Everyone’s favorite Tall Baller from the G may be able to add a new line onto his résumé in the coming years as NBA game rights change hands following TNT’s last season as a broadcast partner.
Dirk Nowitzki is a name to watch for one of the analyst positions on Amazon Prime, according to two separate reports from Andrew Marchand, who covers sports media for the Athletic and on his podcast, Marchand Sports Media.
Marchand first explored the possibility of Nowitzki calling games for Bezos & Co. on an October episode of his podcast, noting that a potential Amazon Saturday package would likely include day games, meaning they would air in Europe at night, making former international NBA stars with the broadcast skillset interesting potential picks.
Marchand rattled off a list of names of potential broadcasters who could fill the void at either NBC or Amazon just over the 16-minute mark of that October episode. The pair will take over most, if not all, games left on the table by the recent settlement ending TNT’s rights deal after this season. The first name Marchand mentioned on the podcast back in October was Ian Eagle, who has since signed on as Amazon’s lead play-by-play announcer, so there is some there there when Marchand speaks about these things. He’s not just speculating.
He also mentioned Jamal Crawford, who has since signed on with NBC, Adam Amin, Kevin Harlan and Stan Van Gundy. Those are the more established broadcasters on Marchand’s list. He then went into some interesting possibilities among former players and current coaches, including Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin, Steve Kerr and, yes, Nowitzki.
“Then, you know, there are some people maybe who come off the court like Steve Kerr or Dirk Nowitzki,” Marchand said. “Because another thing with Amazon is that Saturday package — I think the games will probably be in the day, which will be evening in Europe. So they might be trying a little more to get international superstars on those games.”
For what it’s worth, in Marchand’s more recent article for the Athletic, linked above, the list of names to watch for Amazon analyst positions was shortened to four: Griffin, Nowitzki, Van Gundy and Richard Jefferson. That may mean Amazon is actively whittling down the list of potential candidates with those four remaining, or it may mean nothing.
Nowitzki was hired by the Dallas Mavericks front office in 2021 as a special advisor. The team website does not have a full current list of front office members, but he is still listed in that role, according to RealGM. It is unclear whether he would be permitted to remain a special advisor if he were to take a position as an announcer or analyst, but it certainly sounds like it would come down to a choice between one or the other should Nowitzki be presented with the opportunity.
Nowitzki is already a broadcast legend in Dallas. In 2011, while sidelined with an injury, he joined the Mavericks’ broadcast team for an interview and coined the phrase “take dat witchu” after a dramatic make late in the game. He followed that up with “shut it down, let’s go home,” the following year after a Brendan Wright alley-oop slam from Jason Terry early in a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He did bigger guest broadcast spots with the current Mavs broadcast team in 2021, 2022 (a secondary broadcast with former Mavericks JJ Barea) and last season. So make no mistakes, he’s got the chops for the gig.
If Marchand’s interpretation of the tea leaves is accurate and Amazon is in fact looking for overseas appeal in its broadcasts, it’s interesting that Nowitzki is the only European candidate in the list of names. Of course, the broadcasts could appeal to an international audience based on game selection, too — you might see more Spurs, Mavericks and Bucks games on Amazon to garner that international appeal. But either way, we’d love to see Nowitzki bring his exuberant personality, deft wit and depth of experience into our living rooms.
For your viewing pleasure, here’s some of what fans can expect if Dirk is indeed selected as a broadcast analyst in the future.