Turns out, if NBC really wanted to get their money’s worth, instead of asking Michael Jordan about the NBA’s load management issue, they should have asked him about NASCAR.
Much has been made of how little Jordan has appeared on NBC this NBA season, despite being hyped as a “special contributor.” While some speculated he would take part in their studio show or show up for special events, Jordan essentially sat down for one interview with Mike Tirico, clips of which have been peppered throughout their coverage over the last few months under the “MJ: Insights to Excellence” banner. Despite getting some insights from the notoriously tight-lipped Jordan, even Tirico admitted the setup was probably not what people really wanted.
As for those segments, there have been four (The Debut, Load Management, His Love of the Game, and What It’s Like to Play at MSG. Altogether, the segments total roughly 16 minutes of conversation. Of those, only one segment has aired in 2026. It lasted for about 4 minutes and 10 seconds.
Adding insult to injury, Jordan has actually given Fox more access over the last few weeks than NBC has since the year started.
Last week, Jordan’s 23XI Racing took home the coveted checkered flag at the Daytona 500 thanks to the driving of Tyler Reddick. Before the race, Jordan spoke with Fox reporter Jamie Little about the historic race and his team. That discussion lasted almost exactly two minutes. Afterward, Jordan spoke with Little for a minute about what it was like to be a Daytona 500 champion.
On Sunday, Reddick pulled a Jordan and went back-to-back. winning at the Autotrader 400. Before he did, however, Jordan spoke with Little about his team’s performance over the last few weeks. That interview lasted roughly one minute. Fox also ran a segment on what Jordan’s Daytona 500 win means for the sport, which lasted about 1.5 minutes. And after Reddick won, Jordan once again spoke with Little for about 45 seconds.
Daytona 500 ✅
Atlanta ✅
Michael Jordan talks with @JamieLittleTV after Tyler Reddick’s incredible drive to win in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/UaipmQG3vn
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 23, 2026
To say nothing of the many references, discussions, and camera shots featuring Jordan before, during, and after each race.
But if we’re just counting the interviews over the last two weeks, Jordan has spoken on Fox for around 4 minutes and 45 seconds, beating his 2026 NBC interview appearances, at least for now, by a solid 30 seconds.
Now, we admit we’re comparing apples and oranges here. Jordan’s involvement in NASCAR is very different from his place in the NBA, and there is much more reason for him to be speaking about the former right now.
However, the point stands that, even though they were coy about his role, NBC set expectations for Jordan’s appearances in their NBA programming this season, and those expectations have fallen precipitously short. They would have been so much better off just saying up front that he would sit down for one interview than letting people presume he would be more involved.
As such, you get situations like this, where NBC paid god-knows-what for an interview with Michael Jordan while he’s handing them out like candy to Fox every weekend.