In the setup for what could be a postseason clash for Western Conference supremacy, the clash between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets at Paycom Center took a scary turn. Tensions sparked and tempers flared in the fourth quarter when Lu Dort and Nikola Jokic got entangled. The sequence that saw the OKC wing ejected from the game became the flashpoint for the broadcasting booth. Unfortunately for OKC fans, their least favorite announcer was on duty this game.

Doris Burke has not won any favor in Oklahoma City since she called Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a “free throw merchant” last season. Tonight, she didn’t endear herself to this fanbase once more despite defending their player.

When Lu Dort tripped Nikola Jokic, the 6’11” center came charging at him for vengeance. Teammates and coaching staff rushed in before The Joker could throw fists. Dort, very uncharastically non-provocative, stepped away and refused to engage but Jokic was fuming.

Ultimately, the referees didn’t just deem Dort’s foul as “unnecessary,” but also “excessive,” the textbook definition of a Flagrant 2. That translated into an automatic ejection for Dort and a free throw chance for Denver. But it also became a debate in the broadcasting booth.

When asked if she felt Dort was excessive with the foul, Doris Burke hesitated, offering a defense that many Nuggets fans perceived as a blatant bias toward Oklahoma City’s aggressive defensive identity. “I thought it was a flagrant 1 to be perfectly frank with you.”

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Almost no one in Oklahoma City or Denver would call that an objective opinion. Especially after the other altercation between Jokic and Jaylin Williams. Burke’s comment shifted the focal point from that tense fallout on the floor to the polarizing analysis by the ESPN analyst.

Fans want ESPN to solve Doris Burke dilemma

The reaction to Burke’s assessment was swift and unforgiving. Once again the NBA world is united in the belief that Burke has lost the objective touch required for a lead national analyst.

The rhetoric on social media became increasingly frustrated. The level of exhaustion with her commentary reached a fever pitch with one user simply posting, “Doris Burke is insufferable.” Another took it a step further by questioning her place on the national stage: “Can we send Doris Burke to the g league?”

This sentiment was echoed by a frustrated viewer who referenced the moment ESPN removed Burke from its marquee broadcasting team at the end of last season, “I see why the took Doris Burke off the A team calling NBA games.”

There’s no love lost between Burke and OKC but tonight she made an enemy of the Denver faithful. Critics argued the danger of downplaying the severity of the hits on the league’s premier star, Nikola Jokic, and ignoring the potential for injury. “i heard doris burke say, no that was a penalty 1, not 2… its like, do you understand what exactly happened? lemme go get the 11th guy on my bench, put him in, to go take 2 cheap shots at the other teams best player every game during a series and see if we can hurt him…”

The vitriol didn’t stop at her basketball takes; fans also took aim at her broadcast habits. As one fan pointed out, “Doris Burke needs to stop calling players by their first name,” suggesting that the lack of professional distance contributes to her perceived favoritism.

The anti-Doris sentiment might be ESPN’s biggest headache when it’s already being criticized for its schedules and the YouTube+ situation. The calls for change were amplified by the same comments from before. “I f—– hate hearing Doris Burke talk. Chi pendeja,” and the more direct “Somebody get Doris Burke off my tv screen.”

While Burke remains a pioneer in the industry, the NBA community felt this isn’t the first time Burke has been accused of “falling in love” with a specific team’s narrative at the expense of calling the game fairly. By the time the final buzzer sounded in OKC, the prevailing thought among the online community was summarized in one biting sentence: “This is why Doris Burke is the worst commentator in sports.”