O’Donnell: The Bulls are irrelevant and the NBA playoffs will struggle for TV viewers
THIRTY YEARS AGO, THE BULLS WERE capping a 72-10 regular season and the NBA owned one of the hottest TV sports properties on the planet.
Today, the marsh muppets of West Madison Street are already on summer break. The league's top four-seeded playoff hopefuls are in markets far from the high sky pilots of television.
That participating list would include: Boston (No. 9 market, East No. 2), Detroit (No. 14, East No. 1), San Antonio (No. 31, West No. 2) and defending champ Oklahoma City (No. 47, West No. 1).
Marvelous for fans of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cade Cunningham but not so good for advertisers who are hoping to harvest eyeballs as the league begins its annual two-month stretch run to the winner's circle.
TURNER SPORTS IS OUT and NBC/Peacock plus Amazon Prime are in alongside incumbent ESPN/ABC under the NBA's impressive new TV deal.
That's grand for the league and franchise owners. It's also probably satisfying for the most intense fans of amazing athleticism and a lot of lasered 3-point shots.
But mainstream America?
The theme could be “Walk On By.”
A ROUND 1 NUGGETS-TIMBERWOLVES GAME might produce a mild Rocky Mountain high in pockets of Colorado and scraps for the polecats in St. Paul.
Outside of Toronto and Cleveland, Raptors-Cavaliers will hold primarily the bedridden with balky remotes.
There's been far too much NBA on American TV this season. The vast preponderance of it has been tedious.
Add in the noxious “tanking” matter — teams losing on purpose in theory to improve college draft position — and it's study-worthy why normal people would chew up three hours of their conventional days to invest in these robo exhibitions.
AESTHETICALLY, THE MOST UNFORTUNATE OUTCOME of the league's lucrative TV contracts is the predictable erosion of the iconic nightly “Inside The NBA.”
Since its inception in 1989 on TNT, the studio show had evolved into one of the last outposts of live, energized schmock-schmock! on national TV.
It was fun to stay up and watch well past midnight, CDT.
THE NEW DEAL MOVED the show to ESPN/ABC.
Still, commissioner Adam Silver and associates promised all of the freewheeling, anything-goes antics of Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal plus anchor Ernie Johnson Jr. would continue.
Instead, the show is now trending toward “ESPN-ization.”
THAT'S THE PROCESS by which anything that gets affiliated with “The Mothership” winds up steamed down to antiseptic acceptability everywhere monthly Rotary Clubs luncheons are held.
It's a crime against TV free flow. But in the America of 2026, what can a poor boy do?
THE BEST HOPE FOR THE NBA to spring forward with the first sharing of the Amazon-NBC-ESPN triumvirate is a whole lot of Game 7s or a run at a perfect postseason sustained by some breakout's space-jamming feats of Jordanesque Boston Garden proportion.
Unlikely, for sure.
Instead, the league's '26 sky pilots will probably not be touching the high-viewership skies.
STREET-BEATIN':
Rumors in the wind since “The Score” recently began simulcasting on FM-104.3 that Audacy will make a move on Bears radio rights. The two-station setup would allow the Cubs to remain on AM-670 each autumn to the bitter end and let the Monsters ditch the current dollar-store wraparounds at AM-1000. Bears radio is more about implied prestige these days than the serious dollars of old. …
Daytime programming on ESPN continues to limp along with audience numbers ranging from weak to anemic. According to latest industry metrics, Mike Wilbon and “Pardon The Interruption” is best of breed with 777,000 viewers. After that, it's dipsomania to Pat McAfee (520,000), Mike Greenberg and “Get Up” (404,000) and afternoon parts that can't match attendance at Max Yasgur's Woodstock I. …
The addition of buoyant Richard Roeper as entertainment reporter can only pump the news operation at WMAQ-Channel 5. Now station boss Kevin Cross has to address the recent subtraction by addition in his must-flee sports department. Reruns of “Fat Guys in the Woods” on the Weather Channel have more zing. …
Wayne Messmer has kept his string alive as a national anthem singer at Cubs games into a 43rd season. The longtime Mt. Prospect resident also recently marked the eerie anniversary of the 1994 night when he survived a random street shooting in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood. Messmer had just exited a restaurant following a Blackhawks game. …
Dianna Russini, who resigned Tuesday from The Athletic, presented an extremely poor optic in photos of her hot-tubbing and hugging with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel. Still, full context must emerge before judgment is rendered by overseers guiding the national sports daily. One thing for sure: Most stern sanction may come from Mrs. Vrabel, especially if she has the old rolling pin on the kitchen counter. …
And Walter Mitty tale about Brandon Holtz, the 39-year-old downstate Bloomington real estate agent who played in the 2026 Masters as winner of last year's U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship. Holtz finished 15-over at Augusta and didn't make the cut. At Illinois State he was a reserve swingman behind Osiris Eldridge on the basketball teams of Porter Moser (2005-07) and Tim Jankovich (2007-09). …
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.