Former NBA forward Richard Jefferson has been named to the lead broadcast team for the NBA on ESPN, aligning him to call the NBA Finals, Western Conference Finals and other playoff and regular-season matchups alongside Mike Breen, Doris Burke and Lisa Salters. Jefferson has been an analyst at ESPN for parts of the last six years and has appeared on studio programming and various live game broadcasts throughout the company portfolio. The promotion ends a state of ambiguity regarding the NBA Finals broadcast team on ABC; however, the arrangement could reportedly end up being somewhat ephemeral, according to a report from Andrew Marchand of The Athletic.
Amazon’s Prime Video reportedly has interest in Jefferson to become a member of its lead commentary team, which is said to include play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle. In addition to his role with ESPN, Jefferson has also called several Brooklyn Nets games alongside Eagle for many years, fostering chemistry and relatability on the airwaves. The company also reportedly has interest in Dwyane Wade and Stan Van Gundy in analyst roles, although no deals in this regard have been revealed. Amazon has announced that its NBA studio team will consist of Taylor Rooks as the host with Carmelo Anthony and Dirk Nowitzki in analyst positions.
Ahead of a new 11-year media rights deal with the NBA, the lead commentary team for live game broadcasts on ESPN platforms has gone through several iterations. Following the departures of Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy from the network, the company elevated Burke and hired Doc Rivers to pair with Breen on the broadcasts.
When Rivers left to become head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, it promoted former NBA shooting guard JJ Redick to the position, and he called the NBA Finals last June. Since Redick moved on to become head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN had been utilizing several analysts to work with Breen and Burke, including Jay Bilas and Tim Legler, while also shuffling its NBA studio team and sublicensing Inside the NBA.
Under the forthcoming rights agreement, ESPN will continue presenting the NBA Finals on ABC, maintaining a broadcast institution that has been on the Disney-owned broadcast entity since 2003. The network will also receive media rights to one of two Conference Finals series for 10 of the 11 years in the deal. All games on ESPN and ABC are also going to be available on the ESPN Flagship direct-to-consumer service, which is expected to launch later in the year.
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