It's been a month in which the decisions made by ESPN on what stories and teams get attention at the network has really come into focus. Charles Barkley, who will be employed by the network next year when his "Inside the NBA" show moves to ESPN, kicked it off by labeling those at ESPN "fools" and "idiots" for constantly talking about the Lakers and Warriors.
The Cavaliers and Thunder, meanwhile, have been the NBA's best teams.
That set off a nasty back-and-forth between Barkley and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins, with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith taking some jabs, too.
This week, former ESPN host Michelle Beadle lifted the curtain a bit on what happens at the network. She comes down, clearly, on the side of Barkley, saying the network puts too much focus on big-market teams.
Michelle Beadle admitted that at ESPN she had to talk about the Lakers and Cowboys all the time.https://t.co/2u5b5GEFfz
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 16, 2025
"I worked there. We had to just always talk about the Lakers," Beadle said on Mad Dog Sports Radio on Sirius XM (via Awful Announcing). "We always talked about the Cowboys. It's brain-numbing formulated bullsh*t. There were days it was like, ‘How are we forcing a story about this? There are actually stories that people might care about.'
"Because here's the thing about that place, it is national, it is global in some places. I get it, you think that's what moves the needle, but Barkley's right and this is what we've been trying to say all damn season. There are fun stories happening right now."
Beadle was at ESPN from 2009 through 2012 before leaving for NBC.
Related: Stephen A. Smith Calls Out LeBron James Over Heated Exchange at Lakers Game
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This story was originally published March 16, 2025 at 7:18 AM.