The 2025-26 NBA season is back, and to start proceedings, they have NBC kicking off opening night for the first time in 23 years. The network decided to do things the right way and brought Michael Jordan along for the ride.
Back in its heyday, NBC used to cover 'His Airness' a lot, as he dominated the '90s, winning 6 titles in a span of 8 years. The coverage of that time was what led the network to have some of its greatest moments.
After Jordan retired, NBC decided not to renew its exclusive deal with the league, leaving TNT to take over as the pre-emptive primary network covering the NBA.
The latter did not believe that covering the best basketball league in the world was financially sensible, and renounced their rights to exclusive negotiations. That allowed the league to tender its media-rights deals.
Sensing an opportunity, NBC made a major bid and subsequently won the tender. Today after 23 years, they returned with a bang, releasing an intro video worthy of praise.
The video focuses on Michael Jordan and the network's coverage of the 90s NBA. They even teased his upcoming show, Insights to Excellence, and used numerous clips from his time with the Chicago Bulls in the video.
Along with that was the return of Roundball Rock, the intro music that lived in the back of the minds of basketball fans back in the day. This time, they had John Tesh and his team performing a slightly improvised take on the famous theme.
Basketball fans were already aware that Michael Jordan would be the star attraction in NBC's return to the NBA. Signing on as a 'special contributor', his mere presence was going to send fans over the rails.
Then, when they saw the intro video and the way it was curated, fans felt the network was about to take NBA coverage to the next level. Fans believed this was the best intro video they could have seen. Check out examples of those reactions below:
NBC's return to covering the NBA was not without its hiccups. The season-opening game between the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder was delayed by a few minutes.
The coverage team, headed by Maria Taylor and featuring Hall of Famers Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter, and Tracy McGrady, struggled with communications issues with their headsets.
Such issues should be ironed out soon, and the network should provide stellar coverage of the league. Despite those issues, fans were generally happy that NBC had returned.
Being opening night, at home, it was no better time for the Oklahoma City Thunder than to unveil their 1st-ever championship banner. They also decided to hand over the much-deserved championship rings to the players.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates received a huge round of applause from their fans as they each received their customized rings. Then they collectively stood and watched in awe as the first title banner went up into the rafters of Paycom Center.
Kevin Durant was not on the floor to watch his former team raise their banner. However, other former OKC stars, Steven Adams and Jeff Green, sat on the sidelines, watching their former team celebrate their first win.
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