Courtside NBA Finals Fans Slam ESPN with Costumes from Classic 90s Movie originally appeared on Athlon Sports. In recent years, ESPN appears to be prioritizing "hot take" artists on its broadcasts — journalists and former players who often supply wild opinions to stoke engagement.

INDIANAPOLIS -- ESPN broadcaster Stephen A. Smith is known for his strong opinions, especially on the NBA. But he was seen playing solitaire on his phone while Game 4 of the NBA Finals was being played in Indianapolis on Friday night and fans had thoughts:

Whether they meant to or not, ESPN has managed to make the NBA Finals less about the players on the floor and more about the personalities behind the desk. The network has turned what should be a celebration of basketball’s best into something resembling WWE SummerSlam.

The 2025 NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder has been airing on ABC, which means ESPNs announcers have been calling the games and ESPN's NBA studio show has been handling the other parts of the broadcast, including the halftime show.

For the past few years, the NBA Finals broadcasts have turned almost indistinguishable from any other nationally televised game in the regular season. And that blame falls entirely on ESPN and the league itself. But hey, at least ESPN saw the complaints and attempted to do something about it for Game 2 — albeit as a cheap half measure.

O’Neal invaded ESPN’s “NBA Countdown” set on Thursday minutes before Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder. Midway through the show, O’Neal made his way onto the set and was met with tons of laughter from hosts Stephen A. Smith, Malika Andrews, Bob Myers and Kendrick Perkins.

ESPN will again feature a different three-person broadcasting crew for the NBA Finals. Richard Jefferson debuts alongside Doris Burke and Mike Breen.

ESPN has wasted no time bolstering its talent for the 2025-26 NBA season. Prior to Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported that ESPN will evaluate its broadcast trio of Mike Breen,