ESPN fired both of Mike Breen’s longtime broadcast partners. A month after laying off Jeff Van Gundy, the company let go of Mark Jackson on Monday.
Breen, who has called 15 NBA Finals alongside Van Gundy and Jackson, discussed their departures with The New York Post’s Andrew Marchand.
“It’s sad because we really thought we had something special, and that’s going to be the thought going forward is that we were able to do it a lot longer than anybody ever did,” Breen said. “It’s something we’ll all treasure, but we just wish it was a little bit longer.
“You don’t expect it, because it was such a great team and to have it completely broken up was a surprise.”
I spoke to Mike Breen. He was stunned and sad about the firings of his longtime partners, Mark Jackson & Jeff Van Gundy.https://t.co/Y9K4Xo8tIl
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) August 1, 2023
Breen knew them both before aligning on ESPN’s main NBA broadcast team. Van Gundy coached Jackson on the New York Knicks while Breen — now MSG’s play-by-play announcer — worked games on the radio. He called them “dream partners” and said he was proud of their last Finals broadcast.
“All the accomplishments were because of what we did together. I really do feel personally any success I had was because I had those two guys next to me,” Breen said. “They just provided everything you would want in analysts. They’re smart. They’re funny. They’re knowledgeable about their sport. They’re opinionated. They love their sport, but are not afraid to criticize. They just had a little bit of everything.”
Breen praised Jackson’s “extraordinary” social media post responding to the surprising fire and said Van Gundy (who doesn’t use social media) also acted with class behind the scenes.
“I’m amazed at how well they deal with these things and it’s one of the reasons why I’ve always looked up to them and how they handle stuff,” Breen said. “It wasn’t a surprise to me how they handled it with such grace.”
According to Marchand, ESPN will pair Breen with Doris Burke and Doc Rivers.
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