Roundball Rock Will Return to NBC Alongside NBA Media Rights

Roundball Rock is officially back for NBC Sports—right in time for the return of its NBA coverage.

During NBC’s coverage of the 151st Kentucky Derby on Saturday, the network aired a promo officially announcing the return of one of history’s most popular sports anthems.

The song will highlight NBC’s return to hoops coverage starting with the tipoff of the 2025-2026 season in October. It will serve as the soundtrack for NBC coverage on both the broadcast network and Peacock for both the regular season and NBA Playoffs.

Along with Luka Doncic and other NBA players, Tesh himself appeared in the star-studded 60-second promo touting the return of the popular anthem. Roundball Rock was a signature of the network’s acclaimed hoops coverage from 1990 to 2002, with Michael Jordan’s Bulls winning all six of their titles on NBC.

“It’s a thrill to announce that Roundball Rock is coming home,” said NBC Sports president Rick Cordella in a statement. “Roundball Rock is one of the greatest pieces of theme music in sports history. Hearing it immediately conjures images of NBC Sports’ coverage of one of the golden ages of the NBA, from Magic to Michael to Kobe and many others. It was a pleasure working with John Tesh to bring Roundball Rock back to NBC, and we’re equally excited to hear its debut on Peacock. We couldn’t imagine beginning our coverage any other way.”

Also on Saturday, Carmelo Anthony appeared live on NBC’s Derby coverage to announce that he had joined the network as an NBA analyst this fall.

Front Office Sports broke the news back in December that Anthony was in talks with incoming NBA media partners NBA and Prime Video about joining their coverage.