| NBA on TBS | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | America's Game[1] America's SuperShootout |
| Directed by |
|
| Presented by | Seecommentators section below |
| Opening theme | "Higher Ground" byRun-DMC[2] |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 16 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Don McGuire |
| Producers |
|
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 180 minutes (varies depending on game length) |
| Production company | Turner Sports |
| Original release | |
| Network | TBS |
| Release | October 10, 1984 (1984-10-10) – May 14, 2002 (2002-05-14) |
| Related | |
TheNBA on TBS is an American presentation ofNational Basketball Association (NBA) regular season and playoff game telecasts that aired on the Americancable andsatellite networkTBS. The games were produced byTurner Sports, the sports division of theTurner Broadcasting System subsidiary ofTime Warner, TBS's corporate parent.
TBS obtained rights to air NBA games[3] beginning with the1984-85 season[4] (replacing theESPN andUSA Network as the NBA's national cable partners) in which TBS shared the NBA television package along withCBS. The1989-90 season then saw Turner start to split the NBA cable package between TBS andTNT. TBS then lost its portion of the cable package toESPN prior to the start of the2002-03 season.
For many years beginning when the station assumed rights to the team's game telecasts in the late 1970s, WTBS (channel 17) inAtlanta – which served as the originating feed of the national TBS cable channel from December 1976 to October 2007 – aired some regular season games from theAtlanta Hawks (which was also owned byTed Turner at the time), which also aired nationally on WTBS'ssuperstation feed;[5] TBS aired the games nationwide until the telecasts became subjected to NBAblackout restrictions within 35 miles of the home team's arena, resulting in many Hawks away games televised by the network being unavailable to cable providers within the designated market area of the opposing team (this restriction was dropped when TNT gained the right to be the exclusive broadcaster of any game that it chose to carry).
When it began to televise games from NBA teams other than the Hawks beginning with the1984-85 season, TBS maintained a package of approximately 55 regular season NBA games annually[6] on Tuesday and Friday nights. TBS also carried numerousNBA Playoff games as well as theNBA draft[7][8] from1985-1989.
TBS was also allowed to televise 20 early round conference playoff games beginning with the1985 NBA playoffs. In 1986, TBS (as well asCBS) did not carry Game 1 of theEastern Conference Finals, relegating the broadcast of that game to television stations in the team's designated market areas; this would be the last time that an NBA Conference Finals game was not televised on a national network. During the1989 NBA playoffs, only 13 of the 24 games (comprising Games 1-3 of each series) in the first round aired on TBS or CBS. For example, none of the four games from theSeattle-Houston first round series appeared on national television.
Beginning in1986, TBS televised the various contests from the NBA All-Star Weekend. In1987, theslam dunk contest was televisedlive for the very first time on the network.
In the summer of 1988, the Turner Broadcasting System signed a new joint broadcast contract between TBS andTNT[9][10] effective with the1989-90 NBA season; beginning that season, TBS and TNT split broadcast rights to televise NBA games. TNT held rights to broadcast the NBA Draft and most NBA regular season and playoff games, while TBS only aired single games or double-headers once a week.
Both networks continued to expand their NBA coverage during the late 1990s;[11][12] by this time, TBS only aired games on Wednesday nights, while TNT ran games on Monday, Tuesday and Friday nights. By 1994, the opening round of theplayoffs featured overlapping doubleheaders on both TBS and TNT on the first two nights of each series.
For the1999-2000 NBA season, TBS shifted itsprimetime game telecasts from Wednesdays to Mondays.[13] For the2000-2001 NBA season, the broadcasts were moved to Tuesdays, while TNT assumed rights to Wednesday and Thursday evening games.
Starting in2000, the NBA spread out telecasts of games from theEastern Conference andWestern Conference playoff series so that only two series would play on their scheduled game days (so as to avoid scheduling conflicts andratings competition between TNT and TBS). TNT would air doubleheaders on most weekdays, while TBS would air one doubleheader each week.
The2001-2002 season would ultimately mark TBS's final year of NBA coverage. Turner Sports signed a new NBA television contract in which TNT would assume rights to Turner's NBA package, while TBS would discontinue game coverage altogether;ESPN assumed TBS's half of the NBA's cable television rights. During 2002, TBS aired doubleheaders every Tuesday night of the playoffs until the Conference Finals. The final NBA game ever to be regularly televised on TBS aired on May 13, 2002, when theSan Antonio Spurs faced theLos Angeles Lakers inGame 5 of the Western Semifinals. In that last game,Robert Horry hit a key three-pointer that won the series four games to one for the Lakers to move on to the Western Conference Finals.
On May 3, 1992, Game 4 of theplayoff series between theLos Angeles Clippers and theUtah Jazz was rescheduled due to the1992 Los Angeles riots and its broadcast was moved to TBS fromNBC, creating a problem as the game was now required to beblacked out within the Los Angeles television market. The game was only available in the Los Angeles area throughSportsChannel Los Angeles, aregional sportspremium cable service (as opposed to TBS, which operates as abasic cable channel and at the time, a superstation). SportsChannel Los Angeles chose not to unscramble its signal and as a result, viewers complained in letters to theLos Angeles Times and other sources that the game should have been made available to all cable subscribers as a public service.
On isolated occasions (typically during the playoffs) since TNT assumed partial cable rights to the NBA, TBS has served as an overflow feed for certain games. In2003, TBS aired a doubleheader of first round Game 6 matchups (theIndiana Pacers-Boston Celtics andSan Antonio Spurs-Phoenix Suns series). On May 22,2006, due to Game 7 of theSan Antonio Spurs-Dallas Mavericks series going intoovertime, TBS aired part of the Game 7 Western Conference playoff match between theLos Angeles Clippers andPhoenix Suns. On May 14,2004, the same situation arose, as Game 5 of theNew Jersey Nets-Detroit Pistons playoff series lasted three overtimes. However, due to scheduling conflicts with TBS, TNT had to air part of theSacramento Kings-Minnesota Timberwolves game that was supposed to follow onNBA TV. The first few minutes of Game 4 of the2007 Western Conference Semifinal between the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs were shown on TBS, due to the game between theCleveland Cavaliers and theNew Jersey Nets running past the former's 9:30 p.m.Eastern start time. In2021 NBA playoffs, Game 5 between theLos Angeles Clippers and theUtah Jazz had to temporarily air on TBS due to the Hawks/76ers game finishing later than usual.
The above situations are not unlike those that have been encountered duringTBS telecasts ofMajor League BaseballDivision Series games since 2007; at times, due to certain games running over their scheduled end time, TNT has had to air the first few minutes of games that TBS is supposed to cover.
Since2015, TBS has simulcast TNT's coverage of theNBA All-Star Game. In2019, instead of simulcasting TNT's feed, TBS carried a special Players Only telecast, withGreg Anthony, a former NBA first-round pick, doing play-by-play, Hall of FamerCharles Barkley fromInside the NBA, andKevin Garnett,Minnesota Timberwolves legend, analyzing the game, and former NBA 3-point marksmanDennis Scott reporting from the sidelines. TBS returned to simulcasting TNT's feed in2020, after the Players Only brand was canceled by the Turner Sports. In2022 and2023, the Inside the NBA crew called TBS' alternate broadcast of the All-Star Game. TBS later returned to simulcasting TNT's feed in2024 and2025 as future alternate broadcasts moved to sister channelTruTV.
| Year | Conference | Play-by-play | Color commentators |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Eastern (Games 2, 5) Western (Games 2–3) | Skip Caray Bob Neal | Rick Barry (Game 2) andSteve Jones (Game 5) Steve Jones |
| 1988 | Eastern (Games 1–2, 5) Western (Games 1–3) | Skip Caray Bob Neal | Rick Barry Steve Jones |
| 1987 | Eastern (Games 1–2, Game 5), Western (Game 3) Western (Game 2) | Bob Neal Mel Proctor | Doug Collins Bill Russell |
| 1986 | Eastern (Game 2) Western (Game 2) | Skip Caray Rick Barry | John Andariese Bill Russell |
| 1985 | Eastern (Games 2, 5) Western (Game 2) | Skip Caray Rick Barry | John Andariese Bill Russell |
At the end of its1987 playoff coverage, TBS usedBachman-Turner Overdrive's "Takin' Care of Business"[19] as the soundtrack for the closing credits sequence during the game telecast. TBS usedRun-DMC to perform and compose its theme during the early2000s. The song included a version of theStevie Wonder song "Higher Ground."
| Seasons[20] | Network | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 1984-85 to1985-86 | TBS | $20 million/2 years |
| 1986-87 to1987-88 | TBS[21] | $25 million/2 years |
| 1988-89 to1989-90 | TBS/TNT | $50 million/2 years |
| 1990-91 to1993-94 | TNT | $275 million/4 years |
| 1994-95 to1997-98 | TNT/TBS | $397 million/4 years |
| 1998-99 to2001-02 | TNT/TBS | $840 million/4 years |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)| Preceded by | NBA network broadcast co-partner 1984–2002 (shared withCBS from 1984–1990 andNBC from 1990–2002) | Succeeded by ESPN (primary) TNT (secondary) |