NFL Network Talents Learn Their Fate After ESPN Takeover
Monica McNutt is one of the fastest-rising stars in sports media.
She’s known nationally for her work as an analyst, host, and reporter for the NBA and WNBA on ESPN, but she also fulfills analyst duties for the Knicks on MSG Networks. She makes regular appearances on ESPN’s daytime shows such as SportsCenter and First Take—including a viral moment in June with Stephen A. Smith, when she disagreed with his assertion that his show was the leader in WNBA and women’s sports coverage.
About a decade before her star rose in sports media, McNutt played four years of college basketball for the Georgetown Hoyas. She received her master’s degree in journalism from Maryland in 2013 and worked various roles in and outside sports media before landing at the ACC Network in 2019.
McNutt spoke with Front Office Sports about her career journey, the landscape of women in sports media, and what else she wants to achieve in the industry. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Did playing basketball against men while growing up prepare you for life in sports media?
I have found—both in my playing experience and in my professional experience—that it’s not really the athletes and not the people that are actually in sport that make the noise about whether women belong. It’s all of these guys sitting at home that wish they could [play].
How have you seen sports media evolve to be more inclusive of women?
First of all, to see Doris Burke on [ESPN’s NBA] A-Team is like, “Look at us. We’ve made real progress.” But that comes with an underbelly because it’s not about progress in the sense of championing equality and morality. [Burke] is a damn good analyst, and she’s been doing this since the 1990s.
I am really encouraged, and I can speak to my experience at ESPN, that I’ve had the opportunity to wear a number of hats. I’m encouraged by the number of women that I now see that have the opportunity to follow in Doris’s footsteps.
You cover both the NBA, WNBA, and even did some college basketball in the past. Do you want to focus on any particular league in the future?
I definitely want to stay in the WNBA, fully present, whether that’s as game analyst, studio analyst, working on features. I’m all in. But it’s a very real conversation for me about what my life looks like. My marriage is important; my family is important. The WNBA plays in the summer, the NBA plays in the fall, so it has been a puzzle to figure out when I can deliberately carve out time to spend it with my loved ones.
FOS senior writer Michael McCarthy wrote a profile about you in 2023 in which you said you were “chasing the moon.” It’s been two years, and you’ve since gotten married, so would you still say that you’re “chasing the moon”?
I still would say that I’m chasing the moon, but I would say the moon is a bit nebulous. I don’t think I’m done trying different things at ESPN, but I also will say that in the last couple of years, I have gotten even more rooted in the statement that I’m building a life and not just a career. So whatever the moon or falling among the stars looks like, there are two things for me: I know that it can be seasonal and no one assignment in my life is necessarily forever, and the second part is that I need it to fit my life.
I’m really excited. I don’t have all the answers in terms of the future. But if my life and family dictated that I needed something with a different schedule or maybe less travel, I’m open to all of the things. I’m in a really beautiful place.
I think what people should understand—and I say this to young people all the time—is that I encourage the whole “being” conversation. Be very clear on your motivation.
How have you seen the conversation around Caitlin Clark and WNBA coverage evolve since your viral moment with Stephen A. Smith on First Take in June?
I still get random at-mentions [on social media]—and I haven’t had anything to say about Caitlin in like six months!
But really, two things on that: I was in no way disrespecting or belittling what Caitlin Clark has done. She’s been tremendous for the league. I’ve had a chance to talk with her, and she’s great. I admire that when she was nominated for Time Athlete of the Year, she addressed some of the things we did not hear from her throughout the season. But I totally get that baby is 23 years old. I can hold space for her experience.
I think back to that day and it’s an example of how the media has power. That conversation was about Chennedy Carter and it turned into plastering the whole league. Anyway, we’ve moved on from it and I think as we go into this next season, let’s talk for real about actual basketball. Who cares about a flagrant foul on a Monday?
What would you say to young women who are looking to enter this space and are looking to reach your level?
I think it’s probably more welcoming than it’s ever been. That doesn’t mean that progress still doesn’t need to be made, though. But I think for me, if you respect the craft—and that’s tricky in an era of Instagram and social media because some folks like to be seen, but I don’t know if they want to be read as far as their actual work—if you’re studying, if you’re mindful of networking, if you are diligent about growing in your skill set, and if you believe that the opportunity is going to come, you’ll find your way.
I think in the conversation about women, appearance is still very much a thing. But I think you have to be able to look in the mirror and say, “I’m proud of the work I did. I’m proud of the way that I showed up.”
