Grant Hill, Richard Jefferson, Tim Legler and Jay Bilas are atop ABC/ESPN’s list to join Mike Breen and Doris Burke as part of its top broadcast crew for the NBA Finals, sources briefed on the network’s plans said Friday.
While ESPN could choose to stay with a two-person booth of Breen and Burke, ideally they would like to create a three-person setup for the long run.
When reached, ESPN declined to comment.
The network’s lead NBA broadcast team has been in flux for more than a year after ESPN decided to fire their long-running Finals analyst Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson as part of last summer’s layoffs.
They first added Doc Rivers and elevated Burke to join Breen. After months of service at the network, Rivers broke his promise to remain with ESPN when he took the Milwaukee Bucks’ head-coach job.
ESPN then turned to JJ Redick, who has been a rising media star as a podcaster, studio analyst and then on games. After the Finals, he left ESPN to become the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Those departures had ESPN considering two other former Duke stars. Hill, 51, is currently under contract with TNT Sports, where he is on the lead Final Four team with Ian Eagle and Bill Raftery. Hill also does broadcast work on NBA games and has several outside business interests.
Bilas, 60, would be a bit of an outside-the-box choice. While he is ESPN’s top college basketball commentator and works the NBA Draft, he never played in the league. Although he has been considered over recent weeks, one source briefed on the ESPN internal discussions described Bilas as a longshot.
Jefferson, 44, was passed over in favor of Redick last year. The executive previously in charge of ESPN’s NBA coverage, David Roberts, had anointed Ryan Ruocco, Jefferson and Redick as the potential Finals trio of the future.
Roberts is no longer overseeing the NBA after network president of content Burke Magnus’ recent reorganization placed longtime ESPN producer Mike McQuade in charge of the network’s coverage of the league.
Legler, 57, has been an ESPN stalwart for decades. Often overlooked, he has been given more recognition in recent years and has been a longtime favorite of Scott Van Pelt, featured on his late-night SportsCenter.
ESPN could just stand pat and see how Breen and the trailblazing Burke work as a duo before possibly adding a third person.
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(Photo of Grant Hill: Kirby Lee / USA Today)
