Aug 10, 2024; Paris, France; Dirk Nowitzki looks on during the men's basketball bronze medal game between Serbia and Germany during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
AmazonNBABy Sam Neumann on

The big addition to the NBA media rights partners in the league’s new deal, Amazon Prime Video is reportedly taking a global approach as it builds its broadcast team for its inaugural season streaming basketball.

Andrew Marchand of The Athletic first reported the strategy in October, specifically pointing to Basketball Hall of Famer and German native Dirk Nowitzki as a name to watch.

And The Athletic’s sports media insider was spot on.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Nowitzki is nearing a deal to join Amazon Prime Video’s NBA coverage next season, launching the Dallas Mavericks great into his next career — broadcasting.

Nowitzki is a big addition to Prime Video — in more ways than one. While he earned praise for his Inside the NBA debut last May, filling in for Shaquille O’Neal during TNT’s Game 1 coverage of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves, this marks a new venture for the 46-year-old Nowitzki, who last played in the NBA in 2019.

That guest appearance perhaps served as an audition for a studio or analyst role with the streaming giant, which reportedly has its sights set on one of the greatest big men of his generation.

There’s also the question of how Nowitzki might fit into the broader picture. A few months ago, Ian Eagle was reportedly in talks to join Amazon’s NBA coverage, so whether ‘The Bird’ would be paired together on national NBA games remains to be seen.

What’s clear is that Amazon and the NBA see massive potential in expanding basketball’s global reach. Under the new media rights deal, Prime Video will become the exclusive distributor of the NBA League Pass “channel” on its streaming platform.

However, details surrounding Amazon’s plans for international broadcast rights — and Nowitzki’s role — remain unclear.

[Marc Stein]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

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