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Op-Ed: Michael Jordan’s head-turning move looks to spark 90’s NBA nostalgia

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Emanuel Walker II | Last updated May 20, 2025 3:56 PM ET

The NBA is shown on numerous TV networks that everyone has grown to enjoy watching over the years. The vast majority of streaming platforms tied to them are looking to find something that will keep people tuned in during sports talk programming. There are so many former NBA players commenting on sports and people wonder where this shift came from and why.

The players whose stars began to rise in the 90’s era of the NBA can often be found talking about the game. Inside the NBA has Shaq, Charles Barkley, and Kenny Smith. Each of them made their name competing with Jordan, which will happen again next year. The NBA great will join the NBC team next year.

Jordan will add a new title to his impressive resume. For some players, this is a move of greatness. Many are excited to be in such rare air with a player that transcended the NBA in the peak years, winning six NBA Championships, and his sports apparel selling off the shelves. However, the reality is Jordan will be coming in to boost the game once again. NBA viewership dropped two percent this season and has lost a step.

The 2024–2025 NBA regular season averaged 1.53 million viewers on ABC, ESPN, and TNT, a 2% decline from last year’s 1.56 million average.

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The playoffs have picked up for the NBA with the different matchups we’ve watched over the past month. The conversation last December was centered around the NBA losing viewership on Christmas Day to the NFL. According to ESPN, Netflix’s NFL viewership outperformed the NBA five games compared to the NFL two games with breaking record numbers.

The NBA is making a last-ditch effort to expand its fan base with NBC, which kept eyes glued to the television screen like they did from 1990 through 2002 when Michael Jordan was out on the court. NBC decided to up the ante by bringing Jordan back as a special contributor to the show. According to Yahoo Sports, MJ's contribution may be pre-recorded, but Carmelo Anthony, who is a part of the Jordan brand, will be a part of the NBC Sports cast show.

Jordan coming to do commentary for the NBA will be like Tom Brady did with FOX for the NFL. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say. If NBC is successful by adding Jordan to the lineup, it could change the perspective of most of the sports analyst opinions and athletes’ games because Jordan will speak about the game more in depth and not at the surface.

What Jordan has to say about today’s stars might turn heads and adjust how the game is played. If his commentary is anything like ‘The Last Dance’, NBC may be onto something that will gain viewership numbers like they did in the 90’s, forcing the NFL to step their marketing and color commentary game up. It’s a big risk and big reward for both. We’ll see how it works out next year.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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