The NBA Finals Media Day—usually a time for X’s and O’s, maybe some light trash talk. But this year? Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle flipped the script. Before anyone could even ask about Game 1 against OKC, Carlisle, completely unprompted, launched into a fiery, passionate defense of ESPN’s Doris Burke. Carlisle’s move was a seriously classy, and very loud, show of support. 

Rick Carlisle, a man who’s been around the NBA block more than a few times, didn’t hide his frustration over the timing and nature of the reports surrounding Doris Burke’s job security on ESPN’s lead broadcast team—especially with her set to call the NBA Finals. “I saw the things that were leaked yesterday about Doris Burke, and I just want to say a couple things. She has changed the game for women in broadcasting,” Carlisle said with conviction. He then got personal, adding, “I have a daughter who just turned 21… Doris is a great example of courage and putting herself out there.” He slammed the timing of the leak as “so sad,” calling it “really unnecessary before such a celebrated event.”

So, what’s all this “scrutiny” about, anyway? Well, the buzz really kicked into overdrive following a detailed report by Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. Marchand, citing sources, revealed that while Mike Breen is locked in, “Burke’s spot is not guaranteed for next season.” The report suggests that “ESPN executives will debate what is next… with one discussion likely centering around if they feel Burke is better on a two-person team as opposed to the three-person team.”

Marchand also noted that some feel Burke “hasn’t seemed to mesh as well with Breen. He doesn’t outright ignore what she says, but they rarely build on each other’s comments.” That perceived lack of chemistry, coupled with some of Burke’s on-air comments during these playoffs – like calling OKC’s MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a “free-throw merchant” – has fueled speculation about her future on the A-team. 

Now, for the first time, Doris Burke herself is tackling that “SGA comment” head-on, and her explanation really pulls back the curtain on the split-second decisions broadcasters make. “One of the storylines… in Game 1 in particular, Minnesota had some frustration about the number of free throws that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took,” Burke explained on The ESPN Communications Podcast. “And NBA Twitter goes crazy for certain guys who they call ‘free throw merchants,’ etc… So we talked about the storyline… because in Minnesota, 19,000 fans were chanting ‘free throw merchant.’ We know the viewer at home can hear that. And if they can’t hear it, they are wondering what’s being chanted. And so we felt going in as a broadcast team, this is a storyline. If it plays out… it’s something we need to discuss.”

She totally gets that OKC fans “took exception to that,” but then she dropped her classic take on navigating fan passion: “I can tell I feel like I’m doing a decent job when multiple fan bases are pissed off at me.” And to slam the door on any idea of bad blood, she stated, regarding fans thinking she dislikes SGA: “I love SGA. Absolutely love him.”

It’s a rare and fascinating look at the broadcast world. You’ve got a legendary coach like Rick Carlisle passionately standing up for a broadcasting pioneer, while that same pioneer is laying out the tough, real-time calls that go into covering a game for a massive national audience. It just goes to show, the pressure on the NBA’s biggest stage isn’t just for the players, it’s absolutely there for the folks calling the game too.

ESPN eyes Tim Legler as Burke’s future wavers

The current situation puts a giant spotlight on what’s been a pretty messy situation over at ESPN: their lead NBA broadcast booth has basically been a game of musical chairs for the last couple of years.

Seriously, think about it—this is the third straight season ESPN is rolling out a different three-person crew for the NBA Finals. That kind of turnover for such a massive broadcast is just wild. Mike Breen, the absolute legend on play-by-play, even opened up about how tough it is to build that all-important chemistry in a three-person booth. He mentioned on “The Sports Media with Richard Deitsch” podcast, “When it’s two (analysts), it’s not just my chemistry with Doris and my chemistry with Richard Jefferson, it’s their chemistry together, and that’s what makes it much more of a challenge.” He even admitted that last year, when he was working with Burke and JJ Redick, they “really started getting a great feel for each other” after only about a dozen games. But then, bam, Redick bolts to coach the Lakers.

This whole saga really kicked off back in the summer of 2023, when ESPN made the shocking decision to break up the iconic Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson trio. Why ESPN decided to blow that up is still a mystery that has fans and media critics scratching their heads.

But the question right now is, if ESPN does decide to make another change, who’s potentially waiting in the wings? Marchand’s report has zeroed in on longtime ESPN analyst Tim Legler. Apparently, “some top decision-makers like Legler a lot,” and he “could become a Finals option.” This makes sense because Legler’s been a rock-solid part of ESPN’s NBA coverage since way back in 2000, and if there was ever a moment for him to get that massive promotion, this could be it.

But let’s not get it twisted: this is Doris Burke we’re talking about. The woman is a Hall of Famer, a true pioneer who smashed through glass ceilings to become the first woman ever to be a TV analyst for a major American men’s championship series. Her basketball IQ is off the charts! 

Mike Breen himself recently said of the current Breen-Burke-Jefferson trio, “I think it’s what Richard and Doris have done in a short time this year, their chemistry just keeps getting better and better, and it’s been really fun.” But with the NBA Finals having such high stakes, and with ESPN clearly still searching for that perfect, long-term chemistry to replace the magic of the Van Gundy/Jackson era, every call, every bit of analysis, every interaction between Breen, Burke, and Jefferson will be under an intense microscope.

It’s a tough spot for everyone—a very public audition playing out on the biggest stage in basketball, all because ESPN is still trying to figure out its next great broadcast team.