NBC Sports Director Pierre Moossa Previews NBC's First NBA All-Star Production in 24 Years

After a 24-year absence, NBC Sports returns to NBA All-Star Weekend with a full arsenal of unique camera positions and all-access audio to capture the action unfolding at the state-of-the-art Intuit Dome.

Stay tuned for plenty more SVG. coverage from LA this weekend, but to tip things of, SVG sat down with director Pierre Moossa to preview coverage of the NBA Rising Stars game, NBA All-Star Saturday Night, and NBA All-Star Game. Moossa, a veteran of the previous NBA on NBC era himself, discusses the camera additions (including a lower game camera, 4x SteadiCams and SupraCam), army of player and coach mics, how the Milano-Cortina Olympics lead in impacts his philosophy, and his goal to celebrate the NBA's biggest stars while making viewers at home feel as if they were courtside.

What new camera positions are you working with this weekend for NBA All-Star coverage?

First thing is our play-by-play camera is actually lower than usual, so that's going to give us a much more intimate angle. The NBA was kind enough to make that happen. So our play-by-play and our tight action camera will both be lower than usual. Typically the game camera is a bit higher at Intuit, so this will give us a more intimate look that most people don't usually get to see. Obviously, it's such a special event and we want to get as close to these star players as possible so it was important to us to give the viewer that perspective.

We've also added a SupraCam cable camera that's able to fly around the arena. We really want to do is kind of focus on some of the things that make the event special so the Dunk Contest really comes to mind. So we made the SupraCam 4x-super-mo so we have the ability to do replays that give people a really cool look at the dunks.

We also have two RF SteadiCams and one is run by a gentleman named Matt Lagerfeld, who is in his 10th All-Star game as the SteadiCam operator for the Dunk Contest. We were at actually rehearsals last night till almost 1130 and he's out there on his phone filming the dunks and studying them so he can determine the most impactful way to cover each dunk. He's superstar camera operator and the dunk is something that he really covers very closely. The SteadiCam is definitely the best way to look at the dunks, so we made that 4x-super-mo as well.

There will also be a significant amount of 6x-super-mo cameras for all the coverage, which is always a big focus for us so we can get those amazing replays all over the court.

There's a foul line, extended reverse camera that's tight on the rim that's going to give us some great looks, especially for dunks because you can really see that super-slo-mo view of the ball going through the rim and the hand coming over the rim and slamming it down. It's a spectacular look. And the camera operator is a gentleman named Chris Cuby who's done this a lot. He did the same sort of camera last year for [TNT Sports], and I remember watching the coverage and thinking that was an amazing look. So we're very happy to have him back to handle that.

And lastly, we have six iso cameras dedicated to our [player and coach] microphones. We have eight total player mics - so two per team for all four teams - and then we also have coaches mic'd as well. So we will have six people - four players and two coaches - mic'd up at any given moment and we'll have a camera dedicated to each. And then on Sunday we'll actually have eight people total mic'd up for each game - both coaches and three players on each team playing on the court. So it's an opportunity to really get some standout sound.

The mic'd up segments have become such an integral part of NBA coverage, especially at All-Star Weekend - how is NBC looking to evolve that effort even further?

What we're most excited about is the fact that the NBA, the players, and the coaches have been kind enough to let us track some of the mics live. For Rising Stars tonight, we're able to track the player and coaches mics - and the coaches will all be NBC talent in Mellow Vince Tac and Austin - So that's something that will be really cool. We'll be on a five second S&P delay to protect us for any language concerns, but we've got a lot of really cool things planned on the audio side.

I think the most important thing that comes to our coverage plan is our goal is to celebrate the NBA and celebrate the Stars. And there's no greater celebration of the NBA Stars than All Star Weekend. It's our job to make sure it is an extremely fun experience for the viewer at home. We've always talk about bringing the audience closer to the action and make sure everyone at home has an even better seat than those front row seats. So with the mics, cameras, and unique angles we have, we're going to make sure that fans at home really appreciate how special this weekend is.

How does your approach to covering NBA All-Star Saturday change compared to a typical game broadcast?

I don't think my basic strategy changes much - it's still about showing the viewer what they need to see and tell the story of the game. My dad was a surgeon and one of his biggest principles was No Unnecessary Cuts.' I think it really applies to television as well. There are so many cool toys and angles and famous people to show, but you don't want lose focus of is what the viewer needs to see.

For example, the three-point contest is spectacular and there are so many opportunities to show different things that are happening around the arena, but what you really need to show is the ball going through the net. Did he make the three or not? Was his foot on the line?

So we're really going to focus documenting the competition and making sure people really appreciate it the talent out their on the court And then Frank DiGraci, o

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/02/13/nbc-sports-director-pierre-moos...
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