After watching ESPN’s New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers coverage, Dan Patrick was embarrassed by the network’s East Coast bias.
ESPN’s coverage of the Knicks-Pacers series was chock full of Knicks broadcasters, fans, and narratives. And perhaps unsurprisingly, that coverage has been met with accusations of perceived bias from ESPN. But Patrick said this wasn’t just perceived bias; ESPN was biased.
“The Pacers’ did play in the game, I just want to let ESPN know. If you want to buy into east coast bias, you have every reason to buy into ESPN’s east coast bias watching that game. How about some impartiality here? I was embarrassed for ESPN”#Knicks #Pacers pic.twitter.com/qtZyoMeQSW
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 20, 2024
“The Pacers did play in the game; I just want to let ESPN know,” Patrick said Monday morning on his Fox Sports Radio show. “If you want to buy into East Coast bias, you have every reason to buy into ESPN’s East Coast bias watching that game. How about some impartiality here? I was embarrassed for ESPN.
“Because it felt like it was all about the Knicks. Even at halftime, it was about the Knicks. The Pacers aren’t exciting. I get it. Not big names, not a sexy team, but you still have to cover the game. You got to be fair. I don’t need a Stephen A. Smith arrival video. I don’t need a pep talk with him and Spike Lee. He doesn’t work for the Knicks; you work for ESPN.”
At least Pacers fans got to watch some of these games on TNT, where they squeezed every ounce of attention from frequent Dan Patrick Show guest Reggie Miller they could. How embarrassing.
ESPN may have annoyed Pacers fans and even impartial basketball fans like Patrick with their New York-centric coverage of the series. But if ESPN was attempting to cater to Knicks fans during their Eastern Conference Semifinals series, they failed. Because while Pacers fans were lamenting ESPN’s New York emphasis, Knicks fans lamented hearing Mike Breen call “bang” when Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard hit a go-ahead three in Game 3.
And as far as ESPN’s antics with Stephen A. Smith go…well, Knicks fans certainly don’t claim Stephen A. Smith. Dan Patrick and Indiana Pacers fans may not have needed a Stephen A. Smith arrival video or pep talk; Knicks fans didn’t want it either.
ESPN executives probably would have preferred to see the Knicks win Sunday afternoon and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with the Boston Celtics. But if there was an East Coast bias, it only annoyed people; it didn’t appease Kdidn’tfans.
