The Best of NBA Media

Despite controlling every piece of coverage, the media is still somewhat overlooked when it comes to sports as a whole. People don’t understand how much of an impact the Mike Breens of the world make on a game until they’re gone. As much as certain players may deny it, the media’s perception of them matters deeply.

Think about Karl Malone’s 1997 MVP. Anyone who watches basketball and understands statistics knows that Michael Jordan was the superior player that season. But why did Malone win? I would attribute his shockingly lopsided win to a Jackie MacMullan piece on SI which boldly claimed “MALONE IS PLAYING LIKE AN MVP -- NOT THAT ANYONE HAS NOTICED”. The snarky tone of the headline drew in a multitude of readers which sparked an unexpected push for Karl Malone’s MVP chances in the minds of voters. We can look at this as one of the first times sports media impacted the sport itself on that large of a scale.

Since then, sports media has grown to have an even larger effect on the game and the players within it. Just this season we can see how quickly a player can change their habits and playstyle due to outside criticisms. In early December, Shaq and Charles Barkley traded scathing comments about Joel Embiid’s lack of aggression and motivation on the court. Embiid was openly hurt by their words and responded by dropping 38 points in his next game. That type of immediate turnaround wouldn’t have happened in years past.

The fact of the matter is that sports media is stronger than it's ever been and is showing no signs of slowing down. That conjecture alone is the main reason why I wanted to start writing and putting my opinions into the world.

For better or worse, everyone has a voice and a platform to use it in 2020. History is being forced to react to the endless opportunities for people to speak openly about their beliefs and ideologies. While I acknowledge that this is a topic that’s much larger than the NBA, I’d still like to glorify the ones that choose to dedicate their voices to the league and its events. My way of doing that is by picking the 3 best (in no particular order) analysts, commentators, writers, reporters, and podcasts.

Wow, that was a long intro. Let’s not waste any more time. Shoutout to the reader who requested this, I’m sure this is much more than he bargained for.

ANALYSTS - Stephen A Smith, Brian Windhorst, Jay Williams

Stephen A’s inclusion was almost mandatory for a list about on-camera talent. Love him or hate him, he’s far and away the biggest star in the business and has transcended the sports world into regular pop culture numerous times. I enjoy Stephen A as much as everyone else, but Windhorst and Jay Williams have always been my go-to for legitimate NBA discussions. ESPN is an analyst dynasty.

COMMENTATORS - Mike Breen, Kevin Harlan, Ian Eagle

Breen, Harlan, and Eagle are in a tier of their own when it comes to calling games. Breen is obviously the network favorite of the three as he’s secured the NBA Finals job along with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson. Say what you will about them as a team, I’ve always loved it. However, Kevin Harlan’s ability to turn a 40 point blowout into a must-watch TV event is possibly the most impressive feat any personality could pull off. The neverending exaggerated calls have become commonplace in any game he’s at and I love him for it. Also Ian Eagle is great. I can’t put into words why I like him so much, but just know that I do.

WRITERS - Joseph Casciaro (theScore), Bobby Marks (ESPN), Jonathan Tjarks (The Ringer)

There’s not much I can say about these three without directly copying their work. I’d suggest checking each of them out for some of the most creative writings in the NBA space.

https://www.thescore.com/author/joseph-casciaro

https://espnpressroom.com/us/bios/bobby-marks/

https://www.theringer.com/authors/jonathan-tjarks

In hindsight, linking the profiles of three writers who are far more talented than me might not have been the best message to send to my four readers (pageview joke #593). Probably not the best growth strategy to bring up the work of other writers who might never know who I am. But hey, I’m all for civility in this world.

REPORTERS NOT NAMED WOJ OR SHAMS - Marc Stein, Tim McMahon, Dave McMenamin

Nothing much to break down here. Marc, McMahon, and McMenamin are consistently solid in their coverage of breaking news, just not noteworthy enough to be seen in the same echelon as the famed Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania. Speaking of which, #FreeWoj.

PODS - The Bill Simmons Podcast, No Dunks Inc, The Lowe Post

I feel like I spend at least 50% of my day listening to various podcasts. As unhealthy as that is, I don’t regret it at all. The Bill Simmons Pod and No Dunks are peak audio content. If you’ve never listened to either, do yourself a favor and throw them on. The Lowe Post, while also great, was thrown into this list because I needed to mention Zach Lowe somehow but he didn’t fit into any of the other categories well enough. I hope that the eventual Basketball Beeswax podcast will someday be considered among the great sports shows. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, maybe it's not. There’s only one way to find out. Remember this paragraph in 2 weeks.