NBA Wednesday is a weekly presentation of the National Basketball Association on ESPN. Debuting in 2002

2002-03 NBA season

The 2002–03 NBA season was the 57th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs beating the New Jersey Nets 4-2 in the 2003 NBA Finals.-Notable occurrences:...

, NBA Wednesday starts the first Wednesday of the NBA season and runs throughout the entire season. Games typically air at 9:00 p.m EST

North American Eastern Time Zone

The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...

, following an ESPN's presentation of ACC Wednesday

ACC Wednesday

Wednesday Night Hoops appears every Wednesday with the biggest college basketball games in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East Conference, and Big 12 Conference in primetime during the regular season on ESPN. The official name is Wednesday Night Hoops presented by Disney Parks...

college basketball. NBA Wednesday is occasionally preempted by ACC Wednesday or other college basketball

College basketball

College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

 doubleheaders, as well as Wednesday Night Baseball

Wednesday Night Baseball

Wednesday Night Baseball is a live game telecast of Major League Baseball that airs every Wednesday night during the regular season on ESPN and is also available in high definition on ESPNHD...

.

NBA Wednesday, like NBA Friday, is not exclusive; local sports networks may still air the game in their market. In that case, the ESPN broadcast on these markets is subject to blackout and SportsCenter

SportsCenter

SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...

 is usually aired instead.

Commentators

Originally, NBA Wednesday was broadcast by Brad Nessler

Brad Nessler

Bradley "Brad" Nessler is an American sportscaster, who currently calls college basketball and college football games for ESPN with occasional appearances on ESPN on ABC. He will also call Thursday Night Football on NFL Network beginning in 2011, and appears annually as a commentator in EA Sports'...

 and Bill Walton

Bill Walton

William Theodore "Bill" Walton III is a retired American basketball player and television sportscaster. The "Big Red-Head", as he was called, achieved superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early '70s, winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards, while...

 each week. After the 2002-2003 NBA season

2002-03 NBA season

The 2002–03 NBA season was the 57th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the San Antonio Spurs beating the New Jersey Nets 4-2 in the 2003 NBA Finals.-Notable occurrences:...

, ESPN ceased having a consistent broadcast team for NBA Wednesday until 2007-08, in which they used Dan Shulman

Dan Shulman

Daniel "Dan" Shulman is a Canadian sportscaster, currently employed with the American network ESPN as well as Canadian network TSN....

 and Jon Barry

Jon Barry

Jon Alan Barry is an American former basketball player and current television analyst for ABC and ESPN.-Biography:Barry is the son of Hall of Famer Rick Barry, and has three brothers: Scooter, Drew, and Brent, all of whom are also basketball players. Jon played his high school basketball at De La...

.

Studio features

Like NBA Friday, the NBA Wednesday halftime features are conducted in ESPN's Bristol

Bristol, Connecticut

Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States southwest of Hartford. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 61,353. Bristol is primarily known as the home of ESPN, whose central studios are in the city. Bristol is also home to...

 studios. Mark Jones hosts, with Stephen A. Smith

Stephen A. Smith

-Early years:Smith was raised in the Hollis neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. He lived with his parents and four older sisters.He attended Winston-Salem State University, a historically black university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina...

 and Bill Walton. Previously, John Saunders hosted NBA Wednesday studio segments, with analysts Greg Anthony and Tim Legler

Tim Legler

Timothy Eugene Legler is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the NBA. He is currently an ESPN basketball analyst.-La Salle:...

. In the first season of ESPN NBA coverage, the studio segments were hosted by Stuart Scott

Stuart Scott

Stuart Scott is a sportscaster and anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter.-Early life and career:Scott attended Richard J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and went to college at the University of North Carolina. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity...

, with analyst Tim Hardaway

Tim Hardaway

Timothy Duane "Tim" Hardaway is a retired American basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association and who in his prime was one of the league's best point guards...

 (who was later replaced by Greg Anthony

Greg Anthony

Gregory Carlton Anthony is an American former National Basketball Association basketball player and former personality on the ESPN family of networks. He is currently an analyst for CBS's college basketball coverage...

.