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Source: Kevin Winter / Getty

Rising ESPN anchor Malika Andrews made history as the first woman to host the NBA Draft. 

Airing from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn via the sports network on June 23 at 8 p.m., Andrews hosted the night alongside basketball analysts Jay Bilas and Bobby Marks, former NBA player Kendrick Perkins and basketball insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

Andrews, 27, began her work as a reporter for ESPN back in 2020, according to Sports Illustrated

The anchor hosted the NBA Draft Lottery in May, and said, “I am so excited to be the host of the 2022 NBA draft.”

“It’s really kind of beyond words,” Andrews added. “We just finished the draft lottery and I feel like that was great training — maybe, hopefully for the draft. But at the end of the day, I know I have a great team behind me.”

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The Sports Emmys recognized Andrews’ strengths as an anchor in late May by giving the reporter an Outstanding Personality/Emerging On-Air Talent award. 

In addition, Andrews was listed as one of Forbes’ 2021 30 Under 30 for internally advocating at ESPN “for more nuanced coverage of race and gender topics.”

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“My credentials are in asking questions, in pushing people to explore themselves, to reflect, to examine something and potentially change or think about it differently,” the anchor told SLAM in an interview last year. “And that’s what I’m good at. That’s how I approach my job now.”

Congratulations to Andrews for her feat. We love seeing Black women break barriers and take their careers to new heights!

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