01/22/25 01:33:00
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01/22 13:31 CST Mike Tirico will be lead play-by-play announcer when NBC begins
its NBA coverage next season
Mike Tirico will be lead play-by-play announcer when NBC begins its NBA
coverage next season
By JOE REEDY
AP Sports Writer
Mike Tirico has been officially named as NBC's lead play-by-play announcer when
it begins its coverage of the NBA next season.
The move is not a surprise, since many expected that to happen when NBC agreed
to an 11-year contract with the NBA last summer. Tirico was part of ESPN and
ABC's coverage of the league until moving to NBC in July 2016. He also called
six NBA Finals on ESPN Radio.
According to research from the 506 Sports Archive, Tirico called 313 NBA
regular-season and playoff games on ESPN and ABC.
Tirico will have another busy 10-month stretch from September through May 2026.
He calls the "Sunday Night Football" package, which will include Super Bowl 60,
and will lead NBC's Olympics coverage as the prime time host of the
Milan-Cortina Winter Games.
Tirico will call select games on NBC and Peacock the first half of the season,
including the season opener in October.
"My 15 years of chronicling the best basketball players in the world still
stands as one of the highlights of my career," Tirico said in a statement.
"Like so many others, my love of the league took hold during the unforgettable
days of the NBA on NBC back in the '90s. The chance to be a part of the team
bringing that iconic partnership back to life has us incredibly excited."
NBC, which carried NBA games from 1990 through 2002, will have up to 100
regular-season games, including on Sunday night once the NFL season has ended.
It will also have games on Tuesday throughout the regular season, while a
Monday night doubleheader would be exclusively streamed on Peacock. NBC will
also have the All-Star Game and All-Star Saturday Night.
During the playoffs, NBC and/or Peacock will have up to 28 games the first two
rounds, with at least half on NBC. It also will carry one of the two conference
finals in six of the 11 years of the deal.
With the All-Star Game less than a month away, the hiring cycle for NBC,
ESPN/ABC and Prime Video for next season is expected to ramp up.
NBC previously announced that Jamal Crawford will be a game analyst and Frank
DiGraci will serve as coordinating producer while Prime Video named Taylor
Rooks, Blake Griffin and Dirk Nowitzki to its studio show.
"Inside the NBA" will appear on ESPN and ABC beginning next season as part of a
settlement between Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA. This is the final season
of NBA coverage on TNT.
Noah Eagle, who does college football, college basketball and some NFL games,
is also expected to be a part of NBC's coverage even though an announcement has
not been made. Jalen Rose is a game analyst for college basketball on
NBC/Peacock, but does have NBA studio and analyst experience from his time with
ESPN/ABC.
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