Power Ranking the NBA's Most Shameless Talking Heads
Televised NBA personalities are, first and foremost, entertainers. We can forgive them for sacrificing hard-hitting journalism and thoughtful commentary for whatever sound byte sounds best.
We still have to keep them honest, though, lest the fine viewing public starts mistaking zealous nonsense for informed conviction. These guys might be able to convince themselves of just about anything, but that doesn't mean they should be able to convince you.
Here are the worst offenders.
5. Honorable Mentions: Charles Barkley and Jeff Van Gundy
Barkley and Van Gundy are shameless in the best possible way. They'll occasionally substitute comments designed primarily to raise an eyebrow for accuracy, but these guys at least have the decency to offer reasons for their points of view.
They're also right far more often than not. Where others earn their notoriety via pure buffoonery, Barkley and Van Gundy are simply unafraid to sometimes defend unpopular positions.
For that, they make this list. But only because they have redefined shamelessness into something that can be a virtue.
4. Shaq
To be fair, Shaquille O'Neal's foray into the TV side of basketball has been nothing short of endearing. While he may not offer the most incisive breakdowns of the Xs and Os, he's also almost always correct.
One request for the most dominant big man of our time: stop yelling so much!
3. Magic Johnson
Whatever Magic lacks in making good points, he certainly makes up for with an abundance of opinion. Unfortunately, those opinions are substantiated with little more than an emphatic tone. That may play well among the most unthinking members of his television audience, but it hardly qualifies as helpful analysis.
Regarding Russell Westbrook's play in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Johnson declared (via the Orlando Sentinel's Shannon J. Owens):
""That was the worst point guard play I've ever seen in a championship game," Magic Johnson said during ABC's halftime broadcast.
"
It was fitting commentary from the worst halftime analysis I've ever seen in a championship game. Westbrook made some tragic mistakes, to be sure. But he also put up 27 points and came within three assists and two rebounds of a triple-double.
2. Stephen A. Smith
It's one thing to hook an audience with an especially provocative headline, but Stephen A. never stops. When he opens his mouth, it's one exaggeration after another with no semblance of moderation.
Worse yet, Smith appears to be absolutely serious about everything he says. He's either entirely detached from the reality of professional sports, or he's simply a much better actor than any of us has given him credit for.
1. Skip Bayless
Whereas Stephen A. Smith employs a purely hyperbolic entertainment strategy, Bayless just gets by on saying the most unconscionably dumb things you'll hear spoken about the sporting world. Indeed, were it not for the genre mistakenly described as "reality television," Bayless might have cable TV's market on absurdity entirely cornered.
