Mike Breen is missing Sunday’s Celtics-Heat Game 7; Al Michaels has a new, lesser role with NBC; Magic Johnson’s latest ESPN stint seems to have already ended; and more, including the NFL’s planned streaming service.
Breen to miss C’s-Heat Game 7 due to test
Lead ESPN NBA play-by-play voice Mike Breen will miss Sunday’s Celtics-Heat Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 after testing positive for COVID-19, as first reported by Andrew Marchand of the New York Post. Mark Jones will replace him on the telecast. It will be just the second conference final telecast Breen has missed since becoming ESPN/ABC’s lead NBA voice in the 2005-06 season. He skipped Celtics-Heat Game 1 in the “bubble” two years ago to call a second round Game 7 the same night. Jones replaced him on that game as well.
Breen is expected to be available for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. The last NBA Finals game called by someone other than Breen was Pistons-Spurs Game 7 in 2005, which was called by Al Michaels.
Amazon’s Michaels staying with NBC in lesser role
NBC Sports announced earlier this week that Al Michaels will remain with the company in an “emeritus” role that includes calling an NFL playoff game and contributing to the Olympics. NBC has two NFL Wild Card games this postseason. Michaels, who lost his Sunday Night Football play-by-play role to Mike Tirico, has joined Amazon Prime as its Thursday Night Football voice. It had long been reported that Michaels’ role with Amazon would allow him to continue working occasional games for NBC.
ESPN NBA studio lacks Magic
Recurring ESPN NBA analyst Magic Johnson, who was supposed to be part of the network’s “NBA Countdown” studio team, is not expected to return this season after making just one appearance all year, the New York Post reported earlier this week. ESPN cited scheduling conflicts as the reason for Johnson’s absence in a statement to the Post. Johnson, who had stints with NBC and TNT earlier in his career, is in his third go-round with ESPN. His previous tenure in the 2017-18 season also lasted less than one year.
Plus: “NFL Plus,” college football scheduling, Joe Davis
The NFL is expected to launch a $5/month streaming app that will include live local games on mobile phones and tablets, Sports Business Journal reported this week. Those games had been available to stream for free through NFL and Yahoo! mobile platforms. The app, which will be called “NFL Plus,” could be folded into the NFL’s Sunday Ticket out-of-market package. … The September 10 Alabama-Texas college football game on FOX is scheduled to air in the network’s “Big Noon Saturday” window, it was announced this week. In other college football scheduling news, CBS is set to air its annual primetime SEC game on October 8 — the date Alabama faces Texas A&M in the first meeting between Nick Saban and Jimbo Fisher since their recent war of words. … Newly-minted lead MLB on FOX voice Joe Davis is reportedly the favorite to replace Kevin Burkhardt as the network’s #2 NFL voice, per the Post. As most surely know, Burkhardt is the new lead voice of the NFL on FOX.
[News from Marchand/Twitter 5.29, network PR, NYP 5.25, SBJ 5.24]
