ESPN has made moves to lock up many of its on-air stars in recent weeks and the latest one to re-sign with the network is NBA studio host Malika Andrews.
At just 30 years old, Andrews has risen to be one of the faces of the network’s basketball coverage. She joined the network originally in 2018 as a reporter, but she then burst onto the national scene covering the bubble in 2020. Soon after that, she was working the NBA Finals as a sideline reporter for the network.
Andrews then moved into hosting duties, anchoring NBA Today on ESPN and then getting the call to move up to the main studio coverage for the NBA Finals. Beginning in the 2023-2024 season, Andrews replaced Mike Greenberg as the host of NBA Countdown.
As part of her new contract with the WorldWide Leader in Sports, Andrews will continue to host Countdown, the NBA Draft, NBA Today, and WNBA Countdown. Additionally, she will make more appearances as a sideline reporter for games once again.
Malika Andrews has quickly established herself as one of the top personalities at ESPN and this move will cement her status for many years to come. Her work as a journalist, reporter, and host has always been well-respected throughout the industry. And although NBA Countdown has certainly had its fair share of issues over the years, it’s more on the production and analysis side than anything she has done as host.
Also, the expanded sideline reporting duties make sense because Countdown may have a smaller role on ESPN’s NBA coverage this year with the addition of Inside the NBA. We still don’t quite know how all the pieces will fit together in Bristol and Atlanta, but there should be enough opportunities throughout ESPN’s NBA programming to make sure Andrews still remains one of the central personalities of the network’s basketball coverage.
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