When the Miami Heat go to Boston to play the Celtics on Friday night, ESPN will only feature female broadcasters.
Cassidy Hubarth will handle sideline duties, while Beth Mowins will call plays, with Doris Burke providing color commentary.
On Wednesday night, Hall of Fame broadcaster Burke made her regular-season debut as ESPN’s top NBA analyst when the Celtics played the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden to start the season.
Burke is presently sitting in the normal lead NBA broadcast team on ESPN, along with Mike Breen and former head coach Doc Rivers.
Burke was brought on board by ESPN in late June to take Jeff Van Gundy’s spot. It took her forty years to get to where she is now and to accomplish her career goal of calling the NBA Finals.
With a long history in the booth, Mowins made history in 2017 when she joined former head coach Rex Ryan on ESPN to call play-by-play on Monday Night Football, making history as the first female analyst.
Hubbarth has been with ESPN since 2010, and in February of last year, he inked a multi-year contract deal.
I’m experiencing my dream. Following the announcement, Hubbarth informed the Chicago Sun-Times, “I’m covering the NBA.” “I’ve always wanted to do that.”
On International Women’s Day in March 2021, TSN’s Toronto Raptors broadcast featured Meghan McPeak calling play-by-play and Canadian basketball player Kia Nurse providing analysis. This became the first-ever all-female NBA broadcast. Kayla Grey, a reporter and anchor for TSN, covered sidelines while Amy Audibert and Kate Bierness hosted and provided studio analysis. Earlier this year, the Mowins, Burke, and Hubbarth trio collaborated on ESPN’s International Women’s Day.
