Richard Jefferson was in the NBA for 17 seasons, playing for eight different franchises. His longest tenure was seven seasons with the Nets.
After the 2017-18 season, Jefferson retired. In 2019, Jefferson joined ESPN as a studio analyst for NBA Today. With ESPN, Jefferson has worked his way through the ranks and calls basketball games. On Monday, it was announced that Jefferson has officially been named to ESPN/ABC’s top broadcast team.
Richard Jefferson is now part of the “A-team” with ESPN/ABC
Richard Jefferson Officially Joins ESPN’s Top NBA Broadcast Team For Remainder Of Season https://t.co/DLJueFJFpg
— RealGM (@RealGM) February 24, 2025
Following the 2023 NBA Finals, ESPN parted ways with several notable employees. Two of them were Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackosn.
They were both on ESPN’s “A-team” along with Hall of Famer Mike Breen. After they were let go, Doris Burke received a promotion and joined Breen in the booth. They also added Doc Rivers but he left in January 2024 to be the head coach in Milwaukee.
Upon Rivers leaving, ESPN hired former NBA player and studio analyst J.J. Redick to join their booth. He lasted the entire 2023-24 season but left to become the head coach of the Lakers in 2024-25. With Redick gone, ESPN turned to Richard Jefferson as their third member of the “A-team.” Jefferson has been calling games regularly for ESPN since the start of 2023-24. He also has experience calling games on the YES Network for the Brooklyn Nets.
Richard Jefferson is on an expiring contract with ESPN. He’s been with the company since 2019. Reports state that Jefferson is receiving interest from Amazon this offseason. They will have NBA coverage next season and they need an analyst. Ian Eagle has been hired as their play-by-play broadcaster. Jefferson and Eagles have plenty of experience working together at the YES Network. We’ll have to wait and see if ESPN can retain Jefferson this offseason or if he leaves for another opportunity.
