ESPN anchor Malika Andrews will make history on Thursday night as the first woman to ever host the NBA draft.
In an announcement from ESPN’s PR Twitter account in May, Andrews expressed her excitement for the opportunity.
“I am so excited to be the host of the 2022 NBA draft,” Andrews said.
“It’s really kind of beyond words. We just finished the draft lottery, and I feel like that was great training, maybe, hopefully for the draft. But at the end of the day, I know I have a great team behind me.”
Andrews, 27, is a rising star in the sports media business, who made her first appearance as a reporter for ESPN in 2020. Since then, it’s been a quick ascent, as she’s become the network’s lead NBA anchor.
Andrews will be joined on Thursday night’s telecast by college basketball analyst Jay Bilas, former NBA center Kendrick Perkins, basketball insider Adrian Wojnarowski and basketball analyst Bobby Marks.
The telecast will begin at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
