Q. Jalen mentioned TNT before. How will you differentiate yourselves from what they’re doing? Do you see yourselves being in ESPN TV spots because they like to feature their guys in humorous things? Are you looking forward to that?
JALEN ROSE: Looking forward to the opportunity to compete with the best. It is no different than us discussing what is going to happen as far as who is going to win the NBA championship. They’ve set the bar. We’re fans of their show. I’m fans of Charles, Shaq, Charles and Ernie. I worked at TNT before I was full-time at ESPN. We all want to have the tuxedo and white shirt on Emmy night. Hopefully we put ourselves in that position by gaining the respect of the fans and putting out quality content that everyone enjoys.
BILL SIMMONS: I agree. I think Charles is the best studio analyst of all time in any sport. For us, the key is can people look forward to this show the same way that Jalen and I look forward to Thursday nights with TNT. If they have a doubleheader, I’m excited. I’m hoping, especially if we can figure out how to use Los Angeles correctly, we have games where we’re in L.A. for the second half of a doubleheader, something like that, I’m hoping Wednesday or Friday night can become a signature night for us. This is cool, ESPN has a doubleheader tonight. If we can get there, I think that’s half the battle.
JALEN ROSE: Also, part of what TNT did, you have to give them a lot of credit, the day their show comes on, it’s almost like a Monday Night Football. Two games, a signature night, all eyes are on the show. We need to create that. But our opportunity is not going to be in a vacuum, it’s going to be on a sports night where there are things happening, baseball, college football, basketball, NFL football on Wednesdays, Sundays and Fridays. So we have to work that much harder to captivate the audience.
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Listening to Tragic Johnson butcher the english language is pathetic. How someone his age hasn’t figured out basic speaking skills is beyond words.
“TNT is better than us.” Well, yeah, you’re going to get that when the guys who are doing the talking actually played in the NBA and know what they’re talking about (for the most part, they’re not infallable). Plus, personality counts.
It also helps that, even tho’ TNT plays up the storylines and gives hope for teams where there really is none, they do it more genuinely than anyone on fake talk Espn, exception being Stephen A.
Also, does Magic Johnson have incriminating photos of David Stern and ESPN execs playing Spin the Bottle in a San Francisco sauna? Why is that rotund empty vessel still on the show?
The addition of Shaq has turned out to be a major subtraction. He sucks. A huge disappointment. I thought it would be great, it’s turned out to be a clownfest.