Doris Burke has long been widely regarded as among the most respected NBA color analysts.
On Sunday, up-and-coming NBA analyst Dwyane Wade gave Burke her flowers for her ability to break down an entire half’s worth of action in just 30 seconds.
On the call of Sunday’s matchup on ESPN between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Oklahoma City Thunder, Burke expertly outlined how the Timberwolves overcame a 12-point first-quarter deficit to head into the second half with a 63-61 lead in what was a very high-paced first half of action.
.@dwyanewade is all of us watching Doris Burke games 👏
He had to give Doris her flowers 💐 pic.twitter.com/JGtZxKSl2I
— espnW (@espnW) February 24, 2025
“Well, that was entertaining,” said ESPN play-by-play man Mike Breen.
“So much fun,” replied Burke. “The pace was incredible. It was a 40-point second quarter dominated by Minnesota. The action in the final minute was extraordinary. Naz Reid’s handprints were all over the comeback. How about the tough baseline by Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander)? I mean, this was one after the other. They have found something in the rookie (Jaylen) Clark. That three followed by yet another forced turnover into a tough bucket. Let’s hope the second half is this fun. This ended with Jaylen Williams pulling them back into the basketball game after they relinquished a 19-point lead. That was special basketball.”
This first-half breakdown prompted Wade, who didn’t tune into the first half of action, to applaud Burke for helping him catch up with what had happened.
Doris Burke just broke down the first half of this OKC/MIN game in about 30secs. She hit on every play that was shown on the screen and It made me feel as tho I watched the first half( I didn’t) That so hard to do! I have so much respect for the voices of our game 👏🏾 👏🏾👏🏾 @NBA
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) February 24, 2025
“Doris Burke just broke down the first half of this OKC/MIN game in about 30secs,” wrote Wade in a post on X. “She hit on every play that was shown on the screen and It made me feel as tho I watched the first half( I didn’t) That so hard to do! I have so much respect for the voices of our game.”
Wade, a Hall of Fame player for 16 seasons in the NBA, generally received rave reviews for his on-air performance throughout the Olympics. Now that NBC is set to become a broadcaster partner for the NBA next season, he’ll likely be stepping into a role on their broadcasting team. In the meantime, he’s clearly taking notes, and you could do a lot worse than studying up by listening to how Dorie Burke breaks down a game.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.