As its debut season as an NBA rightsholder approaches, Amazon is continuing to add to its team.
According to Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspiegel, the streamer has signed Chris Haynes and Marcus Thompson. Haynes will serve as a league insider, with Thompson reporting on feature stories while maintaining his current position as a lead columnist The Athletic.
For Haynes, the move comes more than a year after he left TNT Sports, where he had spent five years as an insider at the network. Before TNT, the Fresno, California, native enjoyed stints at Yahoo, ESPN, Cleveland.com and Comcast SportsNet Northwest.
As for Thompson, joining Amazon marks his first traditional television gig. Since 1999, he’s been a mainstay on the Golden Sate Warriors beat, in addition to also covering the Olympics and WNBA in his current role at The Athletic.
The additions of Haynes and Thompson are just he latest hires that Amazon has made ahead of the upcoming NBA campaign. Last week, the ecommerce giant made headlines by adding current Philadelphia 76ers guard Kyle Lowry as a contributor. Meanwhile, Taylor Rooks will host the network’s studio show alongside Blake Griffin and Dirk Nowitzki with Dwyane Wade, Steve Nash, and Candace Parker holding dual roles between the studio and game commentary, with the rest of Amazon’s coverage including the following:
Play-by-play announcers
- Ian Eagle
- Kevin Harlan
- Michael Grady
- Eric Collins
Game analysts
- Stan Van Gundy
- Candace Parker
- Dell Curry
- Brent Barry
Sideline reporters
- Cassidy Hubbarth
- Kristina Pink
- JayDee Dyer
- Allie Clifton
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.