With the Super Bowl here and February being Black History Month, we felt it was the perfect time to look back at the best Black sportscasters in recent history.
These men and women have done an excellent sharing the storylines, highlights, and games we care about. Whether it’s football, basketball, baseball, or anything else, they are among the best in the business and have made indelible marks in the industry.
If you haven’t heard of Sherman “Jocko” Maxwell, do your research. Many believe that he is the first African American sports reporter in the country’s history. A reporter at several radio stations based in New Jersey, he was one of the first journalists to seriously cover Negro League baseball in the early 20th Century.
After his football career was over, Lowell Perry immediately started to make history. Shortly after becoming the first Black assistant coach in the NFL, he became the first Black person to ever broadcast an NFL game.
Greg Gumbel is a legend in the industry who worked as a sportscaster for 50 years, mainly for CBS. In 2001, he became the first Black sports announcer to call play-by-play for a sports championship, calling the game for Super Bowl XXXV. He passed in December 2024 at 78.
Stuart Scott helped bring Black culture to the sports news world. As a longtime sportscaster for ESPN, Scott’s hilarious one-liners and catchphrases entertained fans everywhere.
Before it was normal for former NBA players to make the transition to TV, Walt Frazier did it first. After a Hall of Fame career with the New York Knicks, he became the color commentator for the team he played and has been doing so for decades. His voice is synonymous with Knicks basketball.
Ahmad Rashad was such an entertaining sportscaster that many people forget that he had an 11-year NFL career. Although he covered the NFL as a sportscaster, he was most known for his work with the NBA as he covered several high-profile games and was close friends with Michael Jordan, who he interviewed several times.
Before she became the face of ABC’s “Good Morning America,” she was a humble sportscaster from Mississippi. She worked at ESPN for 15 years and was the first woman to host “NFL Primetime.”
James Brown has been working as a sportscaster for decades. After a failed attempt to make the NBA, Brown immediately pursued a career in journalism working at CBS, Fox, and then again at CBS covering NBA and NFL games. He’s now settled in as the host of “The NFL Today” for CBS Sports.
Curt Menefee has been one of the faces of Fox NFL Sunday for some time now. His career at the network started with him being a sideline reporter in 1997. He then moved up, becoming a play-by-play announcer, and then the host of their studio show.
The younger and famous brother of Greg Gumbel, Bryant was the face of The Today Show. After leaving, he became lead on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel,” which was an incredible investigative show that covered several hard-hitting topics in the world of sports that other shows would not.
The NBA Finals have not recovered since they split up the trio of Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mike Breen. Their chemistry was unmatched on TV and Jackson’s signature “hand down, man down” was always fun to hear.
Despite being in the industry for 30 years, Pam Oliver is as consistent as they come. After a successful college career as a track and field athlete at Florida A&M University, Oliver quickly pursued a career in sports journalism. Since 1995, she’s worked as a sideline reporter for Fox Sports NFL coverage.
Say what you want about him, Stephen A. Smith has been able to leverage his power and influence on sports fans in a way few sportscasters ever have. He’s the face of one of the most popular shows “First Take,” and continues to go viral for his insane takes, no matter how asinine they are.
Lisa Salters is one of the most underrated journalists in sports. She’s covered everything from O.J. Simpson’s murder case to the 2006 Winter Olympics. These days you can find her covering the NBA and the NFL as a sideline reporter for ESPN.
After making the move to NBC in 2020, Maria Taylor has blossomed into one of the best sportscasters, doing an excellent job as the host of NBC’s NFL pregame show, “Football Night in America.”
