ESPN drew 3.202 million viewers for Thursday's NBA Draft from 7:30pm-12:15am ET, marking the largest audience since ESPN began televising the draft in '03 and best on any net since since TNT averaged 3.329 million viewers in '96. This year's viewership mark was also up 14.8% from 2.789 million viewers last year (THE DAILY). SI.com's Richard Deitsch offered the "television draft highs and the lows" for ESPN's coverage of the Draft, and wrote analyst Jay Bilas "provided deep and detailed knowledge on every first-round pick." Deitsch: "Throughout the night, Bilas gave you a scouting report that broke down someone's game and offered a projection heading forward." Also, analyst Fran Fraschilla was "invaluable during the coverage given his international connections and first-hand observations of the international players he scouted." However, the "byplay between" analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Jon Barry was "painful." Barry "tried to make fun of Van Gundy throughout the night and Van Gundy's reaction was if he had seen an apparition." The "lack of chemistry made viewers long for Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith." Deitsch also wrote "not addressing that NBA commissioner David Stern was booed at the start of the draft, during the draft, and before the final pick of the opening round was weak given the labor unrest among other issues" (SI.com, 6/24). In Indianapolis, Bob Kravitz included ESPN reporter Mark Jones among his losers on draft night. Jones, whose "only job was to ask the top draftees one or two questions, was an embarrassing flop." He had "months to prepare one or two thoughtful questions of 15 or so prospects, and yet, each interview was more insipid than the last" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 6/26).
