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Stephen A Smith: I Deserve A Raise For Having To Listen To Max Kellerman Talk About Basketball

First Take airs from 10-12 a.m. ET on ESPN.

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Courtesy: ESPN

NBA legend Scottie Pippen has been stirring the pot over the past couple of days, sparking a heated debate on First Take. Pippen was critical of how Kevin Durant ended his playoff run with the Brooklyn Nets and he went right to the well on Friday to get Stephen A. Smith fired up. Pippen tweeted at Smith and Max Kellerman to prop up Lebron James’ championships over Durant’s.

“With all due respect my brother,” Smith tweeted back at Pippen. “That is ridiculous. D-Wade and Chris Bosh (Miami), Kyrie and Kevin Love (Cleveland), and Anthony Davis (Lakers). WTH is the matter with you? You know basketball. You’re a 6-time champion. How can you utter such Blasphemy?”

Smith wasn’t having it, but in classic debate-show fashion, Kellerman didn’t shoot it down as fast.

“KD needs more help than LeBron, isn’t that fair?” Kellerman argued Friday morning on the show. 

“I got questions,” Smith responded. “So I need quick answers from you Max, I know that’s almost impossible, but try!”

Smith then went through James’ titles, searching for yes and no answers from Kellerman, but one word wasn’t enough for him to make his points.

“The Warriors looked at LeBron and they said we won 73 games, we still couldn’t get by this dude,” Kellerman said. “KD said I’m with (Russell) Westbrook…and I still couldn’t get by this dude. They had to join forces to overcome LeBron! Period! So LeBron can do more with less, that is true. That’s why he’s the best.”

Kellerman concluded by acknowledging James needed help but never as much firepower as Durant assembled in Golden State. By that point his debate partner had heard enough. Smith was ready to move on to Stephen A.’s World.

“I deserve a raise,” Smith responded with a look of disgust. “I deserve a raise, I really do, for having to listen to this man talk basketball. It’s a damn shame.”

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ESPN Coverage of Men’s NIT Tournament Quarterfinals Up 33% vs. 2023

Viewership of the Men’s NIT Quarterfinals on ESPN were up 33 percent compared to last year and featured two games that averaged over one million viewers.

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Even the NIT is riding the recent hot streak of live sports viewership numbers. According to data provided by ESPN, the 2024 NIT Quarterfinals are up 33 percent compared to last year’s tournament. Perhaps more surprisingly, two NIT quarterfinal games topped one million viewers.

The network’s Georgia/Ohio State matchup averaged 1.03 million viewers, while the Cincinnati/Indiana State contest averaged 1.02 million viewers. These two games were the most-watched NIT games since 2017 — including title games. Both Georgia and Ohio State have rabid fanbases, while many thought Indiana State was unjustly left out of the March Madness tournament, which could be a reason why viewers tuned in.

Much of the focus this season has been on the women’s game, thanks to Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and the undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks, led by Dawn Staley. ESPN just had its most-watched women’s college basketball season since 2008-09 because of the increased interest in the women’s game. The men’s game, however, hasn’t been heralded as much this season for whatever reason, mostly because numbers seem to be holding steady compared to previous years. However, if the NIT is posting viewership wins, that should bode well for the NCAA Tournament’s incoming viewership totals.

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Report: NFL to Put Christmas Day Doubleheader Up For Bids

Bidding is expected to start at $50 million among the current NFL media partners but some think the games could sell for $75 million to $100 million apiece.

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The NFL will reportedly put its Christmas Day games up for auction, allowing its current media partners to bid for the games. Now, it’s up to CBS, FOX, ESPN, NBC, and Prime Video to pay up for rights to one of these two marquee games.

According to Front Office Sports Michael McCarthy, preference will be given to linear networks, so Prime Video and Peacock may sit this one out. Bidding is expected to start at $50 million but McCarthy and his sources expect that number to rise. John Kosner, the former ESPN executive, thinks the new Christmas Day games could sell for $75 million to $100 million apiece.

The NFL announced a Wednesday Christmas Day doubleheader during its annual league meetings. The league originally said it wouldn’t force games on Christmas Day if the holiday fell on an odd day of the week, though as the NFL continues to put games on days outside of Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays, and sometimes Saturdays, we’re running out of days that don’t feature NFL football.

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Colorado Rockies & DirecTV Reach Agreement to Carry Games on TV

“Colorado sports fans have made DIRECTV the top destination for their favorite local teams. We will continue to work with MLB…so fans can get their games.”

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Colorado Rockies

Breathe easy, Rockies fans — you will be able to watch your club on linear TV this year. At the buzzer, DirecTV and the Colorado Rockies agreed on terms to distribute the team’s games throughout its local service.

Starting today, DirecTV Choice subscribers across Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Southern Idaho, Western Nebraska, and Northern New Mexico can now watch the Rockies on a special channel simply titled, “ROCKIES.” The games will be available on DirecTV and DirecTV STREAM via channel 683.

“Colorado sports fans have made DIRECTV the top destination to get all their favorite local teams,” said Rob Thun, chief content officer of DIRECTV. “We will continue to work with MLB, the NBA, NHL, and other top leagues and their local franchises so the most avid fans can get the games they want while other customers have more choice over the content they want to pay to have in their homes.”

Reports just days ago out of Colorado said there were “no guarantees” the Rockies would not find a TV home in time for Opening Day following the sunsetting of AT&T SportsNet. The only other way to watch the team is to use its direct-to-consumer Rockies.tv streaming service, which fans say is too pricey for a team that lost 103 games last season. Luckily, the team was able to secure a TV home for 2024, though the future is still uncertain.

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