Former ”NBA Countdown” host Michelle Beadle has a lot to say about ESPN’s NBA coverage.
After an insane round of layoffs, the NBA coverage for next year and beyond is going to look quite different. That is one of the reasons why former NBA Countdown host Michelle Beadle believes that TNT is “dominating” ESPN in their NBA coverage.
Beadle believes that NBA Countdown has never been given “a chance to marinate” as she expressed in a recent interview.
“That position and that show has never been allowed to marinate and it’s sort of why you continue to see change,” Beadle told Front Office Sports.
“It’s unfortunate and it’s why TNT dominates because they’re allowed to marinate for decades and the product gets better with year after year. So that’s my simple take on what I observed while I was there.”
There have been five NBA Countdown hosts that are either no longer employed with the company or simply aren’t involved in the show anymore. That is a lot of turnover for one show.
Meanwhile, NBA on TNT has stuck with their cast of regulars including Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith. That foursome has been together since 2011.
Beadle famously served as one of the hosts of NBA Countdown from 2016-2019 before leaving the company entirely in the summer of 2019 after the network bought out her $5 million per year contract.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NBA stories via Google! Follow Us
This was actually the second time she had left the company when she did so in 2016 as well to join TNT. She served as a host and reporter for their NBA coverage. However, her time there would be short-lived as she returned to ESPN in 2018.
Beadle began her career as an intern for the San Antonio Spurs and then worked as a reporter for the YES Network, covering the New Jersey Nets and hosting the show “Yankees on Deck.” Her big break would come in 2009 when she joined ESPN and became a co-host of the sports talk show “SportsNation” alongside Colin Cowherd.
The former “NBA Countdown” host has since joined the Spurs broadcast team where she remains today. She has also been at FanDuel as she hosts “Run it Back” on FanDuel TV with former NBA sharpshooter Chandler Parsons.
