Jay Bilas: ‘If you prefer college basketball over the NBA, it’s not for the basketball’

Jay Bilas has done NBA games on ESPN before.

So his presence on the Worldwide Leader this season, for something other than college basketball, wasn’t a revelation. It was part of ESPN’s plan for life after JJ Redick (and Doc Rivers). The network blended in Bilas, Tim Legler, and Richard Jefferson, eventually promoting Jefferson to the top NBA booth.

But Bilas did work alongside the lead team of Mike Breen and Doris Burke for a regular-season Celtics-Warriors game. Bilas has worked with Burke for years, calling her a “brilliant, brilliant basketball mind” and a “brilliant broadcaster.” And when it comes to Breen, there’s nobody he respects more.

“Doing a game with them this year was kind of a ‘pinch me’ aspect to me; it was cool,” Bilas told host Brandon Contes on the Awful Announcing Podcast.

Bilas says he has no idea how ESPN makes these decisions. No one pitched him on working the NBA Finals; it was just a matter of whether he wanted to do it. He had zero expectations or designs on anything. Part of that might be because he was so busy this year — he called 60-plus college games — the most he’s ever done in a single season. It just wasn’t on the table for him to join the NBA Finals broadcast team. While there’s speculation that could be Legler’s role, Jefferson always seemed destined for that spot.

Bilas himself got his first taste of calling NBA Playoff games alongside Mark Jones and Jorge Sedano.

“They approached me — I don’t know what month it was — before the season,” Bilas said. “It was clearly before October because I started doing games in October. But I don’t know how many I did. Probably about 20? And did four playoff games. I had a blast. It couldn’t have been more fun. I love the NBA. I’m a consumer of it. I’m a fan of it. And being able to slide over and do those games was a joyful thing. I really enjoyed it.”

How does Bilas compare calling NBA games to college basketball? Does it feel different?

“It does. It’s a different rhythm to the game,” he remarked. “As you know, NBA games are longer, but there’s also more action within that because of the 24-second clock. So, I have thought about this a lot. In college games, we tend to dissect every play. And I’m not sure we should do that, but that’s sort of the culture of calling a college game. You don’t do that in the NBA; it’s too fast. So, you have to pick your spots as to stuff to point out and discuss. And it can be more conversational because of it, which I really like. And I enjoyed every second of it.

“Look, one thing you see in the NBA, more so than college, is they don’t miss open shots. They’re all the best players in the NBA. In college, you have a lot of NBA players, but they’re not all of them. And so, it’s different. And people say, ‘Why would you like it? College are better atmospheres and all that,’ which I don’t necessarily agree with. But college is a unique thing, as is the NBA. But it would be like when people say, ‘Well, why don’t you like the NBA more than college? I watch college.’ That’s great. Nobody’s arguing with people’s choices, but it’d be like, ‘Well, why don’t you watch high school?’ Well, college is better basketball. There’s no better basketball in the world than the NBA. And I’ve always watched it, and I’ve always loved it.”

Bilas is quick to add that he doesn’t want to give the impression that he doesn’t love college basketball. It remains a game he’s deeply passionate about — after all, it’s where he built his reputation and spent the bulk of his broadcasting career. But he also recognizes the clear differences between college and the NBA, both in style and atmosphere.

“But, if you prefer college basketball over the NBA, it’s not for the basketball,” he says. “It’s for something else. It’s for a team affiliation or the different college atmospheres that are unique. But one thing I learned this year that I had not experienced: I’ve done a lot of amazing college games in Madison Square Garden; it doesn’t compare to a Knicks game when the Knicks are good. No way. It’s ridiculous how good that is. Not just on the floor but the atmosphere and everything around it. It was awesome.

“I don’t feel badly saying the NBA is a better basketball product than college, but college is amazing. They’re two unbelievable things, but I think it’d be foolish for me to say, ‘Well, college is a better game.’ It’s not.”

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