ESPN Opens Its 2015 NBA Regular Season Coverage Wednesday Night

Courtesy: ESPN

The day is officially here. The 2015 – 2016 NBA regular season gets under way tonight. And beginning Wednesday, October 28th, ESPN joins in with full coverage that will take audiences straight through this weekend.

ESPN begins its coverage of the 2015 – 2016 NBA regular season Wednesday night with a Western Conference double-header. First up for the night is a matchup between the Thunder and Spurs live from Oklahoma City beginning at 8pm ET. Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers follow at 10pm ET as they host Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Coverage of that game begins at 10pm ET. Mike Tirico will have the call for that game. He will be joined in the booth by analyst Mark Jackson and reporter J.A. Adande. the T-Wolves will be playing with heavy hearts but a real purpose Wednesday night following the death of coach Flip Saunders Sunday at the age of 60. Over the course of seventeen seasons in the NBA, Saunders accrued a record of 654 – 592. This includes his time coaching in Detroit and Washington.

Ahead of Wednesday night’s double-header, ESPN will air a special one-hour edition of NBA Countdown beginning at 7pm ET. Sage Steele will anchor the broadcast and will be joined at the desk by analysts Jalen Rose and Doug Collins. As an added bonus, ESPN will broadcast rapper Missy Elliot’s new single ‘WTF (Where They From)’ during its broadcast of NBA Countdown. The song features famed performer/producer Pharrell Williams.

ESPN’s NBA coverage won’t be limited to just ESPN as it joins in all the basketball celebrations. Over on ESPN2 NBA Coast to Coast–ESPN’s NBA whiparound show–will have coverage of all of the action around the league from 8pm – 11pm ET. Cassidy Hubarth will anchor and will be joined by Ryen Rusillo, analysts Tim Legler and P.J. Carlesimo, and ESPN NBA Insider Chris Broussard. On Thursday morning, Cassidy Hubarth and P.J. Carlesimo will have even more coverage on NBA Tonight at 1:30am. That broadcast will be on ESPN2 as well.

After things wind down Thursday morning, ESPN will continue its NBA coverage Friday night with yet another double-header. First up Friday is an Eastern Conference matchup that sees LeBron James and the Cavs hosting James’ former teammate Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat at 7pm ET. Mike Breen will have the call for that game. He will be joined in the booth by Doris Burke for additional commentary. Stephen A. Smith will also be on hand for a special edition of SportsCenter on the Road beginning at 6pm ET. In the night’s second game, James Harden and the Houston Rockets renew their rivalry with the Golden State Warriors when the defending NBA Champions come to town. Tipoff for that game is set for 9:30pm ET. Ryan Ruocco will have the call for the game. He will be joined in the booth by Jeff Van Gundy and Chris Broussard for additional commentary. Both games will be live on ESPN. NBA Tonight will follow live at 2am ET with Cassidy Hubarth and Antonio Davis for a full wrap up of the night’s games and highlights on ESPN2. For those that prefer it, the full schedule for this week’s NBA coverage is included below.

More information on ESPN’s coverage of the NBA is available online now along with all of the latest NBA headlines at:

Website: http://espn.go.com/nba

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NBAonESPN

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it. Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.

ESPN.com Offers NBA Fans, Viewers Extensive Finals Coverage

Courtesy: ESPN

Thursday, June 6^th 2013 is one of the year’s biggest days of the year for NBA fans across the country.  That’s because tomorrow is the first game of the 2013 NBA Championship series.  In celebration, ESPN and the ESPN family of networks will have complete coverage of this year’s NBA Finals.  This includes coverage online via ESPN3, WatchESPN.com, and ESPNRadio.com  Broadcasts on ESPNRadio.com are being made available courtesy of autotrader.com.  Game One will be broadcast live Thursday evening, June 6^th at 9pm EDT on ABC.  It will be simulcast on ESPN Radio and ESPN Deportes.

Coverage of each game will be handled by a variety of NBA analysts, reporters and contributors.  ESPN.com will have on-site coverage of the game.  This includes scouting reports, a look at each game by the numbers, expert predictions, feature stories, video analysis, and some very special interactive experiences for fans and viewers.  Among the reporters handling coverage will be, Marc Stein, J.A. Adande, Mike Wallace, Brian Windhorst, and Tom Haberstroh.  Henry Abbott will have coverage of the finals on site for TrueHoop, TrueHoop TV, and HoopIdea.  Daily Dime and Daily Dime Live interactive chats on ESPN.com will be offered for up-to-the minute conversation and reaction to each game each night.

Feature stories written by Kevin Arnovitz, Kevin Van Valkenburg, Liz Merrill, Israel Gutierrez, Ramona Shelburne, and Marc Stein will be posted on all things centered on the NBA Finals.  Topics covered include: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, the San Antonio Spurs organization as a whole, and even one of the game’s biggest names, Lebron James.

Forecasts of each game will be offered by a panel of some two hundred NBA experts with extensive NBA experience, knowledge and perspectives.  Richard Swarbrick will present a new animation featuring the greatest moments of the NBA Finals.

ESPN Insiders will offer premium content a thorough NBA Finals preview.  It will also include daily Per Diem columns, from Kevin Pelton and Tom Haberstroh, and a ranking of the fifty greatest single playoff performances of all times.  If that’s not enough, then try out David Thorpe’s post-season MVP rankings, too.

True hardcore NBA fans will appreciate the chance to take part personally in the Finals.  That is thanks to “Finals 50/50 presented by Sony Electronics.”  This is an NBA fantasy pick ‘em game.  It allows fans to answer ten questions related to each NBA Finals game.  Contestants have until tip-off of each game to enter answers for the questions.  Five additional questions related to each game will be presented at half-time of each game.  The questions will be presented in relation to the status of each game at that point.  Those questions will be worth five additional points each.  The big prize is well worth the entries.  That’s because of the total contestants, that contestant that accumulates the most points by the end of the finals will win a Sony Home Entertainment System grand prize.  Those that accumulate the most points per game will earn a four hundred dollar gift card.  The game will be available online at ESPN.com and on mobile web for fans to play at home or on the road.

NBA fans can keep up with all of the latest news and more throughout the finals on the official ESPN Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/ESPN and on the official ESPN website, http://www.espn.com.

To keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews, go online to http://www.facebook.com/philspicks and “Like” it.  Fans can always keep up with the latest sports and entertainment news and reviews in the Phil’s Picks blog at https://philspicks.wordpress.com.