NBA Showtime is the pregame show aired before each NBA on NBC telecast. The program, a half-hour in length, began during the 1990–91 NBA season, and was initially hosted by Bob Costas

Bob Costas

Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...

. Costas left in the mid-1990s, and became lead play-by-play voice of The NBA on NBC in 1997

1997-98 NBA season

The 1997–98 NBA season was the 52nd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Chicago Bulls winning their third straight championship and sixth in the last eight years, beating the Utah Jazz 4 games to 2 in the 1998 NBA Finals...

. Hannah Storm

Hannah Storm

Hannah Storm is an American television sports journalist, serving as co-anchor of ESPN's SportsCenter Monday–Thursday mornings, and is also host of the NBA Countdown pregame show on ABC as part of the network's NBA Sunday game coverage.-Early life and career:Storm was born in Oak Park, Illinois,...

 replaced Costas and hosted Showtime until Ahmad Rashad

Ahmad Rashad

Ahmad Rashād is an American sportscaster and former professional football player. An All-American running back and wide receiver from Oregon known as Bobby Moore, Rashad was the fourth overall pick in the 1972 NFL Draft, drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals...

 replaced her as host of the pregame show when Storm went on Maternity Leave in 2001

2000-01 NBA season

-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:*Most Valuable Player: Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 76ers*Rookie of the Year: Mike Miller, Orlando Magic*Defensive Player of the Year: Dikembe Mutombo, Philadelphia 76ers/Atlanta Hawks...

. Storm returned from Maternity Leave in 2002

2001-02 NBA season

-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:*Most Valuable Player: Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs*Rookie of the Year: Pau Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies*Defensive Player of the Year: Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons...

 which meant that her and Rashad would alternate as hosts throughout the season. NBC dropped the title of Showtime prior to the 2000–01 NBA season.

Showtime analysts included:

• Quinn Buckner
  Quinn Buckner
  William Quinn Buckner, commonly known as Quinn Buckner is a former American professional basketball player and coach. He played collegiately at Indiana University, and was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 7th pick of the 1976 NBA Draft...
  
   1991–1993
• P. J. Carlesimo 2000–2001
• Pat Croce
  Pat Croce
  Pasquale "Pat" Croce is an American entrepreneur, sports team executive and owner, author, and TV personality....
  
   2001–2002
• Julius Erving
  Julius Erving
  Julius Winfield Erving II , commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is a retired American basketball player who helped launch a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and play above the rim....
  
   1993–1997
• Mike Fratello
  Mike Fratello
  Michael Robert "Mike" Fratello is an American color analyst and a professional basketball coach. He previously coached the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA, and is currently the head coach of the Ukraine national basketball team.-Background:Fratello was born in...
  
   2001–2002
• Kevin Johnson
  Kevin Johnson
  Kevin Maurice Johnson is the current mayor of Sacramento, California. He is Sacramento's first African American mayor. Prior to entering politics, Johnson was a basketball player in the NBA, playing point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns...
  
   2000–2001
• Pat Riley
  Pat Riley
  Patrick James "Pat" Riley is an American professional basketball executive, and a retired coach and player in the NBA. Currently, he is team president of the Miami Heat. Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams...
  
   1990–1991
• John Salley
  John Salley
  John Thomas "Spider" Salley is a retired American professional basketball player, actor and talk show host. He was the first player in NBA history to play on three different championship-winning franchises....
  
   1997–1998
• Isiah Thomas
  Isiah Thomas
  Isiah Lord Thomas III , nicknamed "Zeke",is the men's basketball coach for the FIU Golden Panthers, and a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association from 1981 until 1994. He led the "Bad Boys" to the NBA...
  
   1998–2000
• Tom Tolbert
  Tom Tolbert
  Byron Thomas "Tom" Tolbert is an American retired professional basketball player and sports broadcaster. He played a total of seven seasons in the National Basketball Association...
  
   2002
• Peter Vecsey 1993–2001
• Jayson Williams
  Jayson Williams
  Jayson Williams is an American former professional basketball player. Standing 6 feet, 10 inches tall, he played for the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association. In 2010, he pled guilty to assault in the shooting death of a limousine driver...
  
   2001–2002

Midway Games

Midway Games

Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...

 created a NBA Showtime arcade game

NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC

NBA Showtime is a basketball video game by Midway. A descendant of NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime, Showtime is modeled after the NBA presentations on NBC. The original arcade version features team rosters from the beginning of the 1998-99 NBA season, while the console versions features team rosters that...

 in 1999

1999 in video gaming

-Events:*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 2nd annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards*March – Game Over republished as “Game Over: Press Start to Continue”...

. The game was an update to the NBA Jam

NBA Jam

NBA Jam is a basketball arcade game developed by Midway in 1993. It is the first entry in the NBA Jam series, and was written entirely in assembly language. The main designer and programmer for this game was Mark Turmell...

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

Breaking news, also known as a special report or news bulletin, is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming and/or current news in order to report its details. Many times, breaking news is used after the news network has already reported on this story...

: a plane had crashed in Security-Widefield, Colorado

Security-Widefield, Colorado

Security-Widefield is a census-designated place in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The population was 29,845 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Security-Widefield is located at ....

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

Wind shear

Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...

. Because Operation Desert Storm had just ended, Costas emphasized that the story had nothing to do with events in Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

.

See also

• NBA on NBC
• NBA Countdown