"The Grantland Basketball Hour" with Bill Simmons & Jalen Rose Premieres October 23 on ESPN

Los Angeles Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers to Appear as First Guest

ESPN will premiere The Grantland Basketball Hour on Thursday, October 23, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN. The first Grantland-branded television series will feature editor-in-chief Bill Simmons and ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose, along with special guests Michelle Beadle, Jeff Van Gundy, Zach Lowe and Clippers head coach Doc Rivers. During each show, Simmons, Rose and their guests will engage in dynamic conversations and offer fresh perspective on various NBA topics and trends in front of a studio audience.

The Grantland Basketball Hour, produced from ESPN's Los Angeles Production Center as one of the first television extensions of Exit 31, will air up to 18 one-hour, prime-time episodes throughout the NBA regular season, playoffs and Finals. Additional episodes are planned for the NBA Draft and free agency period.

"We are delighted to bring the Grantland brand to television - it's the natural evolution for our site and for everything Jalen and I have been doing on our video channel," said Simmons. "We want to be creative, we want to be unpredictable and we want to stand out."

In addition to airing on ESPN, re-airs will be seen regularly on ESPN2 and at times on ABC, while segments of the show will be featured on Grantland.com and incorporated into various ESPN platforms, including SportsCenter. Thursday's premiere episode will re-air on ABC on Saturday, Oct., 25 at 2 p.m.

The Grantland Basketball Hour on Twitter: @BillSimmons | @Grantland33