Mike Breen Thinks NBA Broadcasts Talk Big Picture Too Much And Don’t ‘Stick With The Game’

Mike Breen was the latest guest on “The Old Man & The Three,” the podcast hosted by retired NBA sharpshooter and current ESPN personality JJ Redick. Now one of the Worldwide Leader’s top pundits and in-game analysts, Redick told a story about a production meeting where he got a good piece of advice from the Hall of Fame broadcaster about the importance of staying focused on the game if it gets out of hand.

“We get towards the end of the call, and I say, ‘Hey, on the big picture stuff, what’re your guys thoughts? Here’s some general ideas I have,’” Redick recalled saying. “And Mike quickly interjects: ‘Yeah, no, I don’t want this to turn into a talk show.’”

As Breen explained, while “the big picture stuff is great,” there is an entire basketball game happening.

“You still have to respect what’s out on the floor in front of you,” Breen said. “And especially the viewers who are watching. Because at that point, a lot of the only people who are watching still care about their team, and they want to know the 11th guy on the team who’s getting a run, what you think about him, talk about him, because they’ve been tweeting how they want him to play more minutes.

“So, it’s a balance, especially for me with working with Mark and Jeff,” Breen continued. “Cause they are great with big picture stuff, and most people are, it’s fun to talk about. But you have to still respect the game that’s going on, I sometimes think we get away from that too much and not stick with the game.”

Breen is one of the best in the business for plenty of reasons, and the respect that he has for the game is certainly high up on the list.