ESPN makes major NBA announcement

With the start of the 2024-25 NBA season just days away, ESPN has announced its broadcasting plans for the upcoming campaign.

And when it comes to replacing JJ Redick on the No. 1 team, that plan very much remains TBD.

While the Worldwide Leader announced that play-by-play man Mike Breen and analyst Doris Burke will return as expected, a potential third person in its top booth has yet to be announced. After firing Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson in the summer of 2023, ESPN entered the 2023-24 season with Breen, Burke and Doc Rivers in its top broadcast booth before Rivers left midseason to become the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. The network proceeded to replace Rivers with Redick, who is now the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers .

Yet despite having months to mull over a replacement for Redick, it appears ESPN will either stick with a two-person booth or wait until later this season to make a final decision on a full-time third voice. Last month, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported on his podcast, The Main Event with Andrew Marchand , that the network would use the first half of the season to try out different combinations before making a determination regarding how to replace Redick.

To that end, it’s worth noting that ESPN also announced that former studio analyst Tim Legler and college basketball analyst Jay Bilas will call NBA games this season, with Marchand previously reporting that both analysts — as well Richard Jefferson and Grant Hill — have emerged as potential replacements for Redick. Jefferson will also return as a game analyst for ESPN this season, while Hill — who calls the NCAA men’s Final Four for Turner — wasn’t mentioned in the release.

Other returning game analysts include Bob Myers, Stephanie White and Hubie Brown, while former ESPN Radio analyst Cory Alexander will also call games.

As for play-by-play, ESPN’s roster for the upcoming season includes the returning Ryan Ruocco, Dave Pasch and Mark Jones, with former Minnesota Timberwolves announcer Michael Grady also joining the network’s coverage. Meanwhile, Lisa Salters and Cassidy Hubbarth, Katie George, Monica McNutt, Jorge Sedano and Angel Gray will each return as sideline reporters.

In the studio, things will largely stay the same with Malika Andrews hosting NBA Countdown on ABC alongside Stephen A. Smith, Myers and Kendrick Perkins, with Michael Wilbon and Shams Charania (replacing Adrian Wojnarowski) making regular appearances. As for the NBA Countdown episodes that exclusively air on ESPN, those will see Andrews hosting alongside Chiney Ogwumike, Perkins and Jefferson with Brian Windhorst and Legler contributing.

Notably, ESPN’s release didn’t pair play-by-play announcers with broadcast analysts — not even Breen and Burke — which stands in contrast to how the network announced its plans for last season . That only lends credence to the idea that the first half of the season will be a work-in-progress — especially when it comes to ESPN’s top NBA broadcast booth.

[ ESPN P.R. ]

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