The 2011 NBA Draft will once again attract big-time local interest with the Wizards picking 6th and 18th in the first round.
TV-wise, ESPN will have the NBA Draft covered starting tonight at 7 and they will carry both rounds live. Stuart Scott will host ESPN’s coverage with college basketball analyst and draft expert Jay Bilas and analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Jon Barry. Also joining them will be Mark Jones, Heather Cox, Ric Bucher and Andy Katz handling interviews and analysts. Meanwhile out in the field will be Jeanne Edwards in Cleveland with Rachel Nichols covering the Knicks’ draft camp.
Locally, Comcast SportsNet will have reports on all of their SportsNet Central progams on Thursday (6, 10, 11 p.m.). A special Wizards Draft Central program will air at 10:30 p.m. and will be hosted by Ivan Carter. He will be joined by Glenn Consor and Cory Alexander, as well as other live guests from Wizards headquarters at Verizon Center and the draft at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Radio-wise, the team’s flagship station — 106.7 The Fan — will be in full NBA Draft Day coverage from the Verizon Center. Bill Rohland and Danny Rouhier will kick things off live at 7 p.m. from the concourse with Frank Hanrahan reporting live from outside the draft room. Liz Drabick will also be providing the latest news throughout the night.
ESPN 980AM will have special Wizards Draft preview show airing in Tony Kornheiser’s slot from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday. Then they will carry the full ESPN Radio coverage anchored by Marc Kestecher and analysts Will Perdue and Doug Gottlieb, at 7 p.m. Ric Bucher will also report news and information for ESPN Radio.
So Wizards fans throughout the region will have no problem getting all their NBA Draft information on both a local and a national basis.
Examiner columnist Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this!
