Memphis Grizzlies ranked 19th in national television games for 2016-2017
By Mike Parrott
The NBA schedule for the upcoming 2016-17 season has been announced with the Memphis Grizzlies only having five nationally televised games, ranked 19th in the league.
Per Sportsmediawatch.com, the NBA schedule for the 2016-2017 season has been announced with the Memphis Grizzlies being ranked 19th in the amount of televised games.
The list for most games on the NBA schedule follows:
- Golden State Warriors (36)
- Cleveland Cavaliers (29)
- Los Angeles Clippers (28)
- New York Knicks (27)
- San Antonio Spurs (26)
- Chicago Bulls (26)
- Boston Celtics (23)
- Oklahoma City Thunder (21)
- Los Angeles Lakers (16)
- Portland Trail Blazers (15)
- Houston Rockets (14)
- Indiana Pacers (11)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (10)
- Dallas Mavericks (9)
- Toronto Raptors (9)
- Utah Jazz (8)
- Atlanta Hawks (8)
- Detroit Pistons (6)
- Memphis Grizzlies (5)
- Miami Heat (5)
- New Orleans Pelicans (5)
- Washington Wizards (5)
- Denver Nuggets (4)
- Phoenix Suns (4)
- Brooklyn Nets (4)
- Philadelphia 76ers (3)
- Milwaukee Bucks (3)
- Charlotte Hornets (3)
- Sacramento Kings (3)
- Orlando Magic (1)
Why these games?
The games selected for the Memphis Grizzlies are:
- vs. Los Angeles Clippers (November 16, ESPN)
- vs. Golden State Warriors (January 6, ESPN)
- vs. Chicago Bulls (January 15, ESPN)
- vs. Phoenix Suns (January 30, TNT)
- vs. San Antonio Spurs (February 6, TNT)
Now, why have these five games been selected? Not many people know why, including myself.
The Clipper and Grizzlies used to have an amazing rivalry in the early 2010’s with some memorable trash-talking and playoff series’.
However, what about the others?
I don’t understand the Chicago Bulls game in terms of story lines or rivalries, with Pau Gasol now a Spur. This choice is probably down to the Bulls being a big U.S. market and will have a minimum amount of games on TV. The Grizzlies lucked out to be one.
The Golden State Warriors game has no specific rivalries but will be nationally televised for the same reason as the Bulls game. Also the addition of being the new ‘superteam’ gives the Warriors more minimum national televised games and the Grizzlies will have been randomly chosen again.
The last time the Grizzlies played the Warriors, it pushed Kobe Bryant’s last game to ESPN2.
The game with the Suns beats me. There are no rivalries, no storylines or anything. Just a random choice through and through.
The Spurs game has a few narratives. Marc and Pau Gasol playing against each other is normally national television and both teams had a mini-rivalry in the early 2010’s.
Why so little?
The Grizzlies only have a few games this season nationally televised and it can be down to a few reasons, including last year’s lack of success. The relatively little success by the Memphis Grizzlies last year doesn’t help and this can be down to being swept last year in the first round goes against their appeal. Hiring a small-named coach doesn’t help.
However, they should have more than five games. Signing a new star in Chandler Parsons while also re-upping Mike Conley gives the Grizzlies star-power and makes it surprising that the NBA didn’t want to get more coverage of this new Grizzlies squad.
Maybe the biggest surprise is the lack of a Dallas-Memphis televised game because of the Parsons signing. When a max free-agent signs somewhere else, the ‘homecoming’ game is normally televised nationally.
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