The NBA Draft is the Day Dreams Come True, Says ESPN’s Malika Andrews
In 2022 Sports reporter Malika Andrews became the first woman ever to host the annual NBA Draft. And after the first round of the 2025 draft last night, we can safely say that ESPN’s Malika Andrews has continued her love for this sports moment remarking days before that, “it’s the day you see young people’s dreams come true,” according to People.
The NBA Draft remains one of the most anticipated and exciting days of a basketball player's career and that excitement spreads to fans, coaches, parents and to those covering the event such as Malika Andrews. Last night’s draft saw Dallas Mavericks select Duke forward Cooper Flagg first overall and Rutgers guard Dylan Harper went second to the San Antonio Spurs, followed by Baylor wing V.J. Edgecombe to the Philadelphia 76ers and then Flagg’s Duke teammate Kon Knueppel to the Charlotte Hornets at No. 4.
“For a lot of these young [people], it's the moment that they have been working toward their entire life and they get to share that with the people that mean the most to them, who helped them get there,” Andrews says.
“And so when we're sitting up on the stage, behind the tables of players who are waiting to hear their names called, and they're decked out in their outfits that they've taken all this time to kind of put together, and they’re with their family, smiling ear to ear. It's just a joyful, joyful day that can only happen when you've had your eyes set on making it into the league for so long, and that moment finally comes to fruition.”
“It's just about a dream coming true,” Andrews says, according to People Magazine. “That’s why it’s one of my favorite assignments.”
“It's the moment where a guy who has been thinking about what it would be like his whole life ... getting to win, and getting to soak in that moment. And then I get to be a person who gets to help relay their message to the world,” Andrews says of those instances.
“That's what this is all about. To watch that and to witness that type of greatness, there’s just like this almost childish glee of getting to do something that you've worked so hard for. It’s something that I don't take for granted.”
Andrew's love of the sport most certainly includes the WNBA. “There's a palpable excitement right now around women's basketball,” the ESPN basketball host shared.
“Being a part of that, there's an energy – whether it's when I go on set or when I’m going to a game – there's just this palpable excitement and growth right now around the women's game.”
Whether it's the WNBA or the NBA Malika Andrews is not only a journalist, she is a fan!
The second round of the Draft will take place on Thursday, June 26.
