ABC looking to draw NBA viewers

Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jun 3, 2003

AFTER a 30-year hiatus, the NBA Finals return to ABC on Wednesday when the New Jersey Nets play at the San Antonio Spurs. And ABC is accounting for every morsel of coverage. There will be 31 cameras, the most for an NBA Finals, and ABC will have an HDTV broadcast for every game. The lead crew of Brad Nessler, Bill Walton and Tom Tolbert will call the games, but they've got company. Stuart Scott and Michelle Tafoya will roam the sidelines. Mike Tirico will lead the pregame show with analyst Sean Elliott. They'll be joined by different NBA coaches starting with Doc Rivers on Wednesday. There will also be taped features by Jim Gray, and Ahmad Rashad will contribute, too. At halftime, there will be musical features, beginning in Game 1 with Lisa Marie Presley. ABC will utilize the Tirico, Elliott, NBA coach team to break down the first half. Also, there will be a short NBA-related taped version of "Pardon the Interruption." With all this effort to ensure complete coverage of the NBA Finals, there's one factor ABC does not have complete control over. That's the apparent lack of star power. ABC is hoping viewers are interested in the Spurs and Nets' best players, but it isn't going to sit back and cross their fingers. Through interviews, highlights and feature packages, this appears to be the series in which fans get to know one of the league's most unheralded superstars, Tim Duncan. "Shaq and Kobe are megastars," Tolbert said in a conference call on Monday. "It's a shame Duncan's not a bigger name. He stands for everything that's good for basketball. He's fundamentally sound. He went to college for four years. He plays team basketball. Off the court, he doesn't get in trouble. You don't see his name in the blotter. I think people are going to find out about one of the game's great players." Even if the making of Duncan into a worldwide star campaign struggles, there are other reasons why ABC hopes the absence of a dominant team with megastars like Kobe and Shaq's Lakers or Michael Jordan's Bulls won't be a problem. "It's one of the most exciting Finals I can think of," Walton said. "With Shaq and Kobe, everybody knew who was going to win. (This year,) I don't know who will win. And the beauty of this series is the stars are head to head. I'm not sure how Tony Parker will guard Jason Kidd. There are a lot of factors." Even if the basketball becomes one- sided or a little dull at times, ABC will still have Tolbert and Walton exchanging hyperboles and witticisms nearly every chance they get. Asked about their on-air chemistry, this exchange followed: "Tom Tolbert is as fine a man as I've ever known," Walton said. "Here we go," Tolbert said. "Can you just put down ditto for me?"

NoteNiners wide receiver Terrell Owens will be on "Rome is Burning" tonight on ESPN.

Joe Nolan can be reached at

jnolan@angnewspapers.com