MSG was initially ‘concerned’ about hiring Mike Breen because of Don Imus

Imagine thinking Mike Breen might be too controversial or polarizing to be the voice of the New York Knicks or any sports franchise.

Mike Breen is widely regarded as the best play-by-play voice in the NBA. He’s also widely regarded as being an even better person. No one has a bad thing to say about Breen, who is universally known as one of the nicest, most authentic people in sports media by his colleagues and fans. But prior to becoming an announcer for the Knicks, there was concern about whether his other job made him too controversial to be hired.

Breen joined Craig Carton and Chris McMonigle on WFAN last week during his media tour after the Knicks broke their 53-year championship drought. And during the interview, Carton asked for the origin story of Breen going from being a radio producer to the voice of the Knicks, and the NBA.

Breen explained the opportunity stemmed from his relationship with now former MSG Network executive Mike McCarthy. The two developed a friendship while Breen was producing the radio side of a show called Sports Night hosted by Dave Sims, and McCarthy was producing the TV simulcast on MSG. McCarthy worked his way up at MSG, and when it was time to replace Jim Karvellas as a Knicks announcer, he pitched Breen for the role.

“They were a little concerned at the time,” Breen admitted. “Because I worked on the Imus Show, and some of the humor was a little different, stuff that you don’t do today. But because of Mike McCarthy, he’s the one that pushed me…and they hired me to be the radio play-by-play guy.”

Breen was notably a sports anchor for Imus in the Morning on WFAN and WNBC. And with Imus being one of the more controversial hosts in radio known for his political incorrectness, it makes sense as to why MSG would have wanted to vet whether Breen was fit to be a voice of the Knicks.

Thankfully, MSG decided Breen’s association with Imus wasn’t enough of a deterrent. Breen took over for Karvellas on radio for the Knicks in 1992, while remaining with Imus until 2000. And MSG could not have found a better Knicks ambassador than Breen over the last 35 years.