ESPN has settled on its lead NBA analyst for Finals: report

ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson is poised to jump to the lead analyst chair on ABC and ESPN, including the networks' coverage of the NBA Finals, according to a new report in The Athletic.

Andrew Marchand reports that the network had some interest in Grant Hill joining Mike Breen and Doris Burke, but a deal never came to fruition. Instead, Jefferson, Jay Bilas and Tim Legler have rotated in the position this season.

Jefferson's promotion will bring some stability to a crew that has been in flux since Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson were let go as a part of ESPN’s layoffs in the summer of 2023.

More: 10 NBA franchises valued at a shocking amount of money

Jefferson joined the YES Network as its Brooklyn Nets analyst in Oct. 2018, following his final season playing with the Denver Nuggets. He has since earned eight New York Emmy Award nominations for his YES work.

Jefferson has been with ESPN since 2019. When not calling games, he's regularly appeared on shows including NBA Today, NBA Countdown, First Take, Get Up, Sports Center and Hoop Streams.

Marchand also reports that Jefferson's contract is up after this season, and he could be in line to move to Amazon Prime when it begins streaming live NBA games in 2025-26. Ian Eagle, who was previously reported to become Amazon's lead play-by-play caller, has worked with Jefferson on YES Newtork's Nets broadcasts the last seven seasons.

Jefferson played three seasons of college basketball at the University of Arizona, then was drafted 13th overall by the Nets in 2001. He played seven seasons for the Nets, reaching the NBA Finals in each of the first two.

In 2016, Jefferson helped the Cavailers win the NBA championship, the first in franchise history and Cleveland’s first major sports title in 52 years. That year, he also launched the first-ever podcast created by an active NBA player during the NBA season — Road Trippin’ — with then-teammate Channing Frye.

Home/Sports Media