Doris Burke & Doc Rivers Named ESPN & ABC’s Top NBA Broadcasters
Following rumors of the announcement, ESPN confirmed that Doris Burke and Doc Rivers will join Mike Breen as ABC‘s top NBA broadcasting team for the upcoming season.
Burke will become the first woman to serve as a television color analyst for the NBA Finals. She previously served as the analyst for ESPN’s number 2 broadcasting team alongside Mark Jones. Rivers, who was an analyst for ABC during the 2003-04 season, has coached in the NBA for 24 seasons, winning a championship with the Celtics in 2008. He spent the last three years with the Sixers before getting fired in May.
As a result, there will be more changes to several broadcasting teams, according to the network. Former Warriors general manager Bob Myers will join the network as a studio and game analyst. He will be a part of ABC’s versions of NBA Countdown, which will also see Malika Andrews with Stephen A. Smith, Michael Wilbon, and Adrian Wojnarowski serve as host. Andrews hosts all the NBA Countdown for each network this season.
Since Burke has departed from the second broadcast team, Ryan Ruocco will take over play-by-play duties alongside analysts J.J. Redick and Richard Jefferson.
Jones, who has a 33-year tenure with ESPN and serves as the lead play-by-play voice on Sacramento Kings games, will remain calling games for the network, as will Dave Pasch.
Hubie Brown, age 89, has also had his contract renewed for a 20th season serving as analyst and 50th as part of the NBA.
The news comes after a shakeup at ESPN, which saw several talents laid off, including beloved NBA analyst Jeff Van Gundy. Soon after, Mark Jackson departed, marking the end of an era, as Breen, Van Gundy, and Jackson had been the number 1 team since 2014.
