It’s been 23 years since the NBA’s decade-long partnership with NBC ended after the National Broadcasting Company was outbid by Disney on the league’s impending media rights deal. But after two decades out of the professional basketball business,

NBC has hired Carmelo Anthony to serve as one of the network’s top studio analysts when it begins broadcasting NBA games next season, sources briefed on the network’s plans said Thursday. Anthony, 40, retired from playing in May 2023 and is a Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame nominee this year.

The 10-time All-Star last played for the Lakers in 2022-23, and has indicated an openness to becoming a television analyst in the past.