NBA Draft Broadcasts Through The Years – Oh How Times Have Changed!
It’s NBA draft night tonight on television and so many sites will bring you breakdowns of the top players, the comparisons to other great players and an analysis of who will and won’t succeed. But at ReMIND, we want to give you the story behind the story. Let’s look back at the television broadcast
1980
The inaugural televised NBA draft was brought home by USA Network. Check out this clip of the Utah Jazz drafting Darrel Griffith. The simple draft boards, the gymnasium, the small crowd, the clothes and the hair. It’s all there and part of what made that first broadcast memorable.
1981
Move ahead to 1981 and both the network and the league did more for the broadcast. The nostalgia just oozes from the screen in this longer segment. The microphones, the highlight package, the graphics and the interviews at a crazy microphone or two. Check out the footage from the 1981 draft and drift back in time with us.
Now we can’t give you clips from every year but as the draft moved from broadcast partner to broadcast partner, each had some memorable highlights. So let’s fast forward…
1993
In 1993 the draft on TNT was graced with a major trade and a crowd that loved, or hated it depending on who you cheered for. Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway and more in this draft. Check out the reactions and more from the draft broadcast.
1996
How about this highlight from 1996 as a young high school kid from Lower Marion high school in PA was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets. His name of course, Kobe Bryant and he would never step on the floor for the Hornets.
1998
And we will leave you with what happened on draft night 25 years ago in 1998. The broadcast network TNT, the host Ernie Johnson Jr., Glenn “Doc” Rivers offering commentary, the colorful Craig Sager, David Stern the commissioner. Oh and some guy named Dirk was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks?
We hope you enjoyed the blasts from the past – what memorable moments from tonight’s draft will we talk about in 2048.