Albert and Turner Sports agreed he would sit out the restart because of his ageNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
TNT "will be without four of arguably its top five NBA announcers when it begins its coverage of as many as 29 first-round games" today, according to Barry Jackson of the MIAMI HERALD. Marv Albert and TNT "mutually agreed he would sit out" the NBA restart due to his age. Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller, who were "ubiquitous on TNT seeding games, were given the first round off so they wouldn't need to spend two consecutive months in the bubble." They will be "back for the later rounds." Ian Eagle is "unavailable to Turner during the first round" because he also is the TV voice for the Nets, who play the Raptors in the first round. Stan Van Gundy, who teamed with Eagle for the seeding games, "instead will work with Spero Dedes." Chris Webber also has been "summoned to the bubble to work first-round games with TNT staffer and Milwaukee Brewers TV voice Brian Anderson." TNT also is using Joel Meyers and Bob Fitzgerald to "call first-round games," with former NBAers Jim Jackson and Greg Anthony as game analysts (MIAMI HERALD, 8/16).
IN HIS WORDS: Harlan said that calling games in the NBA bubble "has felt more normal than he expected." Harlan: "I can't begin any conversation without total appreciation and admiration for the job the NBA and TNT did in setting this up. It's remarkable how they constructed all of this from scratch and made it seem as normal as possible given the new arena setting and safety dynamics for health protocol." THE ATHLETIC's Richard Deitsch noted Harlan is calling games "roughly 20-30 rows behind the court as opposed to being courtside." Harlan: "We aren't hindered greatly; it's rather the nuance of doing a game that perhaps only we notice. Capturing the rhythm of a play is diluted a bit being off the floor. The quick glance of a substitution that we made when on the floor, we now are relearning or retraining our eye to catch from a different angle" (THEATHLETIC.com, 8/17).
DEAL COMPLICATIONS: In Portland, Joe Freeman wrote the TNT feeds for the Trail Blazers' final two seeding games "were blacked out in the Portland market, a highly irregular -- if not unheard of -- reality." A source said that the "rare blackout was the result of broadcast negotiations that preceded the return of the NBA in the bubble and contractual obligations with NBC Sports Northwest." When the NBA season was halted on March 11, the NBA and its teams "were several games shy of fulfilling regional and national television contracts." As the sides "worked to meet those deals with bubble broadcasts, the sides agreed to allow rare exclusive games to NBC Sports Northwest at the end of the seeding round." That agreement "has now been fulfilled and -- outside of a standard NBATV blackout -- it won't be an issue moving forward" (Portland OREGONIAN, 8/15).
