Lisa Salters won’t be on the sidelines for Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
Instead, Jorge Sedano will handle sideline duties on Sunday, June 8, for ESPN’s coverage. Sports Media Watch was the first to report the news.
Jorge Sedano on NBA Finals sideline tonight instead of Lisa Salters.
— Sports Media Watch (@paulsen_smw) June 8, 2025
Sedano steps in for Salters, who is away attending to a personal matter. ESPN confirmed her absence in a statement to Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports, saying simply: “Lisa is attending to a personal matter. We send her our best.”
Salters’ partner, Stephanie White, is the head coach of the Indiana Fever. White is also currently away from the team for personal reasons.
This isn’t the first time Salters has stepped away from a big assignment for personal reasons. She missed several Monday Night Football games last season, with Laura Rutledge stepping in beside Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.
“Laura Rutledge again with us tonight. We miss the heck out of Lisa Salters who is tending to a family matter. Hope to have her back next week, or whenever she gets things settled.
“We’re certainly thinking of her on this night, as we were a week ago.” – Joe Buck pic.twitter.com/HnkeqgHI7F
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 22, 2024
Now it’s Sedano who joins Mike Breen, Doris Burke, and Richard Jefferson on the ABC broadcast.
Sedano, 47, wears many hats at ESPN. He’s already in Oklahoma City as the radio sideline reporter for ESPN Radio’s national call with Marc Kestecher and P.J. Carlesimo. This will be his first NBA Finals TV assignment.
In addition to his sideline work, Sedano hosts Sedano & Kap on ESPNLA 710 every weekday from 4 to 7 p.m. PT. He’s a regular contributor to NBA Today, SportsCenter, and Around the Horn before its cancellation. He also calls college football games for the ACC Network.
It’s unclear how long Salters will be sidelined from the Pacers–Thunder series. Sedano will handle sideline duties for now, while Vanessa Richardson will fill in for him on the ESPN Radio broadcast.
In the meantime, we want to extend our best wishes to Salters and White.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.