Following Doc Rivers’ surprising exit from the ABC/ESPN lead NBA team midway through his first season in order to take the Milwaukee Bucks’ head coaching job, ESPN has had decisions to make about that announcing booth. So far, they’ve gone with a team of just remaining members Mike Breen (play-by-play) and Doris Burke (analyst). But, as per a report from Andrew Marchand of The New York Post Monday, analyst JJ Redick might be tabbed to join that team, with the JJ-or-not-JJ decision to be made after the Feb. 18 All-Star Game:
NEWSLETTER+: ESPN plans to either add JJ Redick or go with duo of Mike Breen and Doris Burke in wake of Doc Rivers' exit.https://t.co/AoVVeL4zJ4
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) January 29, 2024
Here’s more on that from Marchand’s newsletter at the Post Sports+ subscription site:
In the wake of Doc Rivers’ exit from ESPN’s top NBA booth after weeks of work, the network will either add JJ Redick to its lead broadcast team of Mike Breen and Doris Burke or let the duo call The Finals together, according to sources.
The plan is to make a decision after the All-Star break, which is a little less than a month away.
In the meantime, ESPN will weigh whether it is better to keep it simple and just go with Breen and Burke for this year or add the fast-rising Redick to the crew.
Redick is on a new broadcast team himself this year, the No. 2 team (after Burke’s move to the No.1 level) with play-by-play voice Ryan Ruocco and analyst Richard Jefferson. Marchand notes that Jefferson is still in contention to join Burke and Breen as well, but “the feeling right now is that if ESPN adds a third voice with Breen and Burke, it would be Redick.”
Last week, after the Rivers news came out, Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports reported that ESPN was “leaning towards” keeping Breen and Burke as a two-person booth. And that could still be the case; it’s not clear where they’re leaning right now, with Marchand’s report only indicating that no decision has been made (but setting the timeline for a decision, and establishing Redick rather than Jefferson as the favorite if a third member is chosen). And both Marchand and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald mentioned both Redick and Jefferson as possible additions last week, although both were clear that ESPN might also stick with the two-person booth (which they may still do).
At any rate, it’s certainly notable to hear that this idea of adding a third person to the booth is still under consideration by ESPN. And it’s significant to see a particular timeline for it. And that timeline makes sense; if they are going to shake up the booth, it makes sense to do so well in advance of the playoffs. We’ll see what happens here.
