OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Veteran ESPN sportscaster Mark Jones continued his ascent up the National Basketball Association's list of most frequent national commentators Wednesday night when he called play-by-play on his 400th national NBA telecast, becoming the seventh announcer to reach that milestone.
Jones marked the occasion with a Pelicans-Thunder telecast from the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City alongside colleagues Monica McNutt and Katie George. It was his 449th career national NBA telecast including sideline work.
The six announcers ahead of Jones on the play-by-play chart are Marv Albert (1130), Mike Breen (1041), Kevin Harlan (872), Dick Stockton (616), Bob Neal (450) and Dave Pasch (401). Pasch, incidentally, is slated to cover the second game of Wednesday night's ESPN doubleheader, a Clippers-Lakers tilt in Los Angeles alongside debutant Bob Myers.
Jones, who will celebrate his 62nd birthday on November 16, is the local television voice of the Sacramento Kings, a role he assumed in 2020. After working for TSN in his native Toronto from 1986-90, he joined ESPN and ABC in 1990. In addition to basketball, his on-air credits include college football, track and field, gymnastics and speed skating.
Jones' national NBA telecast career will celebrate its 19th anniversary later this week: his first such credit came on Nov. 3, 2004, as the courtside reporter on a Heat-Nets telecast alongside Brent Musburger and Tom Tolbert. His play-by-play debut was later that season on April 23, 2005, alongside Bill Raftery for the first game of the Pacers-Celtics first-round series.
While Jones has never served as ESPN's long-term lead commentator, so he has never called a full conference final under the NBA's arrangement where ESPN gets one conference final and TNT the other, he has handled two NBA Finals telecasts, spelling Mike Breen for the first two games in 2022. He also helmed the crew for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final that year alongside Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson and Lisa Salters.
Following the 2016 departure of Mike Tirico for NBC Sports, Jones served as ESPN's de facto number-2 play-by-play voice, with 65 of his broadcasts ending up on ABC over-the-air during that span. With Jones still employed at ESPN but also working for the Kings, ESPN announced the formation of a "second core NBA broadcast team" of Ryan Ruocco, Richard Jefferson and JJ Redick for the 2023-24 season. The distribution of ABC telecasts between Ruocco, Jones and Pasch remains to be seen.
His most frequent partners as a play-by-play announcer include Doris Burke (116 games) and Hubie Brown (101), with Cassidy Hubbarth and Mark Jackson each appearing more than 50 times and five others 30 or more. Raftery is one of nine people who have called exactly one NBA game with Jones.
The milestone man was a four-year member of the basketball team at York University, from which he graduated in 1985 with a degree in economics. He is the brother of Toronto Raptors announcer Paul Jones and lives in Miami with his wife, Sara.
NBA Teams Called By Mark Jones as a National Play-By-Play Announcer
(Listed under current team name: Thunder include SuperSonics, Grizzlies include original Hornets, current Hornets include Bobcats)
- Celtics — 64
- 76ers — 44
- Rockets — 41
- Warriors — 39
- Lakers — 36
- Mavericks — 36
- Heat — 33
- Spurs — 33
- Raptors — 32
- Nuggets — 30
- Clippers — 30
- Bucks — 30
- Hawks — 30
- Pacers — 29
- Grizzlies — 28
- Thunder — 28
- Cavaliers — 26
- Nets — 23
- Knicks — 23
- Jazz — 22
- Pelicans — 22
- Suns — 21
- Bulls — 20
- Blazers — 20
- Timberwolves — 14
- Wizards — 14
- Pistons — 13
- Magic — 8
- Hornets2 — 6
- Kings — 5
- Doris Burke — 116
- Hubie Brown — 101
- Cassidy Hubbarth — 56
- Mark Jackson — 51
- Israel Gutierrez — 49
- Jeff Van Gundy — 48
- Jon Barry — 46
- Lisa Salters — 41
- Malika Andrews — 30
- Jorge Sedano — 24
- Chris Broussard — 15
- Bill Walton — 14
- Richard Jefferson — 13
- J.A. Adande — 12
- Doug Collins — 11
- Heather Cox — 11
- Tom Tolbert — 10
- Jim Gray — 10
- Ric Bucher — 6
- Kara Lawson — 5
- Chris Mullin — 5
- Rachel Nichols — 5
- Tom Rinaldi — 4
- Adam Schefter — 4
- Ros Gold-Onwude — 4
- Vince Carter — 3
- Steve Javie — 3
- Katie George — 3
- P.J. Carlesimo — 2
- JJ Redick — 2
- Holly Rowe — 2
- Monica McNutt — 2
- Bill Raftery — 1
- Steve Jones — 1
- Len Elmore — 1
- Tim Legler — 1
- Kurt Rambis — 1
- George Karl — 1
- LaPhonso Ellis — 1
- Becky Hammon — 1
- Ariel Helwani — 1
