Despite being their lead play-by-play announcer, Mike Breen has not called a New York Knicks game in more than three weeks.
Forget about Inside the NBA falling by the wayside on ESPN during the first half of the season or Charles Barkley complaining about not getting enough airtime. The real problem with the NBA’s new era of national media partners through ESPN, NBC and Prime is the fact that Breen hasn’t called a Knicks game since Jan. 19.
Thankfully for Knicks fans, that changes Tuesday night, with Breen slated to call the Knicks’ home game against the Indiana Pacers for MSG Networks. No disrespect to Tyler Murray, who is an exceptional fill-in for Breen on MSG, but more than three weeks is too long of a layoff. The Knicks played five games on national platforms in the last three weeks, while Breen had his own ESPN assignments. Unfortunately, Breen’s national assignments never synced up with the Knicks on ESPN.
The last time Breen was on the call for the Knicks, they were floundering, having lost nine of 11 games, falling to 25-18 on the season and sending fans into a panic. Breen missed the entire eight-game win streak, he missed the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors, it feels like he missed an entire season within the season.
This is to no fault of Breen’s. He understands the value of a fanbase getting to hear their local announcers. It’s the just the reality of the NBA wanting more games on national networks and streaming services.
Earlier this season, Breen spoke about the need for Adam Silver and the NBA to value local broadcasts. Breen noted the NBA’s new media rights era was a hit to regional sports networks that have historically been a fan’s best connection to their favorite team. And Knicks fans felt that hit in recent weeks when they weren’t able to hear Mike Breen.