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[Bucholtz] Tim Legler says ESPN execs told him Pacers were ‘not sexy enough’ to cover intensely



[Bucholtz] Tim Legler says ESPN execs told him Pacers were ‘not sexy enough’ to cover intensely

by OnlyMamaKnows

50 Comments

  1. Numerous-Cicada3841

    Funny enough that’s what ESPN and Adam Silver told the officials last night.

  2. Enough-Remote6731

    They gotta learn what keeps it sexy, hips and nips, otherwise I’m not eating.

  3. egregious888

    An explosive and fast past offense isn’t “sexy enough?” I will be dancing in the streets the day we are free of ESPN

  4. Past-Mousse-4519

    Nurse or Maid outfit? Choice is yours Indiana.

  5. SquimJim

    People who don’t think the Pacers are “sexy” have not watched their offense

    Their offense is fucking beautiful

    Edit: And I’m not just talking about their transition offense or running and gunning, their half-court offense is just as pretty

  6. PabloShwartz

    Confirming what we know, ESPN execs don’t watch sports

  7. OnlyMamaKnows

    The Skipper era got a ton of criticism for being “woke” but I feel like a lot of the “woke” folks watched games. It’s all nonsense now. Get Up is like 3 hours of Cowboys talk every day even in the off-season.

  8. RobbobertoBuii

    ESPN has been trying to keep Legler under wraps for years in favor of SAS, honestly no idea why he chooses to stay with them (maybe NBC or Amazon next yr?)

    edit: also was shocked last yr when he survived the mass ESPN layoffs that got rid of JVG and others

  9. benevenstancian0

    The fact that ESPN would have likely far preferred a hobbled Knicks team grinding their way to 85pts a game in the ECF vs a healthy, deep, and fun to watch Pacers team that scores a ton and moves the ball well tells you exactly what’s wrong with sports broadcasting nowadays.

  10. LoWE11053211

    Considering ESPN know nothing about sexy

    Pacers fans should take this as a compliment.

  11. stay-at-homie

    I haven’t seen Russilo’s face in a while.

  12. ShankyShoe

    “Y’all motherfuckers don’t watch us play” is Pacers scripture at this point. Put every Pacers player in a Knicks uniform and suddenly they’d be very sexy to them

  13. omgWTFyouSUCK

    Do the Pacers have to let their players wear swimsuits instead of jerseys to gain national media attention?

  14. Legler has been one of the best analysts in the national media

  15. BlackMathNerd

    Indiana not a big enough market, we know this.

    Cowboys, Lakers, Knicks, LeBron move the needle at ESPN

  16. AncientScratch1670

    This is how they do it. All we heard all year was LeBron this and Golden State that with an occasional sprinkling of Knicks reports. Very little about OKC or the Wolves even though they were winning a ton in the stacked western conference.

  17. tarnyarmy

    Not sexy enough? Look at their panels of talking heads, just a bunch of nerds.

  18. Hot_Cockroach_7625

    Fuck ESPN. The Pacers have one of the most exciting, fast paced offenses in the NBA. Anyone who says otherwise clearly doesn’t watch games.

  19. Uebelkraehe

    This bubble here is sometimes something else. As a hardcore fan of NBA Basketball i’d obviously prefer if media coverage would primarily be dictated by what a team can do on court. However i am aware that this is not the only or probably even just the primary determinant of what gets the clicks and views. And as long as these media outfits work on capitalist principles, popular teams will therefore be prioritized, fair or not.

  20. CoyotesSideEyes

    This is the problem with ESPN/the NBA.

    NFL will convince you two teams that are a combined 3-25 are must see TV. They will promote even the unpromotable.

    NBA coverage looks at a fun young team with marketable stars and an interesting narrative and goes “meh, who cares”

    They would rather talk about LeBrons kids than Haliburton and Siakam.

  21. MoooonRiverrrr

    I hate basketball media. They did the same thing with the Bucks, Suns, Nuggets, etc.

  22. A-Centrifugal-Force

    Obviously you have to give more coverage to the major brands in sports like the Cowboys, Lakers, and Yankees, but ESPN takes it a step too far. You can’t completely devalue 20 of your 30 teams and then wonder why fans lose interest.

    ESPN has the ECF, they should have hyped up that whoever wins will have a great series against the Celtics. Obviously the Knicks should have gotten more of the coverage since they have more fans, but not to the extent they did.

    There’s also a confusion at ESPN that they think they can treat all big brands the same. The Knicks are a big brand, but they’re not the Lakers. The reason why you can cover the Lakers they do and get away with it is that everyone who isn’t a Lakers fan hates the Lakers, to the point where people hate watch them. The same goes for the Cowboys, Yankees, Alabama, and Duke. The Knicks are a big brand in New York, but most of us don’t particularly care about them one way or the other lol, it doesn’t drive hate watching viewership the way the Lakers or even Celtics and Warriors do.

  23. Danny886

    So what Legler is saying is the Pacers gotta show some more leg?

  24. SpursExpanse

    Spurs fan here and i wish our wings and backcourt had the defensive presence and tenacity as The Pacers. Not enough coverage and profiling their players. I really enjoyed that series with the Knicks

  25. flamingviper3175

    ESPN really had to get that contract didn’t they

  26. Its their job to write stories to make them sexy.

    A good journalist can write a compelling story about their neighbour to make them interesting.

  27. The_Crown_And_Anchor

    The dumbest narrative in the NBA media and within the NBA itself is that only the big market teams or teams with bankable stars are worthy of being covered

    It’s no wonder the NBA viewership is constantly declining

  28. CanalVillainy

    Of course. They only want to focus on big markets. ESPN has been guided by myopic bullshit for decades now.

  29. kingofplasticbeach

    Him and Zach lowe are the actual analysts at ESPN. Redick is getting there but is getting too much publicity for him to focus on the analysis portion of his job

  30. FrankSamples

    I hate the overuse of the word “sexy” in sports

  31. ebenizaa

    Nuggets Wolves was so sexy they had games starting at 10pm

  32. john_t_fisherman

    What does ESPN know about sports. Stick to selling shit like DUDE WIPES LOL

  33. regularhumanbartendr

    It’s not just ESPN. The NBA itself doesn’t want teams like the Pacers to succeed over teams like the Knicks or Celtics.

    Boston is a better team than Indiana, but you’ll never convince me this series has any chance of being called evenly. Game 1 showed that.

  34. Roronoaa

    If you’re espn why not hype up all these new young stars? We won’t be watching Lebron and steph in a couple years

  35. SigmaColts

    It’s because they know ESPN talking head shows are consumed for stupid people that need their opinion formulated for them

  36. BurgeroftheDayz

    Can’t wait until the drama free clickbait free sport shows return. Just show me highlights and tell me what happened and have someone break down the tape.

  37. PROFsmOAK

    ESPN says shit like the Pacers give kids the ick.

  38. Legler is good.

    Surprised he stuck it out with ESPN, doesn’t fit their current archetype.

    Would love to see him on an FS1 show or in a Russell-type role at a big media outlet.

  39. BiGgmoney91

    I wish it was ESPN losing NBA coverage instead of TNT. Outside of Mike Breen, the NBA on ESPN is such a terrible product and a disgrace to the game.

  40. sportsthatguy

    Caitlin Clark is proof that if you follow a star and build them up, the market doesn’t matter. And o yeah, she plays for… the Indiana Fever.

    The reality is, a lot of people will tune in to something that feels like a big deal. How do you do that? Get people excited about something. Cross-promote it. Follow the highs and lows but always keep your eyes peeled for what’s coming and who’s next. There should always be a pipeline with sports media. Who’s here or who could be here, etc.

    We’ve been brainwashed to think markets are the end all be all, but the NFL proves that’s not the case. It can help sure.

    Market Ant, Jokic, SGA, Wemby with the same fervor as Curry and you’ll see the shift. People want to watch greatness. Follow the trail ESPN.

  41. DASreddituser

    ESPN shows are so lame these days. Anything decent I can see on YT or listen on a podcast, too.

  42. CloseVirus

    Because of Idiots like that most of the time they talk about shitty Teams like LAL or NYK.

  43. jetpack_operation

    Pacers are one of the most fun teams to watch and have been all season. ESPN, as usual, does not know ball. Any fucking ball.

  44. American media can be insufferable at times. 

  45. ExpendableGerbil

    Someone actually said the quiet part out loud…

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