Michael Eaves is an American sportscaster. He serves as an anchor for

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

'' and was a co-host of ''

NBA Countdown ''NBA Countdown'', branded for sponsorship purposes as ''NBA Countdown Presented by DraftKings Sportsbook'' for ESPN editions and ''NBA Countdown Delivered by Papa John's'' for ABC editions respectively, is a pregame television show airing ...

'' for shows preceding '' NBA Wednesday''. He began working at ESPN in 2015.

Early life

Growing up in rural

Hopkins County, Kentucky Hopkins County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,423. Its county seat is Madisonville. Hopkins County was created December 9, 1806, from Henderson County. It wa ...

, Eaves played various sports but did not have access to sports broadcasts until his father purchased a satellite dish when he was in the sixth grade. This introduced him to teams such as the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, and the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

, something that Eaves credits for his interest in sports. Eaves grew up as a multi-sport athlete, playing

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

. He was the first black golfer to qualify for the

Kentucky High School Athletic Association The Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) has been the governing body of the U.S. state of Kentucky's high school athletics since 1917. It is located in Lexington. Sports The organization sanctions competition in the following spo ...

state golf tournament. He graduated from South Hopkins High School in 1990 and was named "Mr. South Hopkins," a top honor at the school. Eaves attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

and graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1994.

Career

Eaves began his professional career at

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

affiliate

WKYT-TV WKYT-TV (channel 27) is a television station in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW. The station is owned by Gray Media, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Winchester Road (US 60), near I-75, on t ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, working as a sports reporter and producer for seven years. He later worked at WTPY-TV in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, working as a sideline reporter for the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

. Eaves made the move to the west coast in 2003 when he joined Fox Sports West. He hosted the ''Angels Live'' pregame show for the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

and the ''Clippers Live'' show for the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The ...

. Eaves also reported from the sideline at

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

and

games while with the network. In addition, Eaves often appeared on KLAA AM 830 radio shows. After many years working with local broadcasts, Eaves joined

Al Jazeera America Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazee ...

in 2013 to report on national sports news. He left the network in 2015 to join ESPN. While with the company, he has primarily served as an anchor for ''

''s night editions. He has also reported from the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

and the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. Following the death of

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

in the 2020 Calabasas helicopter crash, Eaves anchored ''SportsCenters breaking news coverage of the incident alongside Zubin Mehenti for five hours. The duo was commended for their coverage of the accident. Eaves personally knew Bryant from his days as a sideline interviewer for Laker games on Fox Sports West. In May 2021, Eaves signed a four-year deal to remain with ESPN. After a shakeup of on-air NBA staff at ESPN during the

2021–22 NBA season The 2021–22 NBA season was the 76th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 19, 2021, and ended on April 10, 2022. For the first time since the 2018–19 season, the NBA returned to its usual O ...

, it was announced that Eaves would assume the role of co-host for ''

'' shows on Wednesdays, preceding the network's presentation of '' NBA Wednesday''. He joined co-hosts

Richard Jefferson Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played small forward. He played for eight teams in his 17-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jefferson playe ...

, Stephen A. Smith, and

Chiney Ogwumike Chinenye Joy "Chiney" Ogwumike (born March 21, 1992) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In 2020, she became the first black woman and th ...

. Eaves has won four regional Los Angeles Emmy Awards for his work with Fox Sports West. The

Los Angeles Press Club The Los Angeles Press Club is an American journalism organization founded in 1913. It honors journalists through its annual National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards and SoCal Journalism Awards. As of 2023, the Los Angeles Press Club hosted ...

named him the region's top television anchor in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaves, Michael American television sports announcers American sports radio personalities ESPN people University of Kentucky alumni Living people People from Hopkins County, Kentucky Year of birth missing (living people)