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Former SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett is a TV legend. But when the ex-ESPNer lost his hosting job with the Trail Blazers this week, he didn’t even get an email or phone call. Instead, he learned about his departure in a Maury Brown sports media column.
“I read about it in Forbes,” Everett tells Front Office Sports.
That’s no way to treat a talent like Everett, who gave five seasons to the Trail Blazers broadcasting team. But a cold-blooded approach seems to be the order of the day when it comes to sports media layoffs this week.
On Monday, ESPN analyst Ryan Clark, an 11-year veteran, was informed about his pending pink slip while on the air for NFL Live. ESPN anchor Karl Ravech, a 33-year veteran, learned about his layoff from The Athletic. Ravech got the bad news after calling Monday’s Phillies-Dodgers game in Philadelphia.
What’s going on? There has to be a better, more humane way to deal with employees when they’re losing their jobs. Ex-ESPNer Dan Patrick was not happy with the way the mothership handled its business this week.
“Show dignity to those people in how you let them go. That’s all,” said Patrick on his show. “It can’t happen that Karl Ravech is contacted by somebody wanting a comment. 33 years, and that’s how it ends? Show dignity, give them that dignity.”
At least with the Trail Blazers, Everett suspected something was afoot. After all, the notoriously frugal Tom Dundon bought the NBA franchise in March for $4.25 billion. When Dundon previously took over the NHL’s Hurricanes, he immediately overhauled the broadcast team and installed other belt-tightening measures. After being offered an 80% pay cut, veteran Canes play-by-play announcer Chuck Kaiton left after 39 seasons.
Right on cue, Dundon wasted no time pinching pennies in Portland, earning him the nickname “El Cheapo” from Bill Simmons. Dumping a club’s existing broadcasters to cut costs seems to be the billionaire owner’s “modus operandi,” notes Everett.
On Tuesday, Dundon dropped the axe on the majority of the club’s broadcast crew, including hosts Everett and Jamie Hudson, 20-year analyst Michael Holton and former ESPNer turned analytics expert Tom Haberstroh. This past NBA season, Everett and Holton worked 25 Trail Blazers road games, with their last telecast coming on April 8.
“You kind of felt it was coming–like a storm,” Everett says. “But I read about it in Forbes.”
Everett is nothing if not classy. Once he absorbed the news, he left a message for Trail Blazers president of business operations Dewayne Hankins to say thanks for giving him a shot on the Rip City TV crew in his hometown.
During his 23-year run at ESPN, the wise-cracking Everett was one of the network’s most popular anchors. Before joining the four letters in 2000, he spent 15 years in local TV in Hawaii. With his droll sense of humor, he exuded Hawaiian cool with his signature “Aloha” call.
Everett became famous for his “Bartender, Jack” call on home runs. He also co-starred in some of ESPN’s funniest “This is SportsCenter” commercials, including his schooling of a young Roger Federer.
From 2009-2023, Everett teamed with Stan Verrett to anchor the Los Angeles edition of SportsCenter. The duo’s chemistry was virtually unmatched. Everett was laid off by ESPN in 2023. But he appeared as a special guest alongside Verrett and fellow OG Linda Cohn when SportsCenter signed off for the last time from LA in May, 2025. Now, Everett and Verrett may reboot their podcast, The Stan and Neil Show, which debuted last year.
As usual, Everett is laid-back and funny on the phone. He wishes the Trail Blazers well. Everett doesn’t take layoffs personally, calling them “strictly business.” He called fellow SportsCenter anchor David Lloyd to remind him he still leads him in corporate layoffs 2-1.
“I did 15 years in Hawaii. Then 23 years at ESPN. I did five years with the Trail Blazers. I’ve had such a good run,” Everett says. “If something else is out there, I’m definitely interested. But I’m not going to work hard to find something that makes me work hard.”
The last time he was laid off, he told me: “Bartender … Last call.” Now when I ask him what’s next, he gives me a typical Neil Everett quip.
“Just waiting on a call.”
