The Long Island home of NBA Hall-of-Famer and renowned play-by-play announcer Mike Breen was destroyed in a massive fire Sunday morning.
All their possessions were lost in the fire, but Breen, his family and their dogs were unharmed as no one was home at the time of the incident. According to TMZ, the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department arrived on the scene Sunday morning at 4:03am where they “encountered a fully involved house fire.”
Upon Breen’s request, his close friend Michael Kay addressed the house fire on his ESPN New York radio show Wednesday afternoon.
“Mike and his wife Roseanne, they were in California finishing up a vacation before he starts the NBA season,” said Kay. “They got a call right before they were getting on a plane that something had happened to the house. It burned down to the ground. Everything destroyed. No personal memories are left.”
“The reason he asked me to say this is that so many people have reached out and he’s in the middle of trying to get his life together dealing with insurance companies, trying to get clothes that he can wear on the air next week when the NBA starts,” Kay continued. “So he just wants everyone to know within the sound of our voice, he considers himself absolutely blessed for the people that have reached out and asked to help.”
Breen has been the voice of the New York Knicks for over 30 years, beginning in 1991 as their radio play-by-play announcer on WFAN and continuing on their TV broadcast for MSG. The famous play-by-play announcer is also the lead voice for the NBA on ABC and ESPN, having called every Finals series since 2006.
“Mike is a cherished member of the ESPN family and he knows he has our full support through this excruciating circumstance,” ESPN said in a statement to the New York Post. “We know the damage is devastating, and at the same time, we are grateful that he and his family are safe.”
Breen was briefly forced out of his Long Island home after Hurricane Sandy caused devastation in 2012. At the time, another one of Breen’s close friends, Mike Francesa, who also has a permanent residence in Manhasset, took the NBA voice and former WFAN update anchor into his home.
[The Michael Kay Show, photo from the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire District on Instagram]
