In ground-breaking news announced by media giant NBC on Monday night, the six-time NBA champion and Chicago Bulls icon will join the network as a “special contributor” on their coverage starting this coming fall.
The NBA community was left stunned
NBC had already pulled off a historic deal to obtain exclusive rights to NBA coverage beginning with the 2025-2026 regular season as the inaugural of an 11-year agreement, but the NBA community was left stunned as the news broke with an accompanying message reading “A legendary addition to our team! We’re thrilled to welcome Michael Jordan as a special contributor to the NBA on NBC and Peacock”.
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At this stage, the network chose not to disclose the specifics of Jordan’s role as a special contributor, but his input will undoubtedly involve bestowing his abundance of knowledge and experience across the biggest games on the schedule.
Incredibly, this marks the first TV role MJ will undertake in any capacity since stepping away from the game in 2003.
The latest iteration
As we know, Jordan put together arguably the most decorated career in league history. We saw the greatness on the court as a player, then we saw the transition to ownership with the Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets, but this latest iteration of MJ is what fans have been craving for over two decades – sharing his insight behind the microphone and following in the footsteps of other greats from his era that have done the same.
While his on-court success was undeniable, his ownership tenure with the Hornets had mixed reviews due to a lack of playoff success, but it’s hard to imagine Jordan being anything but extraordinary as a contributor during live coverages.
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His name alone will attract millions to any single broadcast, acting as a mega chess move by NBC, whose number one priority is to address the steady decline of overall viewership in the league.
After announcing that Carmelo Anthony, Jamal Crawford and Reggie Miller will join the NBC family next season, Jordan’s addition is the network’s latest power play in the hopes of reigniting the national interest in the league and bringing back an enormous cohort of fans who witnessed MJ crowned as the Finals MVP on six occasions during the 80s and 90s.
Financial details of the deal are not known, but it’s comparable to a move FOX made last year when Tom Brady, the NFL’s greatest of all time, joined the network as the color commentator after his legendary 23-year career. He then signed a 10-year deal worth $375 million to have Tom analyze the game every Sunday during the football season.
However, NBC has yet to announce in what capacity Mike will be joining them, but knowing MJ’s knack for business and his desire to stay out of the public eye after he retired, it’s he definitely signed a lucrative deal. It’s tough to expect he’ll be a network lead analyst like Brady is with FOX, considering Jordan is 62, but the newest “special contributor” will definitely have a huge impact on the next NBA season as every word he says about a certain player or a team will be highly analyzed by others.