With the sudden retirements recently of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, where will the National Basketball Association look for its new crossover stars, players with the charisma to attract advertisers as well as fans?
Try Orlando, Miami and Charlotte, say TNT analysts Doug Collins and Hubie Brown.
”The league is going through a period where it`s time for its young stars to step forward,” says Collins. ”They`re not going to take the place of Larry Bird or Magic Johnson. But there are great players on the horizon. There are young, exciting teams in markets just waiting to be tapped by the NBA.”
But can the league tap into these smaller TV markets as a way of sustaining its popularity? That`s where Collins sees his cable network playing a role.
”The NBA has always prided itself on being a game of stars,” says Collins. ”It`s going to be up to us at TNT to show the Charlottes, the Orlandos and the Miamis so that the Kendall Gills, the Larry Johnsons and the Shaquille O`Neals can become the household names they were in college. We have a system where the college game makes these people stars. We have the draft, where we have them live on national television in June. Now we have to take it a step further and promote these players as a changing of the guard.”
For Brown, the retirements of Bird and Johnson are ”unfortunate,” but
”life moves on. They were there at the right time to turn everything around, and the world of professional basketball will be eternally grateful to them. But the two franchises (Johnson`s Lakers and Bird`s Celtics) are on a decline. And now it is up to the new franchises and their stars to step forward and become leaders in their own right. Also, the rest of the country has to acknowledge the incredible athletic talent of these teams. That`s what will happen as we move through the early part of the `90s.”
– But neither Collins nor Brown is ready to concede the Bulls` reign as champions is over. ”They`re still the heavy favorite in the Eastern Conference,” says Brown. ”They should secure home-court advantage. Their three main players-(Michael) Jordan, (Scottie) Pippen and (Horace) Grant-have proven over the past three years they show up 80-plus nights out of the 82, which secures them the best record. In the past three years, there`s never been a major injury to the big three.”
Collins agrees the Bulls have to remain the heavy favorites ”as long as you`ve got Michael, Scottie and Horace healthy. . . . Jordan is still the dominant player in the NBA. The big questions will be do they stay healthy and will Jordan`s and Pippen`s play in the Olympics last summer take its toll. But they`re still a notch above New York and Cleveland.”
– Johnny Kerr was talking the other day about how he enjoys doing color on the Bulls` telecasts on SportsChannel and WGN-Ch. 9 more than he did on radio.
”All I could do (on radio) was give statistics,” he said. ”I don`t want to hear statistics.” Kerr added that radio also restricted his comments to less than 10 seconds-from the time the ball went through the basket until it reached half-court. ”On TV, I can talk over the ball,” said Kerr.
Which all should be remembered as Tom Boerwinkle begins his second full season as analyst on the Bulls` radio network. It`s not that Boerwinkle doesn`t have much to say, it`s just he doesn`t have much time to say it.
– Will Magic Johnson head back to NBC, where he worked so well as an analyst during last season`s NBA playoffs? While not making any official offers, NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol has said, ”There will always be a place for him here. He`ll always be part of the family.”
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– Maybe it`s time for the Score to put a muzzle on Mike North. The hot-dog stand owner was a breath of fresh air (despite poor diction and bad grammar)
when he started at WSCR-AM. But last week, when the macho-posturing North praised taunting and showboating in the NFL and NBA, he advocated lowering the standards of pro athletes to that of playground gangsters. North needs to pay less attention to his sycophantic following and more attention to classy athletes like Mike Singletary and Scottie Pippen to learn about something called sportsmanship.
– Random thoughts: Only SportsChannel on the same day could come up with something as worthwhile Friday as live coverge of the Blackhawks` press conference announcing Mike Keenan`s dismissal-and something as worthless as Julie Judelson`s reports from Red Kerr`s during the Bulls game. . . . Kudos
(kind of) to ABC for showing the conclusion of Washington-Arizona game. But why did the network have to waste so much time beforehand with promos and commercials? CBS and NBC made the same kind of switches Sunday, giving Chicago viewers bonus coverage of the Packers-Giants game on WBBM-Ch. 2 and the Chargers-Chiefs contest on WMAQ-Ch 5. . . . Enough with the Lawrence Taylor eulogies on CBS, NBC and ESPN. The Giants` linebacker didn`t die, he just ruptured his Achilles` tendon Sunday, though it`s a career-ending injury. Maybe that`s just what happens when you play for a New York team. . . . ESPN`s Sunday night telecast of the Bengals-Bears game was filled with the kind of technical wizardry usually seen on ABC`s ”Monday Night Football.” Only a bad production decision to show Boomer Esiason`s third-quarter TD pass to Craig Thompson from ground level marred the show. TV viewers couldn`t tell how the ball had been caught until the replays were shown. The goal-post remote cameras added a nice perspective, but were overused. . . . Why do local TV sportscasters always insist ”this one hurt” after every Bears loss? Sunday night`s postgame shows on all three network affiliates again emphasized the somber provincialism that seems required every time the Bears lose. . . . CBS` Terry Bradshaw on the Giants` recent success: ”It`s killing New York that they`ve got to keep (coach) Ray Handley.” . . . And ”NFL Live” guest Buddy Ryan on the Eagles` QB problems: ”I`ve benched some great guys-Mike Singletary, Steve McMichael, Dan Hampton-but I let them play the next week.” – Vin Scully, Bobby Clampett and Don Sutton will handle TBS` live prime-time coverage of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. . . . This week`s edition of USA Network`s ”Tuesday Night Fights” at 8 p.m. features interviews with heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield and challenger Riddick Bowe, along with taped broadcasts of their most recent fights. Holyfield and Bowe meet Friday night in Las Vegas-in case you haven`t heard.