Friday, June 26, 2026

Malika Andrews Makes History As First Woman to Host NBA Draft

Malika-Andrews
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

On the 50th anniversary of Title IX, Malika Andrews will make history on Thursday night as the first woman ever to host the NBA Draft.

After making her first Draft appearance as a telecast reporter in 2020, Andrews became host of “NBA Today” in 2021 and hosted the draft lottery last month.

“We just finished the draft lottery, and I feel like that’s great training, maybe, hopefully for the draft,” Andrews said in a video posted by ESPN’s Twitter.

Andrews will be joined by Jay Bilas, Kendrick Perkins, Bobby Marks, Adrian Wojnarowski, and Mike Schmitz on ESPN. She succeeds Rece Davis, who led the draft’s broadcast for more than 10 years.

ESPN has televised the draft for two decades and will broadcast the first round for the second consecutive year.

Fans can watch the draft, which takes place at the Barclays Center, on ESPN and ABC at 8 p.m. ET.

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