Malika Andrews. Turn on ESPN any time there’s worthy NBA news, and there she is – holding court on NBA Today, dropping sharp insights on NBA Countdown, and even bringing her A-game to WNBA coverage. She’s not just a reporter; she’s become one of the most essential voices in basketball broadcasting, the face of ESPN’s NBA studio coverage, and she does it all with this incredible mix of poise, excellent game knowledge, and, let’s be honest, killer style.

The young reporter has been at it since 2018 after a stint at the New York Times as a print reporter. So when someone rises that fast and shines that bright, you can’t help but wonder, right? What’s the real story behind her meteoric rise, and yeah, what kind of paycheck comes with being ESPN’s go-to NBA host? Let’s get into it.

What is Malika Andrews’ salary with ESPN?

Well, as of right now, June 2025, ESPN keeps those exact salary figures locked down tighter than a coach’s playbook in Game 7 of the Finals. So, no official, publicly announced number for her current contract. Bummer, I know!

However, we can look at some of the older estimates that were floating around earlier in her career. Back then, reports suggested her annual salary was somewhere in the $50,000 to $78,000 range. Now, you have to remember that was before she became the face of NBA Today, before she was anchoring NBA Countdown during the NBA Finals, before she made history hosting the NBA Draft, and before she started expanding her already impressive role into WNBA coverage.

Given how her profile, responsibilities, and sheer visibility have absolutely skyrocketed at the network, it’s a pretty safe bet that her compensation has seen a major bump since those early days. She’s a cornerstone for ESPN’s NBA coverage now, and you can bet her salary reflects that status. As she once told Cosmopolitan, reflecting on her drive, “I know that I’m prepared. I know that I’ve done the work.” That kind of dedication and confidence? It definitely pays off.

What is Malika Andrews’ net worth as of 2025?

So, if her exact salary is playing hard to get, what about her overall net worth? Again, these things are always a bit of an estimate, but according to Yahoo Finance, as one of ESPN’s top-tier and most visible NBA reporters and hosts, Malika Andrews’ net worth is estimated to be over $800,000 as of 2025. And honestly, that number totally tracks.

But even more than money, Malika is clearly finding incredible value in the personal connections and meaningful moments in her life. For instance, that dainty and dazzling diamond circular pendant necklace she almost always wears? That was a 25th birthday gift from her now-husband, fellow ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin, beautifully engraved with the message ‘I Love You,’ and signed off with his nickname, ‘Davo’ on the inside. Malika says, “I wear it every day. I feel naked when I don’t wear it. It’s just a little bit of sparkle that is really special to me.” So sweet! It’s a reminder that some of the most valuable assets aren’t measured in dollars, but in love and personal significance.

Malika Andrews’ Broadcasting Career

Get this: she actually introduced herself to the NBA’s ultimate insider, Adrian Wojnarowski (Woj!), at an NBA Summer League game back in 2017. Apparently, Woj had read some of her stuff from her college paper, The Beacon, and that gutsy move clearly made an impression. You gotta shoot your shot, right?

But before she even got to ESPN, Malika was putting in the work, grinding it out. She had an internship at The Denver Post (a major paper!), and then she landed a James Reston Reporting Fellow gig in the sports department at The New York Times. Yeah, The New York Times! Talk about some seriously impressive early credentials. She also did a year as a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, another huge publication.

Then, the call from ESPN came in October 2018. She started out as an online NBA writer for ESPN.com, initially covering the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks. Her beat quickly grew to include the New York teams, the Knicks and the Nets. So, she was right in the thick of some of the biggest, most passionate NBA markets from the jump.

She’s definitely had her share of memorable, and maybe even a little intense, moments along the way. There was that time after the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals when Giannis Antetokounmpo famously walked out of a press conference. Word was, he was pretty upset about an article Malika had written suggesting he might look to leave Milwaukee if the team didn’t make some serious moves to become a title contender before his free agency in 2021.

Then came the 2020 NBA Bubble – that completely unprecedented, surreal season. Malika was one of the very first reporters to actually enter the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, living alongside the teams she was covering for 107 days! She told Axios it was her “first Disney Park experience!” Can you imagine? But she also said, “I look back at the bubble as a net positive…going through that experience [with the players] created a different sort of trust.” Her poise and talent shone through, and she even led the 2020 NBA draft telecast, doing virtual interviews with all the top draftees.

Her star just kept rising, and it wasn’t only her sharp reporting that was getting attention. The New York Post even did a piece on her “garden-party-chic wardrobe,” calling out her signature look of “flowing floral feminine frocks.” Hey, a little style never hurt anyone!

Moreover, the awards and accolades really started to pile up. In 2021, she was nominated for an Emmy in the “Emerging On-Air Talent” category – and then, boom, she won it in May 2022! She’s also been honored by the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Association of Black Journalists, and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. Forbes didn’t miss her shine either, naming her one of their prestigious “30 Under 30” in the sports industry for 2021. That’s a seriously stacked trophy case.

Her on-air presence became undeniable. You started seeing her everywhere: SportsCenter, Get Up, NBA Countdown, Around the Horn, The Jump. Then came another huge, career-defining moment. On July 6, 2021, ESPN announced that Malika would be ABC’s sideline reporter for the NBA Finals coverage.

And then, in June 2022, Malika Andrews made history. She became the first woman to ever host the NBA Draft. Let that sink in. Monumental. And she’s now hosted it three years in a row! As she beautifully says, “I may have been the first to have done that, but it’s something that so many women before me have been building toward.”

From boldly introducing herself to Woj at Summer League to hosting the NBA Draft and anchoring ESPN’s flagship NBA shows, Malika Andrews’ career has been nothing short of spectacular. And honestly? It feels like she’s just getting started.