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ESPN is demoting Doris Burke from its NBA Finals broadcast team. The shuffle of the broadcasting roster promotes longtime network analyst Tim Legler. He will join the network’s No. 1 team, replacing the hall of famer. The story was first reported by The Athletic.
Legler will join lead play-by-play announcer Mike Breen and analyst Richard Jefferson for the Finals coverage. Jefferson, who made his Finals debut in June, recently signed a new contract with ESPN. The NBA Champion joined ESPN in 2019 as a studio analyst. Jefferson will continue to call ESPN’s top NBA games and make select studio appearancesÂ
Burke, who had been part of ESPN’s Finals team for the past two seasons, made history as the first woman to serve as a broadcast analyst in any of the four major American sports. Her removal from the top team marks a significant shift in ESPN’s on-air NBA coverage.
ESPN today also announced it has reached a multi-year extension with Burke. She will continue to call high-profile NBA games on ESPN and ABC, including the NBA Sunday Showcase series.
Her assignments will include full slates of games throughout the regular season and the NBA Playoffs. Burke will regularly work alongside play-by-play voice Dave Pasch. With this new deal, Burke’s tenure at ESPN will extend more than 35 years.
She first covered basketball for ESPN in 1991 and has since been assigned to 17 NBA Finals, including six as a game analyst between ABC and ESPN Radio, as well as 11 as sideline reporter on ABC.
Sources told The Athletic discussions are ongoing regarding a contract extension for Burke. Her current deal expires at the end of the upcoming season. She is expected to move to ESPN’s No. 2 broadcast team if an extension is reached.
Burke was promoted to ESPN’s lead NBA broadcast team in 2023 after Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson were laid off.
Burke’s tenure on the NBA Finals team has been widely praised by fans and colleagues alike. Many cite her deep understanding of the game and ability to translate complex strategies for viewers.
Legler, a former NBA player and longtime ESPN contributor, has been a fixture on the network’s coverage for years. He often appears as an analyst during regular-season games and playoff broadcasts. Pairing him with Breen and Jefferson is seen as ESPN’s effort to refresh its top broadcast team while maintaining continuity and experience.
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