Richard Deitsch names ‘Inside The NBA’ Best Studio Show of 2013

Richard Deitsch is Sports Illustrated’s media expert of sorts, so needless to say, he knows a lot about the sports media landscape.

It’s an ever evolving and ever-changing arena where newcomers have the potential to be giants—cough, Fansided—so it’s rather impressive that Deitsch has the grasp he does on it. The point here is, take what this guy says seriously. He knows what he’s talking about when it comes to media.

Studio shows have become an increasingly important part of sports media, and it seems like every channel or network is trying to find that perfect combination that gets you tuning in before and after games. The game day studio shows on NFL Sunday’s are great ways to warm up for the matchups, and College Game Day has become a fan favorite.

It’s the NBA and specifically TNT that came away with the highest honor from Deitsch though. He gave the award of Best Studio Show to Inside the NBA. His thoughts were as follows.

"This category is usually a toss-up between ESPN’s College GameDay and Inside the NBA, and so it is again this year. But we give the nod to TNT with Shaquille O’Neal finding his way far better in his third year on the show. Charles Barkley remains, arguably, the only studio analyst (maybe Lee Corso, too) who viewers specifically tune-in to watch, and Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson have been as fun and professional as ever. No show can seamlessly transition from a subject with gravitas such as the impact of Nelson Mandela to the opposite (the defense of the New York Knicks)."

While I’m no media expert, I tend to agree that Inside The NBA is the primetime studio show in 2013. Frankly, I don’t want much basketball nowadays, but when I do, it always seems like the biggest games are attached to what that crew is doing on TNT.

Not only that, but I personally think the mark of a good studio show is how many of their shenanigans can make it onto YouTube. Go type in “Inside The NBA Funny” on the Youtube. That’s a good time.

What do you think? Inside the NBA or College Gameday? Sound off below.