Rick Carlisle rebuffs ‘sad’ leaks to The Athletic about potential Doris Burke demotion at ESPN

Doris Burke will call her second NBA Finals for ESPN and ABC this season, and yet there are already rumors surfacing that it may be her last. So before Game 1 on Thursday night in Oklahoma City, longtime NBA head coach Rick Carlisle took a moment to defend Burke and bash the people who “unnecessarily” whispered about Burke’s future through the grapevine.

Carlisle, the Indiana Pacers coach who is hoping to win his second NBA championship, acknowledged the nature of pro sports is that everyone is scrutinized. But while it’s fair game for Burke to be criticized or for ESPN to demote her — which Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported is possible this summer — Carlisle thought it was a cheap shot to come at Burke ahead of the marquee event of the year.

“I saw the things that were leaked yesterday about Doris Burke and I just wanted to say a couple of things. She has changed the game for women in broadcasting,” Carlisle said at his pregame press conference.

“Doris is a great example of courage and putting herself out there. It was just so sad to see the reports leaked, really unnecessarily, before such a celebrated event. Doris is a friend. I’ve asked her many times, when is she getting into coaching, because she has such great knowledge. There are many women who she’s paved the way for.”

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle opens his NBA Finals pregame press conference with praise for ESPN analyst Doris Burke.

“She has changed the game for women in broadcasting… It was just so sad to see these reports leaked…”

(via @AndrewGreif) pic.twitter.com/kZjJd4BkTr

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 5, 2025

After a legendary career at Providence in the 1980s, Burke began as a sideline reporter and game analyst covering college basketball and the WNBA. Over time, she worked her way up to an NBA color commentary job at ESPN, in which she called the NBA Finals on the radio. In 2023 after Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson were laid off, Burke vaulted to the No. 1 booth and called the NBA Finals in 2024.

During her time as ESPN’s lead NBA game analyst, Burke has had three different partners. Doc Rivers left to coach the Milwaukee Bucks in 2023, followed shortly by JJ Redick jumping ship for the Los Angeles Lakers that summer. This year, ESPN has used Richard Jefferson opposite Burke alongside lead announcer Mike Breen.

Marchand reported this week that Burke could be replaced next season, either by an internal candidate like Tim Legler or a new hire.

With all that context, Carlisle took the opportunity to praise Burke and uplift her ahead of Game 1.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen with all that stuff, but I just want to say thank you to Doris for the example she has put forth for young women like my daughter,” the coach said. “She has changed the game. And that’s the reason that she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame a couple of years ago.”