Mike Tirico and Michael Jordan.
Credit: Front Office Sports, NBC
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Last year marked NBC’s return to the NBA broadcasting game, the network’s first since 2002.
As it ramped up toward its debut, the network announced with much fanfare that Micheal Jordan would be a “special contributor” to NBC’s coverage that year. It sounded like a huge boon for NBC, and in some ways it was, since Jordan is notoriously private in his post-playing days and seems far happier at a NASCAR track watching his 23XI Racing team than talking ball.
Jordan’s contributions ultimately drew mixed to negative reviews, but the main cause was how his role was marketed in the first place. Rather than being regularly featured on NBC’s pregame coverage, Jordan’s contributions amounted to one long interview with NBC’s Mike Tirico, spliced into several segments that played throughout the year. After fans initially thought Jordan might be at the desk, or at least talk regularly about the day’s basketball news, it was understandably a let-down.
Despite the criticism, Tirico stands by the segment and said he would welcome Jordan back for another round if he was game for it, though he doubted that would be the case.
“I think Michael Jordan hadn’t been on TV for a long time for a reason,” Tirico told Front Office Sports while speaking at the outlet’s “Tuned In” conference. “He likes being Michael Jordan. Even still, when he’s on camera, there’s an aura around Michael Jordan that is just different. Sitting across from him, it’s just a different feeling. I think he is above the day-to-day conversation of ‘Hey, who’s the best point guard in the NBA right now? Who’s the best this? Who’s the best at that?’ So I think in a controlled setting, talking about topics that he’s still passionate about with the sport, he loved it.”
Tirico said that while he heard the critiques of the interview, the fact that he was still being asked about the segment a year later proved its success.
“I love the fact that we did one interview, and you can say what you want about it airing once or being spread out over our series of pregame shows over the year; it’s a year later, and people still talk to me about it. People still ask me about it. Which is, to me, all the reason it was completely worth it. And I will say it was damn cool to hang with M.J. and talk basketball and talk business and golf and all that other stuff. I don’t think he wants to be — if he wanted to be, we would all run to have him on every single day. But that’s just not what he wants to do I think at this point in his career and life.”
While Jordan’s participation, or lack thereof, was a disappointment, the rest of NBC’s first year back in the NBA business was largely a success, with the network looking to build on that momentum this season.
They’ll get their first chance to do so on opening day next Tuesday, broadcasting a triple-header of high-profile games including Knicks-76ers and Spurs-Thunder to start the year.
Thursday Night Football Amazon Prime play-by-play announcer Al Michaels
Thursday Night Football Amazon Prime play-by-play announcer Al Michaels
Canelo Alvarez (black/gold trunks)
Canelo Alvarez (black/gold trunks)