On Thursday night the biggest basketball league in the world, the NBA, was in London for its annual regular season game and Sports Mole was invited by the UK broadcaster, BT Sport, for an inside look as the Atlanta Hawks took on the Brooklyn Nets.
It was the second time that the NBA had played a regular season game in London and the O2 Arena provides a space perfect for 'hoops' with its 20,000 capacity. I arrive three hours before tipoff at 5pm for a jam-packed schedule.
After receiving my press pass, into the belly of The O2 we go to have a quick sample of the arena courtside before our first chat in the outside broadcast (OB) truck, where all the magic happens that brings the show to TV.
That picture makes it look quite empty but it is packed with producers, mixers, graphic designers and more. Cramped together at the side of the truck, I meet presenters Caroline de Moraes and ex-Great Britain basketball player Flinder Boyd.
"The O2 is such a great place for basketball," says Flinder. "It's got great acoustics when the crowd gets into it."
The match was between two Eastern Conference sides, with Atlanta surrendering one of their 41 home games to come to London.
"I think it would be great if they had one team that came here every single year so that would be the 'English team'," adds Flinder, who was also at The O2 last year when the Detroit Pistons took on the New York Knicks in the first NBA Global Game in London.
Ahead of the match, outgoing NBA commissioner David Stern and his successor Adam Silver were being pressed on the possibility of a European NBA franchise. It's something that both men are keen on but Flinder thinks that it wouldn't be "logistically possible" because of the number of NBA games - each of the 30 teams plays 82 times a season.
"I just think there's too much affecting it with the travel and taxes. I'd love it, but I can't see it happening," he said.
NFL, the American Football league, also comes to the English capital but the format of their sport lends itself better to a permanent team being based here.
They only play once a week and its popularity is growing rapidly on these shores. This season two games were played at Wembley Stadium for the first time and next season that is being increased to three.
"The American sports are just so much more enternaining," says Caroline, who is BT's courtside reporter and has the unfortunate job of grabbing celebrities for a quick chat during the game. "The foam hands, the cheerleaders. It's all so much fun."
As we are chatting, rumours about which celebrities are in attendance escalate and escalate. A number of footballers from Arsenal and Chelsea are expected but then it is revealed that actor Owen Wilson and none other than legendary Beatles musician Paul McCartney are going to be courtside too. I'm a little dubious about McCartney but a couple of hours later Caroline would be interviewing him!
NBA: Peace out - @PaulMcCartney gives @officialCaz the sign. Watch interview here http://t.co/49D60uiXsI #NBALondon pic.twitter.com/NTZoLd64ak
— BT Sport (@btsport) January 17, 2014
You might expect all the presenters to have fed themselves before the show but various takeout food is being rushed into the truck, with sushi, pizza and mexican all getting wolfed down as quickly as possible by the team.
BT host Darren Fletcher rocks up soon after and his entrance leads to a chat with the producer, Flinder and Caroline about the running order for the evening. The pronunciation of Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer (boo-den-hol-zur) takes up at least 30 seconds of their time.
After everyone knows how the show is going to go, producer Phil Dyson-Coope affords us a few minutes to give us a detailed rundown of all the lights and switches inside the truck, where he would orchestrate the show from all evening.
"It's glamorous work," he says. "We go to all these high-profile sporting events but you spend all your time locked in a truck! When you come out, everybody else has gone home."
Next we venture back into the arena and listen to X Factor finalist Tamera Foster rehearsing the national anthem as we make our way up to where Darren, Flinder and former NBA player Steve Smith would be broadcasting from. Here's me with 6'8" Steve:
As final make-up is being applied to the presenters, more pepperoni pizzas from Pizza Express are demolished before rehearsals began.
Down on the court, pre-game entertainment is starting and the weirdest part has to be a game of musical chairs between the mascots for the two sides. The Brooklyn Knight goes out straight away before Harry the Hawk is spectacularly beaten in the final by a kid who kicks him out of the way to get to the chair. Quite amusing.
Soon enough, it is time to go live 15 minutes before tipoff. It was a sellout crowd at The O2 and as Darren, Flinder and Steve preview the match, fans are streaming into the arena for the introductions of the starting fives for both sides. It's quite something:
We then make our way to BT's box to watch the game and what a position they've got - right on the halfway line with a perfect view of the action.
After a slow start, the first quarter is a close, high-scoring affair as the Nets held a 31-27 lead going into the second. Brooklyn then take over and Joe Johnson scores 26 points (which is a lot for a whole match) by half time after draining a number of three-point shots.
He finishes the half in some style by beating the buzzer with a deep three from the top of the key to the delight of the crowd.
With the half-time break upon us, it is time to see who we could spot in the courtside seats. The unmistakable big blonde German Per Mertesacker of Arsenal is across the court from us with teammates Olivier Giroud, Jack Wilshere and Lukasz Fabianski, while at the other end you can pick out the frizzy-haired David Luiz and his Chelsea contingent of Demba Ba, Andre Schurrle and Eden Hazard.
As well as the footballers, models Cara Delevingne and Jourdan Dunn are next to singer Ellie Goulding, with One Direction singer Liam Payne also in the celeb-only courtside seats.
The stars were out last night at #NBALondon! The on-court action & buzzin fans didn't hurt either! pic.twitter.com/daBftz4wd3
— NBA UK (@NBAUK) January 17, 2014
During the interval we head back round to the BT vantage point to watch the analysis, with Darren rushing courtside for an exclusive interview with commissioner Stern, who's delighted at how it's all going.
"Globalisation is upon us, sports participates with it. The London Olympics were a great starting point to showcase the pride of the English and also to help develop basketball (in the UK)," says 71-years-young Stern.
When Darren asks what he wants to be remembered for, Stern, who has been the league's chief for 30 years, replies "making the right decisions".
"I think we've steered the good ship NBA in a very positive direction."
In-game entertainment is a huge part of US sports and the dreaded 'Kiss Cam' is soon making its way around the O2 crowd. Some oblige with a quick peck while others take their chance for a full-on snog.
Former Arsenal player Robert Pires is singled out and when the camera pans to him, he happily gives his lady-friend a smacker. Goulding, on the other hand, is last to get the treatment but she refuses to smooch former McFly member and 2011 I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! winner Dougie Poynter.
© Getty Images
We go back to the box for the second half and watch the Nets continue to dominate, eventually running out 127-110 victors in a high-scoring game.
I remember watching last season's game between the Pistons and Knicks on TV and thinking that the atmosphere was a little flat. Not this year. The crowd really got into it and it was a great event to go to, especially as an NBA fan myself.
Upon the final buzzer sounding, we enjoy some final on-court entertainment before streaming out with the masses to catch the tube at North Greenwich. All the fans are in good spirits after a very well put together event.
Much of the media focus beforehand was on the possibility of a full-time NBA team East of the Atlantic. Like Flinder, I feel that having a franchise in Europe is unlikely. It would be great and definitely feasible for more than one game a year to be held over here though.
Football, or should I say soccer, is never going to take a back seat in the UK, but the NFL and NBA are certainly working their way up the ladder of popularity.
With basketball, there's clearly a keen interest already and with BT Sport now showing several games a week, the number of NBA fans over here is only going to get bigger.
BT Sport is the home of NBA basketball in the UK. For more information on how to receive BT Sport, click here.
© Getty Images
Pascal Lemesre
