LeBron James drops 2-word reaction to former Cavaliers teammate's sports broadcasting promotion after 17-year NBA career

Richard Jefferson has been named the third member of ESPN's 2025 NBA Finals broadcast team. Following the news, Jefferson's ex-teammate, LeBron James, shared a brief commendatory social media message.

Jefferson played 17 years in the NBA (2001-2018), including two with James' then-Cleveland Cavaliers (2015-2017), winning the 2016 NBA title. While James is still going strong in Year 22 with the LA Lakers, Jefferson transitioned to broadcasting in 2018, joining ESPN a year later.

On Monday, ESPN announced that Jefferson will join Hall of Fame broadcasters Mike Breen and Doris Burke in calling the finals, with Lisa Salters reporting. The broadcast trio will also cover this year's Western Conference finals and other premier regular season and postseason contests.

Jefferson's promotion comes after garnering extensive experience alongside Breen and Burke, most recently on ABC's NBA Saturday Primetime broadcast on Feb. 22.

The "NBA Today" and "NBA Countdown" studio analyst relayed the news on Instagram on Monday, expressing eagerness to get started.

"It's time to get to work," Jefferson wrote.

Shortly after, James shared his former teammate's post to his Instagram stories and applauded his accomplishment.

"Congrats, brother!!" James wrote, followed by a saluting face emoji.

LeBron James reacts to Richard Jefferson's sports broadcasting promotion (Image Credit: @kingjames on Instagram)

Jefferson is set to replace James' coach, JJ Redick. The former NBA sharpshooter left his highly coveted finals broadcast gig after one season over the summer to coach the Lakers.

This year's finals, called by Jefferson and Co., will commence on June 5, airing exclusively on ABC.

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LeBron James' ex-teammate Richard Jefferson set to become broadcasting free agent after calling first NBA Finals

While Richard Jefferson appears excited to join ESPN's top broadcast team, according to The Athletic's Andrew Marchand, his promotion could be short-lived.

Jefferson's contract with ESPN reportedly expires after this season. Meanwhile, per Marchand, he is one of Amazon Prime Video's top targets for its leading broadcast unit.

Amazon already landed Jefferson's longtime YES Network Brooklyn Nets broadcast co-worker, Ian Eagle, as its No. 1 play-by-play announcer. So, perhaps Jefferson could be swayed to jump ship to ESPN's competitor over the offseason.

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