Report: Jay Bilas to call NBA Playoff games, filling role of new UNC coach Michael Malone

ESPN’s Jay Bilas will fill the role vacated by Michael Malone on the network’s coverage of the NBA Playoffs, per Front Office Sports‘ Michael McCarthy. Bilas will call at least three to four games, per the report as Malone takes over North Carolina.

With that news Bilas, and not Doc Rivers, will be on the broadcasts beginning this weekend. Rivers, who stepped down as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, had numerous stints as an NBA commentator for ESPN.

“With Malone leaving for the UNC head coaching job after less than one season at ESPN, Bilas is poised to call at least three or four games during the NBA playoffs that tip off this Saturday,” McCarthy wrote. “Those games were supposed to be TV showcases for Malone, before he signed a six-year, $50 million deal to coach the Tar Heels.

“Bilas, who joined ESPN in 1995, has long served as one of the network’s top college basketball analysts. But he’s also been a staple of the network’s NBA draft coverage since 2003. In 2024, he expanded his coverage to the pro ranks and was a candidate to replace Doc Rivers on ESPN’s top NBA team—a role that was ultimately filled by Richard Jefferson. Bilas called his first NBA playoff game in 2025.”

Bilas will work on the No. 3 team with play-by-play man Ryan Ruocco, per McCarthy. ESPN is set to announce its coverage plans this week.

After Malone took UNC job, he got a message from his predecessor. Hubert Davis reached out, Malone told reporters earlier this month.

Davis allowed the former Nuggets coach to visit multiple UNC practices this past season while he was taking a year away. Malone was let go late in the 2024-25 season and spent this year working as an analyst for ESPN, covering the NBA.

“I have to say this. Hubert Davis let me in,” Malone told reporters. “This is bittersweet. Coach Davis sent me an amazing message yesterday. But he allowed me to come in and watch and be a part of this family, which does not happen very often, if ever.

“I always spent time with the coaches, and as I was rooting them all year long, [Pat Sullivan] and I would talk about, ‘What are you seeing, Coach? What can we do better, what recommendations do you have?’ And I wish I could’ve been better help.”