Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels Basketball 2020 NBA Draft Goes Virtual, Commissioner Silver to announce picks by Anthony Paradiso November 14, 2020 The 2020 NBA Draft will be broadcasted on Nov. 18 at 8 PM ET. It is the first NBA draft that will be virtual, but far from the first virtual professional sports draft this year. In April, the WNBA became the first professional sports league to hold its draft virtually. WNBA.com reports that viewership of the 2020 WNBA draft was up 123 percent from the 2019 draft. The WNBA’s big day also delivered 3.8 million views to the WNBA Instagram Handle. Following the WNBA’s lead, the NFL, MLB, and NHL all carried out virtual drafts. According to Front Office Sports, this year’s NBA Draft will be the 18th straight year that ESPN broadcasts the NBA Draft and the first time that the draft will be broadcast from ESPN’s Bristol, Conn. studios due to the pandemic limitations. Originally, the draft was going to take place at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets. The NBA Draft Board 👀 Watch the 2020 #NBADraft presented by State Farm on Wednesday (11/18) at 8:00 PM ET on ESPN! pic.twitter.com/waMnO81V6O — NBA (@NBA) November 13, 2020 How the NBA Draft Will Look on TV Front Office Sports reports that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Deputy Commissioner Mike Tatum will appear on-site to announce the picks. Adam Silver will lend some normalcy to an event that will look different on TV because the players will not get to go up on stage and shake the commish’s hand. As far as what broadcasters and analysts will lend their voices to the broadcast, the biggest splash is that ESPN reporter Malika Andrews will be making her debut as the draft’s telecast reporter. The host of ESPN’s College Gameday, Rece Davis will host ESPN’s coverage of the draft. Joining Davis will be a panel of analysts that includes Jay Bilas, Jay Williams and Mike Schmitz. ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski will provide news updates and Draft Analyst Bobby Marks will contribute his front office insights and commentary to the broadcast. The NBA Takes Care of its Players Front Office Sports reports that the top prospects in the draft will be receiving a ‘NBA Draft Gifting Locker’ with all 30 NBA team hats, a personalized Spalding basketball, Beats headphones, to name a few. FOS also reports that 60 of the draft picks will appear on TV when their name is called by the NBA commissioner. Post Views: 536 The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Anthony Paradiso Anthony has been a sportswriter at In The Zone since Sept. 2019. He graduated from Montclair State, where he was assistant Editor of the student newspaper's sports section. He also co-hosts a sports-themed radio show on the campus station, WMSC 90.3 FM, which was recently named #1 college radio station in the nation. Latest posts by Anthony Paradiso (see all) How the You Know I’m Right Podcast Reached 100 Episodes - April 26, 2021 Lochte, Dressel and Ledecky all Chasing Gold at 2021 Tokyo Olympics - April 18, 2021 Amazon Prime Video gains rights to Stream 21 New York Yankees Games - March 28, 2021 How Former NFL Scout and Coach Chris Landry Became an Entrepreneur and Sportscaster - March 23, 2021 Related TopicsAdam SilverAdrian WojnarowskiBrooklyn NetsESPNNBA Draft 2020WNBA Draft Newsletter Subscription Can't Miss Posts! Women in Sports: NHL Network Host, Jackie Redmond by Nicholas Durst | posted on March 4, 2019 From Paramus High School to CBS Sports, Spero Dedes is making waves in sports broadcasting by Sunil Sunder Raj | posted on October 27, 2020 Lochte, Dressel and Ledecky all Chasing Gold at 2021 Tokyo Olympics by Anthony Paradiso | posted on April 18, 2021 You Know I’m Right, Episode 109: The Athletic’s Marc Carig (Audio/Video) by Nicholas Durst | posted on April 19, 2021 Whoop Rewards Employees With $100 Each Month To Sleep by Inesh Chari | posted on March 22, 2021 More in Basketball You Know I’m Right, Episode 111: New York Giants’ Insider John Schmeelk (Audio/Video) On the 111th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 107: New York Post’s Columnist Mike Vaccaro (Audio/Video) On the 107th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 97: SNY’s Michelle Margaux (Audio/Video) On the 97th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined SNY’s... WNBA Rolling Out Red Carpet For Upcoming 25th Anniversary Season The WNBA’s 25th season also marks the debut of the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup. You Know I’m Right, Episode 51: Steve Cohen Takes Over, Craig Carton Returns (Audio) You Know I’m Right, Episode 53: NFL Injuries, DeAndre Baker, NBA Offseason (Audio)