It’s the morning before Game 5 of the NBA Finals, so naturally, one of ESPN’s top studio shows had to spend time breaking down Dak Prescott’s legacy.
The U.S. Open, the Stanley Cup Finals, the NBA Finals, with everything the sports calendar has to offer in mid-June, the Worldwide Leader in Sports remains undefeated at finding ways to thrust the Dallas Cowboys into the conversation. And they don’t even try very hard. At least First Take was creative when they made Alex Ovechkin’s goal record about LeBron James. This was ESPN and Get Up saying they want to talk about Dak Prescott and they don’t care who knows it.
Let’s check in on ESPN… pic.twitter.com/xNYHRGIWtn
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 16, 2025
“What is Dak Prescott’s legacy right now?” the chyron read on Get Up Monday morning. You might be asking yourself, ‘Why are we debating the legacy of a quarterback who hasn’t thrown a pass more than seven months?’ Yes, Prescott stated his desire to win a championship in Dallas last week. But Prescott has done nothing on the field of late to warrant visiting this discussion.
And as much as the audience may have been wondering why they were debating Dak Prescott, think about J.B. Bickerstaff, who was in studio to break down the NBA Finals, sitting on the sideline as Get Up pivoted to the Dallas Cowboys. It’s one thing for FS1 and Fox to be forcing NFL topics onto its shows for attention, but ESPN and ABC are the home of the NBA Finals!
We get it, the Cowboys move the needle. They get shared on social media and aggregated by the internet. But can’t we at least save it for a day when the NBA Finals aren’t playing? Or J.B. Bickerstaff isn’t in studio?
This can’t be what the NBA wants from the home of its championship series. Fresh voices and coverage will be a good thing for the NBA when it brings in new media partners in NBC and Amazon next season. Because the old guard, specifically Shaquille O’Neal and Stephen A. Smith, don’t seem interested in watching the Finals. And ESPN will always look to prioritize covering the Dallas Cowboys.