From player, to governor, to analyst. Jordan will dip his toe into and test the NBA media waters for the first time next season.
The 2025-26 season will bring some noticeable changes to how NBA basketball is consumed, as the new national TV broadcast deal goes into effect and shifts rights to two new networks.
That has led to an arm’s race between NBC and Amazon as they put together their studio and game broadcast crews, with both networks bringing in some fresh faces, talent and big names to the NBA media world. Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki and Blake Griffin have been announced as former stars that will debut next fall as part of the new coverage teams, but the biggest draw and splash of them all came Monday when NBC announced it was getting Michael ‘Air’ Jordan to be a “special contributor” to their coverage next season.
Jordan’s larger-than-life presence on the hardwood made the NBA on NBC iconic and appointment television to everyone that watched basketball in the decade of the 90s, as NBC was among the many beneficiaries of the dominance of Jordan’s Bulls. Now, he will lend a helping hand and his services to NBC once again by making his debut as a broadcaster.
“A legendary addition to our team! We’re thrilled to welcome Michael Jordan as a special contributor to the NBA on NBC and Peacock,” NBC said in a post on social media, accompanied by a brief video from Jordan’s 15-year career as a player.
What makes this move so interesting and compelling is Jordan has not been on camera discussing the game of basketball since his retirement in 2003. Even when he was the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, Jordan did not meet with the media on a consistent basis and certainly did not offer any opinions about the state of the league beyond what Charlotte was doing. It was much more likely to see Jordan do an interview talking about his racing teams, golf, fishing or cigars than talk basketball.
Embed from Getty ImagesNow, a year removed from selling the team, Jordan apparently misses being around the NBA game and will come back to the league in his new role as “special contributor,” If that title seems vague and undefined, that is likely on purpose to allow Jordan to show up when his busy schedule allows and do things he is interested in. He could join the studio team at the desk from time to time, he could do interviews with players or perhaps simply produce some pre-taped content about the NBA without having to travel anywhere at all.
Whatever the case, when Jordan speaks people tune in and listen, and landing him as a contributor, no matter how big or small, is a huge win for NBC and the NBA family as a whole.
