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‘How they pay…’ Former Chicago Bulls teammate tells fans what to expect from Michael Jordan in analyst role

Originally posted on NBA Analysis Network
By Aaditya Krishnamurthy | Last updated Jul 31, 2025 2:00 PM ET

A former Chicago Bulls star who played with Michael Jordan believes fans are in for a treat as he becomes an analyst.

Michael Jordan is one of, if not the greatest, players in NBA history. The six-time NBA champion achieved near-mythic status during his time in the league.

But after he walked off into the sunset, on the third try, Jordan decided to live a reclusive life. After years of being hounded by the media, Jordan looked to get away from all of it.

Michael Jordan was the NBA’s greatest superstar ever. But once his time was over, he was almost impossible to find.

But that all is set to end this season. In an effort to get fans to tune into their NBA programming, NBC Sports lured Michael Jordan on board as an analyst.

Part of his motivation to speak about basketball publicly was to show that today’s players are still talented. In fact, LeBron James constantly being compared to Jordan proved to be the tipping point.

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John Salley says Michael Jordan will be a blunt analyst, will call things as he sees them

John Salley, a former rival-turned-teammate of Michael Jordan, spoke about what to expect from the legend as an analyst for NBC.

Salley noted that Jordan would be blunt, calling out players for being lazy and inefficient, and might even call them out for underperforming with big contracts.

“It’s going to be a lot of, ’Yo, that boy sucks! Man, I don’t know how they pay that guy. I wouldn’t have paid him.”

“He’s 62 now, he’s going to tell you what he thinks. I’m sure of that. But his perspective is from a killer. So, it’s going to be really, really good.

“And you know what? You can tell when somebody’s dogging it. Not as well as Michael. Michael can tell.”

NBA programming needs better media coverage

While Michael Jordan will not hold back on players who are underperforming. But he has also stated he wants to shine a positive light on the players of today’s generation.

He even told the production team at NBC that he wants to use his platform to positively impact the sport, as one story from Elliot Barnes reported.

“Mike told us flat-out. If hearing it from him is what it takes for these fans to stop disrespecting guys like LeBron, Steph, or even Harden, then so be it. He wants the game to move forward.”

Hopefully, Jordan’s sporadic appearances on NBC can be the breath of fresh air that the sport needs, especially compared to the histrionics and hyperbolic talking points presented by analysts.

Next season will be must-watch television on NBC Sports, not just because of Jordan, but because of the vintage style of presentation that NBA fans have missed so much.

This article first appeared on NBA Analysis Network and was syndicated with permission.

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