For starters, happy big 5-0 to Charles Barkley. As in basketball, you’re getting overshadowed by Michael Jordan again.

Barkley, though, has become one of America’s most lovable characters thanks to his antics on TNT. Tonight he will be part of the network’s coverage of the NBA All-Star game.

Recently, Barkley pronounced the basketball’s version to be sports’ best All-Star game.

“This All-Star Game is always fun because out of all the all-star games in sports, the baseball game is not that much fun, the Pro Bowl is not that much fun — you can’t play football for fake — but we do a great job of celebrating the NBA history,” Barkley said. “You walk around and you see the great Bill Russell and you’ll see Moses (Malone), you’ll see Doc (Julius Erving), you’ll see Oscar (Robertson), you see Jerry West. It is a really cool weekend.”

Barkley is right about the NBA rolling out its old stars. And it does seem like a great party if you are there.

But the game itself? No.

The closest All-Star game that resembles an actual game is in baseball. Regardless of how long the starters play, the pitchers still throw hard, setting up the confrontations with the batters, which are the core of the game. It’s still interesting to see Verlander vs. Posey, Halladay vs. Cabrera, etc..

In the basketball version, the defense is so non-existent, it’s as if the offensive players are facing batting practice pitching. There’s nothing exciting about watching BP for 2 1/2 hours.

Just once, it would be great to see an All-Star game where there was a prize that forced the players to go hard. Given the money those guys make, you’re probably talking about a pool of $100 million just to get them interested.

But if the players went all out, East vs. West, that would be a game worth watching.

Charles, Charles, Charles. This time, he offered his always candid assessment of sideline reporters in an interview with Richard Deitsch of SI.com:

SI.com: How do you view sideline reporters on a broadcast?

Barkley: I don’t like sideline reporters at halftime because you’re  asking coaches questions, and they are pissed off most of the time. Anything can  happen when you are mad like that, especially if your team is getting its butt  kicked. It’s always easy to interview the guy who is winning, but if you are  getting your butt kicked, it’s a very awkward situation. You haven’t even had a  chance to digest what you’ve been bad at, and they are asking what you have been  bad at!

SI.com: That’s why I love interviews with Gregg Popovich. He’s great television when he  makes reporters uncomfortable.

Barkley: Oh, he’s great. But I will tell you one form of  discrimination no one ever talks about regarding sideline reporters.

SI.com: What’s that?

Barkley: If you are an ugly woman, you have no chance of getting a TV  job.

SI.com: But if you dress like Craig Sager, you can still get hired, right?

Barkley: Hey, I think you have to dress like Sager to get a job now. I  will say this: They have hot, great-looking women on TV now. But if you are an  ugly woman, you ain’t got no chance of getting a TV job.

********

Great comeback by Deitsch on Sager.

Regarding Barkley’s comments, what can I say? Looks help for both sexes when it comes to TV.

Thoughts?

When Chuck Swirsky became the radio play-by-play voice for the Chicago Bulls, the first person he called was Jim Durham.

“I said, ‘I wouldn’t have this job without you,'” Swirsky said.

Like everyone else who knew him, Swirsky was “devastated” by the news that Jim Durham passed away over the weekend. He was 65.

As I wrote in an earlier post, the loss is particularly acute in Chicago. At the age of 26, Durham became the radio voice of the Bulls in 1973. He was immensely popular here, working both radio and TV on their games until 1991.

Meanwhile, Swirsky was in the process of establishing himself at WGN in the ’80s. Among his early play-by-play duties was calling DePaul basketball games with Ray Meyer.

Swirsky never forgot the assistance he received from Durham.

“He would listen to tapes of my games with DePaul,” Swirsky said. “He would say, ‘You need to tell the score more’ or ‘You need to describe where the ball is more.’ He wouldn’t just say, ‘You’re doing fine.’ His advice was very constructive. He was a great mentor.”

In a story he’s never told before, Swirsky said WGN was interested in hiring Durham for the Cubs’ radio booth after Milo Hamilton parted ways with the team in 1984. Swirsky participated in a meeting with WGN executives and Durham at O’Hare. The job, though, never materialized. Perhaps it was because Durham enjoyed the off-season at his ranch in Texas.

It’s probably just as well. Durham and basketball were a perfect fit.

“He was as professional on the air as he was off the air,” Swirsky said. “He was a tremendous communicator. He loved his craft and touched so many people in the NBA. This is really a very empty day for all of us.”

Among the others weighing in:

Michael Jordan at ESPNChicago.com: “The voice of champions. I will miss him.”

Artis Gilmore in the Chicago Tribune:  “I absolutely will remember Jim Durham for his contributions to the game and his demeanor. He was a people person. Jim called the game the way it was and the way he observed it on the floor. I never took personal offense to any (broadcast criticism).”

Mike Tirico via Twitter: “Sad day for any of us who have been blessed to cross paths with Jim Durham, Hall of Famer in every way. Great man, great talent.”

Marc Stein at ESPN.com: “Some of the things I will never forget about the one and only Jim Durham: How he made the broadcasts of some really bad Mavericks teams in the ’90s sound as important as the games he called for Michael Jordan’s Bulls. … How patient and helpful he was when he had to nurse me through my first few on-camera halftime “insider” cameos on those same broadcasts. … How much Jerry Sloan always loved seeing him when Utah came to town. … How much we all looked forward to him making it official and announcing that somebody hot had it “stuck on automatic.” … How good he and Dr. Jack were together. … How honored I was to actually get to work with the two Hall of Famers on an NBA on ESPN Radio broadcast last spring with JD tossing to me for updates as a first-time sideline reporter. … How Dr. Jack loved to call him JD several times during every broadcast. … And how, as TNT’s David Aldridge so aptly put it on Twitter: Jim Durham was a better man than a broadcaster. And we’re talking about a Hall of Fame broadcaster. What a voice.”

Doug Gottlieb via Twitter: “My first NBA Draft was w/Jim Durham– treated me like an equal despite having no clue of my abilities-will miss his voice on ESPN Radio.”

A sad day for the NBA and basketball fans everywhere: Veteran NBA play-by-play voice Jim Durham passed away over the weekend in Texas. He was 65.

He worked the NBA season opener between Boston and Miami last Tuesday with his good friend Jack Ramsey.

Durham had been the lead play-by-play radio voice for the NBA on ESPN Radio since 1996. Basketball fans in Chicago already knew he was great.

Durham was the voice of the Bulls on radio and TV from 1973-91. For those of us growing up in the early 70s, when home games weren’t televised, we listened on radio to Durham’s voice capturing the rocking energy at the old Chicago Stadium for those great Bulls teams of Bob Love, Chet Walker, Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Lier.

Later, Durham was on hand to describe the first pro games for a rookie named Michael Jordan. There were classic calls of him and his colorful partner, Johnny “Red” Kerr, marveling at Jordan’s magic. They provided the first words to the eventual transformation of basketball.

Durham had a terrific voice and keen sense for basketball. He made the games exciting and let his analysts flourish.

“Jim was an extraordinary professional,” said John Martin, ESPN Executive Producer, radio remotes, who frequently worked on-site with Durham. “His talent for calling NBA on radio in vivid, descriptive terms was unmatched. When JD was so deservedly recognized with the Gowdy Award, he had the Hall of Fame career to go along with his long established position as a Hall of Fame person. He was a sensational individual.”

In 2011, Durham’s talents earned him the Curt Gowdy Award from the National Basketball Hall of Fame. In a piece written by Sam Smith at NBA.com, Ramsey praised his partner.

“He’s the best I’ve ever heard on radio,” Ramsey said. “He seems to have been taken for granted because he’s such a self effacing guy. But he has everything—the great voice, the instinct for coming to the exciting parts of the game so that you can feel it in his voice. He never misses a tip, a pass, deflection, every shot, every defensive play and with great recall. He’s just amazing. This was long overdue.”

Last winter, ESPN compiled some of Durham’s most famous calls, including the legendary Michael Jordan shot over Craig Ehlo to win a playoff series for the Bulls over Cleveland.

Enjoy listening to the one of the best. He will be missed.

Jeff Van Gundy was on an ESPN conference call Wednesday to preview the NBA season. Naturally, though, he was asked about his comments earlier this week to USA Today’s Michael Hiestand. He claimed the league blocked ESPN from hiring his brother, Stan, for a studio job.

From the call:

Q. I realize you do have bosses on the phone, but how would you characterize ‑‑

Van Gundy:  You think?  (Laughing.)

Q. How would you characterize the feedback that you received from that piece, either internally at ESPN or within NBA circles?  And I ask that because it’s just rare that we see somebody talk about how truthful, really truthful broadcasters can be on the air.

Van Gundy:  Well, I think this:  As I pointed out in that article, ESPN has been really, really good to me, and even after things that I said that some of them may have agreed or disagreed with, they’ve never really tried to squash my opinions.  And yet I think you can probably understand, I wasn’t really looking for a reaction from the outside to either support or disagree.  I just said what I felt was my truth.  From ESPN it’s been fine.  I haven’t heard anything positive or negative.

But from an individual standpoint, I really ‑‑ I said what I said, and now I really want to move forward and not really go back and rehash my opinions.

******

Earlier, Van Gundy was asked whether Stan still would venture into broadcasting this year?

Van Gundy:  I think he has some opportunities in radio, and then I think he may try to do some stuff, either college basketball or some work with an NBA team.  But I don’t think anything has been solidified.

But I think he’d like to dip his toe in the water and see if, one, he likes it, and two, if he finds it fulfilling, because I think when you do get fired, there is a grieving period you go through as a coach, and I think he’s trying to figure out what’s next.

Whatever he decides, he’s smart, he’s hard‑working, he’ll figure it out.

*******

Van Gundy continued to stand by his brother over what happened in Orlando. When asked the Magic future, he threw in a dig about management.

Van Gundy: As for me, I think they arguably have as good a team as they had last year going into the Playoffs when Howard was out.  And I think they competed hard in that series, and I think you’ll see Orlando play exceptionally hard.