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NBC SPORTS ANNOUNCES COURTSIDE REPORTERS AND NBA INSIDER FOR UPCOMING NBA COVERAGE
Zora Stephenson, Jordan Cornette, and Ashley ShahAhmadi to Serve as Reporters; Grant Liffmann Joins as NBA Insider Focused on Front Office
2025-26 NBA Season Begins Oct. 21 on NBC and Peacock
STAMFORD, Conn. - Aug. 4, 2025 - NBC Sports announced today that Jordan Cornette, Ashley ShahAhmadi, and Zora Stephenson are joining its NBA coverage as courtside reporters and Grant Liffmann as an NBA Insider focusing on front office news.
Stephenson, who joined NBC Sports in 2021, currently serves as a sideline reporter for Notre Dame and Big Ten Football and a play-by-play voice for Peacock's exclusive slate of Big Ten Women's Basketball. She worked as a basketball and gymnastics reporter for the 2024 Paris Olympics and as a social media host during the 2022 Beijing Winter Games. From 2019-2023, she served as a sideline and digital reporter for the Milwaukee Bucks on Bally Sports/Fox Wisconsin, and in April 2021 became the first woman to handle play-by-play for a Bucks game. Additionally, Stephenson was a four-year member of the basketball team at Elon University and a team captain.
Cornette currently serves as a college basketball analyst for NBC Sports, regularly appearing on Big Ten College Countdown. A four-year member of the Notre Dame basketball team from 2001-2005 and the program's all-time leader in blocks (201), Cornette was a two-time team captain and helped lead the Fighting Irish to three NCAA Tournament appearances. Before NBC Sports, Cornette spent time at ESPN, appearing on programs such as Get Up, First Take, NFL Live, The Huddle, and more. In addition to his college basketball duties at NBC Sports, Cornette has also appeared as a studio host and field reporter on GOLF Channel.
ShahAhmadi previously served as the Charlotte Hornets' sideline reporter for Bally Sports South for multiple seasons. Her prior basketball experience also includes being an ESPN Radio NBA postseason reporter and, while previously at TNT Sports, an NBA host and reporter. Aside from basketball, ShahAhmadi has served as one of ESPN's college football sideline reporters since August 2023, primarily working with SEC Network.
Grant Liffmann served as an executive in the Atlanta Hawks' front office for three seasons. Liffmann held the role of VP of Basketball Operations, as well as most recently the VP of Pro Personnel, overseeing the pro scouting department. Prior to his time in the Hawks' front office, he spent nearly six years at NBC Sports Bay Area primarily covering the Golden State Warriors, where he hosted the Warriors Outsiders show. Liffmann will serve as NBC Sports' NBA Insider focusing on front office news and will also occasionally serve as a game reporter.
"Our reporting roster is loaded with former captains and leaders who are lifelong hoopers and who understand the game from the inside out," said NBC Sports Executive Producer Sam Flood. "Zora, Jordan, and Ashley are uniquely positioned to tell the inside story unfolding on the court. With Grant, we've got a voice fresh out of the front office. He can break down not just what's happening, but why it's happening when the news drops."
The NBA returns to NBC and debuts on Peacock on Tuesday, Oct. 21, when the 2025-26 season tips off. Throughout the course of the season, NBC Sports will present up to 100 regular season NBA games -- including five games a week for portions of the season -- plus the playoffs and All-Star Weekend. NBC and Peacock will present coverage on Tuesday nights beginning in October. After Sunday Night Football coverage concludes in 2026, NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball across NBC and Peacock. Peacock will livestream national Monday night games starting Oct. 27.
Today's announcement concludes NBC Sports' on-air commentator team for the 2025-26 NBA season.
Play-by-Play
· Mike Tirico
· Noah Eagle
· Terry Gannon
· Michael Grady
Game Analysts
· Jamal Crawford
· Reggie Miller
· Grant Hill
· Brad Daugherty
· Derek Fisher
· Robbie Hummel
· Austin Rivers (Also studio analyst)
· Brian Scalabrine (Also studio analyst)
Studio Hosts
· Maria Taylor
· Ahmed Fareed
Studio Analysts
· Carmelo Anthony
· Vince Carter
· Tracy McGrady
Game Reporters
· Jordan Cornette
· Ashley ShahAhmadi
· Zora Stephenson
NBA Insider
· Grant Liffmann (Also game reporter)
Special Contributor
· Michael Jordan
***
In July 2024, NBCUniversal and the NBA announced an 11-year agreement to present NBA and WNBA regular-season and playoff basketball games across numerous platforms beginning with the 2025-26 season. For more information on the agreement, click here. Emmy Award-winning producer Frank DiGraci is NBC Sports' NBA coordinating producer. In a nod to its original era of NBA coverage from 1990-2002, NBC Sports is bringing back Roundball Rock, one of the most iconic and beloved theme songs in sports history, and will use an AI-generated voice of the late Jim Fagan, a longtime NBC Sports narrator whose voice was synonymous with its NBA coverage and promotion.
ABOUT NBC SPORTS
NBC Sports connects sports fans to the moments that matter most with premier live events, insightful studio shows, and compelling original programming. As the sports division of NBCUniversal, NBC Sports produces, programs, and promotes premier content across numerous linear and digital platforms, including NBC and Peacock. NBC Sports possesses an unparalleled collection of media rights agreements, partnering and presenting many of the most prestigious sports properties in the world: the International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the NFL, NBA, WNBA, Big Ten Conference, Big East Conference, Notre Dame, NASCAR, PGA TOUR, USGA, PGA of America, The R&A, Churchill Downs, Premier League, and many more. It is renowned for making big events bigger and has produced some of the most-watched sporting events in U.S. media history, including Olympic Games, Super Bowls, and Sunday Night Football, primetime television's No. 1 show for 14 consecutive years.
--NBC SPORTS--
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