X Games Host Called Up to Big Leagues
AHMAD RASHAD JOINS ESPN/ABC TO PROVIDE FEATURES
ALDRIDGE, MASEKELA & TAFOYA ON SIDELINES
When ESPN and ABC Sports launch their extensive coverage of the NBA later this month, ESPN veterans David Aldridge, Michele Tafoya -- both of whom are familiar to basketball fans -- and X Games host Sal Masekela will serve as sideline reporters, while longtime NBC commentator Ahmad Rashad will provide features for both networks, appearing on location at game sites for ABC Sports' pregame show. Aldridge will work ESPN's Wednesday night game and the ABC Sunday afternoon telecast with Brad Nessler and Bill Walton. Tafoya will be teamed on ESPN's early Friday evening game with John Saunders and Sean Elliott while Masekela will appear on the later Friday contest with Mike Tirico and Tom Tolbert.
"In these four commentators we have solid basketball knowledge combined with screen presence that will distinguish our first year of NBA coverage," said Jed Drake, ESPN senior vice president and executive producer, remote production. "They will be an integral component of our pregame and game telecasts, supplementing the traditional commentary with insights, updates and personality."
Masekela has worked on every X Games and Winter X Games since Winter X Games III in January 1999, serving as host of both events starting with X Games VII in Philadelphia in August 2001. He also has hosted other action sports programming on ESPN and ESPN2. Previously, Masekela worked for Fox Sports as host of Board Wild and for MTV as host of the MTV Sports and Music Festival and Board Blast. He is the son of South African jazz musician Hugh Masekela.
In 20 years with NBC, the Emmy Award-winning Rashad was one of the network's most visible and versatile commentators, most recently serving as studio host of NBA telecasts and as host and executive producer of the weekly NBA Inside Stuff, roles that continue now that the show is aired on ABC. In addition to the pregame shows, his work will also appear on ESPN's SportsCenter, NBA 2Night, NBA FastBreak and other studio programming. An All Pro and four-time Pro Bowl receiver who played 10 years in the NFL after being named a two-time All-American at Oregon, Rashad first handled NFL duties for NBC that included studio host, game analyst and feature reporter. He also hosted Summer Olympic telecasts in 1988, '92 and '96, winning a Sports Emmy for writing for his work in Seoul in 1992. He also served as an NBA sideline reporter and hosted Notre Dame football telecasts and sports update segments.
Aldridge joined ESPN as an NBA reporter in 1996 after nearly 10 years with the Washington Post where he covered the Washington Bullets, Georgetown University men's basketball and served as a general reporter on major events. At ESPN, he has become synonymous with NBA coverage, appearing frequently on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and NBA 2Night. He also is heard on ESPN Radio and writes a column on the NBA for ESPN.com. The Washington, D.C. native is a graduate of American University.
Tafoya has filled a variety of roles since joining ESPN in 2000, including serving as an NCAA men's and women's basketball play-by-play commentator and studio host and as a college football and basketball sideline reporter. She also is the network's lead WNBA play-by-play caller and a regular on Sports Reporters II and has served as a substitute host on Pardon the Interruption. The Los Angeles-area native had worked for CBS since 1994 and previously had worked in television and radio in Minneapolis and Charlotte. She is a graduate of Cal-Berkeley, earning a master's degree in business from U.S.C.
A new era of NBA television coverage on ESPN and ABC Sports will get underway Wednesday, Oct. 30 with a doubleheader on ESPN -- the Washington Wizards at the Toronto Raptors at 7 p.m. ET and the three-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers at the Portland Trail Blazers at 9:30 p.m. These games will tip-off 90 national telecasts plus playoffs aired on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, the first season in a six-year agreement. ESPN will generally carry one game on Wednesdays with a Friday night doubleheader while ABC Sports will televise a Christmas doubleheader and weekly games in 2003.