ESPN host Malika Andrews and ESPN NBA reporter Dave McMenamin shocked many when they tied the knot last summer after they kept their relationship private for years.
During an appearance on the “Straight to Cam” podcast, Andrews explained that the couple agreed to keep their nearly two-year engagement private and ignored outside rumors about their relationship.
“We’ve been together for seven years now [since 2018],” Andrews told Los Angeles Sparks star Cameron Brink and Sydel Curry-Lee, who is married to Suns guard Damion Lee and is the younger sister of Steph and Seth Curry.
“We met when I was not working at ESPN. We met when I was working at The New York Times as a print reporter. He was living in Cleveland at the time. It was a long time ago. I think when people don’t have information, often times they fill in the blanks on whatever they can come up with.”
Andrews and McMenamin were engaged for almost two years before they got married in San Francisco on Aug. 24, 2024, as seen in photos obtained by Vogue.
The ESPN couple never announced their engagement publicly.
Andrews, who is the face of ESPN’s NBA studio coverage, joined ESPN in October 2018, the same year her and McMenamin began dating.
McMenamin joined the company in 2009.
Andrews explained why they decided to keep their relationship private.
“Anyone who knows us, we’ve known each other socially. It wasn’t a secret. I always like to sort of delineate between private and secret. We are private,” she said.
“… Anybody who knew us, even a fan in the arena, you could see us walking down the street together, we would walk into arenas together… So if you observed us in person you would know, but it wasn’t something that was a secret. It was private [as in] we didn’t post it on social media. That was sort of the line that we made. I wore my big sparkly ring… and it was just not something that it was like, ‘here are my proposal photos,’ not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
Andrews couldn’t stop smiling while she gushed over McMenamin, whom she described as kind and patient, among other things.
“I don’t remember a time in my life where he wasn’t [the one],” Andrews said. “… He’s my best friend and the person I want advice from on anything in my life whether that is professionally… with my family or something silly… I don’t remember a time when he wasn’t that for all of me.
“… He’s the kindest person, he’s the smartest person I know, he’s the most considerate person I know. And somehow in this big job and big world he has the time to make every single person he’s around feel like the most important person in the room. And that’s something I’ve tried to learn from him… He has infinite patience for people… the way that he covers the league… I just really admire him.
“Not to mention he has beautiful blue eyes, they’re really pretty. He’s just the best person I know. He’s just always been that.”