A reason to watch the NBA playoffs
A couple months ago GQ profiled TNT’s Inside the NBA program which airs updates before and after their NBA coverage. The piece made it seem like Inside the NBA was without a doubt the weirdest sports highlight and commentary show ever. If I actually cared the slightest bit about the NBA I could absolutely see adding the program to my limited sporting-based queue. The fact that so many games are played out west and that the show doesn’t really air until way into the wee hours of the morning is an added plus given my nocturnal behavior. But again, who cares about the NBA?
Apparently I do. Or at least I’m going to as long as the Golden State Warriors are in the playoffs. I love underdogs, and thus I love Golden State. I also love that their best player is named “Baron.”
So because of my newfound love of NBA basketball, I finally got a chance to check out Inside the NBA. It is as good as advertised. The show features Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith in the typical studio set-up, but that’s where the familiarities end. Last night after Golden State gave up a sizable lead to the dreaded Mavericks and lost the game, the Inside post-game started with Johnson going over the highlights. Three seconds later Charles Barkley just starts talking about what the teams did right or wrong late in the game. Johnson then reminded Barkley that they were still covering the first quarter and then tried to get back into the play-by-play. Barkley responded with indifference and kept talking about the end of the game before asking aloud why they were even showing highlights in the first place since they had just finished watching a two hour basketball game. It was totally off the wall and crazy, and brilliant sports television (especially if you happen to be the type of person who finds sports broadcasting tedious at best).
Inside the NBA combined with a hopefully winning Golden State Warriors team equals NBA excitement. This is a good thing since the NBA playoffs last until August. Tune in if you find yourself craving some competition at one in the morning.
Tags: Sports
