Soon to be one of the voices of the NBA on NBC, Mike Tirico is getting a head start on his next big role. And he’ll be getting some live reps before the network officially reenters the NBA landscape.
The network is easing Tirico into basketball play-by-play duties this week, giving him the call for a couple of NBA games. It was announced Monday that the Sunday Night Football voice will step in for Kate Scott on NBC Sports Philadelphia’s broadcast of the 76ers’ matchup against the Trail Blazers on Monday night.
Later this week, he’ll also handle play-by-play duties for a Celtics game on NBC Sports Boston.
Scott isn’t missing the game due to a scheduling conflict, as she’ll still be part of NBC Sports Philadelphia’s pregame coverage before making way for Tirico. He’ll call the game alongside Scott’s usual broadcast partner, Alaa Abdelnaby, as NBC prepares him for his upcoming NBA assignment.
After an extended break following the end of the NFL season, this feels like the perfect opportunity for Tirico to get some live reps without interfering with his football duties. He hasn’t called an NBA game in nearly a decade, so this stint will help him shake off the rust and get reacquainted with the league.
“I just wanted to have the opportunity to do a few games this year,” Tirico told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Not just to get the rust off, but refamiliarize yourself with the league … Since February 1, other than some Olympic work, I’ve been really honing in on the NBA to get back up to speed.”
And in getting back up to speed, Tirico will also accomplish a first — calling a local broadcast.
“It’s my first chance to say ‘We’ on the air and get away with it,” Tirico added. “It’s actually a fun muscle to exercise because I’ve always been, in some ways, jealous of people whose doing it and their team’s fate is tied to the broadcast on a nightly basis … So it’s a different wrinkle for me.”
While Tirico hasn’t called an NBA game in years, he gave a small taste of what’s to come during the 2024 Paris Olympics, as he took a lighthearted jab at Germany’s Dennis Schröder, offering a glimpse of the personality he might bring to NBC’s NBA coverage.
That personality will be part of NBC’s broader vision as it returns to NBA broadcasting for the first time since 2002. The network secured media rights for the next decade-plus knowing it already had two established play-by-play voices in Tirico and Eagle, while also bolstering its analyst lineup with the additions of Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford.
That’s just a small part of NBC’s larger plans for its NBA return.
Starting next season, Comcast will air Peacock-exclusive NBA games on Monday nights, followed by a traditional Tuesday slate on NBC. Once the NFL season wraps in February — NBC has Super Bowl LX in 2026 — the network will roll out Sunday Night Basketball to close out each week of the NBA season.
Tirico’s warm-up this week is just the beginning.
Soon, he won’t just be getting reps; he’ll be leading the charge as NBC reintroduces itself to a new generation of NBA fans.