NBC Spreads the Court in NBA Coverage

The Lakers wrapped up the Pacific Division title Tuesday night after winning their final eight regular-season games. It was time for the playoffs. The city was fired up.

But we all had to wait. And wait.

The Lakers don’t play their first playoff game until Sunday, and then don’t play their second until Thursday.

By then, Los Angeles may be a hockey town. Two games in eight days aren’t enough to keep the juices flowing.

The reason NBA strings out the playoff games is to give NBC more weekend exposures.

NBC’s Bill Walton, for one, doesn’t think it’s such a bad idea.

“I like the spacing of the games,” he said. “It’s impossible to watch four games per night. Two games per night is a much better deal.”

He also pointed out the spacing allows the players to rest. “It provides fans with an increased performance on the court,” he said.

Spoken like a loyal NBC employee.

Walton, at least for now, certainly isn’t going to say anything his bosses don’t like. He’s in line for a promotion.

At this point, he has to be the favorite to move up to the A announcing team with Marv Albert as Doug Collins’ replacement.

Collins was supposed to be on a conference call with media Thursday. Turns out he was busy elsewhere.

His new position as coach of the Washington Wizards won’t affect his NBC job for now. He’ll work alongside Albert through the playoffs.

Might Michael Jordan, the Wizards’ president, return to the court to play for Collins, who coached him during his early days with the Chicago Bulls?

Some answers may come Saturday. Jordan granted an interview to Ahmad Rashad, and the interview will be shown on NBC in two parts--the first part on the pregame show at 9 a.m. and the second part during halftime of the third game of a tripleheader, Minnesota at San Antonio.

Bob Costas returns to NBA play-by-play this weekend, filling in for Tom Hammonds, who is recovering from colon surgery. Hammonds will be back in time to work NBC’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby on May 5.

AWARDS DEPARTMENT

NBC was the big winner at this week’s Sports Emmy Awards in New York, winning 10 Emmys for its coverage of the Sydney Olympics. Costas won his 13th Emmy for the job he did as host.

Al Michaels won his fourth Emmy for play-by-play and Fox’s Steve Lyons was named best analyst. One of Michaels’ Emmys was in the news category for his work covering the San Francisco earthquake during the 1989 World Series.

Dick Enberg was presented with a lifetime achievement award.

DRAFT WEEKEND

For the 22nd consecutive year, ESPN will present live coverage of the NFL draft this weekend, beginning Saturday at 9 a.m. ESPN2 takes over at 4 p.m. On Sunday, coverage begins at 8 a.m. on ESPN and switches to ESPN2 at 10 a.m.

Archie and Peyton Manning will team to cover the draft for a special edition of DirecTV’s “Sports This Week” Saturday at 9 a.m.

For the first time, the four-round WNBA draft gets television coverage. ESPN2 will have a one-hour special today at 8:30 a.m., with Matt Delvin serving as host. He’ll be joined by Ann Meyers, Doris Burke and Vera Jones. Teams begin making selections at 8 a.m.

SHORT WAVES

Good move by Fox Sports Net to replay Wednesday night’s King game on Thursday night. That way, people who left Staples Center early were able to see the wild finish. ESPN Classic should also show the game sometime soon. . . . Hollywood Park’s 62nd spring/summer meet opens tonight, and that means the return of “Hollywood Park Live” on Fox Sports Net 2. It will have a more consistent time slot-- Wednesdays through Sundays at 4 p.m.--and Julie Krone will again join co-hosts Mike Willman and Kurt Hoover. . . . Anybody notice the great ratings “Santa Anita Live” was getting?

The press box at Dodger Stadium will be named for Vin Scully during a ceremony Saturday at 5:45 p.m. . . . Good thing the Angels are putting games not carried by KLAC (570) on KMPC (1540) as well as KMNX-FM (94.3) because Anaheim-based KMNX does not have much range. . . . Shaquille O’Neal guest-stars as himself on the WB series “The Model Client” on Channel 5 Sunday at 9:30 a.m. . . . In Demand pay-per-view is offering two 2002 World Cup South American qualifiers next week. On Tuesday at 6 p.m., it’s Chile vs. Paraguay, and Wednesday at 5:45 p.m., it’s Brazil vs. Peru. The price is $19.95 each.

The pairing of Troy Aikman and Daryl “Moose” Johnston on Fox’s No. 2 NFL announcing team with Dick Stockton should work well. Having Johnston alongside should make things easier for Aikman. Johnston worked for CBS last season. . . . CBS has moved Craig James from the studio to a game commentating position. That eases the logjam on “The NFL Today.” James is said to be happy with the move. . . . Jim Hill and Steve Hartman will be among a group of sportscasters competing on “Hollywood Squares” next week. The show is carried by Channel 2 weeknights at 7:30. . . . Because of technical problems experienced last week by Nielsen, the L.A. rating for the final round of the Masters was not available. It was a 9.9 with a 23 share. The national rating was a 13.3 with a 30.

IN CLOSING

Good to hear Stu Nahan back on the air, but he had a few rough moments Sunday on KXTA (1150) from San Diego. He asked partner A Martinez what the previous name of Qualcomm Stadium was. “Jack Murphy Stadium,” Martinez said. Nahan: “And who was it named after?” Martinez: “Is that a trick question?”

Nahan then asked Martinez who hit the game-winning home run in the 15th inning of the 1967 All-Star game at the San Diego stadium. Problem was, that game was played in Anaheim. The stadium in San Diego wasn’t even built.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for April 14-15:

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Baseball: Dodgers at San Diego 5 3.0 6 Boxing: Robert Davis vs. Marion Wilson 9 2.8 2 Pro football: XFL, San Francisco at Orlando 4 2.4 6 Gymnastics: American Team Cup 4 2.1 7 Golf: PGA WorldCom Classic 2 1.8 6 Hockey: Kings at Detroit 7 1.4 4 Pro basketball: Clippers at Golden State 9 1.2 2 Soccer: Galaxy at Kansas City 9 0.9 2 Golf: Senior PGA Countrywide Tradition 7 0.7 2

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Cable Network Rating Share Baseball: Seattle at Angels FSN 1.9 4 Boxing: Bernard Hopkins vs. Keith Holmes HBO 1.7 3 Horse racing: Wood Memorial, Arkansas Derby ESPN 0.9 3 Horse racing: Santa Anita Live FSN2 0.9 3 Baseball: Philadelphia at Atlanta TBS 0.7 2 Soccer: WUSA, Bay Area at Washington TNT 0.7 2 Hockey: Toronto at Ottawa ESPN 0.6 2 Auto racing: Busch Grand National 300 FX 0.5 2 Baseball: Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs WGN 0.4 1 Hockey: Vancouver at Colorado ESPN2 0.4 1

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro basketball: Portland at Lakers 4 8.4 25 Pro basketball: Utah at Minnesota 4 4.8 15 Pro basketball: New York at Philadelphia 4 4.7 14 Baseball: Dodgers at San Diego 5 1.7 5 Golf: PGA WorldCom Classic 2 2.2 7 Pro football: XFL, Chicago at Xtreme 13 1.4 4 Golf: Senior PGA Countrywide Tradition 7 1.3 4

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Cable Network Rating Share Baseball: Angels at Oakland FSN 1.2 4 Tennis: WTA Bausch & Lomb Championships ESPN2 0.9 2 Hockey: Detroit at Kings FSN 0.8 1 Baseball: Texas at Oakland ESPN 0.6 1 Baseball: Philadelphia at Atlanta TBS 0.5 1 Hockey: Dallas at Edmonton ESPN2 0.5 1 Hockey: Carolina at New Jersey ESPN 0.3 1

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Note: Each rating point represents 53,542 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.