The inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament continues tonight (December 4) with a field of eight teams set to play single-elimination games to determine the semi-final and final-round participants to battle for the title later this week in Las Vegas.

TNT tipped off knockout-round tournament coverage Monday night with the Boston Celtics-Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans-Sacramento Kings games. ESPN on Tuesday airs the New York Knicks-Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns-Los Angeles Lakers games.

The winning teams will faceoff on Thursday (December 7), with ESPN televising the first semi-final game at 5 p.m. (ET) and TNT airing the second game at 9 p.m. (ET). ABC will air the in-season tournament final on December 9.

Teams not qualifying for the quarterfinal round will play games on December 6 and 8. Teams that lose in the quarterfinals will play each other later in the week, according to the league.

The month-long NBA in-season tournament has been a ratings success thus far for the league and networks. ESPN averaged 1.58 million viewers for six Friday tournament games in November, up 24% from the same period last year, according to SportsBusiness Journal. TNT averaged 1.32 million for four tournament games, up 7% from the network’s Tuesday night November average, according to SBJ.  

Prime Video is giving its viewers a close-up look at the next generation of basketball stars with its media deal with the Overtime Elite basketball league, which includes streaming of live games and a documentary series.

The multiyear agreement reached earlier this year calls for Prime Video to stream 20 live games per season from the eight-team league, which features some of the top high school and young adult players. In addition, Prime Video this past September debuted a six-part documentary series, One Shot: Overtime Elite, which showcased the next generation of basketball stars — including 2023 NBA draft-lottery picks Amen and Ausar Thompson — as they navigate through various challenges and training in pursuit of a professional basketball career. 

“OTE has established a strong reputation as a next-generation league responsible for producing basketball stars of tomorrow,” Prime Video head of original content, sports Matt Newman said. 

CEO Dan Porter said having both the documentary and live games on Prime Video has provided Overtime Elite with a great source of exposure and promotion. 

“Amazon has really been an exciting partner for us where we felt like we could get attention,” Porter said. “The idea of putting [the live games and docuseries] together and cross-promoting is super interesting, and we hope that the series becomes a franchise in the way that [HBO’s] Hard Knocks has become a franchise.” 

Click below to listen to an interview with Porter and Overtime Elite general manager and head of basketball Damien Wilkins on the latest episode of the “TV Sportsplay” podcast. 

TNT and ESPN tip off coverage of the NBA’s regular season this week with high viewership expectations, given the league’s overall appeal with fans and the introduction of an in-season tournament.

The pro hoops league tips off its 2023-24 campaign after averaging 1.6 million viewers during 2022-23, which was flat compared to 2021-22, according to SportsBusiness Journal.

While the NBA playoffs hit a five-year high with an average of 5.47 million viewers, the average of 11.65 million viewers for the five-game Denver Nuggets-Miami Heat NBA Finals was down 6% from the six-game 2022 Boston Celtics-Golden State Warriors finals, according to SportsMedia Watch. 

TNT starts its NBA season October 24 with a doubleheader featuring the defending champion Denver Nuggets taking on the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns against the Golden State Warriors. Overall, TNT will air 65 regular-season NBA games, including its Martin Luther King Day doubleheader and its February All-Star Weekend coverage.

ESPN and ABC will air 100 games starting October 25, including the traditional five-game Christmas lineup. ABC recently added five Wednesday-night games in January, mostly to help fill its primetime lineup due to the ongoing Hollywood actors strike.

“We’re ready to go this season,” ESPN head of event and studio production David Roberts said on a conference call. “This season is going to be a very interesting season just because of all the balance throughout the league, and we’re ready to document that story, which is going to be a season-long series of just great storytelling throughout the year.” 

New to this year’s campaign is the NBA In-Season Tournament, which will launch in November. The 30 NBA teams will play four games within randomly drawn, five-team groups within their conferences. The winning teams will advance to single-elimination rounds until a champion is crowned. TNT and ESPN will televise the in-season tournament games.

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports chief content officer Craig Barry said the tournament adds to an already intriguing regular season that features a new crop of rookies, including first-round pick Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs.

“Any time that you can create a certain amount of urgency within the season, especially within the regular season, the players and the fans are going to respond to that,” he said. “[The in-season tournament] is a priority for the NBA and is obviously a priority for us and our other broadcast partners.”

The U.S. men’s basketball team failed to reach the finals of the FIBA World Cup basketball tournament for the second straight time, losing Friday morning to Germany in the semifinal round.

Germany defeated the U.S. team 113-111, winning its first game ever against the Americans in World Cup or Olympic competition. Germany will face Serbia in the finals on Sunday in its first gold medal round appearance.

Also Read: What's On This Weekend in TV Sports 

The US, which didn't medal in the 2019 games and hasn’t won the tournament since 2014 when it defeated Serbia, will play Canada in the bronze medal game Sunday morning. All 2023 FIBA World Cup games have aired on ESPN2 and/or ESPN Plus. 

As season two of Swagger premieres on Apple TV Plus June 23, it joins an unprecedented number of basketball-themed series and films greeting viewers. Besides Swagger, the story of a teen hoops standout that’s inspired by the life of NBA star Kevin Durant, there’s The Crossover on Disney Plus; Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty on HBO; and Shooting Stars on Peacock. In terms of films, there’s the Air Jordan story Air on Prime Video and the redo of White Men Can’t Jump on Hulu. 

The trend includes nonscripted programming, too, including Bill Walton film The Luckiest Guy in the World, which premiered on ESPN June 6; Showtime’s Wilt Chamberlain docuseries Goliath on July 14; and Stephen Curry: Underrated on Apple TV Plus July 21.

Reggie Rock Bythewood, creator, director and executive producer of Swagger, said when he was approached about taking Durant’s story to screen four or five years ago, he was also pitched two other basketball-themed series. “I don’t know what was in the air,” he told B+C. 

Isaiah Hill plays teen superstar Jace Carson in Swagger. The project was hatched, Bythewood said, when Durant got talking to Brian Grazer of Imagine Television Studios at a social event. “I was given the space to do something to stand out and separate ourselves from the other basketball shows,” Bythewood said. “That was inspiring.”

Blame Jordan

There are substantially more shows and films related to basketball right now than programming centered on football, soccer, baseball or other sports. The trend began when docuseries The Last Dance, about Michael Jordan’s last season with the Chicago Bulls, aired on ESPN and ABC in spring 2020, and streamed on Netflix. With the pandemic dominating life in America, the high-flying exploits of Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman were just what many desired to see. 

“The Last Dance certainly helped” start the trend, SportsBrandedMedia founder and CEO John Meindl said. 

A couple of years later hoops movie Hustle, with Adam Sandler as a down-on-his-luck scout who finds a stunning prospect in Spain, came out on Netflix. Based on the success of The Last Dance and Hustle, several basketball series followed. 

What is it about basketball that makes the sport pop in the entertainment world? Teams have five players at one time, while football has 11 offensive players and 11 more defenders. Players don’t wear helmets or facemasks, eliminating a boundary between fans and athletes. 

Basketball offers a basic goal — get the ball in the hoop — but requires an exceptional level of athleticism to do it well. “There’s a simplicity to the game of basketball that makes it easy to understand, yet it has an athletic elegance that elevates said simplicity,” said Rodney Barnes, executive producer of Winning Time, a series about the Lakers in the ‘80s that starts season two August 6. “There’s a sense of individual expression in the game which can highlight a character’s personality while not departing from the ongoing narrative.”

The sport is also extremely diverse and plays well around the globe due to its expat superstars. The MVP of this month’s NBA Finals was Nikola Jokic of Serbia, star center for the Denver Nuggets. 

“The international love of the game has created a talented pipeline of players beyond U.S. borders,” Linda Ong, founder and CEO of brand consultancy Cultique, said. 

Real-Life Video Game

While fouls and timeouts slow the action, basketball nonetheless runs at a pace that football and baseball cannot boast of, which appeals to a wider swath of fans. “Whereas baseball is more methodical and football stops and starts, modern basketball moves at its own up-tempo rhythm; a frenetic pace that mimics a video game, appealing to a younger audience,” Barnes said. “Its ability to cross lines of class, race and socioeconomic barriers creates a wellspring of storytelling possibilities.”

Entertainment pundits also describe a culture in basketball that doesn’t quite exist in other sports. The sport intersects with fashion and hip-hop in ways other sports do not. Ong credits the NBA for “leaning into cultural relevance with its fans, as opposed to marketing at them.”

Endorsement deals and strong social media personas further break down the walls between star player and fan. “Top basketball players and their endorsement deals are front and center in the media more so than other professional athletes,” Meindl said. “There’s a unique culture surrounding basketball.”

Producing On and Off the Court

Star players are also active in film and television production. LeBron James’s SpringHill productions include Shooting Stars, about his on-court exploits in high school, The Crossover and game show The Wall, among many others. Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media projects include Apple TV Plus documentary Stephen Curry: Underrated and mini-golf spectacle Holey Moley on ABC. 

A primary challenge of scripted basketball shows is finding actors who can play the game. Speaking before the April premiere of The Crossover, inspired by Kwame Alexander’s novel of poems about teen brothers balancing hoops and a tricky home life, executive producer and co-showrunner Alexander said: “When we casted it, we looked for identical twins who can act, who are ballers. Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

Producers then focused on finding excellent actors to play the Bell brothers, and putting them through what Alexander called a hoops “boot camp.” 

“We figured it would be easier to train them how to be ballers than train them to be great actors,” he said. 

Winning Time’s Barnes too spoke of teaching actors the points of the game, and bringing in more seasoned players as doubles when the situation calls for it. “Some basketball acumen is definitely preferred,” he said. “But if there’s athletic ability, aspects of the game can be taught.”

A Certain Swagger Sets Show Apart 

Bythewood said Swagger star Isaiah Hill knows his way around a basketball court. “When he dunks, he doesn’t just dunk,” Bythewood said. “He puts a little hot sauce on it.”

With so many hoops-themed series and films out there in 2023, Bythewood knows Swagger must offer something special to stand out. He spoke of aiming to make the viewer feel like they’re “part of the game, not a spectator.” That involved putting camera operators on Rollerblades to better help them keep up with the high-speed action. Sending a skates-wearing operator up and off a ramp meant fully capturing Jace Carson executing a slam dunk. 

“We put you inside the game in a way that’s not been seen before,” Bythewood said.  

HBO will chronicle the life and career of NBA Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal in a new documentary series debuting in November.

The four-part series, Shaq, will focus on the basketball legend whose larger-than-life personality transcended the sport and transformed him into a cultural icon, according to the network. 

The series will feature interviews with O’Neal’s teammates Penny Hardaway, Dwayne Wade, Dennis Scott, Brian Shaw, Derek Fisher and Rick Fox as it documents O'Neal's  ascent to NBA superstardom — which included four NBA titles and a league Most Valuable Player honor — as well as his successful off-the-court broadcasting and business ventures, HBO said. 

Shaq is produced by Robert Alexander and Peter Berg’s Film 45 production company. 

Also: Warner Bros. Discovery Ponies Up for Cast of 'Inside the NBA'

O’Neal said in a statement: “We kept this documentary real from the start, and I do feel like it is the most honest look into my life and career up until this point. This process allowed me to reflect publicly in a way I haven’t before, and I’m so proud of the work everyone has done to put it all together.” ■

Amazon Prime Video is hoping its live coverage of the WNBA’s Commissioner’s Cup Championship game tonight (July 26) continues to build on the streaming service’s appeal to sports fans through quality, live sports content, according to Amazon VP of global sports video Marie Donoghue.

The Commissioner’s Cup, an in-season tournament that matches the two WNBA teams with the best record based on percentage of games designated for Cup play in each conference, debuted last year with the Seattle Storm defeating the Connecticut Sun. This season’s matchup pits defending WNBA champion Chicago Sky against the Las Vegas Aces. The winning team receives a $500,000 prize, according to the league. 

Donoghue said last year’s inaugural event drew strong viewership for the streaming service, although she would not reveal specific numbers. She said the exclusive rights to the game came out of Prime Video’s multi-year deal with the league to air 16 WNBA games per season reached in 2021.

“We thought it was an awesome opportunity for us to serve our fans with the Commissioner's Cup,” said Donoghue told Multichannel News. “We were pleased with last year’s viewership — we generated a lot of positive feedback from viewers. We’re especially excited to have it come back for the second year.” 

Donoghue said Prime is working with the YES Network — the two have already teamed to exclusively stream 21 New York Yankees games this season — to stream the Commissioner's Cup championship game. YES Network on-air talent Sarah Kustok and Michael Grady will serve as analyst and play-by-play announcer for the event.

Also serving on the Commissioner's Cup broadcast team is former WNBA All-star Dawn Staley, who said the game provides a major boost to the WNBA. “I think the Commissioner’s Cup … makes regular-season games meaningful,” said Staley, the head women’s basketball coach for South Carolina, the NCAA champions. “If you're really good, it affords you an opportunity to win two championships.” 

Donoghue said the game along with Prime Video’s remaining WNBA telecasts helps the streaming service take sports fans into the late summer and its exclusive NFL Thursday Night Football package.

“We're really, really excited to launch the Thursday Night Football package with our preseason games in August, and then our first regular season on September 15,” she said. “It's a massive investment for us, and we’ve based it on our track record working with the NFL over the last several years.” ▪️

Showtime will shine a light on some of the greatest New York-born, basketball point guards in a new sports documentary series set to premiere July 29.

The documentary, NYC Point Gods, focuses on such 1980’s and 1990’s point guards as Rafer Alston, Kenny Anderson, Mark Jackson, Stephon Marbury, God Shammgod, Kenny Smith, Rod Strickland and Dwayne “Pearl” Washington as they helped shaped and advance the game of basketball, according to Showtime.

NYC Point Guards also features rare footage of the point guards, as well as interviews with such sports and celebrity personalities as Stephen A. Smith, Cam’ron, Fat Joe, Lou Carnesecca, Jim Boeheim and Rick Pitino.

“As a basketball fan who marveled at the skill and showmanship of each of these point gods, I couldn’t be prouder of this film for its faithful depiction of a special time and special place in basketball history,” said Showtime Networks Inc. President of Sports & Event Programming Stephen Espinoza in a statement. “New York City produced some of the greatest showmen and floor generals in basketball history, players whose creativity and style – and signature moves –  continue to influence the game today.” 

NYC Point Guards is produced by Showtime Documentary Films alongside NBA superstar Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s Boardroom, said the network. ■ 

Also:  Showtime's 'I Love That For You' Star Jenifer Lewis Talks About New Series Role

 ESPN and ABC will team to provide live coverage of the 2021 NBA Draft on July 29.

The first round of the draft  will air on both ESPN and ABC, with ESPN providing live second round coverage, said the network. Rece Davis will host ESPN’s coverage of the draft while Kevin Negandhi handles hosting duties for ABC alongside NBA analysts Jalen Rose and Chiney Ogwumike, said ESPN. 

ESPN and the league are hoping to improve on the 2.6 million viewers the network drew for the 2020 NBA Draft, which was held this past November weeks after the league ended its truncated, pandemic-delayed season. 

ESPN2 tonight (July28) will air a NBA Draft Preview show that will discuss the biggest NBA Draft storylines, top picks and possible trades, said the network. 

Read Also: ABC Summer Series 'Superstar' Premieres with Whitney Houston 

ESPN’s June 30 telecast of the Phoenix Suns’  closeout win against the L.A. Clippers in the Western Conference Finals series drew 5.8 million viewers, according to the sports network's analysis of Nielsen data.

The game, won by the Suns to advance to the NBA Finals, was up 64 percent from ESPN’s Conference Finals Game six last year between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat that was played in the pandemic-induced bubble in Florida, according to Nielsen.

Read also: Weekly Cable Ratings: TNT, ESPN Tie for Primetime Ratings Honors

Overall, ESPN and ABC’s coverage of the NBA Western Conference Finals generated an average viewership of 5.3 million viewers across six games, up 33 percent from ESPN’s six-game NBA Eastern Conference Finals coverage last year.

For the playoffs, ESPN and ABC averaged 3.9 million viewers across 33 games -- including the NBA Play-In Tournament -- up 34 percent year over year, according to Nielsen. 

ABC will air the NBA Finals beginning next week. 

The UFC 261 pay-per-view event highlights a packed weekend of live sports programming. 

ESPN Plus will stream the UFC 261 mixed martial arts fight card, headlined by the Kamaru Usman-Jorge Masvidal welterweight fight. Other combat sports include ESPN’s Saturday night boxing card featuring the Emanuel Navarrete-Christopher Diaz featherweight bout. 

ABC’s Saturday night primetime NBA telecast will feature the Los Angeles Lakers against the Dallas Mavericks, while sister sports network ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast will feature the San Diego Padres-Los Angeles Dodgers game. 

NBC will air two NHL hockey games this weekend, including Saturday’s Colorado Avalanche-St. Louis Blues game and Sunday’s Boston Bruins-Pittsburgh Penguins contest. 

CBS will take to the links for weekend coverage of the Zurich Classic PGA golf tournament, while FS1 will offer Saturday and Sunday coverage of the Pro Bowler’s Association’s Round of 16 Kia Playoffs. 

In auto sports, Fox will televise the NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 race on Saturday and the Geico 500 NASCAR Cup race on Sunday.

 BET has picked up rights to the first season of the LeBron James-produced basketball comedy Survivor’s Remorse.

BET and BET Her will air the first season of the series -- which ran on Starz from 2014 to 2017 -- beginning April 21, according to the network. The series follows the life of basketball star Cam Calloway and his family after he signs a pro-basketball contract and moves his family to Atlanta.

Survivor’s Remorse stars Jessie T. Usher, RonReaco Lee, Erica Ash, Teyonah Parris, Tichina Arnold, and Mike Epps.

Read Also: Starz Shows Power of Diversity

 ESPN Films and along with WNBA All-Star player Chiney Ogwumike will examine the WNBA’s unprecedented 2020 season as part of a new documentary, 144, premiering May 13.

The documentary will look at how the league created a single site at the IMG Academy in Florida to conduct their 2020 season after the pandemic shut down sports last spring. The show explores what the 144 WNBA players who played during the season had to overcome, including COVID-19, the the demands of social justice activism, and the rigors of an unrelenting schedule, said the network.

Ogwumike, who serves as executive producer of 144, said in a statement: "Developing this documentary about my sisters in the WNBA and the powerful 2020 season has been an honor. 144 amplifies the story of how our league helped create unprecedented social change while redefining how we see strong female athletes compete at the highest level. It is a privilege to showcase the 144 in their vulnerability letting cameras behind-the-scenes, their dedication to social impact, and their strength in navigating through one of the most challenging seasons we have ever had."

Read also: ESPN  to Air 'Daily Wager' Alternate NBA Telecast 

NBA star Carmelo Anthony and his business partner Asani Swann have formed Creative 7, a global, multiplatform content company that aims to develop projects for television film and podcasts.

Creative 7 will focus on inclusive, purpose-driven stories.

Anthony currently playing with the Portland Trailblazers, joins a number of basketball stars in the content business, including LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Also Read: Nick and Knicks’ Melo Hatch 'Turtle' Clothes Line

“We are excited to finally announce Creative 7 and share the purposeful projects we have been dedicated to developing over the past 2 years,” said Anthony. “We both share a passion for creating original content that will give a voice to the silenced, advocate for the underserved, and celebrate the resilience of the human spirit. We are in a time of profound transformation so we believe it is more important than ever to spotlight the individuals and the stories that will uplift the world and inspire lasting change."

The company said it is already working with Will Packer of Will Packer Productions on a series about the famous professional athletes who define culture but have little power in the industries they helped build.

Creative 7 is working with Plan B Entertainment on a limited series and is doing a project on the Jersey 4 racial profiling case with Impossible Dream Entertainment, the production company of Shaun Redick and Yvette Yates Redick.

Creative 7 also plans to champion emerging talent.

"At the core, our goal is to amplify unheard voices and groundbreaking stories that push the envelope and will leave a profound impact," said Swann. "As a Black woman, I am proud to co-found a company like Creative 7 that celebrates diversity and inclusion and will strive to push representation in this industry forward." 

The company has already been involved in producing Blood Brothers, a limited series in partnership with A+E Studios, Charles Murray and Narrative Film Group, Un Sueño Real, a docu-series with HBO España, Exile Content Studio and Newtral on the Real Madrid soccer team, and Universe, a series on Wallace Roney, a protege of Miles Davis.

Disney Plus Wednesday unveiled the official trailer for its upcoming basketball-themed original series Big Shot, starring John Stamos.

The 10-episode series, which debuts April 16, follows Stamos as a college basketball coach, who -- after getting ousted from the NCAA -- is given a chance for redemption with a position coaching a girls basketball team at an elite private high school.

Big Shot also stars Jessalyn Gilsig, Yvette Nicole Brown and Richard Robichaux, and is executive produced by David E. Kelley, Dean Lorey, Brad Garrett and Bill D'Elia.  

Basketball fans will get some pay-per-view hoops action before the NBA returns to the court in a new tournament set to premiere July 19.

The inaugural 5 Tournament will feature several former NBA players participating in a six-team, three-on-three elimination tournament that will take place from The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, NV, according to Doug Jacobs, president of Integrated Sports, which will distribute the PPV event.

The 10-day tournament will debut July 19 with the first of five tournament rounds before the semi-finals take place on July 27 and the Finals on July 29, said Integrated Sports. Teams will be based in New York, Chicago, Miami, Sacramento, Toronto and Texas and will feature such former NBA stars as Mario Chalmers, Mike Bibby, Jermaine Taylor, Brandon Rush and Carlos Arroyo.

FITE TV will distribute the 5 Tournament's early rounds at a suggested retail price of $12.95 per round, and the semi-final and final rounds for $19.95. In Demand and DirecTV will also offer the $19.95 semi-final and final rounds, said the company. 

The WNBA will be the next league to begin play amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with a shortened regular season beginning in July.

Under the current plan, teams will report to Florida’s IMG Academy in early July and a 22-game regular-season will tip off in late July without fans after a team training camp period, according to league officials. Regular season matchups and times will be announced at a later date, with ESPN, NBA TV and CBS Sports Network telecasting live games.

“We are finalizing a season start plan to build on the tremendous momentum generated in the league during the off-season and have used the guiding principles of health and safety of players and essential staff to establish necessary and extensive protocols,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert in a statement. “We will continue to consult with medical experts and public health officials as well as players, team owners and other stakeholders as we move forward with our execution plan.”

The WNBA follows soccer’s Premier League and the NWSL -- as well as the NHL and NBA -- in announcing a return to live play over the next two months.

The announcement also comes as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN Monday night that he’s “not 100% confident” that the league would play in 2020 after the players and league owners failed to come to an agreement over finances and safety protocols for a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“It’s just a disaster for our game ... it's important that we find a way to get past it and get the game back on the field for the benefit of our fans,” Manfred said during ESPN’s The Return of Sports special.

ESPN tonight (Jan. 27) will re-air Kobe Bryant’s final NBA game in tribute to the late basketball star, who tragically died yesterday in a helicopter accident.

RELATED: NBA Star Kobe Bryant Dies In Helicopter Crash

The sports network will air the April 13, 2016 Los Angeles Lakers-Utah Jazz game in which Bryant scored 60 points. ESPN will move its Kansas-Oklahoma State college basketball game to ESPN2 to make room for the telecast, said network officials. 

Bryant and his daughter Gianna were among nine passengers who died Sunday when a helicopter they were travelling in crashed in Calabasas, Calif.

In other Bryant tributes, HBO will air a retrospective on Bryant’s life and career during its Jan 28 episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. Real Sports revisits two long form pieces on Bryant that book-ended his career: A 2000 feature reported by James Brown when Kobe was in his fourth season and a 2016 profile from correspondent Andrea Kremer as Bryant was ending his basketball career and transitioning to new endeavors in entertainment, sports and business, according to HBO.

The NBA said it has postponed the Jan. 28 Los Angeles Lakers-Los Angeles Clippers game "out of respect for the Lakers organization, which is deeply grieving  the tragic loss of Lakers Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven other people in a helicopter crash on Sunday." The league said the game will be rescheduled at a later date.

. 

Former National Basketball Association superstar Kobe Bryant was killed Sunday in a helicopter crash, according to published reports.

Bryant, 41, was one of five people killed when a helicopter crashed in Calabasas. Calif, according to ESPN.com. Also reportedly on board of the aircraft was Bryant’s daughter, Gianna, according to ESPN.com.

[embed]https://twitter.com/CityofCalabasas/status/1221525572087451648[/embed]

The five-time NBA champion retired in 2016 as the third most prolific scorer in NBA history. Bryant was surpassed on the list by LeBron James just last night. 

During his 20-year NBA career, Bryant earned a Most Valuable Player award in 2008 and played on 18 NBA All-Star teams. He also earned basketball Gold medals as a player on two USA Olympics teams. 

In 2018, Bryant launched a sports documentary series, Detail, a sports analysis series on ESPN.com and ESPN+. He also won an Academy Award for best animated short for Dear Basketball.

Executives from the television and entertainment world reacted to Bryant's passing on social media:

[embed]https://twitter.com/RobertIger/status/1221531175061057536[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1221535608482549767[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/Trevornoah/status/1221518251965870080[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/Steven_Ballmer/status/1221545356124508161[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/Nike/status/1221565681063231489[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1221522246226845697[/embed]

The National Basketball Association and USA Basketball Tuesday (Aug. 6) expanded its distribution relationship with Amazon-owned social media service Twitch by making it the exclusive live streaming partner of USA Basketball. 

The eight-year old Twitch platform -- primarily used by video game enthusiasts to chat and compete among themselves -- will exclusively stream 40 hours of USA Basketball content globally, including all USA Men’s National Team exhibition games leading up to the FIBA World Cup in China, which begins Aug. 31. The multi-year deal also calls for Twitch to offer select USA Women’s National Team games and other USA Basketball events, according to the league. 

In addition, Twitch will exclusively stream 150 hours of Jr. NBA Global Championship games, adding to the service’s NBA portfolio of G-League games and NBA 2K League games.

I spoke to NBA Senior Vice President, Global Media Distribution and Business Affairs David Denenberg about the league’s continued relationship with the youth-targeted Twitch platform.

Why did the league feel Twitch was the best platform to exclusively stream USA Basketball and NBA Global Championship content?

We had looked at the properties and wanted to re-imagine them to make sure that we’re reaching not just people who are watching linear TV but streaming as well. We’re excited by it, and it's not just the games -- they will be doing some ancillary content, including the [USA Basketball] three-on-three finals and the Nike Hoop Summit. The nice part of this is we do reserve the ability to do a linear package of these games as well with NBA TV along with Twitch. We really like Twitch’s platform and we think they are really innovative and they reach an important demographic. They are also a worldwide platform so we’re excited that this is offering exposure throughout the world.

What does Twitch bring to the table in terms of technological innovations?

An example of some of the innovation that they do is something called co-streaming, in which the viewers who are watching the stream can add their own commentary and have their friends follow along. We think those are the kind of things that we think are part of the future of telecasts and the kind of things that we’re experimenting with across [NBA] programming. So the combination of the young demographic that they reach and the innovative ways of streaming that they offer makes us very excited about this.

You mentioned the Twitch’s audience demos. Is it a predominantly young male audience that you’re trying to reach through the platform?

It’s a young audience but I wouldn’t limit it to males. In the past they were known for streaming video game content and are still the leaders in that, but they’re looking to branch out beyond what they are doing, so it's a nice fit for what we’re trying to achieve and how they are extending their brand as well.

Will the NBA look to offer more of its content via Twitch in the near future?

Right now we’re here to announce these two deals, and we have two other deals with them so we’re really excited about the relationship we have with Twitch and we look forward to continuing to discuss opportunities with them as they arise, especially given their international nature. We’re also very invested with our current linear partners, but we want to make sure we’re reaching fans wherever they are and wherever they are going to consume content. We’ve seen good results with [Twitch’s streaming of] G-league and 2K league so we would like to continue that momentum with both [USA Basketball] and the Junior NBA.

The NBA this week put a price on keeping its fans connected to all of its games from tipoff through the final minutes.

The league -- through its NBA League Pass out-of-market game package -- on Dec. 10 provided fans the opportunity to purchase any live game on a quarter-to-quarter basis via NBA.com and the NBA App, as well as participating digital NBA League Pass distributors such as Turner’s Bleacher Report Live streaming service.

RELATED: NBA League Pass Available Via Amazon Prime Channels

Consumers can now pay $4.99 to watch any game at the end of the first quarter. If James Harden has 40 points at halftime,  fans can purchase that Houston Rockets game before the beginning of the third quarter for $2.99.

If Stephen Curry has a shot to break teammate Klay Thompson’s record of 14 three pointers after three quarters, viewers can buy the fourth quarter of that Golden State Warriors game for $1.99, according to the NBA.

The NBA has always been on the fast break when it comes to tailoring live game purchasing options for its avid fan base. As part of its NBA League Pass offering last year, the league launched a $6.99 single game purchase option.

When NBA Commissioner Adam Silver first revealed plans for quarter-by-quarter purchasing within live NBA games this past spring, he said the offering would cater to those fans who don’t always have the time to sit down and watch a full-game, but still want tune in when they can or if something big is developing during a game. 

“We know that most fans are not watching an entire game,” Silver said at the time. “We all recognize that if we were designing our products from scratch today I’m not sure we wouldn't design them in the same way because people’s attention spans are shorter. I think this notion of micro transactions will catch on with all programmers.”

Time will tell whether the league’s quarter-by-quarter pay offerings will score with its fanbase. 

Starz’s basketball-themed comedy series Survivor’s Remorse will end its four-season run this Sunday (Oct. 15.)

The series, executive produced by LeBron James, will conclude with back-to-back episodes this Sunday, according to the network. 

The series, which follows the exploits of a young basketball star trying to balance fame and family life, stars Jessie T. Usher, RonReaco Lee and Tichina Arnold. 

RELATED: Actress Tichina Arnold talks about her starring role in 'Survivor's Remorse' (VIDEO)

“We have been fortunate to work with incredible talents like Mike O’Malley, the executive producers and our cast on this very special show for four seasons,” said Starz CEO Chris Albrecht in a statement. “While this may be the end of The Calloway’s story, we do believe that the themes Survivor’s Remorse confronted over the seasons, through a unique mix of humor and sober observation, will be appreciated for the insightful, heartfelt way they were addressed. We are proud of the show.”

Broadcast network CBS’s coverage of the 52nd Academy of Country Music Awards drew the most social media interactions for a TV show on Sunday, outdistancing the seventh season finale of AMC’s The Walking Dead, according to Nielsen.

The Country Music Awards drew 2.2 million Twitter and Facebook interactions from more than 1.3 million unique social media accounts, besting The Walking Dead, which drew 1.8 million social media interactions from 967,000 unique accounts, according to Nielsen.

HBO’s drama series Big Little Lies, Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta and ABC’s Once Upon A Time rounded out the top five most social TV shows on Sunday.

ESPN’s Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball opening day telecast, and its coverage of the Mississippi State-South Carolina NCAA Women’s college basketball tournament finals dominated social media traffic for live sports events, with each telecast averaging more than 1 million social media interactions, said network officials.

The Pac-12 Conference and Pac-12 Networks are teaming with Chinese interactive video platform LeTV to live stream Pac-12 men’s basketball games in the world's most populous country this season.

The new deal, financial terms of which were not disclosed,  makes LeTV the exclusive Chinese distributor of 27 games, including the entire Pac-12 Tournament. Through the pact,  LeTV users can live-stream Pac-12 basketball on PCs, tablets, mobile devices, as well as LeTV Super TV (OTT) devices.  As such, the Pac-12 is the only conference to stream basketball games in China this season and the 2015 Pac-12 Men’s Basketball Tournament will be the first conference tournament streamed in its entirety before a Chinese audience. 

In addition to the live game streaming, LeTV, which has rights to 100,000 television episodes, 5,000 movies, and sports partnerships with FIFA, the PGA, NBA, NFL and MLB,  will offer all users on its platform access to a weekly package of Pac-12 basketball coverage and other programming on-demand. LeTV’s website also includes a Pac-12 microsite that features Pac-12 basketball news throughout the current campaign.

The streaming partnership is an outgrowth of the Pac-12 Globalization Initiative, aimed at showcasing the conference and its member schools in China via student-athlete exchanges and sport. Since the program tipped off in 2011, Pac 12 has sent men and women’s basketball teams, two women’s all-star volleyball teams, and a men's basketball all-star team to China for competitive exhibitions.   Come November, the Pac-12 will stage a regular season men’s basketball game in China between the University of Washington and the University of Texas, becoming the first major U.S. sports entity, collegiate or professional, to host a regular season contest in China. 

“We are thrilled to showcase the excitement of Pac-12 basketball and our esteemed universities to a new audience across China through LeTV,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott. “For the first time ever, the basketball-savvy Chinese audience will see our talented student-athletes compete at the highest level of basketball and learn more about our member universities.”

The 27 games available to LeTV audiences are being televised on Pac-12 Networks and ESPN in the U.S. and feature all 12 Pac-12 universities at least three times, including sixth-ranked Arizona and No. 13 Utah.

Remaining Schedule of Pac-12 men’s basketball games to be streamed by LeTV:

UCLA at CALIFORNIA Sat., Feb. 7, 5:00 p.m.

UTAH at COLORADO Sat., Feb. 7, 7:00 p.m.

OREGON STATE at UCLA Wed., Feb. 11, 7:00 p.m.

STANFORD at UTAH Thur., Feb. 12, 6:00 p.m.

USC at ARIZONA Thurs., Feb. 19, 6:00 p.m.

CALIFORNIA at STANFORD Sat., Feb. 21, 3:30 p.m.

USC at ARIZONA STATE Sun., Feb. 22, 5:30 p.m.

WASHINGTON STATE at USC Wed., Feb. 25, 7:00 p.m.

OREGON STATE at STANFORD Thurs., Feb. 26, 8:00 p.m.

WASHINGTON at USC Sat., Feb. 28, 7:00 p.m.

Pac-12 Tournament - First Round Wed., Mar. 11, all day

Pac-12 Tournament – Quarterfinals Thurs., Mar. 12, all day

Pac-12 Tournament – Semifinals Fri., Mar. 13, 6:00 p.m.

Pac-12 Tournament – Final Sat., Mar. 14, 8:00 p.m.

Dish Network may be playing hardball with Turner Broadcasting’s smaller networks, but it is facing a deadline in the next several weeks that could keep National Basketball Association regular season games away from its 14 million customers across the country.

Dish, claiming that Turner is demanding exorbitant financial terms for its networks, said the programmer pulled seven of its channels – Boomerang, Cartoon Network, CNN, CNN en Español, HLN, truTV and Turner Classic Movies – on Oct. 20.  Missing from the mix were Turner’s top two channels – TNT and TBS, but sources familiar with the matter said Dish’s carriage deal for those two channels expires before the end of the year.

TNT and TBS are Turner’s priciest networks – according to SNL Kagan, TNT receives carriage fees of $1.44 per month per subscriber and TBS, known more for re-airings of syndicated sitcoms like The Big Bang Theory receives $0.69 per subscriber per month. The other networks collectively receive about $1.57 per subscriber per month, according to Kagan.

While both channels have weathered some ratings softness in the past several months, TNT is about to enter one of its strongest ratings periods – NBA season. Earlier this month, ESPN and Turner signed a $24 billion rights deal with the NBA over nine years, beginning with the 2016-17 season.  TNT is scheduled to air its first pre-season NBA game tonight (Oct.21) at 8 p.m. between the Houston Rockets and Miami Heat, followed at 10:30 p.m. by the L.A. Clippers vs. The Golden State Warriors. TNT kicks off the regular season on Nov.6 with the San Antonio Spurs at Houston Rockets at 8 p.m. and the Dallas Mavericks at the Portland Trailblazers at 10:30 p.m.

Dish spokesman Bob Toevs declined comment.Turner, spokeswoman Rachelle Savoia also declined comment.

Dish also faces another possible sports blackout next month. The satellite company's  deal with broadcaster CBS -- which carries National Footballl League games as well as other top sports -- is slated to expire around the Thanksgiving holiday, according to sources familiar with both companies. CBS declined comment.