“I love our hand.”
That’s the sentiment expressed by Tim Corrigan, ESPN’s SVP/Sports Production, regarding everything in the network’s arsenal as it takes over Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night for Game 1 of the Cavaliers-Knicks NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
That hand includes the A-team in the booth of Mike Breen, Tim Legler and Richard Jefferson, with Lisa Salters helming the sidelines. It’s the first conference finals at ESPN for Legler with the A-team. “What he’s done to put himself in this position -- he could not be more excited, and us more excited for him,” said Corrigan.
This year’s Conference Finals for ESPN also has the benefit of the “NBA Tip-Off” show featuring Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal bringing gravitas to the event (Draymond Green is also joining for select shows). After the game, Corrigan and ESPN are also letting “Inside the NBA” run for as long as TNT, which produces the show, wants before the baton passes to Scott Van Pelt’s “SportsCenter.”
“I have obviously respected them from a distance and they have just been the dominant pregame/postgame show of our era, for any sport,” Corrigan said of the show. “It’s been a really rewarding thing for all of us to welcome them. And you know what? As we’ve said from Day 1 -- and I can promise you this is the truth -- they get to go as long as they want, and we’ll figure it out from there.”
Corrigan also noted how the celebrities and former Knicks players in the first couple of rows at MSG have “become a fun part” of game coverage. “They’re just like everybody else in that building, man. They feel it and they want to show their support of the team,” he said.
ESPN is also taking its “NBA Today” studio show on-site for the ECF in N.Y. and Cleveland, with expanded two-hour editions on game days.
