Bob Costas Credit: NBC
By Drew Lerner on

NBC is continuing to play the hits during its return to NBA coverage.

For its second week on the air under a new media rights agreement, the network tapped longtime NBA on NBC staple Bob Costas to narrate opens for a doubleheader featuring the New York Knicks-Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors-Los Angeles Clippers. NBC had not indicated Costas would make a return to the network prior to tonight’s cameo.

Costas left the NBC in 2018. Last year, he retired from his last official sports broadcasting gig as a play-by-play announcer for TBS, though he still serves as a contributor for MLB Network from time to time.

Both of his opens on Tuesday night utilized NBC’s tried and true formula dating back to its original run of NBA broadcasts, drawing on each team’s history before putting it in a modern context. For better or for worse, it was pure nostalgia bait, similar to the network’s decisions to reprise the “Roundball Rock” intro and utilize an AI-generation of famed narrator Jim Fagan.

Whether Costas will continue to narrate packages for NBC’s NBA broadcasts remains unknown. He left the network on shaky terms, but told Sports Media Watch the relationship is “in the process of mending itself now” during a podcast earlier this year.

If Costas is looking to contribute to NBC’s NBA coverage in a limited role, this would be the perfect avenue to do so. Between his gravitas and the ’90s nostalgia, few would be upset to hear a few Bob Costas narrations during big NBA games this season.

About Drew Lerner

Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.

View all posts by Drew Lerner