Mark Jones Feb 17, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; ESPN analyst Mark Jones during the NBA All-Star Celebrity Game at Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN announcer Mark Jones has a reputation for dropping colorful calls and phrases when he’s working a broadcast.

The fact the play-by-play man was working a mere NBA Summer League game Friday night didn’t stop him from trying out some fun one-liners.

Jones got started early in the first quarter, when Los Angeles Lakers guard Tommy Kuhse put a move on Houston Rockets rookie Reed Sheppard, who slipped and fell.

“Sheppard fell. Got dropped like a diss track, from Kendrick Lamar,” Jones explained.

Jones had an even better call for Sheppard in the third quarter, after the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft drove the lane and knocked down a nice floater.

“Oh wow … he was deep in his bag, like the fries were at the bottom,” Jones called.


Jones has a knack for dropping calls like that with ease. Earlier this year, Jones, who calls Sacramento Kings games for NBC Sports California, went into full thesaurus mode to describe a last-second turnover that doomed the Kings.

“And that’s going to be a pejorative, hurtful, deleterious turnover,” Jones lamented.


Nice to see Jones honing those already considerable PBP skills in summer-league action.

[The Sporting News]

About Arthur Weinstein

Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.