ESPN ‘leaning’ toward two-person booth for lead NBA commentary team

ESPN ‘leaning’ toward two-person booth for lead NBA commentary team

With Doc Rivers’ midseason departure to the Milwaukee Bucks after the organization fired head coach Adrian Griffin Tuesday, it appears that there will be a two-person booth for ESPN’s lead commentating role for the rest of the season, according to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports.

NEWS: With Doc Rivers out, ESPN is leaning toward a two-person booth with lead analyst Doris Burke and play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, sources tell @FOS.@heydb is poised to make history as the first female to serve as lead TV analyst for NBA Finals.https://t.co/kh3mldVbGu pic.twitter.com/4ZgdHRRrwA

— Michael McCarthy (@MMcCarthyREV) January 24, 2024

It was reported in July that Burke would be set to join ESPN’s No. 1 team alongside longtime play-by-play commentator in July, becoming the first woman to call a men’s championship competition on TV just years after she became the first woman to call the NBA Finals back in 2020.

Previously, the network had Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, both former NBA coaches, next to Breen, the head of ESPN’s lead commentary team that typically broadcasts the biggest NBA Games nationwide and the NBA Finals annually on ESPN and ABC. Van Gundy and Jackson called 32 combined NBA Finals for the network throughout their broadcasting careers.

Burke has plenty of experience on ESPN’s broadcasting team. She’s worked as an analyst, sideline reporter and color commentator for over 30 years, including broadcasting an NBA alongside play-by-play voice Beth Mowens in an all-female broadcast last October. 

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For it being his first TV role in 20 years, Rivers did a fairly good job on the broadcasts. Though a two-person booth for NBA broadcasts isn’t untraditional, generally. Though I’m surprised ESPN isn’t considering J.J. Redick, ESPN’s No. 2 color voice, or Richard Jefferson to be the third person.

Regardless, a Breen-Burke tandem is a phenomenal combination for ESPN’s lead team; Breen has plenty of legendary NBA Finals calls, and Burke is incredibly well-versed and one of the brightest voices in sports. Either way, ESPN can’t go wrong here, in my view.

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