Earlier this year, Draymond Green became the first active NBA player to ink a full-time media deal with Turner Sports, joining the Inside the NBA crew as a regular contributor after previously jumping on set for some spot duty during the postseason the past two years.
Green is now no longer alone in the active player ranks with a full-time media deal, as Pelicans guard CJ McCollum will be joining ESPN on a similar deal as an NBA analyst for the network, starting with Game 1 of the NBA Finals on their ESPN2 simulcast, as well as launching a podcast with ESPN, joining the ever-growing list of players entering the podcast business.
“I am excited to bring what I feel is my unique perspective, based on my vast knowledge of the game that I’ve gained during my nine years as a player in the NBA,” McCollum said in a statement. “To have an opportunity to put my journalism background to use on the largest stage with the many talented professionals at ESPN is a dream come true.”
McCollum, famously, was a journalism major at Lehigh University and has long been on the path to a post-playing career in media, but now he gets a head start on that, getting some reps doing game analyst work during Summer League and on Finals megacasts, launching a podcast, and also joining ESPN’s various studio shows throughout the year. It’s part of the ever-changing landscape of sports media, where active players are not just starting their own media operations, podcasts, and TV shows, but joining league network partners in official, full-time capacities, which can lead to some very interesting situations.
We’ve already seen this postseason how that can get a little awkward or a little spicy, whether it be Patrick Beverley’s victory lap on ESPN after Chris Paul and the Suns were eliminated by the Mavericks or the Heat getting mad about Draymond Green proclaiming the Warriors would face Boston in the Finals after Game 5 on the TNT set (which, ultimately, was correct). As more players work out these deals and this becomes a more regular thing, but we’ll see how long it takes for McCollum to voice opinions on a topic that rubs someone the wrong way elsewhere in the Association.