The second ever NBA Cup Final is up for grabs on Tuesday night, and one of ESPN’s lead commentators isn’t there to call it.
ESPN’s lead NBA game analyst Doris Burke is not on the call as the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder battle for the NBA Cup title in Las Vegas. Instead, lead NBA play-by-play announcer Mike Breen and analyst Richard Jefferson are flying as a duo.
The network had originally announced last month that Breen, Burke, and Jefferson would call the NBA Cup Final as a trio. However, ESPN PR released a graphic of its broadcast teams for the game on social media Tuesday morning with Burke noticeably absent.
Tuesday, @ESPNNBA concludes its coverage of the #EmiratesNBACup with a Championship matchup on ABC & ESPN+
🏀 8p ET | NBA Countdown
🏀 8:30p ET | #FearTheDeer vs #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/BiEScCFuPY— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) December 17, 2024
Fortunately, Breen wasted no time clearing up the nature of Burke’s absent at the top of Tuesday’s broadcast.
Doris Burke is out sick for tonight’s NBA Cup Final, and Mike Breen made sure everybody knew it wasn’t because she lost too much money at the blackjack tables 💸🏀 pic.twitter.com/fEwvN3dgM9
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 18, 2024
“Doris Burke will not be with us tonight,” Breen began. “Doris is not feeling well. And I think it’s important to state that her absence has nothing to do with the amount of money she lost on the blackjack tables in recent days. The authorities need to know that.”
The deadpan delivery clearly stunned Jefferson, who could barely contain himself and struggled to gather his thoughts.
“I, uh, yeah. I don’t think it has anything to do with that, Mike,” Jefferson said.
Given the assignment, Jefferson seems to be the front-runner to join Breen and Burke on ESPN’s lead team for the playoffs. Unfortunately for the network, the NBA Cup Final could’ve served as a valuable dry run.
The good news is, the trio will have plenty of opportunities between now and the postseason to build chemistry, should ESPN decide to add Jefferson to its lead team.
[NBA on ABC]
