Scott Van Pelt salutes Tim Legler amid his uncertain future with ESPN

"There's nobody who I enjoy sitting with more, watching the games, doing this with," Van Pelt told Legler on "SportsCenter." "And I hope that the bosses — I don't want to lose you, but if we lose you some because you're out there doing games, then that will be cool with me. Because you're not good at this, man, you're great at this. Nobody's better at talking basketball than Tim Legler."

Legler — who reportedly signed a three-year extension with ESPN in 2021 — has been with the network since 2000 and is a staple of its NBA coverage. However, the former shooting guard's role has dwindled in recent years, as he went from a studio and game analyst to a guest on various shows and podcasts.

"I've been there for quite a while, so sometimes they just want to try something different that they feel like they're coming up with themselves. That's definitely something I've dealt with," Legler told Awful Announcing's Brendon Kleen in February. "They come in and they've kind of got their own ideas or their own way that they want to try to create something… that we haven't done in the past."

Legler probably wants more air time, and Van Pelt's comments indicate he would like to step back into the broadcast booth and call games.
If ESPN doesn't give him that, Legler could go elsewhere. Amazon and NBC are expected to join ESPN as the league's media partners in an 11-year, $76 billion deal. Hiring an experienced and knowledgeable analyst in Legler would give their NBA coverage instant credibility.