Rachel Nichols and Maria Taylor to host ‘NBA Countdown’
Things just keep getting better for NBA fans when it comes to national TV broadcasts.
It was announced in August that TNT would be doing away with the “Players Only” broadcast that appeared on NBA TV. Those broadcast crews were roundly criticized as being meandering and uninformed when it came to the product on the floor.
Now fans are getting more of what they want in the form of Rachel Nichols and Maria Taylor.
According to a report from Richard Deitsch, Nichols and Taylor will be the hosts of ESPN’s pregame show, NBA Countdown.
Richard Deitsch
✔
@richarddeitsch
ESPN news: ESPN is planning to name Rachel Nichols & Maria Taylor as the hosts of NBA Countdown for this upcoming season. Formal announcement should come in coming weeks. The expectation, via sources, is both will host the show. They'll split the assignment in some manner.
633
1:58 PM - Aug 16, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
234 people are talking about this
Richard Deitsch
✔
@richarddeitsch
· Aug 16, 2019
ESPN news: ESPN is planning to name Rachel Nichols & Maria Taylor as the hosts of NBA Countdown for this upcoming season. Formal announcement should come in coming weeks. The expectation, via sources, is both will host the show. They'll split the assignment in some manner.
Richard Deitsch
✔
@richarddeitsch
Nichols will continue to host The Jump. Regarding other staffers on the show: Chauncey Billups will move from studio to work as a game analyst. Jalen Rose will be back on NBA Countdown. I’m not sure about Paul Pierce for this season.
88
1:58 PM - Aug 16, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
51 people are talking about this
Paul Pierce and Chauncey Billups Won’t return as analysts on the pregame show next year, leaving just Jalen Rose. That means there are a couple of spots open, and we don’t yet know who ESPN will fill them with. Nichols will reportedly continue to host her regular show “The Jump”.
As the league continues to get more popular, it makes sense that broadcast partners listen to the audience. Nichols is an NBA favorite, so having her be more visible makes a lot of sense.
Hard to replicate the chemistry of the TNT studio hosts. Unfortunately, for ESPN this will change nothing.
ESPN/ABC's shuffled their lineup every year or two since 2004 (although better or worse, their in-game has been consistent with Breen/Jackson/JVG). TNT's only added Shaq (and Emmy awards) in those 15 years. _________________ -Avenue of the Champions- -RIP Dr Buss- #824
Joined: 19 Nov 2007 Posts: 4389 Location: Lake Nacimiento
Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2019 5:24 pm Post subject:
Nothing changes for me, just will continue to ff until game action every single game.
I know part of it is just getting older but I used to get legitimately excited for a lot of the pre-shows. Nearly every sports show period is pretty bad at this point though.
Joined: 29 Aug 2004 Posts: 11197 Location: The Other Perspective
Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2019 8:41 am Post subject:
TDRock wrote:
I don’t particularly like any of those folks BESIDES Chauncey so sorry he’s out of a gig. (Paul Pierce on the other hand...)
Agreed. _________________ "Chick lived and breathed Lakers basketball…but he was also fair and objective and called every game the way it was played."
-from Chick: His Unpublished Memoirs and the Memories of Those Who Knew Him
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum