ESPN NBA analyst and former Warriors coach Mark Jackson's appearance in the booth for the team's playoff games "raised interesting questions," but yesterday he "dismissed any notion of being pulled from the assignment," according to Richard Deitsch of SI.com. Jackson said, "My job is to tell the story. To me, it’s what I’m paid to do and what I’ve dreamt about doing from Day One. ... The story dictates itself to me, and I relay the message to the viewers as well as I possibly can. That’s going to be my job whether it’s the Warriors or anybody else." He added, "I’m calling games between two teams. I read articles that I shouldn’t be doing it. To me, it was laughable." Deitsch noted most networks "have decided it’s not an issue when family members call the games of family members or when a broadcaster is assigned to analyze his former team or organization" (SI.com, 6/1). But in S.F., Ann Killion writes having Jackson announce the games is "extremely awkward." Many have reported "muting their television sound because they don’t feel that Jackson is impartial when it comes to the Warriors." There have been complaints that he "sounds bitter at times, that he wants too much credit at other times." The ESPN-ABC family is "either amused by the situation or unable to find a better replacement." Killion: "It’s not Jackson’s fault he was given the top broadcasting slot" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 6/2).
A BOOST FOR THE BOOTH: In Buffalo, Jeff Simon writes Jackson, play-by-play announcer Mike Breen and color analyst Jeff Van Gundy are a "delightful trio," and after the Pelicans chose not to hire Van Gundy as their next coach, fans "don’t have to worry so much about breaking up the old gang." It is "all the better" for Van Gundy to "take his excitable and very funny self to the announcing booth." Simon: "How can you not love a guy outspoken enough to chastise Howard Stern for leaving his front row seat early, thereby instigating an honest-to-God feud?" Van Gundy can, "instantly, give you an X-ray of the play you just saw, as well as the best strategy to employ for the rest of the game." If you argue with him, "you’re likely to sound like a know-it-all gasbag and a picayune squabbler." When the basketball games "inch their way into tedium during blowouts, he can make the kind of astute, off-the-wall jokes about pop culture that fathers learn to make when they’ve got a couple of daughters back home." Simon: "Find me a better combination of expert and Everyman in the announcing booth for any sport. I don’t think you can" (BUFFALO NEWS, 6/2).
DWYANE'S WORLD: ESPN today announced that Heat G Dwyane Wade will join "NBA Countdown" for select games during the NBA Finals. Wade will appear during pre-game and halftime shows for Games 2 and 3, and again for Games 6 and 7, if necessary. He will join host Sage Steele and analysts Doug Collins and Jalen Rose on the set (ESPN). In Miami, Barry Jackson reports ESPN "has been trying to arrange" a Wade interview of Cavaliers F LeBron James. The former teammates "remain close friends, and Wade was the one Heat person to publicly congratulate James for advancing to the Finals." ABC is "expected to go without a guest studio analyst for Game 1 of the Finals on Thursday" (MIAMI HERALD, 6/2).
