Hall of Famer Michael Jordan was once hailed as an important piece of NBC’s NBA coverage.
A year later, his tenure might be over.
That’s according to an article from Front Office Sports, which reported on Wednesday that Jordan’s tenure as a special on-air contributor with NBC is expected to end after a single year.
Jordan’s surprising addition to NBC Sports’ coverage of the NBA last season was touted as a coup for the network due to Jordan’s lack of press availability in recent years.
The 2020 documentary ‘The Last Dance’ marked Jordan’s most recent previous extensive televised discussion of basketball.
But Jordan’s contributions for NBC consisted of five pre-recorded segments split from one interview with longtime broadcaster Mike Tirico, which drew criticism from some NBA analysts and fans.
“It’s a bad look for NBC and it’s just a bad look, plain and simple,” NBA analyst Charles Barkley said earlier this year.
Tirico defended the segments, saying, “Was it better than not hearing from Michael Jordan? You’re damn right it was.”
The outlet did not report a reason for the departure, saying NBC had declined to comment.
