NBC made room for a long list of contributors to their upcoming NBA coverage, but no room for John Salley.
Earlier this week, NBC announced the addition of Tracy McGrady as a studio analyst, joining a roster of talent that includes Carmelo Anthony and Vince Carter, along with game analysts Austin Rivers, Brad Daugherty, Brian Scalabrine, Derek Fisher, Grant Hill, Jamal Crawford and Reggie Miller. Salley didn’t make the cut, but during an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show this week, he admitted to pitching himself to NBC.
“I’m trying to get back in, man. I auditioned to NBC. I got on the phone,” Salley told Eisen. “I said, ‘Yeah, I want to go back to NBC, I want to work in television.’ I think we need to give a different look or we need to give a perspective that I have watching it for so long and how much I train. But, they gave the job to Brad Daugherty and Tracy McGrady…good for those guys. I’m very happy for them.”
Another analyst NBC added to their NBA coverage is Salley’s former teammate, Michael Jordan. And while everyone is interested to see how Jordan does in the role, Salley expects honesty.
“It’s going to be a lot of, ‘Yo, that boy sucks. Man, I don’t know how they paying that guy, I wouldn’t have paid him.’ He’s 62 now,” Salley said. “He’s gonna tell you what he thinks. I’m sure of that. But his perspective is from a killer, so it’s gonna be really, really good. You can tell when someone is dogging it, not as well as Michael.”
Maybe Jordan can put in a good word for Salley, who worked on the NBA on NBC pre and postgame show during the 1997-98 season. Additionally, Salley really made a name for himself as a TV personality with Fox and The Best Damn Sports Show Period. But aside from a brief tenure as a sideline reporter for the BIG3, Salley’s once blossoming TV career fizzled out years ago.
The good news for Salley is NBC doesn’t appear to have a cap on analysts. And the NBA on NBC clearly has a thing for ‘90s and early 2000s basketball nostalgia, which he fits. So, if Salley really wants to get back into NBA media, he shouldn’t let NBC hiring Tracy McGrady stop him.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com