Basketball Hall-of-Famer Tracy McGrady is the latest broadcasting addition to NBC’s expanding cabinet of NBA talent.
While many teams have opted to let the dust settle after a flurry of early activity, one of the NBA’s newest partners keeps making moves this offseason.
NBC announced the addition of yet another legendary hardwood talent to its expanding stable of broadcasting on Tuesday: the network revealed that Naismith Basketball Hall-of-Famer Tracy McGrady will work in the studio when it returns to NBA coverage later this fall after a 23-year hiatus.
“I’m humbled and grateful for the opportunity to join NBC Sports as the game returns to a network that helped shape so many iconic basketball memories,” said McGrady. “Basketball has given me everything, and I’ve always just tried to give that same energy back. I hope I can bring the same passion, insight, and love for the game that’s driven me since I was a kid, to all who tune in to watch on NBC and Peacock. I couldn’t be more excited to join this team alongside so many others I admire.”
McGrady will work in the studio alongside his cousin and former Toronto Raptors teammate Vince Carter in the NBC/Peacock studio alongside fellow modern legend Carmelo Anthony. Ahmed Fareed and Maria Taylor will serve as hosts.
McGrady, 46, has previous broadcasting experience with ESPN and TNT Sports after his legendary career ended following the 2012-13 season. One of the most accomplished players to make the leap from high school to the Association, McGrady played 15 years between Toronto, Orlando, Houston, New York, Detroit, Atlanta, and San Antonio before he earned his Springfield ticket in 2017.
Some of McGrady and Carter’s first major professional moments were broadcast NBC airwaves during the network’s renowned run of NBA coverage at the turn of the century (1989-2002). For McGrady, that included his first career playoff game and his self alley-oop during the 2002 All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
Now, NBC and its streaming service Peacock returns to the hardwood as part of a new $76 billion media rights deal that tips off this fall, one that will also welcome in Amazon Prime Video to the fold next to the incumbent Disney properties of ABC and ESPN. NBC recently announced that its resumption of Association broadcasting will be staged on Oct. 21 as part of a Tuesday night package.
Other notable names on the NBC payroll include Jamal Crawford, Brad Daugherty, Reggie Miller, and the commonly-accepted greatest of all-time in Michael Jordan, who set to be coming aboard as a “special contributor.”
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
