On June 12, 2002, the NBA died. That was the night of Game 4 of the 2002 NBA Finals, when the Los Angeles Lakers finished off the overmatched New Jersey Nets. That was also the last night that NBC Sports aired an NBA game.

Since taking over the NBA in 2002, ABC has taken remarkable creative license with telecasts. The games are secondary to strange camera angles; floorcam, FreeFlight and sideways shots of the backs of players jerseys have been favorites of ABC's game producers.

Since ABC took over the NBA, the network has had three lead play-by-play voices (Brad Nessler, Al Michaels and Mike Breen). To put that in perspective, NBC only had two lead voices for the twelve-year duration of its coverage (Bob Costas and Marv Albert).

There have been four different sets of analysts (Tom Tolbert and Bill Walton, Doc Rivers, Hubie Brown, and Mark Jackson). There have been six different studio teams ('03: Mike Tirico, Tolbert and Walton; 04: Tirico, Tolbert and Byron Scott; '05: Tirico, Walton and Steve Jones; '06: Tirico and Scottie Pippen; '06: Dan Patrick, Pippen, Jackson and Michael Wilbon; '07: Patrick, Jackson and Wilbon).

There have been five different graphics packages (one for each season), three different theme songs and eight different music groups (Robert Randolph and the Family Band, LL Cool J, Justin Timberlake, The Black Eyed Peas, Destiny's Child, Rob Thomas, Tom Petty and The Pussycat Dolls).

Indecision, constant change, appealing almost exclusively to the casual fan, camera shots that make no sense. Add to that the fact that, five years in, games that aired on NBC look as if they have better quality than those on ABC (thanks to brighter colors and a camera that was closer to the action) and it becomes obvious that ABC has done its fair share to diminish the NBA in stature.