Amazon will begin coverage of the NBA next season and they have already made some amazing decisions, including reportedly hiring Blake Griffin.
According to The Athletic, the former No. 1 overall pick and six-time NBA All-Star will co-host a studio show for Prime Video. He will be joined in the studio by a former NBA Finals and NBA MVP with Dirk Nowitzki also on the show.
Taylor Rooks, who has done incredible work with Turner Sports, will host the program. Ian Eagle, one of the best broadcasters in the game, is the lead play-by-play announcer for the network. It is unclear who else will join him in the booth.
All in all, this seems like a great start of hiring decisions for Amazon. But with the Inside the NBA crew getting syndication on ESPN, fans should feel particularly excited about Griffin’s arrival to the scene.
He will have plenty of connections around the league as he only recently retired. But he is also genuinely hilarious and could have had a career in entertainment independent of his athletic prowess, evidenced by his various stand-up comedy sets and roast appearances over the years.
Griffin takes this very seriously, appearing on comedy podcasts and late-night talk shows. He was brilliant on Comedy Central’s Broad City and he was hilarious during a live read of Space Jam.
He has worked with a wide range of brilliant comedians, including Norm McDonald and Eric Andre. Griffin founded a production company, Mortal Media.
Amazon reportedly wants Griffin to play a Charles Barkley-like role for their show and he has the chops to do it.