NBA Countdown

NBA Countdown is a pregame show airing prior to each National Basketball Association (NBA) telecast on the American Broadcasting Company and ESPN.

NBA Countdown typically airs thirty minutes prior to games on ABC and ESPN. In 2006, the first and so far only one-hour edition of the pregame show aired, prior to Game 1 of the 2006 NBA Finals.

Overview

Unlike NBC's NBA studio show, which was known as NBA Showtime for the first ten years of its existence, ABC's studio has been without much consistency. It has gone through five names in five seasons, and several analysts in each season. For the 2006-2007 season, the pregame show will be known as NBA Sunday Countdown. Each season, the show has been sponsored by GMC, with exception of the Finals, where it is sponsored by Chevrolet. Mike Tirico hosted the pregame shows from ABC's first season with the NBA to the middle of the network's fourth with the league. On March 19, 2006, Tirico was replaced by ESPN's Dan Patrick, and was moved to the number two play-by-play team. Other hosts of the pregame show include regular substitute John Saunders.