NBA Showtime was the pregame show aired before each NBA on NBC telecast. The program, a half-hour in length, began during the 1990–91 NBA season, and was initially hosted by Bob Costas. Costas left in the mid-1990s, and became lead play-by-play voice of The NBA on NBC in 1997. Hannah Storm replaced Costas and hosted Showtime until Ahmad Rashad replaced her as host of the pregame show when Storm went on maternity leave in 2001. Storm returned in 2002 which meant that her and Rashad would alternate as hosts throughout the season. NBC kept the title of Showtime prior to the 2000–01 NBA season.
Showtime analysts included:
Midway Games created an NBA Showtime arcade game in 1999. The game was an update to the NBA Jam series, and used the same opening music and presentation style as the television show.
On March 3, 1991, the Insiders segment was cancelled and replaced by a report of breaking news: a plane had crashed in Security-Widefield, Colorado. All aboard were killed in a crash that was caused by wind shear. Because Operation Desert Storm had just ended, Costas emphasized that the story had nothing to do with events in Iraq.