Rivers’ Rebound Easy as ABC

Doc Rivers got an unusual early Christmas gift. He got fired.

“No one wants to be fired, or dismissed, or whatever the right word is,” Rivers said Thursday. “But things couldn’t have worked out any better. It was perfect timing.”

Rivers was fired as coach of the Orlando Magic the night of Nov. 17, after the team, in the midst of a 19-game losing streak, had dropped to 1-10.

The next morning, Rivers’ agent was on the phone to Mike Pearl, executive producer of ABC Sports. And the day after that, Rivers was working out details of becoming the network’s new lead NBA commentator.

Pearl was familiar with Rivers’ broadcast work because Rivers had worked for Turner Broadcasting during the 1998-99 season, when Pearl was the executive producer there.

“My relationship with Mike made it easy for me,” Rivers said.

Rivers, a Marquette star in the early 1980s, spent 13 years in the NBA as a player and was in his fifth season as a coach.

“I think now that I’ve been a player and a coach, that will help me,” Rivers said. “I’ll be able to relate what a player is thinking and what a coach is thinking. It’s often very different.”

Rivers’ early present comes to fruition on Christmas Day when he, play-by-play announcer Al Michaels and sideline reporter Michele Tafoya make their collective debut in the second game of a doubleheader -- the Houston Rockets and the Lakers at Staples Center at 5:30 p.m.

The day also marks ABC’s first NBA coverage of the season.

Things start at 2:30 p.m. with the “NBA Hangtime” pregame show, which will originate from Times Square in New York. The host will be Mike Tirico, with Tom Tolbert and George Karl serving as studio analysts. Ahmad Rashad and David Aldridge will contribute reports and features.

The first game of the doubleheader at 3 p.m. will be Dallas at Sacramento. The announcers for that game will be Brad Nessler, Sean Elliott, Dan Majerle and sideline reporter Jim Gray.

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Experience a Plus

Michaels and Rivers, who already have had two rehearsal games, will have a third tonight at Staples Center, where the Lakers play host to the Denver Nuggets.

Michaels said the first two rehearsals went very well, and that Rivers’ previous experience as a game commentator for Turner had a lot to do with that.

“He understood what television was all about,” Michaels said.

Before Rivers was hired, Mark Jackson had a tryout with Michaels, but Jackson had no experience. You don’t want to throw someone with no experience into a high-profile situation.

As an example, Michaels used Steve Young, who auditioned for “Monday Night Football” before eventually joining ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” pregame show.

“Although Steve has turned out to be a fine analyst, it would have been a disservice to him to put him on ‘Monday Night Football’ at the time,” Michaels said.

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Interested Observer

NBA Commissioner David Stern will be watching ABC’s revamped coverage with much interest Christmas Day.

“I’ll be watching with a critical eye, but only out of habit,” Stern said from his New York office this week. “It’s not a job description.”

Stern had a close relationship with NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol when NBC carried the NBA -- and still does. He said he’s also close to the top production people at TNT and ABC-ESPN.

“But there are other people in our office who deal with the networks directly a lot more than I do,” Stern said.

He mentioned Gregg Winik, executive vice president and executive producer, NBA Entertainment, and Tom Carelli, vice president of broadcasting, NBA Entertainment.

There were reports that Stern was not pleased with the announcing teams or the production value of the NBA coverage on ABC and ESPN last season. He said that wasn’t true.

“We at the NBA and our friends at the networks are always looking for ways to improve the coverage,” Stern said. “What ABC and ESPN wanted to do was to differentiate between the two networks, and we agreed with that.”

Michaels and Rivers will be seen only on ABC, and Bill Walton is among those who will be seen only on ESPN.

“ESPN has the strongest brand in sports, and you want to target that brand with a certain look and attitude that appeals to that contingency,” Stern said. “ABC, by the nature of that network, reaches a broader audience.

“I think we are lucky to have two great ABC announcing teams, being led by the best-known play-by-play announcer in network television [Michaels], and Doc Rivers is a great addition.”

There may be those in NBA circles who would say that TNT’s Marv Albert is the best-known play-by-play announcer in network television. Michaels is certainly aware of Albert’s stature as a pro basketball announcer. He calls Albert and Chick Hearn “the greatest of the greatest.”

“I would love to steal some of Marv’s lines,” Michaels said. “When a shot goes in, I may want to say, ‘Yes!!’ But I can’t do that.”

However, when the Lakers play at Orlando against Rivers’ old team on ABC Feb. 8, and if somehow the Magic is winning at the end of the game, it might be OK for Michaels to say, “Do you believe in miracles?”

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Big Day at Pauley

Fox Sports Net will not have live coverage of the dedication of the Nell and John Wooden Court at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, but will have plenty of taped coverage and live interviews once the game coverage of Michigan State-UCLA begins at 3:30 p.m. However, the network will supply a feed to any local station wishing to show any live coverage of the ceremony. And UCLA flagship radio station XTRA (690, 1150) will go on the air at 2:30 p.m. in order to have live coverage of the 3 p.m. ceremony.

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Radio News

For those who have complained about USC flagship radio station KMPC (1540) being difficult to pick up at night, here’s good news: General Manager John Ryan said Thursday that the station planned to boost the station’s signal with the construction of a new antenna facility. Counting time for the FCC to approve and time for construction, the station should be going from 10,000 watts at night to 40,000 around the start of the next college football season.

Good news for Petros Papadakis fans. Word is, details are being worked out for Papadakis to have his own daily two-hour show on KMPC, probably in the early afternoon.

Sirius Satellite radio will offer live broadcasts of every NFL game next season as part of a new seven-year, $220-million agreement. The league reportedly will receive $188 million in cash and $32 million in stock. The deal also includes the creation of an NFL Radio Network, providing 24-hour programming, and allows Sirius to use the NFL logo and team trademarks.

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Short Waves

Gail Goodrich, who retired from the NBA in 1979 after spending his final three seasons with the New Orleans Jazz, says he thought about getting into broadcasting at the time but business opportunities won out. Now semiretired at 60 and living in the New York area, he is working as a studio analyst for NBA TV on Thursdays at 4 p.m.... A new show, “Ahmad Rashad One-on-One,” featuring celebrity guests, makes its debut on NBA TV Christmas Day at 8 p.m.... Steve Chase, president of the ABA Long Beach Jam, has made an agreement with Channel 23 to televise tape-delayed games. Channel 23 is a local channel available on some Adelphia and Charter cable systems, on DirecTV’s Channel 31 and Dish Network’s Channel 8021. The Jam’s announcers are Geoff Witcher and Neil Evans.

Despite Notre Dame’s 5-7 record this season, NBC has agreed to a five-year extension to continue televising the school’s home football games through 2010. Ratings for Notre Dame games this season averaged 2.4, down from 3.1 last season.... Auto racing’s North American driver of the year will be announced on Speed Channel Saturday at 4 p.m.

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In Closing

ESPN, which has NFL games on Saturday and Sunday nights the next two weekends, will televise its 200th NFL game Sunday night with New England at the New York Jets. Mike Patrick has been the play-by-play announcer from the beginning in 1987. The commentator that first season was Roy Firestone. How soon we forget.