Got a request? Leave a comment here. ask.fm/gearmast3r The final montage from NBC of the NBA's tenure with the television network in game 4 of the 2002 NBA Finals.
This was a sad moment when the NBA on NBC went away...the intros, Bob Costas storied Intros, Hearing Marv Albert say, “YES!” Some of the greatest games I’ve EVER witnessed as a kid was during this era...The NBA needs to Bring it Back!
Agreed the NHL needs to do the opposite and drop NBC and return to ESPN/ABC. It seemed when the NBA and the NHL switched broadcast partners the quality of the broadcasts fell dramatically. The NHL on NBC is awful with too much focus on American teams (even the terrible ones) and no respect for the Canadian teams.
I love being 33 I grew in the most perfect eras of all time I remember seeing the last game and this live with my brothers in our room. Product of the late 80s 90s kid and 2000s teen and 10s college 👌🏼💯
The NBA on NBC coincided to air the best era in basketball history. And their intro, theme and montage for every single game made it that much better. Best memories.
mannn can you guys imagine if the NBA on NBC was still in effect this year..can ya imagine the epic intro that NBC was going to make for the Cavs and Warriors..with these epic commentators and broadcasters..man I miss this $!
And if you wanna see Tracy Wolfson and Allie LaForce share sideline reporting duties for the Final Four, the National Championship and the Super Bowl every three years, gimme a hell yeah!
Amen to that. An NBC pregame opener could bring me to tears. Particularly the one for 1999 NBA Finals game 1 ("Uncertainty defined the New York Knicks regular season. But when this unconventional group of stars lost their leader, they never lost hope. Instead it inspired them to last second heroics and team harmony that had the critics wondering and the fans begging...could the eighth seed do it again?" This was all done off memory by the way). I'm not sure an ABC/ESPN pregame opener has ever even gotten me more excited to watch a game than I already was. The only thing they do that I like leading into the games is that cgi montage for the history of the NBA Finals. That is really cool. And I like Mike Breen, he's cool. They just come up short in so many other ways though. They don't appeal to the emotions the way NBC used to.
Just like NBC sucks in covering the NHL. Ever since ESPN/ABC lost the US NHL rights to NBC the NHL's TV ratings have gone down the toilet to the point in which the MLS, NASCAR, Golf and even the UFC have overtaken it in overall TV ratings. When the NHL was on ESPN from the mid 80's to 2004 that was the 2nd golden age for the NHL (the first was from the early 50's to 1975) because there was an equal playing field for both American and Canadian clubs to compete for the Stanley Cup. Sadly since the NHL signed the deal with NBC American teams especially Chicago, LA and Pittsburgh have dominated the league leaving all of the Canadian teams including Montreal struggling to compete with them.
CatholicTraditional I agree FOX did a great job with the NHL. I hope they get the rights back along with ESPN/ABC when the contract with NBC ends in two years especially since FOX has a cable network in FS1 to cover games.
28 years of CBS and NBC combined 1974-2002. Those years featured the absolute best era of NBA basketball, the dynasties of Boston and Bird, L.A. Lakers, Kareem and Magic(first time, Shaq and Kobe, 2nd time), Philadelphia 76ers, Dr. J, Detroit Pistons, Isaiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and bad boys, and the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets, and the Spurs, David Robinson and Tim Duncan.
I feel like with CBS, it didn't really enter it's own "definitive" golden era until that CGI intro of Boston Garden created by Bill Feigenbaum along with Allyson Bellink's theme music was first used in the 1983 NBA Finals. A year later, was the very first meeting of Magic Johnson's Lakers and Larry Bird's Celtics in the Finals, who were the two figures credited with turning the NBA's fortunes around.
@@TMC1982Part2 She was excellent with that theme. CBS used that theme during their last 7 years. Would you believe they used The Alan Parsons Project for the 1982 season!!!
@@CatholicTraditional Exactly. During the weekdays the finals came on at 11:30 PM after the local news where I'm from. CBS wouldn't even show trophy celebrations bc they had to show the Kemper Open smh. They didn't do anything with the NBA until Bird & Magic
The CBS era was the golden of basketball on the court and the silver era of basketball on television. The NBC era was the silver era of basketball on the court and the golden era of basketball on television. The soul of the NBA died the night the NBC era ended.
The CBS era (at least in the '80s, until the end of their coverage in 1990) was defined by Larry Bird's Boston Celtics, Julius Erving's Philadelphia 76ers, the "Showtime" era Lakers, and the "Bad Boys" era Detroit Pistons. The NBC era was defined by Michael Jordan, the Houston Rockets' dynasty in the interim of Jordan's first retirement, and the Shaq-Kobe led Lakers dynasty. I think that the San Antonio Spurs (led by Tim Duncan and David Robinson in 1999), were the only team of the NBA on NBC era (1990-2002), not named Bulls, Lakers, or Rockets to win the NBA Championship.
@@TMC1982Part2did not too many teams win the championship on NBC at least you had different champions on ABC and CBS we have not have good players because that's why the NBA has not been good over the years I missed it being on CBS then NBC sorry to break y'all hearts on this one!!!😢
John Tran probably won’t happen anytime soon, Disney has the money to keep paying the licensing every time especially how much money the nba brings in now
Anyone notice when bob costas say the lakers title run continues with perhaps no ending insight. Who would have thought that was shaq and Kobe last title. Their egos cost them a decade of dominance. They should have own the 2000s decade.
When kids today grab their iPads to watch the NBA on ABC with a Warriors vs an undermanned San Antonio Spurs team and call that amazing basketball I just laugh and appreciate a video like this so much more, I love the NBA on NBC!
The NBA on NBC was something special to watch- you were into the games, the rivalries. Marv Albert’s infamous “Yes,” and the one that was legendary- “Yes and it counts- something special hearing his telecasts.
Love that ending. Having a B-ball tossed away in an empty gym. Kinda like at the end of a pick-up game. Perfect. And it made me say, "NBC did their thing." ....Emotional stuff. 7:25
I think there is some hope of the NBA on NBC making a return in the next few years: The reason why I think this is because not only does ESPN/ABC’s contract with broadcasting NBA games expire within the next few years (ending in the 2024-25 season) the NHL finally made a return to ESPN recently, meaning that it can kind of slow down some of the NBA broadcasts. Meanwhile on NBC’s part, the only major sport that is nationally televised now that isn’t regionally broadcasted is the NFL. They recently lost their NHL rights to ESPN and TNT. So they will probably start making some moves to try and acquire broadcast rights for the NBA to help get them more viewership on the sports side of things. The theme for NBA on NBC may not be able to return however, because the creator of the song sold their rights to the song to Fox where it’s now being used for College Basketball. However, the actual program of NBA on NBC still has a chance at a return soon.
I have to agree with both of you. I was thinking about this the other day and the reason why I think it will be ESPN/ABC and USA/NBC in the next contract is because of streaming. As great as TNT is, I don't think they'll put their games on HBO Max which they should in order to keep them. On the other hand, ESPN/ABC will definitely put their games on ESPN+ and USA/NBC will definitely put their games on Peacock. And even though they're probably not interested, CBS could possibly be a potential contender too. Sure CBS lacks room on their schedule not to mention the CBS Sports Network is on higher tiers. However, Paramount+ could stream them and that would be huge not to mention that many of TNT's announcers also work for CBS as well. It would be a seamless transition. Plus, CBS could do games on Saturday night since there's no golf and that would help ABC too because they could move their NHL games to a nighttime slot. It's a win/win.
1:52 Okay, Marv, thanks very much. And as Marv himself would say, "it should be pointed out" that Marv is celebrating his forty-ninth birthday tonight for a record twelfth consecutive year. Well, another season is in the books. The Lakers' title run continues with perhaps no end in sight. But as Marv said, we have reached the end of our run with the NBA. NBC's twelve years televising the league had been filled with indelible moments. And so, as we say good night, here's an appreciative look back. And for one last time, you've been watching the NBA on NBC.
NBC & the NBA is such a perfect marriage. I am cool with ESPN/ABC & TNT renewing the rights in ‘25 if they do. But it would be great to see NBC, TNT & TBS take over again for say another ten year run with the most epic nba theme ever 🎶 🦚 🏀
I remember when i was a kid, after iwatched an nba on nbc game i went outside to my backyard and played and imitated the same gqme i watched, the players, their typical ways of shootong free throws as well as the comentators (matt goukas,marv albert, steve snapper jones, bill walton, greg gumbel as well as the side reporters) i eas just absolutely obsessed with the nba on nbc lol
This was great..NBC always used music from movie soundtracks as part of their promos. Here, they used James Horner's work from The Perfect Storm. Top quality!
At the time this happened, one thing that ABC had that NBC didn't was an all-sports channel to put games on, that channel being ESPN. NBC does have their own sports network now, but they've chosen to acquire the rights to NHL hockey games instead, as that's what the main network had started showing since about the mid-2000s, after the league lost an entire season to a lockout.
If you thought this was said (i remember this very well in June 2002) check out CBS sad end from June 14 1990. The NBA hasn't been the same since both networks was outbidded.
Wow! I have goosebumps after watching all of the highlights from those historic games. I can't believe I was actually fortunate enough to see all of those games live, as they happened. I'm somewhat biased having grown up watching the NBA on NBC, but after watching older CBS & newer TNT footage over the years I thought NBC was the best out of the lot. They were a great/the best network in the 90's I.M.H.O
I think that when NBC had to fire Marv Albert in 1997 because his off camera "issues" at the time, was really when the "NBA on NBC" started to lose its luster. This was coupled with Michael Jordan retiring for the second time (thus, NBC's golden goose was gone) and the forthcoming lockout out, and you could kind of sense that NBC was beginning to lose their interest or passion in the NBA.
Say what you want about the talent (I’ve heard various reactions), but one thing that nobody can take away from it is the presentation, which is some of the best we’ve ever seen
The loss of the NBA in 2002 to ABC/ESPN was the final culmination of NBC Sports' late '90s-early 2000s "dork age". They were in essence, in a position that CBS Sports was at in the mid-'90s, when they didn't have the rights to any of the major pro team sports. They already lost the NFL's AFC package to CBS in 1997-98 (because NBC felt that it didn't make fiscal sense to keep broadcasting football if they were albeit guaranteed to inevitably lose money on it) and the MLB package (which they were already one foot out of the door anyway) to Fox completely in 2000. After they lost those major sports and before they landed the "Sunday Night Football" package in 2006, their long term deal w/ the Olympics was really all that NBC going for themselves.
One of the main reasons other than getting SNF that NBC improved their sports coverage was getting the rights to the NHL from ESPN/ABC after the 2005 lockout. Nowadays NBC has the NFL, NHL, Olympics, the Kentucky Derby, the 2nd half of the NASCAR season, English Premier League soccer, and starting this year the Indycar Series and the Indy 500.
@@chrisguardiano6143 A lot of the problems with NBC Sports during the 2000s I would like to pin mainly on Dick Ebersol. NBC was too conservative. They didn't want to spend the money that needed to be spent in order to maintain the rights to the major sports packages like the NFL, NBA, and MLB. NBC was also slow to the curb when it came to adapting a consistent on-screen scoring graphic like Fox. forum.quartertothree.com/t/so-why-does-dick-ebersol-still-have-a-job-running-nbc-sports/57196 deadspin.com/5449864/ex-nbc-sports-employee-dick-ebersol-is-the-biggest-failure-of-them-all www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/ex-nbc-sports-employee-dick-ebersol-is-the-biggest-failure-of-them-all.200131/page-2#post-2080213
