As confetti rained down and the Thunder celebrated their first NBA championship, something quieter — and maybe just as emotional — was happening above the floor. In the final moments of Game 7, Mike Breen, Doris Burke, and Richard Jefferson offered an unexpected goodbye. Not to a player, but to a longtime member of their ESPN crew. It was warm, unscripted, and deeply human — and with rumors swirling about changes to the broadcast team itself, it hit with even more weight.

The man of the hour was Tim Corrigan, the producer who has been the voice in their ear for every NBA Finals game for the last 18 years. As Breen explained to the audience, Corrigan is moving on to a new executive role at the network. What followed was a raw, emotional tribute from a crew that clearly revered their leader.

“It’s impossible to describe how much he’s meant to all of us,” Mike Breen began, his voice heavy with emotion. “His leadership, his guidance, his encouragement made all of us better… Personally, his voice in my ear gave me confidence every single telecast. So I think I speak for everyone in that we say thank you, Tim Corrigan. It has been an honor and a privilege.”

Doris Burke echoed that sentiment, but she also shared the single most important piece of advice Corrigan ever gave her. “Best basketball producer I’ve ever worked with,” she said. “But I tell him this all the time. My favorite thing about him is the husband and father he is. Every single time I would ask him for advice on how to get better, he would say, ‘make the game the star.'” Richard Jefferson agreed, calling it the “best advice that anyone’s ever given me.”

It was a beautiful, genuine moment of appreciation. But it was also layered with a palpable sense of uncertainty. Because while the crew was saying goodbye to their producer, many are wondering if they will soon be saying goodbye to this version of the broadcast booth. According to a recent report from The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, Burke’s spot on the lead team is “not guaranteed for next season.”

The report suggests that some at ESPN feel the chemistry in the three-person booth hasn’t fully clicked, with insiders noting Breen and Burke “rarely build on each other’s comments.” That, combined with the intense social media criticism Burke has faced throughout the Finals—with some fans declaring she “ruined” Game 7 by her analysis—has put her future in question. It’s a tough spot for a broadcasting legend who has also drawn heat for on-air comments like referring to MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as a “free-throw merchant.”

And she’s not the only one with an uncertain future. Richard Jefferson’s contract with ESPN is expiring, and while the network reportedly wants him back, he is also drawing interest from Amazon as they build out their new broadcast team. The only person whose job seems secure is the legendary Mike Breen, who is under a long-term contract and he is addressing all the rumors.

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The speculation around the broadcast booth isn’t happening in a vacuum. It’s playing out against the backdrop of a massive transformative media rights deal that will see NBC and Amazon Prime Video enter the NBA broadcast space next season. For the first time in two decades, ESPN has real competition, and the pressure to have the perfect, most-liked broadcast team is immense.

That pressure falls squarely on the shoulders of Mike Breen. In a recent interview with The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch, Breen addressed the rumors head-on. “Right now, what I’m focused on and what I am thrilled at is with the growth we’ve had as a team,” he said. “Some of these Finals broadcasts have been far and away our best together, and we keep getting better.”

Breen knows what it takes to build chemistry. He spent 17 years calling the Finals with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, a trio that felt effortless. Since ESPN controversially fired them in 2023, Breen has been navigating chaos. First, he was paired with Doc Rivers, who lasted only a few months before returning to coaching. Then came JJ Redick, who bolted for the Lakers job after one season. Now, it’s Richard Jefferson. As Breen put it, “I don’t think people understand how difficult it is to find that chemistry. It’s hard in a two-person booth; it’s harder in a three-person booth.”

His comments are a plea for patience, but patience might be a luxury ESPN can’t afford in a new media war. And it looks like they may already have a replacement in mind. According to The Athletic, longtime ESPN analyst Tim Legler could be a serious option for the Finals booth next season, with some of the network’s top decision-makers reportedly being big fans of his clear, no-nonsense analysis.

As Breen signed off from the final broadcast of the year, his words to his partners—“You guys are amazing. Up for every single challenge. We had so much fun this year.” Felt less like a simple thank you and more like a closing statement, a final, public defense of a team that might not get the chance to grow together.