The Walt Disney Company has made creative excellence and powerful storytelling central to its identity across every business. How does that company-wide ethos influence the way your team approaches the production of the Finals, from the broadcast itself to the narratives you build around the players and teams?
One example is that we’re producing a unique open for every game of the Finals.
The NBA Finals are a celebration of greatness — of players and teams who cement their legacies on the sport’s biggest stage. We decided one open wasn’t enough. This is the 79th NBA Finals, and there are simply too many iconic moments, champions, and stories to tell.
So, we made a multi-year commitment to creating seven distinct opens. Each run about 80 seconds, and no footage is repeated from one game to another. The only exception is a potential Game 7, which will be entirely focused on historic Game 7 moments.
Think about someone like LeBron James. LeBron in Miami, LeBron in Cleveland, and LeBron in Los Angeles are three different stories. Or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Milwaukee versus Kareem in Los Angeles. We have this enormous catalog of legendary players and moments, and this approach allows us to recognize all of them.
That’s storytelling at its best — making sure we celebrate the full history of the Finals.
The Knicks are in the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years. From a production standpoint, what does it mean to bring the NBA Finals back to Madison Square Garden, and how does the energy of New York City factor into the presentation of the series?
We’ve seen it throughout this playoff run and even going back to last season. The scene around Madison Square Garden, the watch parties, and the way the city has completely embraced this team has been incredible.
Then there’s the atmosphere inside the Garden itself. The celebrities courtside, the energy, the history — Madison Square Garden is one of the truly special venues in sports. Whether you’re talking about Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, Soldier Field, or the Rose Bowl, there are certain iconic places that stand apart. Madison Square Garden is one of them.
When you talk to star players about their careers, they always mention playing at the Garden. The Finals haven’t been there since 1999, and that long wait has only increased the anticipation among fans and players alike.
New York City as a backdrop is a major part of the story, and we intend to celebrate that.
The Spurs are back in the Finals with Victor Wembanyama, a generational talent, appearing on the biggest stage for the first time. How does having Wembanyama in the Finals shape the story ESPN and ABC tell around the series?
We’ve been fortunate during our run covering the Finals to document some of the greatest players of their eras.
We covered Kobe Bryant winning championships. Then came LeBron James, another generational talent. Then we told the story of Stephen Curry. Along the way we also saw Dirk Nowitzki, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokić, and the Celtics add to their legacies.
The Finals are where players become legends.
For Wembanyama, this would be his opportunity to begin writing that chapter. We were there when the Spurs built their dynasty with Tim Duncan, Manu Ginóbili, and Tony Parker. Now we have the chance to watch the next era potentially begin.
Everything we’ve seen so far suggests Victor is the future of the league. We couldn’t be more excited about that. It’s an enormous challenge for a player so young, but everything we’ve seen indicates he’s ready for it.
