News Sport

Inside ‘SportsCenter’ On the Day We Lost Sports

By Jaime E. Love 1 week ago
Photo credit: Elaine Chung
Photo credit: Elaine Chung

From Esquire

On the day everything went to shit, SportsCenter anchor Elle Duncan drove to ESPN’s offices in Bristol, CT, thinking she’d be on air for a half hour, noon to 12:30, no co-anchor required. All she had to do was bridge First Take and the ACC Tournament. Easy.

Lights, cameras, THIS… IS… SPORTSCENTER, 10 minutes go by, all good. A producer, through Elle’s earpiece: ACC Tournament is shut down. All right, go to the college hoops guy, Rece Davis. We’re back. Producer, again: Big 12 Tournament, that’s done too. Break that. We’re going to Jeff Passan, looks like MLB is suspending operations. Back again. NHL is doing the same thing. Fuck. Thirty minutes turns into four hours, leagues dropping one by one. SportsCenter is losing the first half of its name in real time.

When Duncan got off the air,

… Read More

Michael Jordan played poker every night during the Dream Team Olympics, and he always took advantage of having more money than his teammates

By Jaime E. Love 1 week ago
"You have to have 100% confidence in your hand if you're going to go all-in against Michael [Jordan]," Charles Barkley said on SportsCenter Sunday.
“You have to have 100% confidence in your hand if you’re going to go all-in against Michael [Jordan],” Charles Barkley said on SportsCenter Sunday.

Reuters Photographer

  • The sixth episode of “The Last Dance” — ESPN’s 10-part docuseries about Michael Jordan and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls — focused in part on His Airness’ gambling “hobby.”

  • Charles Barkley, an NBA great in his own right and a member of the “Dream Team” that won gold at the 1992 Olympics, said he, Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Magic Johnson played cards “every single night.”

  • “We knew that no matter what the cards were, at the end of the night … Michael was always going to try to buy the pot,” Barkley told Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter after the episode aired Sunday night.

  • Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Michael Jordan is a fierce competitor on and off the court.

The sixth episode

… Read More

Stephen A. Smith to host special SportsCenter with Magic Johnson to wrap up ‘The Last Dance’

By Jaime E. Love 1 week ago

Though it’s dominated the sports world over the past month or so, “The Last Dance” is set to conclude on Sunday night with its final two episodes.

ESPN, however, isn’t going to let the thrilling documentary into Michael Jordan’s last season with the Chicago Bulls come to an abrupt end. It has more in store. 

ABC will air an hour-long “SportsCenter” special, “After the Dance,” on Tuesday night to break down the entirety of the 10-part documentary, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Stephen A. Smith, perhaps ESPN’s biggest personality, will host the show and be joined by former Los Angeles Lakers star and ex-president of basketball operations Magic Johnson, among others. 

ESPN has shown two episodes of the 10-part series each Sunday over the past month before Scott Van Pelt hosts a special “SportsCenter” to break it all down. Van Pelt has talked with reporters and players

… Read More

Patrick Kane appears on ESPN for SportsCenter’s ‘The Return of Sports’

By Jaime E. Love 1 week ago

In case we forgot how much Patrick Kane loves the ice, we got a friendly reminder during Monday night’s “The Return of Sports” a ‘SportsCenter’ special that aired on ESPN.

“I’m a guy that needs to be on the ice a lot, skating a lot to really feel dialed in and ready to go,” the three-time Stanley Cup champ said on the program. “That’s why I’m trying to get out there as early as possible and get as much time on the ice as I

… Read More