If basketball fans are expecting to see more Michael Jordan on “NBA On NBC,” they’d better prepare to be disappointed. According to Sporting News, Jordan will not appear on the network’s coverage of the league for the rest of the season.
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When NBC announced that Jordan would be joining the network as “Special Contributor” in the summer, fans were excited, expecting that the six-time NBA champion would share his insight about the game. Unfortunately, what the fans received was something they didn’t anticipate. Instead of providing fresh, weekly insights into the modern game, Jordan spoke about basketball topics that were recorded several months ago.
Mike Tirico, an analyst at NBC, conducted interviews with Jordan for the “MJ: Insights to Greatness” segments. He revealed that Jordan’s contribution only includes a single pre-recorded interview, which was broken up into segments over time. Tirico also shared that the interview lasted nearly two hours and was filmed over two days.
“Was it what everyone wanted? Probably not,” Tirico told SI Media with Jimmy Traina. “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 bet ya.
“In our world right now, all you want to do is make the final answer before you know everything,” Tirico continued. “I love that Michael trusted us enough to sit and do something that he hasn’t done in a long, long, long time.”
On top of that, rumors have been circulating that Jordan, already a billionaire, was paid an astounding $40 million to bequeath his knowledge of basketball to the masses, though NBC has denied that number.
While there are no current plans for a second interview with Jordan, Tirico would jump at the chance to have another conversation with “His Airness.”
“Nothing is scheduled as of now that I know of, but it is a possibility,” Tirico said. “I hope there’s something else after it. Michael was awesome.”
Lou Williams, a former NBA standout and current co-host of “Run It Back” on FanDuel TV, predicted that Jordan’s contributions would be minimal.
“I don’t think we are going to see Michael Jordan weekly or bi-weekly talking about today’s basketball,” he explained. Williams went on to say that he believed Jordan would only make a few appearances on NBC.
“Michael Jordan don’t care about no basketball player that ain’t wearing that ‘Jumpman’ symbol,” he added, laughing. “We are getting tricked, ya’ll. [We’re getting] under two appearances,” he reiterated. “Whatever Michael Jordan is contributing, he’s probably recorded it already!”
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