ESPN hiring sister of network’s rising star
After the meteoric rise of Malika Andrews, ESPN is hiring her younger sister, Kendra, as an NBA reporter, The Post has learned.
Kendra, 24, will be ESPN.com’s Warriors writer and appear on TV for the network. She and Malika, 26, grew up in the San Francisco area.
Kendra is currently the Warriors reporter and a host for NBC Sports Bay Area. It was Kendra, not Malika, who first wanted to be a sports reporter.
ESPN declined comment.
Malika has become a rising star at ESPN. She, too, began as a writer, but quickly was shifted to more TV work and was given the high-profile assignment of being one of ESPN’s NBA “bubble” reporters when the league concluded its 2019-20 season at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Orlando due to the pandemic.
Last year, ESPN benched Rachel Nichols for the NBA Finals following the fallout of Nichols’ privately recorded yearold comments becoming public in which Nichols alleged ESPN executives had a poor record on diversity and could cost her the spot as host of “NBA Countdown.” After the fallout from the New York Times story, Andrews stepped in as the NBA Finals sideline reporter in place of Nichols.
This year, with Nichols essentially let go and ESPN canceling her show, “The Jump,” the network has centered its new daily show, “NBA Today,” around Malika as host.
Soon, Malika’s sister Kendra is expected to be on it, too.
With Kendra joining, ESPN’s current Warriors reporter, Nick Friedell, is expected to shift to being a New York correspondent with a focus on the Nets.