John Tesh's Surprising Secret Ingredient to Create NBA on NBC Theme "Roundball Rock"
It took one last ingredient to make "Roundball Rock" a legendary TV theme.
Tired of scrolling? Click here to bump NBC.com's latest news to the top of your search results.
We've finally made it. The return of the NBA on NBC is finally here, and with it comes the revival of one of the most recognizable TV themes in history: "Roundball Rock."
John Tesh's original composition, used throughout the NBA on NBC's original run in the 1990s, came to symbolize must-see basketball action for fans everywhere. So it's no wonder that NBC Sports wanted to bring it back for the 2025 revival of the show, starting tonight with NBC and Peacock's tipoff doubleheader. It's a theme so famous that you might already know something about its origin story, but to really make "Roundball Rock" work, Tesh had to fall back on a secret ingredient.
RELATED: The History of The NBA on NBC
How John Tesh made NBA on NBC theme "Roundball Rock" an iconic basketball song
The story goes that Tesh, a musician and TV journalist best known for his work on Entertainment Tonight, wrote the basic melody for "Roundball Rock" in an instant while he was in Europe covering the Tour de France in 1990. According to Tesh, he woke up in the middle of the night with the melody in his head and, without any recording equipment nearby, called his own answering machine back home in Los Angeles and hummed the theme so he wouldn't lose it.
When Tesh got back to Los Angeles, he set about laying down actual recordings of the composition, but there was a problem: The theme felt too slow. It just didn't have the drive that either Tesh or the network wanted. The solution? Adjust the tempo... while watching basketball. In a new interview with USA Today, Tesh explained how he sped up the song while watching a Betamax tape of NBA highlights featuring Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, until he got the feel right.
RELATED: Jason Sudeikis and Tim Robinson's SNL 'Roundball Rock' Sketch
"Understanding that the theme not only needs to be catchy, with six or eight notes, but it needs those sections, where [lead announcer Marv Albert] can plug in and start talking," Tesh said. "So, it can't be bombastic all the way through. It has to be in, what they call in music, a handoff. So yes, the brass comes in and just blasting away, and then you come back with the strings, then maybe it's a funk section where the bass guitar comes in."
With help from an orchestra (which Tesh initially paid for himself), the theme was complete, and now, more than 30 years later, it's ready to make its triumphant return.
How to watch the return of the NBA on NBC (and theme song "Roundball Rock")
The 2025-2026 NBA regular season officially tips off tonight, October 21. For the first time since 2002, the NBA on NBC (and theme song "Roundball Rock") is back, starting tonight with a back-to-back doubleheader live on NBC and Peacock.
Game 1 features the Houston Rockets on the road to face the defending NBA champs, the Oklahoma City Thunder, at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the Golden State Warriors at the Los Angeles Lakers at 10 p.m. ET.
Check out the full NBA on NBC schedule right here, including every game on NBC and Peacock.
