In a significant shift for ESPN’s NBA coverage, Cassidy Hubbarth is leaving to join Amazon Prime Video’s broadcast team this fall. According to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic, Hubbarth will become Prime Video’s top sideline reporter and join lead announcer Ian Eagle on the streamer’s A-team. This team, still searching for a lead analyst, will cover the knockout rounds of the NBA Cup in-season tournament and the conference final series every other year as part of an 11-year, nearly $20 billion broadcast rights deal signed in 2024.
Furthermore, Marchand noted that Amazon is considering TNT’s Stan Van Gundy and ESPN’s Richard Jefferson “among its top choices” for the games alongside Eagle. For Hubbarth, this move represents a major recognition of her extensive career in hoops coverage with ESPN. Despite her roles as a fill-in host on NBA Countdown and lead anchor for ESPN NBA properties like NBA Tonight and NBA Coast to Coast, alongside sideline reporting, she often seemed a step or two below ESPN’s top teams.
Similar to its strategy in promoting Taylor Rooks to lead NBA studio host, Amazon has tapped an established reporter deserving of a more prominent role. Notably, Hubbarth is the first sideline reporter appointed by the new entrants to NBA broadcasting under the new agreement, as both Prime Video and NBC finalize their teams.
To date, Amazon has confirmed Eagle and Kevin Harlan for play-by-play duties, as well as Rooks and former players Blake Griffin and Dirk Nowitzki for its studio show. Meanwhile, NBC has expanded Mike Tirico’s responsibilities to include the NBA and is expected to do the same for Noah Eagle. The network, making its return to NBA coverage for the first time in nearly three decades this fall, also hired Jamal Crawford as its lead game analyst.
