There has been a question surrounding ESPN’s NBA broadcast team ever since JJ Redick departed to be the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Mike Breen and Doris Burke have been calling games without a third member of the broadcast team, or with different personalities filling in as the second analyst.
Now, a permanent third member of the booth has been established. Longtime NBA veteran and ESPN NBA analyst Richard Jefferson will join Burke and Breen for the rest of the season, including in the playoffs and the NBA Finals, according to Andrew Marchand of The Athletic.
“Richard Jefferson will join Mike Breen and Doris Burke on ABC/ESPN’s top broadcast team, which will call the NBA Finals, sources briefed on the move said,” Marchand wrote.
Redick and Burke called the NBA Finals alongside Breen last season, where the Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks in five games. However, the top booth at ESPN has been constantly changing since Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy both departed after the 2023 season.
Redick still has a chance to be present at those NBA Finals this season, as the Lakers look very good after acquiring Luka Doncic. It took them a few games after Doncic returned from his calf injury, but Breen, Burke and Jefferson got a first look at it on Saturday night.
The Lakers crushed the Nuggets on Saturday Primetime in Denver 123-100, fully announcing to the rest of the Western Conference and the NBA that they are there to compete.
Breen has become an iconic voice of the NBA Finals over the years on ESPN and ABC, with great calls and iconic punchlines littered throughout some of the greatest series in league history. As he goes through another playoff run helping NBA fans remember some of this season’s iconic moments, Burke and Jefferson will be right there beside him.
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