The GOAT is coming back again… Well, sort of. Earlier today, the NBA announced that the 2025-2026 season, which will be broadcast by its new partners, NBC, will have a coverage plan featuring a special contributor, Michael Jordan. This marks His Airness’ first television role since he officially retired from the league in 2003.
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So what exactly is Jordan’s new role? The news stated that the six-time champion will be “providing analysis and commentary during the network’s coverage of the NBA”. Since the statement wasn’t quite specific, it could mean Jordan only appears for special occasions, like certain Chicago Bulls games, the NBA during the holidays, or postseason action.
While many are excited about seeing MJ on TV, Gilbert Arenas remains skeptical. Whatever Jordan’s role and involvement would be, Gil dreads the prospect of the NBC crew turning into MJ bootlickers.
“We are about to see a lot of media twerk. Oh, they [are] gonna be twerking,” stated Arenas on the latest edition of his Gil’s Arena podcast.
Arenas knows MJ from his days playing on the Washington Wizards. He was insinuating that analysts who love Jordan will begin to backtrack on their takes if the legend’s opinion differs.
“MJ is not a hater,” added Arenas. “So think about all of MJ’s minions that just stans for MJ. He’s gonna talk regular a** basketball. He’s gonna talk about how great Ant-Man, and Shai and all these guys are, and it’s gonna go against the minions, and they [are] gonna have to twerk backwards.”
Arenas does spew senseless things at times, but he might have a point here. Will certain analysts, specifically those who have called Jordan the GOAT and LeBron James a poser, not be anxious to ride the Jordan train?
Whether that happens or not, Jordan’s presence is certainly going to have some TV personalities shaking. The MJ announcement has also left basketball fans in a frenzy.
While some are curious as to how much His Airness is getting paid to go on TV, others have wondered if it’s a sneaky opportunity to throw some shade on a potential LeBron retirement.
At the end of the day, Jordan was someone who took the NBA to unprecedented heights. His presence alone helped spark a resurgence of ball in Europe, and inspired some of the most famous players who are in the game today. Let’s see if he can do it again.
