Get this out of the way: Magic was TERRIBLE as a studio analyst. Doris Burke as terrible as I believe she will be in studio will still be a slight upgrade. (Ideally ESPN should have signed either Doctor J or Grant Hill) Now, Deadspin if one hasn't realized by now has a thing for(or rather against) Bill Simmons that borders somewhere between comical and disturbing. I won't side with everything Simmons does or says but Deadspin finds the dumbest, smallest stuff, gossip, etc to write and pick at regarding Simmons. W/regard to this article, why is everyone so quick to believe Deadspins "source" re. Simmons? The same Simmons that by most accounts is as close to being best friends with Magic as a Celtics fan can be with a Lakers fan(or former legend). The same Simmons that helped produce the Magic documentary for ESPN. If I were a betting man, I'd probably bet that Simmons pushed ESPN towards hiring Magic for the studio analyst role. I just find it silly that Deadspin have this thing against Simmons and people will be so quick to believe every thing written. (And trust me, I know personally a bunch of ESPN folk that hate Simmons so I won't be surprised if they could get someone at Mickey Mouse Connecticut to spill their personal opinion on what got Magic fired).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>My first experience today with someone writing a "sources" report about me that's not true. Part amusing, part horrifying.</p>— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/statuses/388399138942894080">October 10, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Doris Burke rules so this is pretty much the best move ever. Magic was so out of touch with today's NBA.
Clyde is inarticulate and pretty zoned out. I swear I heard him say "Nothing but net!" when someone put one in off the back of the rim. Magic may not be a TV guy either. And I agree he's too interested in the Lakers. I do not think that his departure means there will be less focus on the Lakers though. Only the fact that the Lakers suck will decrease coverage a little bit. Is there anyone contending that Bill Simmons knows more about basketball than Magic Johnson? I don't care much about the business side of things. I want commentary about action on the court, and for that I go with Magic over Bill Simmons 100 times out of 100.
The Shadow Prez has so much on his plate he's a shadow of his former self. King David has become a man desperately in need of retirement, not this show. Ernie > Simmons.
Good. He should take Jalen Rose and Doug Collins with him wherever he goes. They all suck. They need to add Bill Walton to the team.
Magic: "Uh ing ith, Oh-bee ih beh-uh 'an Ame Ah-en, ee-ehn 'ow wih Oh-bee nur-ing a in-oo-ree." Simmons: "WHAT? Could you repeat that?" Magic: "Eye ehd, 'Uh ing ith, Oh-bee ih beh-uh 'an Ame Ah-en, ee-ehn 'ow wih Oh-bee nur-ing a in-oo-ree'." Simmons: "Still nothing. Could you spit Kobe's **** out of your mouth, THEN talk?" Magic: (PTOOEY!) "I said, 'the thing is, Kobe is better than James Harden, even with Kobe nursing an injury." Simmons: "Oh no way. That's too good. I couldn't even write fiction like that. We have a special guest star now. Donald, would you come in here please?" Donald Trump (enters stage right; make that, waaaaaay right, as in, "Tea-Party" right): "Magic....you're fired." Magic: "Oh no you didn't. You didn't fire Magic Johnson. Magic quits, how you like that?" (stands up) "Five rings. FIVE. You don't fire Magic Johnson." Doris Burke (enters stage left): "Is this a bad time?"
The ex-players who can't commentated well always fear or hate Bill Simmons. Bill is a bit of cretin at times and I don't always agree with him but he is smart and knows his stuff. The way all the Lakers have acted towards Dwight makes me hate them all. I haven't heard Worthy talk bad about Dwight. Maybe I still like him.
They all suck. Simmons can only speculate a trade, a coach change. Only a good part having him for the rockets fan is that he likes the rockets GM. A good team should include: JVG Jon Barry Bill Walton A pretty young lady, but her name is not Doris.
Why, because he played? Just because he played doesn't mean that he knows ANYTHING about what's going on in basketball right now.
Doris Burke? Umm... no Collins? I don't want to keep hearing, "When I used to coach Michael..." every other 2 minutes. Just have Bill Jalen and a host and you're good to go... for now. Show still lags 30x behind TNT's.
I can't believe people actually like Doris Burke. She is just flat out annoying and has little to say. Horrible decision, I will not watch NBA countdown at all anymore.
