Jamal Crawford teases secret playoff catchphrase as NBA returns to NBC

Jamal Crawford is holding back one detail from NBC’s NBA booth: a secret playoff catchphrase he has not even shared with Mike Tirico and Reggie Miller. He said it will reference a court, a small tease that captures the larger task NBC has set for its new crew, bringing former players’ credibility and emotion to television without sanding down the personalities that made them compelling in the first place.

Crawford, who played 20 NBA seasons, did not arrive in the broadcast business with the same polish as a longtime studio veteran. He began calling games for NBA League Pass in 2021, then moved into NBC Sports’ plans as the network prepared to reclaim NBA rights after a 23-year absence. That return also marked the first time the league appeared on Peacock, turning live basketball into both a broadcast event and a streaming showcase.

NBC’s opening-night doubleheader on Oct. 21, 2025, set the tone. The champion Oklahoma City Thunder hosted the Houston Rockets at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Los Angeles Lakers against the Golden State Warriors at 10 p.m. ET. Tirico, Miller and Crawford handled the first game, with Zora Stephenson reporting from the sideline and Maria Taylor hosting the studio show. NBC Sports said the group had one final tune-up before the season opener, a reminder that even a booth built on star power still had to fit the network’s disciplined production style.

Miller brought a different kind of authority. He joined NBC Sports for the 2025-26 season after 20 years at Turner Sports, arriving as a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer who retired holding the NBA career three-point record with 2,560 made shots, a mark that is now third all-time. His NBC-era legacy still includes his famous 8 points in 9 seconds against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals, one of the defining moments of the league’s 1990s television era.

Crawford said the return of NBA on NBC brought back the production value and event feel that made those broadcasts stand out. “I remember NBC coming on and the production and the event status that it was...” he said. NBC’s early schedule showed Crawford on more than the opening-night stage, including a Nov. 4 Coast 2 Coast Tuesday game, signaling that the network planned to use him across the season, not just as a one-night attraction.