After there was so much celebration when ESPN promoted Doris Burke to its top NBA broadcast booth in 2023, making her the first woman to call a major American championship series, it was an uncomfortable story when the network demoted her this year in favor of longtime fan favorite Tim Legler.
It is yet another big change for the Worldwide Leader, which has cycled through NBA analysts rapidly since it laid off Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson two years ago. Now, Legler not only has to adjust quickly to a bigger workload, new broadcast partners, and a larger spotlight, but also handle the delicate dance of replacing the pioneering Burke.
Legler opened up about that dynamic and how he is handling it in an appearance on the Marchand Sports Media podcast this week, saying he expects his relationship with Burke to remain solid and that he hopes to let his work speak for itself.
“I have not only respect for Doris and just huge admiration for her and her mind and her talent, I’ve also had a great relationship with Doris for a long time,” Legler explained. “She and I have always have had a great relationship, and that continues to this day.”
After all, Legler himself knows all too well how careers can wax and wane at ESPN. Once upon a time, he was the hot new name doing live studio coverage and earning new opportunities on a regular basis. Then, he said he hit a “brick wall” and grew frustrated when his name was out of the mix for a long period of time.
For a while, the only place NBA fans could really see Legler on ESPN was late at night on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt. The tides turned once Van Gundy and Jackson departed, and Legler’s consistent work ethic and incisive analysis shined through at the right time.
“I think one of the reasons I’m still here and now getting ready to take on the pinnacle of my career with this opportunity is because, no matter how frustrated I would get at times over the years in feeling like I would have loved to get a crack at that or this opportunity or whatever it may be, my pride and my approach and how much I loved watching the games never changed,” he said on the podcast.
Legler expressed sensitivity to not steamrolling into the new role in place of Burke, but also empathized with Burke because he also has been in a similar position over the years. And during ESPN’s search for a new top booth this past summer, Legler was equally anxious about his future as Burke likely was.
“I never got too anticipatory for the opportunity happening for me, I never got too dejected about anything over the years that didn’t happen for me,” he explained.
“I just tried to show up every day and be consistent and deliver and have people hopefully find something in what I was doing that made them smarter. That’s really what my approach always was. And that was the same last summer, and it’s the same today, and it will be the same when I go on-air for the first time with Mike (Breen) and Richard (Jefferson).”
Legler will make his debut in the top booth next Wednesday, Oct. 21.