NBA Media has lost the action – the Hofstra chronicle

While the NBA playoffs continue, many people look at the history of the Turner Network Television (TNT), the NBA games. Since TNT no longer air after this season, basketball fans reflect the famous “Inside the NBA” crew and their contribution to sport. Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille “Shaq” O'Neal made a name for themselves in the league and had their legendary moments. However, it is time to get a basketball -oriented program in your place.

The crew does not often know about modern players. Shaq was obsessed with a career -benchwarmer Bol Bol since he came to the league, although he never achieved over seven points per game on average. Barkley often likes to make fun of a team and criticizes players instead of adhering to the analysis. Occasionally these boys have good or fun moments, but mostly it is a boring watch.

To have assumed that this problem is exclusive to TNT would be naive. This is done in many facets of NBA media, especially in the entertainment and sports programming network (ESPN). Talk shows that should concentrate on teams in the league and on players who are at the top of their game concentrate on petty drama and complain about modern basketball.

Topics that can be heard in these talk shows develop into the discussion whether new players are hard enough to play in a different time. We hear endless debates about who is the biggest player of all time and whether the championships were “valid”. Occasionally there will be debates about who the most valuable player (MVP) is, but then the topic is aimed at how bad foul bait is and how Nikola Jokić is not exciting enough.

This connection to the amount of vitriol that the players are now seeing. They are insulted because they are not managers, play the “right” path, “playoff choker” and much more. Hot now often takes to make player attacking players. Skip Bayless made a career from Trashing LeBron James, and there are many who are in their footsteps today.

Most of the time it seems like these analysts don't even see the games. If you had listened to you, you would think that all players will take 3 points. While 3-pointers are now far more common than in earlier eras, it is not the case that every team plays the same. Some teams use kick-outs as the primary way to shoot, others use dribble handoffs, while others opt for 3 points outside the screens. This offensive diversity is in the entire league and is not spoken enough in sports media.

The same applies to defense. Teams like The Oklahoma City Thunder have a great defense that focuses on force sales. The Detroit pistons slow down their opponents through their grit and physicality. The defensive player of the year Evan Mobley anchors a robust defense unit for the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, we mainly hear from referees who call the games too quietly and the defense is somehow “dead”.

This does not mean that the media should not criticize the NBA. It is healthy to criticize the league that you cover and take care of it. Sometimes, however, it feels as if media members are not interested in the game at all.

Those who see these shows regularly do not feel that basketball is a sport, but a soap opera to hear about the debates. This creates an environment that may not like to see new fans or people who are interested in basketball, and may not like it, and is unhealthy for the league and its growth.

There must be a shift. I would like to learn more about the positive development of basketball instead of melodrama LeBron and Stephen A. Smith. I would like to hear from the rise of the Houston Rockets to the two seeds in the West Conference without a superstar. I would like to analysts who talk to a healthy dose of criticism of their love for the game. I want people who have passionate basketball to be the faces of the mainstream media.