Sacramento Kings Update: Mark Jones of ESPN Named TV Play By Play Announcer & More Kings News

Overtime Heroics Editorial

1056 days ago

The Sacramento Kings have hired Mark Jones of ESPN to be their new television play by play announcer.

BY: TOM WITT – IG – @SACTOWNCROWN_KINGS_REPORT– 11/8/20

During the NBA ‘bubble’, Kings long time radio announcer – ‘The G Man’ – Gary Gerould was serving in an interim role after the Grant Napear Twitter fiasco and subsequent firing.

Mark Jones has been a veteran of ESPN for nearly 30 years – currently announcing nationally televised NBA and college football games.

Mark Jones will be announcing Kings games alongside color commentator, and long time personal friend, Doug Christie.

Jones will be splitting his time about 80/20 between the Kings and announcing nationally televised NBA games on ESPN.

Overall, this is a huge move for the Kings on many fronts.

Sacramento will get a bit more national notoriety now that one of the most beloved national announcers chose join the Sacramento Kings franchise.

The Kings also add a great human being to their franchise and the city of Sacramento. As television play by play announcer, Jones will be one of the main ‘faces’ of the franchise.

That is great for a franchise that is SO overlooked, and often looked down upon across the ‘sports nation’.

BIG ‘Off Court’ Hires

The hiring of Mark Jones is just one of multiple big ‘off-court’ hires the Sacramento Kings have made this off season.

Monte McNair, former member of the Houston Rockets front office, was hired as general manager earlier in the off season. Some in the NBA media even speculate McNair chose the Sacramento Kings GM job, knowing the Rockets GM job would be open later that off season.

McNair has already brought in former NBA head coach Alvin Gentry as head assistant coach. McNair also lured top level assistant coach Rex Kalamian from the LA Clippers to join the coaching staff of head coach Luke Walton.

Jerry Reynolds – Royal Retirement

The Kansas City Kings, Sacramento Kings, and Sacramento Monarchs LEGEND Jerry Reynolds announced his ‘retirement’ earlier this November.

This is about the 18th time Reynolds has retired, so I think he may be making a few more guest appearances!

All kidding aside, wouldn’t it be EPIC to bring back Jerry to be part of the crew to announce the FIRST home playoff game at Golden1 Center?

There is SO much to say about what Reynolds has done for the Kings franchise, and I cannot do that legacy justice.

SO, I will leave this link to a MUST READ for any Sacramento Kings fan and one of the only books on the Sacramento Kings I have found:

This book chronicles the MANY roles Jerry had as the Kings moved from Kansas City to SacTown.

As a Kings fan since about 1998, when I was 9 years old, I learned SO much about the early days of the Sacramento Kings from this book – stuff that is NEVER talked about on radio, T.V., or other media – locally or nationally.

Jerry has forgotten more about Sacramento Kings basketball than anyone has ever known!

NBA Draft and Free Agency

The NBA draft and free agency period are quickly approaching.

The Kings have a LOT of options of how to construct their team for next season and beyond.

Nov. 18th – NBA Draft
Nov. 20th-22nd – NBA Free Agency Period Begins

The Kings have a myriad of options in free agency, and the 12th selection in the NBA draft.

I go over many of these options in an article I wrote back in August after the Kings season ended:

SacTown Crown Kings Off Season Opinions and Predictions

The Kings have been rumored to be in talks to trade Bogdan Bogdanovic – who has been touted as the top shooting guard in this year’s free agent class.

The Milwaukee Bucks have been rumored to be very interested in adding the Serbian shooting guard.

Bogi has an abundance of championship experience – winning European and international basketball titles.

The Kings hold the rights to match any offer another team offers for the restricted free agent Bogdanovic.

The Kings can package other players and draft picks to suit their needs and the needs of whichever teams are involved in a potential trade.

Sactown Royalty Article On The Topic