For the last seventeen years, NBA fans could count on hearing “BANG!” during the NBA Finals. Mike Breen and his iconic call are back now, but he did miss the first two games of the series in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19.
On Friday, he joined Pablo Torre on the ESPN Daily podcast. He revealed that 2005 was the last time he was able to watch an NBA Finals game on television.
“I’ve always appreciated the privilege and responsibility of calling Finals games, but that appreciation skyrocketed watching the first two games,” Breen said.
Mike Breen did say he felt some frustration. It may have been easier to accept that he couldn’t be courtside if he was struggling with his health, but he felt fine.
“I was one of those that had no symptoms and kept testing positive, which is probably more frustrating than the alternative, but it’s probably a little easier to go through than the alternative.”
It wasn’t all bad. Breen said he got a lot of joy out of seeing his friend Mike Jones step into the spotlight and call the NBA Finals on ABC for the first time. Jones usually calls the championship series for ESPN Radio.
He also enjoyed being able to watch the games as a fan for the first time in decades.
“On a great play, I’m yelling. On a call I question, I’m looking at it. That stuff will never leave you.”
