« Reply #960 on: Today at 02:37:52 PM »
Good news for those in the Anti-Doris camp.
For the fourth time since firing Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, ESPN/ABC will have a new lead NBA broadcast team.
ESPN is replacing Doris Burke with Tim Legler on its top NBA broadcast team, Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported Thursday. Legler will join Mike Breen and Richard Jefferson on the ?A? team, marking a quick ascension for the longtime analyst who began regularly calling games last year.
Burke, the first woman to serve as a game analyst on one of the ?Big Four? major championship events, is expected to move to ESPN?s #2 broadcast team. ESPN in talks with her on a contract extension, per Marchand.
ESPN?s lead NBA booth has been in a constant state of flux in the mere two years since the network fired Van Gundy and Jackson. Breen paired with Van Gundy and/or Jackson on ESPN?s lead team from 2006-23, with the three of them working together on 15 NBA Finals (2007-11, 2014-23).
Initially, ESPN went with Burke and new hire Doc Rivers to replace Van Gundy and Jackson, but that plan fell apart with Rivers left after mere months to return to coaching. He was replaced by J.J. Redick, who left at the end of the season for a coaching job. ESPN started last season with a rotation of analysts joining Breen and Burke before deciding on Jefferson midway through.
Between Breen, Burke and Rivers, Breen, Burke and Redick, Breen, Burke and Jefferson and now Breen, Jefferson and Legler, ESPN has had nearly as many lead broadcast teams in the past two years as it did in its first five ? when it cycled through different lead broadcast teams every year (Brad Nessler and Bill Walton; Nessler, Walton and Tom Tolbert; Al Michaels and Rivers; Michaels and Hubie Brown; Breen and Brown).
As for Legler, the longest-tenured ESPN analyst has been with the network since before it acquired rights to the league ? part of an ESPN NBA roster that included Fred Carter and Jason Jackson. He has held prominent studio roles, including as part of ESPN?s lead ?NBA Shootaround? team that may be best remembered for being on-air the night of the ?Malice at the Palace,? but did not begin a regular game analyst role until the 2024 playoffs.
Yes!!! Thank you! This is inedible news!
Logged
Quoting Nick from the now locked Ime thread:
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At some point you have to blame the performance on the court on the players on the court. Every loss is not the coach's fault and every win isn't because of the players.
