Zora Stephenson is the leading candidate to do play-by-play for the 2026 WNBA Finals on NBC, Front Office Sports has learned.

Stephenson is a sideline reporter for NBC’s Notre Dame football games, and is also a courtside reporter for NBA coverage. On NBA opening night, she was paired with Mike Tirico, Reggie Miller, and Jamal Crawford for the network’s first NBA telecast in more than 20 years. She is calling women’s college basketball games for NBC this season. She joined NBC in 2021 and previously worked for the Milwaukee Bucks. 

An NBC spokesperson said a final decision on the announce team has not been made yet.

“We are extremely excited to begin our first WNBA season of this new agreement in six months and to present the WNBA Finals in 11 months,” the spokesperson told FOS in a statement. “We will have many exciting announcements as we get closer to the start of the season, but we have not named nor decided on who will call the WNBA Finals at this time.”

A source said NBC will evaluate its overall coverage this season of the NBA and men’s and women’s college basketball, as well as the broader marketplace, before making a final decision on the WNBA Finals announce team for next year. 

As part of the new WNBA TV deal, the league’s finals will rotate between ESPN, NBC, and Amazon’s Prime Video. Previously, ESPN aired the WNBA Finals exclusively. 

Another interesting wrinkle: Versant—the suite of cable channels, including USA Network, getting spun off from NBCUniversal—will get a package of at least 50 WNBA games per year, including some finals games in years like 2026 where NBC has the series. 76ers announcer Kate Scott has been named the lead play-by-play voice for WNBA games on USA Network.

At Amazon, the top team will be Michael Grady and Candace Parker (Grady is also calling NBA games for both Amazon and NBC), and at ESPN it remains Ryan Ruocco and Rebecca Lobo. 

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