is above any of those three in the franchise hierarchy as of now.

This sort of Brunson-mania is completely understandable through the lens of recent Knicks history. The organization was desperately searching for a new face of the franchise for nearly five years after Carmelo Anthony left and hadn’t been seriously competitive in nearly a decade. The years between Ewing’s retirement and the Melo trade aren’t even worth discussing in this space. The Knicks were seriously lacking in 21st century legends before Brunson came along.

And he is perfect for the Knicks, just like franchise faces of old. Anthony was a walking highlight reel but didn’t draw the love of the more gritty, earn every inch segment of the fanbase in the same way Brunson has. Knicks fans love a grinder and Brunson, if anything, is exactly that. Plus, before Brunson signed the best point guard to grace Madison Square Garden was 2007-’08 Stephon Marbury and he didn’t win a single playoff series. It’s been a while.

Brunson is very exciting to watch and feels tailor-made for the New York Knicks. He’s still a long ways off from the heights reached by Frazier and Willis and even Ewing. A great first round series makes a franchise legend not, but perhaps this is the year when that changes.

10 Jun 24 Jimm Sallivan

In Slight Defense of the NBA Finals Halftime Shows

Halftime shows are like commercials. A necessary evil and a perfect opportunity to load up on more snack mix or perform a fluids check. Few people in the history of sitting on their couches have ever been deeply intrigued by a Coming Up At the Half tease. And the hardworking broadcasting crews that try to capture eyeballs and attention are fighting an uphill battle.

That's the bad news. The good is that all of this combines to create a low-stakes environment because, let's face it, average viewers don't really care if the halftime show is good or average or a trainwreck. As long as the second half begins on time then everyone wins and no one loses.

So it's kind of perplexing to see the aggregating of grievances concerning ESPN/ABC's mid-game fare during the NBA Finals. Awful Announcing got out the stopwatch and crunched some numbers following Game 1's halftime show.

All told, the studio crew got roughly a minute and 20 seconds of air time. And remember, that time was split between five people. Much of that time was spent on intros from and outros to commercial breaks.

Is this ideal? Certainly not. But is it a new phenomenon? Also no.

ESPN/ABC has been dinged for stuffing shot-clock-length opinions and observations between a crushing amount of bells and whistles for years. Those critiquing the operation are right when they say there's no flow and it can all be a bit disorienting. But they are also a bit silly for tuning into the Finals games and expecting anything different than what has been standard operating procedure for some time now.

It feels weird to defend something that could certainly be better yet at the same time complaining that viewers aren't getting enough opinions or analysis during what is essentially a content oasis feels a bit weird. Those are available on the network before the game and after the game, plus on-demand and on social media for anyone who may have missed the thousands of words and hundreds of segments devoted to Celtics-Mavs under the ESPN umbrella.

There simply cannot be a real world faction significant enough to warrant concern-trolling that Bob Myers and Josh Hart weren't given enough time to explore the space. Or that the real world is pining for another minute of Stephen A. Smith to fire off whatever he's going to fire off.

For as often this crew is compared to TNT's iconic foursome on Inside the NBA, which does move at a more beneficial pace, there's little apples-to-oranges consideration. First, broadcasting a champioship is going to afford the opportunity — and necessity really — to be more sponsor- and commercial-heavy. Then there's the problem of people conflating TNT's long postgame coverage with its halftime hits. Sure Barkley or O'Neal might say something hilarious and go viral during the mid-game break but more often than not the focus will be on Team X not turning the ball over or how Team Y looks sleepy out there.

Sunday night's Game 2 brought more of the same because, honestly, who would think it would change in the span of a few days. Unofficial numbers suggest the commercialization outpaced the analysis at around a 6-1 clip. But we're not going to go back and chart it ourselves because almost anything is a better use of time.

Something to keep in mind for Game 3 instead of hoping for a miracle that simply isn't going to come.

30 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Who Are the Announcers for the 2024 NBA Finals?

The 2024 NBA Finals begins on June 6th and will be broadcast by ESPN on ABC. ESPN has a whole new broadcast team lined up to call this year's Finals after going with a familiar team for the last decade. To make things more complicated, they had to adjust their plans midseason thanks to a high profile coaching move by a title contender.

So with all the musical chairs in the broadcast booth over the last year, who will be on the call for this year's Finals?

Mike Breen took over as play-by-play announcer for ABC in 2006 and has called the last 18 NBA Finals. His partners for many of those years were Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. The exception was Hubie Brown, the color commentator for Breen's first Finals.

With Jackson and Van Gundy leaving ESPN last summer, Doris Burke was promoted to the lead broadcast team. Burke has been working for the network since 1991 and began working the sidelines on NBA broadcasts during the 2003-2004 season. She's been the sideline reporter for the NBA Finals since 2009.

Breen and Burke were supposed to be joined by Doc Rivers, who joined the booth ahead of the 2023-'24 season. But he was named the new head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks back in January. The Bucks posted a worse record under Rivers than they did under previous head coach Adrian Griffin and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

In Rivers' place will be JJ Redick a retired player and current podcaster who is one of the brightest basketball minds in the media. Redick has been with ESPN since 2021 and was added to the lead broadcast team in February.

Lisa Salters will return for her third year as the sideline reporter, a position previously held by Burke. Salters originally worked the 2006 NBA Finals as sideline reporter when Tafoya was on maternity leave.

During the 2023 NBA Finals ESPN celebrated Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Breen calling their 15th Finals together. A short time later both Jackson and Van Gundy learned their contracts would not be renewed, possibly because ESPN was so excited to hire Doc Rivers and give him the job he had previously walked away from back in 2004. Rivers then did the exact same thing, except in the middle of the season.

Van Gunddy had called every NBA Finals on ABC / ESPN since 2007 with Jackson being the third man in the booth every year where he wasn't coach of the Golden State Warriors.

ESPN and ABC have been broadcasting the NBA Finals since 2003 after wrestling the rights from NBC. Back in '03 Brad Nessler called the Finals with Bill Walton and Tom Tolbert. Michele Tafoya and Stuart Scott were the sieline reporters with Mike Tirico acting as studio host.

Doc Rivers actually called the NBA Finals alongside Al Michaels for ABC in 2004 before he bolted for the Boston Celtics' head coaching job. He was replaced by Hubie Brown with Mike Breen taking over for Michaels in 2006. That same year saw Salters and Scott working the sidelines with Dan Patrick hosting a studio show that consisted of Mike Wilbon and Mark Jackson.

As you can see, fashion and the NBA Finals broadcast team is never finished. After 15 years of Breen, Jackson and JVG, ABC and ESPN clearly thought it was time to innovate. With Burke and Redick on the call, fans are in for a whole new broadcast.

11 Jun 24 Jimm Sallivan

Charles Barkley on ESPN’s Stanley Cup Broadcast Led to a Quick Joke About His Job

Charles Barkley made a guest appearance on ESPN's NHL analyst desk during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, joining the likes of Mark Messier, P.K. Subban and Steve Levy in between the first and second periods of Monday night's game.

While on the air, Levy didn't hesitate to broach the conversation of Barkley's future in broadcasting with TNT set to lose its NBA media rights deal.

Levy hinted at the potential for Barkley to make the leap over to ESPN, jokingly referring to him as the "newest member of ESPN's NBA coverage" while introducing the 61-year-old.

Steve Levy wasted no time trying to convince Charles Barkley to join ESPN's NBA coverage during his guest appearance on ABC's coverage of the Stanley Cup.
"Steve Levy, Mark Messier, P.K. Subban, and the newest member of ESPN's NBA coverage?"👀pic.twitter.com/WhLPgNFReT
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 11, 2024

"Welcome Mark Messier, P.K. Subban and the newest member of ESPN's NBA coverage? Maybe?" said Levy at the start of the segment.

Rather than immediately address his job, Barkley comically changed the topic and mentioned that Messier owes him $5,000 stemming from a delay of game penalty he took during his playing days.

After discussing Barkley's hockey fandom and his relationship with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, the crew circled back to the topic of Barkley's employment. The NBA Hall of Famer joked that he wished he had a job lined up and that he was back on LinkedIn.

With the NBA on TNT crew facing an uncertain future, the prospect of Barkley joining ESPN's NBA coverage isn't all too far fetched, and Levy wasted no time stirring the pot in that regard.

US Sports News

ESPN Analyst Claims Jalen Brunson Could Be Greatest Player in Knicks Franchise History

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Jimm Sallivan