With push from Tim Legler, ESPN restores NBA box scores to sanity

ESPN seems to have rediscovered an old truth that sports fans could’ve told them for free. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

For weeks, NBA fans were baffled — and borderline annoyed — by the network’s new-look box scores on the ESPN app and website.

Offensive and defensive rebounds were split.

Two-point and three-point shooting were separated.

The layout pushed basics like field-goal percentage into weird corners. Everything felt counterintuitive.

And then Tim Legler spoke up.

The ESPN analyst echoed the complaints on his All NBA podcast and said he’d take the feedback upstairs. One day later, the box scores suddenly look familiar again.

Points are back at the front. Field-goal shooting follows. Rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and turnovers are grouped into the clean, old-school line everyone grew up reading.

If users want the deeper splits — or free throws — they can swipe over to the “All Stats” view.

Legler’s podcast account posted the updated layout and celebrated the fix, though the switch-back wasn’t totally smooth.

At publish time, some desktop box scores were glitching — showing points, then offensive rebounds, then personal fouls for no obvious reason. Progress with character.

The reaction tells you everything. Every league and outlet has its own app now, but ESPN’s remains the default for most fans because it bundles news, highlights, analysis and live TV.

Much like the outrage that follows every new on-screen score bug, people simply don’t like their routines messed with.

Still, it’s surprising ESPN didn’t lean on brand-research data before rolling out the change.

Fans liked the old format. They trusted it. Turns out, they weren’t shy about saying so.