Around two months after rumors first floated pointing to the NBA exiting TNT for other media pastures, which earned quite a bit of ire from Charles Barkley and his Inside the NBA co-anchors, the league finally settled on a massive new deal. For 11 seasons starting in 2025, NBA games will be available through NBC and a Peacock subscription, on ESPN, and with an Amazon Prime subscription. It was a bummer of an update for those hoping TNT would stick it out, but there’s a banger of a silver lining to embrace here.
The NBA's return to the NBC family in 2025 will come equipped with quite possibly the most classic TV sports themes alongside Hank Williams Jr.'s Monday Night Football theme. That's right, we're talking about John Tesh's iconic instrumental "Roundball Rock," which accompanied thousands of games telecast on NBC from 1990-2002. Relive the magic in the clip below, which takes the theme from yesteryear into the modern era.
🗣 TURN IT UP. I LOVE THIS SONG!The NBA is coming back - Fall 2025 on NBC and Peacock. pic.twitter.com/xz6hOVbpZEJuly 24, 2024
Tell me you didn't immediately jump up and start vocalizing with the beat. It's got all the drive of the X-Men '97 theme (and its '90s predecessor) combined with the loop-worthy never-gets-old appeal of classic themes from Mario and Sonic games. And technically better than any basketball video game themes. It's the true NBA jam.
Beyond just tweeting the track out, NBC Sports confirmed that the theme will once again accompany the games airing there, and you can bet fans were as pumped as can be by the return of "Roundball Rock." Check out some of the reactions below, starting with Triump the Insult Comic Dog sharing his own excitement.
My take on the return of John Tesh's Roundball Rock, as told to @LeBatardShow @NBA_on_NBC https://t.co/U5kYAnuC0l pic.twitter.com/13PLUVJNRiJuly 25, 2024
Take a look at some other excited reactions below, with some X users mourning the deaths of icons Bill Walton, Dick Enberg and Steve Jones.
- Thinking about some late, great legends from the original NBA on NBC. I’m as excited as anyone to have Roundball Rock open up an NBA broadcast, but I sure will miss some of the voices that welcomed everyone to the game as that song faded out. - @NBACobwebs
- If they end up using Roundball Rock with WNBA games, you'll see a VERY happy Maggie. Like dancing on press row. OK EVEN MORE dancing on press row Maggie - @maggiehendricks
- My god the 90s kids are in charge at NBC and they re-mastered “Roundball Rock” by John Tesh… I am an NBA Jam remake and Yomega Brain Yo-Yo away from being cool again. Somebody get me a Crystal Pepsi, and while you’re at it, bring your pogs. - @JaredTheCoach
- I have already watched this video 3 times. I cannot wait to hear Roundball Rock on my TV set again. Hell yeah. - @kevo408
- Roundball Rock is objectively the greatest sports music theme ever created. Cannot wait for it to be back on NBC - wxblakeharms
- I’ve grown used to “Roundball Rock” on Fox Big East games over the last several years, but having it back with the NBA on NBC just feels right. - @BBaranowski
I think we can go ahead and call this one the GOAT post, however, given it features a live performance of the theme from John Tesh himself.
The NBA has announced that the NBA on NBC theme song, Roundball Rock, will be returning as part of the new media deal starting in 2025 🔥pic.twitter.com/Gz71W1we46July 24, 2024
John Tesh famously came up with the tune for "Roundball Rock" by waking up from a dead sleep and sending himself an answering machine message with the song's tune. Upon presenting it to NBC execs, he didn't provide a traditional audio demo, and instead sent in a VHS tape of NBA highlights with the song playing behind them, offering instant proof of how great the track is.
Millions of NBA fans will once again jam out to the song when the 2025-2026 debuts on NBC, Peacock, ESPN and Amazon. But there's another year of NBA on TNT hitting the 2024 TV schedule in the meantime.
