Bob Costas, Doug Collins and Mike Fratello never all called a game together when they were teammates at NBC a quarter-century ago.
That'll change on Tuesday — in a throwback night for the network's NBA coverage.
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NBC has announced plans for Costas, Collins and Fratello to handle the courtside duties Tuesday when Victor Wembanyama — who wasn't even born when that trio was involved in NBC's NBA coverage in the early 2000s — and the San Antonio Spurs take on Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Jim Gray will be the sideline reporter for that game, and NBC said it plans to incorporate “reminiscent and familiar components” from how games aired in the 1995-96 season, including the graphics package.
Costas said he's looking forward to the game — but being around NBC colleagues again, to him, will be the highlight.
“With all due respect to Victor Wembanyama and to Joel Embiid and to both teams, it’s the reunion,” Costas said. “It’s being around all those people.”
Also coming back from the past: the studio team. Hannah Storm, Isiah Thomas and P.J. Carlesimo will handle a throwback version of “NBA Showtime” starting at 7 p.m. Eastern, an hour before the game broadcast.
“I think some people are calling it ‘new-stalgia.’ There’s just a touch of nostalgia and history,” Costas said. “But then we lean into what’s happening now.”
Costas was NBC's NBA host and play-by-play voice from 1990 through 2002. Collins was an NBA analyst from 1998 through 2001, Fratello had stints as a game and studio analyst spanning 1990 through 1993 and then 2001-02, Gray was a courtside reporter from 1994 through 2002, Storm was a courtside reporter and studio host from 1993 through 2000, Thomas was a game and studio analyst from 1998 through 2000 and Carlesimo was a studio analyst in 2001-02.
“Everyone at NBC Sports has so many great memories of the 1990s and NBA on NBC,” said Sam Flood, NBC Sports' executive producer. “We are excited to get the band of iconic voices back together with Bob, Doug, Mike, Jim, Hannah, Isiah and P.J. and celebrate the game of basketball with viewers of all ages.”
It's actually going to be a multi-day event for the NBC crew, with a dinner planned for Monday night and a long production lunch on Tuesday before the game.
Carlesimo and Fratello — whose knowledge of Italian restaurants in NBA cities is the stuff of legend — were tasked with finding a spot for the Monday night event, Costas said.
“The czar of the telestrator, Mike Fratello, knows every good Italian restaurant in every city in America. And it doesn’t matter if they’re booked up. He can get a table at any one of them,” Costas said. “So, I said to the Czar, ‘Call P.J., you two guys put your heads together and whatever you decide, all the rest of us have to do is know the place and the time and we’ll be there.’”
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