NBC Sports has added Tina Charles to its WNBA studio team, naming the retired center a feature contributor as it expands its league coverage. Charles is set to make her debut Monday, Aug. 24, when the Atlanta Dream play the Los Angeles Sparks on NBC Sports and Peacock.
The move gives NBC Sports a former WNBA MVP and eight-time All-Star just months after Charles ended a 14-year playing career in May. It also puts one of the league’s most accomplished players in front of viewers as the network brings back WNBA coverage and builds a studio lineup that already includes Maria Taylor, Cheryl Miller, Sue Bird and LaChina Robinson.
Charles said the job feels personal. “Growing up, I watched the NBA on NBC, so joining NBC Sports is truly a full-circle moment for me,” she said, adding that it is “even more meaningful” to be part of NBC’s return to the WNBA, “a league that has given me so much throughout my career.”
That return matters because Charles is not coming to the desk as a detached commentator. She arrived after a career that began when the Connecticut Sun chose her No. 1 out of UConn in the 2010 WNBA Draft, then stretched across the New York Liberty, the Washington Mystics, the Phoenix Mercury, the Seattle Storm and the Atlanta Dream. She won Rookie of the Year, captured WNBA MVP in 2012 and earned a place on The W25, the league’s list of 25 most significant players from its first 25 years.
There is still a question left open by the announcement: how often NBC Sports will use Charles and in what kind of studio role beyond her debut. For now, the network has made one thing clear — it wants her voice, and Charles says she wants to stay close to the game that shaped her. “I’m excited to stay connected to the game I love, share a player’s perspective, and help tell the stories that make this league so special,” she said.
Betsy Riley said Charles’s work away from the court also helped make the hire fit. Riley said her philanthropy and documentary filmmaking reflect a commitment to making an impact beyond basketball, a description that turns this from a simple post-retirement move into a second act that still carries her imprint. On Monday, Aug. 24, viewers will see the first version of it.
