NBC Sports has officially announced the hiring of longtime TNT NBA analyst Reggie Miller as it continues to set its NBA roster.
NBC announced Tuesday that it has hired Miller as a lead analyst for its NBA coverage that begins next season. The network previously announced the hiring of Jamal Crawford to the same role. Per the initial report on Miller’s NBC move — by Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports last month — the network plans to use Miller and Crawford in a rotation on its top games.
Miller has spent his entire post-retirement working as an NBA analyst for TNT Sports, a role that he will continue through the end of this season. He has primarily called games alongside Kevin Harlan, a partnership is likely to end after this season as Harlan is expected to join Prime Video.
Miller, Crawford and producer Frank DiGraci are the only official hires NBC has made for its NBA coverage, but the network is reportedly expected to hire Carmelo Anthony as an analyst for its studio coverage. Internally, NBC has officially tapped Mike Tirico as its lead NBA voice and is widely expected to use Noah Eagle on its “B” team.
Returning to NBA coverage after a 23-year absence, NBC is taking over what had been the Warner Bros. Discovery (TNT) package that includes NBA All-Star Weekend, Opening Night, Martin Luther King Day and a conference final (unlike TNT currently, NBC will only have a conference final every-other-year). Miller’s assignments will thus look very similar next season.
One of those assignments, the NBA All-Star Game, is expected to see at least one change when it debuts on NBC next season. NBC and the NBA have discussed moving the start of next season’s All-Star Game from primetime to 5 PM ET next season, according to Glasspiegel. The move would allow NBC to fit the game between its live afternoon Olympics coverage and primetime recap, much the same way it did when it last carried the All-Star Game in 2002 — another Winter Olympic year.
While moving out of primetime would seem to be a downgrade, Sunday evening on broadcast television is generally the highest rated window for sports television.
