They’re names are synonymous with the NBA and basketball in general. Now it’s their voices that make you think of big games in the NBA on both ABC and ESPN. Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy bring their knowledge of the game and personalities to the top announcing team alongside the new Hall of Famer, Mike Breen. The crew is getting ready to call the NBA Playoffs.
Each of the analysts grew up around basketball and were bitten with the bug early in life. Each played high school and college basketball. Jackson with a little more success than Van Gundy in the playing department, but they were each able to parlay their respective successes into coaching jobs and top broadcasting gigs.
Van Gundy grew up in California but played his high school ball in New York. As a high-school point guard, Van Gundy was a two-time All Greater Rochester selection in 1979 and 1980, leading Brockport Central to the Class AA finals. He continued his basketball playing career at Nazareth College, where he earned All-American honors, while leading the Golden Flyers to an NCAA Division III Tournament berth in 1984. Van Gundy then attended Yale University, where he was a classmate with 2-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster.
Jackson was born in Brooklyn, NY. He was regarded as one of the nation’s elite point guard prospects while attending Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School in Brooklyn. Jackson gained a reputation as a street baller in New York and a college hoops star at St. John’s University. While at St. John’s, he played alongside Olympian and NBA All-Star Chris Mullin for two seasons. He credits Mullin with teaching him the importance of rigorous practice work in the gym.
NBA CREDENTIALS
Both left their mark on the NBA. Van Gundy as a head coach with the Knicks and Rockets. In a career that spanned 11 years and 748 games, he went 430-318, making the playoffs 9 times, reaching the NBA Finals in 1998-99, losing to the Spurs 4 games to 1. After getting fired from the Houston job in 2007, he joined ESPN as a guest analyst and has been with the network ever since.
Jackson was drafted in the first round (#18 overall) by the Knicks in the 1987 NBA Draft. In a 17-year career he played for the Knicks (twice), Clippers, Pacers (twice), Nuggets, Raptors, Jazz and Rockets. Jackson was an All-Star in 1989, led the NBA in assists and assists per game in 1996-97. For his career Jackson averaged just under 10 points a game and 8 assists per contest. He spent 3 seasons as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, going to the playoffs in all but his first year. After he was fired after the 2014 season, Jackson returned to ESPN/ABC to rejoin Breen and Van Gundy.
BROADCASTING
I’m not usually a fan of the three-man booth. Sometimes too many cooks make for a bad broadcast. There are some exceptions along the way, and this group is one of them. The elements are all there, two well versed NBA analysts and a now Hall of Fame broadcaster. Just because all the ingredients are in place, it’s got to fit together or the food is still spoiled and tastes horrible. There is a chemistry between the three, it’s pretty much evident in every broadcast. There is a unique bond between the two analysts as well.
The banter and comradery between them go back to when all three were with the Knicks. Because of their familiarity, the disagreements at times could sound heated on the air. But what you have to understand is that friends can take these liberties with each other and know exactly where that line is, and never cross it.
“I think because Mark took me under his wing early on, taught me a lot about the NBA, this deep friendship developed, that we can be honest with each other, we can disagree without being disagreeable,” Van Gundy told the Associated Press in 2019. “We’re real fortunate that we can talk honestly and not feel inhibited that we may be hurting each other’s feelings.” Jackson knows that too, Jackson knows that too, and told the AP “The same thing I would say at dinner, I would say courtside.”
Personalities such as these need to be big and bold. Neither of the analysts went to school to broadcast, so it’s been a work in progress for both. Van Gundy may be just 5 foot 9, but his presence is much larger. It’s come to be that NBA fans realize it’s a game of magnitude when he and Jackson join Breen on the call. Van Gundy has opinions and you will hear them during the game, that’s for sure. Sometimes it’s based on what he’s seeing in front of him, and sometimes it has nothing to do with the game at all. Van Gundy is not a fan of the modern statistics that have taken over sports in general, which doesn’t sit well with every fan. He also has a propensity to side with a coach when it comes to a margin call. But why wouldn’t he?
Jackson is the guy that seems to egg Van Gundy on, encouraging him to continue whatever rant he may be on. Especially when it comes to things non-basketball related. But at the end of the day, Jackson brings a perspective to the proceedings. Having been a point-guard of note, there’s things he sees, that others may not. His play-by-play guy, Breen verbalized it better. “He sees the game like very few others,” Breen said to the Associated Press in 2019. “When he was a player, he had great court awareness. When he came back from coaching it gave him a different perspective and the ability to show what was going on with 10 players on the court.”
The two men play off each other well, they seem to balance one another out. Calling each other out on things and eventually getting back to the game they’re watching. They’ve been known to take things on a tangent or three during a game, which kind of leaves Breen to fend for himself. Having to try and bring the game back to the action, is not always easy. But that’s the job of the play-by-play guy for better or for worse. Van Gundy is usually the one that needs a little more reeling in, but what’s a guy to do?
“First off, I have no control to stop him,” Breen said to the USA Today. “I will fully admit that there have been many times when I’ve lost complete control of the broadcast or telecast. He [Van Gundy] loves to have fun. He loves to entertain himself, he loves to entertain me and Mark and he loves to entertain the audience”, said Breen. “So, he knows what he’s doing. And he knows when it’s time to concentrate on basketball. He has such a respect and love of the game that he knows when it’s time. And when one team’s up 35, that’s not the time.”
CONCLUSION
The duo of color commentators isn’t everyone’s cup of coffee. Some have compared them to Statler and Waldorf, the Muppets that sit in the balcony and offer up grumpy opinions and heckle the rest of the cast. There is some grumpiness in the analysis and on occasion there’s a heckle or two. If you are a basketball fan, there is a way to look/listen beyond the extraneous observations and appreciate the information.
The broadcast does offer a nice balance. Jackson and Van Gundy “police” themselves if you will and Breen has an incredible way of actually bringing it back to the action. It works, in a unique way. Sometimes you have to be able to read between the lines. But, after all, in the television world it’s all about entertainment, right? Whether you like them or not, you talk about them and tune in to watch. That’s a win for the broadcast.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
