The Golden State Warriors are just one of the great NBA storylines that have been ignored in Canada. (Source: NBA.com)

Simply put, the coverage of the NBA in Canada is pathetic.

How else do you explain how one of the biggest upsets in modern sports history failed to even register with the Canadian sports media? The eighth seed Golden State Warriors pulled off the unthinkable and knocked off the 67 regular season win, Dirk Nowitzki led and prohibitive NBA championship favourite Dallas Mavericks in a stirring first round match-up and yet you would have a hard time finding someone who could differentiate Stu Barnes from Matt Barnes because of the lack of coverage the NBA gets.

The problem is that the majority of the Canadian media’s view of NBA reporting involves the sole coverage of the Toronto Raptors. Yes, the Raptors are Canada’s lone team but if we were to allow coverage of the Raptors to dictate the state of the NBA in Canada the league would have died a slow death during the Tracy McGrady and Antonio Davis exodus stage and the Vince Carter quit-on-the-team-and-city-burn-all-my-bridges-and-thus-leave-the-franchise-in-horrible-ruins-when-they’re-forced-to-trade-me-for-nothing abyss stage.

The fact is until Bryan Colangelo stepped in this year and took over the reigns as General Manager the franchise was in complete disarray. Colangelo was given a roster with one discernable star in Chris Bosh and a roster full of inherited mistakes from the Rob Babcock era. With a couple shrewd trades, several free agent signings of international stars and an astute draft that netted the Raps Andrea Bargangi, the team began its turnaround and gave the fan base hope for the first time in years. 

Aside from Raptors' coverage the majority of NBA stories that actually do appear in the Canadian dailies are of the Associated Press/stock reporting variety. There are few if any regular columnists that offer up opinions, breakdown a series, debate a coach’s decision or provide any valuable insight outside of a verbal elaboration on the box score. As for TV coverage, the average fan is forced to play remote control roulette just to find out which network is playing which game on a certain night. The occasional games have shown up on Rogers Sportsnet and TSN but trying to anticipate the regularity of the NBA’s coverage on these networks is about as confusing as trying to understand what it will take for Bruce Bowen to get suspended.

I do have to give praise to The Score network because they are a huge champion and supporter of the NBA not only during the playoffs but throughout the regular season. Tim Micallef and Sid Seixeiro regularly give the NBA plenty of love and tons of highlight time on the Score Tonight program. In addition to his always entertaining and must see Cabbie on the Street vignettes, watching Cabbie sit in with Sid and Tim and gloss over the hoops highlights that make up the weekly Court Cuts segment is must see TV. TV rights aside The Score is a network that has some legitimate and hardcore hoop fanatics and it’s so apparent when you watch a guy like Tim Micallef run through a highlight reel versus any anchor on SportsCentre (Jay Onrait excluded) or Sportsnet Connected who just trot out the same cliché hoops highlight lingo.

Nearing the halfway point of the NBA playoffs, there have already been plenty of noteworthy highlights that have failed to register on the Canadian sports media’s agendas. Take your pick of any of the following storylines as examples of the type of coverage that’s being missed out on: 

• Dirk Nowitzki awkwardly being announced as the regular season MVP after playing the part of goat on the wrong end of one of the biggest upsets in NBA history
• The immensely enjoyable Golden State Warriors playoff run from their rabid Oakland fan base being decked out in a sea of gold, their endless college hoops like penchant for launching threes and Andris Biedrins’ dogged determination to make Shaquille O’Neal look like the Chauncey Billups of free throw shooters.
• Utah Jazz guard Derek Fisher’s remarkable performance in the midst of his 10-month old daughter being treated for eye cancer
• LeBron James taking the next step in his career in becoming an unstoppable force
• Watching the awesome effect that giving out coloured t-shirts to fans can create from the aforementioned sea of gold in Golden State, Orange Crush in Phoenix and Baby Blue in Utah . The Toronto Raptors' red t-shirt giveaway was the lone exception and an example of a marketing promotion gone wrong when the visiting New Jersey Nets trotted out their alternative red unis and mitigated all effect of the promotion.
• Steve Nash making Canadians everywhere proud for his ability to shrug off a six stitch gash on the bridge of his nose suffered while colliding with Spurs guard Tony Parker

After what amounted to a lackluster NBA regular season highlighted only by the emergence of the Toronto Raptors and the brilliance of Gilbert “Hibachi” Arenas both on and off the court, the Association has more than made up for it with this extremely enjoyable and unpredictable post-season. Now if only people were made aware of it.