ESPN begins its presentation of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. The network’s top team — Mike Breen, Doris Burke, and Richard Jefferson — will announce the game for ESPN. This could be the only time the trio calls an NBA Finals, as the network mulls a change for next season.
Is Doris Burke’s Job In Jeopardy?
NEWS COLUMN: Inside the future of ESPN's top NBA boothhttps://t.co/63N8kw25Kx How ESPN messed up its NBA Finals TV trio, now weighs future of Doris Burke, Richard Jefferson
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) June 4, 2025
The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand wrote an interesting column about ESPN’s NBA coverage on the eve of the finals between the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
This will be the first finals featuring the trio of Breen, Burke, and Jefferson.
According to Marchand, it might be the last time the trio are in the same booth. Burke’s spot is “not guaranteed for next season.”
ESPN executives will debate if Burke works better in a two-person team or a three-person team.
Burke is an excellent basketball mind who has become one of ESPN’s top basketball analysts. However, she has failed to mesh on a three-person team as opposed to a two-person booth.
On the other hand, Jefferson plans to re-sign Jefferson at the end of the season. The former 17-year veteran garnered interest from Amazon Prime Video, which will add NBA coverage starting with the 2025-2026 season.
Breen is under a long-term contract with ESPN to remain their top basketball announcer. Breen, who also calls games for the New York Knicks, is widely regarded as one of the best play-by-play broadcasters in all of professional sports.
ESPN’s NBA Coverage Problem
CLIP: NBA lead producer Tim Corrigan on the team of Mike Breen, Doris Burke and Richard Jefferson. https://t.co/civyP7HHJs pic.twitter.com/LHgvY3eyOL
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) June 4, 2025
ESPN and ABC had relied on the established trio of Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson to announce the NBA Finals.
The group announced 15 finals as a trio. With that much time to develop as a unit, Breen, Van Gundy, and Jackson developed elite chemistry, a rarity in a three-person booth.
ESPN decided their top announce team did not matter after firing Van Gundy and Jackson in the summer of 2023 due to budget cuts.
The network has been struggling to find formidable replacements to pair with Breen.
Breen, Burke, and Doc Rivers were ESPN’s top announcing team to start the 2024 season. After Rivers left to coach the Milwaukee Bucks, J.J. Redick was inserted into the trio.
Then, Redick left after the 2024 NBA Finals to coach the Los Angeles Lakers. ESPN then waited until the season began to insert Jefferson into the booth with Breen and Burke.
The NBA Finals begin on June 5 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
