There were several issues with ESPN’s presentation of the NBA Finals.
Awful Announcing’s Matt Yoder lamented a good chunk of it, but maybe the most glaring omission came at the most important moment. When Tyrese Haliburton, who’s had a proclivity for the clutch in this year’s playoffs, drilled a go-ahead jumper to sink the Thunder in Game 1, there was no ‘BANG!’ from Mike Breen.
No bang. No double bang. No punctuation mark to seal the moment
Instead, the broadcast cut to Shaq.
TYRESE HALIBURTON AND THE PACERS SINK THE THUNDER IN GAME 1!
Mike Breen: “IT’S GOOD! IT’S GOOD! WITH THREE-TENTHS OF A SECOND REMAINING!… TYRESE HALIBURTON DOES IT AGAIN! THEIR FIRST LEAD OF THE GAME!”
And the ESPN on ABC broadcast shows us Shaq. 🏀🎙️ #NBA #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/NtIQr4JTyp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 6, 2025
Everyone and their mother noticed. Breen’s ‘BANG!’ is sacred. It’s part of the soundtrack of modern basketball, a stamp of approval for the biggest shots on the biggest stages.
And Haliburton’s moment? That was the moment.
So what gives?
Breen spoke to Sports Illustrated‘s Jimmy Traina and explained why he passed on the call.
“We were so happy with such a fun game and a great comeback,” Breen told Traina. “And now there’s obviously juice to the series, and I liked the Haliburton call, and then I find out later that I’m getting destroyed because I didn’t say ‘BANG!’”
There’s a bit of irony in all this. Mike Breen getting lit up not for something he said, but for something he didn’t. He’s catching heat for withholding the very call that’s made him iconic, and yet, the reason he didn’t use it is precisely because he holds it sacred.
“I think in all these years I only said bang for a two-pointer once,” Breen continued. “It was a Kobe Bryant game-winner in the playoffs when he hit a shot against Phoenix, and it was the only time. That’s the only time. I save it for threes.
“In hindsight, because of the magnitude of the shot, it certainly would’ve worked and made people happy, but I don’t premeditate the call, and it was such an unbelievable shot. If he was beyond the 3-point mark, I probably would’ve said ‘BANG!’”
As he made clear to SI, Breen doesn’t hand out ‘BANG!’ like Halloween candy. It’s also not just a catchphrase, but a badge of honor reserved for the biggest shots from beyond the arc. Your feet have to be behind the 3-point line to earn it. That’s the rule. And it’s one he’s stuck to for nearly two decades.
Even if Game 1 might’ve called for it.
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.