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When NBC was preparing for its return to NBA broadcasting, the network’s biggest win was arguably catching one of the white whales of sports media: Michael Jordan.
The six-time NBA champion and billionaire has been a rarity on broadcasts since his retirement, which made it a coup when NBC said he would be working as a “special contributor” this season. Details were sparse, though, and the reality was underwhelming for many fans.
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Jordan’s special contributions have consisted solely of a sitdown discussions with NBC’s Mark Tirico, discussing his outlook on the game of basketball. Each “MJ: Insights to Excellence” segment comes from the same interview, taped before the season, so nothing topical is announced.
A sample:
Speaking with Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina on a podcast airing Thursday, Tirico addressed the reception of the segments and confirmed they are all from the same interview. In total, the veteran broadcaster estimated that interview to have lasted from an hour and 40 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes.
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And he made it very clear who was driving the conversation:
“Are there a ton of topics you’d love to get to? Of course, but Michael really wanted to talk about where he sees the game right now and we haven’t heard a lot of that. So it was interesting, it was fun, it was good perspective.
“My takeaway was how much he cares about the games still. He loves the game and, in some regards, doesn’t love some of the direction of the game, and he wanted to talk about it.”
NBC interviews are just one of Michael Jordan’s irons in the fire. (Photo by Jordan Bank/Getty Images)
(Jordan Bank via Getty Images)
To be fair to NBC, the network never made it sound like Jordan would be filling a Charles Barkley-esque role, commentating on the latest games and news throughout the season. Tirico still seems aware there are some unsatisfied customers out there, and noted that it was better than nothing:
“Was it what everyone wanted? Probably not. Was it better than not hearing from Michael Jordan? You’re damn right it was. And if we get another shot at it, will I be more than excited to be a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/michael-jordans-pre-taped-nbc-appearances-probably-not-what-everyone-wanted-mike-tirico-admits-004322520.html
Author : Jack Baer
Publish date : 2026-01-16 00:43:00
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