After finalizing the additions of Reggie Miller as a game analyst and Carmelo Anthony as a studio analyst this month, it appears NBC has its sights set on another former player for its NBA broadcast team.

In a YouTube livestream on his personal channel this week, Underdog Fantasy host Gilbert Arenas revealed he is in talks with the network to join on as an analyst. Arenas also discussed some of the details of his meetings with NBC’s production team and their desire to zag away from the current tone of NBA coverage, particularly from TNT’s Inside the NBA.

“I had a meeting with NBC. They’re doing their show for next season … and they’re still auditioning and interviewing other guests that could be a part of the show,” Arenas said on his No Chill Gil livestream. “So I had my meeting, and the perspective that they’re coming from is crazy.”

Arenas has been a pioneer across many platforms in NBA media, dating back to his online diaries on the NBA website in the early days of the internet. In 2018, he was one of the first retired athletes to launch a podcast, No Chill Gil, with media executive Mike Botticello cohosting.

In 2023, Arenas launched Gil’s Arena with Underdog. The daily live YouTube show is effectively Arenas’ spin on a basketball-first version of The Pat McAfee Show, with a mix of media personalities and retired NBA players coming together in a laid-back, longer format.

Though he is a high-profile former player, a digital-first personality like Arenas getting a job with NBC would mark an interesting change in the pipeline to network studio coverage not unlike McAfee’s arrival on College GameDay.

“Even if I don’t get the job, the fact that I’m even in the running, somebody’s brought me up to the point where they’re sitting down having an 8 o’clock meeting, I’m really grateful for that,” Arenas told his audience.

The three-time All-NBA point guard then pivoted dramatically, giving insight into the direction he believes NBC wants to go with its broadcasts. The network, Arenas said, hopes to bring its “cinematic” flare back to the game, recreating the storytelling and intrigue it drummed up in the 1990s with the NBA on NBC.

More specifically, Arenas said that NBC wants to provide a contrast from what Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and the Inside guys have created at TNT.

“One thing they did say and I did agree to, is that Inside the NBA and some of the NBA personalities have done a horrible job in how the NBA players have been viewed over the last decade or so,” Arenas said. “It’s been more about who they are outside the game versus the game itself, and how great these guys are on the floor.”

TNT is losing its rights to air NBA games after nearly 30 years of partnership, but Inside will be licensed to ESPN starting in the fall. The move will give the signature NBA studio show arguably an even greater profile, as it will air all the way through the NBA Finals for the first time ever.

But while there is no arguing with the success of Inside, Arenas claimed that NBC executives see an opening. Rather than “tearing down the product,” they believe they can drive a viewership increase and a more positive tone around the league as they embark on a new 11-year contract.

“You’re talking s*** on the product that pays you,” Arenas said. “That NBA product and that TV money pays your salary, so the fact that you’re talking so down on it … you have to really think about the narrative that you’re pushing out there. That’s one thing that the NBC guys were really talking about, is back in the ’80s and the ’90s when they had it, you felt good about what you watched. When you heard NBA stories, when you thought about the NBA name, you felt good about those players.”

From Ahmad Rashad to Bob Costas to Doug Collins or Mike Fratello in the booth, NBC in its first run as an NBA partner valued straightforward basketball coverage. Dick Ebersol and Jeff Zucker may be gone, but NBC wants to go back to that model.

This is not too different from what Blake Griffin said he wanted to do in his new role at Amazon in a recent appearance on Anthony’s podcast. While Inside will maintain a position of importance within the NBA, the industry appears to be trending in a different direction.

However, the idea of hiring Arenas to uplift the sport and highlight the greatness of NBA stars is an interesting one. The longtime Washington Wizards star is known for seeking out the controversial stance on most topics. Last summer during the Olympics, for example, Arenas disparaged the South Sudan national team while criticizing Team USA and drew a strong retort from team director Luol Deng as well as Cameroonian NBA star Joel Embiid. That is just one of numerous instances of Arenas hammering modern NBA stars or trying to provoke a reaction over his basketball takes — including by himself discussing players’ personal lives.