JJ Redick is the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, as the long rumored top candidate (minus a brief detour chasing Dan Hurley of UConn) landed the L.A. gig on a new 4-year deal.
Redick taking over the Lakers means there is, once again, a vacancy in ESPN’s lead NBA broadcast booth. After having one of the most stable broadcast teams in sports — as Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson had been together for more than a decade (2007-2024, with Jackson being gone for three years coaching in the middle) — ESPN shook it up last year by firing Jackson and Van Gundy. They replaced that duo by elevating Doris Burke to the lead crew and hiring Doc Rivers, who lasted a few months before leaving to coach the Milwaukee Bucks. Redick was moved off the No. 2 crew and into the lead booth alongside Burke and Breen in response.
Having already let go two longtime analysts and seeing two more leave for coaching jobs, ESPN is likely going to need to make some hires this summer. Whether that’s for the lead team or to fill out their regular season game coverage, some fresh faces are likely to come to the Worldwide Leader. While instability in the top booth isn’t ideal, ESPN could use to shake things up a bit with its Finals presentation, and this should give them a chance to rethink their production, not just at the broadcast team level.
With regard to replacing Redick, there are a few options for ESPN, and here we’ll run through each and the names that we think should be on their wish list.
Go With Mike Breen And Doris Burke For A Year, Then Explore TNT Options
The timing on all of this is just shy of ideal for ESPN, because we are one year away from an awful lot of very talented NBA TV people potentially being on the market. There will be competition for big names from NBC and Amazon, but if TNT does in fact lose out on NBA rights, their broadcast teams will all be available going into the 2025-26 season. Beyond that, giving Breen and Burke a year to just do their thing wouldn’t hamper the product at all, and if I were ESPN, I’d rather wait until I can explore all of my options rather than rushing into a hire or elevating someone for just one year and having to reset things again. Not everyone from TNT will be on the board for ESPN (for example, Stan Van Gundy’s probably not going to the network that fired his brother), but in a year, they’ll have a chance to really add some talent to their NBA roster.
Reggie Miller
Some people would be mad about this, but Miller is a big name, has a ton of experience calling games, and would bring some needed juice and energy to ESPN’s lead booth. I think Miller and Burke would make for a terrific dynamic, as Miller would bring out more of Burke’s personality and feed off of Breen’s excitement in big moments in a way that I feel the booth was lacking, while Doris can still flex her tremendous basketball knowledge. While I think it would work, I also don’t foresee Miller at ESPN. My best guess is that Miller is going to end up wherever Kevin Harlan goes, either to NBC or Amazon, as something of a package deal to immediately bring a known commodity to either of those network’s top broadcast team.
Jamal Crawford
Whether it’s for game broadcasts or NBA Countdown, Crawford should be getting a full-court press from ESPN over the next year. He is fantastic in studio, and while he’s still not the most polished on game broadcasts, you can see how he could be really good with more reps. I think he needs to get a tad more comfortable letting his personality shine while calling games, but once he gets there, he’d be a very good fit with Burke and Breen, because the basketball knowledge and ability to discuss the game is terrific.
Candace Parker
Parker is similar to Crawford in a lot of ways, to me. She has more experience in studio than on games, but is fantastic breaking down the game and, when she’s comfortable letting her personality shine, has a lot of fun talking ball. I’m not sure Parker wants to be on a regular game broadcast team — she has a ton going on beyond her TV work — but if nothing else, she’s someone ESPN should pursue for a role of some kind.
Jim Jackson
I would be surprised if Jackson got the call for the main booth, but I mostly want to list him here because I really like him whenever he calls NBA games (he spends much of his year doing college hoops, where he is also very good). I would like to see him get a regular NBA gig, if he’d like one, and ESPN will have some vacancies this year even below that top booth — for example, I think Jackson and Richard Jefferson would be great together.
Promote Internally
This is how they proceeded when Rivers left, but as noted, the cupboard is a little bare with options for the lead broadcast team. Beyond the legendary Hubie Brown (who will turn 91 before next season starts), they do not have many game analysts with a lot of reps doing NBA games. As such, in my eyes, there are only two real possibilities for an internal move to the lead booth, although there are plenty of candidates to get more regular season assignments next season.
Richard Jefferson
Jefferson was on the No. 2 team with Redick before becoming the lone analyst alongside Ryan Ruocco when Redick got bumped up. I personally think Jefferson is similar to Miller in that he’s best as part of a three-person team, particularly alongside someone with a more analytical approach, and he’d have that next to Burke. Jefferson brings a terrific sense of humor to the broadcast, as well as plenty of great stories and anecdotes from his time as a player, while also being capable of breaking down the game at a high level — especially when bouncing it off of another analyst.
Tim Legler
The other option is Legler, who has limited game analyst experience but is a veteran on the TV side and is one of the best there is at breaking down the game. He got some chances doing games last year and was quite good, and while I think the dynamic might be similar to the Burke-Redick duo that lacked a touch of juice, I do think Legler is able to be a bit more excitable and bring some of that energy and juice to the booth. Personally, I’d move Legler into a more prominent studio role where he has more time for breakdowns, but in terms of TV experience and just being very good at his job, I think he’d be solid in the lead booth.
Chase A Recently Retired Player
The third option is to go after someone who is off the board. In the NBA, big stars typically land in studio after their careers, but networks love chasing big NFL names to get them in the broadcast booth — Tom Brady is the best recent example. In this case, it won’t be a name of that stature (or, honestly, really close to that), but there are a couple of names out there that could be intriguing.
Blake Griffin
There aren’t a lot of recently retired guys that jump out as obvious choices for TV work, but of the group that’s hung up their sneakers recently, the guy I’d be calling if I were ESPN would be Blake Griffin. We know Griffin is an incredibly engaging personality, and I think in a booth with Breen and Burke, he could shine in that role while easing into the nuances of breaking down the game itself in short bursts on a broadcast. I have no idea if Griffin has any interest in a sports TV career, but I’d at least check to see if he’d be interested.
Andre Iguodala
Iguodala hosts a podcast and has done guest spots in studio, and his incredible basketball IQ seems like it would transition well to calling games. He’s also not afraid to be real in his commentary and critiques of guys, and that kind of honesty is always welcome on a game broadcast. Whether he’s the type of personality to put with Breen and Burke, ESPN might need to do some tests to see, but I could see him being very good in the booth.
Dwyane Wade
Wade is going to be calling the Olympics for NBC this summer, and we don’t know if the Hall of Famer is going to be looking to return to the broadcasting world full time. Wade did studio work for TNT for a year before exiting the Tuesday night crew, and if he didn’t want to commit to a full season of studio shows, it’s hard to imagine he’ll want to be on the road calling games. Perhaps he’ll love doing games in Paris and decide he’d be interested in making that his next career move, and if so, both NBC and ESPN would likely have interest there.