Mike Francesa is frustrated with the sluggish NBA playoff schedule this week.
The Celtics swept the Pacers and just days later the Mavericks beat the Timberwolves in five games, forcing sports fans to wait a full seven days for the NBA Finals to begin.
According to Francesa, this would mean a “catastrophe” for the league.
“The NBA Finals start in a week and this is a disaster for the NBA.” He said on the Mike Francesa Podcast on Friday:“I know there’s nothing they can do. They just want to decide the schedule. They don’t know what cities these events are going to be in and it’s not like the Super Bowl. I understand why they would do it, but I think it really hurts their product and puts fans on the edge.”
The schedule for the NBA Finals, which begins in Boston on June 6 at 8:30 p.m. ET, was decided nearly a month in advance. According to Boston.com.
According to the media, the league is fixing the schedule for the finals to make it easier for teams, broadcast partners, media and fans to plan for the series.
“Rescheduling within seven to 10 games of the original game creates significant difficulties for anyone traveling for a series,” an anonymous league source told Boston.com.
While that may be convenient for those involved, Francesa argues it robs the tournament of the drama needed to create a compelling final.
“We got nothing out of the conference finals,” he said on the podcast. “There was no build-up to the finals, no drama, nothing… Now we have no basketball for a week. Even if you’re a minor fan, you get used to the rhythm of there being basketball every night in the playoffs… Now we have no basketball for seven days.
“No drama in the conference finals, a week off. This game is going to be forgotten. The ratings for the NBA Finals are going to be awful. If I was in the NBA offices, I’d be jumping up and down and saying, ‘A week off right now is the worst thing that could happen to us.’ We’re going into the Finals with no momentum. Absolutely.”
