J . A . Adande Schooling and early career . J . A . Adande is an alumnus of Crossroads School of Santa Monica , California , along with other famous people such as NBA star Baron Davis and Kate Hudson . Adande served as Editor - in - Chief in 1988 of Crossroads School ' s newspaper , Crossfire . Adande received his bachelor of science degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University , where he served as sports editor of The Daily Northwestern . Adande first started work at the " Los Angeles Times " as an intern with the Westside edition in 1990 . He continued his internships at " The San Bernardino Sun " and " The Washington Post " in 1991 and " The Miami Herald " in 1992 . He became a full - time staff writer for " The Chicago Sun - Times " , where he covered Illinois football and basketball and the Chicago Bulls . In 1994 , he returned to " The Washington Post " as a staff writer where he covered college football , college basketball and the Washington Bullets ( as they were known at the time ) . Recent professional career . In 1997 , he returned to the " Los Angeles Times " to become a sports columnist for the paper ' s Orange County edition . In 1998 , his column began running in all editions . In 1997 , Adande was made a member of the BBWAA . Adande briefly hosted the " Celebrity Sports Talk " radio program with ex - NBA player Marques Johnson in 2002 . The show aired on KMPC in Los Angeles and WSNR in New York City . Adande ' s assignments at the " Los Angeles Times " included the Olympic Games , Wimbledon , the Super Bowl , the NCAA Final Four , the NBA , Major League Baseball and World Cup 2006 . In 2007 , the Tribune Company , parent company to the " Los Angeles Times " , sought to cut costs at the newspaper by offering a voluntary buyout package to the newspaper ' s employees . Adande was one of those who accepted the buyout , and he published his final column ( titled " He ' s outta here " ) for the newspaper on May 31 , 2007 . When he announced he was leaving during the June 1 , 2007 episode of " Around the Horn " the other panelists applauded him , among them Kevin Blackistone ( who accepted a similar buyout in 2006 from the Dallas Morning News and appears on " ATH " regularly from a Washington , D . C . studio ) who joked , " Aren ' t there enough people here without a job ? " Around the Horn . As a panelist for " Around the Horn " , Adande is sometimes known as " Top Cat Killer " for his numerous Showdown victories over Tim Cowlishaw of " The Dallas Morning News " . ( Cowlishaw is sometimes nicknamed " Top Cat " based on his initials . ) Adande is also known for the " J . A . Adande Lounge " which he usually mentions during his " Face Time " ( which is the 20 to 30 second speech the winner gets after a victory on the show ) . His birthday was revealed to be October 25 on the episode of that date in 2006 ( he won the episode ) . Another notable Adande feature is his impersonation of NFL analyst ( and former quarterback ) Ron Jaworski ( Jaws ) . During the NFL season , when the panelists make their weekend predictions , Adande dons his Ron Jaworski jersey and talks in a deepened voice , similar to Jaworski ' s . Since leaving the " Times " , Adande has continued to appear as a panelist on " Around the Horn " . As of July 25 , 2012 , he has won on the show 219 times in 803 appearances . Pardon the Interruption . Adande has appeared as a " Five Good Minutes " guest on " Pardon the Interruption " and debuted as a substitute host on July 2 , 2007 with Dan Le Batard . On August 3 , 2007 , Adande performed the rare task of being a panelist on " Around the Horn " and a guest host on " Pardon the Interruption " in the same day . On May 7 , 2010 J . A . Adande appeared as a fill in for Tony Kornheiser who was according to Mike Wilbon , " out golfing . " ESPN . Adande joined ESPN . com as an NBA columnist in August 2007 . The panel at Around the Horn all congratulated him on the job and played a joke " Buy or Sell " segment about Adande ' s comments about joining ESPN . He is also now an NBA analyst on ESPN ' s hit show , Sportscenter .