Clinton & Friends
Clinton & Friends – Weekdays, 8-10am.
Los Angeles, CA – July 7, 2021 – LAPC: Portrait of Clinton Yates.
(Photo by Kohjiro Kinno / ESPN Images)
Clinton Yates is a columnist, television commentator, podcaster and radio host for ESPN. He joined the company in February 2016 as a member of the editorial team that launched Andscape, the Black multimedia content studio formerly known as The Undefeated.
Yates’ profile has grown steadily across the company’s multimedia platforms.
In March 2024, Yates was named host of the ESPN Daily podcast and in February 2025, Yates launched his first national radio show, “Clinton & Friends” on ESPN Radio and ESPN3.
Yates has done a variety of critically acclaimed multiplatform storytelling at ESPN. In 2018, he hosted “Rickey Won’t Quit,” a 30 for 30 podcast about Rickey Henderson’s attempt at a comeback in Major League Baseball. In 2022, he launched the YouTube series Threads, which breaks down the histories of sports uniforms.
In 2024, his story about the University of Virginia football team’s return to normalcy following a shooting tragedy was an APSE finalist for long feature.
On television, Yates is a panelist on Around the Horn and served as a guest host on Outside The Lines. His first E:60 feature chronicled 2019 NBA Draft top-5 prospect Ja Morant.
Yates also appears on SportsCenter and ESPN Radio programs, and he previously co-hosted ESPN Radio’s The Morning Roast national weekend show with Domonique Foxworth and Mina Kimes.
He currently is the co-host of ESPN’s official Star Wars podcast, Never Tell Me the Odds, with Arda Ocal and Ryan McGee.
Prior to ESPN, Yates worked for The Washington Post for nine years where he covered local news, sports, politics, pop culture and more.
He started as a local news editor in May 2007 for “Express,” the free daily focused on dining, music, movies, arts, fitness, shopping and more in the Washington D.C. area. He eventually moved to Metro, and finally Sports where he wrote for The Post’s popular “DC Sports Bog”.
Yates also worked at WTOP News Radio as a commentator on an array of topics about the Washington, D.C., metro area from politics to pop culture. His weekday morning commentaries – “My Take” on WTOP News – made him one of the unique voices of his generation in the District.
A native of Washington, D.C., Yates is an alum of Miami (Ohio) University, Yates lives in Los Angeles, CA.
