Q&A: Monica McNutt on ESPN's International Women's Day broadcast

“You can’t escape the work… The magic is in the work.” 

ESPN’s Monica McNutt has certainly put in the work. She is rapidly rising in the world of basketball media, serving as an analyst, host, reporter and radio voice for ESPN and MSG Networks.

McNutt has become a favorite amongst hoops fans not only for her basketball prowess but also for her unabashed willingness to be herself, both on and off the screen.

“The idea of not being myself, it’s very forlorn to me,” McNutt said. “One of my favorite compliments is ‘You’re just like you are on TV,’ because I am.”

McNutt will be providing color commentary alongside Beth Mowins on play-by-play and Katie George on the sideline as part of ESPN’s International Women’s Day broadcast on Friday when the Wolves take on the Cavs (7:30 ET, ESPN).

This is the fifth time this season that ESPN will have an all-women-led NBA broadcast. ESPN has orchestrated an NBA game led by an all-female broadcast crew for three consecutive years.

McNutt spoke with NBA.com about being unapologetically herself, working with the great Doris Burke and why hearing a woman on an NBA broadcast shouldn’t be a big deal.

Editor’s note: The following conversation has been condensed and edited.

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NBA.com: I read that you became a fan of basketball via the Houston Comets — what was it about them that drew you to basketball and made you fall in love with them?

McNutt: My upbringing is a little bit unique in that I grew up in Prince George’s County [in Maryland]. And the examples before me were people that looked like me. My professional world, my personal world, my schooling were successful Black people — which I didn’t realize was an outlier until I left that area.

The birth of the WNBA was like, why not? A woman can do all these things and be amazing, and have a career playing basketball and have families and have friends. [That] just continued to raise the ceiling for the things that I can be and hope and dream of. So, I will always have a spot in my heart for the WNBA.

We’re coming off the heels of Black History Month in February and then going straight into Women’s History Month in March. You are not just a woman in a male-dominated industry, you are a Black woman in a male-dominated industry. What are you most proud of accomplishing as a Black woman in this field?

When people come up to me and say thank you for representing. Whether it is people of color, women, dads talking about how much their daughters love me or wives and how much their husbands love me because they appreciate seeing a Black woman doing her thing. I think that is probably where my heart is fullest.

You cover both men’s and women’s hoops. Are there any ways you feel that covering the women’s game makes you better when covering the men’s game?

It just makes you a basketball person. I am a firm believer that the women’s game, whether it’s college or WNBA — particularly good college — is just so beautiful and so pure. There’s so much that you can learn from it. Is it different from the men’s game? Sure. But if you love ball, you can find beauty in all of it. For me, it has just continued to help me be more well-rounded in the conversation of basketball at large.

You get to work with some of the best women in the industry. What is your relationship like with them? And what have you learned from them?

DBS [Doris Burke] has been in this thing for two decades, y’all. She’s been in it, true to this, absolutely not new to this. And she just got elevated to the Finals. She’s been a true testament to dedication to her craft and love of the game and tremendous support for other women.

We’re all in this space because we love what we do. We love the game of basketball — and the stories of these athletes, the stories of these games — and we just happen to be women.

Why do you think it’s important to have women’s voices be a part of NBA coverage?

Are women’s voices a part of society? Sports are a microcosm of society. We can’t have a society — although they tried it — that’s solely men’s voices. Diversity of thought is good for all of us. And you ain’t gotta agree. Just be respectful.

What do you hope fans take away listening to you Friday night or any other night that ESPN chooses to have all women on the broadcast?

I honestly hope they don’t even notice. I hope they think this is a good game. I hope they think, ‘I learned’ or ‘I was entertained’, or hopefully a combination of both in an ideal world, by the call.

This will be the fifth time this season on ESPN that an all-women’s group will call an NBA game. And so yes, it is International [Women’s] Day, and as a woman, we will be celebrating and calling it out. But at the same time, I’m thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to work at a company that is really trying to put their money where their mouth is. And this is not just a once-a-year occasion.