NBA fans have responded with overwhelming enthusiasm to the coverage brought this year by new rights partners NBC and Amazon. And the gauntlet has been laid down to see how incumbent rightsholder ESPN would respond.
Sure, there are parts of ESPN’s coverage that are beloved. The fact they acquired Inside the NBA was an enormous victory. And Mike Breen is one of the most popular play-by-play announcers in any sport ever. But when it came to talking about actual basketball, it always seemed to take a backseat to drama and debate. ESPN has probably spent more time on hypothetical debates between Michael Jordan and LeBron James than any airtime given to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Thankfully, this year it looks like ESPN is trying to change that. They have elevated Tim Legler to the top analyst spot alongside Richard Jefferson. And on Wednesday, they debuted a new-look NBA Countdown cast (without Stephen A. Smith).
With more focus on actual basketball, host Malika Andrews debuted a new virtual reality segment with new analyst and former NBA champion head coach Michael Malone. It features Malone wearing a VR headset and then an avatar version of himself going on court to analyze a play, this one featuring the Houston Rockets.
It’s… unlike pretty much anything else we’ve ever seen in televised sports.
ESPN’s NBA Countdown debuts a new virtual reality breakdown segment with Michael Malone. Check out that VR headset! pic.twitter.com/ftFmBaWOMU
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 20, 2025
So the early reaction to this segment is probably not going to be on the same level of acceptance and popularity as some of Amazon’s bells and whistles that they’ve brought to studio coverage so far this year. The technology looks a little wonky and the graphics aren’t exactly the best.
However! Let’s look at the bright side. It is refreshing and encouraging to see ESPN heed the call of basketball fans and devote more airtime to analyzing basketball the way they do the NFL. You wouldn’t see Stephen A. Smith doing a segment like this giving the finer points of the two-man game between Alperen Şengün and Kevin Durant.
So good for ESPN for trying some new things with their basketball coverage and showing fans that they are ready to turn over a new page. Maybe it doesn’t have to be this virtual reality page exactly, but the effort is much appreciated.