Mike Breen is currently the dean of telecasts for the NBA Finals – and he’s about to step into rare airspace.
ABC/ESPN anchor will reach another milestone Monday night in Game 5 of the Denver-Miami series. It will be Brin’s 100th NBA Finals, making him the third basketball broadcaster on radio or television to reach that milestone. He will be the sixth American to break the mark, including a World Series and a Stanley Cup Final.
Brin missed the first two games of last year’s series due to COVID, which briefly delayed him from reaching the century mark.
“I knew how many years I’d been in the Finals, but I’d never made it in an exact number of games,” said Brin, who called his series his 18th championship. “I would never say 100. For some reason, hearing that number came as a surprise to me, not something even in my wildest dreams I thought I could achieve.
“I consider it an honor to reach that mark of which I have been able to do so much.”
Joe Buck has performed in 135 World Series appearances for Fox, and Mike “Doc” Emrick has been on the microphone in 110 Stanley Cup Final contests on ESPN, Versus, NBC and NBCSN.
When radio is included, Brin is just the third to reach 100 NBA Finals appearances, joining legendary Lakers Chick Hearn (121) and Boston’s Jonny Most (103). In baseball, Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully has presented 126 World Series games on radio and television.
The ultimate test of a broadcaster’s longevity is reaching the century mark in baseball, hockey or basketball.
This is the 21st consecutive NBA Finals for ABC/ESPN. Before ABC/ESPN took over the broadcast rights, the Finals were on NBC for 12 seasons (1991-2002) and 17 on CBS (1974-90). Prior to Brain’s run, CBS’s Dick Stockton and NBC’s Marv Albert shared the television record with nine Finals.
Brain’s rise to prominence—along with his signature “Bang!” A call when a player knocks a three-pointer – began in 1991 when he was hired as the New York Knicks radio announcer before moving to television seven years later. He played some games for NBC for five seasons and then joined ESPN in 2003.
Brin was under contract with NBC for another year after losing the rights to the NBA. He joined ESPN in 2003 and became the NBA’s Top Voice in 2006 after Mike Tirico moved to “Monday Night Football”.
“I just called[ESPN EVP Mark Shapiro]. He asked why I hadn’t called him before. He hired me right away,” Brin said. “After NBC lost the NBA, I was so frustrated because I wanted to play the NBA. When Mark hired me, I had to play a whole bunch of games and I came back.”
Coincidentally, Brin’s first NBA Finals in 2006 was the debut for the Miami Heat. This is the seventh time Brain has called a Championship Series involving Heat.
Brin called up the 2006 Finals with Hobie Brown, but the last 17 was with Jeff Van Gundy at his side. Add Mark Jackson, and this is the 15th time the trio has made it to the NBA Finals together.
Before they came to ABC/ESPN, Brin had a relationship with Jackson and Van Gundy from their days with the Knicks.
“To start my broadcasting career in the NBA with the team where Jeff was an assistant coach and Mark a player, the foundation of friendship was built early,” Brin said. “To have that comfort level on the air and to know and trust that your partners, no matter what you throw at them, will be able to handle and handle it makes my job a lot easier.”
His job has been more challenging this year. His home and family on Long Island was completely destroyed by a fire last October. Brin said that in addition to the personal loss, all of his charts, notes, and stats were destroyed. But he continues to get support from family, friends and colleagues.
“Every time they found something that ‘survived the fire,’ it felt like you won the lottery because it was something you felt you lost,” Brin said. “
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