1. ESPN made its surprising change to its lead NBA booth official Monday, announcing that Doc Rivers and Doris Burke will replace Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, working alongside with Mike Breen this season. Breen, Van Gundy and Jackson had called 15 NBA Finals together.
The network also announced that Malika Andrews will take over as host of NBA Countdown, a role that Mike Greenberg has filled the past three seasons.
In a significant piece of news, ESPN also announced that play-by-play man Ryan Ruocco and analysts. JJ Redick and Richard Jefferson have been elevated to the network’s No. 2 NBA booth. Mark Jones and Burke made up the No. 2 crew last season.
I had opined in a recent SI Media Mailbag that I believe ESPN is grooming Redick for the lead booth once Doc Rivers inevitably returns to coaching in the next two or three years. I now believe that more than ever.
I also said in early 2022 that ESPN should pair Redick and Jefferson, but I don’t want to toot my own horn too much and make this about me.
Free NBA ManningCast idea for ESPN: @stephenasmith @jj_redick and @Rjeff24. No guests. Just let them do their thing. Would be guaranteed entertainment.
— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) April 19, 2022
Jones and Dave Pasch will return to call games for ESPN in 2023–24 and each will work with the legendary Hubie Brown.
In a piece of broadcasting awesomeness, ESPN has reached a contract extension with the 89-year-old Brown, who will be in his 20th season at ESPN and his 50th season in the NBA.
2. I’ve been wondering how motivated the Chiefs will be this season after winning the Super Bowl last year. Based on Patrick Mahomes’s reaction to quarterback Shane Buechele pulling off a vintage Mahomes play in Sunday’s preseason game against the Saints, it seems the Chiefs are very motivated.
Patrick Mahomes is loving preseason football right now 😅
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) August 13, 2023
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/sLz8Hbm4ea
3. The Saints ended up winning that game against the Chiefs thanks to rookie Blake Grupe nailing a game-winning field goal.
SAINTS WIN!!!
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 13, 2023
Blake Grupe kicks a 31-yd FG to give the #Saints a 26-24 win vs the Chiefs pic.twitter.com/D4wmjQC8ix
As he detailed on Twitter, Grupe had quite the adventurous day Sunday.
Step 1: get questioned walking onto the field pregame for not having credentials
— Blake Grupe (@blakegrupe) August 13, 2023
Step 2: hit a game winner
Step 3: get stopped by security thinking I was a fan when trying to walk out the player exit
Stay humble. Thankful. Great team win! @Saints #WHODAT
4. Social media was ablaze Monday morning because James Harden called Sixers GM Daryl Morey a liar.
James Harden: “Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of. Let me say that again: Daryl Morey is a liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he’s a part of.” pic.twitter.com/AmHJ0WwbF2
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 14, 2023
We’ve gotten so soft that people think this is so over-the-top. I’m old enough to remember when Yankees manager Billy Martin once said of Reggie Jackson and George Steinbrenner, “The two of them deserve each other. One’s a born liar, the other’s convicted.”
5. I had one thought when I saw this amusing tweet from Tom Brady over the weekend: How does Tommy not get front row seats?
This is the most “dad takes his daughter and her friends to a concert” picture ever taken 😂😂😂 https://t.co/L8Z3iI9qCs
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) August 12, 2023
6. The SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast took a break last week, but we’ll be back this Thursday with a new episode. In the meantime, use this downtime as an opportunity to catch up on some of our best summer episodes in case you missed them.
• Chris “Mad Dog” Russo
• Scott Van Pelt
• Adam Schein
• Pat McAfee
