鈥淩oundball Rock鈥 is coming home.
NBC answered the biggest question many have had since it won back NBA rights last July during Saturday’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby when it aired a 60-second commercial featuring John Tesh’s iconic theme song.
The song was the soundtrack of NBC鈥檚 coverage of the NBA from 1990 until 2002 along with the Chicago Bulls dynasty of six NBA titles.
鈥淩oundball Rock is one of the greatest pieces of theme music in sports history. Hearing it immediately conjures images of NBC Sports鈥 coverage of one of the golden ages of the NBA, from Magic to Michael to Kobe and many others,” NBC Sports president Rick Cordella said. “It was a pleasure working with John Tesh to bring Roundball Rock back to NBC, and we鈥檙e equally excited to hear its debut on Peacock. We couldn鈥檛 imagine beginning our coverage any other way.鈥
The spot features current NBA stars Luka Doncic, Donovan Mitchell and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, along with stars from NBC shows humming the theme. It concludes with Tesh playing 鈥淩oundball Rock鈥 on a keyboard in the center of Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome 鈥 the home of the Los Angeles Clippers 鈥 before cutting to the front row where Tracy Morgan says, 鈥淛ohn Tesh still got it.鈥
Tesh has often said he composed 鈥淩oundball Rock鈥 in July 1989 after he woke up in the middle of the night with the idea. Without instruments or a tape recorder, Tesh left an a cappella message on his answering machine so he wouldn鈥檛 forget it.
鈥淚鈥檓 truly honored to be back with my friends at NBC Sports,鈥 Tesh said in a statement. 鈥淔rom our first meeting, Rick Cordella had a powerful vision for bringing Roundball Rock back to its one true home. Along with millions of other fans, I鈥檒l be front row center for the epic launch in the fall.鈥
During the media rights negotiations last year, Tesh created a bit of a social media frenzy when he announced he was going into the recording studio to do an updated version of 鈥淩oundball Rock.” However, it was for NBC’s coverage of the Paris Olympics.
鈥淩oundball Rock鈥 has lived on in popularity even after NBC lost the NBA. Fox Sports reached an agreement to use it for its college basketball coverage, while a featuring actor Jason Sudeikis portraying Tesh remains one of 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥檚鈥 most popular scenes.
NBC’s 11-year agreement with the NBA and WNBA begins in October. Peacock will exclusively stream games on Monday night while NBC/Peacock will have regional doubleheaders on Tuesday. NBC and Peacock will also launch 鈥淪unday Night Basketball鈥 in January.
NBC also announced on Saturday that will be part of its studio coverage.
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