Kings’ broadcast team is among the most diverse in the NBA. Sacramento has embraced it

In a field historically dominated by white men, the Sacramento Kings television team is composed entirely of people of color and women — one of few NBA markets to demonstrate this diversity at the announcers’ table.

Despite the majority of the league employing Black players (who make up more than 70% of all players), that’s not the case for most organizations when it comes to their local broadcasters.

Sacramento has not one but two Black play-by-play announcers that serve as the TV voices of Kings basketball. Mark Jones and Kyle Draper take turns leading game calls for the Kings.

Only three other NBA cities employ Black announcers: Chris Miller in Washington, D.C., Michael Grady in Minnesota, and Eric Collins in Charlotte. Four out of 30 NBA teams, that’s the list.

“When I first got to ESPN, I was in the studio. That’s different (from doing play-by-play), but when I started doing play-by-play, it was still a really short list of African American play-by-play (announcers),” Jones said.

Jones joined the Kings as the primary play-by-play announcer in 2020, filling an empty seat after former Kings play-by-play announcer Grant Napear resigned after sharing a social media post that read “all lives matter” in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Jones has a dual responsibility with ESPN, having been with the Disney company since 1990. When Jones is calling games on ESPN, Draper fills in the call for the Kings.

Draper was named as an additional TV play-by-play announcer at the beginning of the 2020-21 NBA season. After previously working at NBC Sports Boston, calling games for the Celtics and hosting their in-studio pregame, halftime and postgame analysis shows, he joined NBC Sports California to perform the same duties for the Kings.

When in the studio, Draper is alongside former Kings players Kenny Thomas and Matt Barnes, who serve as analysts during pregame, halftime and post game shows. When Draper is calling games, Morgan Ragan fills in as studio host for NBC Sports California.

A survey completed last June by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports (TIDES) determined there are nearly 33% people of color holding radio and TV announcing positions for NBA teams; 28% are Black.

Most television sports telecasts consist of a play-by-play announcer, color analyst commentator, and sometimes court-side game reporter or analyst. For the NBA, many teams are diverse in their rotation of in-game announcers and analysts.

Jones’ older brother, Paul, is the radio play-by-play announcer for the Toronto Raptors.

Teams usually fill color commentator and analyst roles with retired NBA players — usually a former player of the franchise — to add insight, knowledge, experience and stories from their playing careers.

This is typically what checks the diversity box for having Black commentators.

The only franchise not to have a former NBA player involved in the telecast is Portland. Lamar Hurd, who is Black, is the Trail Blazers’ color analyst. He never played in the NBA, but he was a four-year starting point guard at Oregon State from 2002 to 2006.

The Kings once checked that box with former player Doug Christie before he took an assistant coaching job with the team in 2021.

His role was filled by another former player, except this time a former WNBA player and familiar face in Sacramento, Kayte Christensen, made her return to the booth.

Christensen had a couple of stints with the Kings’ broadcast, first joining in 2006, the same season the Kings’ recently-ended 16-year playoff drought began.

She rejoined in 2013, around the same time Vivek Ranadivé bought the team, and most recently in 2021 after Christie took the Kings assistant coaching position.

“We do have one of the most — if not the most — diverse broadcasting team in the league” Christensen said. “It’s been this way for the last couple of years. There just weren’t as many eyes on it.”

Christensen is currently the only former WNBA player to have a job as color analyst or commentator. She is one of three women throughout the NBA markets that call local TV games, joining Kate Scott in Philadelphia and Lisa Byington in Milwaukee, who do play-by-play.

Women held 12% of radio and TV announcer positions in 2022, according to the TIDES survey.

“I’m proud of this organization,” Draper said. “They don’t just talk about diversity. You can look at their record and see that they actually back it up. They preached it. It gives me a source of pride to be able to work with an organization that is diverse, whether it’s with Mark Jones and Kenny (Thomas) but also with Kayte, as well, putting a woman in such a powerful position to succeed.”

‘Broadcaster with seasoning’

Jones knew that if he ever worked for a local organization, it would be Sacramento.

He wanted to know what it was like to be a part of what he said is “one of the most passionate fan bases in the entire NBA”.

He also admired the empathy Ranadivé showed after the Stephon Clark shooting to rally the organization and Sacramentans together during a social call-out in a speech following a March 2018 game.

Jones watched the highlights of the Kings and Hawks that night on NBA TV. Basketball highlights weren’t what intrigued Jones. It was Ranadive’s inspiring moment during a tipping point.

“He spoke of building and togetherness and bonding and galvanizing. And in that moment ... I thought, ‘Wow, that is such an organic moment.’ You cannot fake that. That moment. He spoke from the heart and it was really inspiring for me to hear, and I said to myself, ‘Man, if I ever get a chance to work for Vivek and the Sacramento Kings, I would jump at it.’”

Years later, Jones took the job to become the primary play-by-play announcer for the Kings, having a full-circle moment that he still discusses with Ranadivé.

Since 2020, Jones has embraced the city of Sacramento, the fans, organization and its players.

In his 30-plus years of experience in the NBA, Jones has always taken with him the passion and knowledge for NBA basketball.

Jones has loved the NBA since he was a 17-year-old kid coming home from church on Sundays to watch those 76er-Celtics battles between Larry Bird and Julius “Dr. J” Erving.

His experiences allow him to relate to players and tell their stories for the viewers of the broadcast. He has a story for just about every player in the league, whether with Sacramento or another team.

He said it’s the play-by-play announcer’s job “to be a storyteller, tell the narrative, tell those anecdotes that gets underneath the player’s uniform and humanizes him.”

“As an African American, I feel like I have a greater responsibility to let people know who (Kings player) Terence Davis is, how he got it out of the mud in Mississippi and what he’s gone through in his lifetime. And some of the adversities (he) had to deal with personally and his story of triumph,” said Jones.

Jones’ style stems from his upbringing, personality, and cultural background.

Jones said he’s “your broadcaster with seasoning”.

To describe a defender shutting down a ballhandler, Jones might say “he’s all over him like plastic on your grandma’s couch.”

Sometimes he gets lost in the moment and he feels that he’s an emcee calling a game at Rucker Park in New York or in Miami during their Pro League games.

He uses cultural references or even makes up a line on the fly such as his viral “put them on a flight like an IG model” call after a Kevin Huerter pump fake, and score, that sent two San Antonio Spurs defenders flying out of bounds.

He’s not all jokes, cool phrases and one-liners. Jones said that the key is to be informational, and descriptive, in an entertaining way.

“As much as I like to have my funny, cultural one-liners or just funny one-liners, my ability to set scenes and tell stories with strong, profound descriptive language is beyond reproach,” Jones said.

“You have to be armed with a comprehensive vocabulary. That’s what I lean on. Nobody can criticize Mark Jones for being ‘ghetto’ because (in) the next sentence I’ll send you running for your dictionary.”

If other people of color are going to get opportunities, he said it’s going to take somebody seeing their talent, but they must have the ability to do the basics.

Role models for future generations

Jones is happy to have the opportunity to work in Sacramento and hopes that he inspires the next person because he believes sports media needs it.

Draper reflected on his journey coming from the inner city of Philadelphia that ultimately led him to Sacramento.

The journey has taken him from being one of the first Black television reporters in a small Wisconsin town to covering the historic Lakers-Celtics rivalry during the 2010 NBA Finals.

Sometimes Draper had to sit back and bask in the moment as fans cheer in a sold-out Golden 1 Center.

When he started out, not many people looked like him in the sports media industry. Draper knows that what he’s doing is bigger than himself. He knows he’s living a dream by covering the NBA and does not take the opportunity for granted.

“I’m not just doing this job for me, I’m doing it for this community and for the people that look like me,” Draper said. “And so that’s something I remind myself that, you know, I am a role model, and I’m a firm believer, if you see it, you can do it.”

Christensen said she’s a regular person with a different type of job. Being in media was never a career choice, Christensen said.

She said she even experienced impostor syndrome because there weren’t many women in sports, especially in broadcasting.

Christensen knows she’s a role model for her daughter and other girls who look up to her and want to be like her.

She got a chance to experience that in real time when her daughter Jayde, 2 at the time, got a chance to see “mommy” in action at work. It was the first all-women and nonbinary broadcast orchestrated by the Kings during Women’s International History Month in 2021.

The game was called by Christensen, Krista Blunk, Laura Britt, Layshia Clarendon, Morgan Ragan and Sophia Jones, Mark Jones’ daughter. That night’s theme: “Breaking Barriers.”

“It was really kind of shining a light on a lot of different things in terms of diversity and representation,” Christensen said.

“The Kings and NBC Sports has always kind of been at the forefront when you look at this league. They’ve been kind of ahead of the curve,” she added. “We underestimate what a sports fan is, and what a sports fan looks like and how they identify. And that’s why I think that that broadcast, in particular, was really special, because it was the most inclusive form that you really could have.”

The other moment came this season. Christensen had Jayde sitting on her lap as she called the second half and overtime of a game. It was an unusual scenario for Christensen, but she handled it like any mother would, with professional grace.

By the end of the game, Christensen said Jayde looked up at her and said “Mommy, I want to be just like you.”

It brought tears to Christensen’s eyes.

“My daughter looks at me in a different way,” Christensen said. “She got to see what I do more than she’s ever really understood ... so if my daughter looks at me that way, my goodness. Yes, I have to be a good role model to other people’s daughters as well. Right? It’s not just about my daughter. It’s about other people’s daughters.”

This was once an unusual and uncomfortable thought for Christensen.

Still, she understands, she is a role model.