It may have been frustrating for the NBA community to see rumors that Doris Burke could be demoted right as the NBA Finals started up, but it was even more unusual to see a head coach react to that report during a press conference. But that’s just what Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle did ahead of Game 1, calling out Andrew Marchand of The Athletic for breaking the news.
That led to a whole news cycle over the weekend, with Richard Jefferson going to bat for his partner during an appearance on ESPN’s Women’s College World Series coverage nearby in Oklahoma City. Burke later expressed her appreciation for Carlisle. And with all the attention around Marchand’s report, the network’s NBA booth is being even more closely watched during the Finals on ABC.
On Monday, Marchand finally had a chance to respond to the criticism and elaborate on his reporting. In an episode of his podcast Marchand Sports Media, the sports media insider explained why he believes it was fair game to report the facts around ESPN’s booth — and why Burke in particular could be caught in the middle of another change to the network’s NBA coverage.
“I don’t think (Carlisle) was really coming after me too much,” Marchand said with a chuckle. “But the idea that you can’t write a story, ESPN didn’t want this story out there at that point right before the Finals, I get that. That’s how some of these things work. And it’s not a Supreme Court Justice. It’s not a job for life, necessarily. I’m not saying Doris should go or not go. (But) ESPN, I think, is well in their right to make a move.”
Marchand added that Burke, by working her way to the top of her craft, is subject to the scrutiny that comes with that.
“When you get the big job and you’re on the NBA Finals, you don’t get graded on a curve for the whole team,” Marchand said. “You get graded as you’re doing the biggest event in pro basketball … so the idea that Doris Burke can’t have any scrutiny, I don’t think that’s fair.”
Marchand clarified that he has covered Burke’s broadcasting career since the 1990s, when he profiled her and her New York Liberty game analyst work for the New York Post. And he has continued reporting on Burke’s NBA broadcasting career through her rise at ESPN.
But between chatter among NBA fans online and conversations in Bristol, most agree the network’s current, hastily assembled NBA booth does not work. Burke has, as Jefferson noted at the WCWS, gotten the run-around since ascending to the top booth. Jefferson is her third different partner.
But some of the situation with Burke, according to Marchand, comes down to timing. Jefferson is up for a new contract, and Tim Legler just got a new deal. Both appear to be preferred at ESPN right now, potentially over Burke.
“If they were to make a change and they think it needs to get better, Doris is the one that they’re going to look at … it’s definitely not a definite,” Marchand said.
Legler became the No. 2 analyst alongside versatile announcer Dave Pasch this season. He is a favorite of Scott Van Pelt and often goes viral for his late-night breakdowns on Van Pelt’s SportsCenter.
Unless ESPN can pull a big fish (Doc Rivers, Steve Kerr and Chris Paul have been thrown out), they are likely choosing between Legler and Burke heading into next season.
“The question that ESPN has to ask themselves is, they like Tim Legler a lot. Is it enough of an upgrade that you put Legler in there for Doris Burke, with Richard Jefferson,” Marchand explained. “Is Legler, at this point, better than Doris Burke? That’s a decision that they’re going to have to make. And I think they also have to look at, are you set for the next five years (with Legler and Jefferson), or are you going to look for a big name out there?”
The musical chairs of NBA coverage at ESPN can at times look more like a game of thrones. With so much change, certain broadcasters are bound to feel disrespected. Viewers notice the changes and make their preferences known.
Burke is in the middle of that right now, and clearly Marchand’s reporting was not a shot at her but a factual accounting of the never-ending changes on ESPN’s basketball coverage.