“It’s my main man [insert NBA player of your choice].” That was always the preface before every interview Ahmad Rashad gave during the 15-year run of NBA Inside Stuff. The show weaned a generation of basketball fans on bloopers and highlights every Saturday on NBC. Now it’s coming back with the recently retired Grant Hill in place of Rashad.
Ahmad’s effusive interviewing style and personal relationships with some of the game’s biggest players always meant a special guest every week despite the show’s sometimes corny gimmicks.
Whether it was the “Rewind” feature where Ahmad served up game analysis and highlights from the previous week to cable-starved kids like myself. Or, the immortal “Jam Session,” which combined new music with the best dunks from the week, NBA Inside Stuff kept us all warm during long winter months. Remember that it debuted in the mid-90s before the Internet, and if you didn’t have cable — like us — the network’s didn’t televise a lot of regular season action. So Inside Stuff gave us a weekly behind-the-scenes look at the NBA, along with bloopers, dunks and highlights.
Now it’s back, and it’s gotten a makeover since ABC changed the show to NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad. Grant Hill will be hosting as NBA Inside Stuff makes a return to NBA TV on November 2. Hill will be joined by co-host Kristen Ledlow, an Atlanta daytime radio host.
What do you think?
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