Tim Legler replaces Doris Burke on ESPN’s lead NBA team; Burke inks contract extension
- Share via
See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred
ESPN announced some changes Thursday for its NBA broadcast teams going into the 2025-26 season — among them, a promotion for Tim Legler and a contract extension (but also a demotion) for Doris Burke.
Legler will join the network’s lead NBA crew, which also includes play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, fellow analyst Richard Jefferson and reporter Lisa Salters.
That team will call the 2026 NBA Finals on ABC, as well as the conference finals, several first- and second-round playoff games, a Christmas Day game and NBA Saturday Primetime games on ABC.
Legler is a former NBA journeyman who won the league’s three-point shooting contest during the 1996 All-Star festivities. He retired as a player in 2000 and joined ESPN as an analyst the same year.
Charles Barkley said that he and the rest of the ‘Inside the NBA’ crew taped a ‘pilot’ for a similar show that would run on TNT. ESPN has licensed ‘Inside the NBA’ starting next season.
ESPN did not provide details on Burke’s contract extension, other than to say it is for multiple years. According to a press release, Burke will call “full slates of games throughout the regular season and the NBA playoffs” on ESPN and ABC with play-by-play announcer Dave Pasch.
Burke has been with ESPN since 1991 and joined the network’s lead NBA broadcast team in 2023. When she called the 2024 NBA Finals, she became the first woman to serve as a TV game analyst for a championship-round game in one of the four major professional U.S. men’s sports leagues.
In 2018, Burke received the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s Curt Gowdy Media Award for outstanding contributions to basketball.
Columnist Bill Plaschke didn’t score the most victories during his run on ESPN’s “Around the Horn,” but he did win a second family and ardent fans.
The news that Burke’s future with the lead NBA team was up in the air was first reported by The Athletic in June ahead of the 2025 Finals. Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle spoke in support of Burke during his news conference before Game 1.
“She’s changed the game for women in broadcasting,” Carlisle said. “Doris is a great example of courage and putting herself out there.”
Also on Thursday, ESPN announced a multi-year extension for Jefferson, who has been with the network since 2019 and called his first NBA Finals this year.
More to Read
