Michael Jordan to Join NBC As Special NBA Contributor Beginning in Fall

The stunning announcement lends the network’s coverage immediate credibility.

Michael Jordan watches a NASCAR race in 2024. / Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

Hall of Fame guard Michael Jordan is joining NBC as a special contributor for the network’s NBA coverage beginning next season, the network announced Monday morning.

Jordan, 62, is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all time. Despite his continued status as one of the most famous men in the world, Jordan has never held a formal television role.

Since retiring from the Washington Wizards in 2003, Jordan has served as an owner of the Charlotte Hornets and become involved with motorsports, owning a NASCAR team since 2020.

In joining NBC, Jordan reunites with the network that held the NBA’s most prominent rights package for the bulk of his playing career. Jordan’s final game with the Chicago Bulls—Game 6 of the 1998 Finals on NBC against the Utah Jazz—remains the most-watched game in league history.

The network will resume covering the league in the fall of 2025, having previously lost its rights package after the 2002 season.

Michael Jordan is returning to basketball—but don’t call it a comeback.

The basketball legend, who is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, is set to join NBC Sports as a special contributor to its NBA coverage beginning this fall.

“I am so excited to see the NBA back on NBC,” the 62-year-old said in a statement May 12. “The NBA on NBC was a meaningful part of my career, and I’m excited about being a special contributor to the project. I’m looking forward to seeing you all when the NBA on NBC launches this October.”

After being drafted to the Chicago Bulls in 1984, Jordan soon emerged as one of the biggest stars in the league and eventually led the team to six NBA championships. Following a brief retirement in 1993 to embark on a baseball career with the Chicago White Sox, he rejoined the Bulls from 1995 to 1999 and later played for the Washington Wizards before retiring for good in 2003.

Jordan’s unique ability and popularity amongst fans also helped him snag coveted endorsement deals from brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s. In fact, his business endeavors made him the first professional athlete to be featured in Forbes’ 400 Richest Americans list in 2023, with an estimated net worth of $3 billion at the time.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Off the court, Jordan—who shares kids Jeffrey, 36, Marcus, 34, and Jasmine, 32, with ex-wife Juanita Vanoy as well as 11-year-old twins Victoria and Ysabel with wife Yvette Prieto—is also a dedicated philanthropist who regularly gives back, including a $100 million donation to Black Lives Matter announced in June 2020.

“Jordan Brand is more than one man. It has always been a family,” he said in a statement at the time. “We represent a proud family that has overcome obstacles, fought against discrimination in communities worldwide and that works every day to erase the stain of racism and the damage of injustice.”

Keep reading for more on Michael Jordan and other superstar athletes’ families.

(E! News and NBC Sports are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

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Michael Jordan, Jeffrey Jordan and Marcus Jordan

Considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time, it didn’t come as a surprise that Michael Jordan’s sons, Jeffrey Jordan and Marcus Jordan, sought to follow in his footsteps. After shooting hoops in high school, Jeffrey went on to play in college at both the University of Illinois and University of Central Florida, eager to step out of his dad’s shadow.

“I guess I’m not the top one or two or three or four players in my state,” Jeffrey told The Washington Post in 2005, “but I want to show that I can play here and that I’m not just a name.”

Marcus also played basketball during his own studies at UCF, crediting his dad for helping him chart his own path.

“He was giving me tips and pointers whenever I had questions and stuff like that,” he told The Gainesville Sun in 2011, “but really he was just telling me to be focused and work hard every day, because eventually it will pay off.”

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LeBron James and Bronny James

Bronny James (born LeBron James Jr. on born Oct. 6, 2004) played high school basketball for Chatsworth Sierra Canyon in the San Fernando Valley before graduating to the University of Southern California.

While the NBA schedule has often kept LeBron from being able to attend a full slate of his son’s games, he’s went to great lengths to watch Bronny in action. In fact, he once chartered a plane on an off-day to catch Sierra Canyon play against his own alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio.

“To go watch my son play…and also versus my alma mater,” LeBron told reporters, “it’s a pretty surreal, come-full-circle, unbelievable thing.”

In June 2024, Bronny was drafted to the Los Angeles Lakers, making him and LeBron the first father-son duo to play in the NBA at the same time.

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Dwyane Wade and Zaire Wade

Also helping to make up the Sierra Canyon all-star squad? Zaire Wade, the eldest son of retired Miami Heat star (and former LeBron James teammate) Dwyane Wade.

“You’ve got to embrace it,” Zaire, who transferred there in December 2019 from Florida, told Yahoo! Sports about the unusual amount of attention being paid to his team. “There are cameras on us wherever we go. There has been a lot of attention on me my whole life, but this is crazy. This is another level.”

However, Zaire—unhappy with the lack of playing time he ended up getting—announced on Instagram In April 2020 that he’d be transferring to Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, Fla.

Zaire was the 10th pick in the 2021 NBA G League draft, joining the Salt Lake City Stars. He went on to play for Cape Town Tigers of the Basketball Africa Leagu before signing with the of the ASEAN Basketball League in April 2024.

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Chad Johnson and Cha’iel Johnson

The retired football star has a daughter who may be able to leave him in the dust by now. After all, Cha’iel Johnson is a track and field star who competed in the 2017 AAU Junior Olympics at 12, winning the girls’ 800-meter run.

She ran for St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida, before joining the University of Kentucky athletics team.

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Shaquille O’Neal and Shareef O’Neal

The NBA Hall of Famer’s third-eldest child, who measures up at 6-foot-10, played college basketball for UCLA before being sidelined with a heart condition that required surgery.

After missing out on his 2018-19 season with the California-based school, he transferred to Louisiana State, where there’s a 900-pound bronze statue of Shaq outside the LSU Basketball Practice Facility in honor of its famous alum.

After graduating from LSU, the basketball star joined the NBA G League Ignite, a developmental basketball league in the NBA G League, in 2022.