The Next NBA Media Superstar Will Be...

A subscriber sees a trend on the horizon

Hint: It’s nobody in this picture

We’ve got an incredible comment from Subscriber EK on who the next breakout NBA media star will be. No, it’s nobody in the NBC photo above (apologies to them).

I think you're overthinking the SNL50 ratings. It may not be a big thing on the West coast, but on the east coast it's still the natural thing to do at 11:30 pm on Saturday if you're between 30 and 65. So having an SNL all star game on a Sunday night at 8 pm get good ratings (but still a significant drop off from the 40th special 10 years ago) seems very likely. A lot of people I know watched SNL and followed the NBA debacle on twitter, myself included.

It's also interesting to note that no new NBA players have hosted the show for decades, it's been Lebron in 2007 and that's it. Barkley is a 4 time host, and I'm guessing they'll try to get him again next season to join the 5 timers club and promote the NBA coming back to NBC.

But highlights how so few NBA players lately seen to have the personality to host SNL successfully. Meanwhile the NFL has had both Mannings and Brady host successfully, and Jason Kelce most recently, though I'm not sure if that was considered a success.

It's kind of crazy that at least based on this list so many big NBA players never hosted. No Kobe, no Curry, no Durant, no Wade, no Iverson. And of the current crop of stars, the only one I can see being ok at it is Ant Edwards since yes done some actual acting already. I think Joker has a sense of humor but I can't imagine he'd have any interest in it. Guys like SGA and Tatum and Giannis seem not nearly compelling enough to merit hosting SNL, and frankly I doubt they'd even want to.

One last NBA/SNL hot take - the one guy who I think could have successfully hosted was Dirk. And my hot take is Dirk will be the break out star of the Amazon Prime NBA studio show. The guy is funny and self depreciating and was an excellent fill in on the TNT shows. I think basketball fans will really enjoy having him back in our lives more regularly.

First off EK, you’re incorrect on a detail, but for good reason. Jason Kelce did not host Saturday Night Live, though his brother Travis did. I say you’re incorrect for a good reason because Jason has far more personality than Travis. It would have been an inspired choice for SNL to tap the center over the superstar tight end, but this was last year, when Travis stock was trending towards an all time high.

That’s how it so often goes with jocks who get elevated to starring media roles. Famous players get positions over less heralded athletes who’d do the job better. Name ID beats capability, even though playing days status is completely uncorrelated with this other skillset. Studios want a low floor for their choices, and, similar to how you can’t coach height, you can’t coach fame. It’s just easier to opt for brand recognition and worry about the rest later.

Sometimes, though, we’re lucky enough to get an athlete who’s both well known and well suited to the broadcast role. Yes, I completely agree that Dirk Nowitzki is a fantastic bet to be our next break out media superstar. He’s this rare combination of a) Unimpeachably great as a player b) High approval rating c) Effortlessly funny and d) Somehow not overexposed.

That last one is the real differentiator. During his NBA career, Dirk mostly eschewed major ad campaigns and other forms of fame chasing. As a big man, he never would have been a great sneaker salesman, but Dirk wasn’t boring to the public a la Tim Duncan. We wanted more Dirk. There’s intrigue surrounding the Mavs all timer attending Luka Dončić’s first game as a Laker. Now we’re getting more Dirk.

In general, I think Amazon has done well with its studio show selections (Taylor Rooks, Blake Griffin, Dirk). Blake Griffin would also be an obvious pick for post-playing superstardom, but I feel as though we’ve already gotten a lot of the formerly LA-based star in various formats. I think Griffin, like Dirk, is really funny (as opposed to “athlete funny”). While Rooks’ renown is more related to inspiring grandiose boasts from smitten athletes, she’s demonstrated an ability as set up woman for Barkley punchlines.

In summary, the newbie Amazon studio show roster makes me wonder why ESPN has had so much trouble finding the right broadcast mix. Is it just a matter of money? Timing? Something else? Anyway, great predictive comment from EK.