ESPN NBA countdown crew are Stephen A. Smith, Michael Wilbon and Adrian Wojnarowski. Malika Andrews hosts the NBA Today and Wednesday editions of the show.
NBA Countdown is a pregame television show that airs before National Basketball Association (NBA) telecasts on ABC and ESPN. The networks have been airing NBA games since 2002.
The program typically runs for 30 or 60 minutes before the game and ESPN2 or another ESPN network may also be used as an overflow channel for the show.
ESPN announced plans for reimagined NBA game and studio coverage for the 2023-24 season. Doc Rivers, the NBA Champion will join broadcasters Doris Burke and Mike Breen to form the new lead commentator team.
The trio will call the NBA Finals, Eastern Conference Finals, NBA Playoffs, Christmas Day and NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC.
The broadcast is branded for sponsorship purposes as NBA Countdown Presented by DraftKings Sportsbook for ESPN editions.
NBA Countdown Hosts
ESPN has announced its host for NBA Countdown, which will be Malika Andrews. She will host the entire ESPN and ABC NBA Countdown show.
Andrews will continue to host NBA Today and ESPN weekday afternoon basketball show for its third season. NBA countdown cast 2023 Richard Jefferson, Kendrick Perkins, Chiney Ogwumike and senior writers Zach Lowe and Ramona Shelburne will continue to join Andrews.
Ogwumike will also host on select dates similar to the last season. NBA Today airs on ESPN from 3 - 4 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.
ESPN has assembled a second core NBA broadcast team for the upcoming season. It will feature play-by-play announcer Ryan Ruocco and analysts JJ Redick and Richard Jefferson.
The team will call the NBA Sunday Showcase series on ABC, as well as collaborate on other major events throughout the season and into the NBA Playoffs. The team will debut during the first week of NBA coverage on ESPN in October.
She was among the first reporters to enter the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex to wrap up the 2019-20 NBA season in the Bubble. She hosted the 2020 NBA Draft telecast which featured virtual interviews with the top draftees.
The 28-year-old journalist was named ABC sideline reporter for the NBA Finals coverage. Andrews also appeared in a short film promoting the 2022 NBA playoffs in March 2022. She was named Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent at the Sports Emmys in May 2022.
NBA Countdown Studio Analysts
NBA countdown cast for studio analysts are:
- Doris Burke
- Doc Rivers
- JJ Redick
- Richard Jefferson
- Hubie Brown
- Bob Myers
Doris Burke has been a radio analyst for the NBA Finals on ESPN for the past four seasons and will now become the first female television analyst for the championship game. She has also worked as a sideline reporter for the NBA Finals on ABC for nine years.
Burke began her broadcasting career in 1990 as a radio analyst for her alma mater women's basketball games. The same year she began working in the same role on television for Big East Women's games and in 1996 she worked for Big East games.
In 2012, the NCAA presented her with the Silver Anniversary Award in recognition of her athletic and professional achievements. She also called the Big East tournament and covered the championship game as a reporter.
Doc Rivers on the other hand has been a head coach for 25 years and a player for 14 years who was previously called in the NBA Finals on ABC in 2004. As the head coach of the Boston Celtics, he won the NBA Championship in 2008.
Following his retirement in 2021, JJ Redick was employed by ESPN as an on-air sports analyst. On November 3, 2021, Redick made his debut as a studio analyst for the Brooklyn Nets-Atlanta Hawks game.
Richard Jefferson commenced his broadcasting career by joining the YES Network as the Nets game and studio analyst in 2018. He has also appeared as a basketball analyst on FS1, ESPN and the Pac-12 Network.
After being let go by the Hawks in 1986 he began his broadcasting career working for USA Network's coverage of the NBA. He has worked with CBS from 1988 to 1992 and TNT from 1992 to 2002.
Currently, Jefferson is associated with ESPN as an NBA analyst.
NBA Countdown Schedule 2023-24
The regular season commenced on the 24th of October 2023 with two games in a single night which will be broadcast by TNT.
The first game featured the Denver Nuggets against the Los Angeles Lakers at 7:30 p.m. ET. The second game was between the Phoenix Suns against the Golden State Warriors at 10 p.m. ET.
Other significant dates were the G League Draft on October 28, 2023, and the start of the NBA 2K League season on October 1, 2023.
The opening night of the regular season featured 80 of 82 games for each team. The full timetable for the season including the 2 remaining games for each team will be broadcasted later.
The NBA Playoffs will begin on April 16, 2024. The top eight teams in each conference will qualify with the exact seeding to be determined by the final regular-season standings.
The season will include the first NBA In-Season Tournament which will be held from November 3 to December 9, 2023.
The tournament will feature 32 teams divided into eight four-team groups with the top two teams from each group advancing to the single-elimination knockout stage.
The All-Star Weekend will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from February 16 to February 18, 2024.
The Play-In Tournament will run from April 16 to April 19, 2024, with the Playoffs beginning on Saturday, April 20, 2024.
The NBA Finals will take place on June 6, 2024. The season will end on April 14, 2024.
The NBA Countdown Schedule may change. For the full schedule, please visit the official NBA website at NBA.com.
Former NBA players On NBA Countdown
Some of the former NBA players on the NBA countdown are:
- Bill Walton
- Kevin Garnett
- Stephen Jackson
- Kendrick Perkins
- Chiney Ogwumike
- Greg Anthony
- Jalen Rose
- Magic Johnson
Bill Walton is a former Hall of Fame center who played for the Portland Trail Blazers, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Boston Celtics. During his career, he won two NBA championships in 1977 and 1986 and was awarded the MVP.
From 2002 to 2009, he worked as a color commentator for ABC, ESPN, NBC and CBS. He is widely known for his strange and humorous commentary style. Currently, he works for the Pac-12 Network.
Kevin Garnett is a power forward who played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets. He won one NBA championship and was awarded one MVP award.
From 2016 to 2019, he worked for TNT and hosted a segment called Area 21. Nowadays, he is hosting a show on Showtime called "KG Certified".
Stephen Jackson was a small forward for eight different NBA teams such as the San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers and Golden State Warriors. He won one NBA title with the Spurs in 2003.
He co-hosts the All the Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes which features interviews with current and former NBA players.
Chiney Ogwumike is a former WNBA All-Star and champion who joined ESPN in 2018 as an analyst for NBA Countdown.
She became the first Black woman to host a national radio show for ESPN in August 2020 and the first WNBA player to do so. She is one of the youngest NBA analysts to be hired full-time by ESPN while also competing in the WNBA.
Kendrick Perkins is a former NBA champion with the Boston Celtics who joined ESPN in 2017 as an analyst for NBA Countdown.
Perkins worked as an on-air sports commentator and analyst for ESPN and NBC Sports Boston, including NBA Today, Get Up, First Take and SportsCenter on ESPN since 2018.
Greg Anthony began working for ESPN as an NBA analyst in 2003. He later joined CBS Sports as a college basketball analyst in December 2008 taking over from Clark Kellogg.
In 2014, Anthony and Kellogg switched roles with Anthony becoming the lead commentator in the broadcast booth. Anthony has also lent his commentary skills to the NBA 2K video game series since NBA 2K16.
Jalen Rose worked as a Sideline Reporter for TNT during the 2006 NBA Playoffs. He has worked for ABC/ESPN since his retirement in 2007. He first worked as an analyst on SportsCenter and then as one of the hosts of NBA Countdown.
Rose also has a multi-platform deal with the New York Post where he hosts a podcast and writes a weekly column under the moniker Renaissance Man.
The legendary five-time NBA champion and three-time NBA Finals MVP Magic Johnson joined ESPN's NBA Countdown in 2004. His contributions are well recorded until 2016.
