Tim MacMahon is an American sportswriter for ESPN.com who covers the National Basketball Association (NBA). He covered the Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks, and Texas Rangers for the Dallas Morning News before moving to ESPN in 2009. He is known for having his media credentials revoked by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban in 2016[1] and for interactions with Jason Kidd and Luka Doncic. He is the author of the forthcoming book The Wonder Boy: Luka Doncic and the Curse of Greatness.[2]

Tim MacMahon
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of North Texas
OccupationSportswriter
Years active2003–present

MacMahon started out studying business and playing basketball at a Division II school in Florida. He transferred to the University of North Texas (UNT) to major in broadcast journalism.[3] At UNT he worked for the Denton Record-Chronicle and Dallas Morning News. Post-university, he began working at ESPN Dallas.[3]

In 2016, MacMahon's role at ESPN changed, moving from being a full-time Mavericks beat writer to covering all the NBA.[1] Mark Cuban was reportedly unhappy with this change, and revoked the media credentials of MacMahon and Marc Stein. The credentials were later restored.[4] In an interview in 2023, Jason Kidd made comments about MacMahon not being positive enough in his journalism.[5] In January 2024, Luka Dončić and MacMahon clashed over an interaction between a fan and Dončić, and MacMahon's reporting of the incident, which Dončić considered to be biased.[6]

He is a regular on Brian Windhorst's Hoop Collective podcast,[7] where he is introduced as "Banned MacMahon" and given his own theme song.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b Cato, Tim (2016-11-06). "Mavs revoke season credentials for ESPN's Tim MacMahon, Marc Stein". Mavs Moneyball. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  2. ^ MacMahon, Tim (March 25, 2025). The Wonder Boy: Luka Doncic and the Curse of Greatness. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978-1538740712. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b Buford, Landon (20 August 2018). "Tim MacMahon Discusses His Journey To ESPN & The Desire To Sit In On UCLA Pick Up Games During The Summer". landonbuford.com. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Mavericks lift credential ban on ESPN writers Marc Stein, Tim MacMahon". Sporting News. 2016-11-12. Retrieved 2017-05-11.
  5. ^ Kleen, Brendon (29 November 2023). "Jason Kidd goes off on ESPN's Tim MacMahon for not being positive enough". Awful Announcing. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  6. ^ Appelt, Isaac (25 January 2024). "Luka Dončić's latest altercation with Tim MacMahon went too far". Mavs Moneyball. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Brian Windhorst & the Hoop Collective Show - PodCenter".
  8. ^ "Celtics survive, Playoff Jimmy closes out Giannis, must-win for Lakers in Game 6?". youtube.com. Hoop Collective. Retrieved 23 March 2024.