At least one of ESPN’s top NBA analysts is set to return for next season.
ESPN NBA analyst Richard Jefferson has reached an agreement to remain with the company, though no contract has officially been signed, Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported Monday. Jefferson has been with ESPN since 2019 and midway through this past season was promoted to the network’s lead NBA broadcast team alongside Doris Burke and play-by-play voice Mike Breen.
Jefferson had been mentioned as a potential target of Amazon Prime Video, but it was clear when Amazon unveiled its NBA roster that those talks had not come to fruition.
According to Marchand, no decision has been made regarding the status of Burke, who was promoted to the lead broadcast team in 2023. If the network decides to replace her, Tim Legler is said to be the most likely replacement.
ESPN has licensed TNT’s “Inside the NBA” to serve as its primary NBA studio show starting this season, but the network has not made any notable changes on the game broadcast side — despite any number of ex-TNT voices being available. Top TNT analysts Reggie Miller, Stan Van Gundy, Grant Hill, Candace Parker and Jamal Crawford have all gone to new NBA broadcasters NBC or Amazon.
While staying the course is a bit easier on the play-by-play side — where ESPN will reportedly continue with its current rotation of Breen, Dave Pasch, Ryan Ruocco and Mark Jones — the network was so thin on the analyst side last season that college voices Jay Bilas and Corey Alexander had to call multiple rounds of playoffs.
Jefferson was part of ESPN’s NBA succession plan following the firings of Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson two years ago. He, Ruocco and J.J. Redick were slotted as the “B” team behind Breen, Burke and Doc Rivers, but the departures of both Rivers and Redick blew up that plan.
