My New Favorite NBA Show

Posted by Keith Haney on November 13, 2008

‘Comedy’s New Tripple Threat’

So Tuesday night I settle in to watch the Jazz beat down the Sixers.  I’m really disappointed with Philly thus far too – I thought they would come out REALLY strong.  Guess I was wrong.  I still think they’ll turn it around though.  But I digress.  After the Jazz game wrapped up, I switched over to NBA TV to watch the Lakers vs Dallas game.  I’m so glad I did.  Not because of the game itself, but because of NBA TV’s new Tuesday night broadcast team of Ahmad Rashad, Gary Payton, and Chris Webber.

Let me set the stage a little bit more before I get to them.  Normally, I wouldn’t take the time to watch the Lakers play on a Tuesday night.  I’m a Lakers hater, and I will get to see plenty of Kobe’s mug in the coming months as ESPN, TNT, and ABC fall into their habitual “All Lakers, All the Time” broadcast mode.  Tonight was an exception though, as I had wagered a significant amount of Skittles on the outcome of this game.  Lakers were favored by 6 points and Josh Howard wasn’t even playing.  This was a point spread from the gods I thought.  Turns out I was right but just barely.  The Lakers won by seven and it never would have been that close had they not stunk it up in the first half while Dallas was rockin’.  I won my Skittles.  So that’s a long winded version of why I watched the game.  Why I’ll be tuning in every Tuesday from now on is because the Glove (Payton), the Time-Out (Webber), and Mr. NBA Inside Stuff (Rashad) were hilarious.

Seriously, it was like they didn’t even remember they were on TV sometimes.  They were busting each other up with silly jokes.  There were non-stop karate sounds over recaps of NBA action around the league whenver someone made a great play….

Ahmad:  Lebron goes in for the dunk

Payton:  Hi-YA!,

Webber:  K-yowwww!

It was pure comedy gold.  You had to see it.  My favorite exchange of the night went something like this while they counted down the top 10 plays of the week:

Rashad:  At number 5, a buzzer beater from Jason Kidd.  (The play starts unfolding as Ahmad’s voice speaks over it)  What?  Buzzer beater.  This is the first quarter.  It’s not a buzzer beater unless it’s at the end of the game.  Who made this list?  (Payton and Webber laugh)

Skip ahead to number 1 on the countdown:

Rashad:  Now this is a buzzer beater.  (They show the Brandon Roy dagger shot at Houston from a few days ago).  No more buzzer beaters on the Top 10 unless they are at the end of the game.  (Payton and Webber laugh some more)

Payton and Webber (talking over each other as they did most of the night):  Ya, no more buzzer beaters.  We’re gonna have to make this Top 10 list ourselves next week.  Do we have to do everything around here and be our own staff???  Let’s text each other.

And …. scene.

Anyways, they had me cracking up the whole night.  At first, I was convinced that Payton was drunk he was so goofy.  I can’t wait for next week.  With a little more polish and practice, they could easily take over the A+ crew at TNT of Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Charles Barkley.  If you have NBA TV, be sure to check it out.  And also, vote on NBA.com for their Tuesday night game.  The fans choose which game gets aired.  The Lakers are again dominating the vote for next week.  Sad.  Pathetic.  Boring.  Vote for anybody but the Lakers please!!!!

5 Comments

Brownbagger on November 13, 2008 said:

WTF!!?!?!??!?! Haneous, you are killing me! You really think The Glove, The Timeout and Mr Inside Stuff (Although I like Romey’s “gloss” for Ahmad better; “Little Mike”) is better than Kenny, Ernie, and Governor Barkley? No Way! I watched the same act Tuesday night and I agree that Payton seemed as if he had something else going on, but TNT still smokes them.

Lakers are looking scary, man. and Portland might be able to give the Jazz a run too and can’t count out Denver now as Billups I think makes them better. Jazz better figure out a way to win the games on the road they are supposed to win or they might be in for an unexpected dogfight just to win the Northwest

Mal on November 13, 2008 said:

Wow, you have inspired me to start looking into getting NBA TV. Sounds epic. I will admit that Ahmad “I-married-Mrs.-Huxtable-when-I-really-wanted-Michael-Jordan” Rashad has always bugged the crap out of me, but Gary Payton has been a long time love of mine. I can only imagine the combo of he and C. Webb.

scott on November 13, 2008 said:

I so cannot picture those three being anything but lame….Ahmad knows nothing about sports….C Webb is choppy, and Gary Payton AKA the original thug, sportscasting??? You’ve gotta be kiddin me….are there no other players that don’t want to retire but can’t find a job??? While we’re on the subject, how in the heck did the little general (avery johnson) get a job as an analyist??? – His voice is like taking two dead birds and rubbing their bones together.

keith haney on November 14, 2008 said:

The best part about the triple combo of Rashad, Payton, and Webber was that they were so different from any other broadcast team. In a good way. They were having fun and Rashad kept a small semblance of structure to the show.

They aren’t even close to being better than the TNT crew yet, but they could be with some polish and practice. I hate to admit it, but Barkley’s repeated use of the same one liners over and over and over again is starting to bore me. Seriously – play a drinking game and take a shot every time Barkley says the phrases, “Let me tell you something” or “First of All”. You’ll be hammered in under 5 minutes.

I just loved the frank talk and banter between the trio on NBA TV. It definitely made me want to see them again.

Brownbagger on November 16, 2008 said:

As far as Little General getting an analyst job, I think he has some good insight to offer and as far as the voice thing, you try talking with that many teeth in your mouth and see how you sound. Seriously, does Little General have more teeth than the normal human being? I started counting mine so I can compare and grew bored too quickly, but if someone can count theirs, and Avery’s, and then post the results it would be much appreciated.

Leave Your Comment

How do I get an avatar for my comments?
It is easy and completely free. Just go to Gravatar.com and sign-up with your email address. Gravatar is globally recognized, so your avatar will show on every Gravatar-enabled website or blog.