Sage Steele Joins ESPN NBA Pregame Show as Host

Sage Steele will join ESPN's "NBA Countdown" shows on Fridays and Sundays this season, the network announced.

What a welcome addition to the program... (we hope), simply because last season's ESPN NBA team was flat out horrible! Reports surfaced earlier this year that Magic Johnson could not get along with writer Bill Simmons. Michael Wilbon, also a writer, attemped to play the role of anchor, however many times it fell into the hands of former player Jalen Rose. The show basically ran without a host with anchoring experience. It didn't work.

Michael Wilbon and Magic are gone, Jalen Rose and Bill Simmons stay

Last year's finals between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs would have been even better with an experienced host, a la the style of Bob Costas and James Brown on NFL broadcasts. We're glad the programming executives at ESPN decided to change things up a bit.

The ultimate insult to anyone who is the fan of the NBA, was when Magic Johnson called Game 6 of the 2013 Finals last year, the greatest game in NBA history. Magic has a tendency to get caught up in the moment. Later on he recounted his statement by saying "it was just one of the greatest games he had ever seen."  

The best pregame and post game hosts by far are on "Inside the NBA" and The NBA on TNT with hosts Ernie Johnson, and former NBA-ers, Kenny 'The Jet" Smith, Shaquille O'Neal, and Sir Charles Barkley. Hopefully with the addition of Sage Steele, the show on ESPN will be a better.

From ESPN.com -- Sage Steele will appear on ESPN's "NBA Countdown" shows on Fridays and Sundays this season.

Steele will join Doug Collins, Jalen Rose and Bill Simmons on the show, which debuts on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. ET. Steele signed a multiyear extension to her contract, and will also continue to be a host on "SportsCenter" and be part of on-site coverage at the NBA Finals.

"I'm thrilled to continue my career at ESPN and to embark on this exciting, new challenge," Steele said in a news release. "I love the NBA, and like millions of other fans, I'm looking forward to the season tipoff and to guiding some great discussion from our expert analysts."

Magic Johnson, one of the four hosts of NBA Countdown last season, left the network earlier this month. Michael Wilbon will be a part of ESPN's NBA coverage but won't host the show this season.

For Wednesday broadcasts, the NBA Countdown team will include Rose, Doris Burke and Avery Johnson.

(...wait we have to listen to Avery Johnson's voice again!!!)