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Television broadcasts of the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
(NBA) games were first broadcast by American broadcast network ABC from January 3,
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
to May 10,
1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...
. Broadcasts produced by
ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial America ...
(later ESPN on ABC) returned on
December 25 Events Pre-1600 * 36 – Forces of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han, under the command of Wu Han, conquer the separatist Chengjia empire, reuniting China. * 274 – A temple to Sol Invictus is dedicated in Rome by Emperor Aurelian. ...
,
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
, this time utilizing the ''NBA on ABC'' branding. Since 2006, when ABC Sports was rebranded to ESPN on ABC, the said branding was used less often. ABC's regular season schedule includes Christmas Day games; ''NBA Saturday Primetime'' games on selected weekends from December or January to March; and ''NBA Sunday Showcase'' games on selected afternoons from February to March. ABC then airs selected games during the first five weeks of the
NBA playoffs The NBA playoffs is the annual Playoffs, postseason Tournament#Knockout tournaments, tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA) held to determine the league champion. Since 1949, the four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held afte ...
and is the exclusive broadcaster of the
NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...
.


History


First ABC era (1965–1973)

ABC first signed a deal with the NBA to become the league's primary television partner in 1964; ABC's first game telecast aired on January 3,
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
(a game between the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
and Cincinnati Royals). ABC's initial alliance with the NBA first came about due to
ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial America ...
head
Roone Arledge Roone Pinckney Arledge Jr. (July 8, 1931 – December 5, 2002) was an American sports and news broadcasting executive who was president of ABC Sports from 1968 until 1986 and ABC News from 1977 until 1998, and a key part of the company's rise ...
's search for live programming that could diminish the ratings of '' CBS Sports Spectacular'', and ABC's anthology program, '' Wide World of Sports'' a boost with sponsors. ABC initially paid the NBA only $650,000 for the rights annually. For much of the 1960s, ABC only televised Sunday afternoon games, including during the NBA Playoffs. This meant that ABC did not have to televise a potential NBA Finals deciding game if it were played on a weeknight. In
1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...
, ABC did televise Game 7 of the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
series in prime time on a weeknight. The following season, ABC aired the 1970 NBA Finals in its entirety, making it the first Finals series to have all games televised nationally. Commentators for the original ''NBA on ABC'' included
play-by-play In Broadcasting of sports events, sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real time (media), real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present t ...
announcers
Keith Jackson Keith Max Jackson (October 18, 1928 – January 12, 2018) was an American sports commentator, journalist, author, and radio personality, known for his career with ABC Sports (1966–2006). While he covered a variety of sports over his caree ...
and Chris Schenkel, and analysts
Jack Twyman John Kennedy Twyman (May 21, 1934 – May 30, 2012) was an American professional basketball player and sports broadcaster. Twyman is a namesake of the NBA's Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award. Twyman was inducted into the Naismith Basket ...
,
Bob Cousy Robert Joseph Cousy ( , born August 9, 1928) is an American former professional basketball player. He played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time NBA ...
and
Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...
. On April 8, 1967, a
strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...
by the
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording ...
(AFTRA) forced ABC Sports producer Chuck Howard and director Chet Forte to call Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals between
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
and
Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...
, as its regular announcing team were members of the union.
Curt Gowdy Curtis Edward Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster. He called Boston Red Sox games on radio and TV for 15 years, and then covered many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC S ...
also served on play-by-play for half of the 1967–68 season. The first nationally televised Christmas Day NBA broadcast occurred in when ABC broadcast a game between the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
and San Diego Rockets from the then- San Diego Sports Arena in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
. Jerry Gross and Jack Twyman called that particular broadcast for the network. ABC would continue to televise Christmas games through . The remainder of these broadcasts were based on
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, also called the Madhouse Coliseum or Phoenix Memorial Coliseum, is a 14,870-seat multi-purpose indoor arena in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, located at the Arizona State Fairgrounds. It hosted the Phoenix Su ...
in Phoenix. Chris Schenkel did play-by-play for ABC during this period except , when Keith Jackson held that responsibility. Jack Twyman remained as the color commentator for the broadcasts up until when the position was assumed by Bill Russell. By
1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...
, ABC's NBA contract was worth only $3 million. To put things into proper perspective, in 1969,
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
's television contract with
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
was worth $16.5 million while the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
cost
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
about $22 million. ABC had made a bargain in purchasing the television rights to the NBA, considering the league's steady ratings. ABC's ratings for the NBA rose from a 6.0 in
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
to an 8.2 in
1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
. ABC was by this time, coming increasingly under fire for what was perceived to be a less-than-spectacular presentation of the NBA. ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
''s Frank Deford in particular, singled ABC out for their coverage of the
1971 NBA Finals The 1971 NBA World Championship Series was the championship series played at the conclusion of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 25th anniversary season of 1970–71. The Western Conference champion Milwaukee Bucks, who were founded ...
. Deford felt that ABC was making a mistake in trying to cover the NBA the same way that they covered a football game because they were two different games. On that end, Deford wrote that neither ABC's announcers nor cameras were able to isolate the important phases of the game. He added that replays were used only to second-guess officials rather than "capture the grace and precision of the performers". Meanwhile, Deford also criticized play-by-play man Chris Schenkel in regards to his failure to appreciate the nuances of the game and their halftime shows, which Deford saw as not innovative or imaginative. The network proposed a contract extension with a modest rights bump in 1972, which was criticized by owners. Reportedly, a powerful bloc of owners in larger TV markets were weary of television, though they understood they needed TV to promote their brand. A major sticking point was attempting to force the prospective winning TV network to air games on Saturdays during the fall and winter, directly in competition with far more popular
college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
telecasts on ABC. ABC balked at the request. ABC lost the broadcast rights to the NBA to
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
after the 1972–73 season, with the network's initial tenure with the league ending with its last
NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...
game on May 10, 1973. ABC filled the void left by losing the NBA by counterprogramming ''Wide World of Sports'' on Sundays against CBS' NBA coverage.


The dark years (1973–2002)

On December 15, 1973, ABC aired what is considered to be the first telecast of a regular season college basketball game by a major broadcast network (between
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...
and North Carolina State in
St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
). ABC televised this game using its former NBA announcing crew of Keith Jackson and Bill Russell. Bill Russell also provided color commentary for ABC's coverage of basketball at the
Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...
in
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
and
1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
. Russell worked alongside
Frank Gifford Francis Newton Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American professional football player, actor, and television sports commentator. After a 12-year playing career as a halfback, flanker and safety for the New York Giants of ...
, Bill Flemming (who (filled in for Gifford while he did wrestling in 1972), and
Curt Gowdy Curtis Edward Gowdy (July 31, 1919 – February 20, 2006) was an American sportscaster. He called Boston Red Sox games on radio and TV for 15 years, and then covered many nationally televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports and ABC S ...
. And then in the 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's season, C.D. Chesley (who controlled the rights to the
Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...
(ACC) at the time) wanted
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
to televise select ACC games as part of its national package as it had done the previous few years. However, NBC wanted to feature intersectional games. This action greatly upset Chesley, who wound up selling the rights to the ACC Tournament final to ABC. ABC would televise the 1978 ACC Tournament final as part of ''Wide World of Sports''. The game, called by
Jim Lampley James Lampley (born April 8, 1949) is an American sportscaster, news anchor, film producer, and restaurant owner. He is best known as a blow-by-blow announcer on ''HBO World Championship Boxing'' for 30 years. He covered a record 14 Olympic ...
and Bill Russell, marked the first time
Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...
's Blue Devils basketball team played on national television. For ABC's final Summer Olympics to date, which were the 1984 games from
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, Keith Jackson provided the play–by–play alongside Digger Phelps (
men A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the fa ...
) and Ann Meyers (
women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...
). ABC wouldn't begin broadcasting college basketball on a more regular basis until January 18, 1987. In the early years of ABC's regular college basketball coverage, Keith Jackson and
Dick Vitale Richard "Dick" John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadc ...
were the primary announcing crew, while Gary Bender was the secondary play-by-play announcer behind Jackson. Meanwhile,
Al Michaels Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television play-by-play sportscaster for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Amazon Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on network sports television sin ...
did regional games during this period. Also beginning in
1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...
and continuing through
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
, ABC broadcast the
McDonald's Open The McDonald's Championship (sometimes called the McDonald's Open) was an international men's basketball competition that featured a representative of the National Basketball Association (representing North America) against champion club teams ...
. Gary Bender and Dick Vitale provided the commentary for ABC's broadcasts. Supplemental coverage was provided by TBS.


ABC Radio's coverage (1984–1990)

From the 1984–85 through 1989–90 seasons, the ABC Radio Network was the official, national radio broadcaster of NBA games, succeeding the
Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Golden Age of Radio, ...
. ABC Radio was in return, supplanted by Public Interest Affiliates' (or PIA's) NBA Radio Network. Commentators included Fred Manfra on play-by-play and
Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...
(from 1984 to 1985 through 1985–86),
Dick Vitale Richard "Dick" John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadc ...
(from 1986–87 through 1989–90) and
Earl Monroe Vernon Earl Monroe (born November 21, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for two teams, the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks, during his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Both teams ...
(from 1988–89 through 1989–90) on color commentary. Other announcers included
Marv Albert Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; June 12, 1941) is an American former sportscaster. Honored for his work by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he was also know ...
( 1989 All-Star Game) and Chick Hearn ( 1988 All-Star Game) on play-by-play and
Rod Hundley Rodney Clark "Hot Rod" Hundley (October 26, 1934 – March 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster. Hundley played college basketball for the West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball, West Virginia ...
(
1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...
and 1989 All-Star Games), Johnny Most (1988 All-Star Game), and Dave Barnett ( 1986 All-Star Game) on color commentary.


Current ABC/ESPN era (2002–present)

On January 22, 2002, the NBA signed a six-year deal with
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
and
Turner Sports TNT Sports is the division of Warner Bros. Discovery in the United States that is responsible for Sports broadcasting, sports broadcasts on its parent company's streaming service, Max (streaming service), Max, and primarily the TruTV, TBS (Americ ...
, which renewed an existing deal with
TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
and allowed ABC and ESPN to acquire the rights to air the NBA's games. ABC and ESPN reportedly paid an average of about US$400 million a season. Technically, ESPN pays the NBA for its broadcast rights and "buys" time on ABC to air select games (this is noted in
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
tags during the end credits after the telecasts, saying "The preceding program has been paid for by ESPN, Inc."). As part of the agreement, ABC acquired the rights to the
NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...
, at least 5 other
NBA Playoffs The NBA playoffs is the annual Playoffs, postseason Tournament#Knockout tournaments, tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA) held to determine the league champion. Since 1949, the four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held afte ...
games, 15 regular season games (mostly on Sunday afternoons), and ''
NBA Inside Stuff ''NBA Inside Stuff'' is a television program featuring behind the scenes activities of NBA players. The program also includes features on fitness and fundamentals of basketball. The show has had three runs on three different networks: on NBC fro ...
'' on Saturday mornings. For the
2006–07 NBA season The 2006–07 NBA season was the 61st season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The San Antonio Spurs were crowned the champions after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The first NBA draft und ...
, ABC's sports operations were fully integrated into ESPN (rebranding the sports division as
ESPN on ABC ESPN on ABC (formerly known as ABC Sports from 1961 to 2006) is the branding used for sports event and documentary programming televised by American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States. Officially, the terrestrial television, broadca ...
). In June 2007, the NBA renewed its television agreement with ESPN and ABC. The agreement was renewed in January 2014, extending it through the
2024–25 NBA season The 2024–25 NBA season is the 79th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 22, 2024, and ended on April 13, 2025. The NBA held an in-season tournament for the second consecutive year, now called ...
. ABC expanded its coverage beginning in the 2015–16 season when ESPN announced that ABC would add a series of eight of Saturday night games to its slate of broadcasts. As a result of this change, ABC no longer aired regular Sunday doubleheaders; doubleheaders ultimately returned in 2022. Expansion continued in 2021 when ABC began airing coverage of the
NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...
. On October 2, 2023, ESPN announced that ABC would add a series of five Wednesday night games during January for the
2023–24 NBA season The 2023–24 NBA season was the 78th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 24, 2023, and ended on April 14, 2024. The NBA held their first-ever in-season tournament from November 3 to December ...
. The move was made due to the
2023 Hollywood labor disputes From May 2 to November 9, 2023, a series of long labor disputes within the Cinema of the United States, film and Television in the United States, television industries of the United States took place, mainly focused on the strikes of the 2023 W ...
. The games were previously scheduled to air on ESPN. The NBA officially renewed its agreement again with ESPN and ABC on July 24, 2024, for another 11 years, taking its coverage through to the 2035–36 season. As part of a separate sublicensing agreement with Disney and
Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Outline of entertainment, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It was formed from WarnerMedi ...
, ESPN and ABC gained the broadcasting rights to TNT Sports' '' Inside the NBA'' beginning in the 2025–26 season, the first season of their renewed agreement. TNT Sports will continue to produce the show for ESPN and ABC.


Coverage


Overview

ABC's NBA regular season coverage has typically begun with Christmas Day games, followed by '' NBA Saturday Primetime'' and ''NBA Sunday Showcase'' on selected weekends starting in mid-January and February, respectively. In and , ABC's schedule instead began with a ''Saturday Primetime'' game on the second Saturday in December. In and , ABC's NBA coverage began with the In-Season Tournament/NBA Cup, knockout rounds also during the second Saturday of December. When ABC took over the broadcast television deal in , it continued NBC's tradition of televising doubleheaders on Christmas for the most part. However in and , ABC instead only aired one Christmas game. From to , ABC also insisted on carrying a Christmas game between the
Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...
and the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
, featuring their respective players
Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...
and
Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...
. In , ABC's coverage began featuring a
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
featuring
Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...
performing her hit 1994 single "
All I Want for Christmas Is You "All I Want for Christmas Is You" is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her fourth studio album and first holiday album, ''Merry Christmas'' (1994). She wrote and produced the song with Walter Afanasieff. It was released a ...
." In , Carey was also featured singing " Oh Santa!" From to , ABC expanded to a tripleheader on Christmas Day. In all five Christmas Day games were simulcast across both ABC and ESPN, as an attempt to counterprogram the NFL's scheduling of Christmas Day Games across CBS, Fox, and NBC in 2022. With Christmas Day falling on a Monday in , only two of the five games were ABC and ESPN simulcasts; the early and two evening games were only on ESPN while ABC aired ''
Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...
''. In , after the NFL scheduled Christmas Day games on a Wednesday for the first time, all five of the NBA's games were again simulcast across both ABC and ESPN. The number of regular season games that ABC normally covers is significantly lower than what NBC broadcasts during its tenure with the league. In its first season of coverage, ABC aired 14 regular-season games, in comparison to NBC's yearly average of 33 games. That number increased to 18 games in the next two seasons ( and ), and 20 games in the season. For , ABC decreased the number of game telecasts it aired during the season to 19. In a 2002 interview with
Jim Rome James Phillip Rome (born October 14, 1964) is an American sports radio host. His talk show, '' The Jim Rome Show'', is syndicated by Westwood One. Broadcasting from a studio near Los Angeles, California, Rome hosts ''The Jim Rome Show'' on r ...
, NBA commissioner
David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of t ...
commented about the number of league games broadcast on ABC: By contrast to Stern's assessment, media analysts and many fans found that the cable-heavy television deal made many games unavailable and, in addition, devalued the league. Starting with the second round of the playoffs, TNT's NBA coverage becomes exclusive, meaning that no locally produced league broadcasts can compete against the TNT telecasts (though commensurate with the move to sports rights to cable, few over-the-air local stations currently carried NBA coverage then but as of the 2020s new RSNs were launched through over-the-air rather than cable). Because of this, fans of teams in the playoffs who do not have a cable television subscription are unable to watch most playoff games. In addition, ABC's coverage is always exclusive, including during the regular season. If an ongoing game airs opposite to one televised by ABC, it cannot be televised in the local
market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...
, which has the side effect of causing some games to not be aired on television at all. ''Sports Business Daily'' quoted ''
Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...
'' writer Jonathan Feigen regarding the structuring of the NBA's deal with ABC: On July 17, 2015, ESPN announced that ABC would move some Sunday afternoon games to be a series of eight Saturday night games to its slate of broadcasts in the . The first ''NBA Saturday Primetime'' game aired on January 23, 2016. As a result of this change, ABC did not have regular Sunday doubleheaders until 2021 (due to the length of the ''NBA Sunday Showcase'' schedule being reduced). Since 2023, ABC aired its first non-Christmas NBA tripleheader on the final Saturday in January. Also under the cable-heavy television deals, TNT was awarded the rights to the
NBA All-Star Game The National Basketball Association All-Star Game is the annual all-star game hosted each February by the National Basketball Association (NBA) and showcases 24 of the league's All-star, star players. Since 2022, it was held on the third Sunday of ...
(from 2003 to 2025) instead of ABC, in addition to renewing its deal for the events of All-Star weekend. The All-Star Game has not aired on over-the-air television since NBC covered the 2002 game, however NBC will return to air All-Star weekend beginning with the 2026 game. As mentioned previously, ABC aired a series of Wednesday night games in January during the 2023–24 season due to the
2023 Hollywood labor disputes From May 2 to November 9, 2023, a series of long labor disputes within the Cinema of the United States, film and Television in the United States, television industries of the United States took place, mainly focused on the strikes of the 2023 W ...
. As these were originally assigned to ESPN, they were non-exclusive games and
regional sports network A regional sports network (RSN) in the United States and Canada is a television channel that presents sports programming to a local media market or geographical region. Such channels often focus on one or a few teams who currently play in Major L ...
s were permitted to locally air the games alongside ABC. Furthermore, ABC only airs selected games during the first three rounds of the playoffs. During the first and second rounds, ABC's schedule includes primetime playoff games, but they usually are only on Friday or Saturday nights. From 2019 to 2023, Friday night first-round playoff games on ABC were considered non-exclusive and may co-exist with broadcasts of regional sports networks of the teams involved (due to the game originally assigned to ESPN2 prior to 2019). From 2005 to 2007, ABC aired Game 4 of ESPN's respective Conference Finals (with all of those airing on Memorial Day). Under NBC's previous deal, Memorial Day playoff games were a yearly tradition on over-the-air television, however ABC aired a weekday conference final Game 4 in 2008 and 2022 and has not aired any more since. ABC also rarely televises either of the NBA Conference Finals series outside of Game 1 (and from 2008 and 2009 and again since 2022 Game 3), with coverage instead primarily on ESPN, TNT (2003–2025) and NBC/Prime Video (2026–present). ESPN airs one Conference Final exclusively each year, the Eastern Conference Finals in
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
and every even-numbered year since
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
and the Western Conference Finals in every odd-numbered year since
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, while TNT (2003–2025) and NBC/Prime Video (2026–present) gets the other. ABC typically only airs Conference Final matches – whichever one to which ESPN holds the rights in a given year – held on weekends. Due to the checkerboard schedule of the Conference Finals in which each conference plays every other day, ABC is typically only scheduled for a weekend Game 1 (if the series gets pushed up), and then a Game 3 Saturday primetime game in the middle weekend followed by a weekend sixth or seventh game (if necessary). However, Conference Finals series do not often reach a sixth or seventh game. In 2004, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019, and 2020, ABC's playoff schedule was scaled back and the network did not air any Conference Finals games at all. Conversely, ABC carries over NBC's tradition of exclusively airing the
NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...
on over-the-air television, which will continue even after NBC was added back in 2024.


Studio shows

ESPN's pregame show, '' NBA Countdown'', airs before each NBA game. It utilizes many of the same crew from ESPN's coverage. Another studio show, '' Inside the NBA'', produced by TNT Sports, will begin airing on ABC beginning in the 2025–26 season, as part of a sublicensing agreement between parent companies
The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
and
Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Outline of entertainment, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It was formed from WarnerMedi ...
(WBD). This follows a settlement between WBD and the NBA regarding TNT's loss of coverage rights to
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
and
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...
, which led to TNT filing a lawsuit against the league. ''Inside the NBA'' is expected to air during Christmas games, the NBA playoffs, and the NBA Finals, as well as all games beginning January 1.


Statistics


Criticisms

One common complaint about NBA coverage on ABC is the use of unconventional camera angles, including the Floorcam and Skycam angles, used by the network throughout its coverage. Other complaints are of camera angles that appear too far away, colors that seem faded and dull, and the quieting of crowd noise so that announcers can be heard clearly (by contrast to NBC, which allowed crowd noise to sometimes drown out their announcers). Some complaints have concerned the promotion, or perceived lack thereof, of NBA telecasts. The
2003 NBA Finals The 2003 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2002–03 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs played the Eastern Conference ...
received little fanfare on ABC or corporate partner ESPN; while subsequent Finals were promoted more on both networks, NBA-related advertisements on ABC were still down significantly from promotions on NBC. NBA promos took up 3 minutes and 55 seconds of airtime on ABC during the week of May 23,
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
according to the ''Sports Business Daily'', comparable to 2  minutes and 45  seconds for the
Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...
. Promotions for the Indianapolis 500 outnumbered promotions for the NBA Finals fourteen-to-nine between the hours of 9:00 and 11:00;p.m. during that week. ABC was also criticized for focusing its coverage on a select number of teams, particularly the decision to broadcast a game between the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
and
Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...
on its Christmas Day schedule for three consecutive years. However, for
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
, ABC decided to break this tradition by instead having the
Heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...
, for the fourth straight time, appear on Christmas Day facing the 2007 Eastern Conference Champions, the
Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...
. In
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
replaced the Heat on the Christmas Day schedule, and faced the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
; and in
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
, the
Cavaliers The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...
played the Lakers on Christmas Day. However, the
Heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...
- Lakers Christmas Day special would make its return in the
2010–11 NBA season The 2010–11 NBA season was the 65th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 2011 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 20, 2011, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Chicago's Derrick Rose was named the 2010–11 NBA MVP. Th ...
, as a result of
LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...
' recent move from the Cavaliers to the Heat. For the
2011–12 NBA season The 2011–12 NBA season was the 66th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Due to the 2011 NBA lockout, lockout, the regular season was reduced to 66 games for each team, and began on December 25, 2011, coinciding with NBA Christm ...
, the Lakers and
Heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...
played again on Christmas Day, but against separate opponents. The Lakers played the
Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...
, while the Heat played the
Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...
in a rematch of the 2011 NBA Finals; both the Bulls and Mavericks made their ABC Christmas Day debuts, which also acted as the league's opening day that season due to the 2011 NBA lockout delaying the start of the season. In the case of the latter, ABC aired the pre-game championship ring and banner ceremony for the Mavericks, which marked the first time in NBA history that a national
broadcast Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...
network televised the ceremony.


Music

After the 1990s (when the NBA arguably reached its highest point in terms of popularity) many hardcore and casual fans began to associate the league with
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
, and more accurately, NBC's theme music, " Roundball Rock". After ABC took over the NBA coverage from NBC, "Roundball Rock" composer John Tesh offered his iconic theme song to the new rightsholder, but ABC turned it down and told Tesh that they wanted a completely different song. Whereas NBC used "Roundball Rock" for all twelve years of its coverage, ABC ended up using at least nine themes in its first four years. Three of the themes were traditional sports themes, while six of them ('We Got Hoops" by
Robert Randolph and the Family Band Robert Randolph and the Family Band is an American Gospel music, gospel band led by pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph (Robert Jermaine Randolph, born August 8, 1977, Irvington, New Jersey). National Public Radio, NPR has described the band a ...
, "Can't Get Enough" by
Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...
, "
Let's Get It Started "Let's Get It Started" is a song by American group the Black Eyed Peas. It is a clean version of "Let's Get Retarded" from their third studio album, ''Elephunk'' (2003). The album version was originally only reworked for its use in promotion fo ...
" by
The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...
, " Lose My Breath" by
Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final lineup comprised Beyoncé, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams (singer), Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Hou ...
, " This Is How a Heart Breaks" by Rob Thomas and " Runnin' Down a Dream" by
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band formed in Gainesville, Florida, in 1976. The band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer ...
) were contemporary pieces by known artists. For the
2006–07 NBA season The 2006–07 NBA season was the 61st season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The San Antonio Spurs were crowned the champions after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The first NBA draft und ...
, ESPN began using "Fast Break", the theme music used for ABC's NBA broadcasts since
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
, as the theme for its own NBA games. Because of the reorganization of ABC Sports under the oversight of ESPN, and its 2006 rebranding as ESPN on ABC (which calls for all sporting events aired on ABC to utilize the same production elements as ESPN's sports telecasts), this means that games broadcast on ABC will use the same theme music from previous years. In addition, ABC selected pop group
The Pussycat Dolls The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a neo-burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the troupe mainstrea ...
to perform "Right Now" as the new introduction for NBA games. For the 2008 season, " Nine Lives" by
Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
and
Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...
was used as the new intro song for ABC's game broadcasts, and was also used by ESPN during the playoffs before the start of each game. For the
2012 NBA Playoffs The 2012 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2011–12 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat defeating the Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Th ...
, the revised version of the 1972–73 theme was introduced, incorporating features of the current NBA players from going back from the previous year to years past during the network's tenure with the NBA. For the 2011 NBA postseason, ESPN used an updated composition of the "Fast Break" theme music for the postseason, yet the original composition was still used for the regular season through the 2015-16 NBA season. For the 2016-17 NBA season, ESPN used another updated composition of the "Fast Break" theme music. This time, for the regular season, replacing the original composition that was first used by ABC in the 2004–05 season and by ESPN two seasons later.
Maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead ...
featuring Frankie Beverly's " Before I Let Go" was added to start the courtside play-by-play commentary. To go along with ESPN's rebranding of their NBA coverage prior to the 2022-23 season, a new theme was composed and introduced. A remixed version of this theme is used during the NBA Playoffs and NBA Finals.


''NBA Saturday Primetime'' and ''NBA Sunday Showcase''

''NBA Saturday Primetime'' debuted during the 2015–16 season, and began on January 23, 2016. It features marquee matchups of the league's most prominent teams. Games air every Saturday at 8:30 pm ( ET), although additional games may air on earlier timeslots. From its inception, the games had been called by
Mike Breen Michael Breen (born May 22, 1961) is an American play-by-play sports commentator. He has been the lead announcer for National Basketball Association, NBA games on NBA on ABC, ABC and NBA on ESPN, ESPN since 2006, including the NBA Finals. He is ...
,
Jeff Van Gundy Jeffrey William Van Gundy (born January 19, 1962) is an American basketball coach and former commentator who is currently the lead assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. Van Gundy previously served as head coach of the New York Knicks and ...
, and Mark Jackson. On the other hand, ''NBA Sunday Showcase'' airs on Sunday afternoons. It typically begins on
Super Bowl Sunday Super Bowl Sunday is the day on which the Super Bowl, the National Football League (NFL)'s annual championship game, is played. It was the first Sunday in February from Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 until Super Bowl LV in 2021, but is now the seco ...
, but in 2021, it began two weeks after Super Bowl LV on February 21, 2021. From 2020 until 2023, the games were primarily called by Mark Jones and
Doris Burke Doris Burke ( Sable) is an American sports announcer and analyst for ''NBA on ESPN'', ''NBA on ABC'', '' College Basketball on ESPN'', and '' College Basketball on ABC'' games. She formerly worked as an analyst for WNBA games on MSG and has wo ...
. In August 2023, ESPN announced that the new lead broadcast team of Breen,
Doris Burke Doris Burke ( Sable) is an American sports announcer and analyst for ''NBA on ESPN'', ''NBA on ABC'', '' College Basketball on ESPN'', and '' College Basketball on ABC'' games. She formerly worked as an analyst for WNBA games on MSG and has wo ...
, and
Doc Rivers Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An NBA player for 14 seasons, he was an NB ...
would call ''NBA Saturday Primetime'' games starting with the 2023–24 season, while the then-newly-formed second core broadcast team of Ryan Ruocco, JJ Redick, and
Richard Jefferson Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played small forward. He played for eight teams in his 17-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jefferson playe ...
would were assigned to ''NBA Sunday Showcase'' games. However, Rivers would later leave before the ''Saturday Primetime'' series began, leaving only Breen and Burke on the lead team. The second core team of Ruocco, Redick, and Jefferson only called one ''Sunday Showcase'' game before Redick joined Breen and Burke on the lead team, calling games for the remainder of the season (and by extension, ''Saturday Primetime'') until the
2024 NBA Finals The 2024 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2023–24 NBA season, 2023–24 season and conclusion to 2024 NBA playoffs, the season's playoffs. In the best-of-seven playoffs series, the Eastern ...
. Redick later left to become head coach of the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
. For the 2024–25 season, Jefferson joined Breen and Burke on the lead team on a rotational basis. This later became permanent in February 2025. The 2025 edition of ''NBA Sunday Showcase'' began with what would be
Hubie Brown Hubert Jude Brown (born September 25, 1933) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and analyst. Brown is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, the honors separated by 26 years. Brown was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Bas ...
's final NBA broadcast on February 9, 2025. Brown was accompanied by
Mike Breen Michael Breen (born May 22, 1961) is an American play-by-play sports commentator. He has been the lead announcer for National Basketball Association, NBA games on NBA on ABC, ABC and NBA on ESPN, ESPN since 2006, including the NBA Finals. He is ...
, his longtime partner, and the broadcast also featured a virtual appearance from former NBA commentator
Mike Tirico Michael Todd Tirico (; born December 13, 1966) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the lead play-by-play announcer for ''NBC Sunday Night Football'', having replaced Al Michaels in 2022, and is set to become the lead play-by-play anno ...
, Brown's other longtime partner. Succeeding broadcasts feature either Mark Jones or Dave Pasch as play-by-play commentator, with a rotational set of analysts.


''WNBA on ABC''

In the early years, two women-oriented networks, Lifetime and
Oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...
, also broadcast games including the first game of the WNBA.
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
showed games from 1997 to 2002 as part of their ''
NBA on NBC Television broadcasts of the National Basketball Association (NBA) games produced by NBC Sports has aired on American broadcast network NBC under the ''NBA on NBC'' branding throughout three incarnations in its history. The NBA was first telev ...
'' coverage before the league transferred the rights to ABC/ESPN. In June 2007, the WNBA signed a contract extension with
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
. The new television deal ran from 2009 to 2016. A minimum of 18 games would be broadcast on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 each season; the rights to broadcast the first regular-season game and the All-Star Game were held by ABC. Additionally, a minimum of 11 postseason games would be broadcast on any of the three stations. Along with this deal, came the first-ever rights fees to be paid to a women's professional sports league. Over the eight years of the contract, "millions and millions of dollars" would be "dispersed to the league's teams".


Announcers


Brad Nessler era (2002–2003)

After obtaining the NBA broadcast rights, ABC courted two main announcers from the ''NBA on NBC'',
Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from ...
and
Marv Albert Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; June 12, 1941) is an American former sportscaster. Honored for his work by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he was also know ...
. After Costas (who was reportedly offered a generous deal which also included offers to do play-by-play for ESPN's Major League Baseball telecasts and feature reports for
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
) elected to remain with NBC. Albert signed a six-year deal with TNT, the network went with veteran broadcaster Brad Nessler to be the lead play-by-play announcer for its NBA broadcasts. Nessler, who before that point had not been the main voice for any professional sport on television, received a call from Marv Albert's agent, soon after being hired. On the call, Nessler said in an interview with the
Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...
: Nessler was initially joined on the broadcasts by color commentator
Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (November 5, 1952 – May 27, 2024) was an American basketball player and television Sports commentator, sportscaster. He played college basketball, collegiately for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA Bruins an ...
and lead sideline reporter
Michele Tafoya Michele Tafoya (born 1964/1965) is an American reporter and retired sports broadcaster for CBS and NBC. Most notably, from 2011 to 2022, she worked primarily as a sideline reporter for ''NBC Sunday Night Football''. Over the course of her career ...
. The team of Nessler and Walton did two broadcasts together before ABC decided that Walton needed a partner (much like he had at NBC with Steve Jones) and assigned pre-game analyst
Tom Tolbert Thomas Byron Tolbert Jr. (born October 16, 1965) is an American sports broadcaster and former professional basketball player. He played a total of seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After retiring from basketball, Tolbert ...
to join the team. Nessler, Walton, and Tolbert called most regular season games and every network playoff game. Other games were called by the team of
Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN). With CBS Sports from 1973 until 1990, he was the original host of their ...
and
Sean Elliott Sean Michael Elliott (born February 2, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who starred as a small forward in both the college and professional ranks. He attended the University of Arizona, where he had a standout career a ...
. After suffering the worst ratings in NBA Finals history for the 2003 series, low ratings overall, and harsh criticism, ABC decided to retool the team. More to the point, during this particular period, Brad Nessler was accused by media analysts (among them, ''New York Times'' columnist Richard Sandomir) of not knowing game strategy well, lacking rhythm and enthusiasm in his game call, not bringing out the best in his partners, too often ignoring the score and his tendency to stammer. This was also the only year that ABC broadcast both the NBA and the
Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...
involving teams from one market in the same year, as both the
New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
and the
New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...
were in their respective league's finals. During ABC's broadcast of Game 3 between the San Antonio Spurs and the Nets in New Jersey on June 8, Nessler said that ABC was in a unique situation preparing for both that game and Game 7 of the
Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...
between the Devils and the
Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Mighty may refer to: Businesses *Mighty Audio, an American company known for its product ''Mighty'', a portable audio player *Mighty Animation, an animation studio based in Guadalajara, Mexico Films *''The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy–drama * ''The ...
the following night. ESPN and ABC's lead NHL voice
Gary Thorne Gary Francis Thorne (born June 9, 1948) is an American sportscaster. He was the lead play-by-play announcer for Baltimore Orioles games on MASN from 2007 to 2020. He has also worked for ESPN and ABC, including National Hockey League, Major Le ...
mentioned this the following night, and thanked Nessler for promoting ABC's broadcast of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.


Al Michaels era (2003–2005)

After disastrous ratings for the 2003 Finals, ABC decided to completely revamp its lead NBA broadcast team. Brad Nessler was demoted to the secondary broadcast team, where he was joined by Sean Elliott and Dan Majerle. Tom Tolbert was relegated to pre-game show duties only, and Bill Walton was removed from the network's NBA coverage altogether (however, he would remain with ESPN). Meanwhile, longtime ''Monday Night Football'' commentator
Al Michaels Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television play-by-play sportscaster for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Amazon Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on network sports television sin ...
was hired to replace Nessler as the network's lead NBA play-by-play announcer; Michele Tafoya remained as its lead sideline reporter.
Doc Rivers Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An NBA player for 14 seasons, he was an NB ...
, a critically acclaimed analyst when he worked with Turner Sports for TNT's NBA broadcasts, became available after a 1–10 start by his
Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...
led to his firing as the team's coach. Rivers was hired weeks before ABC's Christmas Day season opener. He and Michaels worked that game together, one of only six they did together during the regular season (all other games Rivers worked were with Brad Nessler). During the playoffs, Michaels and Rivers worked every single telecast, including the
2004 NBA Finals The 2004 NBA Finals was the NBA Finals, championship round of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2003–04 NBA season, 2003–04 season, and the conclusion of the 2004 NBA playoffs, season's playoffs. This season's NBA Finals was contest ...
, which saw significant ratings improvement. During the 2004 NBA Playoffs, Doc Rivers was hired as head coach of the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
. Though Rivers continued to work games with Al Michaels throughout the rest of the playoffs, ABC was forced to search for a new lead analyst for the 2004–05 season. In addition, the network dropped Brad Nessler from all NBA coverage and did not retain Sean Elliott or Dan Majerle. Early in the 2004–2005 season, Memphis Grizzlies coach
Hubie Brown Hubert Jude Brown (born September 25, 1933) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and analyst. Brown is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, the honors separated by 26 years. Brown was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Bas ...
, a broadcasting legend with
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
, TBS and
TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
, was forced into retirement due to health issues and was soon after hired to replace Doc Rivers as Al Michaels' broadcast booth partner. Brown called his first ABC game with Michaels on Christmas Day 2004, working the highly anticipated Heat-Lakers game pitting those team's respective star players
Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...
and
Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...
. After that game, the two did not do a game together again until March 2005. Michaels began covering NBA games sporadically, doing two games in early March and three additional games in April. Meanwhile, Brown worked every week of ABC's coverage, broadcasting some games with veteran broadcaster
Mike Breen Michael Breen (born May 22, 1961) is an American play-by-play sports commentator. He has been the lead announcer for National Basketball Association, NBA games on NBA on ABC, ABC and NBA on ESPN, ESPN since 2006, including the NBA Finals. He is ...
. Michele Tafoya served as lead sideline reporter for all of the network's game broadcasts. In addition to Hubie Brown, ABC added other known analysts to its NBA coverage.
Jim Durham Jim Durham (February 12, 1947 – November 4, 2012) was an American sportscaster. Durham was born in Chicago, IL, and graduated from Donovan High School in Donovan, Illinois, and later attended Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. ...
and Dr. Jack Ramsay both worked several games during the regular season, while Brent Musburger, John Saunders,
Len Elmore Leonard J. Elmore (born March 28, 1952) is an American sportscaster, lawyer and former National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Elmore has served as a college basketball analyst for ESPN and Fox Sports and has served in the same capacity ...
and Mark Jackson were involved with others. Breen and Ramsay were the first secondary broadcast team to work a playoff game for ABC. Breen called three playoff games for the network in
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, the most notable being Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals with Hubie Brown. Al Michaels was criticized by the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'' for not broadcasting the game and seeming uninterested in the NBA in general. Barry Horn of ''
The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...
'' said that Michaels was simply "not a basketball guy". Meanwhile,
Bill Simmons William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American podcaster, Sports journalism, sportswriter, and cultural critic who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website ''The Ringer (website), The Ringer''. Simmons fir ...
said during the 2005 Finals that Michaels "shows up for these games, does his job, then drives home thinking, 'Only five weeks to the FL Hall of Fame Game, I'm almost there!'" Another criticism that Michaels received was that he too often found himself making tediously long-winded explanations. In return, he would tend to talk over two or three possessions in a row (which Michaels seemed to be better suited for
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
and baseball broadcasts, for which he's better known for). The result was that he would hardly have time to comment on the action viewers were seeing because he was so hung up on a prior subplot or storyline that he felt the audience just had to know about. Michaels was also accused of apparently lacking the kind of enthusiasm and confidence (for instance, Michaels initially reacted to
Amar'e Stoudemire Amar'e Carsares Stoudemire (born November 16, 1982) is an American-Israeli professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as a player development assistant for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NB ...
's block of
Tim Duncan Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 19-year career with the San Antonio Sp ...
's shot during the 2005 playoffs by calling it a "great, great contested shot") expected of a main play-by-play voice. Michaels, who by the end of his tenure on the ''NBA on ABC'' only called a total of 37 NBA games overall with ABC (a combined thirteen regular season games), did return for the
NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...
, which scored its second-lowest rating of all time (even though it was the first Finals in eleven years to go to a seventh game). From March 7, 2004, to April 17, 2005 – including playoff games – each game Michaels called involved either the Los Angeles Lakers (whose home city Michaels resides when not broadcasting sports events) or
Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...
, a total of 21 consecutive games. For the 2005–06 season, Al Michaels and Hubie Brown were slated to remain as ABC's main broadcast team. The duo worked that year's Christmas Day game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat and were expected to work the NBA Finals together as well. However, that plan did not come to fruition. In
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
, the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
(NFL) signed a contract with
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
for the rights to the Sunday night football (a package previously held by
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
), which in turn resulted in ''
Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...
'', which Al Michaels had been broadcasting for nearly 20 years, ending its run on ABC after the league's 2005 season. Speculation arose that Michaels would leave ABC for NBC; however, he subsequently signed a deal to remain on ''Monday Night Football'', when it moved to ESPN in
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
. However, in the weeks leading up to
Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2005 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh S ...
, it was widely speculated that Michaels was attempting to get out of his contract with ESPN to join John Madden (who worked alongside Michaels for the previous four years on ''Monday Night Football'' as an analyst) at NBC. Michaels added fuel to the fire by refusing to state his plans, and he could not "respond to rumors... because that would become a distraction." On February 8, 2006, ESPN announced that its ''Monday Night Football'' team would consist of Mike Tirico on play-by-play, with football analyst Joe Theismann and
Tony Kornheiser Anthony Irwin Kornheiser (; born July 13, 1948) is an American television sports talk show host and former Sports journalism, sportswriter and columnist. Kornheiser is best known for his endeavors in three forms of media: as a writer for ''The Wa ...
as analysts. ESPN explicitly stated that Michaels would not return to either ''Monday Night Football'' broadcasts or ABC's NBA broadcasts, all but assuring Michaels' departure from ABC after 30 years and joining Madden at NBC.


Mike Breen era (2006–present)

Michaels was replaced by Mike Breen, who became the lead broadcaster for an over-the-air NBA package for the first time in his career. Breen worked the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals and
2006 NBA Finals The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2005–06 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks were favored to win the championship over the Miami Heat. Despit ...
with Hubie Brown for both ESPN and ABC, as well as all the main games ABC broadcast that year. The promotion of Breen gave ABC its first consistent lead broadcaster since Brad Nessler, as Breen worked games every week. Breen previously had worked the Eastern Conference Finals for NBC in 2001 and 2002, as well as the Western Conference Finals for ESPN in 2005. Many sportswriters and sports media analysts praised Breen, some for his explosive voice and excited calls on game-deciding and game-winning shots and others for the fact that, unlike his predecessor Al Michaels, he was already familiar with broadcasting basketball games (before NBC and ABC, he is also working
New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...
games on MSG Network) and was essentially a basketball lifer. Despite that, he faced some criticism from those who complained that they would prefer a more established voice, such as Marv Albert or
Kevin Harlan Kevin Robert Harlan (born June 21, 1960) is an American television and radio sports announcer, and a 3 time National Sportscaster of Year as voted by his peers. The son of former Green Bay Packers President and CEO Bob Harlan, he broadcasts NF ...
. Hubie Brown faced criticism from writers (most notably Richard Sandomir of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'') as well as bloggers and viewers.
Lisa Salters Alisia "Lisa" Salters (born March 6, 1966) is an American journalist and former college basketball player. She has been a reporter for ESPN and ESPN on ABC since 2000. Salters previously covered the O. J. Simpson murder case for American Broadc ...
also served as the lead sideline reporter for ABC's regular-season game coverage and the NBA Finals that season, filling in for Michele Tafoya while she was on
maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave ...
. Salters returned to her role as its secondary sideline reporter when Tafoya returned the following year. For the secondary broadcast team, ABC reunited Bill Walton and Steve Jones for game coverage. Walton and Jones worked the Christmas Day 2005 broadcast between the
San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
and
Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...
for ABC, the first game they called together since Game 4 of the
2002 NBA Finals The 2002 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2001–02 season, and the culmination of the season's playoffs. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Western Conference champion Lo ...
for NBC (NBC's last NBA telecast to date). The pair worked their first broadcast with Mike Breen and worked the remainder of the season with Brent Musburger,
Jim Durham Jim Durham (February 12, 1947 – November 4, 2012) was an American sportscaster. Durham was born in Chicago, IL, and graduated from Donovan High School in Donovan, Illinois, and later attended Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. ...
and
Mike Tirico Michael Todd Tirico (; born December 13, 1966) is an American sportscaster. He is currently the lead play-by-play announcer for ''NBC Sunday Night Football'', having replaced Al Michaels in 2022, and is set to become the lead play-by-play anno ...
. That team, along with the Breen-Brown duo, often did ESPN's Wednesday or Friday game coverage, which the previous ABC announce teams rarely did. ABC also used several ''
SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande,  Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...
'' reporters, including
Tom Rinaldi Tom Rinaldi is an American reporter for Fox Sports. He previously contributed to ESPN's tennis coverage at Wimbledon and the US Open, ESPN's golf coverage, ''SportsCenter'', '' Outside the Lines'', '' College GameDay'' and '' Sunday NFL Count ...
, Rachel Nichols and
Jeremy Schaap Jeremy Schaap (born 1969) is an American sportswriter, television reporter and author. Schaap is an 11-time Emmy Awards winner for his work on ESPN's ''E:60'', ''SportsCenter'', and ''Outside the Lines''. Biography Schaap was born in New York ...
, for pregame and halftime features during
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
.


2006–07 thru 2018–19

For the
2006–07 NBA season The 2006–07 NBA season was the 61st season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The San Antonio Spurs were crowned the champions after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The first NBA draft und ...
, ABC's sports operations were fully integrated into ESPN (rebranding the sports division as
ESPN on ABC ESPN on ABC (formerly known as ABC Sports from 1961 to 2006) is the branding used for sports event and documentary programming televised by American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States. Officially, the terrestrial television, broadca ...
). As a result, Mark Jackson replaced Hubie Brown as ABC's lead analyst (Brown would still pair with Mike Breen on ESPN's primary broadcast team and Mike Tirico on ABC's secondary team). ABC's pre-game show, which Jackson was a part of, also began to be broadcast from the site of the main game each week (much as was the case during first season of the network's current NBA deal in
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
). Additionally, Michele Tafoya returned as a sideline reporter, after sitting out the 2005–06 season on maternity leave.
Lisa Salters Alisia "Lisa" Salters (born March 6, 1966) is an American journalist and former college basketball player. She has been a reporter for ESPN and ESPN on ABC since 2000. Salters previously covered the O. J. Simpson murder case for American Broadc ...
returned to her role as its secondary sideline reporter the following year as Tafoya returned to her old role. On July 9, 2007, it was announced by Dan Patrick that he would be leaving ESPN after 18 years with the network. Stuart Scott hosted ABC's pregame show for the 2007–08 season along with analysts
Bill Walton William Theodore Walton III (November 5, 1952 – May 27, 2024) was an American basketball player and television Sports commentator, sportscaster. He played college basketball, collegiately for the UCLA Bruins men's basketball, UCLA Bruins an ...
and Michael Wilbon.
Jeff Van Gundy Jeffrey William Van Gundy (born January 19, 1962) is an American basketball coach and former commentator who is currently the lead assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. Van Gundy previously served as head coach of the New York Knicks and ...
also joined Mike Breen and Mark Jackson full-time, starting Christmas Day. After Walton had back problems in February,
Jon Barry Jon Alan Barry (born July 25, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player and television analyst for American Broadcasting Company, ABC and ESPN. Barry is currently the lead analyst for NBA_on_ESPN_Radio, ESPN Radio's coverage of ...
replaced him for the rest of the season. Michele Tafoya left her role as NBA sideline reporter for ABC after the 2007–08 season to spend more time with her family; however, she continued to work for ESPN, primarily serving as a sideline reporter for ''Monday Night Football'' (before leaving for
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
in 2011 to serve that same position for ''Sunday Night Football'').
Doris Burke Doris Burke ( Sable) is an American sports announcer and analyst for ''NBA on ESPN'', ''NBA on ABC'', '' College Basketball on ESPN'', and '' College Basketball on ABC'' games. She formerly worked as an analyst for WNBA games on MSG and has wo ...
, who already served as an analyst for ESPN's NBA telecasts, replaced Tafoya as lead sideline reporter on the ABC broadcasts. Lisa Salters served as a substitute for Burke in the event she is on assignment or is slated to handle analyst duties for the ''NBA on ESPN'', with Heather Cox filling in as part of the secondary announcing team for Salters, when she is working within the primary broadcast team. Cox took over the secondary role in 2012 after Salters became a full-time sideline reporter for ''Monday Night Football'', with either Chris Broussard, J. A. Adande or Holly Rowe serving as the secondary reporter whenever Cox was assigned as the lead reporter. , the main broadcast team consisted of Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, while the secondary broadcast team consisted of Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown, with either Mark Jones, Ryan Ruocco or Dave Pasch filling in when Tirico had other commitments. The '' NBA Countdown'' studio team consisted of host Sage Steele, and analysts
Jalen Rose Jalen Anthony Rose (born January 30, 1973) is an American sports analyst and former professional basketball player. In college, he was a member of the University of Michigan Michigan Wolverines, Wolverines' "Fab Five (University of Michigan), Fa ...
and Doug Collins. ABC's second team of Tirico and Brown also comprised the lead team for NBA Finals coverage on
ESPN Radio ESPN Radio, which is alternatively branded platform-agnostically as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the banner "SportsRadio ESPN". The netw ...
, with Kevin Calabro subbing in for Tirico on some occasions. Jackson briefly left the broadcast booth to serve as head coach of the
Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...
from
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
to
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
. Before the 2011–12 season, ABC reassigned
Stuart Scott Stuart Orlando Scott (July 19, 1965 – January 4, 2015) was an American Sports commentator, sportscaster and anchor on ESPN, including on ''SportsCenter''. Known for his hip-hop style and use of catchphrases, Scott was also a regular for the ...
to another role while the studio team worked without a main host in a more free-flowing approach. This experiment ended before the 2013–14 season, when Sage Steele became the lead host of ''Countdown''.
Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...
,
Jon Barry Jon Alan Barry (born July 25, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player and television analyst for American Broadcasting Company, ABC and ESPN. Barry is currently the lead analyst for NBA_on_ESPN_Radio, ESPN Radio's coverage of ...
, Michael Wilbon, Bill Simmons, and Chris Broussard have previously served as analysts for ''NBA Countdown''. For the 2016–17 season, Mark Jones replaced Mike Tirico as part of the secondary broadcast team with Hubie Brown as Tirico left for
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
. Also, Doug Collins left ''NBA Countdown'' and joined ESPN's roster of game analysts, returning to a position he previously held while working with NBC and TNT. Steele was replaced as host by
Michelle Beadle Michelle Denise Beadle (born October 23, 1975) is an American sports reporter and host who is part of the San Antonio Spurs broadcast team. Beadle was formerly the co-host of the ESPN morning sports show '' Get Up!'' along with Jalen Rose and ...
during the season.


Since 2019–20

For the 2019–20 season, ABC's pregame show was completely revamped. ESPN decided to drop Beadle, who had been granted a buyout at the company, and Chauncey Billups, though he would remain with ESPN as a regular game analyst until he left the company to take a coaching job with the
Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...
. Beadle's role would end up being split between Maria Taylor, who also worked ABC's college football game of the week, and Rachel Nichols, host of the popular ESPN show ''The Jump''.
Richard Jefferson Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played small forward. He played for eight teams in his 17-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jefferson playe ...
and Jay Williams were brought in to replace Billups, with the network retaining
Jalen Rose Jalen Anthony Rose (born January 30, 1973) is an American sports analyst and former professional basketball player. In college, he was a member of the University of Michigan Michigan Wolverines, Wolverines' "Fab Five (University of Michigan), Fa ...
and
Paul Pierce Paul Anthony Pierce (born October 13, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 19 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), predominantly with the Boston Celtics. As of September 2024, he is a contributo ...
. Nichols would also be ABC's pregame host for the
NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...
. ESPN also decided to replace ''NBA Countdown'' with ''The Jump'' for their '' NBA Saturday Primetime'' pregame show. ''NBA Countdown'' would remain the main pregame show for '' NBA Sunday Showcase''. Those plans did not continue as planned after March 8, as the NBA suspended play due to the
coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Because of that, Nichols resorted to the NBA Bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the
Walt Disney World Resort The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company. ...
in
Orlando, FL Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...
, where the NBA restarted their season and held the
Playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
, where she eventually took
Doris Burke Doris Burke ( Sable) is an American sports announcer and analyst for ''NBA on ESPN'', ''NBA on ABC'', '' College Basketball on ESPN'', and '' College Basketball on ABC'' games. She formerly worked as an analyst for WNBA games on MSG and has wo ...
's spot as sideline reporter for the
Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
, meaning Taylor was elevated to host the NBA Finals on ABC, and ''Countdown'' being restored as ABC's pregame show. For the 2020–21 season, Nichols was tapped to serve as a sideline reporter for ''NBA Saturday Primetime'', meaning Taylor was promoted to Nichols' spot as host, with ''Countdown'' being restored as a pregame show. After he was part of an inappropriate
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
video, ESPN quietly dropped Pierce on April 6, without replacement for the remainder of the season. Before the 2021 NBA Finals, Nichols was removed in favor of
Malika Andrews Malika Rose Andrews McMenamin (born January 27, 1995) is an American sports journalist and reporter. She is the host of ''NBA Today'', which replaced ''The Jump (ESPN talk show), The Jump''. She joined ESPN in October 2018 as an online NBA writ ...
after a video revealed Nichols uttering racially insensitive comments towards
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
colleague Taylor. Soon after, Taylor departed to join NBC Sports, and Nichols was removed from all ESPN programming. For the 2021–22 season, Lisa Salters replaced Nichols as the primary sideline reporter, and
Mike Greenberg Michael Darrow Greenberg (born August 6, 1967) is an American television anchor, television show host, radio show host for ESPN and ABC, and novelist. At ESPN, he hosted the weekday evening, most often Monday, ''SportsCenter'' and previously ES ...
replaced Taylor on ''NBA Countdown'' along with returning analysts Michael Wilbon, Stephen A. Smith, Jalen Rose and
Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...
. Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy missed Game 1 of the
2022 NBA Finals The 2022 NBA Finals was the NBA Finals, championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2021–22 NBA season, 2021–22 season and conclusion of the 2022 NBA playoffs, season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, ...
due to COVID-19 protocols, and Mark Jones filled in for Breen. Jones, Mark Jackson, and Lisa Salters made history in Game 1 as the first all-
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
broadcast team to cover an NBA Finals game. In Game 5 of the
2023 NBA Finals The 2023 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2022–23 NBA season, 2022–23 season and conclusion to 2023 NBA playoffs, the season's playoffs. In the best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Co ...
, Breen called his 100th NBA Finals game, becoming the first national TV play-by-play voice to reach the milestone, and the third overall following former Lakers announcer Chick Hearn and former Celtics announcer Johnny Most. However, that game would be Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson's last assignments on the network, as both were laid off on June 30 and July 31, respectively. As a result,
Doris Burke Doris Burke ( Sable) is an American sports announcer and analyst for ''NBA on ESPN'', ''NBA on ABC'', '' College Basketball on ESPN'', and '' College Basketball on ABC'' games. She formerly worked as an analyst for WNBA games on MSG and has wo ...
and
Doc Rivers Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An NBA player for 14 seasons, he was an NB ...
replace the pair on the lead broadcast team, the latter returning as a lead analyst for the first time since 2004 and the former becoming the first woman to call a major men's championship. The secondary team was also revamped, now featuring Ryan Ruocco, JJ Redick, and
Richard Jefferson Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played small forward. He played for eight teams in his 17-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jefferson playe ...
. However, Rivers left in January 2024 to become head coach of the
Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...
, leaving only Breen and Burke on the lead team. In February, ESPN promoted Redick to the lead team of Breen and Burke. The
2024 NBA Finals The 2024 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2023–24 NBA season, 2023–24 season and conclusion to 2024 NBA playoffs, the season's playoffs. In the best-of-seven playoffs series, the Eastern ...
on ABC marked the first and only Finals to be called by the team of Breen, Burke and Redick, and sideline reporter Salters. This also made Burke the first woman to serve as a television analyst for a major men's professional championship event. Shortly after the Finals, however, Redick was hired to coach the Lakers, again leaving only Breen, Burke and Salters on the lead team. For the 2024–25 season, Breen and Burke were initially joined by a rotating cast of second analysts; it was then announced on February 24, 2025, that Jefferson will remain with Breen and Burke for the rest of the season.


Television ratings

Between
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
and
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, the NBA lost 40 to 45 percent of its viewership. While some of it can be attributed to "cable-cutting", other professional leagues, like the NFL and
MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
have retained stable viewership demographics. The opening game of the 2020 Finals between the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...
and
Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...
brought in only 7.41 million viewers to ABC, according to ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
''. That is reportedly the lowest viewership seen for the Finals since at least
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
, when total viewers began to be regularly recorded, and is a 45 percent decline from Game 1 between the
Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...
and
Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...
, which had 13.51 million viewers a year earlier. Some attribute this decline to the political stances the league and its players are taking, while others consider load management, the uneven talent distribution between the conferences, and the cord-cutting of younger viewers as the main reason for the decline.


References


External links


ESPN's official website for coverage of the NBANBA.com's website for ABC's broadcast scheduleNBA News & Videos - ABC News
* {{NBA on ESPN Radio 1965 American television series debuts 1973 American television series endings 2002 American television series debuts 1960s American sports television series 1970s American sports television series 2000s American sports television series 2010s American sports television series 2020s American sports television series American Broadcasting Company original programming ABC Sports ABC Radio Sports Black-and-white American television shows ABC American television series revived after cancellation ABC 1980s American radio programs American sports radio programs ABC radio programs