NBA.com's Shaun Powell noted TNT's Craig Sager is "in full remission now" after a battle with leukemia, "though he's still waiting to get medical clearance to do everyday stuff the rest of us take for granted." Sager "gets a softball in his throat every time he mentions the outpouring of affection." He "kept index cards on everyone so he could personally thank them." Sager said of all the people reaching out, "I just couldn't believe it." Powell noted Sager has "three tubes that remain connected to his chest, and he doesn't expect to receive clearance to fly until January" (NBA.com, 11/27).
INSIDE INFORMATION: In Thursday’s N.Y. TIMES Arts section, Jason Zinoman examined TNT’s “Inside the NBA” and wrote “sometime in the last decade or so," the studio show "stopped being just a basketball show and transformed into one of the most freewheeling, unpredictable and funny talk shows on television." The program has a "very refined brand of goofing around." The "clear standout" of the show is analyst Charles Barkley, a "curmudgeonly controversialist with a needling wit and the shamelessness of a Catskills hack." Fellow analyst Kenny Smith is a "straight man with a sneaky dry wit." Analyst Shaquille O'Neal "is the weak link, even though he is probably the most committed to silliness." However, O'Neal "has enough star power to provide a counterweight" to Barkley. By contrast, ESPN with its "NBA Countdown" show "puts on a pretty stiff-backed, bloodless production" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/27).
DINO MIGHT: MLSE and Bell Media last Friday announced that they "would be expanding and enhancing 'Open Gym', the internally produced, behind-the-scenes TV series" about the Raptors. In Toronto, Raju Mudhar wrote that is "good news for fans who likely want more access to the team than ever, and there is clearly room to grow and give the show a push." The three seasons of "Open Gym" have "mainly aired on NBA TV, with the second season showing up sporadically on TSN2 without a regular time slot." The show's "production values are good as is the content" (TORONTO STAR, 11/29).
