Latest news with #TurnerSports
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
And with that, an era ends: 'Thanks for watching us. It's the NBA on TNT'
Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner holds the trophy as players celebrate after winning Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the New York Knicks in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 31, 2025. (AP Photo/AJ Mast) Ernie Johnson could barely get the words out. The run of 'Inside the NBA' on TNT came to an end on Saturday night, after nearly four decades as a fixture of the league. The show will move to ESPN and ABC next season — and keep Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley together, still doing most shows from Atlanta — but the final TNT sign-off was an emotional one. Advertisement 'I'm proud to say for the last time, 'Thanks for watching us. It's the NBA on TNT,'" Johnson said, before turning his back to the camera, placing his microphone on the desk and getting up from that set for the final time. NBA games will not be airing on TNT starting next season when the league's new television package kicks in — an 11-year media rights deal worth at least $76 billion, one that keeps games on ABC and ESPN, brings the league back to NBC and starts a new relationship with Amazon Prime Video. ABC will broadcast the NBA Finals, meaning the end of the Eastern Conference finals between Indiana and New York was the end of TNT's run. Turner Sports first acquired an NBA package in 1984 and games were on TNT since the network launched in 1988. 'Even though the name changes, the engine is still the same," O'Neal said during the final broadcast. "And to that new network we're coming to, we're not coming to (expletive) around. ... We're taking over, OK? I love you guys and I appreciate you guys.' Advertisement The moment was not lost on Indiana coach Rick Carlisle. His team had just clinched a spot in the NBA Finals by beating New York, and when his brief interview with Johnson during the trophy ceremony was over, Carlisle grabbed the microphone out of the host's hands. 'Congratulations to TNT on a fabulous, unbelievable run that's coming to an end,' Carlisle said in the unprompted tribute. 'We're all very sad about that.' The names of countless past and current broadcasters and analysts were included in the many tributes offered on-air after the game, including Doug Collins, Hubie Brown, Dick Stockton, Cheryl Miller, Danny Ainge, John Thompson, Steve Kerr, Mike Fratello, Marv Albert, Brian Anderson, Chris Webber, Candace Parker and Craig Sager. 'Our hearts are full of gratitude,' TNT's Kevin Harlan said on-air, speaking to the viewers. 'Not sadness, but gratitude and happiness for what has been. It has been an honor. It has been a privilege. And I hope you all have enjoyed it as much as we have.' Advertisement Harlan had the play-by-play call for the final game, with Reggie Miller, Stan Van Gundy and Allie LaForce on the broadcast as well. 'Think about my life. I'm very fortunate,' Miller said. 'I've only known two things: 18 years with one franchise in this building with the Indiana Pacers, and 19 years with Turner.' Many members of the TNT production crew have gotten jobs with NBC and Amazon, Johnson said, because of their exemplary work to this point. 'Best production crew in the business, I might add,' Johnson said. And when it turned back to the 'Inside the NBA' crew for one last time on TNT, the emotions were clear. Advertisement "This has just been a magnificent ride," Smith said. Barkley talked about how he was going to sign with NBC when starting his broadcast career, then switched to TNT. 'I just want to say thank you to the NBA," Barkley said. 'Every coach I've had, every player I've played with, for giving me this magnificent life that I've had. I am so lucky and blessed. I'm lucky and blessed. And I want to thank TNT. Even though we'll never say TNT Sports again, I want to thank TNT for giving me a magnificent life.' ___ AP NBA:
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
French Open 2025: When is the second Grand Slam event of the year? Dates, time, odds, TV
The second of the season's four Grand Slam tennis tournament is set to start, as the French Open's first round begins Sunday on the clay courts of the Stade Roland Garros. Spain's Carlos Alcarez, age 22, and Poland's Iga Swiatek, age 23, are the defending champions and Swiatek is aiming for her fourth consecutive French Open title on the clay courts where she is so dominant. Jun 8, 2024; Paris, France; Iga Swiatek of Poland lifts the trophy after winning the women's singles final match against Jasmine Paolini of Italy on day 14 of Roland Garros at Stade Roland Garros. Mandatory Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports This marks the first year of a 10-year television deal in the United States with Turner Sports, so the matches will be on TNT, TBS and truTV. The matches are in the morning and afternoon in Paris so they will be on quite early in America. Where is the French Open? The French Open is played on the clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris. When does the French Open start? Sunday, May 25 is the first day of the tournament. Advertisement First round: May 25 - 27 Second round: May 28 - 29 Third round: May 30 - 31 Fourth round: June 1 - 2 Quarterfinals: June 3 - 4 Semifinals: June 5 - 6 Women's singles final: June 7 Men's singles final: June 8 Doubles finals: June 7 - 8 When are the championships for the French Open? Saturday, June 7 is the women's final. Sunday, June 8, is the men's final. What is the TV schedule for the French Open? TNT, TBS and truTV, the Turner Sports channels, are the broadcast partners. Each day's coverage begins at 3 a.m. MT (11 a.m. in Paris), except in the semifinals and finals. A singles match will be highlighted on every day from May 25 to June 6 at 12:15 p.m. MT. Who are the French Open defending champions? Sapin's Carlos Alcaraz is the defending champion after he beat Alexander Zverev last year in a five sets for his third Grand Slam win. In doing so, Alcaraz became the youngest men's player (21 years old) to win majors on all three playing surfaces (grass, clay and hardcourt). Advertisement Iga Swiatek of Poland won the French Open last year in straight sets again Jasmine Paolini for her third consecutive French Open win and fourth overall. She is 23 years old. Rankings heading into the French Open Men's Top 10 1. Jannik Sinner 2. Carlos Alcaraz 3. Alexander Zverev 4. Taylor Fritz 5. Jack Draper 6. Novak Djokovic 7. Casper Ruud 8. Lorenzo Musetti 9. Alex de Minaur 10. Holger Rune Women's Top 10 1. Aryna Sabalenka 2. Coco Gauff 3. Jessica Pegula 4. Jasmine Paolini 5. Iga Switaek 6. Mirra Andreeva 7. Madison Keys 8. Qinwen Zheng 9. Emma Navarro 10. Paula Badosa Odds, predictions to win the French Open Men's odds Carlos Alcaraz (+125) Jannik Sinner (+175) Alexander Zverev (+1100) Novak Djokovic (+1400) Casper Ruud (+1600) Jack Draper (+2000) Stefanos Tsitsipas (+2500) Holger Rune (+2500) Lorenzo Musetti (+3000) Joao Fonseca (+3500) Women's odds Iga Swiatek (+220) Aryna Sabalenka (+225) Coco Gauff (+600) Mirra Andreeva (+700) Qinwen Zheng (+1800) Jasmine Paolini (+2000) Jelena Ostapenka (+2500) Elena Rybakina (+2500) Karolina Muchova (+2800) Elina Svitolina (+3000) French Open suspended A number of the courts are uncovered outside and rain can suspend play on those courts. That happened Wednesday in qualifying matches. Play can continue on covered courts. French Open clay courts The French Open is played on clay, the slowest of the three surfaces the WTA and ITA play on. That results in longer rallies and fewer aces. Advertisement Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@ @Bretbloomquist on X. This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: How to watch the 2025 French Open: TV, odds and predictions
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A former Laker will be a studio analyst for the NBA on NBC
Next season, there will be a big change in how basketball fans watch NBA games. After decades of covering games in outstanding fashion, Turner Sports will be out of the NBA broadcast business, but an old favorite will be back. NBC will start televising games for the first time since the 2001-02 season. That means that the old musical number that became synonymous with the sport of basketball — "Roundball Rock" by John Tesh — will finally be heard again on a regular basis. Advertisement A promo video featuring that memorable and timeless song was posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) the other day. In addition, it was announced that former Los Angeles Lakers forward and Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony will be a studio analyst for this new iteration of the NBA on NBC. Anthony was one of the better and more lethal scorers in the league during his 19-year career. He finished his career with an average of 22.5 points a game, and he led the league in scoring average during the 2012-13 campaign. He spent his final season with the Lakers three years ago. While his game, especially his shooting efficiency from game to game, had greatly declined, he was very popular among Lakers fans. He would routinely get loud cheers when he would check into games played at Arena. Advertisement He averaged 13.3 points a game on 44.1% overall shooting and 37.5% 3-point shooting that season. This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: A former Laker will be a studio analyst for the NBA on NBC
New York Times
03-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
If you reduce Gregg Popovich to his TV sideline interviews, you missed a lot
It was never about the 45 seconds. If you decided that Gregg Popovich was a world-class ass because he dressed down sideline reporters who had the unfortunate task of doing in-game interviews with him during his Hall of Fame coaching career with the Spurs, you were wrong. Not because he wasn't, sometimes, a world-class ass to sideline reporters. I know. I was one of them for years and years and years with Turner Sports. You were wrong because you didn't have enough information. You only saw the scowl and the sarcasm. But it wasn't directed at me or Craig Sager or Michele Tafoya or Ric Bucher or Doris Burke. It was the idea that he had to interrupt his work to speak with us. Advertisement It was a matter of principle with him. You are taking away from my time with my team, even if it's just 45 seconds. Because Gregg Popovich loved being a head coach. And he loved people who loved basketball. And so, when you weren't doing your sideline reporter job, and you were just talking with him in his office — about the game, about life, about whatever — there wasn't a better person to be around. The Spurs announced Friday that Popovich is officially retiring from coaching, at 76, after suffering a stroke last November. He will segue into a new role as the team's president of basketball operations. That decision ended a career spanning 29 seasons as the Spurs' head coach, a job he assumed while he was San Antonio's general manager in 1996. He fired the very popular head coach Bob Hill, a move that was viewed from outside as the ultimate act of hubris of a man who saw an opening to coaching David Robinson for a decade and kneecapped his head coach to take it. Popovich answered that charge over the next three decades by winning more games than any head coach in the history of the NBA, winning NBA Coach of the Year honors three times, being named one of the 15 greatest coaches in league history and leading the Spurs to five NBA championships. The last, in 2014, may have been his best coaching job. The Spurs had been gutted the year before, blowing a five-point lead and their chance at a ring in the final 28 seconds of Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. They wound up losing Game 6 in overtime, and then Game 7, also in excruciating fashion. They'd choked away what many thought was their last chance. Yet when Popovich gathered them for training camp the next fall, the first thing they did was watch those last 28 seconds of Game 6. Over and over. He wanted them to know why they'd lost. It was beyond painful. But they had to heal if they were ever going to move forward. And his team responded with a 62-20 regular season, a march through the Western Conference playoffs and a dismantling of the Heat in a five-game rematch in the finals. Advertisement 'They understood, more than most, that nobody's going to cry for you, nobody's going to feel sorry for you,' he told me last year. 'You want to get back on the horse, or do you want to say, 'Well, we've accomplished enough?'' But he'd be the first to tell you he, and they, didn't win because of his brilliant X's and O's acumen or his inspiring pregame speeches. It was because he had Robinson and Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, and because he worked for owners and general managers who didn't fire him if his team lost in the first round of the playoffs — which they did six times on his watch. Yes, the Spurs were eliminated in the opening round more times than they lifted the Larry O'Brien Trophy. It was because he was so singularly able to get great players to, as he would say, get over themselves. His political views were public and well-known. Yet if he didn't win on the scale he did, he probably wouldn't have had nearly the impact he did when he spoke up on the issues of the day. He had to win to get — and keep — your attention. So, he won. And kept winning. And oh, how he drove his team to make that happen. 'It was not (like) I was given an option; it was, you're f—–g coming off the bench,' said Hall of Famer Ginobili, recalling last year how Popovich informed him in 2005 that he would no longer be a starter. 'I thought it was unfair,' Ginobili continued. 'I didn't love it. I understood it, sort of. I said, all right, he's the coach, and I'll run with it. I'll try to be the most productive I can be. So at the beginning, I didn't like it. It took me a few months, maybe a whole season, I don't remember exactly. And then I think I went back to being a starter, briefly. And for a few years, once a year, he would come to me and say, 'Manu, we need to (do it again).' And then I started to say, 'OK, Pop, no problem; I'll be fine, if you think it's the right way' … '… I knew it kind of diminished, decreased, the chances of making All-Star games. If you do the math, if you start on the bench, you play under 30 (minutes per game). It's very hard to play more than that if you're coming off the bench, because you're already missing the first six of the first quarter and the first six of the third quarter, so there's 12 (minutes) you won't play. So in that regard, it took some soul searching, some ego fighting on me. I had to work on it. But it was worth it. And I felt good about it. A leader like Pop, he convinced me. I believed in him. I trusted him. And I went for it.' Yet Popovich wasn't all fastball. His curiosity and humanity allowed the Spurs, iteration after iteration, to coalesce, no matter the makeup of the roster. His background in Soviet Studies and the Air Force made him curious about the world. And when he and R.C. Buford, his longtime consigliere whom he'd gotten to know while both were on Larry Brown's bench at Kansas as assistant coaches, joined up in San Antonio, they quickly came to realize they had a shared vision. There were great basketball players all over the world. Why limit yourself to building just through American players? Advertisement That is why they had no hesitation taking a flier on Ginobili, from Bahía Blanca, Argentina, or on Parker, who was born in Belgium but whose dad was a hooper from Chicago, or on Luis Scola or Tiago Splitter or Boris Diaw or anyone else who played the game the right way. That's why the Spurs were ahead of most teams — not all, but most — in scouting international players, hard. 'In the military, sports is huge,' Popovich said. 'Every year, there's a worldwide tournament. All the Air Force bases play, all the Army bases, all the Marine bases, all the Navy bases. And they pick an all-star team for each. Then they have an inter-service tournament, so all the services play. And then they have an all-Armed Forces all-star team. And that team goes to the national AAU tournament, and they pick an all-star team. And if you make that team, you travel. You get away from your military duty, and you go play basketball. I got to do that. So that's how it started. I'm in Germany, I'm in Turkey, I'm in Brazil, I'm in Russia. I'm in Ukraine. And I'm seeing players everywhere. 'Now, this (was) in the '70s. So I know there are players out there. So, in '88, my first year, when Larry (Brown) brought me in as an assistant, I asked Bob Bass, who was the GM, I want to go to Cologne, Germany, to see the Final Four in Europe. Imagine, you walk into the food room. The only other NBA coach who's there is Don Nelson (then with the Warriors), trying to sign Šarūnas (Marčiulionis). 'I'm scrambling around. Here's this Yugoslavian team. (Vlade) Divac is the center. Dino Radja is the four man. (Zarko) Paspalj is the three man. (Toni) Kukoč is 18 and is the sixth man coming off the bench. (Drazen) Petrović. My gosh, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. And nobody knew those guys. Except Nellie. I was busting my butt to try and get Sarunas. At the time, I was a Soviet Studies major, so I could speak Russian halfway decent then. I'd go to his room, I'd go here, I'd go there. And then, he finally said, 'I already told Nellie that I'm coming (to Golden State).' So, he went, I brought Zarko back. Believe it or not, Zarko and his wife and their daughter lived with me the entire year in my house.' That comfort level allowed Popovich to seek common ground with his players and made them want to do the same with one another. They would learn about national holidays in their teammates' home countries and go to large, luxuriant group dinners after games rather than scattering to the winds. They developed camaraderie. They needled one another in the way that only your closest friends can do, in a way that draws a laugh rather than blood. And Popovich paid forward to his players the loyalty that the front office had bestowed on him. 'R.C. and Pop, they believed so much in us, the big three,' Parker said recently. 'They could have broken up the team in 2010, when we lost to Phoenix, or 2011, when we had the best record in the league and we lost in the first round to Memphis (in 2010). They said, let's stay in the process, and (they) believed in us. That's very special from R.C. and Pop, that's for sure.' But, I get it. You want to see Popovich eviscerate me on the sidelines. 1) Here's the 'Happy' one: A fair and valuable lesson for me: Don't improvise. I was trying to think for him. Mistake. He called me on it. Lesson learned. The walk back to my spot on press row felt like I was wearing a suit full of wet charcoal. 2) One and done: There's no law that says you have to ask the head coach two questions. As his team was down 12 points in a playoff game after three quarters, the fact that I got anything interesting out of him was, to me, a win. Quit while you're ahead. 3) Popovich, vox populi: In fairness, we'd spent, let's say, several minutes pregame talking about that day's New Hampshire presidential primary. And, obviously, we all knew Popovich's predilections in that space. And he'd lamented that he wouldn't be able to find out who won the two primaries that day until after the game. So I had that in my back pocket in case he was, uh, short with me. 4) This might be my favorite one, though: Popovich had always said to me, and to others who drew the short straw and had sideline duties for Spurs games, don't tell me a bunch of stats. I know the stats. Don't try and lead me in a direction with your questions. So I, and others, came up with a simple way to meet him halfway: Tell us what you thought happened out there. No filter. You can go in any direction you want. So, I asked him what he thought. The Harpo Marx treatment followed. Advertisement But I was proud of myself for not giving in. The stare was supposed to throw me off, make me think the question was dumb. And the question wasn't dumb. In fact, it's exactly what he'd asked me/us to do in that situation: Give the floor to him. So, I stared back. And, I added, 'This is live television, you know.' (Technically, it wasn't; the in-game interviews were taped immediately after we went to commercial, then replayed when we came out of commercial a couple of minutes later. But, it was, as we said in the television business, plausibly live.) And, he chuckled. 'That means I have to answer, right?' he said. And with that, the 45 seconds were over. But they didn't define him, or me. You needed more information to understand that. (Top photo of Gregg Popovich and David Aldridge: Soobum Im / USA Today Sports)
New York Times
23-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Why are some NHL playoff games being called from an off-site broadcast studio?
Hockey fans in the United States might have noticed that something sounded different during TNT's broadcast of Game 1 between the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues on Saturday. John Forslund and Jennifer Botterill called that first-round playoff game from a studio in Atlanta. It wasn't a first for an NHL postseason game on TNT or TBS. And it won't be the last. A Turner Sports source briefed on the networks' plans said Wednesday that three additional first-round games — Games 3 and 4 between the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers and Game 4 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators — will feature off-site broadcasters. A broadcast reporter will be at those games, the source said. Advertisement Fully covering a game on-site — particularly in smaller Canadian cities — requires a significant financial investment, including the presence of a mobile production truck with technicians, plus the travel costs for on-air talent. Turner Sports' decision to not do so for some NHL playoff games has garnered online criticism. Though rare, this arrangement has occurred before. Most recently, some Turner Sports broadcasts of opening-round games last postseason were called by a team from its Atlanta-based studios. Then, as now, the source said, a combination of travel to Canadian cities and Turner Sports' heavy spring schedule were the primary reasons for the decision to go with remote announce teams. All Turner Sports games beyond the first round are scheduled to be broadcast on-site. Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns Turner Sports, has U.S.-based producers share responsibilities for broadcasts of NHL, NBA and MLB games. This month, TNT and TBS are airing opening-round games for the NHL and NBA playoffs, in addition to a weekly MLB package. ESPN, the NHL's other U.S. broadcaster partner, is fully on-site for all playoff games. ESPN also broadcasts the NBA playoffs and a weekly MLB game. Announcers calling games remotely is so lame, especially in the freaking playoffs. Would rather have TNT just show the Sportsnet feed. Brutal. — Zach Halverson (@ZachHalverson) April 19, 2025 I'm sorry, but I find it very offensive that TNT, who I think is so much better top to bottom than ESPN, couldn't send Forslund and Botterill to Winnipeg. Remote broadcasts are so bush. Especially in the playoffs. ESPN will at least send their announcers. Shame on you TNT. — Michael Silvers (@msilvers1979) April 19, 2025 Turner Sports' view, according to the source, is that, outside of Toronto and Montreal, travel to some Canadian markets presents logistical challenges, especially given the volume of other games its networks broadcast for three North American leagues. Instead of deploying a production truck and a full crew to Winnipeg, Edmonton and Ottawa, the company has partnered with Canada's Sportsnet to assign 10 to 12 Canadian-based technicians to deliver a 'world' video feed of these games. Advertisement The world feed is similar to what viewers normally see on TNT or TBS broadcasts, only the announcers call the game from Atlanta. What the announcers react to is happening in real time, and casual fans might not know they weren't called on-site if not for the broadcast's inability to show the play-by-play and color commentators during stops in action. The NHL, NBA, and MLB used world feeds during the COVID-19 pandemic's earliest travel restrictions. National and regional broadcasters called games from studios instead of being on-site. NHL Network has done the same for some international hockey broadcasts. In March, Fox Sports took a similar approach for a season-opening series in Tokyo between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. The calls of those games came from the U.S., but the video feed was from Japan-based mobile production trucks. Turner Sports hasn't taken this approach with NBA playoff games in part because that league's only Canadian-based team, the Toronto Raptors, has not qualified for the past two postseasons. Unless the Oilers and/or Senators are swept in their opening-round series, any deciding game slated for TNT or TBS is scheduled to have a full on-site crew and broadcasters. Also, Game 3 in Montreal between the Canadiens and the Washington Capitals will air Friday on TNT, and broadcasters will be on-site. (Photo of Winnipeg's Canada Life Centre: Cameron Bartlett / Getty Images)
