Doug Collins hadn't been a TNT analyst for nine years and now the network wanted him back. He had been fired by the Washington Wizards with two and a half years left on his contract, and during the July 4th weekend, he decided that he wanted to call N.B.A. games again.

ESPN and ABC also wanted him and dangled three different deals: ABC's Sunday games; an ABC-ESPN deal or ESPN's Friday night package. To accommodate Collins - who wanted to work only in a two-man booth - ABC and/or ESPN would have had to move Bill Walton and Tom Tolbert as the joint No. 1 analysts.

"I don't care who's No. 1 or No. 2,'' Tolbert said yesterday. "All I know is that I get to call basketball games - from the court, a studio or as a No. 1 or a No. 2.''

In their first year together, Walton, Tolbert and their play-by-play partner, Brad Nessler, struggled to be cohesive. ABC has begun discussions with Al Michaels that might lead to his replacing Nessler on all or some of its games.

Unlike Walton, who found a basketball nirvana by working in almost every outlet ESPN owns, Collins had little interest in doing that. "There would be no ESPN.com, no columns, no 'SportsCenter,' no ESPN Radio," said John Langell, Collins's agent.

TNT had three advantages: a Thursday night schedule, giving Collins plenty of time for his family; his loyalty to the network; and TNT's superior production.

"Doug remembers that he was here before, and that we gave him his first opportunity when he left coaching the Bulls,'' said David Levy, the president of Turner Sports. "I truly believe he felt comfortable here."