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A recent addition to the Atlanta Hawks, NBA veteran Vince Carter may not have much left in the tank in his NBA career, but he’s just beginning his foray into the wonderful world of television analysis. A frequent contributor on ESPN’s The Jump, he’s quickly become a sought-after commodity in the media, as it was announced in late July that Carter will join forces with FOX Sports to broadcast the Jr. NBA World Championships.
Carter joins fellow former NBAer Donny Marshall in the booth along with Dallas Mavericks play-by-play man Mark Followill, with Noah Eagle (son of Brooklyn Nets commentator Ian Eagle) reporting from the sidelines. Ahead of the championship games, Followill will be replaced by Gus Johnson, who currently broadcasts games for the Milwaukee Bucks and has had a famed career across multiple sports.
“We are incredibly excited about this group of broadcasters,” FOX Sports Vice President of Production Bardia Shah-Rais said. “Our combination of FOX Sports veterans and newcomers to the network all bring a unique experience to the broadcast. We can’t wait to present the first-ever Jr. NBA World Championship to our viewers.”
For Carter, the move represents another notch in his broadcasting belt. After doing The Jump on site during the 2018 NBA Finals, executives at FOX Sports approached him about the Jr. NBA World Championships, an opportunity at which he jumped with no hesitation.
“Once it was presented to me, it was a no-brainer,” Carter told reporters Thursday. “Obviously it’s something I’m interested in and passing it about, and I’m super excited about it because this is an experience for me to be able to better some of these kids.”
The Jr. NBA World Championships bring together 32 teams to this inaugural competition of the best 13- and 14-year-old boys and girls on the planet, from which there will almost certainly be a handful of NBA and WNBA prospects over the next decade.
For Carter, getting in on the ground floor of this event was key.
“The Jr. NBA World Championship will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the more than 300 boys and girls from 35 countries that will compete on a world stage,” he said. “This is an incredible opportunity and I can’t wait to start working with everyone at FOX.”
When asked about his future as a broadcaster, Carter brought up a very familiar name to Hawks’ fans.
“Grant Hill is a very good friend and a neighbor of mine,” Carter said. “We’ve had conversations about do’s and don’t’s, things that he likes and doesn’t like, and there’s things that he doesn’t like that I like to do.”
Hill is a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks and an active broadcast analyst within Turner’s properties (NBA on TNT, NBATV) after a star-studded NBA career, giving him a unique insight into Carter’s transition and what he’ll go through as he moves from the court to the booth.
The games begin on Aug. 7 with pool play continuing through the following day. After a one-day break, a knockout tournament will commence on Aug. 10 with the Boys’ and Girls’ World Championship games being held Aug. 12. Carter and his broadcast team will call 13 games over the course of the five-day event.