Sports Analyst Doris Burke Set To Be The First Woman To Call NBA Finals

US sports announcer and analyst Doris Burke will soon become the first ever woman to call the conference and NBA (National Basketball Association) Finals for ESPN Radio this month.

There are two conferences that make up the NBA league; namely Eastern and Western Conference. Each conference is further divided into three divisions, and each division has five teams. So in total, there are fifteen teams in both conferences at NBA, the winners from each, face-off in the finals.

“Doris is a trailblazer who continues to reimagine what is possible for women in broadcasting and we know she will thrive in this history making radio analyst role,” said Stephanie Druley, ESPN’s executive vice president of event and studio production.

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About Doris Burke

Earlier in 2017, Doris Burke became the first woman to serve as a full-time network NBA game analyst. Having been part of ESPN’s coverage since the time the TV network resumed televising the NBA back in 2003, she has been part of the crew who were reporting the finals since 2009. Burke was a sideline reporter then.

Doris will be joining fellow analysts Jon Barry and Marc Kestecher when the NBA Finals conference airs.

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NBA Playoffs coverage

As per reports, ESPN sports journalist Rachel Nicholas is to serve as the sideline reporter for the same finals. In addition to this, she will continue to host ‘The Jump’, from the ‘NBA bubble’ in Florida. Rachel will also host the trophy presentation that has to take place at the end of the finals.

The schedule for the season had to be changed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic with USA being the worst affected country. The plan was that ‘The Jump’ would also serve as the pregame show during the NBA Finals.

As of now, ‘NBA Countdown’ will be hosted as the pregame and also the halftime show. This will be hosted by Maria Taylor from ESPN’s studio in New York. The others who would join her are Stephen A. Smith, Jalen Rose, Jay Williams, Adrian Wojnarowski and Paul Pierce.

“We are so proud of our deep, diverse roster of women leading our NBA Playoffs coverage and we are grateful to them for their leadership and exemplary work,” program president Durley added.

Image Credit: Twitter

Shikha Chandra is an inter with SheThePeople.TV.