Tough Start: Kevin Harlan Announced He's Taking On A Lighter NBA Schedule And Will Call Fewer Games On Amazon Prime

Chris Schwegler. Getty Images.

I'll tell ya what, I've done my best to keep as open a mind as possible when it comes to the NBA's new TV deal. I'm willing to put up with all the different streaming platforms we now need to have just to watch the sport. I'm willing to deal with how annoying it's going to be that League Pass now has to be done through my Amazon app and I can no longer just flip around channels on YouTube TV and what a pain in the ass that's going to be. I'm reluctantly willing to deal with a verison of Inside The NBA that is a shell of the show we all know and love because ESPN ruins everything it touches. Hell, I'd even go as far to say I've been excited about some of the new collection of voices that are going to be involved with each network/streaming platform for the upcoming season.

But as a man, I can only take so much. All of that shit above is already enough to handle, and I say this as the NBA's prime demographic. I'm a consumer who is willing to put up with all that bullshit and will still willingly consume their product every single night for the next 8-10 months. 

With that said, this new nugget of info that we got from Kevin Harlan today about his role with Amazon might be the final update that breaks me.

Appearing on Monday’s edition of the Sports Media Watch Podcast, Harlan said Thursday that he has “purposefully constructed” his three-year Amazon deal “on a reduced schedule.” 

Specifically, Harlan said he will call one game in October, one in November and one in December before taking on a fuller slate of games in January.

On one hand, I'm a believer that if anyone in life should have the ability to dictate their own work schedule, Kevin Harlan is high on that list. He's the GOAT. If he wants a reduced schedule over the first few months of the season, I'd say he's earned that right. As a consumer and someone who thoroughly enjoys Harlan on the call? This is devastating news. Between his NBA and NFL workload, I can't say this is a surprising change, but I can say that it's a change I don't particularly love. I need more Kevin Harlan in my sports watching life, not less. I've long been on record that outside of Mike Gorman, I'm not sure anyone has ever done it better than Harlan, and that includes Mike Breen

There's just something about his "GOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDD" that you feel in your bones. To think we now live in a world where we are getting "less" of this, well that stinks.

Thankfully, things get back to normal in January, which I guess is fine. It's certainly better than being a reduced schedule for the whole season, so I guess that's the glass-half-full look. Although, as a reminder, it's Ian Eagle who is going to be the lead play-by-play guy for Prime when they have Conference Finals games. While it'll be a bummer that Harlan isn't doing those, I enjoy Ian Eagle, so I'm sure that transition will be fine. 

As I said, I'm willing to be open minded and give all of this new media/TV bullshit a chance. Future me is for sure going to be annoyed, but like all new things we'll all get used to it eventually and move on. Sort of like how back in the day when Facebook would update their layout and people raged, or when Twitter does the same. We all see it, we complain into the void for a few days, and then before you know it, you're used to how things are. 

But between what looks to be ESPN destroying Inside The NBA and now Prime giving us less Kevin Harlan on the mic, this new TV deal isn't exactly off to the hottest start.