As NBC Sports continues its return to the NBA this season, the network is leaning heavily into nostalgia for a special Coast 2 Coast Tuesday presentation that reconnects fans with one of the most recognizable broadcast teams in league history.
Legendary voices including Bob Costas, Doug Collins, Mike Fratello, Jim Gray, Hannah Storm, Isiah Thomas and P.J. Carlesimo will reunite Tuesday, March 3 in Philadelphia when Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs face Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Costas will handle play-by-play alongside Collins and Fratello, with Gray reporting courtside, while Storm hosts NBA Showtime on Peacock with Thomas and Carlesimo serving as studio analysts.
The game tips at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, with pregame coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Peacock. However, the bigger story centers on presentation rather than scheduling, as NBC plans to recreate the look and feel of its 1995-96 NBA coverage while blending it with modern production elements from the 2025-26 season.
Both Coast 2 Coast Tuesday matchups — Spurs-76ers at 8 p.m. ET and Suns-Kings at 11 p.m. ET — will incorporate the familiar score bar, replay wipes and full-screen statistical graphics that defined the network’s NBA broadcasts during the 1990s. Producers will also weave archival-style teases and tape elements throughout the night, giving longtime viewers a layered experience that nods to the past without sacrificing current production standards.
NBC’s original NBA run from 1990 through 2002 helped shape a generation of basketball fans, and much of that identity came from its on-air talent. Costas, Gray and Fratello all earned Emmy Awards during their careers, while Thomas and Collins built Hall of Fame resumes long before stepping behind the microphone.
Storm’s four-decade broadcasting career has spanned multiple networks, and Carlesimo has balanced coaching stops in both college basketball and the NBA with years as a television analyst.
In addition, NBC has leaned into several signature elements that defined its earlier era of NBA coverage. John Tesh’s Roundball Rock theme has returned, and the network has utilized an AI-generated recreation of the late narrator Jim Fagan’s voice for select elements. Narrated opens and features involving Costas, Marv Albert and Tom Hammond further reinforce the retro tone that NBC wants to deliver.
“Everyone at NBC Sports has so many great memories of the 1990s and NBA on NBC,” said Sam Flood, Executive Producer and President of NBC Sports Production. “We are excited to get the band of iconic voices back together and celebrate the game of basketball with viewers of all ages.”
Frank DiGraci will coordinate production of the Spurs-76ers broadcast, while Drew Esocoff directs after recently leading NBC’s Super Bowl LX coverage. Adam Littlefield produces NBA Showtime, with Jared Sumner directing.
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