There’s been a gold rush on NBA TV talent as NBC Sports and Amazon Prime Video build their broadcast teams for the 2025–2026 season. But plenty of talented people remain available—now or in the near future—as NBC, Amazon’s Prime Video, and incumbent ESPN fight it out for the best hoops announcers, analysts, and reporters.

A flurry of recent hires has taken key names off the chessboard. NBC signed Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford as game analysts—and named Mike Tirico its lead play-by-play announcer. Prime hired host Taylor Rooks and analysts Dirk Nowitzki and Blake Griffin for studio coverage. ESPN brought on Udonis Haslem to lengthen its bench. In the biggest move, TNT licensed Inside the NBA with Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith to ESPN in exchange for a package of Big 12 college football and basketball games.

We’re not listing current stars like LeBron James, Chris Paul, and Draymond Green. Also not included are Shaquille O’Neal and Carmelo Anthony, who are finalizing deals with TNT and NBC, respectively. Here’s our Top 20 list of most valuable targets (in alphabetical order by last name).

1. Jon Barry: He is adept as both a studio analyst and color commentator. He was a part of ESPN/ABC’s NBA Finals studio team for years. In recent years he has worked for NBA TV. 
2. Jared Greenberg: He’s both a sideline reporter for TNT and the host of NBA Digital’s popular CrunchTime program, a basketball spin on NFL RedZone. 
3. Chris Haynes: Few boast better player sources than this veteran NBA insider. The former ESPN and Yahoo columnist left TNT—where he also worked as a sideline reporter—for greener pastures of free agency last year. 
4. Grant Hill: Hill is a color commentator on the top CBS/TNT NCAA tournament broadcast team with Bill Raftery and play-by-play broadcaster Ian Eagle. He is also in demand for NBA, where he has experience both on games and in studio.  
5. Jim Jackson: He’s a versatile analyst, working both college hoops on Fox and NBA on TNT. Word on the street is he’s talked to Prime and NBC.
6. Mark Jackson: Jackson nearly got a job with the Knicks at MSG post-ESPN layoff, but it was nixed by coach Tom Thibodeau at the eleventh hour. 
7. Gus Johnson: His voice is synonymous with college basketball via current gig as Fox’s lead college hoops announcer. Johnson famously called the NCAA tournament at CBS. Johnson has also been a part of TNT’s NBA playoff coverage in recent years. The top Fox college football team featuring Johnson and Joel Klatt is top tier.
8. Sarah Kustok: YES Network is a factory line for national NBA TV talent, and director Frank DiGraci will join NBC. Is Kustok next? 
9. Allie LaForce: She is the lead sideline reporter for the NBA on TNT. She is also a part of the network’s NCAA tournament coverage with CBS. 
10. Adam Lefkoe: He hosts the Tuesday edition of Inside the NBA on TNT. The heir-apparent to Ernie Johnson is also Shaq’s podcast cohost. 
11. Zach Lowe: He’s been lying low since the shocking layoff by ESPN in September, but he isn’t eligible for a new deal quite yet. But this writer and podcaster is too talented to ignore as a free agent.
12. Rachel Nichols: She’s got the résumé, the contacts, the ambition. Could the former host of The Jump make a comeback? 
13. Candace Parker: She has excelled on TNT in recent years. With NBC and Amazon also picking up WNBA rights in their new TV deals, there are a lot of games—and studio time—available, and she could help complete the puzzle. 
14. Chandler Parsons: Parsons is a cohost on FanDuel TV’s Run It Back. In a cluttered content world, he makes comments that cut through and get picked up across social media. 
15. Austin Rivers: The son of coach Doc Rivers has worked for both NBC and ESPN on pro and college hoops coverage.
16. Ashley ShahAhmadi: The young ESPN star went viral for her Dr Pepper halftime appearance during the SEC championship game. “Everybody wants her as their sideline reporter,” says one source.
17. Jeff Van Gundy: There were rumors that the NBA made the call to axe Van Gundy from ESPN, which commissioner Adam Silver denied having been the case. He was on the top ESPN team for 16 seasons and is missed by a faction of fans. 
18. Stan Van Gundy: He has been a color commentator at TNT since 2019 after previously working at ESPN. He has a keen eye for what happens away from the ball and for concisely explaining what’s going on in the game.
19. Dwyane Wade: He seemed like a shoo-in for NBC after serving as color analyst during the Paris Olympics. NBC exec Molly Solomon praised the rookie game analyst’s Olympic calls. But sources tell us D-Wade’s talking to multiple suitors, not just NBC.
20. Chris Webber: He parted ways with TNT in 2021. He was a strong color commentator for the network and could also fit into a studio role.

One of the most significant divorces in sports media is now becoming a reality as MLB and ESPN have “mutually agreed” to opt out of their rights deal three years early, marking a stunning degradation of a relationship dating to 1990.

The current seven-year rights pact, paying the league $550 million per year, was set to run through 2028, but will now expire after the upcoming season after the two sides were unable to come to terms on a revised relationship. The mutual opt-out had been a source of growing tension for months. 

ESPN had long objected to its fee, particularly in light of separate MLB rights deals with Apple and Roku that are worth $85 million and $10 million, respectively, per year. Recent talks between the two sides did not produce any sort of revised agreement, and the pact is now set to expire after the 2025 season. ESPN will still broadcast MLB events such as Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby, and the wild-card round of the playoffs this season, as planned.

“Given the strength of our product, we do not believe a reduction in fees is warranted,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred wrote in a Thursday memo to team owners, obtained by Front Office Sports and first reported by The Athletic. 

Manfred continued in his memo with several specific objections regarding ESPN:

• He took aim at the network’s linear distribution, which has fallen to 53.6 million homes, roughly half the level of 2011. To that end, he said, “We do not think it’s beneficial for us to accept a smaller deal to remain on a shrinking platform.”
• He said the league has “not been pleased with the minimal coverage” MLB receives on ESPN outside of live game coverage. Even casual viewers would certainly be able to notice a difference compared to how the network approaches the NFL and NBA. 
• He called the comparisons to the Apple and Roku deals “inapt,” citing the greater amount of exclusive content on ESPN, both in quality and quantity, as well as record ratings for last year’s wild-card playoffs. Manfred added that ESPN declined to supplement its rights with games ultimately sold to Apple and Roku.  

“We have rejected ESPN’s aggressive effort to reduce rights fees for several reasons,” Manfred wrote.

What Happens Now

Backed in large part by rising optimism elsewhere in the sport, Manfred now intends to take these rights back to the market, and he says there is already significant interest. 

“We have been in conversations with several interested parties around these rights over the past several months, and expect to have at least two potential options for consideration over the next few weeks,” Manfred said.

A reunion with ESPN remains technically possible, but would require a different approach from the Disney-owned network. In a statement, ESPN said it intends to keep the door open with MLB.

“In making this decision, we applied the same discipline and fiscal responsibility that has built ESPN’s industry-leading live events portfolio as we continue to grow our audience across linear, digital, and social platforms,” ESPN said. “As we have been throughout the process, we remain open to exploring new ways to serve MLB fans across our platforms beyond 2025.”