Mark Vernon Jones is a Canadian sportscaster for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and ESPN and the primary play-by-play announcer for Sacramento Kings games on

NBC Sports California NBC Sports California (sometimes abbreviated as NBCS California) is an American regional sports network owned by the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal, and operates as an affiliate of NBC Sports Regional Networks. The channel broadcasts regio ...

. Jones has been a member of the ESPN broadcasting family since 1990. Before then Jones worked for The Sports Network (TSN) in Canada. He mostly works

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

and

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

games on ABC and ESPN.

Biography

Mark Jones was born on November 16, 1961.

Basketball career

Jones attended York University and played basketball. He led the team to three

Ontario Universities Athletics Association Ontario University Athletics (OUA; french: Sports universitaires de l'Ontario) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providin ...

(OUAA) championships in 1981, 1984 and 1985. During his career, Jones was one of the top players in the OUAA, earning conference second-team all-star honors in 1984 and 1985. In 1986, he finished his career with a first-team all-star nod. A prolific guard for the Yeomen, Jones still ranks in the program's top five all-time in total assists and steals. He was inducted into the York's Sport Hall of Fame in 2016.

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 hosted a Toronto Blue Jays magazine show. Jones began his ESPN career as the host of the weekly NBA show, the ''

NBA Today ''NBA Today'' is an American television sports talk program on ESPN (or on rare occasions ESPN2), hosted by Malika Andrews, featuring Kendrick Perkins, Chiney Ogwumike, Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson and Zach Lowe as panelists. The show pr ...

''. 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 Peter John Carlesimo (born May 30, 1949) is an American basketball coach who coached in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and college basketball for nearly 40 years. He is also a television broadcaster, having worked with ESPN, ''The ...

Mark Jackson Mark A. Jackson (born April 1, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player. A point guard from St. John's University, he played for the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors, Utah ...

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, and Doris Burke. Jones has worked 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 the program he engaged Walton and

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in topical debates about issues in the NBA. Jones has 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

, where he teams up with analysts

Dusty Dvoracek Dusty Dvoracek (born March 3, 1983) is a former American football nose guard. Drafted by the Chicago Bears of the National Football League in the third round of the 2006 NFL Draft, he played college football at Oklahoma and professionally with t ...

and

Rod Gilmore Rodney Curt Gilmore (born January 31, 1960) is an American college football analyst, working for ABC and ESPN since 1996. Prior to joining ABC and ESPN in 1996, Gilmore worked for Pacific Sports Network, SportsChannel Bay Area and Prime Spor ...

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 Kara Marie Lawson (born February 14, 1981) is the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils women's basketball team. She is a former American professional women's basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and a basketball t ...

. He has also done play-by-play and/or reporting for women's college basketball, the WNBA, and the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. Jones has also occasionally served as an anchor/reporter for

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...

. He has contributed to NBA All-Star Weekend (Celebrity Game), NBA Draft Lottery, and also 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 2020, Jones made headlines with his outspoken support for the Black Lives Matter movement on Twitter. Jones was named the primary TV play-by-play announcer for the Sacramento Kings in 2020. On March 11, 2022, ESPN announced a multi-year extension for Jones. On May 29, 2022, Jones filled in for ESPN's lead NBA play–by–play announcer Mike Breen for the deciding Eastern Conference Final Game 7 between the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

and Miami Heat. Breen had to sit out of the broadcast alongside commentators

and

due to a positive

COVID Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

test. Jones also called the first two games of the NBA Finals featuring the Celtics and

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

in Breen's absence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Mark Living people Arena football announcers Basketball players from Toronto Black Canadian basketball players Black Canadian broadcasters Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian television sportscasters College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Canadian people of Jamaican descent Disney people ESPN people Miami Heat announcers National Basketball Association broadcasters National Hockey League broadcasters NBA G League broadcasters Sacramento Kings announcers Women's college basketball announcers in the United States Women's National Basketball Association announcers York Lions players 1987 births