ESPN is going to air NBA Finals player intros after getting bullied into it
ESPN is going to air NBA Finals player intros after getting bullied into it
One of the major criticisms around recent NBA Finals broadcasts has been how ESPN has failed to present the games as a championship-level event. It's taken way too long, but ESPN is going to take a step in the right direction on Monday.
Ahead of Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder, viewers at home will finally get to take in the pregame atmosphere at the Paycom Center. According to Shams Charania, ESPN plans to air the intro video and player introductions in their entirety on ABC — a practice that ESPN abandoned after 2013 in favor of commercials.
We already saw how fans bullied ESPN into putting the NBA Finals logo back on the court (albeit in a digital graphic), and this change will also be a welcomed improvement.
The player intros separated the NBA Finals from a typical regular season broadcast, and showing them set the tone for a major broadcast event. This is what ESPN took from us these past 11 years:
Fans will be glad to have it back on the broadcast.
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