Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey ripped the antiquated broadcasters who often shame the new style of play the NBA has brought along in recent years. Morey took the Golden State Warriors’ model of high-volume 3-point shooting and extrapolated it, transforming the game into one that prioritizes effective field goal percentage, now revolving around 3-point shots and layups for Morey’s Rockets.
This new style of play has slowly spread across the NBA, meeting some resistance from some long-time announcers.
Via Ben DuBose of RocketsWire:
“Right now, if you tune into a lot of NBA telecasts, the announcers are hate watching their own game. It’s crazy,” Morey said on FS1’s First Things First. “You’ll tune in, and they’ll be like, ‘Well, what’s happening here? They’re shooting too many 3-pointers. Back in my day…’
Imagine the NFL if [Tony] Romo was basically like, ‘Oh, this passing is not going to work. Where’s my cloud of dust? Where is it?’ Literally, it’s the whole game. That’s NBA games right now. ‘Where is my cloud? Why aren’t we smashing that ball in there?’
You tune into any NBA game, that’s what you get all night. I think we’re going to fix it over time, but right now… [sigh]”
Morey also ripped into how broadcasters have downed the importance of the regular season over the years, chipping away at their own product.
“The other thing that happens, you tune in, and they go ‘Well, why are we watching tonight? Nothing matters until the playoffs. Nothing,” said Morey. “People are like, ‘Okay, I’m going back to CSI.’
“I think we have the best game that highlights our best athletes in the world, every single night,” Morey concluded. “It’s almost like cognitive dissonance. People tune in, and they’re being told how they shouldn’t watch, and how it’s not a fun game to watch. It’s bizarre to me. The NFL would never let it happen, and I don’t understand it.”
While this is not the case for all markets, several color commentators have gone out of their way to criticize how the league has become a high-scoring affair with rules protecting offensive players. ESPN, ABC, TNT and NBA TV employ former players who are at times more focused on telling anecdotes of their playing days than analyzing the game in front of them — something that is surely problematic for new fans.
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