NBA Draft Host Malika Andrews Talks About the Pressure to Be Perfect (Exclusive) [Video]

ESPN’s Malika Andrews will be in the spotlight tonight as she hosts the opening night of the NBA Draft — and she’s learned it can be an unforgiving place.

“I feel so much pressure to show up, especially as a woman in a male dominated industry as my most perfect self,” says Andrews, 29, who is helming the draft for the third time this year, after becoming the first woman to host in 2022. “The way you look is picked apart. The way you present is picked apart.”

Andrews, who has had to deal with ugly online comments, says she’s leaned on a group of other women in her field who have become friends and mentors, including veteran sports commentator Doris Burke.

“I’ve had to put up boundaries for myself and I try not to read the comments,” Andrews says. …