No one can say for sure yet what the ABC broadcast table will look like for Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Richard Deitsch of The Athletic writes that there is concern Mike Breen, who missed Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals after testing positive for Covid-19, will not be ready to return to work.
“Breen was showing no symptoms early in the week,” Deitsch wrote. “Tests are going on as of this writing and there is a very good possibility that Game 1 won’t have all of the regular on-air crew.”
Paulsen of Sports Media Watch added some speculation to the report. He noted that analyst Jeff Van Gundy “sounded under the weather during the actual game broadcast” of Game 7.
The NBA Finals are set to tip-off on Thursday night. ESPN turned to Mark Jones to call the action in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. It is probably safe to assume that he would be the favorite if Breen is unavailable.
A solution would be a little less obvious if it were Jeff Van Gundy that was out. ABC could go with a two-person broadcast or perhaps elevate Doris Burke from the ESPN Radio crew to call the game on TV.
