[digital jello]

I know this thread has bad timing with Ricky's pathetic attempt at stat-padding, but I felt as if I had to make it.

I was watching NBA Inside Stuff on Saturday (it was the only thing on, I swear ), and the show ran a special on Ricky Davis and how he is a big game dunker.

It showed the - as Davis named it - "Steve Nash" dunk, and soon after it showed a dunk Davis pulled off in a Cavs vs. Sixers game. Davis was on a fast break and put the ball between his legs and dunked it. I didn't think that ever happened in an NBA game.

Which got me thinking - if Kobe or T-Mac pulled it off, the dunk would've been on EVERY highlight reel, EVERY NBA commercial, and EVERY kid would be talking about it. Davis, though, didn't get the media attention because he's on the Cavs.

It's still a great play. Let the people see it.

Also, I noticed the dunk Darius Miles had the other week - the one where he tossed it off-glass to himself a la Tracy McGrady. That didn't even make "top plays". What gives?

P.S. - I'm not a Cavs fan.
P.P.S. - I'm not a T-Mac hater, but I am a Kobe hater (but I have respect for his game)

[tenkev]

I know what you mean. The other day I tried to catch highlights of the Memphis/Atlanta game on ESPNEWS. I must have watched the same highlights 3 or 4 times thinking I had missed them each time. No mention of the score nothing. We get no respect.

[Yyzlin]

Yea, it does suck for small market teams. But you can't blame the news stations. They have more coverage for the teams people want to see. The demand for small market teams just isn't high.

[RollWithEm]

Originally posted by <b>digital jello</b>!
I was watching NBA Inside Stuff on Saturday (it was the only thing on, I swear ), and the show ran a special on Ricky Davis and how he is a big game dunker.

Someone please explain to me how Ricky Davis can be a big game dunker when he has never been in a big game. That's like saying that Shane Battier is a clutch performer just because he makes shots for one of the league's worst teams when Regular Season games are on the line. This claim alone is silly.

Davis was on a fast break and put the ball between his legs and dunked it. Which got me thinking - if Kobe or T-Mac pulled it off, the dunk would've been on EVERY highlight reel, EVERY NBA commercial, and EVERY kid would be talking about it. Davis, though, didn't get the media attention because he's on the Cavs.

Although I don't doubt that the lack of media attention can at least partially be attributed to Davis' team, I think this calculated ESPN decision had something to do with the fact that Cleveland was down by 20 at the time. The reason Kobe and T-Mac get the attention is because they lead their teams to victory first and make those plays second. Davis is a show-off first. Plain and Simple!

[MagicMan]

It doesnt really have anything to do with the size of the "market" when it comes to something that's actually good getting media coverage. A good player will make headlines regardless of where they play.

Kobe gets overexposed to the media (to the point that you wanna strangle him unless of course you worship him) because he plays in L.A. and just happened to win titles. Of course L.A. would get coverage even if the team sucked, like earlier in the season.

But Orlando isn't a big market (even though everyone who lives here knows it's the mini-East coast version of L.A., which isn't necessarily a good thing) and has just now become an above average team and T-Mac still gets media exposure regardless of whether he wins or not because he's the best player in the league. The Magic themselves would still only get a game played on ESPN only once in a blue moon even if they were one of the best teams. The media plays favorites with teams, but not with good players.

The Cavs won't get media exposure if they continue to lose. I don't think even putting LeBron on the team would help them get coverage. (Yay, no LeBron coverage!!! Put him on the Cavs!!!)

[IV]

All of those dunks were fantastic. I've never seen a live Cavs game so the dunks were on highlight reels. As far as the Kobe/Tmac plays, they are superstars and superstar get more reckognition. Sure if Ricky was Kobe he would have had those dunks on every sports show around the world, but he has to pay his dues. There once was a time when Tmac would pull a cat out of the bag and no one would notice; now each and every thing he does above the rim is on ESPN.