Just about the only thing NBA viewers and critics could agree on over the last few weeks was that ABC/ESPN’s TV coverage of the 2025 NBA Finals was uneven and needs fine-tuning.
While some saw it as a knee-jerk reaction, I loved the fact that ESPN and the league listened to the suggestions from NBA Twitter. To reclaim the pageantry of the Finals, they brought back pregame player introductions and NBA Finals decals on the court. But more needs to be done.
Here are seven changes that ESPN and the league can make to improve NBA Finals coverage and regain the “big event” feel every Finals game telecast should have:
1. Switch to a Two-Person Booth
Similar to the Highlander universe, there should only be one ESPN game analyst calling the Finals with play-by-play announcer Mike Breen. If ESPN chooses to go with the pioneering Doris Burke, I’m great with that. If they prefer up-and-coming Richard Jefferson, that works as well. But pick one already. There’s a reason why two-person broadcast booths are the norm in sports TV. The dynamic between one announcer and one analyst works better. They sound better. The chemistry’s better. ESPN’s been searching for an answer since firing Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson in 2023. JJ Redick and Doc Rivers left for coaching jobs. Rather than giving Burke the sole commentator mic, ESPN compromised and added Jefferson. Individually, all three had their moments this postseason. But as a team, they lack chemistry. It’s time to stop kicking the can down the road and make a decision: Choose between Burke and Jefferson—or hire a new star just off the court like Draymond Green once one becomes available. Don’t forget, during the two seasons in which Jackson left to coach the Warriors, Breen and Van Gundy excelled in a two-person booth. As Breen told Richard Deitsch of The Athletic: “I don’t think people understand how difficult it is to find that chemistry. It’s hard in a two-person booth; it’s harder in a three-person booth.”
2. Lean In to Inside the NBA
I think ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro pulled off one of the savviest sports-media deals of the decade when he traded a package of Big 12 college football and basketball games for licensing rights to the greatest studio show on TV. Now get out of the way and let Charles Barkley & Co. cook. My sources tell me ESPN will take a hands-off approach—and air the type of extensive postgame shows that make Inside the NBA so appealing. Put NBA Countdown on the bench and lean in to the talents of Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson next June. Even NBA Countdown stars hailed their coming Sunday night. “And with gratitude and admiration, we welcome ‘Inside the NBA’ in next season,” said host Malika Andrews. “Yes, we do,” agreed Stephen A. Smith.
3. Better Pregame Setups
Just watch how NBC’s Bob Costas sets the stage for Game 1 of the 1993 NBA Finals between Michael Jordan’s Bulls and Barkley’s Suns. That’s how you tee up sports history. If I’m ESPN, I’d try to re-create some of the magic from NBC’s “Roundball Rock” Golden Age in the 1990s. Especially since NBC will be back in the NBA game itself this fall. Andrews tried it last night with a Game 7 intro. The perfect guy for the Costas role would be Breen, wrote Sports Media Watch on X/Twitter. “ESPN/ABC always does one thing really well every NBA season—Breen’s end-of-Finals recap. I believe he performs it live. It’s always well written and well-produced. Just makes it extra bizarre that they don’t have Breen do any pregame teases.”
4. Cut Down on Distractions
Between the NBA, NFL, and MLB, The Association is the only league that allows player trades during its marquee event. During this year’s Finals, fans probably spent as much time discussing the Grizzlies trading Desmond Bane to the Magic and the record $10 billion valuation of the Lakers as they did talking about the seven-game Thunder-Pacers series. The distractions only continued on Sunday with superstar Kevin Durant’s trade to the Rockets. As Rob “World Wide Wob” Perez noted on X: “Game 7 of the NBA Finals tonight and the entire day/pregame show is going to be spent discussing a blockbuster trade. Pull this shit during the Super Bowl and Roger Goodell would exile you like Napoleon.”
5. Show the U.S. Anthem Before Every Finals Game
Due to commercial constraints, the NFL doesn’t show the playing of the U.S. national anthem before regular-season game telecasts. But it does during big games, and it’s a highly anticipated part of the prelude to the Super Bowl. Why can’t the NBA do the same thing? Before Game 7, ESPN showed the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” for the only time in the entire series. “Suddenly Game 7 felt even bigger,” noted one TV executive as he watched Kristin Chenoweth belt out the anthem. ESPN also added player introductions before Game 5, then continued the practice for the rest of the series. Focusing on the faces of players and coaches as they face their moment of truth emphasizes they’re on the biggest stage of all.
6. More Player Storytelling
I like the proposal by Logan Murdock of The Ringer that NBA media partners need to do more storytelling around less-established stars not named LeBron James or Steph Curry. What happens when these two aging legends don’t make the Finals? You’re stuck playing catchup with viewers who know little to nothing about the young stars they’re watching. If anything, NBA coverage focuses more on player transactions than up-and-coming players themselves, Murdock told Bryan Curtis on the Press Box podcast. “It’s legitimately exciting to watch these Finals and see this new crop of guys. But it doesn’t seem like the NBA is invested in educating us on who these new guys are,” said Murdock.
7. Push Back the Date of the NBA Draft
Why does the NBA hold the draft only days after the end of the Finals? “Can’t we push this back till July?” one executive posited to Front Office Sports. “The NFL waits more than two months until after the Super Bowl to hold their draft.”
