NBA Nation

NBA Countdown

NBA Countdown, is a weekly, thirty minute pregame show airing prior to each National Basketball Association (NBA) telecast on the American Broadcasting Company.

NBA Countdown typically airs each Sunday at 12:30 p.m, with the exception of some Sundays when it airs at 2:00 or 3:00 p.m, and the NBA Finals, when it airs at 8:30 p.m. In 2006, the first and so far only one-hour edition of the pregame show aired, prior to Game 1 of the 2006 NBA Finals.

Overview

Unlike NBC's NBA studio show, which was known as NBA Showtime for the first ten years of its existence, ABC's studio has been without much consistency. It has gone through five names in five seasons, and several analysts in each season. For the 2006-2007 season, the pregame show will be known as NBA Sunday Countdown. Each season, the show has been sponsored by GMC, with exception of the Finals, where it is sponsored by Chevrolet. Mike Tirico hosted the pregame shows from ABC's first season with the NBA to the middle of the network's fourth with the league. On March 19, 2006, Tirico was replaced by ESPN's Dan Patrick, and was be moved to the number two play-by-play team. Other hosts of the pregame show include regular substitute John Saunders.

NBA Shootaround

(25 December, 2002 - 15 June, 2003) Initially, ABC's NBA pregame show was known as NBA Shootaround, and shared virtually the same graphics and music as the ESPN pregame show of the same name. The program was hosted by Mike Tirico, with analysts Bill Walton and Tom Tolbert. Unlike most network pregame shows, Shootaround did not take place in a studio, and instead traveled to a different site each week (much like ESPN's College Gameday). Starting with Game 1 of the 2003 Eastern Conference Finals, Walton was replaced in the pregame show by Sean Elliott. Tolbert was dropped from the pregame show starting with Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Tirico and Elliott were joined by a guest analyst for each game of the Finals.

NBA Hangtime

(25 December, 2003 - 25 December, 2004) After bad ratings in the 2002-2003 season, ABC retooled much of its NBA coverage. This included its pregame show, which was rebranded NBA Hangtime, and moved into the network's Times Square studios. The pregame show was given new music and graphics, to differentiate itself from its ESPN counterpart, and was still hosted by Mike Tirico. Tom Tolbert was brought back as an analyst, but ABC dropped Bill Walton from pregame show duties. He was replaced by George Karl. After criticism from the media on Karl's lack of opinion during the program, ABC replaced him on February 22, 2004 with former New Jersey Nets coach Byron Scott. NBA Hangtime lasted through the 2003-2004 season, and continued on Christmas Day 2004, prior to the much-hyped Los Angeles Lakers-Miami Heat game. This telecast was the only NBA Hangtime to involve analysts Steve Jones and Bill Walton.

NBA Game Time

(8 January, 2005 - 23 June, 2005) For most of the 2004-2005 season, ABC's pregame show was known as NBA Game Time. Like Hangtime, it originated from the network's Times Square studios, and was once more hosted by Mike Tirico. Tirico was re-joined by Bill Walton in the studio, and Walton's old broadcast partner from NBC, Steve "Snapper" Jones. Tom Tolbert was dropped, while Byron Scott and George Karl both returned to the NBA coaching ranks. Game Time, unlike its predecessors, included guest analysts, such as Baron Davis, Jalen Rose, Rick Fox, and Bill Russell. During the 2005 Western Conference Finals, Steve Jones fell ill with appendicitis, and was later replaced for the NBA Finals by ESPN analyst Greg Anthony.

NBA Nation

(25 December, 2005 -June 22, 2006) Starting on Christmas Day 2005, ABC's NBA pregame show underwent yet another transformation. It adopted the former name of the ESPN2 Tuesday night NBA studio show, and became known as NBA Nation. For most of the season, Mike Tirico hosted the program. He was joined by Scottie Pippen, as Steve Jones and Bill Walton both returned to the broadcast booth. In the first edition of NBA Nation, Pippen was only seen in the final segment of the show. The first three segments involved special-interest stories and a panel of celebrities and sportswriters discussing issues concerning the NBA. This panel of guests was the first of only two. Though it was originally planned for Tirico to be joined by an in-studio panel of guests each week, the plan was evidently scrapped after January 22. Following that, a panel of guests, all of which directly connected to the NBA or basketball in general, joined Tirico via satellite occasionally (with the exception of March 5, when both Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo joined Tirico in-studio). Until January 29, the program also featured an NBA-related segment from ESPN's Pardon the Interruption.

On March 3, 2006, the New York Post reported that ABC would replace Tirico with ESPN's Dan Patrick starting on March 19. Tirico moved to the number two play-by-play team, behind Mike Breen, and Patrick hosted ABC's coverage every week, including the NBA Finals. This move ended the most consistent role The NBA on ABC had, which was of Mike Tirico has studio host. In the suddenly revamped edition of NBA Nation, Patrick was joined by Scottie Pippen, who continued his role as pregame analyst, as well as former ESPN commentator and NBA player Mark Jackson and Washington Post and Pardon the Interruption co-host Mike Wilbon on a weekly basis.

On May 12, 2006, the New York Post reported that Pippen had been let go from his duties as studio analyst for ABC, but would remain an analyst for ESPN. ABC went with the team of Dan Patrick, Mark Jackson and Michael Wilbon the rest of the way, representing a complete change from the beginning of the season.

Guests

December 25, 2005

January 22, 2006

Method Man, rapper
Chad Johnson, NFL player
Peter Vecsey, New York Post sportswriter

January 29, 2006

David Thompson, NBA legend
Jack Ramsay, ABC NBA analyst
J.A. Adande, Los Angeles Times sportswriter

February 12, 2006

Michael Wilbon, Washington Post sportswriter

March 5, 2006

Kobe Bryant, Team USA Guard
Mike Krzyzewski, USA Basketball Head Coach
Jerry Colangelo, Director, USA Basketball

March 12, 2006

Byron Scott, New Orleans Hornets Head Coach
Jay Bilas, ESPN college basketball analyst

NBA Sunday Countdown

With ABC Sports' demise and rebranding as ESPN on ABC, ABC's NBA pregame show was given its fifth different name in as many years. Now known as NBA Sunday Countdown, the show would continue featuring Dan Patrick as host, with analysts Mark Jackson and Michael Wilbon. The show would not originate from Times Square, but instead originate from the site of that week's game (ala the original ABC pregame show, NBA Shootaround). After only two broadcasts, Mark Jackson moved to game coverage exclusively, and was replaced by Jon Barry.

NBA Countdown

In 2008, the show was re-named NBA Countdown, and Patrick, who left ESPN, was replaced by Stuart Scott, joining Bill Walton, Michael Wilbon, and Barry as a contributor/fill-in.

Pregame show sites

Note: ABC's March 9, 2003 edition of NBA Shootaround took place at both Madison Square Garden in New York, with Mike Tirico and Sean Elliott, as well as Staples Center in Los Angeles with analysts Tom Tolbert and Bill Walton.

San Antonio, TX

23 March 2003, 4 June 2003, 6 June 2003, 15 June 2003, 9 June 2005, 12 June 2005, 21 June 2005, 23 June 2005, 12 May 2007, 20 May 2007, 7 June 2007, 10 June 2007