Doris Burke was moved down a notch, but she’ll still be a prominent part of ESPN/ABC’s NBA coverage

By Chad Finn, The Boston Globe Send this article to your social connections.

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Lets not write about or talk about Doris Burke in the past tense, like the final buzzer has sounded on her time as an NBA analyst at ESPN.

Yes, that was a demotion she endured Thursday, when ESPN confirmed that Tim Legler would be promoted as an analyst to the networks No.

1 team the one that calls the highest-profile television assignment in professional basketball, the NBA Finals.

Burke, a 1987 Providence College grad and basketball legend at the school, was dropped down a rung to the No.

2 team.

She will be paired with the excellent Dave Pasch, who might be best known as Bill Waltons straight man for so many years.

But shell still be a prominent part of ESPN/ABCs NBA coverage.

She has a new multiyear contract extension.

ESPN/ABC still has a ton of high-profile games as the new NBA rights agreement kicks in.

Shes still in the arena.

An ESPN spokesperson said Burke was not available for interviews, but of course its fair to presume that her removal from the No.

1 team is disappointing at the very least.

Burke has been a trailblazer for women covering mens professional sports.

During the Celtics victory over the Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals, she became the first female television analyst for any major American mens sports championship, something ESPN was happy to emphasize at the time.

ESPNs reasoning for making the change was more about Legler, a favorite of executive Mike McQuade, who ultimately made the call on the roster change.

Legler, who spent 10 years in the NBA, has paid his dues in full: He started at ESPN way back in 2000.

His insightful segments on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt almost immediately after Finals games would end suggesting that there was something untapped in him as an analyst.

He drew rave reviews in house at ESPN this year with contributions to the alt-cast coverage of the Western Conference finals.

The hope at ESPN is that he can develop chemistry with play-by-play voice Mike Breen and analyst Richard Jefferson who signed a contract extension over the summer on the revamped No.

1 team.

The chemistry was lacking with Breen, Burke, and Jefferson, but I thought Jefferson who was elevated to the No.

1 team before he was ready after the successive departures of Doc Rivers and JJ Redick was the weakest link there, not Burke.

Jefferson has a sense of humor, but undertones of smugness get in the way too often.

I suspect hell be the weak link again for a broadcast trio that, save for the legendary Breen, doesnt feel like it should be calling the NBAs highest-magnitude games.

Ive said it 100 times if Ive said it once, but ESPNs NBA broadcasts are yet to recover from the foolish so-called cost-cutting decision to dump Jeff Van Gundy in June 2023.

No broadcaster is perfect hey, Van Gundy harped on the officials way too often.

Burke has her flaws and tics calling players by their first name is one that sometimes causes me to grimace, and Ill acknowledge to chuckling at exaggerated imitations of her voice on sports radio and podcasts.

But it should go without saying that she takes far more grief than most because of that misogynist segment of male sports fans who for some pathetic reason still have an issue with hearing a womans voice in the broadcast booth.

I think this is a fair and true assessment: Burke is worse than a few and better than most.

Ill bet you she clicks with Pasch immediately.

And should it go really well, who knows, maybe there will be a spot for her on the No.

1 team again someday.

They may have moved her down to their second team.

But chances are they havent solved anything with their first team.

Red Sox ratings way up Call it the Roman Anthony Effect, or Wait, This Team Is Finally Good Again? Effect, but NESN viewership has increased this season to its highest levels since 2021 not coincidentally, the last time the team made the postseason.

NESNs linear Red Sox broadcasts have averaged a 3.64 household rating through August 23, up from a 2.50 over the entirety of the 2024 season.

Note to self: Baseball fans will tune in to watch a good team.

Who knew? ...

The NFL will allow Tom Brady to take part in production meetings with coaches and teams this season, something he was not permitted to do in his first season as a Fox analyst because of the conflict of interest with his ownership stake in the Raiders.

Its not surprising the Brady Rules were lifted he needs all the help he can get as a broadcaster, and its not like blatant hypocrisy ever stopped the NFL before ...

Late in the week, Fox and YouTube TV predictably reached a short-term resolution in their carriage dispute.

Neither side was about to let their fight over per-subscriber fees interfere with the start of college football and the NFL season.

Have to admit, though, I was curious to see the chaos had a certain segment of society lost Fox News for a while.

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