Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week’s edition, Prime adds more talent to their NBA team, Alex Faust replaces Bob Costas for MLB postseason games on TNT, and more.
Kyle Lowry, Swin Cash, Rudy Gay, Jim Jackson, and JayDee Dyer Join NBA on Prime
Prime Video has announced Philadelphia 76ers guard Kyle Lowry will join NBA on Prime as an analyst. Lowry will join the studio show, making select appearances throughout the 2025-26 season with increased responsibilities in the future.
Lowry entered the league in 2006 and has cemented himself as a celebrated point guard with accolades including helping lead the Toronto Raptors to its first NBA Championship, earning six NBA All-Star selections and helping the U.S. national team to a gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. Today Lowry contributes veteran leadership as a point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers, where he signed during the 2023-24 season.
In addition, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall-of-Famer Swin Cash, former NBA players Rudy Gay and Jim Jackson, and broadcast journalist JayDee Dyer will also join the lineup for the inaugural season of NBA on Prime. Cash will serve as a contributor and insider for the studio show providing NBA front office perspective. Gay will also make select in-studio appearances as an analyst. Jackson and Dyer will lend their expertise to the game broadcast as an analyst and sideline reporter, respectively.
Cash brings a myriad of experience across professional basketball to the NBA on Prime studio. She most recently served as Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations and Team Development for the New Orleans Pelicans following a role with Turner Sports as an on-air analyst covering sports and culture. Cash has also lent her expertise to on-air commentator roles with CBS Sports and MSG Network. Her front office and broadcast tenure follow an illustrious playing career as a three-time WNBA champion (2003, 2006, 2010), two-time Olympic gold medalist (2004, 2012), and member of the WNBA’s Top 20 Most Influential Players of All Time. One of the most accomplished athletes in women’s basketball, Cash will also serve as a studio analyst for Prime Video’s expanded WNBA coverage in 2026.
Gay joins Prime Video as a budding media personality with extensive basketball experience from his 17-year NBA career. Known for his scoring ability and versatility, the first-round Draft pick earned First Team All-Rookie honors in 2007 and went on to help the Memphis Grizzlies to multiple NBA Playoff runs including the Western Conference Finals in 2013. Currently Gay serves as a co-host of popular basketball podcast 7PM in Brooklyn alongside NBA legend Carmelo Anthony.
Jackson is an NBA and college basketball analyst, currently providing commentary for FOX Sports and the LA Clippers. The first-round Draft pick has also served as an analyst for CBS Sports, TNT and NBA TV. Prior to his broadcast career he spent 14 years in the NBA with various teams including the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat among others. Jackson hosts The Jim Jackson Show, a podcast offering conversations with influential voices in sports and beyond.
Dyer has spent most of his career is a sports broadcaster in the United Kingdom covering the NBA, European football and boxing. His most recent work includes his role as chief correspondent for TNT Sports UK where he led the network’s coverage of Team USA during the Paris Olympics. Prior to TNT Sports, he served as the lead presenter for Sky Sports’ NBA coverage, anchoring five NBA Finals during his time there.
Alex Faust Will Succeed Bob Costas as Play-by-Play Voice on TNT Sports’ MLB Postseason Games
Alex Faust will be replacing legenadry voice Bob Costas during TNT Sports’ run of MLB postseason games. Costas retired from MLB play-by-play after calling the American League Division Series last year. Faust, 36, has already broadcast events for TNT Sports (including NHL and French Open coverage) and he calls Friday Night MLB games for Apple TV+ while also serving as the radio voice of the New York Rangers.
Former NFL Quarterback Drew Brees to Join ESPN’s First Take this Football Season
ESPN has reached an agreement with former NFL Quarterback Drew Brees to be a NFL contributor on its signature morning debate show, First Take, this football season. Brees will make weekly Tuesday-only appearances on the show, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Brees joins a show of prominent personalities, including Stephen A. Smith, former NFL MVP Cam Newton and Sirius XM’s Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, among many others.
Savannah Guthrie and Terry Gannon to Host NBCUniversal’s Opening Ceremony Coverage of Milan Cortina Olympic Winter Games
Award-winning journalist and TODAY co-anchor Savannah Guthrie will join NBC Sports critically-acclaimed commentator Terry Gannon to host NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the Milan Cortina Olympic Winter Games on Feb. 6, 2026. In addition, three-time Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Shaun White will join Guthrie and Gannon in the broadcast booth when the athletes enter the stadium for the Parade of Nations.Gannon joined Guthrie to make the announcement this morning on TODAY.
The centerpiece for this year’s Opening Ceremony will be Milan’s iconic San Siro Stadium – which was built nearly 100 years ago and is home to world renowned football clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan. Event organizers have said Milan will celebrate the opening of the Olympic Winter Games by involving all competition venues in a way no one has seen before.
With the Winter Games returning to Western Europe for the first time in two decades, Guthrie and Gannon will lead viewers through the unmatched spectacle and pageantry of the Olympic Opening Ceremony, from the Parade of Nations to the dramatic lighting of the Olympic cauldron. White, a five-time Olympian, will join Guthrie and Gannon in the commentator booth to provide his unique insights during the Parade of Nations, the procession of the world’s greatest winter athletes entering San Siro Stadium, including Team USA.
Despite being 6,000 miles away, Olympic primetime host Mike Tirico will contribute to the Opening Ceremony coverage from northern California, where he will be preparing to call Super Bowl LX on Sunday, Feb. 8, from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif, on NBC and Peacock.
This will be Guthrie’s fourth Opening Ceremony assignment, joining Tirico in the booth for Tokyo and Beijing, and stationed with Hoda Kotb on a bridge over the Seine for the historic boat parade in Paris. A veteran of the past four Olympic Closing Ceremonies, Gannon will host his first Opening Ceremony. A five-time Olympian and three-time gold medalist, this is White’s first Opening Ceremony assignment with NBCUniversal after a decorated snowboarding career. He contributed to NBC Olympics’ coverage for two Summer Games — London 2012 and Rio 2016. White won halfpipe gold medals in Torino, Vancouver, and PyeongChang en route to becoming one of the most recognizable U.S. Winter Olympians ever.
During the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, Guthrie will also co-anchor TODAY, which she has done on site for London, Sochi, PyeongChang, Tokyo, and Paris. More information about TODAY’s plans for Milan Cortina and Gannon’s role in Milan will be announced at a later date.
The Milan Cortina Opening Ceremony will be produced and directed by Sports Emmy Award winners Lindsay Schanzer and Mike Sheehan, respectively.
Matt Winer and Madison Hock Join 2025-26 Hawks Broadcast Team for FanDuel Sports Network
FanDuel Sports Network has announced the additions of Matt Winer and Madison Hock to its Atlanta Hawks broadcast team. Winer and Hock both have experience covering the NBA and will join Bob Rathbun, Dominique Wilkins, and Brian Oliver as members of the 2025-26 Hawks broadcast team.
Winer joins as the host of Hawks LIVE pregame and postgame shows and will also be the network’s reporter for road games. Winer worked for TNT Sports from 2010-25 as a studio host on NBA-TV and has more than 20 years of experience covering the NBA.
His time at TNT Sports also included work as a play-by-play announcer and sideline reporter for NBA, MLB and NCAA March Madness. Prior to moving to Atlanta, Winer worked for ESPN from 2001-09, hosting shows like SportsCenter, NBA studio shows, Baseball Tonight, and ABC College Football studio shows. He was also a play-by-play announcer for Handball at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Hock stays in the FanDuel Sports Network family after working as a reporter and host for the New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs and Texas Rangers over the last three years.
She has also worked as a game analyst for Big 12 Conference women’s basketball games on FOX Sports and as a studio host and college football sideline reporter for select ESPN games. She started her broadcasting career as a sports anchor and reporter at WBIR in Knoxville, Tenn. She also played college basketball at Belmont University.
Rathbun, a Georgia Sports Hall of Fame member, returns for his 30th season as play-by-play announcer. Wilkins, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, returns for his 17th season as lead game analyst. Oliver will be back for his
Both Winer and Hock will make their Hawks telecast debuts on Wednesday, Oct. 22, as FanDuel Sports Network televises and streams the Hawks’ Opening Night game against the Toronto Raptors with coverage starting at 7 p.m. ET.