As ESPN prepares to broadcast its first NBA Finals Game 7 in nearly a decade, its top NBA booth might be preparing to call its final game together.
Prior to the start of the NBA Finals, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported that ESPN is considering yet another change to its lead NBA team. Currently, play-by-play announcer Mike Breen calls games alongside analysts Doris Burke and Richard Jefferson. The network’s top NBA booth has been in a state of flux ever since ESPN fired veteran analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson two years ago.
Marchand’s report earlier this month indicates that ESPN intends to re-sign Jefferson, but Burke’s future is very much in jeopardy. Burke is in just her second year as a lead NBA analyst, having called last year’s Finals alongside Breen and JJ Redick.
Now, for the first time since reports on Burke’s future emerged, Breen is speaking out. In an interview with The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch, Breen expressed support for his current team, commending the trio for growing into a solid group on a condensed timeline.
“Right now, what I’m focused on and what I am thrilled at is with the growth we’ve had as a team,” Breen told The Athletic. “These Finals, I really feel like we’ve come so far. I don’t know the exact amount or number of games we’ve done together, but it’s not many.
“I don’t think people understand how difficult it is to find that chemistry. It’s hard in a two-person booth; it’s harder in a three-person booth. I’m blown away by Doris and Richard and their work ethic and their care factor to get it right. I’ve had so much fun with them. Some of these Finals broadcasts have been far and away our best together, and we keep getting better. That’s my thought going into Game 7.”
Nothing for next year is set in stone. Jefferson has yet to sign a new contract with the network, and ESPN has not publicly stated any intention to demote Burke and further shuffle its top NBA team. The only thing fans should count on is that Breen will return as the voice of the NBA Finals.
And the network’s top play-by-play man is taking a very diplomatic approach to current reporting. More than anybody, Mike Breen should know that building chemistry on an announcing team takes time. He spent 17 years calling NBA Finals with Van Gundy and Jackson, and has since had to navigate three different lead booths in the span of two years.
There’s a level of comfort that comes from calling hundreds and hundreds of games together that is impossible to replicate. Breen sees that being built in the current booth, but understands the realities of the business might not allow for another season to continue that growth.