Miami Heat: ESPN’s ‘Backstory: The Decision’ features who’s who of names
When LeBron James announced his Miami Heat transition, the world stopped. Well, for a short time anyway and ESPN looks to illustrate that moment in its entirety.
As the Miami Heat got set to welcome LeBron James into the Miami Heat family, things started off just a bit bumpy. Well, if you look at the backlash from The Decision and then the subsequent pep rally, things started off really bumpy.
Either way though, four years and two championships later, the whole thing was, by most accounts, a complete and utter success. While everyone won’t feel that way, getting to four consecutive NBA Finals and winning two of them is just that, success.
As we have found ourselves 10 years removed from it all, as The Decision and his subsequent Miami Heat run occurred and began in 2010, ESPN has decided to take an in depth look back at The Decision.
While they are sure to reveal things that we didn’t know before, that isn’t even the most interesting part. One of the other most interesting parts of their approach to this storytelling scenario is who they’ve recruited to actually help them tell the story.
As ESPN gets set to take a look back at the period of time when LeBron James decided to join the Miami Heat, we take a look at who will help them do it.
When you look at the press release from ESPN, which gives a ton of facts on the program, the names included are a who’s who of sports. Let’s look at it.
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"The episode features candid interviews with Skipper, who greenlit The Decision in June 2010 as ESPN’s head of content at the time, and former ESPN executive Keith Clinkscales, whom Skipper charged with overseeing the project. Van Natta also sheds new light on what fans and media critics have wondered about for 10 years, including what events led to James’ infamous “I’m going to take my talents to South Beach … “ line that he said nearly a half-hour into the show.Among others interviewed on camera:Buzz Bissinger, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of two bestselling books on LeBron James.Michael Wilbon, co-host of ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption and NBA studio analyst.Vince Doria, former ESPN vice president and director of news.Chris Broussard, NBA Insider for ESPN at the time of The Decision and current analyst for Fox Sports.Scott Raab, the author of two books on LeBron James.Bomani Jones, ESPN commentator."
Quite the slew of bigwigs and those in the know, right? You are especially excited about the talking heads who have such ties to Miami and LeBron James that are included.
Michael Wilbon is like the NBA godfather, knowing, having had interactions with, or having close relationships with a ton of NBA players, former NBA players, and professional athletes in general, current and former.
Chris Broussard is a guy that was right in the middle of the whole thing, slinging reports and rumors back and forth that he was hearing percolate out on the wire. Lastly among those names is Bomani Jones, an unapologetic voice in sports who was working out of Miami right in the middle of the whole Big 3 era.
We should get quite a few nuggets from this production, based on those guys and the rest of the names and interviewees involved. Here are a few things you can expect to learn, per the press release.
- The original idea for The Decision came from a surprising source not connected to either James or ESPN.
- The show actually started taking shape months earlier than previously known.
- Former NBA Commissioner David Stern urged ESPN to cancel the show and former ESPN president John Skipper says Stern was concerned the show would extend too much power to one player.
- The preparation James did for The Decision in the hours leading up to the broadcast.
Next. LeBron James would have dominated in the 90’s too. dark
It should be a very exciting watch! We can’t wait and we will see you there!