The NBA broadcasts on ESPN and ABC will look a little different next season, according to Andrew Marchand and Ryan Glasspiegel, who report in a pair of stories for The New York Post that the network is letting go of game analyst Jeff Van Gundy and studio analyst Jalen Rose as part of a series of layoffs.
According to The Post’s reporting, ESPN is letting go of about 20 on-air personalities in a cost-cutting move. Van Gundy and Rose had both been earning millions per year in their roles on the network’s marquee broadcasts. Rose was generally on the panel for pregame and halftime shows, while Van Gundy was part of ESPN’s and ABC’s top TV broadcast team alongside play-by-play man Mike Breen and fellow analyst Mark Jackson.
According to The New York Post, JJ Redick, Doris Burke, and Richard Jefferson are among the top candidates to replace Van Gundy on the top ESPN/ABC broadcast team.
Here are a few more odds and ends ahead of a busy NBA weekend:
- The NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement includes a rule change that will be informally known as the “Harry Giles III rule,” writes Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report. As Haynes explains, the tweak will allow a player to sign a two-way contract if he has four years of NBA service but missed an entire season during those four years due to an injury. Previously, players with four years of NBA service were ineligible to sign two-way deals even if they hadn’t actually played in NBA games during each of those four seasons (a player earns a year of service if he’s on a standard or two-way contract for at least one day during the regular season). Giles is among the players who fits this bill, having missed his entire rookie season in 2017/18.
- In an Insider-only article for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks takes a shot at projecting the starting salaries for all of this year’s free agents, from Kyrie Irving ($38-40MM) and Fred VanVleet ($30-35MM) all the way down to the probable minimum-salary recipients.
- Chris Herring of SI.com identifies nine players who could benefit most from a change of scenery this summer, in his view. Herring’s list includes some unsurprising picks like Damian Lillard and Deandre Ayton, as well as some outside-the-box choices such as Jarrett Allen.
Doesn’t Disney own all of espn? We know they aren’t broke so why are they getting rid of one of the best analyst Jeff Van Gundy. Even worse they are considering replacing him with Doris Burke, what an awful choice shew terrible
100%.
Weird move!
Disney has taken a bath on their Streaming Service, like most networks. And Star Wars is getting old. They have also run out of Marvel stories. Do they really need 20 NBA analysts? 2 or 3 is more than enough.
I like van gundy, jalen rose is horrible. I don’t like him talking about anything. Bye fool
He’s such a punk. Stephen A and Molly are laughing an clowning on that punk
Stephen A is by far the worst personality on tv today. Hell he makes Doris Burke look good that’s how bad he is. Can’t wait for that jackass to retire
Never been a big Richard Jefferson fan but him & Ian Eagle were gold as the play by play guys for the Nets gms a few seasons ago. Mike Breen is far from being as good as Ian Eagle but maybe RJ can bring a lil more life to the national telecasts.
How dare you slander Breen like that. BANG!
“Mike Breen is far from being as good as Ian Eagle”
Common Sankara L.
Mike Breen = Leno/Friends/tomato soup
Ian Eagle = Letterman/Seinfeld/gumbo
Sure. That makes complete sense. I like Letterman/Seinfeld/gumbo more but also prefer Breen. Sooo.
This is the same Ian Eagle who calls football games? I didn’t know he was a nba analyst too
Maybe you’re a lil more tomato soup than u think
Hey man I prefer being called chicken noodle
Please also get Mark Jackson off the air. Jamal Crawford should take his place.
I was hoping Jackson was going to get a coaching job so he could leave the booth lol. At least one of the Van Gundy brothers is out. Stan needs to leave as well. All three are terrible imho
Jeff is FAR superior over his horrible brother.
He’s earning far more than his brother too, which means he’s on the chopping board
If Jeff Van Gundy wants to get back into coaching I think the Minnesota Timberwolves would be great for him. They have a roster that he will actually love to coach. I say that because Chris Finch ain’t it. When Marc Lore and Alex Rodriquez they might want to pick their guy and Jeff Van Gundy might not really want to coach anymore but I think a really nice team with some young hungry players will make him consider.
Not sure why JVG is being singled out. Almost every ESPN game analyst (other than the great Hubie Brown) should be fired for non-performance. They give zero game analysis. Their sophomoric attempts at comedy or gamesmenship with their broadcast partners are interrupted only by a shameless butt kissing of any star or quasi-star in the game, usually divorced from anything actually happening in the game. I get that it relieves them of the burden of doing any prep work, but listening to it shouldn’t be the price of watching a game.
Kings sign Giles
They’re clearing up cap space for Shannon Sharpe lol
Jeff is not a yes man and they don’t like him criticizing the NBA game or refs every time he’s working. I think his criticism is usually correct but counterproductive for his broadcasting career. Big mistake firing him, Jeff is great and funny. I wonder what’s next for him.
Hopefully Knicks will hire him. Their team is stale!
LeBron James made the decision, he owns ESPN.
JVG is great but his salary was just way too high. that’s how things work with mergers – You don’t want to be in the top earners bracket if you’re not in the board.
And Mark Jackson keeps his job, somehow? What?