NBA free agency is always a spectacle — trades, rumors, blockbuster deals. But now? The real drama might be happening off the court. Two of ESPN’s biggest NBA stars, Malika Andrews and Brian Windhorst, are reportedly heading into free agency of their own, with their contracts set to expire soon. And with networks like NBC and Amazon throwing big money around, their futures are suddenly up in the air. The twist? ESPN hasn’t said a word.

Let’s start with Brian Windhorst. Windy has become the absolute backbone of ESPN’s NBA reporting. His contract is reportedly up at the end of this summer, and while he’s not the type to broadcast his negotiations like some other big personalities, you can bet his phone is ringing. Even legends of the business, like Michael Wilbon, rave about him. “He [Brian] takes his job seriously. Brian is accountable, which a lot of people in this business today are not,” Wilbon said in a recent interview. “Brian is not a show monkey… Brian Windhorst is great at what he does. Great.” When you’ve got that kind of respect, and a super popular podcast like “The Hoop Collective,” you’re going to have a lot of options when your contract is up.

Then, you’ve got the very famous Malika Andrews. At just 30 years old, she has had a meteoric rise at ESPN, becoming the host of both of their flagship NBA shows, NBA Today and NBA Countdown. In fact, the NBA league office itself actually endorsed her as the face of ESPN’s coverage – that’s a massive vote of confidence! Her contract is reportedly up this fall, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect for her. Some media insiders believe she could follow the “Robin Roberts model” and eventually flourish on a major daytime news and entertainment show like ABC’s Good Morning America.

So you have two of your biggest NBA personalities, both with expiring contracts, at the exact moment that the NBA media landscape is completely changing. NBC and Amazon Prime Video are jumping into the NBA broadcast game starting next season, and they’ve been on a million-dollar hiring spree throwing contracts at big names like Reggie Miller, Jamal Crawford, and Taylor Rooks.

But it’s not like ESPN is just sitting back and playing defense. They’re making power moves of their own, reportedly just recently poaching one of the best NBA beat writers in the business, Anthony Slater, from The Athletic. Slater, who is a must-read for any Warriors fan, is a huge get for ESPN, where he’ll join fellow Athletic alum Shams Charania.

This is what makes ESPN’s silence on Malika and Windy’s contracts so fascinating. They’re clearly willing to spend big to bring in top talent like Slater, but what’s the plan for their own homegrown, superstar-level free agents? Are they quietly working on massive new deals to keep them in the fold? Well, time will only tell.

Beyond the court: ESPN’s glitchy finals broadcast

But while ESPN is playing a high-stakes game of contract chicken with its biggest stars, a much weirder drama has been playing out on our actual TV screens. You’d think for the NBA Finals, the broadcast would be flawless. Instead, it’s been a series of bizarre technical glitches that have fans and critics all asking the same thing: what is going on in Bristol? The weirdest moment came, appropriately enough, on Friday the 13th during Game 4.

Right in the middle of a tense first quarter, the broadcast just… stopped. The screen went black for a split second before a creepy, black-and-white “Friday the 13th” graphic flashed on screen, looking like something straight out of a horror movie. Then, poof, it was gone, and the game was back. It was the kind of glitch that makes you check if someone sat on the remote, leaving millions of fans collectively thinking, “Wait, what was that?”

A single weird glitch is one thing, but this is becoming a pattern. The “Friday the 13th” moment came right after a Game 3 that was a technical mess—reports mentioned everything from muted commentary to weird digital overlays. Look, a mistake during a random Tuesday night game in January is forgivable. But this is the NBA Finals. This is the Super Bowl of basketball. The broadcast is supposed to be perfect.

On top of the technical snafus, the broadcast booth itself has faced criticism. The pairing of Doris Burke and Richard Jefferson has, at times, felt disconnected, with awkward pauses and moments where they seem to talk over each other.

And that’s what makes the silence around Malika and Windy’s contracts so telling. While ESPN is reportedly spending big to poach top talent and fighting off new competitors like NBC and Amazon, you have to wonder: are they so focused on the off-air talent war that they’re dropping the ball on the on-air product? It feels like the tension at ESPN isn’t just in the boardroom negotiating contracts; it’s in the control room, too.