This week, former TNT Sports NBA analyst Jamal Crawford announced his own availability as a sports media free agent. The news comes not a moment too soon for Crawford, who is available at the perfect time as NBA broadcast rights change hands next year and numerous jobs are open across the space.
After a breakout postseason calling the NBA playoffs alongside Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller on TNT’s top broadcast booth, Crawford figures to be a hot commodity. Let’s break down his options.
If TNT has any clue what it’s doing, the network already has an offer on the table for Crawford to return, perhaps with guarantees of getting to call more games next season.
However, unless something significant changes during legal proceedings between TNT parent company Warner Bros. Discovery and the NBA this fall, the network will lose NBA broadcast rights after this season. That means, like everyone else onboard, Crawford does not have a future covering the NBA for TNT.
If Crawford returned, it would be because of his comfort at TNT and the chance to call big games. But he could be thinking bigger.
Often ignored in the chatter around the NBA broadcasting musical chairs is that there is an open seat at ESPN dating back to the layoffs of Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson last summer. Replacement Doc Rivers jumped back to coaching after a half-season, and then Plan C JJ Redick was hired to coach the Los Angeles Lakers after the NBA Finals. That leaves only Mike Breen and Doris Burke in place at ESPN, and executives have opted not to commit even to Burke in the top booth next season.
Could Crawford be the latest splashy hire by ESPN to patch holes in its basketball broadcasts?
Breen has experience setting former athletes like Walt Frazier and Redick up to succeed in the booth, while Burke proved to be a gracious partner alongside Redick herself. Crawford may be skipping a line at ESPN that already features Richard Jefferson, Tim Legler, Bob Myers, Monica McNutt and Andraya Carter, but he could be worth it.
Crawford would give ESPN the fresh, recognizable face it has missed for years on the NBA side. With his referential, goofy commentary and sharp analysis, Crawford is a versatile broadcaster who could handle big moments as well as entertaining fans during a blowout on a Wednesday night during the regular season.
As a longtime former NBA athlete who is still involved in basketball in other capacities, Crawford can afford to be patient.
That could mean he is near the top of the lists at NBC or Amazon Prime Video as they build out their rosters for the first season of the new 11-year, multibillion-dollar NBA rights package next fall. The first domino has not yet fallen as the two newcomers build from scratch, but the 44-year-old Crawford is one of the rare broadcasters who is still young and already has experience in the studio and the booth. That sounds like an executive’s dream when launching a new crew.
Crawford has to be a 1-B behind Dwyane Wade among the fresh faces who could become cornerstones of the new NBA broadcast teams at NBC and Prime Video.
If he needs a co-sign, Redick was allegedly interested in a podcast with Crawford along the lines of Mind the Game before he started that show with LeBron James. Teammates love Crawford, and he is deeply passionate about the game.
Clearly a natural broadcaster as well, Crawford is unlikely to be a free agent for long.
