''NBA Showtime'' is the pregame show aired before each ''

NBA on NBC The ''NBA on NBC'' is the branding used for presentations of National Basketball Association (NBA) games produced by the NBC television network in the United States. NBC held broadcast rights from 1955 to 1962 and again from 1990 (when it obta ...

'' telecast. The program, a half-hour in length, began during the

1990–91 NBA season Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

, and was initially hosted by

Bob Costas Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster who is known for his long tenure with NBC Sports, from 1980 through 2019. He has received 28 Emmy awards for his work and was the prime-time host of 12 Olympic Games from 19 ...

. Costas left in the mid-1990s, and became lead

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

voice of ''The NBA on NBC'' in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. Hannah Storm replaced Costas and hosted ''Showtime'' until

Ahmad Rashad Ahmad Rashad (born Robert Earl Moore; November 19, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former professional football player. He was the fourth overall selection of the 1972 NFL Draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was known as Bobby Moor ...

replaced her as host of the pregame show when Storm went on

maternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. Storm returned in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

which meant that her and Rashad would alternate as hosts throughout the season. NBC kept the title of ''Showtime'' prior to the

2000–01 NBA season The 2000–01 NBA season was the 55th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their second straight championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 1 in the 2001 NBA Finals. Not ...

. ''Showtime'' analysts included: *

Quinn Buckner William Quinn Buckner (born August 20, 1954) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played collegiate basketball for the Indiana University Hoosiers, and won a national championship in 1976. He was a captain of both ...

1991–1993 *

P. J. Carlesimo Peter John Carlesimo (born May 30, 1949) is an American basketball coach who coached in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and college basketball for nearly 40 years. He is also a television broadcaster, having worked with ESPN, '' Th ...

2000–2001 *

Pat Croce Pasquale "Pat" Croce (born November 2, 1954) is an American entrepreneur, sports team executive and owner, author, and TV personality. He served as team president of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Philadelphia 76ers from 1996 to 2001 ...

2001–2002 *

Julius Erving Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is an American former professional basketball player. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA), and he was the best-known player ...

1993–1997 *

Mike Fratello Michael Robert Fratello (born February 24, 1947) is an American sports broadcaster and a professional basketball coach. Fratello is currently an analyst for Fox Sports Ohio for the Cavaliers and a part-time color commentator for Fox Sports West f ...

2001–2002 * Kevin Johnson 2000–2001 *

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

1990–1991 *

John Salley John Thomas Salley (born May 16, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player, talk show host, and actor. He was the first player in NBA history to win championships with three franchises (since joined by Robert Horry, Danny Green ...

1997–1998 *

Isiah Thomas Isiah Lord Thomas III (born April 30, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player and coach who is an analyst for ''NBA TV''. The 12-time NBA All-Star was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History as well as the 75 Grea ...

1998–2000 *

Tom Tolbert Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

2002 * Peter Vecsey 1990–2001 *

Jayson Williams Jayson Williams (born February 22, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 11 seasons, primarily with the New Jersey Nets. He played his first three seasons with the ...

2001–2002

Midway Games Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (series), Rampage'' ...

created an ''NBA Showtime'' arcade game in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

. The game was an update to the ''

NBA Jam ''NBA Jam'' (sometimes "Jam" for short) is a long-running basketball video game series based on the National Basketball Association (NBA). Initially developed as arcade games by Midway, the game found popularity with its photorealistic digiti ...

'' series, and used the same opening music and presentation style as the television show.

Programming change

On March 3, 1991, the Insiders segment was cancelled and replaced by a report of

breaking news Breaking news, interchangeably termed late-breaking news and also known as a special report or special coverage or news flash, is a current issue that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming or current news in orde ...

: a plane had crashed in

Security-Widefield, Colorado Security-Widefield is a census-designated place (CDP) comprising the unincorporated communities of Security and Widefield located in and governed by El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Colorado Springs, CO Metropol ...

. All aboard were killed in a crash that was caused by

wind shear Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizontal ...

. Because

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

had just ended, Costas emphasized that the story had nothing to do with events in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

Programming change

See also