ESPN anchor Neil Everett is joining Portland Trail Blazers broadcasts on a part-time basis.
The Blazers announced the news on Monday, also posting an interview with Everett. The interview notes that he’ll continue to host his late night edition of SportsCenter, which seemed like a given since he just got a new contract this summer.
Everett revealed that the new contract lets him work less, opening up more time roles like his new one with Portland.
My contract was coming up at ESPN and I was hoping to work a little less just because of the hours — I’m a little old for going to bed at one or two in the morning that many days a week. So that worked out contractually, it worked out that I was going to be able to work less and I asked them. I talked to Jim Etzel, who put me in touch with Chris McGowan. All these pieces were in play at the same time: Portland was looking, I was in the middle of a contract renegotiation, ESPN was very giving of allowing me to work less and also allowing me to do something that they knew would mean so much to me given my Portland connection and my northwest connection. I got a hold of Chris McGowan and then Dewayne (Hankins) and here we are.
This is the team’s first season on Root Sports Northwest, which it joined over the summer after a long-term deal with the now-shuttered NBC Sports Northwest.
This summer, it was reported that the Blazers also are bringing back play by play announcer Kevin Calabro for the new campaign. Calabro stepped down from his role in the summer of 2020, prior to the NBA’s restart in the Orlando bubble. The team announced his return in August.
