Jalen Rose is about to be back with ESPN (temporarily).
The retired former NBA swingman Rose is set to return to ESPN on Friday night, Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch reported Wednesday. Rose will be filling in for Shaquille O’Neal on the crew of “Inside the NBA” (before O’Neal returns to the show for Saturday and Sunday).
This marks a surprise return to The Worldwide Leader for Rose, who was previously employed by ESPN from 2007-23. Despite being one of the network’s best-known personalities who even had his own show “Jalen and Jacoby,” Rose, 53, ended up getting laid off by ESPN in 2023 as part of mass firings of their on-air talent.
ESPN’s decision to fire Rose led to a particularly awkward moment on the air. Some time later, Bill Simmons, Rose’s old colleague at ESPN, even blasted The Worldwide Leader over the way that they handled Rose’s exit.
But Rose, after a brief break from television, has since returned as a college basketball analyst for NBC Sports as well as an analyst for TNT, covering both college basketball and the NBA. Now that ESPN is licensing “Inside the NBA” from TNT, Rose is set to make an unexpected guest appearance for his former employer.
The timing of Rose’s return to ESPN is also interesting. For one, Rose’s ex-wife Molly Qerim just quit ESPN late last year amid some reported drama with the network.
