John Tesh Says NBC Has Contacted Him About Reviving 'Roundball Rock' for NBA Coverage

Patrick Andres | May 21, 2024

Dec 23, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA; General view of the NBA logo on a backboard before the game between the Houston Rockets and the Dallas Mavericks at Toyota Center. / Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

For most Americans, musician John Tesh is one of those people that is hazily famous—somewhat famous for his new-age musical stylings, somewhat famous for his journalism, somewhat famous for the business of being John Tesh.

For NBA fans, however, John Tesh is the immortal composer of the soundtrack to basketball's late 20th-century golden age: "Roundball Rock."

The 169-second ditty accompanied NBC's coverage of the NBA for over a decade, and has been used for the WNBA, Olympic basketball and college basketball as well. On Tuesday, Tesh pricked up the ears of nostalgists everywhere when he told podcast host Dan Le Batard that NBC had talked to him about reviving "Roundball Rock."

"It's nothing firm," Tesh told Le Batard. "They told me, 'Hey, can we stay frosty on this?' I'm like, 'What? Is this a Navy SEALs thing?'... We're actually talking to them right now about licensing it for the Olympics in Paris."

BREAKING: NBC has contacted John Tesh about reviving the iconic NBA on NBC theme song 'Roundball Rock' amid NBA rights dealnegotiations.

"At the end of June, we're heading to Nashville, we've got a full orchestra on hold & we're going to re-record it."https://t.co/J2Tb1XxPY9 pic.twitter.com/F6YUXSRpk4

— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) May 21, 2024

NBC has long held the rights to the Olympics in the United States, and is reportedly deep into talks to acquire its first NBA package since 2002.

"At the end of June, we're heading to Nashville, we've got a full orchestra on hold and we're going to re-record it," Tesh said. "The recording, I think it still sounds great, but I wanted to make a few changes."