Michael Jordan’s thinking behind confusing NBC job — that ended after one season

Many were curious of Michael Jordan’s broadcast future after his short stint as a “special on-air contributor” for NBC Sports’ NBA coverage in the 2025–26 season.

The network aired one sit-down interview with NBC Sports’ play-by-play voice Mike Tirico and Jordan, entitled “MJ: Insights To Excellence,” that was spliced into five segments, lasting about three to four minutes apiece, which aired throughout the season — and an August report by Front Office Sports said Jordan was not expected to return to NBC.

During Front Office Sports’s “Tuned In” summit in New York on Tuesday, Tirico explained that Jordan ultimately didn’t want to deal with the day-to-day of a broadcaster at this point in his life.

“I think Michael Jordan hadn’t been on TV for a long time for a reason,” Tirico said. “He likes being Michael Jordan. There’s an aura, even still, when he’s on camera, there’s an aura about Michael Jordan that is just different.

“Sitting across from him, it’s just a different feel. And I think he is above the day-to-day conversation of ‘Hey, who’s the best point guard in the NBA right now? And who’s best this or the best that?’

“So I think in a controlled setting, talking about topics that he’s still passionate about with the sport, he loved it.”

Tirico defended his sit-down with Jordan after some felt it was underwhelming because it was spread across an entire season and did not match the hype that came with the ballyhooed announcement.

“I love the fact that we did one interview and you can say what you want about it airing once or being spread out over our series of pregame shows during the year,” Tirico said. “It’s a year later and people are still talking about it and people are still asking about it, which is to me, all the reason that it was completely worth it.

“And I will say, it was damn cool to hang with MJ and talk basketball and talk business and golf and all that other stuff. I don’t think he wants to be — if he wanted to be, we would all run to have him on every single day, but that’s just not what he wants to do, I think at this point in his career in life.”  

Jordan, a six-time NBA champion and Hall of Famer, co-owns the NASCAR team, 23XI Racing, with current NASCAR Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin.