Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Breen, NBA Champion and analyst Richard Jefferson, analyst Tim Legler and Tim Corrigan, ESPN senior vice president, sports production, previewed the 2026-27 NBA season, ESPN’s 25th consecutive season of NBA game coverage, on an October 19 media conference call.
ESPN’s 2026-27 NBA regular-season coverage begins with the American Express NBA Tip-Off on Wednesday, October 21, and Thursday, October 22. Breen, Legler and Jefferson will call the Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Miami Heat matchup on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Philadelphia 76ers matchup on Thursday at 7 p.m.
CORRIGAN: 25 years, man, our silver anniversary, so you can count on us going back and celebrating the players, the coaches, the moments, everything, as we kind of look back and then look forward as well this year.
Ben mentioned the Finals and the record ratings and just what a fabulous way we ended the season and intend to start the season. This A team of Mike [Breen] and [Tim Legler] and [Richard Jefferson] and Lisa [Salters] could not have been more on point with everything from the start of the season through the finish. They peaked in the Finals, and we are excited for a nice long run with these guys being the face and the voice from preseason all the way through the NBA Finals as we look forward.
A huge addition from last year, obviously, was the Inside the NBA guys. Just to see the level of joy and enthusiasm out of people who have had that kind of success doing that show, to come over and work with us, literally from opening night last year when we, again, did Wednesday and Thursday to when they arrived at the Finals and all the way through the Finals, just something that they hadn’t done in their storied career. We built a marketing shoot behind them last year. We’re going to do the same thing again this year.
Credit to our programming team with working out from year one to year two, I think in the first 10 weeks of the season from opening night through Christmas, Inside [the NBA] will be on eight of those ten windows. They are going to be our face before the game and postgame.
There’s just so many — as we saw at the Finals this year when we had everybody together, there are so many long relationships there that’s made this thing so kind of — had a great ease and effortless nature of kind of blending everyone together, which was really great to see and exciting for everybody.
This year, a couple great adds for us, getting, Ben mentioned, Hall of Famers before, how about Jason Kidd who’s in the Hall of Fame twice already as a player and as an Olympian, to welcome him onto our team and get inside his head as a player, as a coach, how he sees the game and communicates the game. We’ll see Jason. He’ll be on Inside [the NBA] a little bit. He’ll be on [NBA] Countdown as — each night we have [NBA] Countdown on, we’re going to give him a couple games to do. So, really enthused with getting his thoughts, his analysis, his opinions. And again, Jason, as we all know, has relationships with everybody throughout our team already.
We added Jeremy Lin to our Conference Finals and Finals coverage last year, which was a really neat addition. It was really fun with the Knicks story, how that all played out. We brought Jeremy to Summer League and really were excited about what he did there, and he will join us as a game analyst and studio for the upcoming season.
Really just a couple of tweaks to what we rolled out last year. Listen, excited for Michael Malone. We knew he was going to go coach; we probably didn’t see him going to North Carolina to do it. But you know what, we lost a championship-caliber coach, and we brought in a Hall of Famer and champion in Jason Kidd to kind of fill that role.
Really enthused with everything we have and everything we have returning, but this call, this A team, I’ll tell you what, just couldn’t be happier about all of them, just the different parts, how they all come together.
Like I said earlier, man, just looking forward to a nice long run with these guys being the face and voice of our coverage.
Q. I want to talk about the Knicks. It feels like a lot of the experts are looking past them and talking about other teams winning the championship this year. I’d love to get the team’s thoughts on that starting with the great Mike Breen.
BREEN: I think that actually might benefit them because, as we know, all the different reasons why it’s hard to repeat, do you lose a little bit of that hunger, do you start getting selfish and wanting to do more individually.
But I think because really nobody is picking them and a lot of people aren’t even picking them to get out of the east, I think that might give them a little motivation like, okay, we had to show them last year, we’ll have to show them again.
But that’s also — every year it’s rare that a team is picked to win again, especially in the east in recent years. But I do think that that might serve as a motivation for them coming into this year, the fact that — I’m not going to use the word disrespect. Nobody is disrespecting them, but nobody is — or I’ve seen very few people even having them in the Finals.
LEGLER: Well, I think part of the reason, I think, for that is because you have a team that won a championship and basically stood pat. There were a lot of teams that made significant personnel changes that are sort of in the mix and relevant, and those stories are just always going to be a little bit juicier because of the different faces and different places.
You look at what Miami did adding Giannis, you look at LeBron and Jaylen Brown going to Philadelphia. You look at those stories, and I think that’s just naturally where a lot of the attention is going to gravitate because those are teams trying to make up ground, and they did something spectacular and flashy in the off-season. The Knicks are basically running it back for the most part, so I do think that also contributes to it.
But I do think the bigger point is I think maybe some people are kind of — have a short-term memory about the kind of basketball they were playing at the end of the season and the perfect chemistry and rhythm that that group found at the right time of year that’s almost like now you kind of expect that is where they’re going to be at the start of the season.
So maybe they aren’t getting enough credit, but I just think it’s because we’re always going to gravitate toward those stories where there’s a name change and almost a face change of the franchise in trying to get a title. So that’s where most of the attention has gone.
JEFFERSON: I don’t believe that analysts decide who’s going to win the championship. The players do. So, our opinions inside that locker room, while it’s — we want to elevate our thought of how we’re viewed, but in there, it’s a fraction of the goal. It’s a fraction of the motivation.
For them, I can see the Knicks looking at this in a very — like Mike said, in a way of hey, nobody is picking us, let’s go do it. But I think the Knicks have a great team. I can understand no team has repeated as the champion, so if you’re just talking about what’s the safe bet, it’s to say not them.
Even if you go off the history of the league — I don’t think that’s going to change anybody’s motivation. New York is always a great place to play. Players play their best in the Garden. They play their best against the Knicks because it’s just that environment and that energy.
They’re going to get everybody’s best shot, probably even more so because they’re going to go into a building now where the Knicks are the defending champion, but that’s going to make them tougher, that’s going to make them stronger come postseason, and we all remember that postseason run.
Q. Just wanted to get your thoughts on how you guys feel like the Celtics look after the trade of Jaylen, what you guys thought of that deal, and whether they can be a factor in the east, which is obviously a lot better.
JEFFERSON: I’ll jump in. I think the Celtics, when you kind of look at the organizational control that they have, they’re very similar to the Miami Heat, if you will. You feel like there’s continuity from top to bottom.
This is a year where Jayson Tatum gets to go out there and they have a solid core around them. Do they have the talent level in my opinion as the other top two or three teams in both conferences? They’re kind of on the fringe right there. If they’re healthy, if their players play to their capability, I think the Celtics can be a very, very good team this year.
Understand, a second-round loss this year means you could lose to Philly. Second-round loss this year means you could lose to the Knicks, Cleveland. That’s not a terrible season if you win 45, 50, 51 games and you get to the second round.
People have to kind of keep their bearings about them when you’re talking about what’s the cap for teams. Well, I believe a team can be a top-4 team, okay, that means they’re potentially a second-round loss to a very good team. That means the Celtics are going to be well-coached, their roles are going to be defined, and they’re going to have their system in place.
After that, you just have to depend on health.
LEGLER: Yeah, I think first of all, I was stunned by the trade just from the standpoint of you look at Jaylen Brown, look at the year that he had, what he has done throughout his career, the amount of winning that’s gone on in Boston since he was paired with Jayson Tatum, that didn’t seem like the type of return that you would get for a guy of that caliber.
So, I was definitely stunned by that, particularly also because he goes to another team here in that northeast corridor, a team that you would consider somewhat of a rival in Philadelphia. So that’s a really interesting dynamic.
When you look at the Celtics, I’m going to echo what RJ said. I don’t think they’re just going to go away. This is a team that’s well-coached. They’ve got a superstar at the top of their roster. They’ve got guys on their team that have played in a lot of big games. They have been part of winning environments, a lot of those guys.
They play a style that’s difficult to defend. So at least in the regular season, I expect the Boston Celtics to have a lot of success, even though the top of the conference is tougher to navigate with Miami, Philly. Detroit got better, they won 60 games. They went out and addressed needs. Cleveland added Peyton Watson. The top of the east is going to be tougher to navigate.
Boston to me is a team that’s going to be very good regular season and they’re going to be a team that’s going to be very relevant. Will that translate to be able to beat one of those teams in a seven-game series? We’re so far away from knowing that because of what has to happen with some of these other organizations. They’ve got to find themselves. They’ve got to get the right chemistry, they’ve got to click, they’ve got to stay healthy, all those things.
But I think the Boston Celtics as currently constructed are going to be a very competitive, relevant team in that top half of the Eastern Conference. I don’t know yet, too early to tell, will they be a team that can make a serious playoff run? That’s going to be determined much later.
Q. Tim and Richard, just real quick looking at the Phoenix Suns, when you look at this team obviously a surprise year last year and the way they’re going about it is steps. What’s the next step you feel like this group should make or this team should make considering when you look at the talent and the depth and the teams in the Western Conference?
LEGLER: Well, look, I think Phoenix was a great story last year. I thought at one point, I thought Jordan Ott was literally putting himself in pretty good position for Coach of the Year run. They had some injuries to some really important guys. Booker went out for a while, Dillon Brooks was having a career year, went out toward the end of the season, sort of derailed some of that. You run into a buzz saw in the postseason.
So, it doesn’t feel at the end of that, the way you go out, you don’t feel as good about the season that you actually probably had. They’re to me one of the most intriguing teams as we head into the season because I think they have some young guys that have got to take a step forward this year to help give them more additional depth to round out their rotation.
To me at their peak last year they were a really intriguing team, and Jordan Ott seemed to be a guy that was communicating well with them, they were responding to, and I thought like their style was difficult to play on a nightly basis.
I’m really encouraged by what that’s going to look like, but you said it: It’s no joke. I think — there’s haves and have nots in this league, and there’s more haves I think than we’ve ever seen in both conferences. Like more teams have enough talent to really compete for a conference title.
I don’t know that Phoenix is quite in that category yet, but I do think we need to think of them at their best a year ago before those injuries set in and know that you’re going to have to show up and play this team.
They play hard, they share the ball, and they had a great rhythm about them. I’m hoping they can pick up where they were at their best at the start of the season, but there’s a lot of land mines in the west.
JEFFERSON: Yeah, I think when you look at the success of the teams that we’ve seen in the postseason, OKC’s depth, San Antonio’s depth, the Knicks’ depth, that’s actually part — I think Phoenix has depth, but I think where those other teams kind of stand apart from Phoenix is their top-line high-level players. And yes, Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, yes. But if you compare the Suns’ top four players to the Spurs’ to OKC to the Knicks, that’s where kind of you see where they are. You’re like, okay, their top three, four players are good; they’re not as good as these three, four.
Now, the depth of the team is similar to the San Antonio, to the OKC, to the Knicks. So, I think their next step, like Legs says, is getting better. The young guys have to make steps. That’s what you see consistently in San Antonio, that’s what you see consistently in OKC. You have to get better from within, and then your team can make a next step.
If that’s not the pattern, then trying to go get one of those top guys that can round out your team, that’s what they tried to do a couple years ago with Kevin Durant, like hey, we’re right on that fringe. We’re that 6 seed, that 5 seed. We’re not quite good enough. Maybe if we go get Kevin Durant that can push us into the top 3 and contend for a championship.
That’s kind of the window that they’re in right now. But like leg says, it’s going to be a tough place to play in Phoenix. They’re going to have a very, very good team. They’re going to beat people with their stars, they’ll beat people with their depth, but I don’t know if it’s at the top line of the top probably five teams in the league.
Q. We’ve seen recently Major League Baseball propose a shorter regular season, and there’s been people like Steve Kerr, Rick Carlisle and others talk about similar sorts of things with the NBA. Do you think a reduction of regular-season games even if it’s just a handful could improve the product and really make the NBA regular season a better product?
JEFFERSON: No.
BREEN: No. Do you want to expand on that?
JEFFERSON: Fine. It’s a little early out here on the West Coast for a rant. I don’t believe so. You can never be coddled to greatness is one of my favorite lines, and at the end of the day the players have more resources, more trainers, more planes, more equipment, all of the stuff.
The quality of the product is how players are taking care of themselves, how they’re doing things. There’s not as many back to backs, but there also are less practice days, so that Ferrari stays in the garage until race day.
So, we’ve seen an up in injury, in certain injuries. But that’s not all because of the schedule. We play the same schedule that they’ve played for as many years. So, what is going on? We’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars in sports science, so what’s going on?
We’ve already changed the schedule to less back to backs. So, once you change those numbers, you start messing with all of the records. You are disrespecting the older players that were doing back to backs on commercial planes with one equipment manager. It’s like, how easy do we want to make this. Baseball plays 160 games. We’re at 80. We’re at 82. My personal opinion is that you start to mess with the integrity of the game and its history when you start to do this, and it’s really just not about the product, it’s like how much more are we able to give to the players.
LEGLER: I’m going to echo some of what he says. I agree with a lot of this. I also don’t think it would matter. Here’s the problem we have right now. In an 82-game season, our expectations right now of how much we’re going to see guys has changed. You’re not expecting 82. You’re praying for 70 and realistically you’re going to get 65.
I think if you lowered the number, let’s randomly say you played a 70-game season. I don’t think you then see guys play 65, 70 games. Then you’re going to have a lot of guys play 60 games, maybe 58 becomes the number. Now there’s even fewer nights when you’re seeing the top guys.
I personally don’t think that’s the case. I think the overall mentality around the league is preserve, preserve, preserve. That’s kind of the thought process. That’s how it’s a different league now, and you’re just hoping you can get the top guys upright and healthy on April 15 for a two-month playoff run because it still will be the salvation of the NBA season because there’s just nothing better if you love basketball than the best players in the planet playing as hard as they can and playing every night and playing through stuff and all of that.
The regular season I don’t think would be benefitted by playing less games. I just think you’d see star guys even less than you do now, and I don’t know that it guarantees health because I don’t think the data necessarily backs that up.
I think right now with what we have, it is what it is, and I think the overall ideology would have to change league-wide, and I just don’t see that happening anytime soon.
We’re just praying now, and we had an incredible run again last year, that we get those two months at the end of the season when the star players are playing and healthy and you can capture some magic for the greatest players on earth, and that’s what we got a year ago, and that’s what we get pretty much every postseason.
BREEN: It’s an interesting question, but I think financially it’s never going to happen. Everyone is going to have to take less money. 10 games away to make it 72, that’s a lot of revenue over 10 games and not just players, coaches, owners and how about all the peripheral people that work those games, whether you work in the arena, whether you have businesses around the arena that rely on those 41 home games to make sure they pay their bills, et cetera. I think it impacts so many people in so many different ways financially that — I don’t ever see it happening.
Q. About the Minnesota Timberwolves, they made some changes in the off-season. Have they made enough to move forward, or is their window almost shut down? Because a lot of people here locally feel that losing Naz Reid, even though they may have picked up better with LaMelo, might not make them better than they were a year ago.
LEGLER: Well, I think it’s one of the fascinating story lines in the league going into the season because of this pairing and this backcourt. LaMelo Ball wasn’t really involved in a lot of winning in Charlotte. They did have a nice stretch of the season they put together a year ago.
But he’s incredibly talented. He does make guys better. He will change the way that a lot of those guys play and get rewarded on that team because of his natural passing ability, his ability to create pace.
If they’re willing to play that way and they want to get up and down the floor, he’s going to make guys better. It’s a really dynamic, talented, unique pairing in the backcourt that makes them I think for me one of the most interesting watches in the league and one of the reasons I’m so excited we’re going to get them right out of the gate in Miami and get that matchup because I want to see what this is going to look like.
To me the key is — look, you’re right. Naz Reid, not only a valuable player, he’s also a guy that was beloved in the community. And that’s difficult sometimes for a fan base to wrap their head around when you lose a guy like that.
But this is a team now, you look at some of the younger guys, this is an opportunity and you’re going to have to see steps forward. You’re going to have to see what Beringer can bring. You’re going to have to see improvement out of Shannon Jr. These guys have to grab hold of this opportunity because there are possibilities in this rotation to earn minutes.
But it’s going to come down to pace of play, style of play, and the pairing in this backcourt and how much easier they can score on given nights.
If that happens, I think Minnesota is going to be one of the most interesting stories, I think, of the season.
JEFFERSON: Yeah, when you look at what they’ve done and the way they’ve played over the last few years, let me just speak to all the Minnesotans, as long as you have Anthony Edwards on your team, your window is open. As long as you have Jokic on your team your window is open.
Naz Reid was very important, did a lot of things on both sides of the ball, but I look at this team and you’re pairing Anthony Edwards, who’s 25 maybe, maybe 26, he’s not even in his prime, one of the best players in this league. As long as you have him on your roster, you’re going to have a chance because he’s that dynamic, he’s that unguardable when he’s playing well, and he just has a level of intensity that rises up during the postseason.
Right now, Minnesota’s job, and Connelly is one of the best at it, is how do we surround him with the best players. Sometimes it’s a puzzle piece; you’ve got to take your time, let’s try this, let’s try that, until we find the best pairing match with one of the best guys in this league.
Q. Tim, we’ve seen the new graphics for Monday Night Football, obviously. Is there anything in store this season, the 25th season, in terms of graphics, music or presentation?
CORRIGAN: Yeah, we’re going to launch that not this season but next season as far as the entire network kind of transitioning sport by sport as we roll this out, that new graphics package. To your point, yes, we will be kind of doing more branding with 25 years just because it’s something worth looking back and celebrating, so we’re excited about that.
As always, we’re kind of in the lab just trying to figure out what we can do for each broadcast, just to make it feel a little bit more unique every year, so you will see elements and flashbacks and tags. Musically, I think at some point we’ll go back and look at all the variations of themes we’ve used and things like that because it’s always fun.
People love nostalgia, and I think we’ll take advantage of that a little bit and poke a little fun at ourselves but also look back and kind of enjoy, whether it was the end of Michael Jordan or Kobe’s incredible run or Tim Duncan and that group getting their fifth championship, the Celtics banners 17 and 18, LeBron’s championships, here comes Steph Curry and the Warriors, Dirk, Giannis, Joker, all of it.
But we’re going to find a way to incorporate all that just because we’re really proud of it and really excited that we got to touch some of the legends of the game the way we did.
Q. The main music, though, will be the same this season?
CORRIGAN: Yes, sir.
Q. I had a question for Mike. Obviously, you’re, as everyone is, aware of social media and aware of the reactions announcers get. I imagine you’re probably aware of some of the backlash Joe Davis has gotten this year, I would say unfairly, for — you know, people accusing him of being biased with the Dodgers. You’re in the same boat, voice of the national package and also voice of the defending champs. Are you expecting any more scrutiny, any kind of heat from the fans this year the way Joe Davis got?
BREEN: You know, it comes with the territory, so you just have to expect it. I’m glad you brought up Joe Davis because I watch all the baseball games. I am such a Joe Davis fan. I think he’s done an incredible job. I listen to his calls when the Dodgers do things and when the opponent does things. I don’t see any bias at all.
A couple of years ago — I’m a huge Mets fan, and he did a Dodgers-Mets National League Championship Series. And as a huge Mets fan, I did not notice any bias towards the Dodgers. I think he’s done an incredible job.
But that’s the part of the job that you just have to understand. The fans are so passionate that they’re the least objective probably in terms of deciding if a guy is being biased or not because they care so much about their team and they’re so emotional, especially in the postseason.
I heard some of that during the Knicks and the Spurs during the Finals last year, but you just try and do the best you can. I try and get as excited for a big Knick basket as I did for the Spurs or any other year when the Bucks won their first championship in 50 years, when the Nuggets won their first championship ever. You try and have that same energy.
The backlash is part of the job, and again, to reiterate, I think Joe Davis has been amazing in the job he’s done.
Q. It appears that the Utah Jazz rebuild is over or nearing its end. What are your guys’ expectations for the Jazz this season?
JEFFERSON: I’ll start with that. I think the Jazz; they are one of the more intriguing teams. If you told me that they would be in the play-in and be the eighth seed, I could believe you. If you told me that they were healthy and that they were in the top six, I could believe that. They probably have, in my opinion, the widest range. They could finish outside the postseason. I think they could finish sixth. That’s how wide the range is.
I think a lot of it is going to be how all of these players play together, roles being defined, roles being accepted. You go, again, look at the top teams because that’s what you want to compare yourself to. The Knicks probably have the most defined, clear role of any team. OKC was probably right there, San Antonio. These teams, my job is defense, my job is to swing, my job is to score. The roles that are defined by each.
That’s what’s new with Utah. They have so much young talent, but can they define their roles in a way that pushes the engine toward success.
It’s hard to do with young teams. That’s why we’ve marveled at what San Antonio and OKC have done being one of the younger teams pushing in that direction. Golden State Warriors are another team that have done it, the early Steph years.
I think right now for them to make a jump this collective group, Peterson, all these guys have to say, hey, I know I’m this pick, but can I defend like an All-Defensive player. I know I’m this pick, but is it okay if I come off the bench and add support in scoring.
Those are the things that define a team’s greatness, a team’s stretch during an 82-game run, not is we have all of this talent, we should be playing better. Are roles defined and are roles accepted.
LEGLER: I think for me, RJ and everybody, I’m excited by the fact that Will Hardy has a mandate that’s different this year, and that’s go win. It’s not manage anything. It’s finesse veteran players on a team with young guys when you’re not trying to win games. That can really wear on a young coach. I think he’s one of the bright young minds in the game, and now you’ve given him enough pieces and versatility, and they could actually throw some lineups out there that are going to look different than a lot of people.
You could throw three seven-footers in your front court and then put Ace Bailey out there at the 2, who’s probably still growing, and you could have one of the biggest lineups in the NBA on the floor at any time. Keyonte George took a huge step forward last year. Some of this is going to be related to Ace Bailey’s step forward in year two, how ready is Peterson to contribute and compete and play heavy minutes and be efficient.
You expect that to take time from a rookie and from young players. So those guys are really important because they’re high-usage guys that are very young players. But when you look out and pair a Lauri Markkanen next to a Jaren Jackson, Jr., and you’ve got a Jaxson Hayes as a rim runner in the middle, this is a really fun team, and like I said, a coach that has been champing at the bit to just go out and coach to win.
So, we’re going to see some really good things out of Will Hardy and some good things out of this team. I think this might be one of the best stories in the league coming out of Utah this year and what this young talent base could do and putting some of these unique really big lineups on the floor. I can’t wait to watch them.
Q. I just wanted to ask about the possible impact of the draft lottery reform. From a competitive standpoint, and you guys mentioned potentially players playing, will that potentially impact players playing more now, and also the standings, how will that possibly impact maybe crunching the standings?
LEGLER: I love it. I give the league a lot of credit. They had to address this.
This is, I think, three consecutive years now they’ve broken the record for most 20-point differentials in a regular season. It was north of 250, I believe, last year. There’s just too many nights that games are getting lopsided too early in the game. It’s obvious.
Look, sometimes you can attribute that to fatigue or teams injured or shorthanded. But we also know, because it was pretty clear, that there were too many teams that were not trying to compete on a nightly basis in the league last year.
I give the league a lot of credit for trying to address it. They tried to address the best that they could the load management issue by coming up with some minimums to be able to be eligible for awards and honors and things like that. They did what they could to address that.
This is their attempt, and I think it’s going to be successful. I do think you’re going to get fewer of those nights when you sit down to watch a game or in our case to sit down to call a game and it’s pretty obvious immediately what’s going on, and it’s two and a half hours now of just fill.
I think there’s going to be fewer of those nights because I think the league has done a pretty good job. It’s confusing for people that are going to be — that are unaware to it. If you want to go read all that’s involved in this, it can be a little confusing exactly what’s going to happen.
But the key is they’ve addressed it. I do think it’s going to be effective, and I do think we’re going to have far fewer blowouts because there’s going to be more teams that are not incentivized to lose. If that’s the case, you’re just going to overall, I think, improve the product. So, I give the league a lot of credit, pat them on the back.
JEFFERSON: For me, it’s more of the confusion. I don’t think the conversation will start until the last 20 games of the year. In the beginning, like Leg said, I think you’re going to see teams coming out there giving a good push, but then I think the quality of basketball will improve late.
But we look at the 65-game rule and how that started. You have Cade Cunningham and Luka petitioning at the end of the season to try and get it. You’ve seen the capitals change, and now all of a sudden there’s a lot of different issues.
You look at now the cap gets impactful of the draft. So if you’re over — if you’re in the second apron and can do — the rules are getting a little bit more confusing, but I think it’s all for the league to improve its product, but I think a lot of it is more like, hey, end of the year, there’s always a pendulum saying if this is happening, what about the team that has two players that get injured at the start of the season but they’re in the second apron and they’ve done everything right but now they don’t get their draft picks.
That’s where it starts to get confusing, but that is something we won’t see until we get to that time the last 20 games and we start breaking down the impact.
Q. For Tim, I know you talked about the graphics package. Anything else on the technology side that’s new and exciting this year? I know you guys always focus on high-speed cameras, some of the shallow depth-of-field stuff. Anything cool there? Just a quick follow-up, how the collaboration with TNT Sports has been for Inside the NBA. That’s obviously a pretty unique setup, so I’m just curious how that’s gone for you guys and how that might evolve a little bit this year.
CORRIGAN: Yeah, I’ll start with that. TNT has been great. You know, and again, there’s some people there who we’ve had longtime relationships with behind the camera, and then the guys in front of the camera. Didn’t really know Ernie until last year and Shaq and Kenny and Charles as well.
It’s so funny, man, they were so excited to be part of this, to be back and be part of the NBA, first and foremost, but then be part of our team, which from the moment they came on the air and gave Charles a hard time about he’s not doing this and I’m not doing that and I’m not doing this, and in only the fashion that they can, of course they made fun of it and just put it right out there in the open.
From that moment on, it was just really enjoyable, and the integration — we went to Atlanta a bunch and spent time with them. That was pretty easy, to be honest with you, and really enjoyable.
The gatherings we had, either at dinners or after the games during the Finals and all that with everybody, everybody just blended together. It was really terrific. That’s where we’re going to hit the ground running this year.
Access is always our priority, right, so trying to get closer into that because you mentioned all the shallow depth and the high-frame-rate cameras. And credit to our tech team; they’re always ahead of that, so we’ll continue to do that.
We did some headset interviews during the preseason, which we really liked. It’s something we did this year in the WNBA, which I thought was really effective and interesting and unique and different, so we’re working with the NBA on that because we feel like that can be a different glimpse into these players as they come off the court, or if guys are not playing and are able to join us in that way during the competition, that would be really good and just something fun and unique to look forward to in the first half of these games.
BREEN: Tim didn’t mention this, by the way. We’ve been told there’s more on-camera shots for Richard, some of them in-game. I believe it’s because of a clause in his contract, so there might be action in a small box of Richard by himself in an on-camera shot. That’s the only other change that we’re aware of.
JEFFERSON: We were trying to save it. You’ve ruined the surprise.
CORRIGAN: Do you want to give us some poses now, Richard?
JEFFERSON: I’ve been working on “Blue Steel” for a while. It’s not ready yet, but we’ll probably whip it out sometime around Christmas. The public is not ready for it.
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