Here’s Why Michael Jordan Joining NBC Sports Is So Special

This has been an exciting week for the NBA as the playoffs rage on. But there was also some courtside news that dropped with NBC reporting they signed Michael Jordan for the upcoming NBA season. He’ll serve as a special contributor, marking his first media role in his career. It’s a ground-shaking announcement that further bolsters NBC Sports’ basketball coverage with an already all-star cast of talent.

Tom Brady walked so that Jordan could run

As Tom Brady, widely regarded as a GOAT quarterback, transitioned to television following his retirement in February of 2023. Now it has been 22 years since Jordan’s retirement. He missed LeBron James’ rookie season by a New York minute. Often known for playing the background in retirement, Jordan became the first Black majority team owner in professional sports. He had that ownership stake in the Charlotte Hornets. In August 2023, Jordan sold his stake in the franchise, which seemingly freed him up for other projects.

Brady is in a 10-year $375 million deal with Fox. It hasn’t been disclosed how much the deal for Jordan was with NBC. But with those metrics readily available for basketball’s “GOAT,” I’m sure that he took a look. I wouldn’t be surprised if those numbers served as a catalyst for Jordan signing on.

We have an opportunity now that we haven’t had before.

In a league that still features all-star play from Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and LeBron James, we have Jordan now on the mic. We will now get his most recent perspectives on the game today, analyzed by a man who has never lost in the NBA Finals.

As Disney and Amazon are also shuffling talent around for the upcoming season, NBC knew they had to hit a home run. The relationship between Jordan’s greatest successes and NBC are well documented. NBC ran the NBA Finals for all of Jordan’s six championship series.

Now we’ll be able to re-hash more GOAT debates, won’t we?

We may look to Jordan to sort of be the conscience of the NBA. What makes this so intriguing in the beginning is wondering which type of Jordan we’ll be getting. Will it be a Jordan that’s giving his perspective as a trash-talking competitor? Or will he be more polished and similar to most analysts these days? From what I’ve seen and believe, it takes some time to find your voice and tone in this media landscape. We’ve seen it from Shaquille O’Neal to Reggie Miller and Chris Webber. It could take a while, or Jordan could be one take Drake with it. Time will tell.

All I know is that by hook, or by crook, the GOAT is returning to NBC, and every time he does, he’ll look to make it count.