Pioneering Basketball Writer Jackie MacMullan Is Retiring From ESPN

One of the NBA's top journalists is leaving The Worldwide Leader at the end of the month

Jackie "Mac" MacMullan, a longtime and pioneering basketball writer, will retire from ESPN at the end of the month in August 2021
Jackie "Mac" MacMullan attends a 2018 screening in NYC.
Nicholas Hunt/Getty

Though she is still at the top of her game, veteran basketball journalist Jackie “Mac” MacMullan is retiring from ESPN and will work her last day at The Worldwide Leader at the end of the month.

A longtime writer for The Boston Globe, MacMullan joined ESPN in 2010 as a senior writer and her work has been prominently featured on nearly every platform the network has to offer. In addition to covering the NBA, MacMullan has appeared on Around The Horn nearly 900 times.

A basketball writer for four decades and the first woman to receive the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, MacMullan was also the first female columnist in Boston Globe history and was named associate editor of the paper in 2002.

“I feel fortunate to have collaborated with so many incredibly talented people during my 10-plus years at ESPN,” MacMullan said. “Sometimes you just know when you’re ready to dial it back, and this is the right time for me. I’m grateful for the memories, but especially for the friends I’ve made along the way. Thank you to my ESPN colleagues for all of your support.”

“Jackie is a trailblazer not because she was one of the first women covering sports or the NBA,” said ESPN Senior Deputy Editor Cristina Daglas. “Rather, Jackie is a trailblazer because people talked about her without mentioning sex or gender. It was about the work, an incredible catalogue of work, that has appeared on every ESPN platform. Simply put, Jackie is one of the greatest journalists ESPN has ever seen. And she did it all while providing mentorship to both editors and writers, ensuring whether she meant to or not, that pieces of her will remain here long after she exits.”

MacMullan’s final appearance for ESPN will be on August 31 on Around The Horn.

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