Rockets Sideline Reporter Vanessa Richardson Earns Extension with ESPN

Vanessa Richardson has traveled a thousand miles throughout her career as an NBA reporter.

Literally.

Well, not quite literally but close enough.

The distance between her hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana and Houston is 939 miles.

You likely haven't ever heard of Terre Haute, if you're a Houston Rockets fan living in the south.

You're more likely to have heard of French Lick, which is the home of NBA legend and Hall of Famer Larry Bird.

But if you've followed Bird, you know Terre Haute, because he starred as a collegiate hooper for the Indiana State Sycamores.

Richardson understandably grew up an unapologetic Indiana Pacers fan.

But she finds herself in her seventh season covering the Rockets. During that span, she's seen multiple iterations of the team.

Her first season was during the Rockets' small ball era, which happened to be the final season of Mike D'Antoni as Rockets coach (although Ime Udoka could use D'Antoni in any capacity to help with Houston's offense, which is boosted by their offensive rebounding prowess and second-chance scoring -- both of which lead the league).

Houston opted to scrap the traditional NBA lineup, scrapping the center in favor of the small ball lineup and five-out spacing in 2019-20.

Which helped Russell Westbrook thrive offensively, by essentially putting him at the center position on that end of the floor.

Richardson started out on Houston's NBC affiliate, KPRC (which airs on channel two) and has covered the Rockets at different stops and/or platforms.

She spent time at Houston's ESPN radio affiliate 97.5 FM.

Then became the Rockets official sideline reporter, replacing Cayleigh Griffin, who left to work for her hometown Cleveland Cavaliers.

Richardson also hosts Rockets All Access, in which she conducts exclusive interviews with Rockets personnel, ranging from Rockets coach Ime Udoka, players up and down the roster and key members of the organization.

Earlier in the year Richardson began hosting ESPN's Hoop Streams, specifically during the 2025 postseason, alongside former Rockets wing and NBA champion Iman Shumpert.

Richardson recently landed an extension with ESPN to keep the network's digital show.

Her first foray onto the show was covering her hometown Indiana Pacers during their 2025 NBA Finals appearance against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Richardson has gone on record to make it known that she's an unapologetic biased Pacers fan, while also noting her enjoyment of covering a team that's playing well.

The extension, which doesn't interfere with her duties covering the Rockets, is much deserved for Richardson, who started out as a traffic anchor in Indiana, and has come a long way.

Congrats, Vanessa!