Mike Tirico defends how Michael Jordan’s ‘aura’ has been used in NBA return after Charles Barkley blasts legend

Mike Tirico has heard the noise.

And an announcer who will soon call Super Bowl LX and the 2026 Winter Olympics is standing by the TV power of an NBA legend.

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Tirico is proud of Jordan’s TV work

Michael Jordan went 23 years without appearing on NBC.

This season, the greatest player in NBA history returned to the network via an extended sitdown interview that has been shown in segments throughout the 2025-26 campaign.

Some fans have soaked up the rare insight from Air Jordan, who went 6-0 in the NBA Finals during the Chicago Bulls‘ dynasty but had gone two decades without publicly weighing in on the modern state of the game.

Critics have blasted how NBC has handled Jordan, including ESPN’s Charles Barkley.

“We need Michael Jordan affiliated with the NBA, but now you see this thing coming out with the NBC and you’re like, ‘Wait, y’all did one interview, like five months ago, and y’all gonna sprinkle it throughout the season? Come on, man,’ ” Barkley recently said on Sirius XM.

“That’s disingenuous by NBC. Listen, that’s crazy, man. I’m disappointed the way that worked out.”

Tirico sees it very differently and explained why any basketball insight from the 62-year-old is a privilege for fans in 2026.

One sentence from MJ can change the conversation

“I love the fact that we were able to do it,” Tirico told talkSPORT during an NBC Sports media event in San Francisco.

“I think if you put the whole thing out at once, that’s fine. If you put it out in pieces — it’s funny, every time another piece comes out, people talk about it for the whole day. It seems to make sense for me.”

Jordan had social media buzzing during his initial interview with Tirico on ‘MJ: Insights To Excellence.’

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The 14-time All-Star and 10-time scoring champion revealed that he rarely touched a basketball anymore and was almost afraid to take a shot.

“Do you ever pick up a ball and just shoot?” Tirico said on NBC.

“I haven’t picked up a ball in years,” Jordan said.

“Oh, come on,” Tirico said. “There’s got to be a hoop somewhere at your place.”

“You don’t see a hoop anywhere around here, right?” Jordan said.

Jordan has been critical of modern NBA

The Bulls legend also slammed load management and superstars sitting out games for regular-season rest.

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“I never wanted to miss a game because it was an opportunity to prove,” Jordan said.

“It was something that I felt like the fans are there that watch me play. I want to impress that guy way up on top who probably worked his (butt) off to get a ticket or to get money to buy the ticket.”

That honesty made an impact on Tirico, who is also the lead play-by-play announcer for the NBA on NBC.

“Michael’s great,” Tirico told talkSPORT. “Michael has an aura about him when you sit across the table from him.

“Michael Jordan has that special quality and feel that other people just don’t. He’s a one-of-a-kind person and I love his perspective on basketball, and he hasn’t shared that.

“He has some things in the game that he doesn’t like the way it’s going and he wanted to talk about those, so I’m honored that he chose us to sit down with.”

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Barkley, who fell to Jordan in the 1993 NBA Finals and watched their friendship later fracture, made it clear that he wants more if Jordan is going to be on TV.

Barkley wants more from former opponent

“It’s a bad look for NBC and it’s just a bad look, plain and simple,” Barkley said on Sirius.

Tirico again saw it differently, telling talkSPORT that he hopes Air Jordan returns to NBC’s NBA coverage next season.

But if that doesn’t happen, a man who will soon call the Super Bowl and Olympics is adamant that simply watching Jordan open up about the NBA has already been a huge win for basketball fans across the globe.

“I love the fact that we’ve been able to share that with the audience and hope we get another chance, too,” said Tirico, who recently expressed his support for NBC colleague Savannah Guthrie during the disappearance of her mother.

“If not, I’m happy with the one because it was a great couple of days for me to hang with the greatest.”

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