Zach Lowe out at ESPN

[cupcakesnake]

I thought he was pretty unlistenable over the last couple years. He also made his 'takes' really simple and wasn't responding to nuance or changes on the fly, and he also moved through things so quickly and randomly. He and a guest would be talking about something and then he'd just say 'okay so switching gears' mid sentence. That's strange on its own but it also felt like he was under-prepared and sort of trying to shuffle his way through episodes.

He's pretty good at improvising and shuffling so it probably could've still worked in smaller doses, but I've tended to just avoid the show altogether unless there was nothing interesting in the other 4-5 pods I listen to.

I agree with all this. Years ago, he was probably my #1 basketball podcast. I still subscribe and listen to it most of the time, but it's 4th or 5th in my rotation. The Dunker Spot, Thinking Basketball, Hollinger & Duncan free episodes, The Athletics Women Basketball Show are my main ones currently.

[dhsilv2]

I hate watch NBA Today regularly. It's absurdly terrible but it's the only daily NBA show and I'm a big NBA fan. So I record it and fast forward through thinking surely this NBA show will say something that interests me for at least a few minutes. That usually doesn't happen but I still waste time with it lol.

I feel like Lowe used to be much better but over time got infected by Perkins and the other professional morons. Instead of giving useful basketball analysis they seem to compete to say the stupidest possible thing so they get attention on the internet or whatever.

So yeah this is surprising news and a bad look for ESPN, but at the same time the show sucks with or without him so who really cares. Best of luck to Zach though.

I don't think I've ever heard of NBA Today. Is it like a daytime ESPN show? Sorry, I haven't had cable or watched ESPN in nearing 20 years. I just follow Lowe from pods and what he writes. I'm not sure I've seen more than a few clips of him on air ever.

[jvsimonetti0514]

The whole media industry is in dire straits right now. My company had a lot of layoffs this week and all the other legacy media companies have been firing people all year. Woj’s “retirement” screamed cost cutting to me when it happened and this kinda confirms it to me. When my company lets go of top talent they usually say they’re moving onto other projects or will have some new role at the company and they’re never heard from again. Can’t fire Woj cuz it be a PR disaster but you can let him find some new role that doesn’t compete with what espn does. It sadly makes sense too cuz Woj’s breaking news tweets probably doesn’t get too many people to turn on espn and neither does Zach analysis to warrant their salaries. I’m sure bill Simmons will hire him as soon as his no compete is up and he’ll be fine but it’s sad to see these networks falling apart and unable to retain talent people.

Nah espn is awful and an embarrassment, them falling apart is a good thing.

Anyways he really seemed like he had jumped the shark by the finals, if not before. So maybe it’s his kids or maybe they wanted him to say certain things he didn’t want to get behind so it was an easy call for everyone involved.

We will see.

It’s easy to hate on the higher ups and the faces of the network but there’s a lot of normal people that crew/ produce those shows that don’t deserve to have their jobs eliminated as the network falls apart along with the rest of the industry.

[dhsilv2]

Is the appetite for hot takes really that insatiable? Every day society gets more and more mindless.

Read on Twitter

Good god...I can't imagine watching ANY of those often. Even Rogan...if he doesn't have a guest carrying the show, it's unwatchable/listinable. And the rest...yuck.

[Lalouie]

he has that "I'm so smart I have to show it in my speech" delivery. he threw in too much tangential quips that smart guys do, like their brain has too much to unload....and that fake modesty. he knew he was the smartest dude in the room and he couldn't help himself.

he's not engaging. he needs a nerdy platform

[bisme37]

I hate watch NBA Today regularly. It's absurdly terrible but it's the only daily NBA show and I'm a big NBA fan. So I record it and fast forward through thinking surely this NBA show will say something that interests me for at least a few minutes. That usually doesn't happen but I still waste time with it lol.

I feel like Lowe used to be much better but over time got infected by Perkins and the other professional morons. Instead of giving useful basketball analysis they seem to compete to say the stupidest possible thing so they get attention on the internet or whatever.

So yeah this is surprising news and a bad look for ESPN, but at the same time the show sucks with or without him so who really cares. Best of luck to Zach though.

I don't think I've ever heard of NBA Today. Is it like a daytime ESPN show? Sorry, I haven't had cable or watched ESPN in nearing 20 years. I just follow Lowe from pods and what he writes. I'm not sure I've seen more than a few clips of him on air ever.

Yeah it's a daily NBA show on ESPN. Hosted by Malika Andrews usually, with a panel of Lowe, Perkins, Richard Jefferson, Shelburne and several others. It's not good.

[Blame Rasho]

I honestly wonder how much are some of the salaries… 80k, 100k, etc.

They likely spend more on travel to some hole in the wall college football game than some yearly salary of a guy who could just work at home.

[phanman]

What a huge blow for me personally. He was the main reason why I would watch the cut up NBA Today clips on YouTube. His pods were getting a bit stale, but it was still one of the best ones out there even if ESPN handcuffed the quality of guests. It was completely produced by them so probably had limited say but OT: Ariel Helwani when he was with ESPN also ran into the same issue with them limited who could have on their show.

At least he went out with a bang with the first JJ pod since becoming a coach. I'm guessing that since he was laid off, he still a has few more years on his deal to just chill. Maybe we see him disappear temporarily like Max Kellerman. His salary is reported to be ~1m, so I can see why he was let go as his role could be fulfilled cheaper by up and coming talent. It's not like his basketball expertise was really showcased on the show anyways.

[G R E Y]

Wow very surprising. Haven't had time to read through the thread, but it may be a blessing in disguise. I'm sure Lowe will land on his feet at a place of his choosing.

[dhsilv2]

I hate watch NBA Today regularly. It's absurdly terrible but it's the only daily NBA show and I'm a big NBA fan. So I record it and fast forward through thinking surely this NBA show will say something that interests me for at least a few minutes. That usually doesn't happen but I still waste time with it lol.

I feel like Lowe used to be much better but over time got infected by Perkins and the other professional morons. Instead of giving useful basketball analysis they seem to compete to say the stupidest possible thing so they get attention on the internet or whatever.

So yeah this is surprising news and a bad look for ESPN, but at the same time the show sucks with or without him so who really cares. Best of luck to Zach though.

I don't think I've ever heard of NBA Today. Is it like a daytime ESPN show? Sorry, I haven't had cable or watched ESPN in nearing 20 years. I just follow Lowe from pods and what he writes. I'm not sure I've seen more than a few clips of him on air ever.

Yeah it's a daily NBA show on ESPN. Hosted by Malika Andrews usually, with a panel of Lowe, Perkins, RJ Jefferson, Shelburne and several others. It's not good.

I don't know Malika, but the rest sound terrible. Jefferson and Perk being on tv is mind blowing to me sometimes. I still will never forget Jefferson talking about how he didn't know Manu's height until he joined the spurs...despite losing to Manu in the finals. Like...when people ask me if players know more than fans. I think of that. Like you'd think player height...on guys they guard...they'd at least be way better than us at. But no...

[Tor_Raps]

Literally one of the few guys who actually knows his stuff. ESPN is a joke.

[CumberlandPosey]

I honestly wonder how much are some of the salaries… 80k, 100k, etc.

They likely spend more on travel to some hole in the wall college football game than some yearly salary of a guy who could just work at home.

Wojnarowski had a 8-figure contract.dont know the length.

Lowe got a million per from the worldwide leader

[Lalouie]

I hate watch NBA Today regularly. It's absurdly terrible but it's the only daily NBA show and I'm a big NBA fan. So I record it and fast forward through thinking surely this NBA show will say something that interests me for at least a few minutes. That usually doesn't happen but I still waste time with it lol.

I feel like Lowe used to be much better but over time got infected by Perkins and the other professional morons. Instead of giving useful basketball analysis they seem to compete to say the stupidest possible thing so they get attention on the internet or whatever.

So yeah this is surprising news and a bad look for ESPN, but at the same time the show sucks with or without him so who really cares. Best of luck to Zach though.

I don't think I've ever heard of NBA Today. Is it like a daytime ESPN show? Sorry, I haven't had cable or watched ESPN in nearing 20 years. I just follow Lowe from pods and what he writes. I'm not sure I've seen more than a few clips of him on air ever.

Yeah it's a daily NBA show on ESPN. Hosted by Malika Andrews usually, with a panel of Lowe, Perkins, Richard Jefferson, Shelburne and several others. It's not good.

basketball is not built for game breakdowns on tv. it's too simple, compared to football that is. that's why football is great for all these talk shows cuz there's just more going on.

basketball shows feel like they're made up of stupid people because they ultimately have nothing to talk about, while football shows seem more coherent and well informed

[wade44]

Who’s even left besides Stephen a for nba coverage? Legit haven’t watched espn in ages

[dhsilv2]

I don't think I've ever heard of NBA Today. Is it like a daytime ESPN show? Sorry, I haven't had cable or watched ESPN in nearing 20 years. I just follow Lowe from pods and what he writes. I'm not sure I've seen more than a few clips of him on air ever.

Yeah it's a daily NBA show on ESPN. Hosted by Malika Andrews usually, with a panel of Lowe, Perkins, Richard Jefferson, Shelburne and several others. It's not good.

basketball is not built for game breakdowns on tv. it's too simple, compared to football that is. that's why football is great for all these talk shows cuz there's just more going on.

basketball shows feel like they're made up of stupid people because they ultimately have nothing to talk about, while football shows seem more coherent and well informed

Strongly disagree. Chuck Daly used to be awesome at breaking games down. Most fans don't even know what a zone defense is in the NBA because the talking heads don't even remotely break games down.

[Clav]

I hate watch NBA Today regularly. It's absurdly terrible but it's the only daily NBA show and I'm a big NBA fan. So I record it and fast forward through thinking surely this NBA show will say something that interests me for at least a few minutes. That usually doesn't happen but I still waste time with it lol.

I feel like Lowe used to be much better but over time got infected by Perkins and the other professional morons. Instead of giving useful basketball analysis they seem to compete to say the stupidest possible thing so they get attention on the internet or whatever.

So yeah this is surprising news and a bad look for ESPN, but at the same time the show sucks with or without him so who really cares. Best of luck to Zach though.

I feel the same way. I'd watch it on recording too, and skip through a lot. The clowns ESPN put up there to throw hot takes and as Lowe tries to steady the ship he ends up debasing himself to their level in some way. The hosts always follow a banal script with no personality except to appease big market teams and players names. I've pretty much tuned out to NBA Today now, not bothered enough to care anymore lol.

[CIN-C-STAR]

But Perk still got his job
Can't wait to hear about how Luka is only in the MVP discussion this season because he's white, or some such nonsense

Actually looking forward to Lowe joining The Ringer though and hopefully his analysis getting closer to being what it used to be.
You could hear the pain in his voice in recent seasons every time he was forced to talk about the awful Lakers as if they were a super relevant and good basketball team

[Klomp]

Hear me out....

Shams is a free agent. They needed to clear the books to make room for him.

[Lalouie]

Hard news is more expensive and generates less revenue

All of live TV is moving to the Fox News model of opining on the news instead of breaking the news

but first take is an opinion platform.

the diff between fox and espn is in the delivery. fox, like speak and collective and ftf, is people just talking about sports and sharing the mike.

espn is made up of people, Stephen and qerim, who want to grab the mike and spotlight for themselves

These shows are all personality based and fox has way better engagement

[Valard]

I've used espn for 20ish years as my daily site to check for sports updates. I load it 20-30 times a day. With how brutal they've been in getting rid of the only talent they have, I'd like to move my viewership elsewhere.

What online sports news sites do you guys use? What would you suggest?