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ESPN Hires Magic Johnson for Christmas Day and Postseason Analysis

ESPN is all about making the big splash. And what's bigger than inking Earvin "Magic" Johnson to a broadcasting contract, just mere days after he blasted a pair of radio hosts for accusing him of faking AIDS?(Aside: Really, radio show people? Really?)

Answer: Not much. So it makes sense that the WWL announced today that they will employ Magic throughout the season in various roles as an NBA analyst. However, the coverage he'll provide is somewhat curious as the press release seems to indicate that he will only be working on Christmas Day and during the postseason.
"Magic has always been one of the most accomplished people in every field he has endeavored. He was an incomparable player and has become one of the best NBA analysts in the business. His unique insights, perspective and personality will be the perfect complement to Stuart (Scott), Mike (Wilbon) and Jon (Barry)," said [NORBY!] Williamson.

"I am thrilled to be a part of the ESPN family. I look forward to working with a great team and covering all the big NBA events," said Johnson. "Christmas Day can't come soon enough for me."
See what I mean? The season doesn't exactly start then. Which makes me wonder why ESPN bothered locking him up to a deal if they're only going to give him coverage twice a year.

Magic Johnson Rips Radio Talk Show Hosts Who Said He 'Faked AIDS'

Radio talk show hosts are often accused of saying outrageous things, and often by people who didn't even hear them say the supposedly outrageous thing in the first place. But when speaking about a famous athlete who was forced to retire after contracting HIV, and saying that they think he "faked AIDS," I think we can all agree that's going a bit too far.

Such is the case with Minneapolis radio hosts Chris Baker and Langdon Perry, who attempted to make this joke at Magic Johnson's expense. Listen for yourself to their ridiculously insensitive comments, then we'll reconvene.



"He's the only cured AIDS guy ever." Nice. Predictably, Magic himself was not amused. His response to these clowns, after the jump.

Apparently, Sam Smith Asks Shaq the Same Questions Every Year

Stories from a trip to Media Day for the Phoenix Suns.

NBA players have occasionally had a tense relationship with long-time league journalist Sam Smith. Fellow NBA scribes have questioned Smith's tactics, and we know how Smith feels about bloggers. Or maybe that should be,"felt" about bloggers, since he pretty much is one himself now.

The reason I mention all of this is because Sam decided to ask Shaquille O'Neal about his weight heading into the season, and as you might imagine, Shaq was not appreciative of the question. In fact, he responded to Sam by name as he wondered why he seemingly asks the same questions every season.



If there's one thing we know about Shaq, it's that he's a little sensitive when it comes to the topic of him missing games or possibly being out of shape. I'm not sure why Sam decided to pursue the topic this season, especially since Shaq looked to be in amazing physical condition. Dude was lean, had his jersey tucked into his shorts with no sign of any gut whatsoever, and appeared to be pretty chiseled in the upper body. With Shaq looking the way he did, the question seemed to be completely off base, and you can't fault Shaq for being a bit annoyed by it given the circumstances.

Chris Bosh in 'A New York Minute' and Other XBox 360 Minutia

Would you like to know why being an NBA superstar/Chris Bosh is awesome? It's because money, ladies, fame aside, you get to shed all reasons for concern that come with singing in public on the camera and just let loose with a belting rendition of "New York, New York". And then you get to point out that your life is awesome and that you ball out all day on the XBox 360. So, yeah, basically like my life four years ago minus the money, females and fame.
In super fairness to Bosh too, he has no idea what he's doing today. Which, frankly, is awesome. I wake up in the morning and know what I'll be doing all day. And while I might enjoy it, I don't have a whole hell of a lot of choice about what's gonna happen. CB4? He's got choices, son.

Allan Houston Wants You to Know He Is Going to Be Relevant ... and Viral!

It says a lot about the emerging viral nature of publicity that even Allan Houston -- at last count approximately older than my father and still trying to play professional basketball -- is getting in on the YouTubery. But, hey, whatever the kids say sells, right?



That's right, baby. 10 straight. Said video (and press release -- how camouflaged!) also came with a letter to his fans, family and friends thanking them for their support and urging them to click on the handy video links below. (For the video of which you just watched.)

Marc Iavaroni Doesn't Dislike OJ Mayo

Marc IavaroniYesterday my colleague Tom Ziller talked about how some NBA teams are embracing blogs in the wake of ever-shrinking coverage from slowly-dying newspapers. He referenced the Golden State Warriors but could have just as easily been talking about the Memphis Grizzlies, who have routinely offered the excellent 3 Shades of Blue blog exclusive sit-downs with owner Michael Heisley, GM Chris Wallace and, today, head coach Marc Iavaroni.

It's a win-win situation for everybody involved -- the team gets a few thousand words of coverage during the dog days of September and the blog gets some well-deserved publicity. Fans of the team win, too, especially considering Chip from 3 Shades asked tough questions and prints Iavaroni's complete, in-depth answers and not just a boiled down one-liner readers would have received from a traditional reporter constrained by inches on a dead tree. The whole interview is worth reading, but here's my favorite highlight:
3SOB: It was reported that you played the devil's advocate on the O.J. Mayo trade. What were the reasons against the trade and what arguments were being made in favor of it?

MI: I think again another healthy situation. Here we are in what used to be called the war room but here we are in the draft night and frankly I think it was positive. We said let's look at everything. Now if someone wants to brand me the devil's advocate as several people were saying that is fine. I've never been a sheep. Mr. Heisley has never been a sheep. Heisley has always led by leading and I am the same way. Obviously, foremost on my mind is that we were a young team and we were going to get younger. Like it or not I tend to develop affinities for players in my corner and one of those players was Mike Miller.

This Week in 'The Christies Seek Attention'

I don't mean to sound offended or holy -- I write about Salim Stoudamire, for goodness sake -- but do Doug Christie and his wife Jackie really need attention so much they'll turn the nation's economic crisis into an opportunity for publicity? Yes, yes they do. The Christies' overworked flack got the pair into the Wall Street Journal on the basis of some bizarre scheme to bail out the banks by propping them up with stock buys 95% of America can't afford.
Former NBA guard Doug Christie and his wife have called for as much to help out in this time of financial distress. The couple put out a press release late Tuesday to announce that they will purchase 3,000 shares of corporate stock to help with what they termed "the AIG financial crisis." In addition to their cash, the release said, "the Christie ... have graciously used their star appeal to bring awareness to the issue."

The Christies kept their word, and then some. A representative for the couple said that on Wednesday the Christies bought 3,000 shares of American International Group, 1,000 shares of computer maker Apple and 1,000 shares of online retailer Amazon.com.
How gracious of the Christies to lend their indisputable star power to a global crisis which has been on the front page of every relevant newspaper for a solid week! Again, I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth -- the Christies could be off burning Benjamins and catapulting kittens into a brick wall; this Wall Street activity is a net plus for Earth if you consider that possibility. But c'mon, WSJ. Focus on the big picture, not a retired NBA player begging for cameras and ink. Antawn Jamison spent some money to help real American kids. The Rockets organization is leading the way on Ike recovery. Those things aren't ploys for attention, and they actually matter.

Bloggers Fill Newspaper's Void in Golden State

With the contraction of coverage in newspapers because of shareholder demands for PROFIT!!?! cost-cutting, NBA teams like the Warriors find the number of traditional media outlets requesting credentials shrinking. As Matt Steinmetz of the San Francisco Examiner tells it, bloggers or other members of the new media are filling the void.
Fact is, there has been a momentous decline in Warriors information -- again, every team for that matter -- in papers. That doesn't sit well with the NBA or its teams, which have lost big-time coverage in recent years. Or real fans, of course.

The logical progression, and solution, however, has been a monumental headache. What to do with those (us?) bloggers?
The Warriors, Steinmetz writes, are doing it the right way: taking credential seekers on a case-by-case basis. A uniform policy for the league or teams doesn't make sense at this point with definitions up in the air. Teams should err on the side of cautiousness, in my opinion. Letting everyone in would be disastrous in many cases.

But by all means, a ton of dedicated team and general NBA bloggers deserve a spot at the table. Look at the fantastic work Britt Robson did for The Rake in Minneapolis last season. Robson basically served as an extra beat writer for the team (and its fans), even though most of his work appeared on the web only. Newspapers -- the Dallas Morning News most infamously -- are adding writers to specifically do web work, because that is where the potential ad growth is locked up. It only makes sense for teams to allow, and in some cases seek out, these writers. (And of course, I'm not unbiased in this matter as a writer who publishes 100% of his work online.)

ESPN: We Didn't Cover for Michael Beasley

Back when Dumbgate first broke, an early ESPN report by Chris Broussard on the Mario Chalmers-Darrell Arthur rookie camp bust mentioned Michael Beasley had been in the hotel room as well. Beasley's name was quickly yanked from the story without notation ... but not before the Kansas City Star (and others) caught a glimpse. The Star story which cited the presence of Beasley's name has since left the internet (it is more than two weeks old, and has apparently gone to paywall heaven), but The Pitch, a Kansas City weekly, has also documented the turn of events for posterity.

In comments to The Pitch, ESPN director of PR Crystal Howard said the reference was pulled when editorial staff decided his connection was "hearsay." She also noted no apology or correction would be offered. It seemed weird: ESPN connected Beasley, however briefly, to fairly notorious scandal based on supposed "hearsay," but refused to acknowledge the mistake in doing so on its own pages?

Of course, Beasley has since been fined $50,000 by the league for his involvement in the incident and his lack of cooperation in the investigation. ESPN has not run from it: an Associated Press account of the news remains a top NBA ESPN headline, and Henry Abbott has written a lengthy post on the matter. (I'm not aware of what flavor of TV coverage the story received Thursday evening and Friday morning.) But Broussard clearly had something two weeks ago when he mentioned Beasley's name, and Abbott confirms this by noting all the rumors he has heard over the weeks from NBA sources.

Beasley happens to be featured in an editorial series for ESPN.com dubbed "The Rookie." It's a series of webisodes which will take viewers though Beasley's premiere NBA season. The first vids were published around the time of the June draft. Obviously, ESPN has a relationship with Beasley. It's obviously in Beasley's interest (whether he realizes it or not) to keep a clean nose in the public eye (ask J.R. Smith, contracts don't write themselves). Could Beasley's camp exert pressure to quiet the world's leading sports journalism outfit from sniffing on a tenuous story? It's possible.

How The Stock Market Convulsions Can Have NBA Hiccups

You've no doubt heard that the economy kind of, sort of, isn't doing so hot right now. If you can't tell by the blaring news reports or that burning sensation in your backside where your wallet is when you're at the gas pump, things are kind of rough out there. And with the news coming that Lehman Brothers is in serious trouble, this could actually end up affecting the NBA landscape.

Ken Berger with Newsday points out that there could be effects in a variety of ways next season in the NBA. For starters, the Knicks, as terrible as they've been, are always a hot ticket, simply by playing in the world's greatest city and in one of the most recognizable venues. So it's likely that quite a few of those terrific seats are occupied by people that are probably less than chipper today. That could affect the Knicks' bottom line, and make the Donnie Walsh financial restructuring of the club even more severe.

The more likely result though, has to do with the firm that's in talks to help out the American bank that filed for bankruptcy yesterday, Lehman Brothers.