NBA fans are feeling for Doris Burke following her official ESPN demotion.
The Worldwide Leader in Sports is demoting Burke, 60, from its No. 1 NBA broadcasting team. Burke, who has been covering basketball for ESPN since 1990, made history in 2024, when she became the first woman to serve as an in-game TV analyst for the NBA Finals. She retained her role on ESPN’s NBA Finals broadcasting team in 2025, working alongside Mike Breen and Richard Jefferson. However, she will not be back in 2026.
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The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported on Thursday morning that Burke is being demoted from the No. 1 broadcasting team at ESPN.
LAS VEGAS, NV – OCTOBER 08: ESPN reporter and analyst Doris Burke broadcasts after a preseason game between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers at T-Mobile Arena on October 8, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Los Angeles won 75-69. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Marchand broke the news of Burke’s demotion on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday morning, August 28.
“ABC/ESPN has demoted Hall of Famer Doris Burke from its NBA Finals team and promoted longtime network commentator Tim Legler to its No. 1 team, sources briefed on the decision told The Athletic on Thursday,” he reported.
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“Legler will pair with longtime lead play-by-player Mike Breen and Richard Jefferson for the network’s finals broadcasts. Jefferson recently agreed to a new contract with ESPN after working his first finals in June. Burke was on the finals’ team for two years, becoming the first woman in history to be an analyst on one of the traditional four major American sports (NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL).”
NBA fans are feeling for Burke
Burke has been a trailblazer in the world of broadcasting. She became the first woman to hold an NBA national game TV analyst role at ESPN in 2017. She made NBA Finals history in 2024, when she joined the No. 1 broadcast. But during the 2025 NBA Finals, fans criticized her coverage, with her commentary not hitting the same way it had in previous years. There were growing calls for ESPN to replace her with Legler, a longtime analyst at ESPN, who joined the company in 2000.
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But while Burke’s demotion is being praised by many, the basketball world as a whole is still paying tribute to her.
“I love Doris!” one fan wrote.
“I will repeat what a high-profile talent agent told me when I first started covering ESPN in 1934: ‘You have to f-them before they f-you because they will f-you one day.’ It’s always remained true — and that’s why you have to cash out if you are ever fortunate to have leverage as front-facing talent,” Richard Deitsch added.
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“This is so pathetic from ESPN. Doris is the best basketball analyst they have, but they were uncomfortable with making the best overall broadcast decision of having the main booth be Breen & Burke because of the backlash they’d get from idiots on this app. Terrible,” one fan added.
“I don’t hate Doris, but this is an easy call. Legler is the best basketball analyst at the network by far,” one fan added.
It’s well deserved for Legler, though
No matter how you feel about Burke, you have to admit that Legler is well deserving of this opportunity. He’s been grinding at ESPN for more than 20 years, appearing on a variety of shows, including in-person late-night SportsCenter broadcasts. He’s only been regularly calling games for two seasons, but many within ESPN – especially executive vice president Mike McQuade – are very high on him.
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“Legler has been a long-time favorite of McQuade’s, including when Legler’s ESPN career had a renaissance over the last decade with regular appearances on Scott Van Pelt’s late-night SportsCenter. McQuade was the lead producer on the Van Pelt show,” Marchand added.
Legler will team up with Breen and Jefferson on ESPN’s No. 1 NBA broadcast team moving forward.
This story was originally reported by The Spun on Aug 28, 2025, where it first appeared in the Sports Media section. Add The Spun as a Preferred Source by clicking here.