He was recently let go by the Golden State Warriors, but Mark Jackson wasn’t out of a job for long. ESPN has announced that he’s returning to the network via a multi-year contract and rejoining his friends, Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy at the courtside broadcast table in time for the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. Incidentally, the ECF begin on Sunday so Jackson goes right into the broadcast fire right away.
When Jackson was fired from Golden State, observers speculated that Jackson would probably return to broadcast and that’s exactly what happened. Ironically, while Jackson who was previously with ESPN before coaching Golden State, was replaced by TNT analyst Steve Kerr.
In addition to calling the Eastern Conference Finals, Jackson will also call the NBA Finals with Breen and Van Gundy, which he did with ESPN/ABC between 2006 and 2011.
Your official ESPN announcement is below.
Mark Jackson Returns to ESPN with New Multi-year Deal
NBA Veteran Re-joins Booth with Mike Breen & Jeff Van Gundy, Debuts Sunday for Eastern Conference Finals Game One on ABC
NBA veteran Mark Jackson has reached a multi-year agreement with ESPN to return to the network and serve as an NBA game analyst. Jackson will re-join his former booth-mates – play-by-play commentator Mike Breen and analyst Jeff Van Gundy – during the Eastern Conference Finals, starting with Game One on ABC this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The three-person booth, with reporter Doris Burke, will call the entire Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Mark back to ESPN and for him to reunite with Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy – a three-person booth that was very popular and successful for us for several years,” said John Wildhack, ESPN executive vice-president, production and programming. “Mark has an outstanding NBA mind, a tremendous on-air presence and he brings a wealth of knowledge both as a player and now as a head coach.”
Jackson previously served as an ESPN NBA game analyst from 2006 to 2011 where he teamed with Breen and Van Gundy to call the NBA Finals five seasons in a row.
Jackson was the head coach of the Golden State Warriors for three seasons from 2011-2014. He ranks fourth all-time in assists, amassing 10,334 during his 17 NBA seasons. He played with the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets. He was an NBA All-Star in the 1988-1989 season.
That is all.
