Mark Jones was deep in his bag during Sunday’s game between the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Jones, who was on the national television call for ESPN during the Game 4 second-round playoff contest at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo., delivered an absolutely incredible line late in the third quarter. With his team nursing a six-point lead at the time, Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook was defending Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the halfcourt and managed to stay in front of Gilgeous-Alexander for the entire possession. Fellow Denver guard Christian Braun eventually came over to double, and the Nuggets were able to successfully force the jump ball on Gilgeous-Alexander (as Westbrook proceeded to hype up the home crowd).
Jones had an incredibly creative call of the play, saying spontaneously that “Westbrook was in his chest like bronchitis.” Fans absolutely loved that unique line from Jones and expressed their strong approval over social media.
Jones, 63, has been with ESPN since 1990 and has managed to become one of their best-known NBA play-by-play voices (along with the likes of Mike Breen and Ryan Ruocco). Additionally, Jones is the play-by-play man on home broadcasts for the Sacramento Kings, so he clearly knows what he is doing in the booth.
While Jones has sparked some controversy in the past due to his outspoken posts on social media, you can’t really do anything here but applaud that “in his chest like bronchitis” line about Westbrook and Gilgeous-Alexander during Sunday’s game.
