Will ‘Backstage Lakers’ go backstage on Brown’s firing?
The Lakers’ decision to fire coach Mike Brown after the team’s 1-4 start probably made for great drama.
The question, though, is whether anyone caught the magic moment on camera and, if so, will fans get to see it?
When Time Warner Cable struck its deal to carry the Lakers on its new sports channel SportsNet, it also got the green light to do a weekly show called “Backstage Lakers.” Inspired by HBO’s critically acclaimed series “Hard Knocks,” which follows an NFL team through training camp, “Backstage Lakers” was designed to show fans what goes on behind the scenes with the team in both the locker room and the executive suite. The show airs on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. and recently did an episode exclusively devoted to Brown.
“The team said we will open the doors and will commit to showing that to the fans,” Mark Shuken, senior vice president and general manager of Time Warner Sports Regional Networks said in a September interview.
But the odds seem long that Brown’s actual firing, if filmed, would actually air. Although Time Warner Cable is the 100% owner of SportsNet, Lakers management has final cut over what “Backstage Lakers” can air.
In an interview earlier this fall, Tim Harris, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of the Lakers, said the team wanted those rights so it could have a say over how its brand is portrayed. He added that the Lakers “don’t want someone we’ve allowed in the door just sniffing for a scoop.”
Time Warner Cable’s Shuken said at the time that if the channel found itself “involved in a situation where we saw something, we would make sure the team was not surprised by our presentation.”
“Backstage Lakers” typically covers the team’s previous seven days. The upcoming episode will in theory, then, cover Brown’s exit and the aftermath.
A Time Warner Cable spokesman declined to comment on the next episode of “Backstage Lakers.”
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Follow Joe Flint on Twitter @JBFlint.
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