Weeks after Jeff Van Gundy was let go in ESPN’s layoffs, the network is reportedly reshuffling its top NBA play-by-play team with a promotion and a hiring.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports that longtime analyst and color commentator Doris Burke is being elevated to the A-team with Mike Breen. They will be joined by former NBA head coach Doc Rivers, who will return to television for the first time since his lone season behind the mic in the 2003-04 season with ABC.
This means that Mark Jackson, who had been working with Breen for the majority of his TV career, will be moved to the second play-by-play team, ideally working with Mark Jones.
The Breen-Van Gundy-Jackson team called nearly 100 NBA Finals games and gave much-needed stability to ESPN/ABC’s coverage after Disney tried multiple options when it reacquired NBA rights back in the mid-2000s. Like most play-by-play teams, there were supporters and critics, with the latter getting louder and louder with the increased volume of social media.
While he explained the Xs and Os to the audience, Van Gundy was better known for outlandish proposals to solving some on-court problems (largely done to the point where they were seen as comedy rather than earnest changes). His repeated criticisms of officiating didn’t endear him to the league offices, Marchand noted in his report, saying “the NBA has expressed disappointment at over the years and even this season, according to sources.”
Jackson was a target of much fan criticism in his own right, especially in light of how he was fired from Golden State after the 2013-14 season. There was a belief, however, that the connection between the three, especially with Van Gundy, was how Jackson remained with the top team for so long.
Burke is a well-regarded analyst, having split time between WNBA and NBA games until focusing on the NBA full-time several years ago. After he was fired as coach of the Orlando Magic in 2003, Rivers enjoyed a brief but heralded time with ABC before he took over the Boston Celtics in 2004.
With a legendary voice like Breen, it’ll be very interesting to see how this new team gels. Will there be more analysis due to Rivers’ recency on the sidelines and Burke’s perspectives? Who brings the levity that Van Gundy picked up on in later years? If the report is true, we’ll find out later this fall.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
