Mike Breen is sad. It’s understandable. After calling fifteen NBA Finals alongside Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, the team has been broken up.
“You don’t expect it, because it was such a great team and to have it completely broken up was a surprise,” he told Andrew Marchand following ESPN’s decision to cut Jackson with two years left on his contract. The move came weeks after Van Gundy had been let go as part of ESPN’s talent layoffs.
It has been reported that ESPN will partner Breen with Doris Burke and Doc Rivers as its new top play-by-play crew for the NBA. He declined to comment 0n the rumors.
Instead, he wants to shine the spotlight on Van Gundy and Jackson. He calls them his brothers, noting that they have known each other dating back to the 90s when Van Gundy was coaching Jackson as a member of the New York Knicks and Breen was calling the team’s games on the radio.
“Now, we’re going to be friends until the day we die. Those guys taught me so much about what I know about the NBA,” he said. “I’ve learned more from those two than anybody. But they’ve also taught me about stuff that has nothing to do with basketball. I look up to both of them because not just their talents as broadcasters, but the kind of men they are. I just feel so privileged to have that time.”
He added that the way Van Gundy and Jackson have handled news of their dismissals have been particularly inspiring. He highlighted how genuine the note that Mark Jackson posted on social media was and added that Van Gundy, who is not on social media, has been just as gracious in private.
“They were the dream partners,” Breen said. “All the accomplishments were because of what we did together. I really do feel personally any success I had was because I had those two guys next to me. They just provided everything you would want in analysts. They’re smart. They’re funny. They’re knowledgeable about their sport. They’re opinionated. They love their sport, but are not afraid to criticize. They just had a little bit of everything.”
