Report: NBA broadcaster Mark Jones set to call final game with ESPN

ESPN will be broadcasting two games on Sunday. The Boston Celtics (54-26) collision with the Orlando Magic (44-36) at 6:00 p.m. ET, however, will be Jones’ final game with the network. He told Jackson that simply ‘it was time’. There will be an ESPN tribute for him during the game.

Since the beginning of the 2025-26 NBA season, ESPN’s lead NBA broadcast team has consisted of lead play-by-play broadcaster Mike Breen, NBA veteran and analyst Richard Jefferson, analyst Tim Legler, and reporter Lisa Salters. Jones had served as one of ESPN’s other three lead play-by-play voices this season, along with Dave Pasch and Ryan Ruocco.

“Jones has been assigned to events airing on ABC since August 1990 with duties including college football, college basketball, the World League and various events on ABC’s Wide World of Sports,” his ESPN bio reads. “He called the World Track and Field Championships from Stuttgart, Germany, in 1993 and Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1995. He has also provided play-by-play commentary for the World Cup of gymnastics and the World Speed Skating Championships.”

Mark Jones has spent past 36 years calling games for ESPN networks

Prior to working for ESPN, Jones served as an anchor for The Sports Network (TSN) from 1986-1990. That role marked the last time the Toronto native wasn’t working for ESPN in some capacity. Jones’ departure from the company comes just before the 2026 NBA Playoffs get underway. The NBA Play-In Tournament, which will be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video this season, is slated to begin on April 14.

This season will mark ESPN on ABC’s 21st consecutive season broadcasting the NBA Finals. ESPN and ABC have both been under Disney ownership since 1996. The moniker, ESPN on ABC, has been used by the company since 2006. The ESPN family of channels, however, has broadcast an NBA Finals game in three of the past four seasons.

NBA games on ESPN will certainly sound a little different without Mark Jones on the call. After 36 years, however, all good things must come to an end.