The Miami Heat are the “bad guys” the Dallas Mavericks with colorful owner Mark Cuban are the “good guys.” The NBA Finals begin tonight on ABC television and ESPN radio and it is clear that executives at both the league offices in New York as well the gang in Bristol know they have a winning combination.
The casual fan will join the hard core hoops junkie in watching a Miami team led by LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh that have created a national buzz and fans either like them or they hate them there is no in-between on this issue.
In talking with the ESPN/ABC crew they know all about the good guy vs. bad guy match up.
“I’m still hearing an awful lot of people, when they ask me about the Playoffs and talk to me about the Playoffs; say I want anybody to win but the Heat. I still think there’s a lot of people that don’t like them. I think people have grown to respect them, and anybody that loves basketball, how do you not respect the way they’ve played, the way they’ve come together. But there’s still a lot of people who are rooting for whoever is playing the Miami Heat,” said lead play by play man Mike Breen.
Meanwhile Dr. Jack Ramsay who does the color on the Heat telecasts locally and who will be part of the ESPN Radio broadcast team sees it a different way:” I think the rest of the country is growing to appreciate and in some quarters root for this team. They started off on the wrong foot and just aroused derision everywhere they went in the league. But they are so good. They are so dedicated. They have become not America’s team but they’re now likable, and everybody loves a winner, and this team has been proved that it can be a winner.
But this all about rating and after TNT’s coverage of the Bulls – Heat Eastern Conference Final the numbers were all time records for the NBA on cable with game 2 being the highest rated ever and game five close second.
“We’re very excited about this match‑up. We think it’s going to be great Finals. Obviously we’ve had record ratings all season long. The fan interest in the NBA this year has just been tremendous, and fans are caring about the league in a greater way than they have in the past, and so we think that’s going to carry through to The Finals. Obviously the story lines are tremendous with both the Heat and the Mavericks, and so we’re looking forward to an exciting Finals,” said Leah LaPlaca, ESPN vice president of programming and acquisitions.
The ABC broadcast crew will be Mike Breen handling the play by play duties along with analysts Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy. ESPN Radio will have the team of Mike Tirico, Dr. Jack Ramsay and Hubie Brown.
