Mark Jones (sportscaster)

Mark Vernon Jones[1] (born November 16, 1961) is a Canadian sportscaster for ABC and ESPN and the primary play-by-play announcer for Sacramento Kings games on NBC Sports California. Jones has been a member of the ESPN family since 1990.[2] Prior to that, Jones worked for The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada. He primarily covers college football and NBA games on ABC and ESPN.

Mark Jones
Born (1961-11-16) November 16, 1961
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
OccupationSportscaster
Years active1986–present
TelevisionABC and ESPN
(1990–present)
The Sports Network
(1986–1990)

Biography

Broadcasting career

Before Jones assumed his current roles at ESPN, he worked for The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada from 1986 to 1990 as an anchor and hosting a Toronto Blue Jays magazine show.

Jones began his ESPN career as the host of the weekly NBA show, the NBA Today. He would usually end the show by shooting an imaginary basketball into the air as the studio lights went off. Jones currently does play-by-play on NBA games paired with any one of ESPN's current NBA game analysts like Jon Barry, Hubie Brown, P.J. Carlesimo, Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy and Doris Burke. Jones has done NBA games in the past with Bill Walton until Walton left NBA coverage during the 2009 - 2010 season and also with Doug Collins. He was the primary host of KIA NBA Shootaround, the network's pregame show. On that program, he engaged Walton and Stephen A. Smith in topical debates about issues in the NBA. Jones has also done some sideline reporting for NBA games.

Jones also is lead play by play announcer on ABC's NBA Sunday Showcase with Hall of Famer Hubie Brown. He also is on ESPN's college football, where he teams up with analysts Dusty Dvoracek and Rod Gilmore on the network's coverage on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC. He formally called men's SEC college basketball games on Saturday with analyst Kara Lawson. He has also done play-by-play and/or reporting for women's college basketball, the WNBA, and the NHL.

Jones has also occasionally served as an anchor/reporter for SportsCenter. Jones has contributed to NBA All-Star Weekend (Celebrity Game), NBA Draft Lottery, and has contributed to the network's NBA Draft coverage.

He is the younger brother of Paul Jones, the radio play-by-play voice of the Toronto Raptors.

In September of 2020, Jones made headlines with his outspoken support for the Black Lives Matter movement on Twitter.[3]

Jones was named the primary TV play-by-play announcer for the Sacramento Kings in 2020.[4]

References
  1. "Twitter status". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  2. "Mark Jones". ESPN Press Room U.S. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
  3. Salvador, Joseph. "ESPN announcer Mark Jones says he will refuse police protection at college football game". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  4. "ESPN vet Mark Jones named Kings' new play-by-play announcer". NBC Sports Bay Area.
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