ESPN Reveals Commentator Roster for 2026-27 NBA Season

ESPN has announced their NBA commentator coverage for the milestone 25th consecutive season on the network and its various platforms.

What's Happening:

• ESPN has announced their lineup of play-by-play voices, analysts and reporters for its milestone 25th consecutive season of NBA game coverage. The roster includes eight NBA Champions and five Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame honorees.
• Mike Breen, Tim Legler, Richard Jefferson and Lisa Salters return for their second season together as ESPN and ABC’s lead NBA broadcast team. The quartet will once again call the NBA’s marquee regular-season matchups and lead ABC’s coverage throughout the NBA Playoffs and NBA Finals.
• Breen enters his 24th season with ESPN as the network’s lead NBA play-by-play voice. Joining him are NBA Champion Jefferson, analyst Legler, who has contributed to ESPN’s NBA coverage since 2000, and reporter Salters.
  ESPN’s play-by-play roster for the 2026-27 season features Mike Breen, Dave Pasch and Ryan Ruocco, who will continue calling marquee NBA matchups throughout the season. Mike Monaco and Drew Carter join the regular-season rotation and will contribute to select game broadcasts.
  ESPN’s game analyst roster for the 2026-27 season features Richard Jefferson, Tim Legler, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers Doris Burke and Jason Kidd, NBA Champion Jeremy Lin and P.J. Carlesimo. Former NBA Champions Lin and Kidd join ESPN’s game coverage roster this season, while Carlesimo will contribute to select game broadcasts.
  ESPN’s NBA reporter roster for the 2026-27 season features Lisa Salters, Katie George, Malika Andrews, Jorge Sedano, Alyssa Lang, Taylor McGregor, Vanessa Richardson and Angel Gray. The team will deliver reporting, interviews and storytelling from around the league throughout ESPN and ABC’s coverage of the regular season, NBA Playoffs and NBA Finals.
  As previously announced, Inside the NBA presented by Eli Lilly will make 25 regular-season appearances across ESPN and ABC during the 2026-27 season.
• Hosted by Ernie Johnson and featuring analysts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith, the award-winning studio show will provide pregame, halftime and postgame coverage surrounding many of ESPN and ABC’s marquee NBA game windows and events.
• The schedule begins during the NBA’s American Express Tip-Off and continues throughout the season, including appearances surrounding NBA Christmas Day presented by State Farm and NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC.
• NBA Countdown presented by Eli Lilly will debut for the 2026-27 season with host Malika Andrews joined by NBA Champions Jason Kidd and Kendrick Perkins, veteran NBA reporter Brian Windhorst and Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania. Together, the group will lead ESPN and ABC’s pregame, halftime and postgame coverage throughout the season. The show will also feature appearances from Kenny Smith on select shows.
• NBA Today will celebrate its fifth anniversary season in 2026-27. Andrews will continue to host the program, joined by contributors Iman Shumpert, Danny Green, Kendrick Perkins, Brian Windhorst, Chiney Ogwumike, Jeremy Lin, Tim MacMahon, Bobby Marks and Shams Charania.
• Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Jason Kidd joins ESPN’s coverage roster this season and will contribute across both game and studio coverage.
• ESPN Radio’s NBA coverage will feature Marc Kestecher, Mike Couzens, Sean Kelley and Jorge Sedano on play-by-play alongside analysts P.J. Carlesimo, Cory Alexander, Doris Burke and Kelenna Azubuike.
• ESPN’s NBA coverage extends across ESPN.com, the ESPN App and ESPN’s news and information programming throughout the season. Contributors include Shams Charania (Chicago), Brian Windhorst (Omaha), Tim MacMahon (Dallas), Dave McMenamin (Los Angeles/Philadelphia), Jamal Collier (Chicago), Michael C. Wright (San Antonio), Vincent Goodwill (New York), Kris Rhim (Philadelphia), Anthony Slater (Sacramento), Ramona Shelburne (Los Angeles), Baxter Holmes (Los Angeles), Marc Spears (Oakland), Bobby Marks (Southwest Florida), Jeremy Woo (Chicago), Ben Golliver (Los Angeles) and Zach Kram (Chicago).

Seasoned Pros:

• Among all the names listed above, some sports fans may recognize the names of Jason Kidd and Jeremy Lin.
• Widely regarded as one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, Kidd was a 10-time NBA All-Star, five-time All-NBA First Team selection, NBA Champion and member of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.
• Over a 19-season playing career, he became famous for his extraordinary passing, court vision, rebounding, and defensive instincts. He ultimately won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, after coming close with the New Jersey Nets earlier in his career.
• After retiring in 2013, Kidd moved into coaching, bringing his experience as a point guard to the sidelines.
• Former NBA Champion Jeremy Lin also joins ESPN’s roster after contributing to the network’s coverage of the 2026 NBA Finals and NBA Summer League. Lin will appear across ESPN’s studio programming, including NBA Today.
• Lin, a former NBA point guard whose career became one of basketball's most remarkable underdog stories, went from being an undrafted player struggling to find a permanent place in the league to an international sensation with the New York Knicks in 2012. The phenomenon became known as “Linsanity.”
• He later became an NBA champion with the Toronto Raptors in 2019, making history as the first Asian American player to win an NBA championship. After continuing his professional career overseas, Lin announced his retirement from basketball in August 2025.