It’s been 23 long years since we saw the silhouette of Jerry West emblazoned alongside the rainbow peacock, since we heard John Tesh’s funky groove, since we saw those electric pregame intros live on-air. And yet when the new NBA on NBC studio crew appeared for the first time on the NBA Showtime pregame show, it felt as if they could have used a little more time.
Welcoming hoops fans back to the beloved NBA on NBC institution and the 2025-26 season, Maria Taylor and the three retired scoring forwards alongside her got off to a rough start.
Immediately, Tracy McGrady became the butt of a joke when Taylor teased him for not being able to hear her over the Paycom Center crowd. Right on cue, McGrady’s microphone went out and filled the air with static.
While Vince Carter savvily saved the moment by changing out McGrady’s microphone as the conversation continued, he could not save McGrady from abruptly changing the subject from the Golden State Warriors to Luka Doncic, and announcing to the audience that he was doing so. McGrady was often great on ESPN’s The Jump a decade ago when he first broke into media, but he felt rusty in his debut on NBC.
NBC comes on the air for an NBA broadcast for the first time in 23 years… and it’s marred by audio issues 😬 pic.twitter.com/5Z1Wc9uVIb
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 21, 2025
That might have been just fine if the supposed star of the show soaked up the airtime as expected. Instead, the legendary Carmelo Anthony laid low. Viewers of Anthony’s popular podcast 7PM In Brooklyn know there can be two versions of the four-time Olympic gold medalist: the smooth conversationalist and the bold opinionist. NBC brought Anthony on to be the latter, but he did not say much of anything that cut through on Tuesday night. And that’s not to mention how noticeably under-dressed Anthony was compared to his co-hosts, who were decked out in their formal best for Opening Night.
Together, Taylor, Anthony, McGrady and Carter are a more than serviceable studio show, setting up the night’s games and hyping viewers up. But for all the attention around the return of pro basketball to NBC, the network will want this show to be more than serviceable.
NBA Showtime was at its best when it brought on players from Houston and Oklahoma City. The interviews felt casual and spontaneous, and the analysts came alive. The most widely praised viral moment of the night came when the crew interviewed Thunder star Jalen Williams and riffed with him about how he put in work with his off-hand after offseason surgery on his right wrist.
Fortunately for everyone involved, NBC brought such incredible production value to every other element of NBA Showtime and the introduction to its game broadcast that viewers were likely more than happy with what they saw.
Taylor brought great energy and personality out of the Oklahoma City Thunder “big three” during a recorded interview that went much longer than most networks typically allow. The camera operation and direction during the Thunder championship ring ceremony felt important and brought viewers right into the moment. The narrative table-setting that Bob Costas helped make NBC known for in the 1990s stood out right away. And the pregame intros launched the audience straight into the season, a basic idea that anyone who attends an NBA game knows is a big part of the experience. Even without “Sirius” by the Alan Parsons Project playing live from Chicago, airing these intros puts the focus on the players and the game and builds excitement.
At halftime, each host got merely one line of analysis in before NBC cut to the highly anticipated conversation between Mike Tirico and Michael Jordan, which more than delivered on the intrigue. And NBC did not need to cut back to the studio crew between games, as viewers were treated to double overtime in Oklahoma City.
Some nights, without a recorded interview or ring ceremony to fill time, the studio crew will need to carry more weight. Taylor is an experienced and confident host, and each analyst has the expertise and talent to build a good show.
It’s too early to call for any changes, though it does seem that the show could benefit from a reporter or coach who would deliver stronger opinions and give the former players someone off whom they could bounce their takes.
This show will be judged against Inside the NBA on ESPN and a studio show on Prime Video overflowing with exciting young analysts like Blake Griffin and Dirk Nowitzki. At NBC, you wonder whether they are content with the production elements and the presence of Jordan to carry the show.
That would sell short what Anthony can be if he trusts his instincts, what McGrady can be with more reps, and how Carter can fill in the gaps. They just need some more time.
