“I watched how they set up the scene, told stories, and watched how they presented information,” Jones said. Paul Jones, Mark Jones’ older brother, is a Canadian sportscaster and play–by-play announcer (photo courtesy of York University). He pointed to Bryant Gumbel with NBC Sports and James Brown of CBS in the late 1970s and early 1980s as touchstones. Jones learned his craft in part by observing other Black television sportscasters, whether play-by-play or color commentary. “When you are in that moment you have to be able to describe it and do it dramatically, colorfully, and specifically.” “A big part of this job is being well read, having knowledge of the game, and having a big command of the language,” Jones told The OBSERVER. One of the sports industry’s most sought-after jobs, play-by-play requires a melodic voice, preparation, research, note-taking, above-average communications skills, and knowledge of the game. When you’re doing the right thing people want to hire you.” “From my perspective, it’s not like was getting some scrub. “Joelle Terry, she’s the one who made me comfortable in coming to Sacramento,” said Jones, 60. Jones replaced Grant Napear, who had been the Kings’ play-by-play TV announcer since 1988. The job is not only competitive it is also difficult to get opportunities when marked by such longevity. Spears also reported that during the 2019-20 season, 11 NBA teams had had the same TV play-by-play voices for 20-plus years. He held that dubious distinction until Jones and Draper joined the Kings before the 2020-21 season. Spears reported for The Undefeated in July 2020 that Eric Collins, the voice of the Charlotte Hornets since 2015, was the NBA’s only Black play-by-play caller. “My thought was, ‘It’s either now or it’s not going to happen for me.’” Or see if you can do something even greater,’” Draper said. It’s either stay and host the next how many or so years, which would be great. Terry also assembled one of the NBA’s first all-female broadcasting teams when the Kings played the Cleveland Cavaliers at Golden 1 Center on March 27, 2021.ĭraper came to Sacramento from NBC Sports Boston, where he had worked since 2009 as host of “Celtics Pregame Live” and “Celtics Postgame Live,” and as the fill-in play-by-play announcer.Ī communications graduate from Winona State University who runs a firm that manages broadcast professionals’ careers, Draper told that taking the Kings’ play-by-play gig was a no-brainer. He was also hired to handle play-by-play in Jones’ absence at the insistence of Joelle Terry, the Kings’ former vice president of communications. Ever since then, the Kings have been a standard for getting representation and opportunities for women, too.”ĭraper hosts “Kings Pregame Live” and “Kings Postgame Live” on NBC Sports California. “So let’s give credit to Vivek Ranadivé, the Kings’ chairperson and owner who was vocal about how he felt after the Stephon Clark shooting. “The Kings are starting to build a reputation as being on the forefront of diversity, inclusion, and caring about people of all colors,” Spears told The OBSERVER.
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