Report: Blake Griffin in discussions with Amazon, NBC for NBA analyst role

After retiring from the NBA this year, Blake Griffin is emerging as a top target for multiple TV networks. Amazon and NBC are both in talks to bring him aboard, Front Office Sports’ Michael McCarthy reported.

Griffin played 15 years in the NBA after becoming the No. 1 overall pick out of Oklahoma, where he was a National Player of the Year and consensus All-American. He spent most of his career in Los Angeles with the Clippers, winning Rookie of the Year and making five All-Star appearances between 2009 and 2018 with the franchise before heading to the Detroit Pistons.

Griffin played in another All-Star Game with Detroit, but injuries got in the way of his career. He also spent time with the Brooklyn Nets and, most recently, the Boston Celtics before announcing his retirement earlier this year.

All told, Griffin made six All-Star appearances and was a three-time All-NBA Second Team selection. Of course, he also won the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest when he famously jumped over a car to bring home the trophy.

How Blake Griffin could capitalize on new NBA media deal

Now, TV could be an option for Griffin as the NBA gets ready to begin its new media rights deal. Both NBC and Amazon will try to build out their crew of analysts as the contract kicks in, and McCarthy reported Griffin will have his options.

“A lot of people are very interested in him,” one source told McCarthy, per his Tuned In column. “Blake is making the rounds.”

The 2024-25 season is the last of the NBA’s current media rights deal with ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery, meaning it will be the final year of the NBA on TNT. The network’s Inside the NBA pregame and postgames how is a hit among NBA fans as Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Charles Barkley break everything down with Ernie Johnson, and the show’s future remains unclear.

When the new media agreement kicks in, it will mark a return to the NBA for NBC. The network aired games from 1954-62 before getting rights back from 1990-2002, when the Roundball Rock theme song became a staple. NBC will join Amazon as new partners with the NBA, which ventures into the streaming realm for the first time. Amazon Prime will air games on Thursdays and Fridays, according to FOS.