During NBA season, we enjoy watching the TNT studio team, and we also really like Reggie and Cheryl Miller’s color commentary. But we love watching Charles Barkley before, during and after the basketball games. He tells it like it is, which is so refreshing. (And his Fave 5 commercials with Dwayne Wade are high-larious.) But recently, TNT added Chris Webber to the team. Barkley said to Webber “I don’t believe in role models, but you’re mine,” but watching the broadcasts, it seems like it is the other way around. Webber is as blunt as Barkley. Last night he pointed out that what the coaches say at halftime matters very little — “It doesn’t matter what Flip says” — that the key players set the tone. (You never hear that from network analysts; they are too busy praising the coaches — they largely being out-of-work coaches, themselves — and trying to out-pontificate each other.) And he played along with a jab about his most infamous moment, laughing at a question about how many timeouts are allowed in college basketball. It looks like Webber — with his expertise and magnanimity — is giving us another reason to tune in even when the games are uninteresting.

(Last night’s game was certainly not uninteresting. It was great to see Atlanta, with the enthusiastic support of their fans, beat the super Celtics. Overall, we have been enjoying the playoffs: lots of good games so far.)