Taylor was lauded for generating emotional responses from the drafteesnbae/getty images
ESPN's Maria Taylor delivered the "best TV moment" of the '19 NBA Draft on Thursday by causing No. 1 pick Zion Williamson to get emotional when thinking about his journey to that spot, according to Andrew Marchand of the N.Y. POST. The moment was "pure and spontaneous," and Taylor "deserves a lot of credit for phrasing her initial question perfectly to set up Williamson." It was like a "point guard serving an alley-oop." Taylor’s query was "open-ended and made no assumptions," and she "didn’t try to show off her knowledge." It "helped bring out Williamson’s emotion because it left him with the range to go where his mind and heart truly were at the moment" (N.Y. POST, 6/21). BLEACHER REPORT's Kelly Scaletta writes Taylor "did a fantastic job to bring out the emotions while she interviewed players and their parents on the ESPN broadcast." Her questions were "poignant and relevant, and among the broadcast crew, she was the big winner" (BLEACHERREPORT.com, 6/21). In Chicago, Phil Rosenthal writes Taylor "seemed to be pressing emotional buttons" with some interviews, but it was "hard not to be moved by Zion Williamson tearing up with his mom when recalling the sacrifices she made to get him to draft day and how he had been dreaming of hearing his name called since age 4" (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 6/21). SLATE.com's Nick Greene wrote under the header, "Zion Williamson's Emotional Interview Was The Best Moment Of The NBA Draft" (SLATE.com, 6/20).
MY MARIA: Taylor's work throughout the night drew praise on Twitter. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Rob Tornoe wrote, "The best part of ESPN's draft coverage last night were @MariaTaylor's engaging interviews." Atlanta Dream analyst LaChina Robinson: "We ALL need to bow down to @MariaTaylor and the job she did tonight👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽She has spent time earning the trust of these young men over time and their level of comfort with her was obvious by the emotion." The Athletics's David Ubben: "Maria Taylor is now 3-of-3 on making drafted players cry." MLB Network's Chris Rose: "If @MariaTaylor doesn't stop this during interviews, I'm gonna have to run to Costco for extra boxes of Kleenex." The Athletic's Dana O'Neil: "God dang it, @MariaTaylor. I need tissues. Like straight up Jerry Maguire/Roy Firestone" (TWITTER.com, 6/20).
A TIP OF THE CAP: The INQUIRER's Tornoe notes both ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and The Athletic/Stadium's Shams Charania "spent most of the evening ... tipping off draft picks on social media before they could be announced" by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. Wojnarowski did not tweet the first three picks, but he "won the first round, successfully tipping off 15 first round draft picks, compared to Charania’s 12 picks." Wojnarowski, unlike last year, was "freed up by ESPN to report the picks on social media before they were announced on the network." That could explain why he was "much less creative this time around with his verbs than last year, when he peppered his tweets with words like 'targeting' and 'tantalized'” (INQUIRER.com, 6/21).
NEED A DOSE OF REALITY: The N.Y. POST's Marchand writes ESPN’s coverage could benefit by adding a "contrarian draft guru to the main table," someone who "weighs in to say a pick is not good or to explain why someone will not be successful." Analysts Chauncey Billups and Jay Bilas gave the impression that "everyone is going to be great (N.Y. POST, 6/21). Meanwhile, SI.com's Alaa Abdeldaiem notes Billups "offered his fair share of head-scratching player comparisons throughout the night," with the "most outrageous" coming when he compared Gonzaga's Rui Hachimura to Raptors F and NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard (SI.com, 6/21).
RATINGS DOWN FROM '18: Thursday night's draft drew a 2.5 overnight rating on ESPN, down 4% from a 2.6 for last year's coverage. The '17 Draft drew a 2.7 rating on ESPN (THE DAILY).
