Mallika Andrews and Brian Windhorst are up for grabs in the media free-agent market this offseason.
A report from Front Office Sports stated that both of their contracts with the World Leader in Sports are up this year.
Andrews’ current deal concludes in the fall, with Widhorst’s expiring in the summer, per FOS’ sources. However, ESPN reportedly wants to keep both multimedia personalities.
Their deals are ending at an advantageous time with Amazon Prime Video and NBC Sports starting new rights deals with the NBA next season.
DailyMail.com has reached to ESPN for a comment.
Andrews has risen quickly to host both NBA Today and NBA Countdown. According to sources, the NBA endorsed the 30-year-old as the face of ESPN’s coverage.
Malika Andrews attends the Fourth Annual Fifteen Percent Pledge Gala
Brian Windhorst before Game Four of the 2023 NBA Finals between the Nuggets and Heat
FOS also reported that Andrews could eventually follow the Robin Roberts mode – flourishing in a daytime news and entertainment program within the Disney umbrella, such as ABC’s Good Morning America.
On the other hand, ‘Windy’ has emerged as a key insider and analyst for ESPN’s NBA coverage. The 47-year-old senior NBA writer has covered LeBron James for decades and went viral for his ‘What’s going on in Utah?’ monologue on First Take in 2022.
Windhorst recently became a regular in-studio attendant for programs such as Get Up and First Take. Furthermore, Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective became ESPN’s top podcast, with Zach Lowe out of the picture.
Additionally, sources hailed Windhorst’s analytical reporting as the perfect complement for NBA insider Shams Charania’s news-breaking prowess.
‘Shams is the what—and Windy is the why,’ a source told FOS.
Amazon Prime Video and NBC Sports have been actively hiring NBA talent as they build rosters for the 2025-26 season. Amazon has hired Taylor Rooks as their in-host studio in Los Angeles.
One of the biggest changes in the basketball media landscape will happen as TNT’s Inside the NBA heads to ESPN next season. The program, now starring Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal has been with Turner since 1989.
ESPN already replaced retired Adrian Wojnarowski (left) with Shams Charania (right)
Shaquille O’Neal (left), Ernie Johnson (center left), Kenny Smith (center right) and Charles Barkley (right) will remain TNT employees, but will be seen on ESPN networks next season
Another seismic change happened before the season when ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski left the network after seven years and retired from journalism. His exit made room for ESPN to hire Charania from The Athletic.
While NBC is yet to announce new hires, ex-ESPN employee Maria Taylor is their lead NFL studio host and could be in the running behind her anchoring experience with ESPN and ABC’s NBA studio coverage.
Another former ESPN analyst who could attract Prime and NBC, per FOS’ sources, is NBA legend Vince Carter.
Carter worked at ESPN for three years before getting laid off in the 2023 downsizing alongside Jeff Van Gundy, Jalen Rose, and others.
