Rick Carlisle defends Doris Burke amid ESPN demotion rumors, laments leaked reports ahead of NBA Finals
OKLAHOMA CITY – Rick Carlisle reserved the opening comments of his NBA Finals pre-Game 1 news conference Thursday to praise and support longtime ESPN basketball commentator Doris Burke, amid suggestions she could be moved off the network's NBA Finals coverage next season.
Earlier this week, The Athletic reported Burke, who has been with ESPN since 1991, could be removed from the three-person Finals broadcast team. She will commentate on these Finals alongside play-by-play announcer Mike Breen and fellow analyst Richard Jefferson.
In The Athletic, reporter Andrew Marchand reported ESPN could consider the possibility of moving Burke back into a two-person booth, as opposed to the three-person setup used in the Finals.
Burke was promoted to ESPN's lead NBA broadcast team two years ago, becoming the first woman to work as a television analyst for a major men's American sports championship.
'She's changed the game for women in broadcasting,' Carlisle said. 'Doris is a great example of courage and putting herself out there. It was just so sad to see these reports leaked, really, unnecessarily, before such a celebrated event.'
Carlisle, himself an elder statesman in the NBA's coaching ranks and the president of the National Basketball Coaches Association, used his own daughter as an example of the way Burke has empowered women through her professional career.
He also cited more than a half-dozen women working in NBA television media Burke has inspired during her career.
'Doris is a friend,' Carlisle said. 'I've asked her many times, 'Why don't you get into coaching?' because she has such great knowledge. There are many women who she's paved the way for.'
Marchand's report suggested no firm decisions have been made for ESPN's Finals team moving forward. Burke will remain on the mic for the entirety of Indiana-Oklahoma City.
Carlisle left little doubt Thursday what he thinks should happen moving forward.
'I don't know what's going to happen with all that stuff, but I just want to say thank you to Doris for the example she has put forth for young women like my daughter. She has changed the game. That's the reason she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame a couple years ago.'
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