Amazon continues to bolster its NBA roster ahead of Prime’s first season with game rights.
According to Front Office Sports, Amazon will soon announce the hiring of Dell Curry for the first season of the NBA on Prime. Meanwhile, The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch reports that the streamer has officially hired play-by-play voice Kevin Harlan and is adding former NBA player Brent Barry as a game analyst.
Harlan, Curry and Barry will join a roster that already includes play-by-play voice Ian Eagle, studio host Taylor Rooks, analysts Stan Van Gundy, Dwyane Wade, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Blake Griffin and Candace Parker. Eagle’s addition has not been made official, but it remains widely expected. Deitsch also noted that the plan is for Amazon’s coverage to mix and match play-by-play announcers and game analysts rather than sticking to set pairings.
After a 16-year playing career, Curry has also enjoyed a 16-year broadcasting career, calling games for the Charlotte’s NBA franchise since 2009. Currently, Curry is paired with popular TV play-by-play voice Eric Collins on Hornets’ broadcasts.
As the father of Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry and 11-year NBA veteran Seth Curry, the addition helps the NBA on Prime’s roster now, while also allowing them to keep their sights on future hires. Last month, Steph Curry was very open about considering a career in broadcasting after he retires from the NBA. And already having his father on their broadcast team would seem to help Amazon in their potential attempt at recruiting the Warriors star.
As has long been the expectation, Harlan is joining Amazon following his 29-year run at TNT, which no longer has NBA game rights. Meanwhile, Barry has most recently worked for the Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs following his own stint at TNT.
Circling back to the addition of Curry, it’s worth noting that Amazon also already has a connection with LeBron James, whose Mind the Game podcast with Steve Nash is part of the Wondery network. While it’s far from a guarantee, the idea of having both LeBron and Steph Curry on Amazon’s NBA coverage in the future has to at least be appealing. As ESPN adds Inside the NBA and NBC adds Michael Jordan, Amazon could be primed to chase their own superstars in the near future.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com