ESPN has reshuffled its top NBA broadcast crew for the 2025-26 season, adding veteran analyst Tim Legler alongside play-by-play voice Mike Breen, analyst Richard Jefferson and sideline reporter Lisa Salters. The network confirmed the move Tuesday while unveiling its commentator lineup for the first year of the league’s new media rights agreement.
Legler, marking his 25th year with ESPN after joining the network in 2000, will help call the NBA Finals on ABC, both Conference Finals, high-profile playoff games, the annual Christmas Day matchup and the weekly “NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC” broadcast.
Doris Burke, who spent last season on the lead crew, has agreed to a multi-year contract extension. She will continue to work marquee games on ESPN and ABC—including the “NBA Sunday Showcase” series—teaming primarily with play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch. Burke’s ESPN tenure now spans more than 35 years; she first covered basketball for the network in 1991 and has been assigned to 17 NBA Finals (six as a game analyst for ABC or ESPN Radio and 11 as a sideline reporter).
The shake-up comes as the NBA’s new rights deal brings NBC, Peacock and Amazon Prime Video into the fold, joining ESPN and ABC. With nationally televised games scheduled every night of the week, networks are assembling larger rosters of commentators to meet the expanded demand.
Source: Lakers Nation
