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🎤 QUICK START ✍️

📺 Jordon Hudson steps in. As Bill Belichick lays a foundation in Chapel Hill in his return to college football, the legendary coach joined CBS Sunday Morning for a feature interview. But when the topic moved to Belichick’s relationship with the 24-year-old Hudson, she stepped in and insisted that host Tony Dokoupil ask a different question.

😬 NFL looking into Shedeur prank. As Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders fell through the second and third rounds of the NFL Draft, two Ole Miss students pranked Sanders by imitating a call from an NFL executive. Now, multiple NFL insiders report the league is investigating how the students acquired Shanders’ personal phone number while rumors surface of a similar prank call toward TE Tyler Warren during the first round.

🏀 NBA bashed over miracle game-winner. The only game-winning buzzer beater dunk in NBA history secured a Game 4 win for the Denver Nuggets in L.A., but TNT viewers could hardly enjoy the moment. After Reggie Miller pumped the brakes by telling the audience the refs would review the play, a full 3 minutes passed before Kevin Harlan could officially proclaim Aaron Gordon’s bucket had beaten the Clippers.

️‍🚨LEADING OFF 🚨

Did Mel Kiper Jr. cross the line?

During Saturday’s coverage of the final rounds of the NFL Draft, the dam broke.

As Mel Kiper Jr. unleashed yet another rant in defense of Shedeur Sanders after the young QB was finally selected by the Cleveland Browns, Rece Davis put his foot down. Moving from the College GameDay desk to the main panel for Day 3, Davis was coming in fresh to the Mad Mel show. But he was determined to talk some sense into the longtime ESPN draftnik.

“This was the result, now he has an opportunity to answer it,” Davis said of Sanders. “I think yelling at the NFL about it is not productive.”

A heated Kiper again compared Sanders’ fall to that of Tom Brady and Boomer Esiason. In that moment, Davis had probably never missed the jovial GameDay desk more.

“Nobody’s arguing that can happen,” Davis said, arms flapping now.

What Davis (and, at times, Louis Riddick) were doing was pressing the reset button on Kiper’s back. Once Sanders finally got drafted, Kiper was stuck on repeat with the Day 1 and 2 spiel. He was so doggone frustrated by NFL decision-makers who disagreed with his analysis that he was determined to take a victory lap.

Some, such as Awful Announcing’s Sam Neumann, loved seeing vintage Kiper. He certainly met the moment of the biggest story of his 42nd draft. In his final Big Board of the year, Kiper had Sanders fifth, ahead of No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. On TV, he defended that ranking as is his entire career depended on it.

My hunch is that, like with Stephen A. Smith or Kendrick Perkins or Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN is happy with talent going over the top and making themselves the story if it pays off. There is a line that can’t be crossed where it becomes absurd and seflish. I don’t think Kiper crossed it.

The more interesting angle than a simple Good vs. Bad on Kiper running defense for Sanders is how it fits into the broader context of ESPN’s draft coverage. It was striking this year to see just how deep the network’s bench is.

Beyond Kiper, Riddick and Booger McFarland on the main desk and the GameDay crew out behind the crowd, ESPN brought in pinch hitters like it was the MLB All-Star game. Viewers saw Field Yates, Matt Miller and Peter Schrager swap in capably. On the radio, new hire Jordan Reid and contributor Mike Tannenbaum brought their analysis all weekend. Pat McAfee’s replacement for Bill Belichick came in the form of longtime NFL coach Mike McCarthy. It’s an embarrassment of riches.

Kiper made headlines. He had something to say about the big story of the weekend. And he’s a legend.

That all can be true, but we all saw Kiper wear on his colleagues. Many fans grew tired of by the fourth or fifth rant. Even the Sanders draft party was tuned to NFL Network.

At times, Kiper already gets drowned out by the many smart newcomers at ESPN. If the network ever wanted to move him around or phase him out as the face of its draft coverage, it wouldn’t be hard.

📣 SOCIAL EXPERIMENT 🌟

The full clip from CBS Sunday Morning of Jordon Hudson intervening on behalf of Bill Belichick is worth a watch. The more we see and hear of Hudson, the more it’s clear just how involved the young woman is in Belichick’s career, a role that would have been unthinkable for the notoriously resolute football lifer.

Also on the list of “worth a full watch” is the side-by-side footage of the Ole Miss pranksters and Shedeur Sanders at home, awaiting his NFL Draft fate.

Someone got a little too creative on the New England Patriots social media team. Not only did this Patriots post tease seventh-round selection Kobee Minor with the “Mr. Irrelevant” moniker, it also peculiarly referenced Kendrick Lamar’s signature “A Minor” bar on “They Not Like Us.”

If you know the history of Lamar’s beef with Drake, you know that line is intended to accuse Drake of having an eye for underage girls. It’s also the centerpiece of Drake’s lawsuit against Lamar. Not exactly what you want to tag on your new draft pick, even if his name works for a clever turn of phrase…

📈💰INDUSTRY INSIGHTS🧐

• The NFL may make moves to shorten the run time of the NFL Draft. In an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday, commissioner Roger Goodell floated the idea of shortening the clock for each pick, particularly in the first round. The suggestion came after Thursday’s first round clocked in at nearly four hours, driven by the 10-minute clock for each selection.

• Stephen A. Smith sounded off on Shannon Sharpe’s hiatus from ESPN, suggesting his twice weekly First Take cohost’s big mistake came in his legal strategy. Whereas others choose to handle lawsuits in private and continue working, Sharpe and his legal team have aggressively negotiated in public. By releasing grotesque text messages and accusing the plaintiff of blackmail, Sharpe created a headache the Worldwide Leader likely couldn’t ignore.

• Pablo Torre, now a part-timer at ESPN with his own show at Meadowlark Media, is gaining a lot of fans at MSNBC. Since last year, the former High Noon host has been a contributor on Morning Joe for the progressive news network. With changes on the horizon across NBC Universal and its new “SpinCo” of cable networks, the versatile Torre is reportedly being eyed for a full-time role in the third seat on Morning Joe.

🔥 THE CLOSER 🔥

A new No. 2 for the NBA on ESPN?

Quietly last fall amid the never-ending game of musical chairs that is ESPN’s NBA coverage, a new No. 2 booth came together.

With JJ Redick wearing a crewneck sweatshirt on the Lakers’ sideline and and Richard Jefferson his heir apparent, the whole roster once again needed a shuffle. So, as we learned last week from The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, ESPN unofficially promoted a new No. 2 booth.

Fresh off a new rights deal that will keep him as the voice of NCAA women’s basketball and the WNBA, Ryan Ruocco was moved off the top NBA windows. A valuable spot in the pecking order opened up.

In search of capable hands, the network paired veterans Dave Pasch and Tim Legler, and the duo regularly called big games all season behind Mike Breen, Doris Burke and Jefferson. It’s been a huge success.

Nothing slips by these guys. They are keenly locked into every beat of the game. Whether it’s a schematic pattern, a command from the coaches, even an eye-roll toward a ref — they see it all. These may be the basics of announcing, but it counts for a lot. Basketball moves quick, and every possession is a life cycle in the playoffs.

When Pasch and Legler have the reins, an NBA fan is sure to hear the full story of the game.

The other things that make them natural partners is their tone. Not their cutting baritones, but their honesty. Both announcers are more than willing to question a team’s plans or an official’s call. No star player is protected from criticism.

It all come together Sunday during a chaotic finish to Knicks-Pistons in Detroit. A Pistons offensive rebound gave them one last shot at the buzzer, down 1. In an instant, Legler was able to see what officials would later confirm was a missed call. Corner shooter Tim Hardaway Jr. was fouled on the final shot attempt of the game, extinguishing a chance for Detroit to win the game on his free-throws.

“Most often you're going to get a call on this play,” Legler said.

The Pasch-Legler combo feels more like ESPN’s old top booth than its current one ever has. The two are on top of everything, and know how to cut through in the big moments.

Maybe their lack of name recognition holds them back from ever calling the NBA Finals for ESPN. No matter how they are seen in Bristol, they are more than capable of holding down the No. 2 spot. With the constant turnover on the NBA side, the network should let these two stay and grow together going forward. They and the viewers will benefit.

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