
There are lots of things said while announcing that are in the heat of the moment and thus become, after the fact, probably pretty stupid sounding. But, hey, when you get paid an outrageous amount of money to hang out at center court and commentate on games, you better get used to getting hawked.
But usually, it's the snarky blogs (he said sarcastically) that pay attention, not the other announcers. Fortunately for us,
Jeff Van Gundy does not let anything get by him. So when
Mark Jackson decided to make a ridiculous time filling comparison of
Leon Powe and Dr.
Julius Iriving, JVG called him on it. Hard.
MJ: And then coast-to-coast ... inexcusable defense ... this looks like Dr. J in the ABA days during a dunk contest. Who's gonna stop the basketball?
[...]Dr. J, wherever you are, listen to me. I apologize for my partner Mark Jackson for making the statement that Leon Powe reminds him of you ... in a dunk contest. That could be the most embarrassing statement uttered on the ABC airwaves.
That would be nearly correct. Except JVG forgot to include "Evah." on the end of the sentence. I get that sometimes he comes off as too brazen and chatty and perhaps just too pessimistic, but frankly, I dig that he is willing to call other announcers on the carpet.
It's much better than the awkward silence when another announcer pretends to not hear what the first guy says, and besides, it's just inexcusable that Jackson could potentially get away with a ridiculous statement that like. Dr. J, man. Come on.