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 Mike 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 discussed.
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 part of it? You betcha. In our world right now, all you want to do is make the final answer before you know everything. I love that Michael trusted us enough to sit and do something that he hasn’t done in a long, long, long time.”
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Tirico also confirmed no more interviews are scheduled with Jordan, so anything else NBC broadcasts will be from that same session. He did note another interview is a possibility and said he was up for whatever the legend wants to do, though it seems possible this arrangement is a one-and-done for the two sides.
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Aside from that, the NBA’s return to NBC seems to be going well, with national viewership surging for the league after switching from TNT on cable to one of the big broadcast networks.
