ESPN is promoting from within to restore its lead NBA broadcast team to a three-person booth.
The Athletic reported Monday that ESPN will promote J.J. Redick to its lead NBA broadcast team, filling the vacancy left by Doc Rivers, who departed ESPN/ABC after just three months to return to coaching. Redick, in just his third season as a TV analyst, will work alongside Mike Breen and Doris Burke on the broadcast team that will call the NBA Finals.
Unlike Burke, who has served as an NBA Finals game analyst on radio and worked several series on TV as a sideline reporter, Redick has not previously held any role on an NBA Finals — or even a conference finals. Redick will be the first analyst since Isiah Thomas in 1998 to call the Finals without having previously worked past the second round. Doug Collins (1999-01), Steve “Snapper” Jones (2002), Bill Walton (2002-03), Tom Tolbert (2003), Rivers (2004), Hubie Brown (2005-06), Mark Jackson (2007-11, 2014-23) and Jeff Van Gundy (2007-23) had all worked at least into the conference finals on games or in the studio.
It should be noted that lack of experience is not unusual in sports television. Tony Romo and Greg Olsen both called the Super Bowl in the second years of their respective broadcasting careers.
Redick had been working on the ESPN/ABC “B” team alongside Ryan Ruocco and Richard Jefferson. Per the report, the company is weighing whether to keep that team a duo.
ESPN/ABC laid off longtime analysts Jackson and Van Gundy after last season. Van Gundy had worked 17 straight NBA Finals for the company dating back to 2007, while Jackson worked 15 of 17.
