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New TV broadcast partners Joel Meyers, Antonio Daniels can’t wait for Pelicans, NBA seasons to begin

When Antonio Daniels moved into his new Warehouse District condominium this fall, one of his neighbors – living one floor above Daniels – was an extremely familiar face. As Daniels begins his first season as TV analyst for Pelicans games on Fox Sports New Orleans, a nearby tenant is… his play-by-play partner, Joel Meyers.

“We live in the same dorm,” Meyers joked.

Daniels and Meyers now share an address, but in their new TV partnership, they will also share an intense passion for the NBA and the sport, having both worked on numerous national TV and radio broadcasts. The duo recently sat down for lunch at Mandina’s in Mid-City, where virtually every employee and waiter seems to know Meyers, similar to “Norm!” from the old Cheers show. One waiter who was serving other tables stopped by briefly to tell Meyers the Pelicans-related story of his recent vacation to Portugal.

“Every person I met there under age 30 who heard I was from New Orleans,” the waiter noted, laughing, “immediately said, ‘Zion!’ ”

Another man in an LSU baseball T-shirt approached Meyers and Daniels outside the restaurant to say how excited he was for this season, particularly given the way Pelicans players have embraced the city this offseason.

“I’m so glad we have players who want to be here,” the man said, smiling. “And you know what? If you don’t want to be here, we’re going to boo you every time you come back!”

“It’s a good relationship we have with the city now,” Meyers said of the Pelicans. “People are starting to trust the franchise, which is huge, the believability factor. They want to support us, but it’s just we’ve been a roller-coaster ride. What we have now is going to be sustainable – we all know that.”

During a lengthy conversation as Daniels and Meyers ate, here were some of their thoughts about their new pairing and the excitement they have for the upcoming season. Their first regular season broadcast is New Orleans’ home opener vs. Dallas on Oct. 25:

Joel Meyers

Once upon a time, local NBA game broadcasts were genuinely local. Now though, with how large the NBA’s audience has become, as well as the popularity of NBA League Pass, how does that affect the way you approach game broadcasts?

Meyers: Every telecast you approach as not just a national one, but an international one, because of League Pass. We get tweets during games from Germany, from France, from Amsterdam. All over the world. It’s unreal how many people reach out to you through social media. It’s like we are doing a national network telecast. Our hearts are in the right place (in terms of the Pelicans), but we give credit where credit is due. For instance, during Friday’s game, Utah’s offense was pretty incredible in the first half. They were executing. People want honesty on a telecast. We look at it that way. We want the (New Orleans) guys to succeed at the highest level – and really want them to succeed for the city, because it has been great to us – but at the same time, we take an honest approach to everything we do.

One unique thing you both bring to the table is your involvement in national radio with Sirius XM, where you have to provide a broader view of the NBA to the audience. How does that shape your perspective when you do Pelicans games?

Daniels: All I do is watch basketball and the NBA. This is not really a job, even though you get paid for it. That’s why I say it’s such a blessing, because you get paid to do something you’d be doing no matter what. Even if I didn’t do this job, and we sat down for lunch to talk, what would we talk about? We would talk about what’s going on in basketball.

To have a Sirius XM show five days a week, then get to go home and watch League Pass game after game after game, that’s also preparation for me. So whenever the Pelicans play an opponent, I will have seen that team play three or four times (recently) by then. So it’s not just going off of the game notes and stats; I can base my opinion off of my own eye test and what I’ve seen. It’s our job at Sirius XM to be about not just the Pelicans. We have to do background, research and know stuff about all 30 teams. It benefits you when you’re talking about any of the 30 teams. It is the ultimate blessing of a job to have. What else can you ask for?

Meyers: When you love the game, it’s not a job. We live the league and see the big picture and see where the Pels are in the big picture. It’s kind of second nature to us. We’re going to talk the league, not just the Pels.

Media-wise, how do you follow the NBA during the season?

Daniels: I watch all basketball – I’m talking about a Monday afternoon game between, say, Charlotte vs. Phoenix. It doesn’t matter. If there is an NBA game on and I’m available to watch it, I’m going to watch it. That’s my thing. I never say, ‘Oh, this isn’t a good game’ or ‘It’s not on ESPN or TNT so I’m not going to watch.’ I watch all 30 teams. Obviously I will be more in-depth with the Pelicans, because we’re at practice every day, develop relationships with the guys and really want them to see them succeed, but I watch it all. On Twitter, I really only follow basketball people, people who are talking about sports, and a few comedians. Throughout the course of the year, I do NBA TV, and both of us do Sirius XM, different shows to stay in tune to what’s going on everywhere else, beyond what’s going on with our team.

Meyers: It helps our telecast. (When you have a Sirius XM show), when you open your eyes in the morning, the first thing you do is open up Hoops Hype, The Athletic. It’s wild now how many guys cover the Pels. There are all of these websites. It’s amazing how much information is out there. I’m not deeply into podcasts; I’d much rather read long-form columns about the game. The coverage of the NBA has never been this good, or this much in-depth.

Daniels: Or this accessible.

Meyers: Once the season starts, there is not much of a life (outside of basketball), which is a good thing. Because any night we’re not on TV, we’re watching League Pass and all of the games. Even when the Pels are playing at home on a game night, when I get home afterward at 10 or 11, I’m watching the West Coast games.

Antonio Daniels

Zach Lowe, who is perhaps the most respected national NBA writer, recently released his annual League Pass rankings column and placed the Pelicans ninth. Where would you put them?

Daniels: So here’s my question… give me eight more exciting teams than the Pelicans.

Without looking it up, some of them were Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Dallas, the Lakers, Clippers…

Daniels: Dallas? Stop it! I can see the Lakers, Clippers, maybe Brooklyn if Kevin Durant is healthy, but he’s not. You can say Milwaukee because of Giannis Antetokounmpo, you can say Houston with James Harden and Russell Westbrook. That’s about where it would stop for me.

What’s the sense you get on the level of excitement for this season from fans you meet in New Orleans?

Daniels: It’s never been this high. Joel would be able to speak to this better, but for me having been on the outside looking in, it’s not even close.

Meyers: We’ve never had depth on the roster like this. We’ve never had so many guards like this.

Daniels: This excitement right now is about the future. Being able to build this from the ground up and watch it organically. Everyone is excited to be a part of that.

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