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Doris Burke

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Doris Burke
Burke in 2011
Born
Doris Sable

1964 or 1965 (age 59–60)[1]
Alma materProvidence College
Occupations
  • Sports commentator
  • analyst
Years active1990–present
Spouse
Gregg Burke
​
(divorced)​
Children2
AwardsSee below

Doris Burke (née Sable) is an American sports announcer and analyst for NBA on ESPN, NBA on ABC, College Basketball on ESPN, and College Basketball on ABC games. She formerly worked as an analyst for WNBA games on MSG and has worked on New York Knicks games. Burke was the first female commentator to call a New York Knicks game on radio and television.[2]

Burke played college basketball for the Providence Friars, finishing her career as the school's leader in assists. Honored for her pioneering work, Burke was selected to enter the Basketball Hall of Fame as the 2018 Curt Gowdy Media Award winner.

In 2023, ESPN named Burke to their No. 1 NBA commentary team.[3] Burke became the first woman to serve as a game analyst on television for a championship final (the 2024 NBA Finals) in one of the four major North American professional men's sports leagues.[4]

Early life

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Doris Sable was born in West Islip, New York.[5] At the age of seven, she moved to Manasquan, New Jersey, where she was raised.[6][7][8] The youngest of eight children, Doris started playing basketball in the second grade.[8] Her basketball idols growing up were Kyle Macy, Kelly Tripucka[9] and Tom Heinsohn.

Burke played as a point guard at Manasquan High School[9] and was recruited by several eastern colleges.[9] Burke spent her summers on the Jersey Shore where she gained local lore during her rise to basketball fame, frequenting still popular haunts such as The Parker House, Leggetts, and Osprey.

Career

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College

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Burke attended Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island.[2] She competed as a member of the Providence Friars women's basketball team as the point guard for four years. Burke finished her career averaging 17.6 points and 7.2 assists per game.[10]

During her freshman year, Burke led the Big East Conference in assists.[9] She was twice named to both the All-Big East and Big East all-tournament teams, both in 1986 and 1987.[10] As a senior in 1987, Burke was the college's Co-Female Athlete of the Year.[9][8] She was also named an All-American in 1987.[10]

Burke left Providence as its all-time leader in assists with 602,[9] and as of 2012 was still second in that career category.[8] She was later inducted into the Providence College Hall of Fame[8] in 1999, the fifth woman so honored.

At Providence, Burke earned a bachelor's degree in health service administration/social work and later a master's degree in education.[11]

Broadcasting career

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Burke began her broadcasting career in 1990 as an analyst for women's games for her alma mater on radio. That same year, Burke began working in the same role on Big East women's games on television, and in 1996 she began working Big East men's games.[6]

Burke has been working for ESPN in various positions since 1991. She has been a part of ESPN's coverage of the WNBA.[6] For many years, Burke was the primary radio and television voice of the New York Liberty. In 2003, she was named to ESPN's men's college basketball coverage working with Dick Vitale and began working the sidelines for ESPN and ABC for their coverage of the NBA beginning with the 2003–04 NBA season.

In 2000, Burke became the first woman to be a commentator for a New York Knicks game on radio and on television; she is also the first woman to be a commentator for a Big East men's game, and the first woman to be the primary commentator on a men's college basketball conference package.[2] From 2009 to 2019, Burke served as a sideline reporter for the NBA Finals on ABC, and worked as an analyst in select regular season and playoff games until 2017.[12]

In 2010, Burke was featured as the new sideline reporter for 2K Sports's NBA 2K11 video game.[13] She has appeared in each edition since, including the latest in the series, NBA 2K25.[14]

In October 2013, Burke signed a multi-year contract extension to serve as an NBA commentator for ESPN.[15] On November 13, she debuted on ESPN's NBA pre-game show NBA Countdown, alongside analysts Jalen Rose and Avery Johnson.

In 2017, Burke became a regular NBA game analyst for ESPN, becoming the first woman at the national level to be assigned a full regular-season role. Burke replaced Doug Collins, who left ESPN for a job with the Chicago Bulls, but continued sideline reporting for the conference finals and the NBA Finals until 2019.[12] In 2020, Burke began calling the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals on ESPN Radio, making her the first woman to call the conference finals and NBA Finals on radio.[16]

In August 2023, ESPN/ABC announced that Burke, along with former NBA coach Doc Rivers, will join Mike Breen on their lead broadcasting team, replacing Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, who were laid off by the network earlier that year.[17] This makes Burke the first woman to serve as a television analyst for a major men's championship in the U.S., and the first woman TV analyst for the NBA Conference Finals and the NBA Finals.[18][a]

Personal life

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Burke is divorced from Gregg Burke (head golf coach at University of Rhode Island), with whom she has two children.[8][9]

Awards and honors

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In 1999, Burke was inducted into the Providence College Hall of Fame. In 2003, she received the USA Today Rudy Award as the Best New Face in Sports Television.[2] In the spring of 2004, Burke was honored with induction into the Institute for International Sport's Scholar Athlete Hall of Fame, and in the spring of 2005, Providence College awarded her with an honorary doctorate degree. In October 2006, Burke was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.[7] The same year, she became a member of the North Providence Hall of Fame.

In January 2012, Burke received the Silver Anniversary Award in recognition of her athletic and professional accomplishments from the NCAA. In 2012, Burke called the Big East tournament and was a reporter during the championship game.[20][21] Honored for her pioneering work, Burke was selected by the Basketball Hall of Fame as the 2018 Curt Gowdy Media Award winner.[22] For their first match of March 2019, the women of the United States women's national soccer team each wore a jersey with the name of a woman they were honoring on the back; Tobin Heath chose the name of Burke.[23]

Notes

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  1. ^ Burke previously called Game 1 of the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals on TV with Mark Jones, in lieu of Breen, Jeff Van Gundy, and Mark Jackson, who were in charge for Game 7 of the 2020 Western Conference Semifinals series between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Denver Nuggets.[19] As a result, this will officially mark the first time she will call the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals on television.

References

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  1. ^ Buford, Jayson (October 18, 2023). "NBA Commentator Doris Burke Has a New Job. She'd Still Prefer to Talk Basketball". Vanity Fair. Retrieved December 25, 2023. Burke, 58, is well into an accolade-filled broadcasting career that has seen her call college...
  2. ^ a b c d "Notable Alumni: Doris Burke". Providence College. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
  3. ^ McCarthy, Michael (August 14, 2023). "It's Official: Doris Burke Joins ESPN's No. 1 NBA Announce Team". Front Office Sports. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  4. ^ Reedy, Joe (August 14, 2023). "Doris Burke and Doc Rivers named to ESPN and ABC's top NBA crew". AP News. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  5. ^ "Doris Burke: dating, tattoos, smoking & body measurements - 2021". Taddlr. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Women Of The NBA: Doris Burke". NBA.com.
  7. ^ a b "Doris Burke: Basketball Analyst & Reporter". ESPN Media Zone. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Ryan, Bob (March 1, 2012). "She knows whereof she speaks". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 25, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2012. Little Doris Sable grew up in Manasquan, N.J., dreaming of playing in the NBA. How much of her male audience can't relate to that?
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Riley, Lori (March 3, 2002). "In The Men's World". Hartford Courant.
  10. ^ a b c "Doris Sable Burke (1999) - Hall of Fame". Providence College Athletics. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
  11. ^ Himmelsbach, Adam (December 18, 2014). "Adam Asks: ESPN NBA analyst Doris Burke". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
  12. ^ a b Deitsch, Richard (September 25, 2017). "ESPN's Doris Burke Will Be the First Woman in National Role As a Regular NBA Game Analyst". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  13. ^ "NBA 2K11 Videos: Bulls vs. Blazers w/ Doris Burke Commentary (Gamespot)". Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2010.
  14. ^ Harper, Zach (September 22, 2015). "WATCH: NBA 2K16 has captured the essence of Chris Bosh". CBSSports.com. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  15. ^ Diane, Pucin (October 24, 2013). "ESPN's Doris Burke gets contract extension". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
  16. ^ Feldman, Dan (September 10, 2020). "Doris Burke to make history by calling conference finals, NBA Finals on radio". NBC Sports. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  17. ^ Tapp, Tom (August 14, 2023). "ESPN Revamps No. 1 On-Air NBA Announcing Team & Sets Up History-Making Finals Run For Doris Burke". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  18. ^ McCarthy, Michael (October 23, 2023). "Doris Burke Begins Historic NBA Broadcast Role". Front Office Sports. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  19. ^ Cafardo, Ben (September 14, 2020). "ESPN to Exclusively Televise Marquee NBA Playoffs Doubleheader on Tuesday" (Press release). Bristol, CT: ESPN. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  20. ^ "Former NCAA stars shine at Honors Celebration - NCAA.org". January 18, 2012. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  21. ^ "NCAA honors 6 ex-collegiate standouts". ESPN. January 14, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  22. ^ "Doris Burke, Andy Bernstein to receive Curt Gowdy Media Award from Naismith Hall". ESPN.com. February 17, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  23. ^ Ennis, Dawn (March 4, 2019). "Lesbian icons honored with jerseys worn by USWNT". Outsports. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
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