Michael Jordan Facing More Backlash For His Role At NBC

Michael Jordan continues to face backlash for his role at NBC.

The NBA Playoffs started over the weekend. NBC broadcasted multiple games. Prior to the 2025-26 NBA season, basketball returned to NBC, and Jordan was hyped up as an official member of the network's coverage.

NBA fans were hyped.

"I am so excited to see the NBA back on NBC," Jordan said in a statement. "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."

Jordan, a six-time NBA champion, is arguably the biggest star in the game's history. He's pretty private when it comes to his basketball thoughts. But, due to his role at NBC, basketball fans were about to get some unfiltered, honest thoughts from one of the game's all-time greats.

What's transpired, though, is not that.

Jordan did one long sitdown interview with Mike Tirico. NBC has played clips from that interview throughout the year.

Some NBA fans have accused Jordan of "scamming" NBC.

"Had us thinking he was gonna be on set critiquing players performances. Had us hyped for nothing," one fan commented.

"Thank the Basketball Gods! Same sit down 1-on-1 interview split in multiple segments, promoted like each one was new over many weeks, no change of clothes, background, and honestly didn't live up to the hype," a second fan said. "Poor use of MJ."

Jordan's role at NBC continues to face scrutiny

This weekend, as the NBA Playoffs returned to NBC, Jordan wasn't doing any new content. Instead, he was doing NASCAR interviews on FOX.

Jordan's top driver, Tyler Reddick, won for the fifth time in nine races.

"This kid is on fire," Jordan said after Tyler Reddick won the AdventHealth 400. "I don't even know what to say. I don't know if I can cool him down. He is unbelievable."

Awful Announcing was among those pointing out that Jordan has been appearing more on FOX than NBC as of late.

"NBC did write a check, it announced a "special contributor," and it let the audience fill in the blanks on what that meant. What they got was 16 minutes of conversation chopped into four-minute segments, and a co-branded banner that reads "MJ: Insights to Excellence,'" they wrote.

"Meanwhile, the most candid, spontaneous version of Michael Jordan in 2026 shows up in victory lane at Kansas Speedway, talking to a woman with a Fox microphone, every time Tyler Reddick crosses a finish line first. Jordan still has a deal with NBC. The playoffs are still running. At some point this spring, he'll presumably sit down again with Mike Tirico and say something interesting about basketball, and it'll do just fine. But NBC sold a version of Jordan that it hasn't delivered, and Fox seems to be getting the actual version."

Will we see more NBA interviews from Jordan anytime soon?

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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 8:00 PM.