NBC Made Its NBA Return Feel Big

It’s once again Roundball Rock o’clock as the NBA on NBC returned after 23 years away. 

NBC’s first NBA game telecast since 2002 opened with a bit asking current stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, and Jalen Brunson whether they remember the NBA on NBC. Most laughed because they either weren’t born then or were barely sentient. 

Play-by-play broadcaster Mike Tirico did a short monologue, echoing the way Marv Albert used to introduce the game, talking about the “mountaintop” the Thunder climbed before introducing color commentators Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford. 

NBC was clearly cognizant of the nostalgia many basketball fans would feel upon its return, and ultimately struck the right chords. 

Perhaps sensitive to the criticism ESPN received during last season’s NBA Finals for eschewing the pageantry, NBC showed the national anthem and the starting lineup introductions—complete with Thunder fans applauding Steven Adams and booing Kevin Durant, now both on the Rockets.

Like the Rockets, who are gelling with a number of new pieces in their lineup, NBC’s new three-man booth is still figuring out which analyst should talk when during the breaks in Tirico’s call. Nevertheless, Tirico, among the best in the business at making all the little details matter, delivered interesting intel like the fact that the Rockets’ starting lineup was the tallest in NBA history since that metric has been tracked: an average height of 6’10”.

At halftime, NBC opted to have Maria Taylor, Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady standing on the court as opposed to sitting at a desk. They had a very short segment, getting in about a sentence or two each, before teeing up Mike Tirico with Michael Jordan for the first installment of “MJ: Insights to Excellence.” 

Jordan revealed he hasn’t picked up a basketball “in years,” apart from when he rented a house at the Ryder Cup and the homeowner goaded him into shooting one free throw. He recalled that he was “the most nervous I’ve been in years” about having to live up to the legend the adults in the room had built up over the years for their kids who were there watching. He swished it. 

“I wish I could take a magic pill, put on shorts, and go out and play the game of basketball today,” Jordan said. “That’s who I am. That type of competition, that type of competitiveness, is what I live for, and I miss it … But it’s better for me to be here, sitting here, talking to you, as opposed to popping my Achilles and I’m in a wheelchair for a while.” 

While the maiden segment did not include any insights on the modern game or players, NBC did tease that Jordan will weigh in on load management next week, and will explain why he always strived to play 82 games. 

It helped NBC that both the Rockets and Thunder were at nearly full health and playing to win. The league has taken heat in recent years for too many regular season games in which that is not the case, as evidenced by the tease for Jordan’s segment next week.

As the game headed to overtime, Tirico exclaimed, “Night one! Let’s keep the gym open!”