It’s inevitable that any sports analyst who calls 15 straight NBA Finals is eventually going to irritate viewers with their style and eccentricities. That’s what happens when you’re exposed in a prominent broadcasting role for years and years. And besides, everyone is an armchair announcer (including this humble blogger).
But that doesn’t mean the criticism is fair. Jeff Van Gundy is in the crosshairs this NBA Finals, with fans mocking his often cheeky banter with Mark Jackson and columnist Drew Magary flat-out calling him an “a—hat.”
It’s time to stand up for JVG.
How could Brady be worth $375 million?
Weirdly, Van Gundy isn’t always insulted for things he did say, but rather things that people imagine he would say. That’s the premise of Magary’s rip job: he advises readers on how to watch the NBA Finals without hearing a single word out of Van Gundy’s mouth.
“Van Gundy and Jackson still annoy me, because they are who they are. Many times they annoy me simply because of what I IMAGINE them saying instead of what they’re actually saying,” Magary writes.
The defense rests its case.
Admittedly, making up inane conversations between Van Gundy and Jackson is pretty amusing. There is a wonderful trend on Twitter of people posting elaborate imagined exchanges between them before Mike Breen adds “Curry with a long two.”
But as they say, mockery is the sincerest form of flattery.
Van Gundy and Jackson are easy to lampoon, because they actually talk to each other. Sometimes that means their focus drifts from the action, such as when Van Gundy ripped Jackson for boasting about getting into 45-minute arguments during pick-up games.
“What’s wrong with your suburban court where you are arguing for 45 minutes over a call?,” Van Gundy chided.
That’s how actual friends converse. They go back and forth during a game without pausing to analyze every subtly.
It’s not like Van Gundy doesn’t provide analysis. He’s one of the rare NBA analysts who isn’t afraid to criticize coaches and players without caveats. Sometimes that means he’s wrong, such as when he accused Jayson Tatum of faking his shoulder injury in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. It’s apparent that Tatum was actually hurt, given how he favored his shoulder in subsequent contests.
But that wasn’t a crazy accusation to throw out. Tatum did return to the game just minutes after crashing to the floor in pain.
As Van Gundy often reminds us, NBA players are floppers. Marcus Smart might be the worst offender in this series, sorry to say.
When he does, Van Gundy usually calls him out.
There is a blind spot in Van Gundy’s game: the officials. He provides them with too much leeway. It was comical listening to Van Gundy twist himself in verbal knots trying to rationalize the referees’ decision to not charge Draymond Green with a technical when he was jousting with Jaylen Brown in Game 2.
But there isn’t a single national analyst who goes after the officials with any regularity. Hell, Cris Collinsworth, whom many regard as the best NFL color person, covered up this year’s Super Bowl bag job. The refs handed the game to the Rams; yet, Collinsworth didn’t mention it.
In addition to embarrassing the leagues they’re promoting — and let’s remember, every telecast is about promotion — it would be easy for a broadcast to get bogged down in officiating talk. The reasons for avoiding that discourse are understandable, even if we find them maddening.
Van Gundy is not going to be around for decades to come. The game has moved away from the bruising style he championed as a coach, making some of his commentary seem arcane.
Plus, sports broadcasting has never been sexier. Draymond Green signed with Turner Sports as a player-analyst, and CJ McCollum is doing great work with ESPN. LeBron James recently mused about getting into TV, given Tom Brady’s $375 million deal with FOX.
That means Van Gundy, a short and bald coach from the 90s, may not have much more time as ESPN’s lead NBA analyst. You know he would probably laugh at that line, which is exactly why we should appreciate him.
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Brady’s FOX deal is mostly about schmoozing: It’s a question that’s been asked many times over the last few months: Why does FOX think Tom Brady is worth $37.5 million annually to call NFL games?
Answer: calling NFL games is the least of his responsibilities.
On my “Sports Media Mayhem” podcast this week, I spoke with longtime agent Brad Blank, who confirmed FOX views Brady as the ultimate negotiation closer.
“He’s gonna be used by FOX to do all sorts of their business,” Blank said. “Let’s say Budweiser is their biggest sponsor. When they go out and schmooze Budweiser, Tom will be involved in that. All of a sudden, his ability to get executives excited about advertising with FOX is almost invaluable. His job might be doing the broadcast, of course, but then playing golf with a bunch of car executives. His ability to do that, and make them feel good about their relationship with FOX is worth so much money, that whatever they’re paying him is justified by that.”
It makes sense: who doesn’t want to play golf and text with Tom Brady? Execs are star-bleepers, just like you and me!
LIV Golf criticism is a little much: Any golfer who joins the Saudi-backed LIV tour is being lambasted for joining the Kingdom’s odious “sports washing” campaign. Repugnant comments from Phil Mickelson about his purely financial motivations to join the tour, or Greg Norman’s dismissal of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, make everything look even worse.
But let’s be real: Saudi money is everywhere in the U.S. Our intrepid Chris Curtis has done a nice job of pointing out some of the hypocrisy this week.
Speaking of evil money, the NBA enjoys a multibillion-dollar business partnership with China. Do you think we’re going to hear about China’s human rights abuses on sports shows when anchors are recapping Game 6?
Nope. LIV Golf is just the newest target.
Steph Curry has it right: Steph Curry gave a great answer when asked about dealing with hate from Celtics fans at TD Garden. “I'm the petty king, so I know all about everything. I use it as entertainment and just have fun with it,” he said.
Bravo. While “F— you Draymond!” chants aren’t the most original, it is quite haughty to tsk-tsk fans for getting a little vitriolic during the NBA Finals. As long as the insults aren’t targeted and personal, it’s all good.